November 2011 Archives

Xeriscaping [Environmental Geography]
Noun: Xeriscaping is the practice of designing landscapes to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation. This means xeriscaped landscapes need little or no water beyond what the natural climate provides.

Xeriscaping has been embraced in dry regions of the western United States. Prolonged droughts have led water to be regarded as a limited and expensive resource. Denver, Colorado, was one of the first urban areas to support xeriscaping. That city's water department encouraged residents to use less of the city's drinkable water for their lawns and gardens.

Xeriscaping has become widely popular in some areas because of its environmental and financial benefits. The most important environmental aspect of xeriscaping is choosing vegetation that is appropriate for the climate. Vegetation that thrives with little added irrigation is called drought-tolerant vegetation. Xeriscaping often means replacing grassy lawns with soil, rocks, mulch, and drought-tolerant native plant species. Trees such as myrtles and flowers such as daffodils are drought-tolerant plants. (National Geographic Education)

For more information on xeriscaping and how to make your home "greener", check out the National Geographic Green House or see Eartheasy's tips and benefits of xeriscaping.

Photo Credits: Cathey Thomas (Your Shot) & Seana Fenske (Your Shot)
--Julia from My Wonderful World

This Monday Funday Photo of the week takes a look at Guyana, a country situated on the northern coast of South America between Suriname and Venezuela. Guyana's national elections are being held today, November 28, 2011. According to online news source Reuters, Guyana is the region's fourth largest miner of bauxite and also a producer of gold, sugar, and timber, and the country wants to attract more foreign investment to expand its mining sector and improve its infrastructure. Incumbent President Bharrat Jagdeo's ruling People's Progressive Party/Civic, known as the PPP/C, is credited with helping Guyana find its way out of a period of economic chaos in the 1980s which included food shortages, soaring inflation, and crippling foreign debt. The PPP has ruled for two decades and remains the favored party to win the 2011 elections.

Tla'amin (TLAH-ah-mihn) [Human Geography]
noun. people and culture native to the coast of southwestern Canada.

Tla'amin people say they have lived in British Columbia, Canada, "from time immemorial." According to their traditions, they have always lived on the land and used its resources. Their place along the northwest coast has made the marine environment an especially important part of their culture. In the late 1800s, however, laws against using fish traps prevented them from fishing in traditional ways. Later developments took away many of the places where they caught fish and gathered clams.

Today, the Tla'amin are working to regain access to their traditional resources and harvesting locations. They also are turning to traditional knowledge to learn how to manage their marine environment. One way they are doing this is by asking their elders how Tla'amin people used marine resources in the past. Another way is by teaming up with archaeologists, who can unearth artifacts to supplement the elders' knowledge. This information provides insight into how the Tla'amin traditionally managed and used the once-abundant marine resources of the region. (National Geographic Education)

To read more about the Tla'amin people of southwestern Canada, check out the Fishing for Answers. For even further exploration and information, refer to the Tla'amin and Simon Fraser University Archeology and Heritage Project. Also, continue to enjoy the celebrations of  Native American Heritage Month with special resources from Thinkfinity!   

Photo Credits: Your Shot, Warren Stowell & Karen Cooper
--Julia from My Wonderful World

This blog-a-thon submission is an excerpt for the National Geographic News Watch blog. It is written by Andrew Howley as he documents a Tuscon BioBlitz Transect. To access the fully article, follow this link.

With seven days and more than 70 miles of walking and cataloging of plants and animals ahead of him, NG Explorer-in-Residence Mike Fay (right) looks out with Tucson desert vegetation expert and writer Jim Malusa (left) into the foothills of the Rincon Mountains to try to make an early identification of pine species from a distance.
Saguaro National Park consists of two large parks on either side of Tucson, Arizona. The east is very different from the west, and both are obviously different than the city between them. Still, the same birds, bugs, pollen, wind, and water are swirling about them all. They are all part of the same story.

As part of the 2011 BioBlitz in Saguaro, NG Explorer-in-Residence (and University of Arizona alum) J. Michael Fay walked some 70 miles over the course of seven days on a transect across both parts of the park and the city between them, noting the first time he saw each plant species in an area, and identifying and tallying every bird he saw or heard along the way.

The photo gallery above takes you along moment by moment through open landscapes and close-up details. It shows many of the park rangers and local scientists who accompanied Mike for a few miles or days at a time, and reveals highlights of the experiences and knowledge they shared. Soon you will also be able to view the route in Google Earth and see Mike Fay's photos exactly where they were taken. By going through these features, you'll be able to develop a sense of what it is to experience Saguaro National Park or any place in this unique and exciting way.

But Why Walk?

A few mintues of walking with Mike Fay and it's clear that he is not out here as a feat of strength or to set a record or conquer a desert or a mountain. He's here to collect data. He picks an area that people think they know, draws a line across it on a map, and follows that line recording what he sees along the way. Taking this approach, the only way you're going to see everything and have time to write it all down is if you're walking. Any other mode of transport funnels you into existing pathways, gets you moving too fast, and keeps you too far away.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Debbie Glade of Wandering Educators. Debbie reports on some great facts about America's National Parks as she encourages her readers to find the adventure in their own backyards! To read more from Debbie or to access this blog post directly, follow this link.

With summer approaching, many domestic and foreign travelers will be flocking to our National Parks for vacation. The vast landscapes, diverse climates and abundant wildlife America's extensive park system offers are nothing short of spectacular. There are so many options for visitors, that it is almost impossible to choose just one.

• The US National Park Service was established in 1916 through the National Park Service Act, while Woodrow Wilson was President.
• It is managed under the umbrella of the US Department of the Interior.
• Between 1901 and 1909, Franklin D. Roosevelt, known for his dedication to conservation, signed executive orders to establish 5 National Parks and many Historic Sites. He also signed the Antiquities Act, which made it easier for future Presidents to officially declare Historic Sites and Landmarks into the National Park Service.
• In order for a site to be officially named a National Park, it must follow an Executive Order from the President or be an act of Congress.
• There have been 18 Directors of the US National Park Service; in recent years, 2 have been women.
• It takes more than 21,000 employees and more than 145,000 volunteers to run our National Park System, which includes National Parks, Historical Sites and Monuments. The National Park Service could not operate without the help of volunteers.

• The annual budget for the US National Park System is over $2 billion.
• The complete US National Park System covers more than 84 million acres.
• Alaska and California are the states with the most National Parks; each of these states is home to 8 National Parks.
• The largest National Park is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska, with more than 20,000 square miles or 13 million acres. It is known for its picturesque glacier landscapes and is home to many grizzly bears, caribou and Dall sheep.
• With only 9 square miles, the smallest National Park in land size is Arkansas' Hot Springs National Park. A former government operated clinic here was one of the first places in the US to treat patients with penicillin.
• Death Valley is the hottest National Park in the US. This desert reached a record-breaking 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913, making it one of the hottest places on earth.

This blog-a-thon submission is by Sandani, a youth enrolled in ChildFund's programs in Sri Lanka. Sandani writes about the way she views her community and the struggles she faces post the 2004 tsunami. To learn more about ChildFund International and to see more photos from Sandani check out the ChildFund website or follow this link.

The community I live in is Kirinda, situated in the Hambantota district of the southern province of Sri Lanka. It borders both Yala National Park and the sea. It is a community where Singhalese and Muslims live in harmony. Singhalese mainly engage in farming while Muslims do fishing.

Chena cultivation (slash and burn) is the livelihood of about 80 percent of the families in my area. This cultivation solely depends on monsoon rain received from October to February and intermittent showers in March and April. It is a struggle from the day of sowing to the day of harvesting. All the challenges in life that come one after the other like waves, we face with the little income earned from chena.

Though they used to, most of the farmers no longer cut and burn the jungle in Yala National Park. They try to do their farming in harmony with the animals and the environment now. The reason for this is that they know they too will be destroyed if the environment is gone.

The farmers in my community still cultivate using traditional methods. They work both under the sun and rain, no difference. During the farming season all the family members go and stay in a temporary hut built in the cultivation area. This is mainly to protect and look after the crop. All the family members from child to father are involved in the farming. Children help parents in light work while parents do the hard. So the burden of farming is shared between all members of the family. They stay vigilant during night to protect the crops from wild animals such as elephants, boars, deer and cows. This is not a new thing. This is something our farmers have been struggling with for generations now.

Elephant attacks are a threat to many people in our area. The growing population in the village has encroached on the habitat of the elephants and these animals frequently roam around. They sometimes destroy houses and crops. There were number of deaths reported recently because of elephant attacks. Sometimes elephants also lose their lives.

This blog-a-thon excerpt comes from Johnathan Tourtellot, a National Geographic Fellow who writes for National Geographic's Daily News blog.  To access the complete article, follow this link.

In a major step forward, an International Congress in Arouca, northern Portugal, has just decided what "geotourism" means. It's been an issue. What, you never heard of geotourism? Read on. It's about the way we travel. Sometimes it's also about rocks.

Whose "Geo" Goes Into "Geotourism"?
Geographers and geologists usually get along. The two fields are so closely related that universities may put them in the same department. They share the same prefix, geo-, from the Greek, ge, Earth. And that's where the confusion started.

For the past 10 years or so, two different meanings for the neologism "geotourism" have both been growing in acceptance--in different parts of the world, for different reasons. One concept derives from geology. Dr. Thomas Hose, an English geologist, is said to have first proposed that tourism focused on geological features be called "geotourism." In tourism-industry parlance, that's a niche market.

The other concept derives from "geography." National Geographic has defined geotourism as "tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place--its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents." ("Environment" includes geology, of course, but it's not explicit.) This concept is an approach, rather than a focus on a single topic.

