Isolated Tribes and Forests Threatened by New Amazon Road

ENVIRONMENT Communities in Peru are opposing a major development project approved by their central government. (National Geographic) Use our inquiry-based lesson plan to help students analyze the impact of building a road in the Amazon. Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit. Discussion Ideas Use these questions to start student inquiry. Then, use our lesson to help explore … Continue reading Isolated Tribes and Forests Threatened by New Amazon Road

Geo-Inquiry from the Prairie to Peru

By Dr. Alex Oberle and Kailyn Bettle It may be one of the world’s most incredible short flights, leaving the 11,000-feet-above-sea-Andean highlands at Cuzco and landing in the Amazon Basin less than an hour later. Midway through the flight, the mountains just end. Suddenly, a line of clouds appears … and then an emerald expanse of rain forest extending more than 1,500 miles to the northeast. It looks … Continue reading Geo-Inquiry from the Prairie to Peru

Generation Gaps, Social Studies, and Learning Through Language

Sandhya Narayanan is just one of the women speaking at our Expand the Field event on Tuesday, February 11, 2019. Learn more about the events and get tickets here! National Geographic Explorer Sandhya Narayanan grew up hearing five different languages spoken at home (Malayalam, Hindi, English, Tamil, and Bengali) and many more spoken around her in the international city of Toronto. This multilingual environment made … Continue reading Generation Gaps, Social Studies, and Learning Through Language

Discovery May Help Decipher Ancient Inca String Code

SCIENCE New clues to an old mystery about Inca language aren’t etched in stone. They’re tied in knots. (Nat Geo News) How did khipu help shape South American geography? Discussion Ideas The Nat Geo News article describes a new analysis of Incan khipu (or quipu). What are khipu? Khipu are knotted cords used by the ancient Inca to record events, census data, and accounts. (Khipu … Continue reading Discovery May Help Decipher Ancient Inca String Code

You, Too, Can Be a Space Archaeologist!

SCIENCE A new online tool from a Nat Geo explorer enables anyone with Internet access to search satellite images for ancient ruins. (Nat Geo News) Learn a little about space archaeology. Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit. Discussion Ideas GlobalXplorer° is a citizen science/space archaeology platform that uses the “power of the crowd to analyze the incredible … Continue reading You, Too, Can Be a Space Archaeologist!