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It's Geography Awareness Week!

National Geographic invites budding explorers on a seven-day "tour" of the marvelous cultures and natural wonders of the Americas during Geography Awareness Week 2008, Nov. 16-22. Geography Awareness Week is part of Geography Action!, an annual conservation and awareness program for schools and students in grades K through 12, designed to educate and excite youngsters about the world's natural, cultural and historic treasures.

Visit our Geography Action! and My Wonderful World web sites for more information, activities and teacher resources.

Coincident with Geography Awareness Week is GIS Day on November 19th. GIS Day provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society.

Giant Traveling Maps, Oh My!

A giant National Geographic map of North America, measuring 26 feet by 35 feet, is traveling to schools, museums and festivals across the country this year, giving student explorers a geographic experience like no other. The National Geographic Giant Traveling Map brings with it rich content and exciting activities to enliven the study of geography, making it a fun, interactive experience.

The North American map is the third in National Geographic's Giant Traveling Map series. Africa began touring in 2006, followed by Asia in 2007. In the 2008-09 school year, more than 90,000 U.S. students will have the unique experience of walking on a National Geographic Giant Traveling Map.

The new giant map, designed for grades K-8, tours with a trunk full of accessories, including interactive games, geography adventures, atlases and books that teach students about the physical characteristics of North America as well as its rich history and varied cultures. 

Some of the activities included are "A Tale of Twenty Cities," in which students explore the physical and economic reasons behind the locations of North American cities, and "Grocery Store Geography," in which bean-bag-tossing skills are called upon to test students' knowledge of where foods are produced in the continent.

To learn more about the Giant Traveling Map project, for borrowing information, or to download map activities, visit ngsednet.org/giantmaps.

Maps: Tools For Adventure

Maps are a part of every great adventure. They help you find your way, share information, look at patterns, and solve problems.

Visit the exhibit Maps: Tools for Adventure, created by The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis in partnership with National Geographic.

The exhibit is at the Mayborn Museum Complex in Waco, Texas through September 7th, and at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon, Georgia beginning in October.

It's supported by a great web site with activities and games for young people and lesson plans for educators.

Walking on Africa

Sheboygan Press

The Sheboygan Press reports on a geography teacher traveling Wisconsin with National Geographic's giant map of Africa, sponsored by the Wisconsin Geographic Alliance.

Learn more about National Geographic's Geography Alliance network here.

Not Just Another Map Exhibit

A swift kick from the Chief Cartographer reminds me to let you know that if you can get to Chicago, the Museum of Science & Industry is hosting National Geographic's Maps: Tools for Adventure through January 6th. It was developed in cooperation with the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.


Along with the Field Museum exhibit, it's part of Chicago's Festival of Maps.

Virtual Map Exhibition

Can't get to Chicago to visit the Field Museum's exhibit Maps: Finding Our Place in the World?

Visit the fantastic exhibit web site, especially two interactives: Explore Maps of the World and a virtual walk-through of the gallery.

Map Exhibits

News of map exhibitions coming to Chicago and Washington in USA Today.

GIS Day - November 14

GIS Day provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society. More than 80 countries will participate in holding local events such as corporate open houses, hands-on workshops, community expos, school assemblies, and more.

If you haven't heard of GIS, according to the National Center of Geographic Information and Analysis:

a GIS is a system of hardware, software and procedures to facilitate the management, manipulation, analysis, modelling, representation and display of georeferenced data to solve complex problems regarding planning and management of resources

GIS is a part of our lives, whether we realize it or not. When you go to a retailer's web site and search for store locations by zip code, you're using GIS. When the Centers for Disease Control collect information on occurences of a disease, it is georeferenced data that can be analyzed as well as visualized on a map.

The National Geographic Society is a principal sponsor of GIS Day. Visit the GIS Day web site for more information.

Map Help for the Classroom

Xpeditions is a National Geographic resource for geography educators.

Included is an Atlas offering hundreds of free printable black & white maps such as these: