Skills Sharpeners: Geography engages your child in exploring the world while learning important map skills and geography concepts. The cross-curricular activities integrate the most current geography standards. Each geography topic includes nonfiction reading selections, comprehension questions, vocabulary practice, writing prompts, and authentic activities that bring the concepts to life. These activities invite your child to be creative while using higher-order thinking skills. The reading selections and activities take students beyond basic geographic understandings and into unique ecosystems, biomes, places and regions, histories, cultures, and social movements within our world. Students make personal connections to their learning by completing expository and creative writing activities as well as hands-on geography projects. Engaging concepts covered include: - Storms on Earth - Special places on Earth - Iceland - Unique trees - Death Valley and deserts - Landform maps - Colliding plates - Altitudes - Immigration - Angel Island - UNESCO - Dealing with water - Scuba diving - Sea pirates - Sea travel Includes answer key.