The Content on the Natural Environment in the Social Studies Curriculum

Abstract

This article deals with the controversy which has arisen as a result of the inclusion of the study of the natural environment in the social science syllabus. It outlines a programme based on four central ideas: the environment as the scenario of human life activities; the environment seen as a risk; the environment's role as a resource; and, finally, environmental impacts resulting from human activities. In the second part some comments are made on the importance of cartography as a genuinely geographical instrument, with a final remark on how the study of the natural environment can help to make pupils more fully aware of the importance of respecting the natural patrimony.