The U.S. National Geography Standards are a set of six basic elements containing eighteen standards that describe the fundamental concepts of geography and their relation to human life and civilization. The National Geography Standards were adopted in 1994 to track students' skills in geography -- from learning to read a map and interpret geographic information to understanding the patterns of settlement, migration, and trade.

All of the materials on the Boomerang Box web site have been designed to be consistent with the National Geography Standards (as well as with the Five Themes of Geography - Location, Place, Movement, Human/Environment, and Region - that were used in developing the National Geography Standards). Thus, by following the Boomerang Box as it travels from port to port, and using the maps, activities, essays, and lesson plans on this web site, you will help your students progress through a set of nationally-recognized standards in geography education.

Boomerang Box materials address the Geography Standards in a variety of ways:

• ELEMENT 1: THE WORLD IN SPATIAL TERMS

  Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective. As they learn about geography, students learn to read and interpret information from maps, globes, graphs, photographs, and other sources of geographic information.

  Standard 2: How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context. The maps students learn to use must be supplemented with their own 'mental maps,' their internal pictures of places and their relationship to each other.

  Standard 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface. Students mastering this standard learn to describe and analyze patterns in the way settlements and ecosystems are organized.

  The Boomerang Box Project offers many opportunities to help students see the world in spatial terms while they learn to use and interpret maps and other forms of geographic information.

  For younger students, the maps that accompany each voyage's 'Journey Log' present a wonderful opportunity to learn to read a map, identify features (such as coastline, cities, or rivers), and trace the path of the Boomerang Box from one place to another.

  Older students can be challenged to strengthen their internal maps by identifying the Boomerang Box's destination on a map or globe in the classroom rather than by clicking on the web site's map. Using their knowledge of the locations of countries, cities, and major bodies of water, students can narrow in on their target, building their own Boomerang Box map in the process.

  By following the Boomerang Box, students can learn about latitude and longitude, direction, and distance. They can learn to read different types of maps, learn about map projections, use other types of cartographic information, including aerial photos or computerized geographic information systems, and learn how to display different types of information - such as products traded or average annual income - in map form. They can keep a log of the places the Boomerang Box visits, noting their locations on a map, and can then calculate the distance between stops and plot the shortest route between two places.

• ELEMENT 2: PLACES AND REGIONS

  Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of places. Places exist because humans have given them meaning. The student of geography must learn how and why different places came to be.

  Standard 5: That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity. Regions are 'worlds within worlds,' identified by human and physical characteristics. Regions -- particularly those defined by human interaction -- can change over time, and students must be able to understand and interpret their growth and changes.

  Standard 6: How culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions. Because places and regions are defined at least in part by the people who live in and near them, places are often defined by people's differing perceptions of them. Students learn to understand how a place or region can have particular - and often differing - meanings for different groups of people.

  The Boomerang Box's 'Trade Topics' sections offers an exploration of places and regions, exploring the history, culture, and common features of the ports the Boomerang Box visits. Visit the Trade Topic archives to find a rich treasury of essays and exercises on subjects ranging from piracy at sea to the history of individual products and ports.

  For younger students, these Trade Topic essays can be read aloud in the classroom. Students can be prompted to learn the common features of a successful port city and can compare these features with those of their hometown.

  Older students can read the essays themselves, answering the study questions that are included with each essay. Advanced students (9th grade and older) can use the Trade Topics as a starting point for independent research on the history and culture of places around the world.

• ELEMENT 3: PHYSICAL SYSTEMS

  Standard 7: The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface. Through this standard, students learn to understand the physical processes that operate in the atmosphere (climate and meteorology), the lithosphere (plate tectonics, erosion, and soil formation), the hydrosphere (the circulation of the oceans and the hydrologic cycle), and the biosphere (plant and animal communities and ecosystems).

  Standard 8: The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface. All elements of the environment, physical and human, are part of ecosystems. As students study ecosystems, they learn how they are formed, maintained, and disrupted.

  Because the Boomerang Box focuses on international trade and transportation, it is fundamentally connected with Earth's physical systems. Trade Topics prepared for the project in this area have focused on early means of navigation, the use of the trade winds, and the effect of earthquakes on countries around the world.

  Younger students can learn about specific physical phenomena and their relationship to people: What are stars? Where are they? How could a star help someone who was lost? Etc.

  Older students can read the Trade Topics about physical processes and investigate their relationship to the history of trade. They can learn, for instance, that there is a "right way" to sail around the world, dictated by winds and currents. They can learn about the development of navigational systems that relied on natural phenomena, and about the progression of tools and techniques - from the compass rose to the astrolabe - to aid navigation, trade, and exploration. And they can explore the implications of physical phenomena such as the trade winds on the relationships between people and countries.

• ELEMENT 4: HUMAN SYSTEMS

  Standard 9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human population on Earth's surface. Human population has grown rapidly and migrated frequently. Through this standard, students study the migration patterns of people in countries around the world and explore the reasons - both voluntary and involuntary - that cause people to move.

