Educator Spotlight: Designing Sustainable Cities

Reggie Vasquez challenged his fifth-graders to design a future city incorporating sustainable and alternative energy sources. Students used the inquiry process and education technology, such as green screen, virtual reality, and mapping tools, to create public service announcements explaining their sustainable cities. What inspired you to create a National Geographic Educator Certification project focused on designing sustainable cities? My young children, my students, my passion … Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Designing Sustainable Cities

Strategy Share: Empowering Students to Create Case Studies

Case studies are an excellent instrument for teaching that can be used across subject areas. They allow students to dig into learning because they connect complex concepts to the real world. The creation process is valuable in itself. I couldn’t let this opportunity pass my students by; I had to involve them in the process. Continue reading Strategy Share: Empowering Students to Create Case Studies

Innovation Project: 515 Schools, 85 Countries Focusing On Sustainability And Innovation

By Koen Timmers Why do people invent? What is the purpose of innovation? Earning (more) money? Making people’s lives easier, more interesting? Make the world more sustainable? Sadly enough, in many cases innovation is based on financial benefits. So, it’s time to connect students around the world focusing on innovations that make the world more sustainable. This is how the Innovation Project was born. The … Continue reading Innovation Project: 515 Schools, 85 Countries Focusing On Sustainability And Innovation

Educator Spotlight: Investigating the Stories Behind Smartphones

Loris Chen designed a unit that guides her eighth-grade students through an exploration of smartphones. Students follow the product life cycle from beginning to end, discovering what raw materials are used, how they are sourced, and how sustainable they are. The project culminates with students producing videos to share their ideas for improving smartphone sustainability. Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Investigating the Stories Behind Smartphones