Chapter 4

Movement: People Interacting on the Earth

People are scattered unevenly over the Earth. How do they get from one place to another? What are the patterns of movement of people, products, and information? Regardless of where we live, we rely upon each other for goods, services, and information. In fact, most people interact with other places almost every day. We depend on other places for the food, clothes, and even items like the pencil and paper our children use in school. We also share information with each other using telephones, newspapers, radio, and television to bridge the distances.

Travel in Different Ways

Give your children opportunities to travel by car, bus, bicycle, or on foot. Where you can, take other forms of transportation such as airplanes, trains, subways, ferries, barges, and horses and carriages.

Watch travel programs on television.

Follow the Movement of People and Things

Play the license plate game. How many different states' plates can you identify, and what, if anything, does the license plate tell you about each state? You don't have to be in a car to play. You can look at the license plates of parked cars, or those traveling by when you are walking. Children can keep a record of the states whose plates they have seen. They can color in those states on a map and illustrate them with characteristics described on the license plates. Some states have county names on their plates. If you live in one of these states, keeping track of the counties could be another interesting variation.

Go around your house and look at where everything comes from. Examine the labels of the clothes you wear and think of where your food comes from. Why do bananas come from Central America? Why does the milk come from the local dairy? Perhaps your climate is too cold for bananas, and the milk is too perishable to travel far. How did the food get to your house?

Have your children ask older relatives what their world was like when they were young. They can ask questions about transportation, heating and refrigeration, the foods they ate, the clothes they wore, and the schools they attended. Look at old pictures. How have things changed since Grandma was a child? Grandparents and great aunts and uncles are usually delighted to share their memories with the younger generation, and they can pass on a wealth of information.

Follow the Movement of Ideas and Information

Ideas come from beyond our immediate surrounding. How do they get to us? Consider communication by telephone and mail, television, radio, telegrams, telefax, and even graffiti, posters, bumper stickers, and promotional buttons. They all convey information from one person or place to another.

By watching television and listening to the radio, your children will receive ideas from the outside world. Where do the television shows they watch originate? What about radio shows?

Ask your children how they would communicate with other people. Would they use the phone or write a letter? Encourage them to write letters to relatives and friends. They may be able to get pen pals through school or a pen pal association.

Paths for Further Exploration

Travels with Samantha
Directory of travel references
The U.S. Gazetteer

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