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Back to School with NGS! Explorer Classroom Returns for a New Season

This post was written by Heather Chiles, an Engagement and Marketing Strategy staff member at the National Geographic Society.

Dive into What’s New for the 2023-2024 School Year!

September is here and class is in session! We’ve gathered interactive resources, programs, and virtual events to make this school year even more inspiring for your students! It’s no secret that educators can uplift, inspire, and encourage students to follow their academic dreams and find their niche. 

A guest speaker, lesson plan, field trip, or project can create a butterfly effect of impact. Your classroom can inspire a student to study a topic more in-depth, create a project, ask questions, build on curiosity, learn more, decide what career path they want to follow or find a solution to the environmental challenges of today. 

National Geographic Explorer and Wayfinder Award Recipient, Gibbs Kuguru approaches a 10ft Tiger Shark to collect photographic evidence of each individual specimen. Photo Credit: Siraj Ahmed / National Geographic
National Geographic Explorer and Wayfinder Award Recipient, Gibbs Kuguru approaches a 10ft Tiger Shark to collect photographic evidence of each individual specimen. Photo Credit: Siraj Ahmed / National Geographic

Explorer Classroom Returns

Instill awe and wonder in your students through the eyes of National Geographic Explorers with the NEW season of Explorer Classroom! Open your classroom doors for a virtual visit from our incredible Explorers starting September 7th! Tickets and registration are available now.

Upcoming Events for Explorer Classroom Fall 2023:

• Sept. 14th Slithering Secrets with Explorer Ru Somaweera

• Sept. 20th Turkana Basin with Explorer Louise Leakey

• Sept. 21st Guatemala’s Petrified Forest with Explorers Gabby Salazar & Ross Donihue

• Sept. 28th Discovering New Species with Explorer Elisabeth Henschel 

Explorer Gabby Salazar at the Marojejy National Park in Madagascar.
Explorer Gabby Salazar at the Marojejy National Park in Madagascar. Photo Credit: Rick Stanley

See the behind-the-scenes of what it is like to be a National Geographic Explorer. Explorers discuss their findings from around the world and are available for a Q&A with you and your students!

Campsite at night, Isla San José, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Photo Credit: Jacobo Reyes-Velasco
Campsite at night, Isla San José, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Photo Credit: Jacobo Reyes-Velasco

Explorer Classroom is a live, interactive, online show that connects learners ages 8-18 directly with National Geographic Explorers for short lessons and Q&A, bringing science, exploration, conservation, and storytelling to life. Our experts inspire students to become the next generation of explorers by sharing behind-the-scenes stories about their work and answering student questions in real time! All events are free, open to any classroom, and include an interactive guide, Explorer Mindset in Action, to take students on a learning journey with our Explorers that sparks their curiosity in the world around them.

check out explorer classroom on demand

While you’re preparing for your session to begin, download the Explorer Mindset in Action to include in your lesson plan to help your students get the most out of this experience. This resource is also available in Spanish.

Slingshot Challenge Returns for Year 2

Last year’s National Geographic Slingshot Challenge awardees and finalists received recognition during the annual NG Explorers Festival, held at the National Geographic headquarters.  Awardees posed for a group photo with NGS staff supporting the Slingshot Challenge program,  (l-r): Chelsea Zillmer (staff), Lina Gomez (staff), Tiffany Gay (awardee), Mara Lloyd (awardee), Cindy Nguyen (staff), Jade Melendres (awardee), Nil Koza Karca, NGS Chief Education Officer Deborah R. Grayson, Kalashree Vyas (awardee), Soren Goldsmith (awardee), Kayla Ling (awardee), Carrie Bell (staff).
Last year’s National Geographic Slingshot Challenge awardees and finalists received recognition during the annual NG Explorers Festival, held at the National Geographic headquarters.  Awardees posed for a group photo with NGS staff supporting the Slingshot Challenge program,  (l-r): Chelsea Zillmer (staff), Lina Gomez (staff), Tiffany Gay (awardee), Mara Lloyd (awardee), Cindy Nguyen (staff), Jade Melendres (awardee), Nil Koza Karca, NGS Chief Education Officer Deborah R. Grayson, Kalashree Vyas (awardee), Soren Goldsmith (awardee), Kayla Ling (awardee), Carrie Bell (staff). Photo Credit: Rolf Sjogren

We are challenging 13-18 year olds to create a one-minute video with their solution to our current environmental problems.

The Slingshot Challenge empowers your students to be change-makers and find solutions to the world’s top environmental issues. It only takes one great idea to make a significant impact as we move towards a more sustainable future. 

Sign up now to be in the know about upcoming deadlines, project submission guides, and more resources for success. Slingshot Challenge opens for submissions on September 20th. 

Learn more about the grant recipients and their impressive project submissions from the inaugural year of the Slingshot Challenge.

Prepare For a New Year: Browse the Education Hub

Headlamps illuminate the path climbers take up the Khumbu Icefall from Everest Base Camp. Mariusz Potocki/National Geographic
Headlamps illuminate the path climbers take up the Khumbu Icefall from Everest Base Camp. Photo Credit: Mariusz Potocki/National Geographic

Ignite the spirit of Exploration. Whether this is your first year as a teacher or you’re a seasoned educator, we understand how much preparation goes into making the school year engaging and impactful for your students. That’s why we’re happy to offer an upgraded version of the Education Hub.

Simply search whatever is in your lesson plan and optimize results with filters by school year, subject, or platform. Homeschool, public school, private school, tutoring, project research, and science fairs, can leverage all that NGS Education Hub has to offer.

No matter your subject expertise or what grade you teach with approximately 3,000 resources and resource sets, the Education Hub is an essential resource. 

Science | Teach your students how plastic is created and what we can do now for a more sustainable future. Count the planets, moons, and asteroids of the solar system with you eager learners with Science 101.

History | Instill the wonder of storytelling when teaching your students the history of storytelling over the changing landscapes of classic novels, digital articles, podcasts, documentaries, and social media content creation. 

Biology | Dive into Explorer research measuring mangroves and pair your lesson plan with MapMaker 4.0 Beta with a Mangrove Watch Map layer to engage students in biology classrooms or inspire your students to become conservationists.

Mangroves grow at Jellyfish Lake, a famous freshwater lake in Palau in the Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, a world heritage site. Photo Credit: Kiliii Yüyan

National Geographic Education resources are Infographics, Encyclopedic Entries, Articles, and Videos that provide Explorer-led research at your fingertips to transform your student’s learning experience. 

Educators! Share your voice! Share a photo using the Back to School resources with the hashtags #BacktoSchoolNGS #NGSEducation #NGSExplorerClassroom

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