Looking Ahead: This Week in Geographic History, August 15-21

Monday, August 15 TDIGH: Panama Canal Opens The canal, which cuts across the Isthmus of Panama, allows ships to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean in half the time. Map: Historical map showing Panama’s unique location Background: Read more about the Panama Canal Activity: How is climate change affecting shipping?     Wednesday, August 17 TDIGH: Davy Crockett Born Though the “King of … Continue reading Looking Ahead: This Week in Geographic History, August 15-21

15 Things We Learned This Week!

What did you learn this week? Let us know in the comments or at education@ngs.org. This week, we learned … … urine, not chlorine, causes itchy eyes in pools. Dive in!     … how we talk about teachers, and why it might be worth it to pay them $100,000 … or more. Stay tuned to TeachingCenter for details.     … how “sushi” children … Continue reading 15 Things We Learned This Week!

Enabling Globalization: The Container

By Seth Dixon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Geography, Rhode Island College When you think of technology and globalization, does your tablet or smartphone come to mind?   While smartphones and tablets play a part in reshaping global economics and culture, the backbone of the modern global economy is actually something that goes unseen by most people, despite its size. In fact, this thing is so ordinary that we fail understand … Continue reading Enabling Globalization: The Container

#tbt: The Quiet Opening of the Panama Canal

By Alyson Foster Content & Collections Specialist, National Geographic Library   This month marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal. The canal remains one of the greatest construction projects ever undertaken, an effort that spanned more than three decades. It required the labor of tens of thousands of workers who dug their way nearly 80 kilometers (50 miles) across the rugged terrain … Continue reading #tbt: The Quiet Opening of the Panama Canal

Meet Summer Intern Michelle Renn

Hey everyone!

My name is Michelle Renn and from now through August I’ll be interning at National Geographic and contributing to the My Wonderful World blog.  
   
The fact is: I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that we truly live in a wonderful world.  All throughout my childhood I was fortunate to travel a lot with my family.  We traveled domestically and internationally, often taking road trips across the country in the summers.  We camped along the way, exploring National Parks, big cities, small towns– and everything in between.  I learned from a young age that travel is about the journey, not just the destination.  In retrospect, I entirely credit my parents with instilling in me a profound desire for exploration.  Once I was exposed to a taste of new places, cultures, languages, and foods, the curiosity was unstoppable.  I began to realize what a very large world we live in, and I became determined to experience as much of it as I could.  
  
 My love for exploration is likely what attracted me to Geography as a major in college.  The breadth and depth of the discipline is miraculous, comprising everything from studies of humans and cultures, mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), environmental issues and systems, and physical attributes of the Earth.  Geography is the exploration of people, cultures, the environment, and the intersections among them— it is an exploration of the planet we all share.  I couldn’t stay away. 🙂   
 
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Continue reading “Meet Summer Intern Michelle Renn”