As the person who introduced that sense of the term, I am just a bit biased. The idea was for tourism to help protect places, but I knew some geologists didn't care for the alternate meaning. So when I accepted an invitation to keynote last week's international geological conference, I did so with some trepidation. The organizers wanted to "clarify" the meaning of geotourism. Would I be pelted with rock hammers? ...Keep reading this article here!

Photo Credit: Johnathan Tourtellot

Roni Jones is a liaison for the National Geographic Education Alliance program, and a teaching consultant with nearly 20 years of experience educating students and teachers. In her free time Roni likes to ride her bike, run, snowshoe, hike, and do just about anything outdoors.

Geography is a part of my everyday life.  Not only do I work for National Geographic and advocate for geography education, but I am constantly worried about booking travel, scheduling meetings, and participating in phone conferences across many different time zones.  A working knowledge of geography is vital to me in most situations.  However, today was different. Today I was inspired by geography, inspired by how beautiful my local community is!

Elizabeth Wolzak, an Instructional Designer for National Geographic Education, shared this map with our staff in honor of Geography Awareness Week. Elizabeth, whose parents are Dutch and American, was born in Guatemala and lived there until she was 19.


(From Fodors). "If you want to get the lay of the land before you head out to the country, this unusual relief map depicts Guatemala's precipitous topography. The layout is so immense--1,800 square meters, or 19,500 square feet--that your best view is from an observation tower. What makes it even more amazing is that it was completed in 1905, before satellite and aerial topography, and long before Google Earth. The flashy Spanish-language Web site focuses on the late-19th- and early-20th-century development and construction of the map, a labor of love of engineer (and amateur geographer) Francisco Vela (1859-1909). Altitudes are greatly exaggerated: horizontally, the map uses a 1:10,000 scale, but vertically, it's 1:2,000. The map lies several blocks north of the Old City, not far from the Cervecería Centro Americana and its brewery tour."

Elizabeth on her personal experiences with the Mapa en Relieve:

The Mapa en Relieve is one of the places my parents took all their foreign friends and family (mostly Dutch and American) that came to visit them. Writing about the Mapa en Relieve brings fond memories of the times that we climbed the tower to see the map. My father described the unique features of the Guatemalan territory. He used the map to explain the route we took every weekend on our way to the farm from Guatemala City to the Pacific coast, near Puerto de San José. I was amazed by the fact that there is a line of 29 volcanoes, one next to each other along the Pacific coast. One of the features that I liked the most was the Lake of Atitlán in the highlands of Guatemala. Three volcanoes surround the lake, it origin is volcanic and it doesn't flow into the ocean.  

This blog-a-thon submission is a summary of a series of Geography Awareness Week themed blogs from ESRI's GIS Education Community Blog. Special thanks to Joseph Kerski, the GIS Education Manager to being so enthusiastic and prolific about Geography Awareness Week! Follow this link to access each of these blog posting in full.

Collecting and Analyzing Field Data within a GIS Environment:
So many map, image, video, and data sources exist along with GIS tools these days that it is tempting to think we can "get by" without doing any fieldwork. Indeed, in these days of educational funding constraints when fieldwork involves high costs, permissions, and effort, these technological resources are extremely welcome and valued as virtual field trip substitutes. But are they truly substitutes?

We on the Esri education team work closely with the education community to promote active fieldwork. Our collaboration with National Geographic on the 2011 Geography Awareness Week promotion is just one example. We have collaborated with the American Geosciences Institute on Earth Science Week and with those promoting "No Child Left Inside" initiatives; we make use of the resources from the Place Based Education Initiative, and we promote the use of probes, GPS, and even smartphones to gather primary data to map and analyze within a GIS environment. Watch my video to examine why fieldwork is important. Even if you cannot get away from campus, you can still collect data right on your own school grounds. Dr Herb Broda's book SchoolYard Enhanced Learning provides excellent ideas on how to do just that.

Explore Your Community: It's Local to Global to Local...
As you celebrate Geography Awareness Week and its theme, "Geography: The Adventure in Your Community," take time to recognize the scale associated with the term "community"--from the intimate geographies of your local neighborhood, and your favorite places to explore there, to the Earth and the treasures and issues it holds for the current 7 billion human inhabitants living on it, and the stories we all share.

Esri, through the lens of several of our colleagues, Allen Carroll (former chief cartographer at National Geographic) and others, has created a place on the Web where Map Stories covering the range of geographies are coming to life and light. These geostories seek to relate to important issues of the moment and others that speak to more enduring, and at times, dismaying topics.

One Map Story that communicates the beauty of our human experience and the planet upon which we depend invites you to explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The nearly 1,000 locations around the world are a mix of cultural and natural areas and features of outstanding value and importance to past, present, and future generations.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from 12 year old Vikas Madhav.  Vikas writes about and photographs the Nilgiri Biosphere in Southern India.

I am more than proud that this is India's first International Biosphere Reserve. It gives me an elated feeling and sense of pride when I think that I have visited some of the reserve forests and national parks that make up the Biosphere.  The places that I visited lie in three southern states in India--the Nilgiri Biosphere lies in the tri-state area of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka in Southern India.

Through my blog and photographs I believe that I can bring about awareness to the rest of the world and to people in India that this vital mass of land needs to be preserved and protected. Any further damage will not just cause a minor change but a disaster, not just to the Western Ghats region, but to the tri- states too, which is something one cannot imagine.
 Through my blog I will try to describe what is common and what is unique to each of these national parks, forest reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries. 

1.    Nagarhole National Park or Rajiv Gandhi National Park - (Karnataka State) is located 94 kilometers (58 mi) from Mysore in Karnataka in South India. Geographical Coordinates of its location - latitudes 12°15'37.69"E and longitudes 76°17'34.4"N. Many patches have been deforested so that wildlife can be seen by tourists in the boat safari. Threats to the national park come from large scale cutting of sandalwood and teak trees, and overgrazing of cattle. Timber smuggling, especially sandalwood smuggling, happens quite extensively here.
Tribal communities- The Jenu Kurubas and the Koragas are the primary inhabitants of this forest area. The government is restricting their entry inside the National park and forest due to multiple factors. The cattle which the tribal people own are the main cause of over grazing; this is one of the primary threats to the grasses of the greener pastures.


Significant populations of the tribal community have adopted the civilized ways of life and have moved out of the forest in the last decade, thanks to relocation efforts by the Government of India and other NGOs operating in this region. For those still in the forest, health is one of the serious problems caused by unhygienic living conditions, lack of access to clean water, undernourishment, malnutrition and superstitious ways of life. Their food habits differ significantly from the civilized communities. They generally consume edible roots and tubers, while occasionally consuming wild animal meat as well.

2.  Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary - (Kerala) - Is in the north-east of Kerala, which is in the southwest of India.  In its Northeast are Nagarhole and Bandipur of Karnataka and in the Southeast is Mudumalai situated in Tamil Nadu. Geographical Coordinates of its location: - 11°42'46.80"N 76°14'30.03"E.  Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is the second largest in the state of Kerala. The sanctuary is separated into two disconnected parts known as the Upper Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in the North and Lower Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in the South. The area in between the two parts was originally a forest region, but it is now occupied primarily by plantations.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from a class of third graders who participated in Geography Awareness Week by making projects that depict their communities and local experiences. To view this video on Youtube, follow this link.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from nineteen year old Fulla of ChildFund International. Fulla was enrolled in ChildFund programs in the mid-1990s, becoming a member of one of ChildFund India's children's clubs when she was 7, and later a youth club member. She united with other girls in the village and participated in social and cultural activities to spread awareness about hygienic practices, personal finance, environmental protection and adolescent health and behaviors.
 
She later completed her schooling and enrolled in a bachelor's of arts program for three years. She also joined National Cadet Corps (NCC) and attained A & B certificates, which are preparation for entering national service. To access Fulla's original blog follow this link.

I live with my parents, along with one sister and one brother. My father is a fisherman and has no land. We have a small house made of mud and wattle. My father manages our family by fishing in nearby river Daya. He sometimes goes to the lake Chilika, which is 30 kms (about 19 miles) distant from our village.

With this meager income it is difficult for my father to maintain our family. He has taken all the initiatives to provide us education. Although my father wanted to bring up my brother highly, the poor economic conditions of our family compelled my brother to give up his studies. He dropped his education after 10th grade and helped father in fishing. But I did not give up my hopes and continued my studies. I was able to complete my secondary education. I have also passed the NCC A & B certifications, which will help me a lot to find a job in the defense area.

During the devastating flood in 1999, we lost our new boat, which we had obtained through a bank loan and borrowing from local moneylenders. My father was depressed and panicked as to how he could clear up all the debts. My grandma died of grief. We got really harassed then. My brother and father set up their minds to go to a distant place for wages. I assured my father to keep patience and not to worry about our family.

I opened a tutoring centre at village community hall and earned a little, but it was insufficient to manage. One of my friends suggested I join in a prawn-processing plant. I had to work in a place far from my village to earn Rs. 3000 (US$66) per month that my father reluctantly allowed. The job compelled me to discontinue my studies. Moreover I sent Rs.2000 (US$45) per month to my family. I stayed there for one year. We were relieved when all our debts cleared.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Manya Kaushik who is in 3rd grade. It is about the adventure of having a snow storm hit South Brunswick, NJ.

