Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region

Summer 2004

Diana Creamer
Teaching reading and mathematics through the use of geography

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Geography is the when, where, who, why and what of all the things that have to do with the Earth and all the other life forms that call the Earth home. It also has to do with all the places on the Earth. It's amazing from how far things travel. Many things have traveled a very long way. Let's do an experiment to find out where things have come from.

Look around the room. There may be things in this room that have come from far away. It may be that there isn't anything from the USA in this room except the people. One way to find out is to look at each thing in the room as an object to study.

Begin with one side of the room. You'll need a world map, paper, pencil and markers or pins and graph paper. For a world map, go to

World map

Look at each object in the room to see if you can tell where it came from. If you can tell, write down the country the object came from. Do all the objects in that part of the room. If you can't tell where the object came from, ask. Try to guess. Then go on to the next part of the room until you've done the whole room.

Now you have a chart of all the objects and how many are from each country. After you have made the chart, make a graph of how many objects came from each country. Then put a pin or mark on the map for each object that came from that country. Answer these questions:

1. What was made in the USA?_____________________________________________________
2. What was made in other countries?________________________________________________
3. Why do you think certain objects were made outside the USA?___________________________
4. Why do you think certain objects were made in the USA?_______________________________

For special education students, make a list of all the possible countries that objects came from and give them the list to use when making the chart. This technique can also be used to differentiate instruction for lower level students.

This site was created by Diana Creamer at the NEH Summer Institute "Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region," held at the College of the Holy Cross, Summer 2004