NGS Daily jigsaw puzzles

Showing posts with label mapping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mapping. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Mapping the World by Heart program by David Smith

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED GEOGRAPHY PROGRAM:

http://www.mapping.com/Brochure.html
Mapping the World by Heart is a fabulous mental mapping program with proven results for your students! I used it for years with my students, and it really did improve their "mental maps" of the world!!

The following is an editorial description of David Smith's award winning program, Mapping the World by Heart:

"Can your students draw detailed maps without an atlas?

They can now! Perform a miracle with Mapping the World by Heart. It's a complete and proven approach to teaching geography. You'll see the most amazing results! Picture your students confidently penciling in the countries of central Africa, the expanse of the Rocky Mountains, and the nations of Southeast Asia. All by heart. As seen on NBC and in Time magazine! The stunning results of David Smith's curriculum were featured on NBC's Today show, in Time magazine, and in newspapers across the country. Now you can get the same results in your classroom!

What's Included

Comprehensive Teacher's Guide, detailed lesson plans, reproducibles, and blank outline maps. Mapping the World by Heart Lite includes master outline maps (one for each of the 9 world regions).

About the Author
David J. Smith has 26 years of experience teaching geography, history, and English in public and private schools. The U.S. Department of Education honored him in 1992 with their "Breaking the Mold" Award for this curriculum, and that, along with feature stories on The Today Show, and in Time Magazine, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, The International Educator, and other media, propelled him out of the classroom and into a full-time consulting practice.

Since 1992, he has given workshops, seminars, and addresses in 30 countries and 38 states, both on "Mapping The World By Heart" curriculum and on geography and geographic literacy generally, focusing on what he refers to as "world-mindedness across the curriculum".


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Monday, January 26, 2009

Geography of Monarch Butterflies





http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/butterflies/

I just received notice from PBS/NOVA of a new program: "The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies". FANTASTIC geography component when teaching butterfly metamorphosis to the younglings!!!!

"Program Overview :
NOVA traces the monarch butterfly's 2,000-mile migration to Mexico from Canada and the Northeastern United States." http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/programs/3601_butterfly.html

Excellent geography viewing/lesson ideas:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/viewing/3601_butterfly.html

Additional links and book resources listed on the site as well!!http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/butterflies/resources.html

Also...if your school is still planning a Geography Awareness Week: Mapping the Americas...This would be a perfect subject to complement your Americas' mapping activities!!!!!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

InternetResources for Maps & Map Making

A fabulous geographer, Carol Gersmehl, Monroe Community College, has provided the following excellent list of internet mapping resources!!!!



Internet Resources for Maps & Mapping—Examples November 2007 with July 2008 & December 2008 updates - - carol.gersmehl@gmail.com


U.S.
The U.S. Census provides ready-made maps about counties of the U.S. :
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/atlas.html
This is a great introduction to census maps.
Topics: population, diversity, race, and Hispanic origin (by counties)

Use census.gov to create thematic maps using Census data from year 2000:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ThematicMapFramesetServlet?_bm=y&-_lang=en
“American Factfinder” provides data about the U.S.. It steps you through creating a map. If you want to look at all of the U.S., then you would map data for “counties.” If you want to look at a smaller portion of the U.S., you might map data for “tracts” or “block groups":
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
Overview of American Factfinder:
http://factfinder.census.gov/jsp/saff/SAFFInfo.jsp?_pageId=gn7_maps
Thematic & reference maps:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/CP_MapProducts.htm

Use historical U.S. census data to create maps:
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/
Historical Census Browser. This site provides data for states and for counties—for every decade all the way back to 1790.

Find aerial photos and topographic maps for local areas in the U.S.
Terraserver and Topozone:
http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/ --for aerial photos and topographic maps. Generally, choose a small area (part of a city or part of a county) and zoom in.


