“Reading the Landscape with QSL Cards and the Five Themes of Geography

“Reading the Landscape” with QSL Cards and the Five Themes of Geography”

By Donna LaRoche

Materials

Procedure

1. Read and discuss the 5 Themes of Geography with your children and students. Refer to the list of Geography Questions for a wonderful source of geographical inspiration!

2. Borrow and/or collect QSL Cards from your amateur radio friends and/or view and print from QSL Cards.

3. For ease of use, you might choose to categorize and store your QSL cards by region such as landform region, climatic region, language region, political region, continents, country, etc.

4. Select a QSL card from your collection.

5. Read the physical and cultural landscapes of the selected QSL card. Observe, speculate, and analyze information about the . . .

Lithosphere – What type of landforms are pictured? What do you notice about the soil? Can you identify any rocks and minerals?

Hydrosphere – Is there open water at the site? What are the uses of the water?

Atmosphere – Tell what you can about the climate. Describe the air quality. Does the air appear to be polluted? If so, what is the cause of the pollution?

Biosphere – List the plants that grow in the area. Can you identify any species? What kinds of animals, birds, fish, insects live in the area? Can you identify any species?

Cultural (human) – How do humans currently use the site? Is there any transportation at the site? Are there any jobs at the site?

Unique - Are there any unique or unusual characteristics to the site? Are there any endangered or one-of-a-kind species?

6. Record and discuss individual, small and whole group observations.

7. What have you discovered? What are you wondering?

and Donna LaRoche, M.Ed.