Geography instruction must become an integral part of the high school curriculum. A number of recent state, national, and international surveys have shown the serious results of neglect of geography education, particularly with regard to international knowledge and understanding. For example, in a recent survey of 3000 undergraduates in 185 American 2- and 4-year colleges conducted by the Educational Testing Service, the mean score for the entire sample was 43 out of a total 101. Geographic education is vital to correct the ignorance about our own country and the world and to give future generations the knowledge and understanding necessary to manage the earth's resources. Beyond this, it is also important for students to realize that all problems affecting society occur within a geographic context, for example, the loss of agricultural land to urbanization, zoning decisions, the effects of toxic wastes, and geographic segregation of racial groups. As a school subject, geography provides methods for asking questions about places on earth and their relationships to the people who live in them. Geographic inquiry begins with the essential questions: where are things located and why does their location affect us? The Association of American Geographers and the National Council of Geographic Education will soon publish guidelines for K-12 geographic education. These guidelines will suggest how schools can integrate basic geographic concepts into their organized program of studies and identify the knowledge, skills, and perspectives essential to geographic education. (LP)