In addition to concentrating on the location theme of geography through map study, elementary geography currently places emphasis on learning the physical and human characteristics of places. In third grade rural and urban communities are investigated, while in fourth grade emphasis is on climatic and physical regions of the world and their natural resources. Many geographers are disturbed by the fact that when geography is taught in elementary schools, students are not told they are studying geography. Therefore, their concept of geography is severely limited and sometimes non-existent. Many students and teachers associate geography only with the study of map skills.
Most geography is taught as a part of social studies and, to a lesser degree, in science.
Only a small portion of the school day is spent in the study of these subjects. These guidelines provide help in the selection of objectives and organization of geographic knowledge for elementary students. Location and place currently receive most emphasis in the elementary grades. Often such an emphasis results in students trying to memorize information in isolation rather than trying to analyze relationships. The printed media fail to systematically group or carefully define geographic concepts.