Sean is the project coordinator of educational maps for National Geographic Education. When he's not creating maps or advising his colleagues on mapping issues, he enjoys researching history, canoeing and kayaking, and exploring the world around him. Besides his work at National Geographic, Sean helps run a non-profit focused on educational development in the West African nation of Liberia. Sean challenges blog readers to find Liberia on a map and take a moment to learn about its fascinating history.
When was the last time you went on a voyage of discovery? Not a voyage you set out on to discover yourself--although you never know what you'll learn about yourself when you let yourself learn--but a voyage to discover some place new. I'm not talking about a voyage to Paris, France or to Papua New Guinea, but the type of trip you can take on a Saturday afternoon. The theme of this year's Geography Awareness Week is Get Lost in Mapping: Find Your Place in the World. Why not try getting lost in your own city or town and see what kind of hidden gems might be waiting for you. Well, you don't have to get completely lost--bring a map with you!
Kristi is a teacher consultant and Public Engagement Coordinator from Michigan.
Years have passed since more concerted efforts have been put in place to teach more geography. We have seen the extraordinary efforts of the National Geographic Society and the formation of Geographic Alliances all across our country. We have seen countless teachers trained in innovative, exciting, and practical geographic methods head back to their classrooms to share with countless colleagues and students their new found love for geography. We have seen the emergence of the grassroots efforts to promote and spread geography through My Wonderful World. So, why is it still so hard to understand states and other places on the map?
Examples abound of the misuse of simple and basic fundamentals of state names. I find myself laughing in order to keep from crying. During a recent phone conversation at a national insurance company, the sales representative asked the young mother to give her state of residence. She answered, "Kansas City." When told that Kansas City was not a state, she replied that she lived in Wyandotte. Again the representative told her that that was not a state. Her reply? "That's what they told me." Who would tell anyone that Wyandotte was a state? I can maybe see mixing up the words county and country but not county and state! Where was this child in elementary school or middle school when others learned about our 50 states? Daily the sales representatives have people tell them their state of residence is, "Chicago" or "Atlanta." Indeed these are important cities, but they are not states.
Saraswathi and daughter Aakriti live in Hyderabad, India. Aakriti is in 5th grade at the Hyderabad Public School (Begumpet), and wrote this post about a vacation with her family.
My family and I had gone for a holiday to a valley called Araku valley. This valley is about three hours drive from the famous port 'Visakapatanam', also known as Vizag. The drive from Vizag to Araku is full of coffee and pepper plantations, which makes it wonderful. Forty kilometers from Araku valley, there is a huge cave called the 'Borra Caves'.
It was raining all through our journey, but had just stopped raining when we reached the caves. We got the entry tickets which was one hundred rupees per head for adults and fifty rupees per head for children. The entrance had stalls all around it that made it look like a market place indeed!
Victoria is a professional blogger; Argentinian living in Spain, former travel agent and tour conductor. She likes to write/blog and spends much time reading about environmental matters and tourism trends. Positive; loves the beach, the sun and sound of the sea. Always looking for something new to learn. Curious, active, connected. Concerned about the future. Mother of two incredible daughters.
We throw ourselves to the road in order to travel, to know, to learn. This experience is basically based on Geography and Culture. We travel to know other cities, traditions or people, to get in touch with other points of view, different religions or philosophy. To marvel at human work shown at a museum or offered in a typical meal. Everything is culture.
And it is placed on our planet, a real, tangible background providing the scenery where we can get in touch with it.
Geographic conditions may determine our travel experience.
Hurricane or typhoon season will condition the moment of the year when we will travel to the Caribbean or Southeast Asia. Temperatures will clearly limit our plans to wander around North Canada, to cross the heart of Australia or to sail to the Antarctica.
Dr. Prasanna Sriya is a dentist from Chennai, India. She writes on Wildlife and related issues, as well as short and simple poems for children.
Greetings to one and all,
I am sure you would know us by our call.
We came to planet Earth much before modern man,
His arrival at various parts of the Earth,
Triggered our problem sooner than it can.
One might ask what have we lost,
To list a few, this is what we have got:
Our Brothers and Sisters were aimlessly shot as a sport,
Because he failed to apply his thought.
Marilyn is a Public Engagement Coordinator for North Dakota. The Will-Moore School in Bismarck is holding a GeoFest this weekend, and Marilyn gave us a sneak-peak into this awesome event!
The North Dakota Geographic Alliance (NDGA) is excited to present the Geography Action! Europe Toolkit and other fantastic resources at a GeoFest to be held Saturday, November 21, 2009 at Will-Moore School in Bismarck, North Dakota. This event is open to K-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, and anyone interested in knowing more about the world around you.
The first 50 registrants will receive a National Geographic beach ball. Door prizes include a Goode's Student World Atlas, a laminated world map and laminated USA map. Everyone who registers will receive a folded Europe wall map. Toolkits from Geography Awareness Week 2008-2009 on Mapping the Americas will be available. All registrants will receive a one-year free membership to the North Dakota Geographic Alliance that qualifies them for a full year of news, resources and opportunities in the world of geography.
Participants are invited to come early and see displays, geography-related literature, play Geo-games and take part in self-guided geography activities in the school gym.
Three presentations (approx. 25 minutes each) will include an online introduction to the My Wonderful World and Geography Action! websites--"Hats On! to Geography" and "Spice Up Your Life With Geography," concluding with geography ideas and lessons for the classroom. The finale session will feature a "Mapping Europe Toolkit" activity using the tile floor map of Europe. All activities lend themselves to participation and movement.
During the closing session there will be door prizes and geo-trivia. At the conclusion of the Geo Fest, participants will be offered a sampling of foods from around the world, contributed largely by area residents with backgrounds from different countries and cultures.
Registrants are invited to bring items from home with a cultural or geographical story that will be added to the displays.
Joseph serves as Education Manager for Environmental Systems Research Institute. ESRI is a company dedicated to making and supporting GIS software that people use to teach and learn about geography, and to make wise decisions around the world in business, engineering, academia, government, nonprofits, and beyond. Joseph confesses that he is a Geography Geek, with three degrees in Geography and having served 21 years as Geographer at the USGS and the US Census Bureau.
For centuries, the study of geography and the maps geographers have created have stirred imaginations and inspired explorations of the unknown. Nowadays, thousands of new maps are created each week in digital form, making it easier than ever to explore topics and regions of our wonderful and complex world. These maps can be explored with Web GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and with desktop GIS, in 2-D and 3-D, at an infinite variety of scales. Let's investigate some real-world issues with a sample of these resources.
Maps show spatial relationships among climate, vegetation, population, landforms, river systems, land use, soils, natural hazards, and more. They help us investigate the "whys of where"--the essence of scientific and geographic inquiry. However, maps aren't confined to learning about geography. Imagine an epidemiologist studying the spread of diseases, a scientist studying caribou habitat, or a businessperson siting a new retail establishment. In each case, maps are critical tools for studying and solving real problems on a daily basis.
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