There are only 4 days until Geography Awareness Week!

I hope you are all getting as excited as we are here at National Geographic Education. Just in case you still need some inspiration for ways to celebrate, I want to tell you about a few new ideas and resources to check out before the big week!

ESRI Geography Awareness Week Page
ESRI’s (Environmental Systems Research Institute) website has its own Geography Awareness Week page. The page offers loads of information about GIS (Geographic Information Systems), including why it is an essential tool for studying geography, and how GIS can be applied in today’s world. The website provides several GIS activities about freshwater, as well as videos about GIS and geography. Visit the webpage and learn something new about mapping in today’s world!

Satellite Image Identification Contest
During Geography Awareness Week, right here on the My Wonderful World Blog, we will not only be hosting the 2010 GA Week Blog-a-thon, but also a freshwater satellite image contest. Each day of next week we will post one satellite image, along with a clue about its identity. To participate, just email me (JMulcahy@ngs.org) with your guess about what it is. We’ll choose one winner among the correct answers each day to win a prize. So, as you are reading through all of the wonderful blog-a-thon entries, look out for the satellite image contest!

National Geographic Spirit Week
Here at National Geographic Education, we will be participating in a Geography Awareness Spirit Week. Each day will have a different geography or freshwater-related activity. Here is our schedule:

Case of the Mondays: Wear 2 pieces of geographic flair (place-name t-shirt, buttons, jewelry, etc.).
Blue Tuesday: Wear blue in honor of water today.
Water Everywhere Wednesday: Decorate your office door with photos, maps, or other items representing your favorite body of freshwater.
Conserve Thursday: Choose 2 ways to conserve H20. Take a shorter shower, use a reusable water bottle,  or eat organic produce instead of meat.
Out to Lunch Friday: Bring or buy international cuisine for lunch today.

Try our spirit week activities with your friends and family, or come up with your own ideas and tell us about it!