Use the National Atlas to find printable maps or to select layers for your own map (technical).
“Printable Maps” http://www.nationalatlas.gov/printable.html
mainly thematic maps
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/printable/reference.html
reference maps (with or without labels)
“Map Maker” Section http://nationalatlas.gov/natlas/natlasstart.asp Choose one state or a group of several states. Note “Redraw Map.” http://www.nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html http://www.nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp-na.html for download

Find maps and data about agriculture in the U.S. (Census of Agriculture, NASS)
http://www.nass.usda.gov/research/atlas02/ has nice already-made maps (e.g., about milk cows)
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/
http://www.nass.usda.gov/QuickStats/ for data
http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/censuscd/index.htm for data download for experienced GIS


Digital atlases provide ready-made maps. (William A. Bowen California Geographical Survey) We can talk about the use of circles and the choice of colors on these maps. Notice that there are separate maps for total number of persons vs. percentages of persons.
http://130.166.124.2/NYpage1.html maps about census data for New York City
http://130.166.124.2/dcpg1.html maps about census data for Washington, DC
http://130.166.124.2/US_1.html maps about census data (ancestry) for U.S. counties

Find data and maps about religion in U.S.
http://www.thearda.com/ http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/maps.asp Choose maps and reports about religious groups.
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/society/rellinks.htm provides general overview and links

Other U.S. government websites (mortality, environmental quality, watersheds)
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/other/atlas/atlas.htm has already-made maps about diseases and types of injury from the Centers for Disease Control - Atlas of United States Mortality
EPA Enviromapper http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em includes NYC air sampling data after 9/11
EPA Surf Your Watershed http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm includes “locate your watershed”

Find maps in the Library of Congress Map Collection. There are 1000’s of maps.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html Search by keyword or choose a section.
This has many current and historic maps for the U.S. and also for other parts of the world.


WORLD (Also look into Google Maps and Google Earth!)
Worldmapper: http://www.worldmapper.org/ http://www.worldmapper.org/textindex/text_index.html
- has unusual type of map (cartogram); topics include present-day and also some historical:
Population in Year 1 http://www.worldmapper.org/ and
Wealth in Year 1 http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=159

World Resources Institute has maps and also data lists: for example http://earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/index.php?theme=4

Columbia University, CIESIN, has maps: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw/global.jsp

CIA Factbook is a basic source for reference maps and comparative data.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Choose a country (e.g., Afghanistran) and you will see a map followed by much data and description. OR – Do not choose a country and then click on “Reference Maps” to see maps of world regions.

Globalis has many map layers about countries and world regions. http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/index.cfm Start in upper left--choose a theme under Thematic Maps.
You will see maps about the entire world, or at top left, choose “Zoom to” to select an area.
Choose map topics under either “Statistics” or “Thematic maps.” Be sure to “Update map.”

Le Monde Diplomatique has already-made maps about issue-oriented and controversial topics.
http://mondediplo.com/maps/

Geography Network is an ESRI interactive mapping site where you can “Search” for maps.
http://www.geographynetwork.com/maps/arcexplorerweb.html You can launch ArcExplorerweb from here.
Using this can be more complicated, but is worth learning about.


Ready-made maps from National Geographic: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/matrix3.html has “starter” lesson ideas
GOOD: Human footprint http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/map/atlas/africa-human-footprint.html


Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection has many current and historic ready-made maps.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ Choose from a list of continents or from current interest topics.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/ provides historical maps


UNESCO World Heritage has locator map, photos, and descriptions of important historic places.
http://whc.unesco.org/ Zoom in and move around on the map to see locations of important places.
http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31 Important historical places are listed within countries.


USGS Earthshots: Satellite Images of Environmental Change (satellite images)
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/tableofcontents has image and article about each yellow dot


Various historic maps for U.S. and world
http://www.davidrumsey.com/ David Rumsey map collection provides 1000’s of historic maps, BUT
technology and sometimes GIS experience may be necessary.


Geography.about.com is a searchable site designed for teachers.
http://www.geography.about.com/ has dozens of links on the left side


World Atlas of Panoramic Aerial Images shows landforms and land cover. http://130.166.124.2/world_atlas/index.html COOL! Choose a region within the world or the U.S.
http://130.166.124.2/library.html shows contents of “The Electronic Map Library” by Wm. Bowen


GEsource is recommended by librarians for geography-related maps, data, and articles. http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/ summarizes CIA Factbook for countries
At top, for “Country,” please select country/region.” Then press “Go.”
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/geography_timeline.html Choose topic and date range.
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/countrycompare.html Compare 4 countries at a time.
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/worldguide/cities.html has city maps (satellite images)
http://www.gesource.ac.uk/home.html Use “keyword search” to find maps and articles.

THANKS CAROL! Teachers: Great resources to use with your smart boards!!!!!!!!!!