My Big List of Activities and Resources for Geography Awareness Week
This week is Geography Awareness Week. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year! Every year at this time I publish an updated list of some of my favorite games, activities, tools, and lessons to promote geography awareness. Here’s my updated list for 2021. The first place to start a search for geography awareness […]
NatGeo MapMaker – Create, Share, and Print Custom Maps
National Geographic MapMaker is a nice mapping tool that I’ve been using and recommending for years. It was recently updated with an improved user interface, additional data sets, and more annotation tools. With NatGeo MapMaker you can create custom maps to display datasets, to compare datasets, to illustrate collerelations, and to illustrate points. National Geographic […]
A Game and a Crash Course on Weathering and Erosion
The Crash Course for Kids YouTube channel offers overviews of various topics including weather. Weathering and Erosion is the topic of one of the more recent releases on Crash Course for Kids. In the video students will see a comparison of Cape Cod’s coastline in 1984 and 2014. That image combined with the commentary does a great […]
It’s Sea Turtle Week – Five Short Lessons
Earlier this week when I was checking the weather forecast on NOAA.gov I noticed a banner announcing that this week is Sea Turtle Week. Prior to that I didn’t know that there is a Sea Turtle Week. None-the-less it reminded me of the time that I witnessed sea turtles nesting in Costa Rica and it […]
Full Episodes of National Geographic Specials
I’ve been a fan of National Geographic for as long as I can remember. I got hooked early in elementary school by looking through the years and years of magazines in our school library. As I got older I looked forward to the magazine being delivered to my house. And now I look forward to […]
Best Job Ever – National Geographic Stories About Interesting Jobs
National Geographic’s YouTube channel is one of my favorites because of the variety of interesting playlists it offers. One of those playlist is called Best Job Ever. The playlist features short stories about people who have interesting jobs that are primarily in the outdoors. These are primarily jobs incorporating some kind of conservation and or awareness […]
Journey Into the Deep Sea – Neat Nat Geo VR Experience
Earlier this year I featured National Geographic’s fantastic playlist of 360 degree immersive videos that can be experienced with or without a virtual reality viewer. Recently, National Geographic added another excellent video to that collection. That video is Journey Into the Deep Sea. Journey Into the Deep Sea is a nine minute underwater tour of […]
50 National Geographic 360 Videos
Watching 360 degree videos is probably my favorite thing to do with my Google Cardboard viewer. A lot of people don’t realize that a Cardboard viewer can be used for more than just Google Expeditions. For example, National Geographic’s YouTube channel contains fifty 360 videos featuring things like Mount Everest, glaciers in Iceland, elephants, sea […]
Expedition Everest – 360 Video from National Geographic
National Geographic has one of my favorite YouTube channels. I’ve been fascinated with Mount Everest for as long as I can remember That’s why I was excited yesterday when Nat Geo published a new 360 video about a scientific expedition to Mount Everest. Expedition Everest: The Mission is a five minute overview and introduction to […]
Volcanoes 101 – Updated
A few years ago National Geographic published a video titled Volcanoes 101. Last month they published a new video with the same name. The new Volcanoes 101 explains the types of volcanoes, their shapes, common locations, and what causes volcanoes to erupt. On a related note, The BBC has a series of interactive guides that explain how […]
50 Years of Migration Waves
This morning while reading a National Geographic article about animal migrations in national parks I stumbled onto a related feature titled Migration Waves. Migration Waves is a series of graphs depicted the movement of humans between countries between the years 1967 and 2017. The graphs on Migration Waves are grouped according to four factors that […]
Deserts 101 – A Nice Nat Geo Lesson
National Geographic offers a good series of more than one hundred YouTube videos designed to provide viewers with concise explanations of the big concepts of a variety of topics in science. The series includes videos about volcanoes, plastics creation and recycling, the solar system, and invasive species. The latest video added to the National Geographic […]
A Brief History of Yellowstone – A Video Your Students Could Easily Create
National Geographic recently published a new video titled A Brief History of Yellowstone. The video hits almost all of the key points in the history of Yellowstone becoming the first national park in the U.S. Unfortunately, the video isn’t terribly interesting to watch. That’s a statement coming from a person who will watch PBS documentaries […]
Two Lessons About Invasive Species and the Threats They Pose
My favorite bike training ride goes through a portion of the White Mountains National Forest on the Maine-New Hampshire border. As you enter the forest you’ll see reminders about not bringing in firewood from outside of the area. The reason for the reminders is to prevent the spread of invasive insects that can damage the […]
Sun, Moon, and Planets 101