In South Brunswick, NJ there was a big storm! In the morning it started to flurry. We never really expected it to snow at all but we were really surprised how much it was snowing; around 10:00am it started to get cold. Then at 11:00am it started to snow! It was snowing all day and all of the places that we had to go got cancelled. In the evening we went to our friends' birthday party and the power went out. When we came back the power was still out. We had to sleep with no heater and it was really cold. The power was out for 36 hours! The power came back on Monday early morning before school started. The power was out because the trees still had leaves and the leaves held the snow. Therefore the trees slanted and fell on all the power lines this was a big storm for South Brunswick that was before Halloween! The End!

Manya Kaushik
Photo Credit: Your Shot, Linda Donahue

Geography Awareness Week is sweeping the nation! Check out some of the local news, activities, and events that are going on around the country for this week's Five for Friday. Awesome job geography lovers!

1. The Trib Local: City of West Chicago Brings Geography Adventure to Pioneer School. The geography education community celebrates Geography Awareness Week in the United States the third week of November with its theme, "Geography: The Adventure in Your Community". It invites participants to see their communities through a geographic lens, discovering new things about the places where they live...To read the rest of the article, follow this link.

2. The Chicago Tribune: And now just a little closer to home. Travel to exotic places is always exciting. New sights to see, new cultures to experience, new history to explore, new architecture to admire. But sometimes in pursuit of the faraway exotic, we overlook the exotic and unusual in our own backyards.

That's what prompted the National Geographic Society to choose "Geography: The Adventure in Your Community" as the theme for Geography Awareness Week, which runs this week. The theme "promotes the idea that the geographic perspective is an important way to understand every community, no matter what size, or how long or briefly one has been a part of it," according to geographyawarenessweek.org...To read the rest of the article, follow this link.

3. The Juneau Empire: Juneau to Celebrate Geography Awareness Week. In celebration of Geography Awareness Week, Nov. 13-19, Juneau will host its first GeoFest, a free family event that draws attention to geo-literacy and the importance of geography education. Geofest will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.

The event will reflect the theme, "Geography: The Adventure in Your Community," highlighting the idea that a geographic perspective can be an important way to understand communities while building geographic skills...To read the rest of this article, follow this link.

Good luck and here in your fifth and FINAL chance to win:

The Clue: This Royal Palace is the largest in Western Europe,  with 2,800 rooms. Name the city and country where it is located. Send your guess to NatGeoEd@ngs.org to win! Satellite Image courtesy GeoEye Foundation.

This blog-a-thon submission comes Stewart and Kristie of The Family Adventure Project who took our Geography Awareness Week theme, The Adventure in Your Community to a new and excitingly spooky place: a local graveyard. Read more about The Family Adventure Project by following this link.

It's National Geography Awareness Week this week and families around the world have been challenged by National Geographic Education to get out and have a geography related adventure in their own community.

Never one to turn down a challenge Stuart decided upon a life or death mission; to visit a place we'd never been to before (thankfully); a place so close and yet so far (hopefully); the local graveyard.

I didn't really want to go and didn't know quite what to expect, other than graves and flowers, but like all good mini adventures, after a bit of stumbling around we did find a message there for us. It wasn't exactly living geography, but in this peaceful place of the dead, in the middle of our thriving village, we did get a clear message from past and perhaps a macabre glimpse of the future.

"Wow. Domino Valley." says Matthew, his adolescent energy subdued, as we stand over a mossy grave in the diluted morning sunshine. Beneath us is a huge tablet of stone; the frontage of a substantial tomb. Within this tomb is a family. This family is the size of our own. We don't know their story and we never met them. All we know is they lived in our village, long before we were born, and died within a few years of each other. A whole family; completely erased, but for a grey slab tombstone in a village churchyard.

"Come and see what I've found Dad!" shouts Cameron, from the other side of the graveyard.

"In a minute," replies Stuart.

"Take off those roller skates. It's disrespectful." I snap at Cameron, who snaps off his wheels and ambles across the long grass to join us at the Coward family tomb.

Matthew, Stuart and I are silent and reflective. Wind chimes tinkle on a nearby grave, perhaps to remind us that this family once had a collective heartbeat. Almost two centuries ago the Coward kids left their childish footprints in the dust of this village the same way our children now leave trails in the dewy grass.

"Dad, there's something over there you really need to see," pleads Cameron.

But we are busy puzzling out one ancient family's journey from life to death. William and Eleanor Coward lost their son Matthew in 1777, taken from them just one year and two months into his short life. I feel a lump in my throat just reading that. Then in 1796 daughter Ann passed on, only 22. Then daughter Alice, age just 19. Imagine that; 3 kids, all dead before before their adult lives had really got going, all dead before their parents. Then, four years later, on 8th December 1801, Dad William passed away, followed by his wife Eleanor. Just 17 days later.

We stand in silence. I'm wearing a thin jumper and the light midday breeze makes me shiver.

"She died of a broken heart." I say.

"Do you think she died without opening her presents?" asks Cameron, pointing out the Christmas Day date, chiseled into the aging stone. "Maybe she got up early and did that first."

There's a similar story on another nearby tombstone, that of the Hawthorn family. Another tale of short lives and a domino of deaths. First son died 1832, then a few years later father Thomas, 53; not much older than  Stuart or I. Then two more sons, and eight days after the last son, the matriarch, Frances. Such family tragedy seems so alien to me, to my family, to this time yet here it is written in stone. It's part of this place, our village, local history. I'm shocked and intrigued. How come families collapsed like this? Is this the toll of loves lost?

This blog-a-thon submission is an excerpt from a blog written by Dino Martins for the National Geographic Daily News blog. To read the full story, follow this link.

My name is Dino J. Martins, I am a Kenyan entomologist and I love insects. The Kiswahili word for insect is dudu and if you didn't know already, insects rule the world! Thanks to the amazing efforts of the 'little things that run the world' I was humbled to be selected as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer. This blog is a virtual dudu safari through the fascinating world of bugs. Enjoy, leave a comment and send any questions or comments to me through: insects.eanhs@gmail.com

One of the truly wonderful things about teaching as a scientist is working with students. Good students can help catch more bugs, run around in the sun and ask new questions that help further both science and conservation. While working in Turkana recently, I had three students from Hillcrest Secondary School (Elleni Stephanou, Nekesa Morey and Tashi Maseland) visit and volunteer with me in the field for a few days. Here are their thoughts and first impressions of bees and the environment in northern Kenya...

What comes to mind when most people think about bees? Probably swarms of the common black and yellow striped honey bee that one finds on the pots of honey in a supermarket or perhaps the buzzing bumble bees seen flying around the garden or illustrated in many children's books. In fact, this is a common misconception as there are over 20,000 different types of bees. It was only when we, three Hillcrest Secondary School students, Elleni, Tashi and Nekesa, spent a week up at Turkana Basin Institute with entomologist Dr. Dino Martins, that we discovered the truth about bees...To keep reading click here.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Dr. Prasanna Sriya who feels, "there is very little awareness, understanding, interest and connection between people and their surrounding environment in India." He writes about a recent vacation to Nellyampathy.

I was wondering how I was going to do justice [to changing this reality] and take part in this year's Blog-A-Thon, when my recent trip to a hill station came to my rescue. I reside in the coastal city of Chennai, which is on the East Coast and is the state capital of Tamil Nadu, in South India. My 12-yr-old son and I had this adventurous trekking trip in the southwestern state of Kerala in a place called Nellyampathy, a hill station in the district of Palaghat, through an excursion with a nature society. Our society, Madras Naturalist Society, has been undertaking such events for many years. It's through word of mouth that I happened to know such a society even existed in this fast-paced urban life. 

The places [to which we travel] always fascinated me for the mere fact that we get to see, learn, and appreciate many things such as the culture, food, climatic condition, terrain, and people of the places. Though my short stay didn't offer me the possibility of knowing everything Nellyampathy had to offer, I learned something from what I saw, photographed, and heard. 

Our stay was from October 6th to October 9th. The geographical co-ordinates for Nellyampathy are 10° 32' 20.84" N  76° 40' 58.27" E, this shows the exact location of where we stayed the Nelyampathy - ITL Hotel Resort. Kerala is one fortunate state, for a major portion of the state lies in the Western Ghats region, which is a hotspot in terms of the richness of resources, species, ecology, and geo-climate.

The place is luscious evergreen forest and one could find tea, coffee, and cardamom estates sprawling--and for once these estates added an aesthetic view to this destination and not an eyesore. Though man has tampered with the natural vegetation, the damage created by these plantations and spice crops was not very visible, unlike most of the other places I have visited previously. This in turn preserves the natural geographical condition of the place. A slight imbalance means disaster to the fragile ecosystem. Also, for the first time in my life, I got the opportunity to see a chain of uninterrupted mountain ranges as far as the eye could spot. This was awesome. The Seethakundu,Mampara and Kesavanpara in Nellyampathy comes under the Sahya mountain ranges. Nellyamapthy is situated at a height of 1585 m above the average sea level of Western Ghats.

The gradual ascent from plains to hills can be well appreciated as the chillyness sets in the air and the atmosphere. The first thing that we got to see was the Phothundy Dam. This dam was built in the 19th century, and what is very unique about this dam is its construction. One can expect high pressure in any earthen dam, and generally a concrete core is used to counteract this pressure. But in Pothundy, the dam is an unusual mixture of jaggery and quick lime. I couldn't believe what I saw in front of me. My mind raced with thoughts, such as "How on Earth were labor and materials brought here?" I had goose bumps and I was proud when I learned that this dam was the 2nd dam in Asia to be constructed without using a cement mixture.

The journey to Karasuri was one of the best adventure rides that I have had. I would have thought that it would be dangerous for the elderly, but we had elderly gentlemen in our group who were all the more eager and enthusiastic because they were nature photographers, and they had already visualized what they might see as the daylight broke through the darkness. We were rewarded for all the troubles that we undertook. We saw paradise on Earth.

