Middle school geography teachers, have you ever struggled to prepare for a day when you need to be away from school? It’s a common challenge. Not everyone has geography sub plans ready to go when they need to be out.
When you’re not in class, routines can easily fall apart.
A substitute teacher may not know your students, where you are in the curriculum, or they might not be familiar with some of the material.
However, being prepared by having geography sub plans for middle school students can make all the difference.
These plans keep students engaged in geography topics without requiring a significant shift from your curriculum. They include a current events assignment, digital escape rooms, consumer awareness lessons, and non-fiction reading comprehension tasks about global issues.
Geography Middle School Sub Plans
With well-prepared geography sub plans, you can keep your students on track and engaged while you’re away, and the substitute teacher will have an easier time managing the class.
If you want even more tips on how to keep students engaged during geography class, check out this post: 14 Ways To Make Geography Class Fun.
When thinking about geography sub plans, you can:
- Explore mapping skills by discussing concepts like latitude and longitude, map symbols, scale, and map reading through the mapping skills review in the Grade 7/8 Geography Bundle.
- Explore natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, or volcanoes through this Natural Disasters Non-Fiction Article.
- Explore geographical features, diverse cultures, iconic landmarks, and interesting facts about different continents.
- Explore critical environmental issues, such as climate change or plastic pollution.
- Explore Canadian areas of importance with this Canadian Alphabet Activity.
- Explore current events and global issues. Have students research current events through a Current Events Assignment.
- Explore various landforms on Earth, such as mountains, deserts, rainforests, grasslands, and tundras.
- Explore oceans and marine life. Connect ELA with geography with this spoken word poetry lesson of Amanda Gorman’s ‘Ode to Our Ocean.’
- Explore conservation efforts and initiatives worldwide that contribute to protecting the environment through Earth Day resources.
Geography Sub Plans
With these geography sub plans, students will start by watching short videos. They will then listen to a podcast episode on the topic. Students will reflect on their learning with a graphic organizer and a journal entry.
Each of these resources includes:
- Detailed Lesson Plan – Easy to use and ready for any sub!
- Podcast Lesson(s) – Engaging audio content with listening activities.
- Graphic Organizers – These help students organize their thinking.
- Video Links – Helps students visualize concepts.
- Journal Response Question – Encourages reflection and critical thinking.
- Comprehension Activities – Promotes listening comprehension.
- Printable & Digital Formats – Flexible for in-person or remote learning.
Solar Panels
This solar panels resource introduces students to solar panels through a multimedia lesson that includes videos, a non-fiction article, and a podcast episode.
Perfect for a geography, science, or ELA classroom, this lesson encourages critical thinking, reading comprehension, and class discussions while exploring the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy. This lesson will likely need two class periods to complete fully.
You can find the Solar Panels Geography Sub Plans on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Housing Trends
This housing trends resource introduces students to housing trends through a multimedia lesson that includes videos, two podcast episodes and a real-world task.
Perfect for a geography or ELA classroom, this lesson encourages critical thinking and comprehension while exploring housing trends. This lesson will most likely need two class periods to fully complete.
You can find the Housing Trends Geography Sub Plans on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Artificial Intelligence Energy Use
This Artificial Intelligence resource introduces students to the reality that artificial intelligence requires a huge amount of electricity and other resources to run its server farms through a multimedia lesson that includes videos, a podcast episode and comprehension activities.
Perfect for a geography, science or ELA classroom, this lesson encourages critical thinking and comprehension while exploring the environmental Impact of artificial intelligence.
You can find the Artificial Intelligence Energy Use Geography Sub Plans on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Non-Fiction Articles
Non-fiction articles are an excellent addition to your geography sub plans. The ones shown below are about high-interest geography topics, natural disasters and plastic pollution. These resources are not only great for substitutes or supply teachers, but could also be helpful for your regular lessons.
Teachers can use all 2 Peas and a Dog non-fiction articles with this Article of the Week Differentiated Lessons program and these Non-Fiction Graphic Organizers. Each non-fiction resource comes with one non-fiction article and three reading activities to assist with reading comprehension and cross-curricular learning.
- Article of the Week Differentiated Lessons – Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD
- Non-Fiction Graphic Organizers – Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD
Natural Disasters Non-Fiction Article
In this Natural Disasters Non-Fiction Article, students will learn about various natural disasters (hurricanes, tsunamis, blizzards) and the damage they cause. This resource contains one non-fiction article and three post-reading activities to assist with reading comprehension and cross-curricular learning.
