TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jan 20, 2019
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
WikiWhere - GitHub
Grades
8 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Test your knowledge of map-based trivia with WikiWhere. Begin with a clue to a location found somewhere on the globe, then select where you think is being described. If not ...more
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Test your knowledge of map-based trivia with WikiWhere. Begin with a clue to a location found somewhere on the globe, then select where you think is being described. If not sure, use up to two more additional hints to narrow your selection. WikiWhere provides points based on the distance between your choice and the location provided. Each round consists of five different places to find.
In the Classroom
WikiWhere is an excellent site to use on your interactive whiteboard as a quick motivator to begin geography lessons. Share with students to play on their own, then choose a location to research for a class project. Transform learning by having students create their own trivia games using ClassTool's Arcade Game Generator, reviewed here, to share and review content with their peers. Have students use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to modify their learning and create and share virtual field trips of locations studied. Use the many features on Google My Maps to embed information from spreadsheets, add images and videos, and customize maps with icons. Take students on a virtual field trip around the world by sharing the different Google My Maps created on your class webpage.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Instant Street View - Nick Nicholaou
Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
If you use Google Maps you know they offer a street view for locations; Instant Street View saves a step and takes you directly there. Type in any address to ...more
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If you use Google Maps you know they offer a street view for locations; Instant Street View saves a step and takes you directly there. Type in any address to browse any location. Some locations don't offer street view, in that instance Instant Street View shares the Google Map view.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): maps (207), virtual field trips (79)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site on computers for quick use at any time. During current events discussions, share a street view of locations with students to provide context for the area. When discussing famous buildings, or locations, share a street view to provide students with a 360-degree view of the actual area. Find an interesting location and use street view as a starter for a creative writing project. Extend student learning by having students share their stories using a website creator like Hashify, reviewed here. Hashify is a simple website creator that offers options for adding links and images to the site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Race of Discovery - Travelbag
Grades
6 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Travelbag uses Google Maps to create maps following the footsteps of famous explorers. Select and view the journeys of Christopher Columbus, Amelia Earhart, and more. After choosing...more
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Travelbag uses Google Maps to create maps following the footsteps of famous explorers. Select and view the journeys of Christopher Columbus, Amelia Earhart, and more. After choosing an explorer, click again to see the original journey or the journey using present-day transportation options. Each option shares directions for the explorer's journey in a step by step timeline.
tag(s): aviation (38), columbus day (6), explorers (64), Google (46), lewis and clark (14), maps (207), marco polo (3), transportation (32), women (137)
In the Classroom
Share maps from this site on your interactive whiteboard during your study of explorers and previous time periods to help students understand the difference in transportation modes compared to today's options. Before discussing as a class, have students explore these maps on their own then enhance and share their findings with a quick and easy website creator like Carrd, reviewed here. Use this site as a model and have students create their own maps to demonstrate the path of explorers, characters in novels, or historical events using Odyssey, reviewed here. Odyssey is a multimedia tool that can redefine student learning by offering tools for creating interactive maps that include images, videos, and text.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Country of the Week - New York Times
Grades
5 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Each week the New York Times provides an interactive quiz introducing a new country through video, photography, and journalism. Begin each week by finding the highlighted country on...more
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Each week the New York Times provides an interactive quiz introducing a new country through video, photography, and journalism. Begin each week by finding the highlighted country on a map through multiple choice options. After choosing the correct location scroll down the page to answer multiple choice questions. This site also includes archives of previous quizzes dating back to September 2017.
tag(s): countries (69), cross cultural understanding (157), cultures (132)
In the Classroom
This site is an excellent addition to any social studies or geography classroom. Bookmark the site and participate in the weekly activities. Ask students to explore countries more in-depth and then modify their learning by creating infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to compare what they learned from the New York Times site and their own research. Keep track of countries visited through the interactive quizzes and using Google My Map, reviewed here. Google My Map offers tools for modifying learning by creating custom maps that include uploaded images and videos. Think of it as your virtual field trip around the world during your school year!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks - Google Arts & Culture
Grades
4 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Follow National Park Rangers on a remarkable journey in these 360-degree videos. Guides take viewers into the most interesting, yet unknown, places in six different park locations....more
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Follow National Park Rangers on a remarkable journey in these 360-degree videos. Guides take viewers into the most interesting, yet unknown, places in six different park locations. Choose a park to begin your journey, then after a short introduction, explore locations dragging the mouse or cursor around to view these sites from every angle. As you explore, guides provide additional information on each location.
tag(s): alaska (20), florida (10), hawaii (7), landforms (37), national parks (27), states (122), utah (2), video (257), virtual field trips (79)
In the Classroom
Share this beautiful site and images on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector, then have students explore on their own. This site can be included with many different geography units to teach landforms found around the United States. Use as a starting point to learn more about our National Parks and Parks Service. Enhance learning by having students create an annotated image of other interesting geographic locations 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. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos using FlexClip, reviewed here, of behind the scenes information from your hometown, then share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Geography Awareness and Exploration Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
TeachersFirst's editors selected these resources to inspire interest and explorations of world geography in any classroom from kindergarten through high school. There are many ways...more
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TeachersFirst's editors selected these resources to inspire interest and explorations of world geography in any classroom from kindergarten through high school. There are many ways to view and learn about our world: maps, statistics, photographs, narratives, interactive navigation systems, and mobile apps. Exploring geography and seeing relationships between natural resources, maps, landforms, climate, and human activity can seem overwhelming, but these resources will entice even the most reluctant student or adult to take a new "view" of the world.
