GARDEN GROVE : Geography Lesson Clicks for Students

Huddled in front of a large screen displaying a map of the world, dozens of elementary school students gazed intently as Nancy Sanchez, 10, clicked a computer mouse and conjured up a larger display of her birthplace in Mexico.

After locating the spot and seeing its latitude and longitude appear at the top of the screen, Nancy said that learning geography through computers is as easy as it is fun.

Nancy was one of 60 fourth-grade students at Anderson Elementary School who participated Wednesday in a special parents’ night program designed to promote computer literacy, science and geography skills. Sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the “Kids Network” program provides computer software and access to international computer networks free of charge.

Exercises on Wednesday included finding the location of other schools participating in the program based on their latitude and longitude. Students have also been collecting information about the number and type of pets students have at each school to test a hypothesis that climate affects pet ownership.

Through the program, students learn about science by collecting data and sharing it with other students as far away as Great Britain via computer telecommunications. On Wednesday, students sent electronic messages to and shared data with 26 other schools, including ones in Iowa, New York, Colorado, Wisconsin, Louisiana and Great Britain.

“It’s an opportunity for them to learn things from other children in other regions,” said Anderson Principal Gail Borowick. “This is really an exciting way of making learning come alive. They’re excited, and they want to share it with their parents.”

Nine-year-old Virginia Ridgers said, “We learned about their community and learned about their kinds of cars and things.” Still, she added, the computer “makes it look easy, but it takes a lot of work to find the latitude and longitude.”

Virginia’s mother, Patti Gram, 42, said using computers to foster learning makes sense these days because children “take it in stride. They have absolute ease with a computer. It’s like turning on the telly.”

Nancy’s father, Elias Sanchez, 30, said he was awed by the demonstration.

“I really love it,” he said. “Everything impresses me, really. This is going to help them their whole lives.”