National Geographic’s YouTube channel has an excellent playlist that is titled National Geographic 101. As you might guess, the playlist is full of short overviews of the basics of a wide variety of topics in science and geography. In National Geographic 101 you will find short videos about Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Earth, Mercury, Mars, Pluto, […]
Three Tools for Creating Custom Maps Without a Google Account
Google’s My Maps is a great tool for designing custom maps. The problem with it is that students can only save their work if they have Google accounts. If your school uses G Suite for Education that’s probably not a problem, but it is a problem for students who don’t have G Suite accounts. If […]
Plastics 101 – National Geographic Lesson
From the top of your coffee cup to the laptop or phone you’re using right now, our daily lives are full of plastic. How did we get to this point? How is plastic made? What can be done to reduce the impact of our plastic-infused lives? Those questions and more are addressed in a National […]
Short Lessons on the Longest Day of the Year
The summer solstice is just a couple of days away. Many refer to this as the “longest day of the year” when they really mean “longest period of daylight in a day.” But that’s beside the point of this post which is to share a few handy resources that can help kids understand the summer […]
Map-based Stories from National Geographic
GeoStories are short, map-based stories featured on National Geographic Education. The stories combine text, maps, and pictures to tell a story as a series of slides connected to placemarks on maps. National Geographic Education currently offers twenty-three GeoStories. The current GeoStories cover subjects in the areas of politics, ecology, music, and exploration. Applications for Education Even […]
Open Explorer – Follow Along on National Geographic Expeditions
Open Explorer is a new offering from National Geographic that is designed to let anyone follow along on exploration expeditions around the world. When you visit the site you will see a big “get started” button on the homepage. Scroll down past that to see an interactive map representing the locations of more than 400 […]
National Geographic Publishes Fun Facts About All National Parks
As the weather warms in North America more visitors arrive in the 59 U.S. National Parks. Acadia National Park here in Maine is crowded in the summer so come visit in the winter to see another side of the first national park created from land donated to the federal government. That fun fact is one […]
Ancient Rome 101 and Life as a Roman Teenager
National Geographic has a great series of YouTube videos called National Geographic 101. The most recent addition to that series is Ancient Rome 101. The video provides an excellent introduction to the origin, rise, and fall of the Roman Empire. The length and substance of the video makes it an ideal candidate for inclusion in […]
Ancient Egypt 101 – A Six Minute Primer
Ancient Egypt 101 is a new video produced by National Geographic. The video doesn’t reveal any new information or go into any great detail. What it does provide is a concise overview of the history of ancient Egypt and how some aspects of ancient Egyptian culture are still present today. Applications for Education One of […]
Free Wall Maps for Your Classroom
Like good manners and flannel shirts, wall maps never go out of style. If you need some new maps to put on the walls of your classroom, take a look at the free maps that National Geographic offers. Nat Geo Map Maker kits provide teachers with files for printing wall maps, table top maps, and […]
Cool Fellowships for Teachers
One of the coolest professional development opportunities that I know of is the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program. It is an annual program administered by National Geographic. This unique professional development program, open to teachers in the U.S. and Canada takes teachers on field work expeditions to interesting places all over the world. Some of the places teachers […]
Current Events Sites for Students
CNN Student News, now called CNN 10, is one of the most popular sites for student news and current events, but there are many other sites out there that are worth taking a look at. Here are some of the ones that I have used over the last couple of years. KidsPost– This is associated […]
National Geographic 101
National Geographic 101 is a nice series of videos produced by National Geographic. The videos in the series provide short (2-5 minutes) explanations of an array of science topics including space science, geology, and weather. The sample that I have embedded below is Volcanoes 101. Applications for Education All of the videos in this series […]
Hone Geography Skills With These Fun Games
Yesterday, I received an email from Kahoot that featured six games they are promoting along with National Geographic. The games are intended to help students brush-up on their knowledge of U.S. and world geography. You can find those games here in the public gallery in Kahoot. I played a couple of the games and found […]
40 Years of Snow Data
The Snow Guardian is an interesting short film featured on National Geographic’s YouTube channel. The film features billy barr (he chooses not to capitalize his name) who has lived alone on Gothic Mountain in Colorado for more than 40 years. For all but one of those years he has kept detailed, daily records of the […]
What’s in Dry-Erase Markers? – How Do They Work?
