Why do we need to study geography?

India
October 7, 2010 1:13am CST
Hello, I have to admit that I haven't yet figured out the primary reason for studying geography. It's necessary to learn about one's own country. But don't we lay too much attention on memorizing curious sounding words? How come geography is so boring and void of all fun? Is it inherent in the subject? Or, is it the lack of innovative measures that makes geography look totally worthless and irritating? I pity the young children who have to stuff their minds with queer looking names of places that they probably will never visit. Moreover, they often need to memorize the latitude and longitude. Is geography all about memorizing? Why do we need to study geography in the first place?
1 person likes this
12 responses
@diamania (7011)
• Netherlands
7 Oct 10
It's good to know where countries are but other than it should only be taught to pupils who want to do something with it professionally later on. There's no point for me in what soil my country mainly consists of or something.
1 person likes this
• India
7 Oct 10
Well, sometimes after graduation some people choose agriculture, but then they can study about the soil as much as they want to. But if you have had a hobby of gardening when you were studying at 4th standard, then you'd really love to study the soil science.
• Philippines
7 Oct 10
We need to study geography in the first place. Because we all know geography is the study of the Earth. So without geography, will you ever know where in the Earth you are right now? Make sense, the significance of geography is to know the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth. Try to love geography, so that you will know the essence of this.
1 person likes this
• India
7 Oct 10
Okay. But how am I supposed to 'try' to love something? I do want to learn about the lands, features, inhabitants but why do I have to memorize the height of a mountain peak, the latitude/longitude or the length of a river? Isn't it too much to expect a child to memorize all these?
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
10 Oct 10
I really don't think that there is anything about geography that is really exciting, and that was one of the things that I hated the most when I was in school. However, that isn't to say that I don't think that it is necessary for children today. You see, today, more than ever we really live in a global community. We need to understand where people are from and also what it is like where they live. That is the reason that I don't think geography can be eliminated from education.
@vandana7 (100526)
• India
7 Oct 10
I like and I liked geography. :( So what if they are curious sounds. More fun trying to pronounce them. :)
• India
7 Oct 10
You caught me lol I'm just trying to get to the very essence of the subject, the entertaining part of it.
@sru2n9 (93)
• India
8 Oct 10
Geography is not a boring subject. Through it we study about different places. It may help us if we ever plan to visit the place. Geography is fun when it is taught properly.
@pokumon (644)
• United States
8 Oct 10
It's so we can't be called stupid ignorant Americans. I think learning geography is important because if you ever travel it's good to know where you are going. It also helps with current events when something happens in another country you want to know where that country is. I personally loved geography when I was younger. I remember for one test we got extra credit for every European country and capital we could name on a map and I got something like 240% on that test. I also just memorized the states and their capitals for fun. I probably couldn't remember all of them now.
• United States
8 Oct 10
Well, we need to know our place in the world, and we need to know about the places around us. I like geography because it gives me a perspective on the places that surround the place that live in.
@GardenGerty (160879)
• United States
8 Oct 10
We never had to memorize exact latitude and longitude, just needed to know generally where things were. I enjoyed geography and learning about different countries and customs. I visit all over the world courtesy of the internet. I can say for sure that if they say there is an earthquake somewhere, I want to know if it is near me, or if something wonderful is happening that I could maybe get to if I know where it is. I can think of other classes I felt were useless but I enjoyed geography.
@ShepherdSpy (8544)
• Omagh, Northern Ireland
7 Oct 10
If the subject is being taught in such a dry and boring way,learning only facts and statistics about other places,then that sounds like an excellent way of putting kids off learning about other countries and our planet.The subject should be showing how amazing the world is as a place to visit,and explain where our natural resources come from,not make it so boring You'd never consider visiting somewhere else..
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
8 Oct 10
You have raised a very good question. Why indeed? I often questioned why I had to learn biology, taking an atom apart and putting it back together again. I was an Art and English major, about as far from biology as you can get. I knew then that I would never need to know all about atoms and time has proven me right. Geography, too. We had to learn all 50 states in the United States, plus their location and the capital of each state. Why? I cannot answer that for you. I can see having a little bit of every subject once we get into high school, enough to have a "sample" of what each subject is like so that it might help us in deciding what we wanted to do with our lives but to have to study subjects in depth that we have absolutely no desire in learning just doesn't make sense to me. I understand language and math because we use them all the time. But, geography? Again, you raise a very good question. We should be able to choose the subjects that we have an interest in. I know that would make everyone's grades be better!
@megamatt (14291)
• United States
7 Oct 10
I think that it is because we need to be informed where everything is. After all, being ignorant where major countries or major cities around the world is located, is something that many would snicker at these days it would think. That would be one of those things that I think would be mocked by people. Granted, the chances of us visiting them are slim, but the chances that we are going to use much of what we learn in school are slim, so there you go. It is very tedious, I'll give you that. However, it is just a part of school I think. I doubt I'm going to use it but if I need to, I'll be very glad that I did learn it. I did hate trying to learn all of the countries in Europe and having to spell them right, that was a pain but hey, there were many things in school that I was not fond of.
• United States
7 Oct 10
I hated geography when I was in school, hate now and will hate it tomorrow. God Bless all that say they love and enjoy. I am not one of those.