What is the best way to teach Geography?

The planet upon which we live is surrounded by a cover of gases called the atmosphere. More than 99% of it is made of two gases (Nitrogen 78% and Oxygen 21%) and all other components together make up about one percent of the atmosphere. It surrounds the earth to a height of more that 650 kms. It is held to the earth by the force of gravity and rotates with it. It is the presence of the atmosphere alone that makes the earth habitable.

Otherwise, it would have been a lifeless sphere like the moon. Man and other forms of life live at the bottom of the sea of gases. There is geography room and in the open space of the school premises there is the school field in this school playground the students can observe and learn many aspects of the geography of the atmosphere.

Through the windows of the Geography Room and in the open field students can observe and learn about clouds, rain, fog, dew and frost, snow-fall hail-shower etc. as and when they occur. Geography actually deals with what is going on out of doors and this situation of the Geography Room in relation to its outdoor surrounding is therefore of the utmost importance.

The teacher of geography should try to make use of direct observations about the environment in teaching about home regions. To begin with, the child should be made familiar with the school premises, — the situation of his classrooms, other rooms in the school, the school playground etc.

In this respect this position and size of the Geography Room are of prime consideration. The minimum dimension of the geography room should be 40′ X 30′ X 18′ for a class of 40 pupils. A room with windows and doors on the South side is a necessary and it should open on to the school field or play ground to enable to students to observe the natural phenomena like the sun and weather directly from the room.

The room should be large enough to enable pupils to walk about. The Geography Room and the play ground are to be made convenient for students to denote the slate of sky, or the atmospheric phenomena at a particular point of time and at any particular place. In the words of Keoppe and Delong,” Weather is the state of atmosphere at a given time and place.” Prof. Triwartha says, “Weather is the sum total of atmospheric conditions which include sunshine, temperature, pressure, winds, moisture, precipitation, visibility etc. for a short period of time. Weather is always a changing state of atmosphere, because it is absolutely mobile and unsuitable in its character. The chief elements of it like sunshine, temperature, pressure, wind etc. vary in intensity from moment to moment.

When the Geography Room is open to the school field, the pupils could observe the sudden change in the wind direction from the wind vane placed in the school-field, and how the wind- velocity changes the weather to a certain degree. By regular observation the pupils could perceive that a small change may not affect much the environment and the people; but a longer change frequently necessitates notable human adjustments.

Weather conditions in the atmosphere affect every one to some degree. The students in the geography room are generally exposed to this outside world through the school field. The pupils learn that the extreme weather-conditions hamper the plan of the farmers, the construction work of the engineers and cause restlessness in the school children and factory workers.

Through direct observation of the atmospheric phenomena, the students come to the conclusion that windy weather may cause severe harm of crops. Too much rain or no rain may result in crop- failures. Poor visibility due to weather conditions may lead pupils to think about the probable cancellation of air-flights. Good weather on the other hand is likely to make the pupils observe the good results in future.

Climate also occupies the most important place in the study of geography. “Climate” is a composite or average sum- total of the variety of day to day weather-conditions. So the term “climate” purports to the average state of the sky, the occurrence or absence of rainfall, the temperature, pressure and humidity of the air and wind for a longer period of time.

Outside the tropics in the northern hemisphere the windows of Geography Rooms should preferably face south. From the room, there should be easy access to the outside world through windows opening into the playing-field or on to a wide balcony or flat roof. Observations in meteorology cannot be made without frequent reference to the weather conditions obtaining.

Moreover, many teachers like to carry out experiments on different altitudes of the sun throughout the year or daily length of its shadow- This can be down with disturbance if a large table is placed within the South-facing windows on which observations can be recorded.