  Standard 10: The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics. This standard covers culture, that is, the ways in which people choose to live in different regions of the world. Students learn about language, beliefs, institutions, and technology, and the ways in which cultures have changed over time.

  Standard 11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on earth's surface. This standard focuses on trade, and the ways in which resources and products are moved from place to place and people to people around the world. Students study economic systems, transportation patterns, and the relationships between people and countries.

  Standard 12: The processes, patterns and functions of human settlement. As students study the economic interdependence of Earth's people, they also explore the patterns of human settlement around the world. They study the differences between cities, suburbs, towns, and villages, and the ways in which settlements are changing over time.

  Standard 13: How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface. Students working on this standard explore the role of cooperation and conflict in determining how resources are controlled and used and how places and regions are governed.

  International trade is, at base, about the relationships between people as they buy and sell the goods they produce and use. Many of the Boomerang Box Project's 'Trade Topics,' particularly those that trace the history of a product or place, focus on the way people have used the quest for a particular good as a reason to explore, to conquer other regions, or to set up trading routes. The project's 'People Profiles' focus on individual people from around the world who work in international trade. Many of these profiles ask students to consider the cultural implications of working with people from other countries.

  Younger students can use the Trade Topics and People Profiles (perhaps read aloud by the teacher) as a way to explore specific issues. They might trace the history of tea, for example, using a map or globe to point to the different countries and peoples that became involved in the quest for and trade of tea. Or they might compare the culture, language, and customs or their home town with those of a person from another country.

  Older students can use the downloadable 'case study' lesson plans that come with each 'People Profile' to begin their exploration of issues of culture and trade. Each case study lesson plan is accompanied with teaching notes that include discussion questions, background information, and in-class and longer-term writing and research assignments. The goal of these case studies is to have students 'try on' different careers and cultures, learning what it is like to work in Brazil, for instance, or to be in charge of developing a global marketing network. The overall goal of the case studies is to help students understand and wrestle with the complexities of international trade, learning about the sometimes very difficult trade-related decisions that are made by countries and leaders.

• ELEMENT 5: ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY

  Standard 14: How human actions modify the physical environment. A next step to the study of Earth's physical systems is an understanding of how humans have modified those physical systems for their own purposes. Students studying this standard learn about the relationships between people and the planet, studying changes humans have made to Earth from terracing hillsides for farming to creating acid rain.

  Standard 15: How physical systems affect humans. As students study how people have affected Earth, they also learn about how Earth's physical systems have affected human settlement patterns and practices. They look at the carrying capacity of different regions as well as the natural phenomena - such as floods and forest fires - that affect the way in which people live.

  Standard 16: The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources. How do people use resources? How has resource use changed over time? Students study how the availability of resources affected settlement patterns and how the use of resources changes as technology and needs change.

  Trade provides a window through which to watch the ways in which people have produced and used goods from resources at hand. Students following the Boomerang Box can learn which countries produce which kinds of goods and why, and can explore the historical relationships between people and places as resources that were scarce in one place became the focus of trade with another.

  Boomerang Box 'Trade Topics' and 'People Profiles' touch on many of these issues. In addition, past Trade Topics have focused on the European Union's recycling and reuse policies and the relationship of those policies to trade; and the international response to natural disasters such as the January 2001 earthquake in India.

  Younger students can focus on an individual issue to explore in more detail. Older students, again, can use the Trade Topics and People Profiles to spur their own research into these issues.

• ELEMENT 6: THE USES OF GEOGRAPHY

  Standard 17: How to apply geography to interpret the past. By learning about the history of geography - the way natural features either imposed limitations or were modified by explorers or conquerors, students can learn about their own heritage, and can gain a better understanding of the global relationships that mark our world today.

  Standard 18: How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future. In addition, as students understand how geography has shaped settlements, civilizations, and trade routes, they can assess how geographical features might affect the future, and how culture and politics alike might be affected by geography.

  The Boomerang Box Project focuses on people who use geography every day, the people who are responsible for moving goods from place to place around the world. Materials posted on the web site include historical analyses of the role of port cities and the development of trade lanes. They trace the rise and fall of trade-based empires and the fate of former colonies, often now thriving ports that continue to trade the products that led to their colonization in the first place.

  From the earliest days of trade, when sailors ventured out of sight of land with their eyes on the stars, the practices of international trade and geography have been inextricably linked. The trade winds that sped sailing ships around the world, the climatic and geological conditions that produced tea or copper or cotton, and the struggles to control and use these resources have all been deeply rooted in geography. By using the practice of international trade as a focus - still complex and ever-changing after all these centuries - the Boomerang Box Project helps students learn about the world in which they live, its history and people, and the physical and political patterns that shaped our grandparents' and great grandparents' lives and continue to shape our own.