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Explore and learn about Maine's climate, Natural resources and composition with these sites
Maine Islands ''Island
Odyssey'' was a series done by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram that visits
10 Maine islands, from one end of Maine to the other, exploring how unique island
environments are used, abused, guarded and revered.
Casco Bay Islands
Maine Counties
Maine Natural Resources
Information and Mapping Center
K-12 Geology resources at University of Maine,
Orono
The information on this page and in its links are provided to
introduce Elementary to High School students to the study of Earth Sciences and to provide
teachers with some resources to assist them in the classroom.
Stay tuned! We'll be adding some interesting things to this page in the future. Until
then, check out some of the Earth Science sites listed below at K-12 Geology resources at University of
Maine, Orono
Osher
Map Library: Educational Outreach
The State of Maine Learning
Results Social Studies data base
The great architects of American public education, such as Thomas
Jefferson, Horace Mann, and Thomas Dewey, considered a strong literacy essential to the
preservation of democracy. Each believed that every student must be well versed in the
nation's history, the principles which undergird citizenship, and the institutions which
define our government. Understandings of commerce and geography were critical to their
thinking as well.
In essence, Jefferson, Mann, and Dewey viewed the study of social studies as critical to
the mission of public schools. Indeed, they would applaud the inclusion of a
"responsible and involved citizen" in the
Guiding Principles, as well as social studies as one of eight content areas in the
Learning Results.
A strong social studies education depends upon a clear understanding of its interrelated
disciplines. Without a knowledge of the geography and economics of earlier times, history
offers only lists of people, events, and dates. Without a knowledge of history, the
institutions of American government and the dynamics of today's global economy are
difficult to understand.
Important contemporary issues such as health care, education, crime, the environment, and
foreign policy are all multidisciplinary in nature. Understanding these issues and
developing responses to them requires an integrated social studies education. In such a
social studies program, students are actively engaged in inquiry, research, debate, and
in-depth learning. Students can further enhance their knowledge of the world around them
by using local communities as extended classrooms; they can learn to build on that
knowledge and on their knowledge of history to construct insights into the future. A broad
understanding of the perspectives central to social studies enables students to develop,
practice, and apply the knowledge and experiences required to be contributing participants
in a democratic society.
Although social studies curricula vary in their breadth and depth, the Learning Results
have adopted a focused definition of this content area whereby government, history,
geography, and economics stand as the pillars
of the content with other disciplines within the social sciences deemed important, but not
essential.