What do you think of when you hear the word literacy? Depending on what you teach, chances are geography is not the first thought that comes to mind. But believe it or not, geography and literacy naturally share many similarities. And you can deepen students’ learning in both geography and literacy when they are integrated in the curriculum. The Common Core State Standards in English … Continue reading The Geography and Literacy Connection
GEOGRAPHY Oakland: Robbery Capital of the U.S. Oakland, California, endures more robberies than other American cities. However, law-enforcement experts discourage reliance on such crime statistics. Why? Discussion Ideas: Oakland, California, is the “robbery capital of the United States.” Robbery is less invasive than burglary, where criminals enter a person’s home or business. It is less violent than murder or assault. After reading the Oakland Tribune … Continue reading Oakland: Robbery Capital of the U.S.
Writer’s note: This week, I’m kickin’ it old school and honoring #tbt (throwback Thursday) by dusting off a Fall 2010 blog post I wrote while interning at National Geographic. This post reveals its age. It was written a few months after the BP oil spill when scars from Katrina were still relatively fresh and when the world was recently pronounced flat. Like most good things … Continue reading #tbt: Geography—What do you do with that?
Keeping our library of cartography fresh, accurate, and current is a priority for us at National Geographic. And our maps for educators and students are no exception. The downloadable black-and-white 1-page maps of continents, countries, and states have been a staple of the National Geographic website for over ten years. Formerly known as Xpeditions maps, this cartographic series has been popular with educators who use them for geography learning activities across a range of subjects, ages, and grades. In early 2011, we launched a new website for educators at NatGeoEd.org including a new tool for customizing these maps, now called MapMaker 1-Page Maps. But as soon as the new site launched, it was already time for a cartographic update! Geography changes around the world everyday–and particularly the boundaries and place-names found on political maps. Here are the top five changes to look for in the MapMaker 1-Page online map library.
1. South Sudan
In a January 2011 referendum, the people of the autonomous region of
Southern Sudan voted for their independence from Sudan, creating the
Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011–the world’s 195th country. On
July 14, 2011 South Sudan joined the United Nations as a member state.
Sudan had long been the largest country in Africa, but with the change
the resulting area is now surpassed in size by Algeria. Along with the
addition of the new South Sudan map, changes were also made to the maps
of all bordering countries along with the continental and world maps
that included South Sudan in their area of overage. The updated maps
include neighboring Chad, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Central African
Republic, and Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as the Africa,
Asia, and World maps.
2. Iceland
In addition to political features, maps in the MapMaker 1-Page online
library also include some updates to important physical features and
points of interest. In 2010, the glacially covered volcano
Eyjafjallajökull erupted for nearly two months, with the resulting ash
clouds disrupting air travel across Europe. The stratovolcano is still
active and is now represented with a volcano symbol on the 1-page map of
Iceland along with some of the island’s other volcanic peaks.
In mid-2010 a large archipelago in the Canadian province of British
Columbia was renamed Haida Gwaii from its former name, Queen Charlotte
Islands. The change was part of an agreement between the government of
British Columbia and the Haida Nation–a group indigenous to the Pacific
Northwest region of North America.
The MWW Blog is launching a new series called “Wednesday Word of the Week.” This feature will contribute to our ongoing work educating the public about geo-literacy–the ability to use geographic knowledge to make informed decisions about the dynamic world we live in. Geo-literacy is a relevant, applicable, and global tool; it is a communicative bridge between the peoples, places and possibilities of our earth. … Continue reading Wednesday Word of the Week: Echolocation
