This document is the second curriculum development project of the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. The Alliance focuses on equipping teachers for more effective geographic instruction by providing leadership training so teachers can conduct workshops in local districts, and offering institutes for teachers that focus on important geographic issues, and developing materials for instructional use. This document discusses the five themes of geography (place, location, region, human/environment relationships, and movement) as they fit into three roles that geography fills: (1) geography as world awareness; (2) geography as environmental relationships, or understanding how the ecosystem works; and (3) geography as a perspective, in which one examines current and past events in geographic context. Five geographic niches in the K-12 curriculum are listed. Learning activities for the classroom are divided into sections. The first is centered on disasters. This section begins with natural disasters, moves on to a simulation on the movement of refugees, and ends with manmade disasters. The second section is on ecologically fragile environments. It includes a case study and simulation on desertification, a section and a role play on rainforests, and a section on ways to meet current needs. The third section is about human impact on the environment. Lessons in this section deal with the ecological dangers of monoculture, tourism, biodiversity, case studies in values, culture, and ethics in preserving biodiversity, and selection of nuclear waste disposal sites. The document includes bibliographies, handouts, maps, an index of lesson plans by grade levels, and geothemes. (DK)