The terrain to Karasuri was one of the finest in terms of adventure. The mountain jeep is the best vehicle of transport for the entire two-and-a-half hour vertical climb. The path was strewn with boulders. The ride could bring out the stomach content. Though it was a tough ride, the glimpse of the picturesque view made us forget about the bumpy ride ahead. Since the forest department didn't lay proper tar on the road, the place has not yet become prey to tourism. The road or the path was not more than 9 feet in width, just right for a vehicle to pass. If there was an approaching vehicle in the opposite direction then it became nightmarish.  The place was not exploited and it didn't appear that it was unexplored either. We saw the spice plantations here too, in this tough terrain and altitude, which were privately owned and managed estates and a resort.

This blog-a-thon submission is a spotlight on the ChildFund International Eco Scouts, a group of young people in the Philippines working to sustain the natural environment of their homes. To access more information on ChildFund International or to share this video follow this link.

This blog submission is by Stacy Pearson from The Blogunteer, a blog that is dedicated to inspiring volunteerism by highlighting the many organizations already out there making a difference and individuals who give their time.To access the original blog, or more from The Blogunteer, visit their website by following this link.

Typically I write about organizations...but in honor of Geography Awareness Week (November 13-19, 2001) and the third annual Blog-A-Thon hosted by the National Geographic Society, I am posting something a little different today.  The theme for this year's Geography Awareness Week is "Geography: The Adventure in Your Community" - the connections between people and their surrounding environments, local action, and, of course, geography education.  Today's post is about something that helps people around the globe connect with nature and the environment.

Project Noah (which stands for networked organisms and habitats) is a tool to explore and document wildlife and a platform to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.  The project began in early 2010 as an experiment to see if the team could build a fun, location-based mobile application to encourage people to reconnect with nature and document local wildlife.  They wanted to take advantage of the power and popularity of smart phones to collect important ecological data and help preserve global biodiversity.

In February 2010, the team's first iPhone app was launched.  After winning some awards, the team attracted National Geographic as an investor.  By encouraging everyone to document their encounters with nature, the Project Noah team hopes to build a powerful force for data collection and an important educational tool for wildlife awareness and preservation.  According to National Geographic, "Project Noah harnesses the power of citizen scientists everywhere to discover the world's organisms."

You can sign up on their website, projectnoah.org for a free account.  If you have an iPhone or Android phone, you can also download their mobile app for free.  Using the app you can manage your spottings and participate in missions.  For example, one current mission is "Birds of the World" where you can document your bird encounters by taking photographs and adding descriptive notes.  You add as much information as you can about your spotting and upload it to the Project Noah website.  Then many dedicated community members help identify your spotting.  Other missions include spotting urban biodiversity, bats, spiders, and ladybugs.  One interesting mission I found was a local mission to monitor sightings of the Emerald Ash Borer - an invasive beetle from Asia that is killing trees around my local area. 

Even if you don't have a smart phone, you can still participate by uploading photos directly to the Project Noah website.

So, how can you get involved?  It's easy - just sign-up for free and start connecting with nature in your own backyard.

Stacy Pearson, The Blogunteer

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Maggie Strassman, a former National Geographic Education intern and current GAW-enthusiast. Read how Maggie takes a stab exploring her community without walking. She currently lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, works for Putney Student Travel, and makes no attempt to hide her love of geography wherever she goes.

When I was little, one of my favorite activities when left to my own devices was crab-walking around my house. Well, at least that's the best way I can describe it. I'd put my feet and hands on the ground, belly facing the floor, and walk backward, peering through my legs to survey my surroundings. Was I a strange child? Yes. Is this pertinent to this year's Geography Awareness Week theme, Adventure in Your Community? I'm getting there.

By traveling in this crazy way, you really see things differently.  Your world is inverted, doorways seem to float on the ceiling instead of sticking to the floor, turning left into your bedroom requires your brain to think "go right," etc. I could explore like this for hours. I can't say I have moved in such a way in many years (I think I'd get funny looks from my coworkers if I tried it at the office) but it was the first thing I thought about when I saw the mission to explore a place and discover something new without walking on Mission:Explore. I love that Geography Awareness Week is challenging everyone to take on one of these missions, and with so many interesting tasks to try, it was hard to narrow in on just one for my post, but the more I thought about discovering a place without walking, I started thinking "How else could I do it?" As evident from my little anecdote, crab-walking came immediately to mind. But then I started thinking about my current home, Brattleboro, VT. I moved here just over a year ago and still love discovering new neighborhoods, new restaurants, and meeting friendly people along the way. My favorite way to explore is on foot, but this challenge says no walking! So what else do I do?

Well, I read the newspaper. And the flyers posted up on community boards around town. And the monthly newsletter that comes to my house from the co-op I belong to. "Hey, reading is a great way to get to know Brattleboro without walking!" I thought to myself. I then immediately realized that you don't even have to read to explore. You just have to talk. Communication here in southern Vermont is different than in a place like New York or DC. My town has less than 13,000 people. The geography of culture here is close-knit and friendly, not to mention environmentally-conscious. Everyone knows everyone else, and the best way to find out about an upcoming event or concert is by talking to your neighbors. I learned the most interesting things about Brattleboro--like the history of the ski jump at Harris Hill or where to find the best cup of coffee--from the locals.

GeoEye Quiz 4: The Rules: In order to participate, fans of National Geographic Education have 24 hours after this post is published to guess the location of the satellite image and and e-mail their answer to NatGeoEd@ngs.org (Submissions must include the following to be entered to win: "GeoEye Quiz" in the subject line, first and last name, complete mailing address, and the correct answer in the body of the email). Daily images and clues will be shared via Facebook, Twitter, and the My Wonderful World blog starting Monday and ending Friday of Geography Awareness Week.  All correct submissions for each day will be entered into a drawing for a prize, and one winner will be selected at random each day.

The Clue: This "Sports City" is the capital of which middle eastern country? Send your guess to NatGeoEd@ngs.org to win! Satellite Image courtesy GeoEye Foundation.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Aakriti Krishnan,  a 7th grade student at The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet. Aakriti likes Mathematics, English, French and Chemistry. She enjoys classical dancing (Bharatnatyam), swimming, skating and cycling. She likes traveling to places to know about other people and their culture. Aakriti's blog is about the efforts of her community to cut down on plastic.

A community is home to many plants, animals and micro-organisms. All of them need to maintain the environment in a respectable way, to live harmoniously. Humans tend to disrespect the environment around them by polluting it, and one of the most dangerous pollutants is plastic, especially plastic bags.  Plastic bags block drains and kill plants and animals by preventing them from breathing properly.  Fossil fuels are needed to make plastic.

One of them said that he used to give around 80-90 plastic bags per day, and now it has reduced to 10-20. Another says, 85-90% of his customers bring their own carry bags.
I can proudly say that our community has taken this government rule in a positive way. Though our community is probably one amongst millions of communities, even one drop of poison in a bucket of pure water will poison the entire thing.  The ban has made our locality cleaner. I happened to see a video on YouTube that showed a machine invented by the Japanese that converts plastic into oil. The world will definitely start collecting garbage if they find out!

The ban has made my family and me so much more conscious about the environment. None of us ever go out shopping without a cloth or jute bag. Even the roads have become a colorful delight when people carry their own colorful cloth bags, instead of the boring pale colored plastic bags.
We are doing our bit, Are you?

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Arthur of ChildFund International. Arthur writes about being an HIV positive young person; he hopes that awareness celebrations like World AIDS Day will help dispel stigma and spread acceptance. To learn more about ChildFund International follow this link.

My name is Arthur and I am 15 years old. I am HIV-positive. I tested positive in December 2006. I live in Kafue District of Zambia with my parents, older sister and aunties, and I am enrolled in ChildFund programs.

World AIDS Day is a very important day for me as people the world over come together to show their support for those living with HIV. When AIDS was discovered in the early 1980s, all the people in the world were shocked and filled with fear. A lot of stories trying to explain the cause of this deadly disease were being told.

After much research was done it was discovered that this disease was caused by a virus called HIV, which attacks the human immune system and is found in human blood. It was also discovered that one can get the disease through sexual intercourse, and this caused a lot of stigma and discrimination to the people infected. Eventually, people began to realize that everyone could be affected, as a lot of people were dying from AIDS.

Many children were left orphaned, and people were losing friends and relatives. The world again realized that even if you were not infected you were affected and decided to come together to fight this deadly disease called AIDS. Other discoveries were made on the mode of transmission such as mother-to-child transmission.

Frank Jacobs, the U.K.-based writer behind the very popular Strange Maps blog and print anthology, as well as a new New York Times series called Borderlines, has generously agreed to let us excerpt a previous post from Strange Maps for this year's Blog-a-thon.

Part of exploring communities is discovering how we define their core components, and how those definitions compare to those of other communities around the world. I think you'll find this map of different names for "running water" fascinating--whether or not you hail from the United States, and whether or not English is your first language.  Enjoy this tour of rios, brooks, bayous, and arroyos...

A body of running water may be called any of many different names, the most generic being stream, the most common being river.  A river can be defined as 'a natural stream of water of usually considerable volume'. General terms for smaller streams include creek (smaller than a river) and brook (smaller than a creek). Very specific types of water currents  include anabranches (river branches that rejoin the main body of water) and distributaries (branches that don't).

This map charts the rich variety of waterflow toponyms in the US, which reflects the climatological and geographical diversity of the country, but also its linguistic and historical heritage. River names seem extremely resistant to change, and indeed often are echoes of earlier dominant cultures [1].

The colours on the map, which is based on the place names in the USGS National Hydrography Dataset, correspond to the generic toponyms for waterflows, excluding the two commonest ones (river and creek, rendered in gray).

Discover which bodies of water are called what where, and see a larger version of the map, in the full text version of A Rio Runs Through It on the Strange Maps blog.

Somewhere in northeastern West Virginia, nestled in the Monongahela National Forest, lies a small unincorporated town known as Seneca Rocks.  All throughout the year, and especially in the Fall, it's a beautiful place to visit.  Driving through Seneca Rocks is an experience in itself, as the valley offers spectacular vistas of the Appalachian Mountains interspersed with scenic riverside views of Seneca Creek and the north fork of the south branch of the Potomac River.

Additionally, for miles and miles, a strange phenomenon marks the horizon as wide outcrops of exposed rock rise out of the top of the mountain.  These crags are composed of a unique type of rock known as Tuscarora Sandstone and the largest of the crags shares a name with the town in which it's located: Seneca Rocks.

As you can imagine, Seneca Rocks is a popular rock climbing destination.  In October, I joined a group of climbers and mountaineering enthusiasts at Seneca to do just that: climb.  This was not my first time at Seneca, but it was my first time to climb there.  Indeed, it was my first exposure to traditional and multi-pitch climbing.  Luckily, our group included several experienced trad climbers who were able to lead the pitches, expertly "protect" the routes, and ultimately keep us safe.

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Debbie Glade of Wandering Educators. Debbie writes about her concerns for geo-literacy in our youth as she poses the question: can your child locate Washington D.C. on a map? To read more from Debbie check out the Wandering Educators website or follow this link to access the original blog.

As a former travel writer and children's book author, I have had the great pleasure of meeting many elementary age children in South Florida from so many backgrounds. From low and no income families to the most privileged children in private academies, the students at the schools and libraries I visit are eager to learn. Each school visit is wonderfully unique, yet one aspect remains the same. 

Children are significantly lacking in basic geography knowledge.  
As part of my program, children are asked to participate in a geography Q and A. I ask the students to point out destinations on a large map of the USA. The vast majority of the children, ages 7-11, are unable to answer simple questions such as, "Can you show me where Washington DC is located?" or "Where is the Atlantic Ocean?" Keep in mind these children are Floridians, and we live along the Atlantic Ocean.  

At one private school I visited, the principal told me she was embarrassed by the inability of the students to point out the capital city of Florida and name or locate any of the five Great Lakes. "Do you have a geography program here?" I asked her.
"We do starting today," she responded.

That's music to my ears.
It's not just elementary age students who are struggling with geography. The problem extends through high school and beyond. The 2006 National Geographic - Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy reported that half of young Americans, ages 18-24, were unable to find NY City on a map. That statistic is so shocking that it does not even seem to be accurate. Yet sadly, it is.
 
What happens to young adults who cannot answer basic questions about their own state or country? What other crucial knowledge are they lacking? What does this mean for their future? 

I cannot answer these questions. But I can inspire you to take your own steps to help improve this situation:
 
1) For starters, parents need to complain to school officials about the lack of geography education. Many schools are so busy teaching math, reading and writing to help their students pass state standardized tests that they don't have time or resources to teach geography. Encourage schools to contact the National Council for Geographic Education for materials and program support.
 
2) A simple step for parents to take is to put a large map of the US or the world on a wall in their home, so kids can look at it often. Maps are so inexpensive! (I found both a world and US map set on clearance at a bookstore for $5 total!) If you mount the map on a lightweight foam board first, you can stick pins in all the places you have visited. Once the map is on the wall, you can study it with your kids, ask questions, point out unique destinations and research them in books and online. You'll all learn together. It sure comes in handy when planning for your summer vacation!

3) Search for contests and programs that encourage geography knowledge, such as the National Geography Bee.
 
4) Get a subscription to a geography magazine for your children.

The Clue: Home of characters like Mickey Mouse, this new play place, "where dreams come true" is located in which heavily populated East Asia city? Send your guess to NatGeoEd@ngs.org to win! Satellite Image courtesy GeoEye Foundation.

Sarah Jane Caban is the Editor of the My Wonderful World Blog.  She initiated the Geography Awareness Week Blog-a-thon in November, 2008, and she has been writing and editing for the blog since June 2007.

Working in geography education, it's my job to think about geography 40 hours a week. But the reality is I think about it more than that...probably more than I'd like to admit. I often find myself contemplating the geography of relatively mundane activities, and I never cease to be amazed by how relevant geography is to just about every aspect of life.

For a while now, I've had the idea to document the geography of my commute to work in a blog post. I figure: What better occasion than Geography Awareness Week?! I hope that by showing how intimately involved geography is in a small portion of my daily life, readers will be compelled to consider the simple and more complex geographic connections in their own lives.

When I sat down to start writing, I surprised even myself with the depth of geographic material. So, I'm going to break my post into two installments. Here goes!

Part 1: Apartment to Metro

During my commute to work, I have to walk outside for about 15 minutes--5 minutes to the Metro from my apartment, and 10 minutes from the Farragut West Metro stop to National Geographic. I listen to the morning weather report in order to be prepared for the elements I will encounter in the micro-climate of Washington, D.C: boots/umbrella if rainy, sunglasses, appropriate outerwear, etc. This is an aspect of physical geography.







I walk about 3 minutes from my apartment to Pennsylvania Avenue. I always cross over the island in the middle of the road, rather than walking to the crosswalk--J-walking is a much more direct path to the metro than using the crosswalk is! I'm not alone: The grass is worn from so many commuters traversing it, so there are sections of bare dirt. When it's dry and I'm wearing high heels, I stick to the hard dirt so that I don't sink into the grass (ladies, I know you can relate). When it's rainy and I'm wearing boots, I switch over to the grass, since the dirt very quickly turns into mud (physical geography).

At the top of the metro escalators, there are two African-American women who hand out free newspapers every day. One distributes the Metro, the other the Examiner. I usually hesitate to take one, concerned about wasting vital natural resources, even though there are recycling receptacles available. If I do, I get the Metro, since it the less politically conservative of the papers. In this extremely liberal city, I see relatively few commuters reading the Examiner, I'd guess the breakdown is about 80-20 (political geography). Before the women began handing out papers, there was a male newspaper distributer who was extremely vocal and friendly; his  enthusiastic daily greetings were a highlight of my mornings. Then, he disappeared; I heard he got sick. In this city with one of the highest rates of AIDS in the world, I wonder if that disease could have been culprit (medical geography).

This requires an educational program that begins early, through rich field experiences in school and out of school, through inquiry-driven, technology-infused, project-based geographic experiences in sciences, social studies, history, and even mathematics in the K-12 classroom, continuing into community colleges and the undergraduate university level.  Second, it requires recognition that geography is not memorizing place names, landforms, and imports, but that it is a triangulation of a body of content, a way of looking at the world, and a set of skills.  

The geographic body of content includes themes and regions; it embraces the past and present.  It anticipates and plans for the future.  It respects and celebrates diversity, culture, and landscape.  It seeks to improve the health of the planet and its people.  The geographic way of looking at the world embraces concepts of change, scale, patterns, sustainability, and spatial relationships.  The set of skills includes cartography, computer science, multimedia, spatial and nonspatial statistics, and spatial analysis with Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing.  The skills incorporate inquiry:  asking geographic questions, gathering geographic data, visualizing and critically assessing that data, analyzing that data, making a decision, and acting on geographic knowledge.  This process sparks additional questions and investigations.  The geographer is innately curious about a good many things.  The geographer is excited about seeing the connections between the cultural and physical worlds on a personal, community, regional, national, and global scale.

The geographic perspective informs other disciplines.  When epidemiologists study the spread of disease, scientists study climate change, or businesspersons determine where to locate a new retail establishment, they use spatial thinking and analysis.  In each case, geography provides critical tools for studying these issues and for solving real problems on a daily basis.

This blog submission comes from Mary Ford, Ocean Education Manager at National Geographic. To see more of Mary and the Ocean Team's work, check out the National Geographic Ocean Education materials on our website by following this link.

I'm the Ocean Education Manager at National Geographic and really interested in what people are teaching and learning about the ocean throughout the world.  So I decided to make a word cloud by Googling the term "ocean education" and then copied all the text from the homepages of the first 10 websites that showed up. (Natgeoed.org/ocean was on there!)  It's interesting to see what popped up.

Science is clearly a common focus of ocean education, and so is exploration. This gives me a lot to think about. Why is it that the ocean inspires such an interest in exploration, and how can we capitalize on this interest to help people learn and care more about the ocean? Also, should ocean education feature subject areas other than science? Can we add resources that highlight connections to social studies, English, math, P.E.? What do others think? Have YOU had great opportunities to learn about the ocean?

Mary Ford, National Geographic Society

This blog-a-thon submission comes from National Geographic Society Intern Dani Orth. Dani writes about her experiences working first hand with Geography Awareness Week; to read more from Dani, check out her blog by following this link.

It's that time of the year again to celebrate Geography Awareness Week (GAW)! It happens once a year to help show support for the importance of geography - here in the US and around the world. It's kinda cool to know that everyone in the world can celebrate this small "holiday" together - regardless of location, nationality, religious affiliations, financial status, gender, or age.