Resource Includes:
- Teacher lesson plan
- Pre-reading K-W-L chart
- 1 Non-fiction article (regular and modified versions)
- An audio file (MP3) of each article (regular and modified versions)
- 3 Post-reading activities: comprehension questions, grammar questions (2 options: paper and self-grading Google Forms), long answer writing response
- Individual PDFs of student pages to assist with online learning, e.g. Google Classroom
- Google Slides formatted lessons for a 1:1 school
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“I loved article of the week activities. Perfect for a supply and a great way to develop our reading skills.” – Presley S.
You can find the Natural Disasters Non-Fiction Article on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Plastic Pollution Non-Fiction Article
In this non-fiction article about plastic pollution, students will learn about the history of plastic and the pollution it creates around the world. This resource contains one non-fiction article and three post-reading activities to assist with reading comprehension and cross-curricular learning.
Resource Includes:
- Teacher lesson plan
- Pre-reading K-W-L chart
- 1 Non-fiction article (regular and modified versions)
- An audio file (MP3) of each article (regular and modified versions)
- 3 Post-reading activities: comprehension questions, grammar questions (2 options: paper and self-grading Google Forms), long answer writing response
- Individual PDFs of student pages to assist with online learning, e.g. Google Classroom
- Google Slides formatted lessons for a 1:1 school
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“Students loved this unit. I used this in my informational text unit. We, (my students and I) were surprised at what we learned with this resource.” – LaJuliet Y C.
You can find the Plastic Pollution Non-Fiction Article on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Current Events Assignment
Current Events Assignment
Students need to be informed about current events happening in our world. In this NO PREP activity, students examine online or print news sources to report on a current event for their class. Teachers can use this current events assignment with any non-fiction news article or text.
Resource Includes:
- Teacher lesson plan (using the gradual release model – modelled, shared, and independent)
- Student assignment sheet
- Graphic organizers
- Answer keys for modelled and shared lessons
- Rubric Assessment
- Points-Based Assessment
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“Another great resource that is super user-friendly and made my planning so much easier. Can easily use again and again with whatever is happening in the world to make it current and relevant with your students.” – Rebecca F.
You can find the Current Events Assignment on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Digital Escape Rooms
Digital escape rooms are the perfect activity not only to add to your geography sub plans but also to help build community with cooperative learning and engage students in social-emotional learning for 6th, 7th, or 8th grade. This digital escape room should take your students about 30 minutes to 60 minutes to complete from start to finish.
Each of these digital escape rooms comes with:
- Digital Escape Room with 10 Challenges (“locks”)
- Detailed teacher directions in text and video format
- Answer Key
- Student Instructions
Canada Digital Escape Room
This Canada Digital Escape Room provides students with the opportunity to work independently or with their peers to solve 10 Canada-themed challenges. Students must solve these required challenges to “escape” from the train that they have accidentally gotten locked in.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“This was such a fun activity! My students thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Canada in a creative and engaging way. It was a task in which all students could participate!” – Carolyn Y.
You can find the Canada Digital Escape Room on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Christmas Digital Escape Room
Christmas and geography? This digital escape room isn’t just Christmas-themed, but it’s about Christmas traditions around the world.
This Christmas Digital Escape Room provides students with the opportunity to work independently or with their peers to solve 10 Christmas/world geography-focused challenges. Students must solve these required challenges to find the escaped gingerbread men as they travel around the world to avoid capture. The clues relate to global Christmas traditions or general knowledge of world geography.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“I purchased this resource to fit in between the chaos of the holidays, but my kids LOVED it! It was engaging and it really encouraged them to work together and use the resources (map, globe) around the class. Will definitely use again!” – Jennifer K.
You can find the Christmas Digital Escape Room on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Earth Day Digital Escape Room
This Earth Day Digital Escape Room allows students to work independently or with their peers to solve 10 Earth-themed challenges. Students must solve the challenges to “escape” the school storage shed they accidentally got locked in. Participants will use their reading and listening comprehension skills and any general knowledge about the environment and sustainable living to solve each escape room challenge.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“This was great! My students found learning about Earth Day this way fun. They were engaged the whole time, and their curiosity was aroused -bonus!” – Teaching at the Shore
You can find the Earth Day Digital Escape Room on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Reading Comprehension Lessons
This reading comprehension lesson is an excellent addition to your geography sub plans and was written specifically for use with substitute teachers in mind. All you do is upload it to a secure online location and share it with your sub. Then, students can complete the engaging before, during, and after reading/viewing activities.
This reading and writing comprehension lesson is about climate change. Students will watch videos about climate change and read articles about its effects and how to act on it. They will then answer comprehension questions about what they watched and read. Students will then choose a journal topic related to their learning to write about.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“Always a great resource from TwoPeasAndADog. Very helpful as we transition from Geography to History and need filler activities.” – Patricia D.
