National Clearinghouse for United States-Japan Studies

Need educational materials about Japan? See the SPICE program link to National Clearinghouse for U.S. - Japan Studies
http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/clearinghouse/

INTERNET TEACHER GUIDES:
http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/147

Footsteps of Alexander the Great: History/Geography

Many years ago, PBS created a fabulous TV series titled: "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great."

The series was about Michael Wood's multi-year project of retracing on land the travels of Alexander the Great...following ancient writings, modern folk lore and rumors the trip became an award winning documentary.

This series used to be supported on the PBS website with TONS of educational materials, but it is no longer available. Only the series is available in DVD or book..both of these are available from Amazon.com

Social Studies/history teachers that teach about Ancient Greece...This series is an excellent documentary not just for the history component, but for teaching geography as well .

This series is well worth watching &/or adding to your personal teaching materials. I showed many portions of the video and had the students map his journey on their own maps of Asia.

You may be able to check this out at a public library or check your district or school's media center ...maybe available at these places?

The DVD set & paperback book are available from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Footsteps-Alexander-Great-Region/dp/B0002CH90K/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Get lost in Mapping: Find your way in Europe!!
http://www.ngsednet.org/uga
(click on "GeoAction/GAW Resources")

With help from the Utah & Hawaii Geographic Alliances, I have created a document with live links that is a one-stop guide to all types of activities and support for Geography Awareness Week.

The Utah Geographic Alliance website is hosting the document at the above site....The Hawaii Geographic Alliance has graciously let me use the format and some of their links for this document as well. The activities and suggested links are mainly geared to Utah teachers/core curriculum, but all are welcome to use the ideas collected here. Ideas for Geography Awareness Week:

• Join/sign up for Geography Alliance, MyWonderfulWorld, GeoAction! memberships and newsletters.
• See Geography Awareness Week /Utah geography core curriculum connections
• Links to free downloadable, Big Map and lesson plans
• Register for National Geographic Bee competition
• Children's literature connections for Geography Awareness Week
• Attend Utah regional GeoFests/teacher development activities
• Download FREE geography of Europe lesson plans!!
• Ideas for Geography Awareness Week activities
  

Make a BIG MAP, share ideas, watch videos, listen to music, read books all about Europe.....Enjoy and help celebrate Geography Awareness Week!!

CHEERS!!!!!!!!!

World Digital Library Project

Yesterday on NPR radio, I heard a brief story about a relatively new UNESCO project:
World Digital Library Project www.wdl.org.
The directors of this project are partnering with WORLD governmental institutions (example: U.S. Library of Congress / National Archives) to "make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural materials. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research."
http://www.wdl.org/en/ is an easy to use website, with a world map showing all current digitized documents available ....

What an incredible project! The World Digital Library is digitizing to preserve rare cultural primary resources documents spanning thousands of years of history from cultures around the world!!!

Geography / Map resource!!

I discovered a huge map resource for teacher/school/student use:
Maps That Teach: Free U.S. and World Maps and Puzzles http://www.yourchildlearns.com/geography.htm
"Maps that Teach take advantage of the fact that geography is spatial. They also utilize the way kids learn best, by actively participating in their learning; learning by doing. As students assemble the maps, they build a permanent mental picture of their world. From Maps that Teach, a student will learn about the continents and where they are in relation to each other; the countries of the world, their capitals and major cultural landmarks, physical features; what is far and what is near."

All kinds of printable maps (world,continents, countries, states, world regional maps,etc), map puzzles, online interactive maps, world atlas, BIG sized maps for download and printing..

Most of the printable maps, are basic outline (not labeled) maps...easy to use and print.
Very user-friendly site for teachers & students!!

Geography worksheets?

I'm not an enthusiast for using worksheets to teach geography!! I know that once in a while however...in a pinch to help reinforce an activity..a student worksheet would be acceptable. I found a website loaded with ready to use pdf.pages for map skills and geography (many topics and for many ages of students).


http://www.worldmapsonline.com/LESSON-PLANS/table-of-contents-lesson-plans.htm

Geography Resources Galore!!!!!

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Education & Children's Programs offers a multitude of the highest-quality, FREE Geography resource materials for teachers and students!

The following is a list of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC websites to their Key sites, Maps, Map activities and Education programs:

Web Sites

KEY SITES
· National Geographic nationalgeographic.com
Free maps, photos, videos, and daily news stories, as well as articles and features about animals, the environment, cultures, history, world music, travel, more

· NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Magazine nationalgeographic.com/ngm
Online version of Society’s flagship magazine offers interactive activities, articles, more

· National Geographic Education nationalgeographic.com/education Rich compilation of interactive adventures, maps and geography, lesson plans, history activities, a teacher’s store, more

· Geography Action! nationalgeographic.com/geography-action
Information and classroom materials for annual National Geographic program for K–12 teachers

· National Geographic Xpeditions nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions
Home to the U.S. National Geography Standards—and to thousands of ideas, tools, and interactive adventures that bring them to life; lesson plans, activities, and outline maps

· My Wonderful World mywonderfulworld.org
Resources include “geography I.Q. test” and Action Kits for parents, educators, and kids (A National Geographic-led campaign to increase geographic learning)

· National Geographic Bee nationalgeographic.com/geographicbee
Includes registration information for the National Geographic Bee, frequently asked questions, GeoBee Quiz, student resources

· National Geographic Kids kids.nationalgeographic.com

Fun, educational site includes articles, games, videos, stories, activities, photos

MAPS
· National Geographic Maps nationalgeographic.com/maps
Resources include outline maps educators can print and copy, Atlas of the Human Journey, downloadable TOPO maps, interactive maps


· NG World Atlas for Young Explorers

nationalgeographic.com/kids-world-atlas
Supplements a Society print atlas with links to maps, music, photographs, country information, videos, geographic games, more


MAP ACTIVITIES
· Atlas Puzzles ngm.nationalgeographic.com/map/atlas/puzzlesKids

can challenge friends to solve timed Atlas map jigsaw puzzles.

· Remembering Pearl Harbor plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharborResources,

which include a multimedia map and timeline, survivor stories, and a Society expedition to the site, examine the attack and its aftermath.

· Exploring the Chesapeake: Then and Now nationalgeographic.com/chesapeake/Bay comes alive through video, interactive maps, historical photos, lesson plans

· MapMachine maps.nationalgeographic.com/map-machine
Use National Geographic’s dynamic online atlas to locate nearly any place on Earth; search and print historical, weather, and population maps; more.

· EarthPulse nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse
Visual guide to global trends employs interactive maps, diagrams, satellite imagery, more


EDUCATION
· National Geographic School Publishing ngsp.com

Quality PreK–12 instructional materials including resources for emergent and early literacy, reading/language arts, ESL/ELD, content literacy development, professional development

· All Roads Film Project nationalgeographic.com/allroads
Gives indigenous and underrepresented filmmakers a platform to showcase their cultures to a worldwide audience (A National Geographic initiative)

· The JASON Project jason.org
Inspirational connections to great explorers and events through core curriculum units and a global online community for students, teachers, and scientists (A nonprofit subsidiary of National Geographic)