Rewind one year to GAW 2010. Last year at UNC, we (the other geography students and myself) held a GIS day so students not in the geography department could try out geo-caching. We also offered cupcakes for correct geography questions answered at the University Center. The questions were fairly simple (ok, really simple, like what are the four directions on a compass rose) but students played along because there was free food. It was also a great opportunity to hang out with my fellow geography and Powell Club members and hopefully we got some people interested in Geography. Looking back, it was a pretty small effort, but at least we tried to bring awareness to Geography! :) Hindsight really is 20/20, and looking back we had no focus on last year's theme which was Freshwater. Ooops. {A for effort?!}

THIS YEAR however, I'm much more involved (working for NatGeo definitely helps with that!) with GAW - I'm blogging for the My Wonderful World blog, I'm hanging out on the Hill to award Legislatures who have been Geography Heroes, I'm also running some mapping activities on the Hill and at some Marine Corps event (still a little unsure on the details), I'm volunteering at two NatGeo Live! events - Ocean Soul and The Untold Civil War, I'm going to try to get some fellow interns to dine with me at Founding Farmers for Think Local Thursday, I'm decorating tiles for a rather large map that is composed of more than 130 tiles (I'm hoping to post a picture when this project is completed, so people can see the visual but think of 130 tiles done by 130 different people to create a diverse map), and I'm attending a Conservation Symposium by WWF all day Thursday and Friday.  I've also Spoken Up for Geography - as I encourage everyone else to do. It takes a quick minute to send a pre-made letter to your members in Congress to tell them that geography is important and needs proper funding. And last but not least, I pledge to be more aware about recycling in my community and focus on recycling one new type of material this month through America Recycles Day (Tuesday 11/15/11). I'm going to focus on mixed use paper.

This blog submission is by Stacy Pearson from The Blogunteer, a blog that is dedicated to inspiring volunteerism by highlighting the many organizations already out there making a difference and individuals who give their time. To see more from The Blogunteer, check out their website or follow this link.

November 13-19, 2011 is Geography Awareness Week and the National Geographic Society is hosting its third annual Blog-A-Thon.  This year's theme is "Geography: The Adventure in Your Community."  It is about connections between people and their surrounding environments, local action, and, of course, geography education.

Today I will profile an organization that gives kids an opportunity to explore their local geography on a bike.  The Trips for Kids™ youth biking program is a non-profit, volunteer organization that provides mountain biking outings and environmental education for kids who would not otherwise be exposed to these types of activities.  Their goal is to combine lessons in personal responsibility, achievement, and environmental awareness through the development of practical skills and simply having fun.

The vision for the organization was conceived in 1986 while Marilyn Price was pedaling up Mount Tamalpais outside of San Francisco, California.  During her ride, Marilyn was remembering the kids she saw during her frequent volunteering at St. Anthony's Dining Room in the heart of the inner city.    Most of those kids had never seen their city from the high up perspective of Mount Tamalpais, instead spending their days surrounded by cement and exposure to drugs, violence and gang involvement.  She thought it would be great if these kids had a chance to challenge themselves physically.  The idea for Trips for Kids combined her lifelong love of bicycling, an earlier desire to be a social worker, and her interest in environmental issues.

The Clue: This location draws tens of thousands of people every third Sunday in April. Send your guess to NatGeoEd@ngs.org to win! Satellite Image courtesy GeoEye Foundation.

This blog submission comes to us from "GeoBlog", the Michigan State Geography Department's very own blog! All the online courses offered by MSU's Geography Department have a link to the GeoBlog, and they use this GeoBlog to highlight geography-related news events and other items associated with class topics. Students can comment on the GeoBlog and write posts for extra credit; it's become a popular feature of the school's online classes. To read this blog in full or more from the Michigan State University GeoBlog, follow this link.

Last March a friend of mine came to me and asked what I thought about running a 1/2 marathon to raise money for my sister-in-law who is battling pancreatic cancer, and struggling financially. Having never ran more than a mile or two in my life, how could I say no?

So my journey began. First one mile, then two, three, and pretty soon, I considered 6 or 7 miles an easy day. At the time I was overwhelmed by the idea of a big city marathon and was opting to take a more suburban route. But then, something changed. I got more confident, I got more excited, and soon I wanted to cross the Ambassador Bridge into Canada and back. I applied for my enhanced driver's license and registered to run my 13.1 in the Detroit Marathon.

In the days leading up to Sunday, October 16, I was nervous. Not about the run, I could do that, but about the crowds, the parking, finding my corral, even losing my support system. What if I couldn't find my husband and friends? What if I got separated from my running buddy? I had so many concerns about this race, never once did I even consider what I was about to gain.

As I got into my corral, I was surrounded by a more than friendly crowd, many wearing Michigan State and Detroit Lions gear. Some from out of state, and others who lived mere blocks from the starting line. As the horn sounded and we began to run, I couldn't get the grin off my face. I was in the "D," being cheered on by locals, and about to cross an enormous bridge into a whole other country! At that point I was wishing I had a camera so that I could share what I was seeing. As we made our way through the border crossing, a man with a mega phone was chanting "Go green!" and lamenting the Tigers loss. He even heckled a runner who shouted "Go blue!"

Along the river front in Canada, underwater through the tunnel, and back into the United States, there was something amazing about coming back home again, though I had only been gone 5 miles. I got to see the beautiful homes in one of Detroit's oldest neighborhoods, Corktown, and sense the surprisingly welcomed smells coming from Mexicantown. Finally we were back in downtown, and on Fort Street, approaching the finish line. I never realized how much I could appreciate the support of a home crowd or the pride I could feel for the city. I was sad to leave, sad it was over, grateful for what it had shown me. Detroit is an amazing place. Though it may be fraught with problems, they are not insurmountable nor are they greater than the community of people that consider Detroit their home.

"jb", Michigan State University GeoBlog

This blog-a-thon submission comes from Anista of ChildFund International. To learn more about ChildFund International or to see Anista's blog in full follow this link.  By Sumudu Perera, ChildFund Sri Lanka. Photography by Nic Dunlop.

On a tea plantation in Sri Lanka, getting to school is no simple matter -- in fact, fewer than half of children living on Sri Lankan tea plantations complete high school. But Anista and her little sister are up bright and early, ready to tackle their day. With support from their family and from ChildFund, they are on their way toward growing into tomorrow's leaders.

My name is Anista. I am 9 years old, and I live on a tea plantation estate in Nuwara Eliya, central Sri Lanka. On school days, I usually wake up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready.

I have five brothers and sisters. This is my younger sister, Stella, who also is getting ready for school. We don't have running water in our home, so we have to make several runs a day to the water tap we share with neighbors. Every morning, one of us joins the line at the tap and carries the heavy bucket home. We take turns, and this morning, it was mine. My sisters were busy with household work.

I wish my mommy were here to help me get ready for school. She works as a housemaid abroad -- I'm not sure where exactly. I miss her so much. My daddy is a day laborer and leaves early for work. Both my older sisters dropped out of school because my parents cannot afford to send them to school. The oldest, Theresamma, is 19 and a domestic worker in the city. Anthoneyamma is 12 and stays home to take care of us.

Early mornings are cool in Nuwara Eliya, but it gets quite hot during the day. I walk more than a mile to school with Stella every morning. The path through the tea bushes is slippery and damp, and I need to be careful. No school tomorrow if my uniform gets dirty!

This blog submission is an announcement of awareness by Matthew Chandler Christopher, and Education Student at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The view this submission in full, check out The Sharp Student Blog page or simply follow this link.

On Saturday, October 29 at about 14:30, my parents and I were in Rustenburg on the long road to Sun City. We came across some street hawkers on the side of the road selling the usual merchandise one would come to expect. Upon closer observation of this particular group of hawkers I noticed that they were holding little creatures in their hands.

They were holding light-green dwarf chameleons with beautiful orange eyes. This truly shocked me as I did not expect to see this.

Our chameleon species are being sold illegally on the side of roads. They may seem like insignificant reptiles but they play a big role in the natural ecosystems and food webs in their environments.

They are now being exploited for their attractiveness in the pet trade. This will be detrimental to the population of chameleons in South Africa and it will impact negatively on other species which live in symbiosis with them.

Let's not wait for this issue to grow - let's do something now to conserve this amazing species. Loss of habitat is already a problem - let's take action now to protect them for future generations to enjoy. We are blessed to have a rich biodiversity of fauna and flora in our country. Let us appreciate what we have now before ignorance and time makes us remember what we had.

• Poverty could be one of the driving factors behind this. Chameleons are collected in the bush and sold for cash
• Demand for chameleons on the pet trade industry could be on the rise
• I am not aware of any medicinal purposes of chameleons - let's hope that none exist
• The chameleons have to withstand unfavourable conditions when captured. Temperatures during the day can soar high. Being held in a hand the whole day without nourishment can be devastating to their health. They could die and then just get thrown away.
  

I can't just state the problem to you so here are some solutions:

• Do some news inserts on this to raise some awareness
• Research into this issue to find out more
• Alert the Department of Environmental Affairs and wildlife aid structures 
• The Department has the funds to create a campaign in schools to raise awareness
• Implement harsh fines for offenders - this money will go to the conservation of the species
• Environmental rehabilitation - planting of indigenous trees and shrubs and plants
  

Please do not take this lightly. Look at what has happened to the rhino populations. They are on the verge of extinction but thankfully those in the right places are doing something about it. Only now some serious action has been taken. Let us not wait a minute longer - let's conserve - there is a lot of money in eco-tourism. We cannot let our precious resources go to waste.

Do what you can, with whatever you have, wherever you are, right now; Thank you for your time.

Matthew Chandler Christopher, The Sharp Student Blog
Photo Credit: Your Shot, Tony Mackrill

This blog submission is from Nancy Sathre-Vogel, author for the Family on Bikes blog. To read this blog in full or to access more from Family on Bikes visit their website or follow this link.