You can find the Middle School ELA Sub Plans – Topic: Climate Change on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Media Literacy: Consumer Awareness Lessons
As consumers, we make countless choices every day – which brand to buy, where to shop, what to eat, or how much to pay for an item. These decisions shape our daily lives. Students, too, are consumers, and they need to learn how to think critically about the advertising messages they encounter regularly.
These geography sub plans are not only great for a sub, but they’ll help your students develop a deeper understanding of media literacy and consumer awareness.
Media Literacy: Consumer Awareness Lesson – Bottled Water
Learning about bottled water and how important water is around the world is something all students should know. Some people have easy access to water, whereas others have to trek miles to get drinking water.
This media literacy and consumer awareness lesson will help your students develop a deeper understanding of the impact of drinking bottled water. This engaging lesson covers the hidden materials (microplastics) in bottled water and examines five popular brands.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“I really liked this resource, it is very accessible for students and combines with topics in Geography/Science well.” – Jennifer R.
You can find the Media Literacy: Consumer Awareness Lesson – Bottled Water on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Media Literacy: Consumer Awareness Lesson – Food Prices in Northern Canada
This engaging lesson is a fantastic addition to your geography sub plans, as it will help your students learn about the differences in food prices in different areas of Canada.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“My students really enjoyed the consumer awareness lessons, and in particular, responded very well to this one. They were absolutely shocked by the price discrepancies, and the activities generated strong discussion in class.” – Jennifer R.
You can find the Media Literacy: Consumer Awareness Lesson – Food Prices in Northern Canada on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Media Literacy: Consumer Awareness Lesson – Plastic Waste
Plastic waste is an issue across the globe. This engaging media literacy and consumer awareness lesson will help your students develop a deeper understanding of media literacy and consumer awareness by learning how much plastic waste packaging produces.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this resource:
“Great work sheets for English class! Combines media, reading, and writing into two days worth of work.” – SisterCreators
You can find the Media Literacy: Consumer Awareness Lesson – Plastic Waste on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Additional Geography Resources
It’s always a good idea to have engaging and interesting geography sub plans- but engaging geography lessons are just as important. Teach geography without relying on a textbook with these resources for middle school geography.
Grade 7 Geography Bundle Ontario Curriculum
In this Grade 7 Geography Bundle, teachers are provided with 39 in-depth lessons to help their students explore and understand physical patterns in a changing world and natural resources across the globe.
Topics include landforms, water systems, vegetation regions, climate regions, challenges presented by the physical environment, extraction types, issues, methods, perspectives on use, the impact of use, environmental concerns, and energy types.
Unit Includes:
- 39 Engaging Lessons covering both Strand A and Strand B
- Teacher Slideshow to guide instruction
- Audio MP3 Files for accessible student readings
- Google Slides™ of Student Pages for digital learning
- Daily Lesson Plans with clear, easy-to-follow pacing
- Student Choice Activities and Differentiated Tasks
- Inquiry-Based Learning to foster critical thinking
- Graphic Organizers and Case Studies
- Summative Assessments, Unit Tests, and Rubrics
- Answer Keys and varied Assessment Formats
- Ready-to-Go Sub Plans (Solar Panels & AI Energy Use)
- Individual PDFs for Google Classroom™ integration
- Curriculum Alignment Guide to connect lessons with 2023 Ontario expectations
- Editable Report Card Comments aligned to curriculum expectations to support efficient, accurate, and personalized student reporting
Here’s what a teacher has said about this bundle:
“I love, love, love these materials. I had never taught geography before 4 years ago and I really had no idea where to start. This bundle had everything I needed. The materials are easy to use. The lesson notes are great. The video links are wonderful. I feel very successful using this bundle!” – Pam T.
You can find the Grade 7 Geography Bundle on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Do you have students working below grade level? Check out the Grade 7 Geography Modified Bundle that complements this bundle for students who have a modified IEP or are modified ELL students. You can find it on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Grade 8 Geography Bundle Ontario Curriculum
In this Grade 8 Geography Bundle, teachers are provided with 38 in-depth grade 8 geography lessons to help their students explore and understand global settlement patterns and their effect on the environment, as well as lessons on economic development and quality of life.
Topics include mapping patterns, learning about why and what geography is, global settlement patterns, spatial patterns and environmental impacts in human settlement, settlement factors, and world map assignments.
Unit Includes:
- 38 In-Depth Lessons – Your lesson planning is done.
- Daily Lesson Plans – Stay organized and save prep time.
