Recently in Five for Friday Category

February is the month when we celebrate the rich history of the Black Diaspora and honor the brave men and women who have fought for the civil rights of African Americans.

National Geographic Education has just released a collection of resources to help educators teach this important topic to students of all backgrounds. Here are highlights from the collection comprising five ideas for classroom instruction.

Read inspiring profiles of prominent African Americans, from inventors of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Centuries to Mary Seacole, the black nurse/businesswoman/author/war heroine your students have probably never heard of.





Relive the drama of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches through an article and photo gallery documenting the 54-mile walk that led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. 

Geography teachers love maps!

...and so do many other educators, environmentalists, historians, politicians, technologists, and curious citizens the world over. Representing an organization with a proud history of producing authoritative and appealing maps, we are constantly bombarded with requests from educators about these resources, and it's no surprise that the Mapping section of our new Education website is the most popular feature by far.

In an effort to better meet the needs of our map enthusiast friends, we will publish more blog posts about maps in 2012,  including new releases from National Geographic's Map group, and a few from our own Education group.

In this week's Five For Friday, we take you into the trenches of the Maps division for 2011 cartographic updates and information about new maps coming to press in 2012.


2011 Updates
National Geographic's cartographers are constantly at work editing our iconic maps as a result of changes in political and physical geography. Below are some 2011 developments.

1. July--South Sudan: On July 9, South Sudan becomes the world's 195th independent nation.

2. August--Libya: The conventional long form name for Libya--Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya--no longer applies. Libya becomes the country's formal conventional name.

3. August--Challenger Deep: Sonar mapping of the Mariana Trench, conducted by the University of New Hampshire's Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, determines that the Challenger Deep--the deepest point on Earth--has a new maximum depth of -10,994 m (-36,070 ft).


Keep reading to find out what's on the horizon for 2012!

Yesterday we announced the exciting launch of the 2012 Google Science Fair, a creative learning experience for young adults supported in part by National Geographic. Speaking of National Geographic-sponsored hands-on science programs...how about the annual BioBlitz, a mad dash to combine the power of scientists and citizens in identifying as many species as possible in a National Park?!

Watch this video highlighting the 24-hr 2011 BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park, AZ--in 5 minutes.


Sarah Jane for My Wonderful World

 

SustainUS, United States Youth for Sustainable Development, is calling for submissions to its annual CitizenScience essay contest. This year, the competition theme will focus on the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, sustainable development, and current challenges in line with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

Here are five reasons why you should enter:

1. Share your passion for addressing the world's toughest challenges through sound science.
2. Join the SustainUS delegation to the 56th Session of the UN Commission on Status of Women in New York.
3. Present your work and communicate the importance of youth involvement to international leaders.

Today is a milestone for this geography intern: it marks the end of my National Geographic internship and the beginning of my next chapter.  A day that I have approach with fear and also viewed with pride, has finally arrived and I could not be more pleased to be part of the National Geographic family.  In that regard, I have decided that for my final Five for Friday, I will say farewell with a rewind to some of my favorite moments working inside the yellow rectangle.

1. Meeting some of the explorers, photographers, writers, editors and staff of National Geographic; these people are actually as amazing as they seem.  Surrounding by some of the greatest minds in science and exploration, the environment at National Geographic is one of a kind. Walking down the halls you can see just about anything; whether it be famous ocean water photographer Brian Skerry, Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan, or simply one of the many fabulous researchers or coordinators in the office next door, it is always a good day to meet someone new when you work at National Geographic.

2. Walking to work. Every morning I am blessed with one of the best scenes in the city on my way to work, and I could not be more grateful for the architecture, cleanliness and friendless in Washington D.C. My travel time is somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour and in that short span I cross paths with the Capitol building, the Declaration of Independence, countless museums, international embassy's, The White House, and several monuments! Walking in D.C. will make anyone fall in love with this city's unique geography, history and political influence; Washington D.C. is home.

3. Geography Awareness Week. It was chaos around here! Celebrating seven days of geography education is no easy feat when you are working behind the scenes.  Looking back, the week is a blur of local events, a blog-a-thon, the finale of the 10,000 letter campaign for Speak Up for Geography, many missions, and more! It was a week where stress and excitement collided to eventually produce a very successful push for geography awareness, and a much appreciated champagne toast to seal a week's worth of victories!

