670 geography-us-world results | sort by:
return to subject listingPolar Bears International - Polar Bears International
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
National Polar Bear Day is February 27th, but every day should be polar bear day to learn how our lives affect a majestic creature far away from our communities. Use one of the many lesson plans to learn about the polar bear and their movements (look at the lesson plans that use the Tracker Map). Plan a polar bear day in all subjects! Science class can learn about the polar bear, Math/Geography can use the tracker to determine patterns and distances of movement, English classes can write stories and poems, and Art classes can create polar inspired artwork! What a perfect "snowy" activity.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Barat Primary Source Nexus - Barat Education Foundation
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Take a look at the free professional development for using primary sources for teachers. Search for Connecting to the Common Core, where there are writing prompts for K-5 plus a link to the triangle activity. Download and use the PDF for the Thinking Triangle. Have older students research an interest and report to the class using a tool like Slides, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Listen to nature sounds, fall in love with the Earth - earth.fm
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use this resource when discussing various animal units or a unit on behavior. When discussing a country or culture in history, consider playing various soundscapes to identify with the culture. Be sure to provide this link for students when reporting on a culture in front of the class. Students can play the soundscapes while presenting information on the culture (turn up your speakers!). Compare different types of animals around the world. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare two different types of animals. Students can brainstorm similarities and differences and follow this activity with research into the various species. In lower grades, play soundscapes during classroom read-alouds about the animals or places in the recording. Make the Soundscapes site a listening/writing center in your elementary science classroom and ask your young scientists to describe what they hear as they learn about making observations as scientists.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Image Atlas - Taryn Simon and Aaron Swartz
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Use this tool to compare images that portray words you have searched and hypothesize about cultural differences. GO beyond the images to compare the articles that contain the images. This tool would be especially relevant in social studies, health, and other subjects where a difference in meaning across the world can be discussed. This tool may be useful if doing reports on countries. If you are allowing older students to search on their own, be sure to set firm guidelines/rules ahead of time! As with ANY image search, it all depends on the terms you enter!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Machu Picchu Virtual Tour - CUSCO
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Include this Machu Picchu Virtual Tour with your study of South America, Incas, or early explorers. Take a virtual field trip to this historic site from the comfort of your classroom. Replace paper journals by asking students to write blog entries about the questions and impressions as they view the tour. Use a blogging tool such as Telegra.ph, reviewed here. With Telegra.ph you just click on an icon to upload images from your computer, add a YouTube or Vimeo, or Twitter links. This blog creator requires no registration. Enhance learning by having students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about one of the earlier settlers of Machu Picchu.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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100Reporters - 100 Reporters
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
In discussions of current events, find great news articles that get to the heart of the story. Compare them with other news outlets to discuss how money and the viewpoints of business owners can cloud the actual reporting. Be sure to discuss how to find parent websites by investigating the shortened address (url) of sites as well as the advertisements found on pages. Compare and contrast news stories found on a variety of news pages. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare two news stories. In world language or world cultures classes, discover what the "hot topics" are by looking at news stories from the region being studied. In writing classes, use these articles compared with those on the same topic from other sources for students to collect supporting evidence to use in essay writing.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Presidential Classroom - Miller Center, University of Virgina
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
If your students do Presidential biographies or projects, this is a perfect site to share. Have students explore the exhibits while doing research on presidents and historical events. Enhance student learning by having students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Have students use Fakebook,reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a president.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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antiAtlas of borders - Migrations Map - Martin De Wulf
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use Migrations Map during your study of any country to view immigration and emigration statistics in social studies, science, health, or even world language classes. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Ask WHY these immigration patterns exist. What factors lead to immigration? What environmental impacts does it have? Be sure to point out the data lag -- is from 2007. You can also send them to find updated stats at the World Bank and other online sources. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, or Venngage, reviewed here. Have students collaborate to create interactive maps using MapHub, reviewed here. Students can add icons, text, images, and location stops!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Zidbits - Zidbits media
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
This resource is useful to hook your students at the beginning of your lessons or simply to get them reading non-fiction text. Use these as hooks to get your students thinking about content that will be introduced in the lesson. Students can find a Zidbit they are interested in. Poll students about possible answers and then report the actual answer and content needed in order to understand and explain it. Learn a new Zidbit yourself every week. If you teach public speaking skills, have students use these stories as inspiration or "hooks" for informational speeches, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PAT - Public Domain Country Maps - Ian Macky
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark and save PAT as a resource for free printable maps for use anytime needed. Share with students to easily find and locate geographic information. Share the maps on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share this link on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Open Yale Courses - Yale University
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
This is an excellent resource for gifted students as well as students interested in viewing high quality college level course material. Browse through topics of interest for your AP or IB classroom and use selected videos for viewing on your interactive whiteboard (or projector). Share a link on your class webpage for students to view at home. Teachers of gifted may want to suggest that students form small cohorts to explore one of the course of particular interest to them. Music and art history teachers will find rich materials to include in their high school courses, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The 25 Best Nerd Road Trips - Popular Science
