Saturday, May 3, 2014

First contact with geography


Image above: Great map resources on the National Geographic site.

Related links to Spatialworlds 
Geogaction
Spatialworlds website
GeogSpace

Australian Geography Teachers' Association website
manning@chariot.net.au    

Where am I??  
Sydney, Australia: S: 33º 86' E: 151º 21'


The National Geographic resource

Many of us credit the National Geographic Society for first stimulating our love of geography when we flicked through those shiny and colourful magazines when they arrived in our letter box at home or displayed in the school library or classroom. We saw in those magazines a world of diversity and wonder. The National Geographic organisation, through much more than magazines, continues to promote the sense of wonder about the world. As they say on their website:

The mission of the National Geographic Society is to inspire people to care about the planet. Throughout its 126-year history, it has encouraged conservation of natural resources and raised public awareness of the importance of natural places, the plants and wildlife that inhabit them and the environmental problems that threaten them. The Society also encourages stewardship of the planet through research and exploration, and through education.

Through various media vehicles, including its official journal, National Geographic magazine, and other publications, its films, television programs, cable channel, radio, books, videos, maps and interactive media, the National Geographic Society reaches more than 500 million people a month. Many of these modes of delivery are great resources for the geography classroom. Here are just a few resources from the website. In particular, the GIS based National Geographic Mapmaker cited below is an excellent resource to get students exploring maps on the local, national and global scale. The list below just touches on the plethora of greta resources on the National Geographic site.










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