National Geographic wrote to me a while ago to ask if I would participate in the Geography Awareness Week Blogathon. Seeing as how I'm pretty passionate about kids understanding the world, I figured it was a shoe-in. I put on my thinking cap to try and figure out what I would write about.

It came and bit me in the nose. I was browsing around on Facebook the other day and came across this map:

It seemed like a humorous portrayal of the ego-centric attitude so prevalent in America and I posted it on my wall just for grins. I honestly thought everyone would agree with me that it's a grossly inaccurate representation of the world and of American people. I was wrong:

 

Within seconds of posting the map, I got this comment: dude I love this, this isnt sad I proud of this this makes soo happy I love america [pinky swear - I didn't edit that one bit]

I was a bit confused by this comment. It's not sad that Americans would think of Canada as nothing more than a great big uninhabited void? You're proud of the idea that Americans think the entire middle east is filled with evil-doers?

And then the whole thing went farther south.

Another Comment: were not closed minded you should see the rest of the world most people in india and the middlr east never go more han 30 miles away from home!!!

Me: It may be true that most people in India and the Middle East never travel farther than 30 miles from their home, but I will guarantee you that they know more about the world than most Americans. If you show somebody in India a world map, they will most likely be able to identify key countries around the world and will have a basic idea of those countries. Many Americans have no clue.

Her: bill or riley said what makes a person liberal, what is aliberal mindset? answer they have to hate america and always side agaisnt america point proven America is the best people look up to us, when there is a crisis they usa help us, they look to us when we make a decision,when america votes for our president they look, when we do something they look at us, we dont look at them, I mean america is the TOP DOG we are the ones to compete with, You can call me whatever you want but the truth is still the truth, We are number one and the critics hate us for it And I'm ok with that

Me: Oh my. I think you've rendered me speechless. All I can say is that I hope you open your mind and allow yourself to see the world as it truly is at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Her: you have a lot to learn your letting your pride and your political correctness interfere with your ability to see the facts of the matter its not an insult or a judgement its the truth. Until I came to germany I didnt know I belonged to the best country in the world and then I educated myself from travelling you guys should to

While the conversation was, in many regards, extraordinarily hysterical, it was horribly sad as well. This young person truly felt that America was the best and the only. America was the center of the universe and the rest of the world should do our bidding. According to her, every other country on our planet is far, far inferior to the great United States of America.

Don't get me wrong - I think America is a fabulous country. I'm proud of my country and proud to say I'm an American.  But I've learned America isn't perfect. I don't think anywhere else is perfect either.

GeoEye Quiz 1: The Rules: In order to participate, fans of National Geographic Education have 24 hours after this post is published to guess the location of the satellite image and and e-mail their answer to NatGeoEd@ngs.org (Submissions must include the following to be entered to win: "GeoEye Quiz" in the subject line, first and last name, complete mailing address, and the correct answer in the body of the email). Daily images and clues will be shared via Facebook, Twitter, and the My Wonderful World blog today through Friday of Geography Awareness Week.  All correct submissions for each day will be entered into a drawing for a prize, and one winner will be selected at random each day.

• One of the best ways to explore your community is through the sport of geocaching, which is made possible through the omnipresence of GPS (including GPS-enabled smartphones and the like).
• Google Earth is an amazing piece of software that enables you to explore your community from the air. The layers of user-contributed data, such as photos and videos, add to the adventure and enable one to visit anywhere virtually. I traveled to Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia last summer and through my online explorations, by the time I arrived I felt like I had a great sense of the geography of the city. Less full-featured than Google Earth is of course Google Maps, which is also incredible.
  
• As you explore your community, consider it through the lens established by geography William D. Pattison and known as the four traditions of geography. These four traditions provide a variety of viewpoints from which to explore your community.
• While the global population is now likely over seven billion, our communities are comprised of much smaller and more understandable population figures. For instance, how does your community measure up to the data from If The World Were a Village of 100 People?
• An often underestimated aspect of geography is the realm of physical geography. Don't neglect this topic when studying your own community. What types of soils, rocks, hazards, microclimates, water bodies exist in your community? Explore them!
  

Finally, even through the theme of this year's Geography Awareness Week is focused on our communities, don't forget that the entire planet earth is our community. Learn some basic earth facts and then learn some place names on our planet, starting with all of the countries of the world. Good luck and happy Geography Awareness Week!

Matt Rosenberg, About.com

This blog submission comes from Mary Schons who decided to participate in the blog-a-thon by sharing her experience with planting garlic. Below is a glimpse at her photo gallery; to view her submission in full please follow this link.

My garden space is about 10' x 15'-- enough to grow as many tomatoes, kale and chard as I want. There is a grapevine on the left, a new experiment. Anyway, this year's row of tomatoes will be the space for next year's garlic crop.

Lots of chard, tomatoes and some wild oregano can be seen in the end-of-the-party my garden has become. It was wet season with a late start, so I still have tomatoes here and there ripening.

    Winners from within the continental U.S. will take home The Complete National Geographic (winners from outside the continental U.S. will receive a prize of equal value)! The Complete National Geographic allows you to browse more than 122 years of National Geographic magazine--the articles, photographs, and maps--exactly as they appeared in print. Now updated to include 2010 issues, the definitive collection of every issue of National Geographic magazine is digitally reproduced in high resolution. Use the visual interface to explore a topic, find photographs, browse the globe, or wander on your own expedition. Includes bonus DVD featuring the history of the National Geographic Society. Requires Windows® 7/Vista/XP/2000 or Mac® OS X v10.4 or later. Internet access required for some features.

This blog submission is by Solomon, a youth enrolled in ChildFund International's Uganda programs.  The original posting of this blog can be found on the ChildFund International website or by following this link.

I am called Solomon, and I am a student in senior 2 [high school]. The last born in a family of six, I live in Namirembe in Kampala District, which is the central region of Uganda and the capital city.

My typical day is full of classes. From Monday to Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., I attend school at Mengo Senior secondary school. I like school and enjoy spending time with my friends. When I go back home in the evening, I do some house work and my homework.

Kampala has many interesting places like the Uganda Museum, which keeps antique items and has cultural exhibits. There are also crafts villages that make sitting mats, baskets, stools, handbags and items from bark cloth, which comes from a fig tree.

Namirembe is one of the seven hills that originally made up Kampala. It has a big Anglican Church on it. When you stand at the top of Namirembe, you can see most parts of Kampala. There is also a big hospital in Namirembe called Mengo Hospital and a trading area with big and small shops.

Namirembe is in Buganda Kingdom, which has a rich heritage. We have a king, his majesty Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, and a queen, Nnaabagereka Sylvia Nagginda, who have many subjects.

Our traditional clothes are kanzus, long, white tunics for men, and gomesi, long dresses for women. However, since this is the capital city, the boys and girls wear a lot of new, trendy clothes. They also listen to all the new music from the radio stations.


As for our music, the drum is one instrument that holds a lot of meaning for the Buganda people. Different beats of the drum inform us about different events. There is a special beat to symbolise the dying of someone important, and other beats to symbolise weddings, births of important children, important meetings and even different festivals.

We also have many dances in Buganda like the Magunju, the Baakisimba, Nankasa and Muwogola.

Solomon, ChildFund International

The author of this blog submission, Debbie Glade/smartpoodle, is the Geography Awareness Editor for Wandering Educators. The original posting of this blog can be found through the Wandering Educators website or by following this link.

I've always wondered what it would be like to plan a vacation around touring some of American finest factories. What a fantastic family adventure it would be! Discovering where the products we use every day come from, and observing how they are made is one of the best ways to learn about what America is all about.
I found this great website called Factory Tours USA.  It lists the factories that are open for tours in each of the 50 states. After browsing around the site, I found some fascinating places I would love to see:

The Great Alaskan Bowl Company (Fairbanks, AK) - This factory makes birch bowls using equipment that is more than 100 years old. The owners are dedicated to preserving the forests and using renewable resources. Visitors can watch the bowls being made, and of course, buy them.
Waco Manufacturing (North Little Rock, AR) - Waco is one of the oldest manufacturers of aluminum pontoon boats in America. It would be interesting to see how their innovative designs are manufactured.
Celestial Seasonings (Boulder, CO) - This innovative tea company offers visitors samples while they are waiting for tours of the factory. The most poplar part of the tour is the mint room, because the scents are so strong.
The Kaleidoscope Factory (Pomeroy, IA) - This small-town factory offers tours showing you how the artist makes handmade wooden turns, glass and acrylics to make the most uniquely beautiful kaleidoscopes.

The Boston Globe (Boston, MA) - How cool would that be to see how a newspaper is made? You can do just that here.
Stennis Space Center (Stennis Space, MS) - The largest rocket test center in the USA is open for tours. The main engines of space shuttles are tested here, and every American astronaut must come to this center to test the equipment. There are 14,000 square feet of exhibits. Plan your trip here around the firing of space shuttle engines, so you can watch it all happen.
SmokeJumper Center (Missoula MT) - Imagine getting a firsthand look at how a smokejumper fights forest fires. (A smokejumper is a firefighter who parachutes down into an area of a wildfire to help get it under control.)
Shelby American, Inc. (Las Vegas, NV) - If you've got some racecar fans in the family, check this manufacturing plant out. Shelby produces a limited number of their cars to keep the value high. You can tour the facility, visit the museum and observe cars being tested.
Stirling Hill Mine (Ogdensburg, NJ) - Bring your jackets to tour this chilly mineral mine that once produced zinc and hundreds of other minerals. Though the mine is closed now, the facility is still open for tours. You'll get a glimpse into the challenging process of mining.