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use these "road trips" as a springboard for unusual research projects on science topics. These are great for gifted students or skeptical students who need the extra flare of researching something a little quirky. These are also great ideas for small group research. Encourage students to create presentations about real life science with its benefits and drawbacks. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, Animatron, Sway, and Presentious. Be sure to discuss when science enters pop culture in our society. The Center for PostNatural History, one of the sites on this map, is one such example (located near Pittsburgh, PA where organisms have been altered genetically and possibly questionably.)Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Population Education - Population Connection
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use the "Find a Lesson" search to discover population education activities and information that will be useful in your curriculum or classroom. Find demonstration videos of how to use the lessons within the classroom. Be sure to preview and show the World Population Video (aka: the "dot video") to your classes. Share the video on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use these resources when discussing population of organisms and then discussing human population.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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International Human Development Insights - United Nations Development Programme
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Student groups or the full class can view data and graphs of various indicators and brainstorm questions to understand the data. What factors exist in various countries or areas of the World? What conditions need to change to reverse troubling trends and to create greater equality of individuals in the World? Break these questions down into major focus topics to be researched and presented by members of the class. Since this site can be viewed in numerous languages, use this tool in a world language class. Gain understanding of the factors that influence places you read about in the news and faraway cultures. In government or civics classes, talk about how public policies affect or reflect development data. In math classes, use this site to see how statistics can be applied to decision making and international issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nelson Mandela Biography - bio.com
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector as an introduction to your Civil Rights, Black History, or Heroes unit. To allow students to explore on their own, you may want to create a guided reading activity using Read Ahead, reviewed here. Ehance learning by using an online tool such as the interactive Two or Three Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here to compare Nelson Mandela to other Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King. Have students create timelines about Civil Rights (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Find music for this period in history using Radiooo, reviewed here. Challenge students use Fakebook, reviewed here to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about Civil Rights leaders.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Who Was Nelson Mandela? - BBC
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson for Black History Month or about heroes in Civil Rights. As you discuss Martin Luther King, Jr, include discussion of major Civil Rights leaders from other countries. Enhance student learning by having them choose one of the following projects. Have students create an annotated image of Nelson Mandela including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use it: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Have students collaborate to create maps of Mandela's journeys using Maphub, reviewed here. Students can add icons, text, images, and location stops! Have students create timelines (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nelson Mandela - Facts - Nobel Media
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then, students can explore this site independently or in small groups. This site is perfect to include with Black History Month activities or in a unit on Civil Rights leaders. Enhance student learning by using one of the following suggestions: have students create a simple infographic with words used to describe Mandela, sharing their findings using Venngage reviewed here, have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here, use an online tool such as an interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare South Africa at the time of Mandela's arrest to current South Africa, or ask students to use Fakebook, reviewed here to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about Mandela during his time in prison or after his release.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Global Closet Calculator - National Geographic Education
Grades
2 to 10In the Classroom
When discussing the Food and Fiber system (materials used to produce food and the many products we use daily), use this site to gather initial information of where their items come from. As products are no longer made closer to our actual lives, many students are disconnected from the materials and processes used to create everyday products and are unaware of their global footprint. Students can continue research by investigating other items used daily to determine what they are made from, where they are manufactured, etc. Continue this process with the foods that they eat to show how many popular foods are very removed from the whole foods that we should be eating. In geography classes, have students use a reviewed geo/mapping tool from the TeachersFirst Edge to map the path across the globe from raw materials to finished products, just to make one pair of jeans. Discuss the role of natural resources and economics in determining this path.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Exploring Nature Educational Resource - Sheri Amsel
Grades
K to 8This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use this resource for students to find information about a large variety of plants and animals for their research. The examples for citation reinforce the need to cite all sources used for a project. Be sure to include this site on your class website or bookmark it on a classroom computer for quick reference. Use information gathered to create conventional projects (i.e. posters or displays) or multimedia projects including podcasts, Infographics, or presentations. Find many ideas for creating presentations on TeachersFirst Edge.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Geokov - Geokov.com
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Take a virtual field trip through the map maker. Explore landforms and other terrain features from Google Earth and topographic maps. Easily create maps for field trips, presentations, classroom activities and more. Create a shade relief topographic map of any region. Doing an environmental study of an area or region? Find the region in this tool first and add the necessary information for classroom discussion or presentation. Use one of the many TeachersFirst Presentation Tools to present information learned. Tie information from literature, stories, history, and other sources to add value and interest to the maps.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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