Even in the most tech-laden schools you can still walk into almost any classroom and find a dry-erase marker and whiteboard. Whether it’s to write a reminder for your students or to spell out a key term, it’s quick and easy to scribble on whiteboard. But what is in those dry-erase markers we use? And […]
Apply for a National Geographic Teaching Adventure
The Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program is an annual program administered by National Geographic. This unique professional development program, open to teachers in the U.S. and Canada takes teachers on field work expeditions to interesting places all over the world. Some of the places teachers could go through the program include Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and […]
Neat Resources for Learning About Yellowstone
This month’s issue of National Geographic Magazine is all about Yellowstone National Park. The magazine’s website has some excellent articles, videos, and interactive graphics about the animals and geology of the park. Unfortunately, about half of the resources on National Geographic Magazine’s website are restricted to people who have paid for a subscription to the […]
Why Do Some Birds Eat Dirt? – National Geographic Explains
National Geographic’s YouTube channel includes a fun playlist of short videos about interesting science facts. The playlist is called Today I Learned or TIL for short. In the playlist you will find videos that answer questions like “why is the ocean salty?” and “why do some birds eat dirt?” The answer to “why do some […]
A Lesson on Bears and Punnett Squares
A recent conversation with a friend about black bears in our neighborhood (neighborhood is a relative term as I live on a six acre woodlot) reminded me about a neat National Geographic article that I read about five years ago. Back then National Geographic magazine had a cover story about the “Spirit Bears” of British Columbia. […]
Animal Migrations in Yellowstone National Park
National Geographic recently published a great video containing remarkable footage of elk, pronghorn antelope, and mule deer migrations in Yellowstone National Park. The short video describes the length and direction of the migrations made by these beautiful animals. Make sure you turn up the volume to hear the sounds of the elk, mule deer, and […]
Best Job Ever – Short Stories About Outdoor Jobs #bestjobever
National Geographic’s YouTube channel has a relatively new playlist called #bestjobever. The playlist features short stories about people who have interesting jobs that are primarily in the outdoors. These are primarily jobs incorporating some kind of conservation and or awareness missions. The playlist is embedded below. The first video in the series is about photographing […]
Today I Learned – Fun Facts Featured in National Geographic Videos
National Geographic’s YouTube channel includes a fun playlist of short videos about interesting science facts. The playlist, called Today I Learned or TIL for short, is comprised of 60 to 90 second videos on things like “why is the ocean salty?” and “how chameleons change color.” The playlist is embedded below. Applications for Education The […]
Three Thematic Mapping Tutorials
This morning on the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook page I received a question from someone seeking a thematic mapping tool that her students can use. My initial thought was to use Google’s My Maps tool. Recognizing that not everyone is in love with Google products, I will also frequently suggest using National Geographic’s Map […]