World's most active volcanoes

Plenty of world news lately about active volcanoes! I found several sites that are very accurate, informative, interactive and providing many topics concerning the world's active volcanoes that could be very useful for teachers and students learning earth building processes:

Volcano Live

Gives links/info to:Breaking News ,World Volcanoes,Live Cams,
Adventure Travel , Film and Television ,Photos ,Volcanology .
http://www.volcanolive.com/active2.html

Space Science and Education Center:Volcano Watch

These satellite images show some of the world's most active volcanoes. Additional volcano information can be obtained from the Michigan Tech Geology Department. The Java animations below contain the last four satellite images. Volcanoes are listed from north to south

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/volcano.html

Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program:

Many resources at this website--types volcanoes, pictures, explanations, locations and interactive mapping

http://www.volcano.si.edu/%22

USGS: Volcanoes of the United States

Background information on U.S. volcanoes

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volcus/ustext.html

Volcanoes:

An educational site with teacher materials, lesson plans!, videos, etc.

http://doe.sd.gov/octa/ddn4learning/themeunits/Volcanoes/famous.htm

Alaska Volcanoe Observatory:

live video footage of Mt. Redoubt, etc.

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/news.php?item=72

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 tunes

One of my favorite performers: Cary Newcomer
Her latest album: Geography of Light
The following YouTube video is a song from Geography of Light called "Geodes"....terrific song!!!

Carrie Newcomer Performs "Geodes" With Carrie Newcomer, Gary Walters, Chris Wagoner and Mary Gaines At the Buskirk-Chumley Theater

Earth Hour 3/28/09 8:30 pm

TURN OUT YOUR LIGHTS AND SUPPORT EARTH HOUR 2009!
Turn out. Take action.
Be part of this historic event.March 28, 2009, 8:30 pm local time. The World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions.

FOR ACTION TOOLKITS, TEACHER MATERIALS, AND OTHER INFORMATION SEE: http://www.earthhourus.org/main.php

SkyWatch Friday

See other lovely sky views at:

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Southern end of Mt. Timpanogos, Wasatch Mt Range, Utah Valley, Utah....something always interesting to see concerning the weather around these mountains/canyon.

Comparing Lakes by area size

You can just about find anything you would ever need to know at Wikipedia. I was searching for a site where I could find a list of lakes by area size, and Wikipedia poped up. This site lists all the world's major lakes and their locations in order of size, area, volume, country flag, picture/shape of the lakes and much more....great research site for student reports!
OTHER WORLD LAKE SITES:

International Lakes Environmental Committee:
http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/database.html

LakeNet (more categories of lakes: oldest, deepest, etc.)
http://www.worldlakes.org/lakeprofiles.asp

Take a quiz about the 10 largest lakes in the world:
http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/lakemaps/Lakes.html

World's deepest lakes from the U.S. National Park Service:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/brochures/deeplakes.htm

Indian Ocean as History & Geography

Geography of the Indian Ocean resource!!!!!!!

A recent Middle East Center of the University of Utah "Outreach Notes" newsletter article provided an extensive list of resources that just focus on the Indian Ocean as History. The list was adapted from an Outreach workshop held @ Georgetown University fall/2008 entitled "The Indian Ocean in World History: Seafaring, Trade, and Global Encounters."
http://www.mec.utah.edu/outreach/?pageId=3319

Another amazing resource the newsletter mentioned was an interactive website from the above workshop "where students can learn not only about human interaction in the Indian Ocean region from dawn of human history until today, but can look at history through primary resources"
www.sqcc.org/indianocean


About the Middle East Center of the University of Utah:
http://www.mec.utah.edu/outreach/?pageId=1243
provides workshops, lesson plans and curriculum, film series,
podcasts, teacher materials, professional development newsletter (online), etc...

EXCELLENT, EXTENSIVE, GEOGRAPHY TEACHER RESOURCE!!!

Thinkfinity--One of the Best Teacher/Student resource sites!

http://www.thinkfinity.org/

This is ONE OF THE BEST Educator Resource websites for FREE standards-based lesson plans created by leading organizations and teachers for many subject areas!! Find many remarkable Geography standards based lesson plans in different subject areas (history, social studies, math, science, etc)

Hundreds of teachers use Thinkfinity. Here's why:
-Free, exciting, top-quality materials
-Quick, accessible and easy to use
-Content created by trusted experts and leading educators
-Thousands of standards-based lesson plans
-Valuable professional development opportunities

The above introductory video is from the http://www.thinkfinity.org website.

'Thousand-Hand Guan Yin' performance

Truly amazing..'Thousand-Hand Guan Yin' performance! See website below video for more information!!

http://www.china.org.cn/english/entertainment/243335.htm

Economics literacy / Geography

I was looking for lesson plans about Economic Geography and discovered this
website. This website is loaded with 90 very useful, well-written, powerful lesson plans and activities dealing with Economic Literacy...vitually all of them had geography components or connections.

Also available on this website: teacher publications, education blog, and information about teacher and student programs.

http://www.powellcenter.org/lesson_searchAll.asp

Great Geography Widgets from National Geographic

Fantastic, FREE , easy to load, reliable resource, and high quality content Widgets for your teacher webpages, blogsites, & blog dashboards available from National Geographic at this link:
http://widgets.nationalgeographic.com/widgets/#placeOfWeek

Widgets available:
Your Shot Jigsaw Puzzles
Your Shot Slide Puzzles
Your Shot Daily Dozen
Photo of the Day Widget
Daily News Widget
Green Guide Tip of the Week Widget -->
U2 3D Movie Widget
Place of the Week Widget
Video Widget
Nat Geo Music Widget
Mysteries of the Ancient World Game Widget

Great geography resources from a reliable source: National Geographic !!
See examples at the bottom of this blogsite!!!!!!!!!!!