Keeping our library of cartography fresh, accurate, and current is a priority for us at National Geographic. And our maps for educators and students are no exception. The downloadable black-and-white 1-page maps of continents, countries, and states have been a staple of the National Geographic website for over ten years. Formerly known as Xpeditions maps, this cartographic series has been popular with educators who use them for geography learning activities across a range of subjects, ages, and grades. In early 2011, we launched a new website for educators at NatGeoEd.org including a new tool for customizing these maps, now called MapMaker 1-Page Maps. But as soon as the new site launched, it was already time for a cartographic update! Geography changes around the world everyday--and particularly the boundaries and place-names found on political maps. Here are the top five changes to look for in the MapMaker 1-Page online map library.

1. South Sudan

In a January 2011 referendum, the people of the autonomous region of Southern Sudan voted for their independence from Sudan, creating the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011--the world's 195th country. On July 14, 2011 South Sudan joined the United Nations as a member state. Sudan had long been the largest country in Africa, but with the change the resulting area is now surpassed in size by Algeria. Along with the addition of the new South Sudan map, changes were also made to the maps of all bordering countries along with the continental and world maps that included South Sudan in their area of overage. The updated maps include neighboring Chad, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, and Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as the Africa, Asia, and World maps.

2. Iceland

In addition to political features, maps in the MapMaker 1-Page online library also include some updates to important physical features and points of interest. In 2010, the glacially covered volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted for nearly two months, with the resulting ash clouds disrupting air travel across Europe. The stratovolcano is still active and is now represented with a volcano symbol on the 1-page map of Iceland along with some of the island's other volcanic peaks.

3. British Columbia--Canada

In mid-2010 a large archipelago in the Canadian province of British Columbia was renamed Haida Gwaii from its former name, Queen Charlotte Islands. The change was part of an agreement between the government of British Columbia and the Haida Nation--a group indigenous to the Pacific Northwest region of North America.

Sustainability: [Environmental Geography]
Noun: use of resources in such a manner that they will never be exhausted.
       
Sustainable Production:
Noun. creation of goods and services using processes and systems that are: non-polluting; conserving of energy and natural resources; economically efficient; safe and healthful for workers, communities, and consumers; and socially and creatively rewarding for all working people.
      
Sustainable Development:
Noun. human construction, growth, and consumption that can be maintained without damage to the natural environment.
              
Sustainable Energy:
Noun. power from a source that will not reduce the energy available for future generations.

As a fresh way to kick off the work week, My Wonderful World is now bringing our readers a Monday-Funday Photo of the Week.  Designed not only around aesthetics, this photo sharing start-to-the-week is also about facilitating geographic discussion on current events and relevant topics.

To learn more about how these spectacular sites came to be, check out this Map Gallery from National Geographic Education and the PALEOMAP Project, which shows the movement of Earth's tectonic plates from 600 millons years ago to present day.  
Photo Credits: Your shot, Derrick Lim, Jens Lauschke & Lisa Kidd.
--Julia for My Wonderful World

On October 21-22 National Geographic and partners hosted BioBlitz, a 24-hour event in which teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members worked together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible; in Saguaro National Park, Tuscon, Arizona. The results were fantastic: Scientists and citizens identified 859 species in one day (This is an unofficial count, the final numbers will be confirmed in January.). Congratulations BioBlitzers! To celebrate the outstanding success of this year's event, My Wonderful World is highlighting five of the many fantastic factors that made this year so special.

1) Glowing scorpions
Quite literally, these unusual creatures were a major highlight of the BioBlitz. Found most easily at night, glowing scorpions are located by using black lights, which then re-emit the light as green light. According to Paul Marek, an entomologist at the University of Arizona, "[if] you go out at night into the Sonoran Desert with one of these UV lights, these scorpions light up and glow like a little star field on the ground."

2) The "Water Bear" (Tardigrades)
--a microscopic species found for the first time in Arizona! Watch this video of Baker University Student Kyrie Bair as she talks about this exciting new discovery.
3) BioBlitz-inspired technology is an awesome new way to participate in the event year-round. For starters, check out the social media website, Project NOAH, a tool to explore and document wildlife and harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere. This community-based site "makes a scientist out of all of us" as it allows users to report species and share them with tens of thousands of others. Another way new technology has expanded the reach and longevity of the event is through an electronic field trip designed to allow students around the world to "attend" the BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park. Although the event itself happened October 21, the recording of the electronic field trip can still be enjoyed by following this link: electronicfieldtrip.org

Geography has long been recognized as a "core academic subject" in federal education legislation.  However, unlike all the other core academic subjects, including history, civics, economics, foreign languages and the arts, there is no dedicated federal funding stream to advance geography education.  As a result, our nation is facing a crisis in geographic literacy that is jeopardizing our global competitiveness, our position of diplomatic leadership, and our ability to fill and retain over 150,000 jobs in geospatial technology in the next decade.
The Teaching Geography Is Fundamental Act (TGIF) is federal legislation that would authorize grants to universities and nonprofit organizations for programs to expand geographic literacy among American students and improve the teaching of geography at the K-12 level.  
TGIF authorizes $15 million per year for five years.

The Challenge: Speak Up for Geography's goal is to send 10,000 letters to Congress by the end of Geography Awareness Week (November 19th) to support funding for geography education. Follow this link: http://speakupforgeography.rallycongress.com/ to be a part of the 10,000 letter challenge and share it with your friends, family and classroom! Registration and letter submission can be completed in under a minute, so don't wait!

Why should geography students and others participate in Speak Up for Geography? As a recent recipient of a Bachelor's degree in geography, it's no surprise I feel compelled to support federal funding of geography education; however, past experience does not necessarily produce present action. It is going to require that geographers, like me, work hard to communicate how geography education is not some self-serving initiative, but rather an altruistic approach to global connections, peace and understanding.

My own interest in geography education is far from one dimensional. I would argue that geography is capable of taking your education both vertically and horizontally (metaphorically speaking). Geography will commonly move you across the x-axis, allowing you to explore the Black Sea, Sahara Desert, and the Xhosa speaking people of Sub-Saharan Africa.  However, it can also take you along the y-axis; moving you through time (as people grow), through evolution, and through the dynamics of outer space all the way to the core of the earth.  It is an invaluable education that promotes not only self awareness but open-mindedness in considering other people and places. It teaches impact, community, and the natural processes of the world.  Geography is everything, everyone and everywhere. I am geography, are you?

If you consider yourself part of this earth, part of our geography, then "Speak Up!" by sending a letter to your congressperson or senator about the importance of funding for geography education.
--Julia from My Wonderful World

GIS (Geographic Information Systems): [Technical Geography]
Noun: A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer system for capturing, storing, checking, and displaying data related to positions on Earth's surface. GIS can show many different kinds of data on one map. This enables people to more easily see, analyze, and understand spatial patterns and relationships.

With GIS technology, people can compare the locations of different things in order to discover how they relate to one another. For example, using GIS, the same map could include sites that produce pollution, such as gas stations, and sites that are sensitive to pollution, such as wetlands. Such a map would help people determine which wetlands are most at risk.

GIS can use any information that includes location. The location can be expressed in many different ways, such as latitude and longitude, address, or ZIP code. Many different types of information can be compared and contrasted using GIS. The system can include data about people, such as population, income, or education level. It can include information about the land, such as the location of streams, different kinds of vegetation, and different kinds of soil. It can include information about the sites of factories, farms, and schools, or storm drains, roads, and electric power lines.

Interested in learning more about how to use GIS? Test out the National Geographic Education Mapmaker Interactive. This is pre-GIS tool that incorporates some of the most basic features of a GIS. If you enjoy the process and want to do more real map analysis, check out ESRI, where you can purchase mapping software packages like ArcMap that provide sophisticated functionality for your mapping needs!

Today I decided to unleash my inner geographer. With a little help from Mission:Explore, the partner for this year's Geography Awareness Week program, I embarked on a mission to discover the geography of my community. Mission: Explore offers more than 20 imaginative missions that Geography Awareness Week explorers can complete to earn badges in the categories of mapping, storytelling, photography, and taking action.

I chose the mission "Furthest and Closest" which highlights the multidimensional nature of geography. The Mission: Speak to five people in a public place. Who is furthest from you and who is closest to you in terms of: where they live, their age, or their opinions on something that's important to you? The mission challenges each explorer to step just outside of his or her comfort zone to reconsider the space, place, and relative relationships between people. The idea is that you can be close to someone in one dimension who is very far away in another (e.g. similar ages but born across the country), and you can also feel distant from someone sitting right next to you. With this concept in mind, I outlined three dimensions: hometown, age, and most interesting/coolest/exciting life moment, as my tools of geographic measurement. With my strategy in line, it was time to hit the streets!

...roughly twenty minutes later, I had been on a trip through six unique set of circumstances and life experiences.  When I put myself in the center (and in bold on my chart), I found a difference of: 40 years of age, 1,500 miles of space, and a contrasting set of life experiences ranging from sexual orientation, to religious affiliation, to work opportunity, to differences in family life. Through six quick interviews, the only common factor I shared with my survey group was that I had also gone skydiving! Through this experience, I found that even though people may share space, they each have their own story, experiences, and outlook on life. The "furthest and closest" mission was fun, thought-provoking and interactive; it gave me pause to appreciate the diversity of my community. If you want to complete this mission, or one like it, check out the Mission:Explore website to discover the "The Adventure in Your Community" this Geography Awareness Week. Also, "like" us on Facebook to share your photos, stories, and events from Geography Awareness Week 2011!

Questions, comments or concerns? E-mail us at: NatGeoEd@ngs.org
--Julia from My Wonderful World