4. Hanging out in the "intern cave". Earlier I mentioned the famous names and fantastic minds behind National Geographic, but an equally important network of people in this company are my fellow interns. We reside in the "intern cave" where a running quote board makes a statement the moment you walk into our office and hanging plastic bats and Christmas lights help set the mood! Decorations aside, the best times as an intern were spent establishing life-long relationships with my girls and guys in the cave. I could not conclude this experience without a big thanks to all the people who made the work fun, the time fly and the stories last forever.

5. Connecting with National Geographic fans, followers and friends--like you! It is incredibly inspiring to interact with National Geographic fans because, as an employee ,you are constantly being held to the highest standards of excellency and challenged to do more.  Our fans are some of  the great thinkers in the world; they are people with the endless curiosity in heart, and testers of the unknown. I want to thank you all for being a part of this great organization and I hope that over the past few months I was able to provide you with engaging content that reflected my passion for sharing geography. It has been wonderful, thank you all!

Photo Credits: Vinaykumar Patel (Your Shot), Makayla Trotter (Geography Intern), NGEP Geo-Literacy Photo Shoot

--Julia from My Wonderful World

Today is a milestone for this geography intern: it marks the end of my National Geographic internship and the beginning of my next chapter.  A day that I have approached with fear and also viewed with pride has finally arrived, and I could not be more pleased to be part of the National Geographic family.  In that regard, I have decided that for my final Five for Friday, I will say farewell with a rewind to some of my favorite moments working inside the yellow rectangle.

1. Meeting some of the explorers, photographers, writers, editors and staff of National Geographic; these people are actually as amazing as they seem.  Surrounded by some of the greatest minds in science and exploration, the environment at National Geographic is one of a kind. Walking down the halls you can see just about anything; whether it be famous ocean water photographer Brian Skerry, Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan, or simply one of the many fabulous researchers or coordinators in the office next door. It is always a good day to meet someone new when you work at National Geographic.

2. Walking to work. Every morning I am blessed with one of the best scenes in the city on my way to work, and I could not be more grateful for the architecture, cleanliness, and friendless in Washington D.C. My travel time is somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour and in that short span I cross paths with the Capitol building, the Declaration of Independence, countless museums, international embassies, The White House, and several monuments! Walking in D.C. will make anyone fall in love with this city's unique geography, history, and political influence; Washington D.C. is home to all of us!

3. Geography Awareness Week. It was chaos around here! Celebrating seven days of geography education is no easy feat when you are working behind the scenes.  Looking back, the week is a blur of local events, a blog-a-thon, the finale of the 10,000 letter campaign for Speak Up for Geography, many missions, and more! It was a week where stress and excitement collided to eventually produce a very successful push for geography awareness, and a much appreciated champagne toast to seal a week's worth of victories!

4. Hanging out in the "intern cave." Earlier I mentioned the famous names and fantastic minds behind National Geographic, but an equally important network of people in this company are my fellow interns. We reside in the "intern cave" where a running quote board makes a statement the moment you walk into our office, and hanging plastic bats and Christmas lights help set the mood! Decorations aside, the best times as an intern were spent establishing life-long relationships with my girls and guys in the cave. I could not conclude this experience without a big thanks to all the people who made the work fun, the time fly, and the stories last forever.

5. Connecting with National Geographic fans, followers and friends--like you! It is incredibly inspiring to interact with National Geographic fans because, as an employee, you are constantly being held to the highest standards of excellency and challenged to do more.  Our fans are some of  the great thinkers in the world; they are people with the endless curiosity of heart, and testers of the unknown. I want to thank you all for being a part of this great organization and I hope that over the past few months I was able to provide you with some engaging content that reflected my passion for sharing geography. It has been wonderful, thank you all!

