7: Storypath: Teaching Geographic Thinking to Young Learners Through a Project-Based Approach to Creating a Community Park

In this chapter, the authors describe how to engage elementary students in a project based on the Storypath entitled Solving Problems in the Park. This Storypath helps to develop elementary students’ geographic thinking skills as well as providing them with experience to take informed civic action. The authors define what Storypath is, discuss its components when a Storypath unit is implemented in a school, and articulate how elementary students benefit from completing Storypath units. The authors discuss the steps for how elementary students work as park planners who explore, observe, and analyze how geography impacts and interacts with community interests in designing a park within their community.