Geography Memory Work: Great Lakes Edition

We are not doing a lot of formal geography this year, but I'm planning on working in some geography memory work along with Bible memory and poems.

What kind of memory work?

Well, a couple of lists of rivers and not-as-interesting stuff like that. But also Mama Squirrel's homegrown, catechism-style guide to Finding Stuff On Any Map, using the Great Lakes and other geographical features (like things that stick out) as a guide. Since that's our region, it makes the most sense for us to make use of it; maybe you can figure out something similar if you live somewhere else.

Example: What cities are at each end of Lake Erie? Toledo (Ohio) and Buffalo (New York). Now you know not only two cities, but you have a rough idea of the location of two states, AND you can find them on any map that shows the Great Lakes.

What cities are at each end of Lake Ontario, more or less? Hamilton (Ontario) and Kingston (Ontario--where the lake joins the St. Lawrence).

What cities are at the bottom of Lake Huron? Sarnia (Ontario) and Port Huron (Michigan). I'm not sure that I could have told you exactly where Sarnia was before, but now I know. See, this stuff is good for adult squirrels as well as fifth-graders.

I'm planning on practicing this orally for awhile, and then printing out a blank map and having Crayons/Dollygirl write in the places she's learned. I figure that this is good stuff that's not going to change...it's always useful to have at least a vague idea of where Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto are.

(I found a similar, useful key to finding Burundi, the country that our French curriculum (Mission Monde Level 3) centres on this year. Just find Lake Tanganyika--it's big!--and Burundi is right against its eastern shore where it bends at the top. Look at a map of Africa and you'll see what I mean.)