- Editable Teacher Slideshow (Google Slides™) – A ready-to-use and customizable visual presentation to guide instruction and keep lessons organized and engaging
- MP3 Audio Files – Support auditory learners and reinforce key content.
- Google Slides™ + Individual PDFs – Perfect for digital or blended classrooms.
- Graphic Organizers – Help students organize information visually.
- Student Choice & Inquiry Activities – Foster engagement and ownership of learning
- Differentiated Tasks – Meet the diverse needs of your learners.
- Assessment Rubrics + Answer Keys – Simplify grading and feedback.
- Summative Assessments – Mid-unit and final tests with answer keys.
- Ready-to-Use Sub Plans – Includes “Cost of Living Podcast Activities” and “Charitable Celebrities” activity, perfect for emergency plans.
- Curriculum Alignment Guide – Connect lessons with 2023 Ontario expectations
- Editable Report Card Comments – Aligned to curriculum expectations to support efficient, accurate, and personalized student reporting
You can find the Grade 8 Geography Unit Bundle on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this bundle:
“What a life saver, no prep required! Easy to skim through and choose components that will work best for your group, or use it all. Lots of quality information and kept students engaged and thinking critically.” – Stephanie K.
Do you have students working below grade level? Check out the Grade 8 Geography Modified Bundle that complements this bundle for students who have a modified IEP or are modified ELL students. You can find it on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Grade 7 and 8 Geography Bundle Ontario Curriculum
With this bundle, teachers are provided with 77 in-depth and engaging lessons to help their students explore and understand key concepts in physical and human geography.
Topics covered are related to landforms and climate, global settlement patterns, sustainability, quality of life, and economic development.
Resource Includes:
- 77 Comprehensive Lessons – Eliminate planning stress with a full suite of ready-made lessons.
- Split Grade Teaching Guide – A side-by-side planning tool that clearly outlines what to teach each grade and when – perfect for managing split Grade 7/8 classrooms with ease.
- Daily Lesson Plans – Stay on track and save valuable prep time each day.
- Editable Teacher Slideshow (Google Slides™) – Lead instruction with ease using a customizable and visual presentation.
- MP3 Audio Files – Enhance content retention and support auditory learners.
- Google Slides™ + Printable PDFs – Ideal for both digital and in-person learning environments.
- Graphic Organizers – Empower students to make sense of information through visual structure.
- Student Choice & Inquiry-Based Activities – Spark curiosity and encourage active participation.
- Differentiated Learning Tasks – Reach learners with activities designed for diverse needs.
- Assessment Rubrics & Answer Keys – Streamline grading and provide clear feedback.
- Mid-Unit & Final Assessments – Ready-to-go tests with answer keys for easy evaluation.
- Emergency Sub Plans – Engaging, relevant topics like solar panels, AI energy use, housing trends and charitable celebrities – perfect for last-minute planning.
- Curriculum Alignment Guide – Linked to the 2023 Ontario curriculum expectations.
- Editable Report Card Comments – Save time with pre-written, curriculum-aligned comments that can be personalized quickly.
You can find the Grade 7/8 Geography Unit Bundle on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Here’s what a teacher has said about this bundle:
“This is an incredible source that I love to use in my middle school splits class! When I put the information into slides with fun pictures the students seemed very engaged and it really helped them learn geography in a fun learning environment. Thank you so much for making this resource I will absolutely be buying again” – LibertyTeaches
Do you have students working below grade level? Check out the Grade 7/8 Geography Modified Bundle that complements this bundle for students who have a modified IEP or are modified ELL students. You can find it on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Geography Report Card Comments
Use these 100% editable report card comments for the 2023 Ontario Geography Curriculum and include comments for Strands A & B. The comments are sorted by Levels 1 – 4, strengths, and next steps.
These are available for both Grades 7 and 8 Geography lessons.
These comments are:
- 100% Editable
- Google Docs™ Format
- Comment Bank
- Next Steps
- Strands A & B
- Ontario Curriculum Aligned
Here’s what teachers have said about this resource:
“Helped with creating my term 2 reports, using the geography package along with these report comments. This makes report writing much easier!” – Kathryn E. (Grade 7 Geography Report Card Comments)
“This made my report card writing a breeze! I was able to easily put together some great comments for my students with this resource. Thank you!” – Music with Mrs Sandoval (Grade 8 Geography Report Card Comments)
You can find the Grade 7 Geography Report Card Comments and Grade 8 Geography Report Card Comments on Teachers Pay Teachers USD or Shopify CAD.
More Substitute Teacher Advice
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- Preparing for a Substitute Teacher
- Helpful Tips on How to Prepare For a Substitute Teacher
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