Many areas are hosting local events to celebrate Geography Awareness Week (November 12-18), but what’s happening in your home or classroom? Celebrating can be as simple as looking up new places in an atlas, as fun as playing geography-themed games, as tasty as trying some new-to-you cuisine, or as exciting as going geocaching.
Need some ideas? Check our Geography Awareness Week site.
What are you doing? Tell us!
Geography Awareness Week 2007 will occur from November 11-17th. I’m not sure about the timetable for updating the GAW site, but I’ll find out and post that information as it becomes available. We’re already working on developing lots of exciting events, activities, and resources for geography awareness week that will be made available through the My Wonderful World site and other venues, so please keep checking back with us. Thanks for you comment, Lisa!
What are the dates for the 2007 Geography Awareness Week?
When will the Geography Awareness Week site be updated for 2007?
http://www.mywonderfulworld.org/gaw.html
Thank you!
I teach 6th grade social studies and we celebrated National Geography Week by having geo quizes in class and creating mental maps to see how we have developed geographically over the course of the year. We also are competing in the National GeoBee.
We use current events as a jumping off point for geographic discussions. Every day my students find a place on a map and write relative locations and geography notes in a composition notebook.
Just recently we began working with a blog and podcasting. My students produce podcasts on current events and geography quizzes called “Journey to Bernie.”
Our blog site is located at http://guysread.typepad.com/ouropus
Come see what we are up to.
Mike Hutchinson
Wake County, North Carolina
We do our best to teach geography through current world events. Studying Europe and South America, we focus on those areas–selecting a new current event each day. The location of the current event provides a source of conversation and a “starting point” for geographical conversations with our sixth graders.
Then, we produce a regular podcast program about the current event—and a separate program called “Finding Fred and Bob” which focuses on the geography of particular locations.
Check us out at:
http://guysread.typepad.com/theblurb
Bill Ferriter
Apex, North Carolina
Me likey maps
What are we doing? We are starting a year long “hobby”. Each week we will borrow a video tape from the library that explores one state in our Great Union. My 4 children will color/decorate that state on an outline map.We will be collecting state information where ever we come across it and display it all this year on a bulletin board that will hold the outline maps. We can enjoy watching the collection of states grow as the time goes by. I am looking forward to it. Martina Mathisen
At Brownell-Talbot School in Omaha, all students in Grades 3 and 4 are attending the San Jose Taiko Drum Omaha Performance during Geography Awareness Week. San Jose Taiko performs the art of Japanese drumming. The program purpose is to expand the children’s knowledge of Japanese music and culture and to open their hearts and minds to the joy of music. This fieldtrip is a prelude to Brownell-Talbot’s two day intensive study of Japanese culture scheduled for Feb. 8 and 9, 2007.
Hi fellow geographers, I teach World Geography in Fredericksburg, VA and I’m thrilled to support Geography Awareness Week. My school is hosting films on November 14 and 16 after school. Choices will be from “Africa”, “A Far Off Place”, “Out of Africa”, “Amandla”, “Bopha”, or “African Safari”. Film clips may be from “Michael Palin: Pole to Pole”, “A Hemingway Adventure”, “Madagascar: the Enchanted Island”, or “Travel Around Africa”. Our school’s website is carrying educational links for students working on GAW projects. Click on “Geography Awareness Week” at http://www.spotsylvania.k12.va.us/rhs . We are also hosting a school wide contest for students playing “Geo Trivia: AFRICA IN 3-D”, sponsored by Ms. P. Anderson of the Virginia Geographic Alliance. Fredericksburg’s local paper, the Free-Lance Star, will get updates and pictures to print in the “School News” section and the local Channel 17 cable channels of Fredericksburg will get updates and pictures to display on their “School News” time slot. Hope you all enjoy a successful GAW!!
“Bula” from us here in FIJI!! The Fiji Islands are located in the South Pacific Ocean and we are very aware of the vital importance of teaching our young people as much Geography as we can. Many of our island neighbours are suffering serious effects from Global Warming, and even here we are seeing damage from sea erosion and climate change. Geography is a living subject for us, and we are celebrating Geography Week by going on a camp up into some spectacular hills on the western side of Viti Levu, our main island. Here we will study the varying land forms, tramp and climb through the natural forest and swim in the pristine river. On our way home we will explore the Sigatoka Sand Dunes, some of the largest natural dunes in the world, where we can find pottery, bones and other artifacts dating back to the Lapita People, the first inhabitants of our islands.Every week is Geography Week for us! We will also slide down the huge dunes and enjoy the warm Pacific Ocean, inside the fringing reef. This same ocean unites us! Enjoy our beautiful world wherever you are!
Geosciences department at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY is having an online quiz that tests geographic knowledge in different categories. Students and faculty members are encouraged to take the test. Prizes will be awarded based on the highest scores.
http://www.monroecc.edu/go/quiz
My name is Susie Geurin. I am a 4th grade teacher at Forest Grove Elementary School in Sterling,Virginia. We kicked off Geography Awareness Week on our morning news show today. I introduced “Mr. Help” to the school. “Mr. Help” helps us learn the 5 themes of Geography: M movement, R region, H E Human Environment Interaction, L location, and P place. All this week 2 questions will be given to the student body. The answers will be given the next day. Students are also guessing which themes can be seen in the posters from My Wonderful World. We will extend this week into a month long celebration in anticipation of the Geography Bee which will be held for our 4th and 5th graders. Questions will continue throughout the month. Thanks for all of the wonderful links that you have designed for My Wonderful World. It is a great site!! Happy Geography Awareness Week!
We produce a morning television news broadcast. Before we celebrate geography around the world, we are starting with our own United States. Our patriotic song for the month is “Nifty Fifty.” I have made a couple of multimedia projects that go along with the song. As each state is sung, the state pops up on the television screen individually. In another multimedia project, the United States is shown and as each song is sung, it appears filled in on the U.S. map. We are having a contest. Students who can name the 50 states using flash cards on the morning news broadcast will win a variety of geography prizes (globes, maps, etc.) Also, in the computer lab, students are using “Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego,” as well as other state identification online games. Excitement is building and the “Fifty Nifty” song is a great starting point for students to learn all 50 states. Thank you for My Wonderful World which inspired this school-wide project at Sumner Avenue School in Springfield, MA.
I’ve also wanted to try Ethiopian food and this is a great reason why. Perhaps my students and I will make some for a Geography Awareness Week project. I can’t wait to hear what others are doing.