Photo Credits: Vinaykumar Patel (Your Shot), Makayla Trotter (Geography Intern), NGEP Geo-Literacy Photo Shoot

--Julia for My Wonderful World

For seven years, National Geographic has combed the globe to find Adventurers of the Year, each selected for his or her extraordinary achievements in exploration, conservation, and adventure sports. This year, in partnership with Glenfiddich, NG Adventure selected men and women who are pioneering innovation in the world of adventure--by reinventing distance hiking on the Appalachian Trail, launching a backyard microadventure movement, skiing the Andes under human power, and much more. (National Geographic Adventure)

1. Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner. K2 was the final summit remaining in Kaltenbrunner's 14-year quest to become the first woman to climb all 14 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen or porters. In 2011, Kaltenbrunner returned to K2, this time to the mountain's north side to avoid the Bottleneck, where 11 climbers died in 2008. At 6:18 p.m. local time on August 23, Kaltenbrunner reached the summit. "I have never had a view like that. There were no clouds, you could see to Nanga Parbat. I had the feeling that I was one with the universe. It's still present in my heart," says the 40-year-old Austrian.

Thought question: Do you think climbing the world's highest mountains without supplementary oxygen makes the accomplishment more "authentic?" Why or why not?

2. Alastair Humphreys. Humphreys devised a series of ten challenges in the form of four-minute video trip reports encouraging would-be adventurers to sign up for a race, to take advantage of the hours before and after work, or to pick a random point on a map and visit it. Word spread and people began sending in trip reports and homemade videos via Twitter. They came in from as far away as Japan--this year the idea traveled farther than the adventurer!
"My hope is that come December, I will have other microadventurers who have taken this journey with me from that first challenge all the way to our final challenge, which will end up being quite a worthy adventure," says Humphreys, who plans on revealing his final challenge at the end of the year. "In life it doesn't matter what you do, just that you get off your backside and do something."

Thought Question: Did you try any of National Geographic Education's Geography Awareness Week challenges this year? Did you learn anything new about the geography of your community in the process? If so, please tell us about it!

3. Jennifer Pharr Davis. For the last 40 years, men have held the Appalachian Trail record. In the last 20, it's been confined to an elite club of ultra runners who typically covered the requisite 30 to 50 miles per day in an 11- to 13-hour period. Conventional wisdom suggested that breaking the record would mean running faster with the same strategy. And a new record holder would most certainly be male. Pharr Davis, 28, took the standard strategy and turned it upside down. Moving from north to south, she covered the trail's 2,181 miles by hiking for 16 hours a day beginning at 4:45 in the morning and walking well into darkness.

1. Twitter. Teachers can now use Twitter, a popular micro-blogging service, to start dialogues with teachers and students in all parts of the world. A great example of how Twitter is redefining the concept of a global classroom comes from Overton High School teacher Adam Taylor. Adam connects his students with students from all over the world, even making time before regular school hours for his students to converse with their peers from Pakistan across an eleven hour time difference. Adam says, "I can see this project going a long way to helping my students understand different parts of our country and the world. With the right online tools students are not limited to learning from a book or the teacher in the room. The world and the people living on it become the classroom and the teacher." To learn more about how Adam developed this project, and about his current work as a classroom innovator, check out his blog, 2footgiraffe.

2. Skype. With Skype, teachers can add face value to the cultural conversation.  Skype can be implemented into the classroom in a variety of ways, in fact, teachingdegree.org lists 50 awesome ways to use Skype in conjunction with education. In terms of defying the traditional restrictions of place and space, one example from Seth Dickens of DigitaLang reveals how adding interaction over Skype can bridge a cultural gap between students negotiating a language barrier. Seth Dickens' Italian language class had been using Twitter to practice written conversations with students in Italy learning English.  To finish off a great semester of applying social media in the classroom, his students planned a "face-to-face" finale with their Italian peers via Skype. Seth wrote of the event, "overall my students left the classroom with big smiles on their faces after staying behind late (after a hard day of exams). In my book that's a lesson that has worked well!"

3. Edmodo. Carol J. Carter, expert in student success and transition asks, "Have you ever wished you could connect your students with students across the world? What about provide a once in a lifetime experience to your students without having to leave the classroom?" Carol believes that Edmodo is the answer.  A classroom of 5th graders has recently put this new social media platform to the test as they connect with other students around the world. The Quad City Times reports that about two dozen students participating in an Extended Learning Program project are communicating online with students across the country as well as in Canada, Japan, China, India, and Poland in an effort to put together projects about their daily lives and the things that make them different and the same. The students communicate through Edmodo, an online social network designed for teachers and students that is formatted similar to Facebook. The teams are assigned topics for their projects based on an aspect of their everyday lives, such as food, clothing, celebrations, housing, transportation and school.

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.