SkyWatch Friday

See other lovely sky views:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Several interesting views of the Salt Lake & Utah Valley mountains after the recent snow storm blew through the region.
1)Looking S down into
Utah Valley..Utah Lake in front of the Mountains.
I like this picture because it has layers: houses, farm land, lake, Mts, sky, clouds. :)


2)Looking west @ Oqhirrh
Mts. (SWestern edge of Salt Lake Valley)





2)Looking SE @ Mt. Timpanogos in Utah Valley from Salt Lake Valley (Wasatch Mt range)

3)Looking S from Mt. Timpanogos in Utah Valley

(Wasatch Mountain Range-UT, USA)

Geography Pronunciation Guide

Nauru: an island country in the west Pacific ocean

Pronunciation: nah-OO-roo

I found a website with a very useful geography tool...for students and teachers alike-- a Geography Pronunciation Guide! The website is very simple, but allows the user to identify the location of every country in the world AND to hear (an audio file provided) the correct pronunciation of each country as well!

http://www.brookscole.com/earthscience_d/templates/student_resources/0030339669_salter/geo2_pronunciation/geoGuide.html

A single link from the main simple website directs you to this easy to use Geography Pronunciation Guide, Country locator, and simple country facts site (Capital, population, area/size, currency, climate, & nationality):

http://www.brookscole.com/earthscience_d/templates/student_resources/0030339669_salter/geo2_pronunciation/geoApp2.html

I found another site that offers correct pronunciations of world countries and some other interesting topics as well:

http://inogolo.com/pronunciation_guides

(This site offers only the pronunciations.)

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)

SkyWatch Friday

See other SkyWatch Friday views:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/

It was a dark and gloomy winter morning.....

I took this photo last week, the dark snow/rain clouds were rather foreboding..

Feb/09 Wasatch Mountain Range, near Mt. Timpanogos, northeastern Utah Valley, Utah, USA

"How the World was Made", new series

The HISTORY CHANNEL has an amazing new series HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE. Geography, Geology, oceanography, hydrology + many other topics are covered in this series.http://www.history.com/video.do?name=How_the_Earth_Was_Made&bcpid=9786056001&bclid=13744421001&bctid=13764655001


The above clip was downloaded via MSN.com today from the "How the Earth was Made" series:
From the HISTORY CHANNEL website: "The new series HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE travels the globe to reveal the geological processes that have shaped our planet. Each episode will look at a single location and examine how the features that we see today have formed over millions of years—whether by colliding continents, volcanic eruption or the abrasive power of vast ice sheets. These processes, which intimately affect the way we live today, have been lost in the mists of time. Using the clues that were left behind, combined with expert evidence from geologists in the field, this series rolls back the millennia to see how the slow but immensely powerful forces of geology have shaped our world."

You can show these videos to your students from the website, purchase the series on DVD. The videos will not download from the History Channel website, but you may video tape the series for free useage in the classroom for one year. See the "classroom" link on the main website for recording rights. The videos do have adertisements. From >History Channel Home Page> Classroom > at this link you may also sign up for a HISTORY CHANNEL newsletter that will send you email updates about the latest series showing etc.

Geography of "Rock 'n Roll"?

I found an odd, but interesting site linking geography to music...

http://www.jananddean-janberry.com/maps/maps.html

This website has a map of Southern California indicating locations of

all the places mentioned in songs by the singing duo

Jan & Dean as well as The Beach Boys...also places where the groups lived, worked, recorded songs..all California locales.

Interesting twist to teaching Southern California geography????

World Festivals

Pre-Lent holidays celebrated differently around the world: Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Carnival....

This video was available for download today 2/24/09 on MSN.com...great segment from the History Channel about the geography & history of pre-Lent world celebrations.

How to dig a hole to the center of the earth

http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780064432184

Speaking of clay...I've had students build a cross-section model of the earth's inner layers in conjuction with the story: How To Dig A Hole To The Other Side Of The World, by Faith McNulty.
As you read this story to your students (assign students into teams of two) each team will model the different layers of the earth using clay as described in the story: core (small marble- sized ball) in a red clay, inner/outer mantle (surround the core with a different-colored layer of clay about 2" or more thick), and the crust (thin layer of blue-colored clay about 1/4" thick covering all of the mantle layer). When the story/models are completed, students (with a piece of string or a plastic knife) then cut the earth model in half. Each person then gets a "hemisphere" ....and students make little labels for each of the earth's layers (attach label to a toothpick or straight pin) and insert into the clay to identify the earth's inner layers. Great 3-dimensional geography/art projects for displays and take home.

I found a few more lesson plans (with lots of extensions) that relate to teaching about the inner layers of the earth. These lessons also use: "How To Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World."

http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/50sq/2005/0406-3.rtf
http://www.thesolutionsite.com/lesson/1206/watsonelB1.html

http://www.nku.edu/~enved/services.htm

Realistically, we could not dig to the other side of the earth....but if we could? The following fun websites below will show you where you would exit (antipode locations) ...if you could dig to the other side of the world!!!!!
http://www.freemaptools.com/tunnel-to-other-side-of-the-earth.htmhttp://www.antipodemap.com/

SkyWatch Friday

See what others are
seeing when looking skyward
at: http://skyley.blogspot.com/
Earlier this week, in the morning before work, I saw this almost fully round "sun dog" !! The day was clear and sunny but there was a hazy foggy area as I neared my work. The result was a fully round
sun dog (rainbow) from the sun peering through the haze.
This photo shows the sun dog, but the actual sun dog was
more colorful. I took this photo right outside the front door
of my work location, but feel lucky to have captured this much of the
sun dog. What a site!!! (The diagonal line in the photo is
an overhead electric line to the bldg.)