A Research On Activity Curriculum Of Geography

In middle schools, geography activity梠riented curriculum is the curriculum that bases on the objective of middle school geography education , attaches great importance on students' interests on geography and their future development,and aims at cutivating students' practical ability by various kinds of activities under the teachers' guidance.After the founding of PRC, the geography curriculum in middle schools of China has went through a series of mending and adjustment according to the different requirements of political ,economic and social development in different period. In the 1950s, the curriculum in China copied that in former Soviet Union. In the 1960s, the teaching materials are streamlined .at the same time, some local geography knowledge was added to them. In the period of Cultural Revolution,the geography education system was severely destroyed and the quanlity dropped dramastically.In the 1980s, subject梠riented curriculum is so popular in China that no room was left for the implementation ofactivitiy梠riented curriculum. In the 1990s, Curriculum Reforming Plan of Primary and Jonior Middle School in Compulsory Education Period maked both activity and subject a part of the system of school curriculums. At that time, the theoretical research and educational practice on the geography curriculum took the first step. However, a specific and mature theory has been formed yet.The tendancy of the curriculum reform in western courtries is to attach great importance on the new content of the curriculum which can arouse students' interests, on the flexible teaching materials in which long and boring description is replaced by the clues of some creative questions,on the way of study by which students can learn something useful by their own observation and experiment. The criterion of geography curriculum in foreign courtries details the requirements about the students' skills and ability to study geography. The criterion also emphasizes the study of geography by the way of observation ,experiment and research.As for the geography teaching in middles schools, the function of activity is very important and is not replaceable. It helps to promote the teaching and learning quality, realize the value of the curriculum and cultivate students creative spirit and practical ability.The geography activity curriculum should be designed in accordance with the requirement of the teaching aim and implemented by the following principles:combining science with thoughts, being close to students' dairy life and being useful for their physical and mental development. The activities in geography curriculum are various, such as handework, games and entertainment, observation and survey, visitaion and investigation, listening, watching and reading, competition and lecture, experiment and operation, plan and design, paper writing, traveling and adventure The key of the activity curriculum is how to implement it well. The article believes that there are seven factors which can influence the implementation. They are teachers, students, their parents, place,money, time and safety. There are some principles needed to be paid attention to.They are the principle of integrity,the principle of appropriateness, the principle of interest, the principle of practice, the principle of main body, the principle of creativity. The curriculum should be implemented by the form of group work, the method of research and discovery and the the most excellent principle.The examples shown in the article offer a model for the setting of geography activity curriculum in middle schools.