tag(s): map skills (56), maps (207), natural resources (37), population (47)
In the Classroom
Mark this one in your favorites for Geography Awareness Week each November. Include the link on your class web page for students to access both in class and at home. Ask students to explore and choose their favorite geography resource, then give a "tour" of it to the rest of the class on your projector or interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Map Tools - Andreas Viklund
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Free Map Tools provides tools for measuring, marking up, and using overlays with maps. Scroll through to find tools for discovering the radius around any point on a map, calculating...more
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Free Map Tools provides tools for measuring, marking up, and using overlays with maps. Scroll through to find tools for discovering the radius around any point on a map, calculating the area of the enclosed point on a map, or determining the distance between any two points. Choose any of the tools to begin and follow directions to find results. This site has some clickable advertisements, so be cautious where you click.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): area (52), map skills (56), maps (207), measurement (126)
In the Classroom
Use Free Map Tools to add interest to any social studies or math lessons. Learn about area in math by locating homes or businesses on the map, and determining the area that would need to be shoveled during each winter. Find the distance between any two points (home and the pizza place?) and compare that distance to actual driving distance. Want to know what is directly underneath you on the globe? Have students make a prediction. Then use the Map Tunneling Tool to find out if the predictions were correct. Use throughout the year for any number of purposes! You will want to share this one on your class web page for quick access when questions come up.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The National Parks: America's Best Idea - PBS
Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Ken Burns has been busy again, this time creating a film about the US National Parks. This site carries many clips and even the full length film. There are many ...more
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Ken Burns has been busy again, this time creating a film about the US National Parks. This site carries many clips and even the full length film. There are many resources here about the US National Parks. To make the site more collaborative, you can submit a story and pictures about a visit to a national park. There is an extensive bank of other web resources as well. There are also lesson plans available at the "Educators Link."
tag(s): national parks (27)
In the Classroom
Share the film (or clips) on your interactive whiteboard or projector. One section of the site enables you to design a national park postcard to email to a friend. Groups of students might research individual national parks (links to the NPS site appear on this site) and circulate their own postcards to other groups. Students can also "collect" national park badges that can be cut and pasted into personal or class websites. You could also have cooperative learning groups create multimedia projects about various National Parks. Alter student learning by having students create online posters or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. If you are near a park, your students could redefine their learning and create an online park tour to share with others far away! Try a tool such as Adobe Spark For Education, reviewed here.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
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Globetracker's Mission - TeachersFirst
Grades
2 to 6
22 Favorites
0 Comments
Globetracker's Mission is a projector or whiteboard-ready episodic story in blog-style format, taking students in grades 2-6 on a journey as they learn standards-based geography, landforms,...more
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Globetracker's Mission is a projector or whiteboard-ready episodic story in blog-style format, taking students in grades 2-6 on a journey as they learn standards-based geography, landforms, and map skills in an engaging, interactive context. Each weekly "post" from Geo and Meri, fictitious brother and sister techno-savvy teens, traces steps on a secret mission for their Uncle Globetracker and his important but unnamed government agency. Episodes include annotated vocabulary terms, interactive maps to practice map skills, and think-aloud questions the teens pose as they use today's tools: text messaging, cell phones, and blog posting. Readers vote at the conclusion of each post, telling Geo and Meri what to do next. TeachersFirst member teachers have other options for their classes to become involved in the mission. All episodes have accompanying Google Earth placemark files so your class can "tour" with Geo and Meri using Google Earth's free, downloadable software. Included are complete tech tips, detailed lesson and management ideas, and teacher information.
tag(s): continents (32), directions (12), earth (185), landforms (37), latitude (10), longitude (9), map skills (56), maps (207), oceans (147)
In the Classroom
See "Lesson Ideas" from the Teacher Edition page for a complete list of ways to use this creative unit with younger students, on laptops with student partners, or as semi-independent work. Be sure to share the link on your teacher web page for students to share at home (or check on the next episode, if they can't wait!).Encourage parents to join the fun on the mission by sharing the suggestions listed under "Parent Info."
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Antarctica - BBC
Grades
3 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
This website (created by BBC) is all about Antarctica. The focus is on research information about Antarctica, animals from Antarctica, Global Warming issues and a student's visit to...more
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This website (created by BBC) is all about Antarctica. The focus is on research information about Antarctica, animals from Antarctica, Global Warming issues and a student's visit to Antarctica. Students will enjoy the pictures and games on this website. The use of a peer (student) visitor sharing information will make this site more appealing to students. Though some of the activities require Flash, there is still a lot to be learned at this site.
tag(s): antarctica (28), arctic (40)
In the Classroom
With Global Warming issues being discussed frequently, use this website as a simple guide to group discussions on the topic or to introduce the lesser-known continent to your youger students. Don't forget to use a projector or whiteboard to share this authentic footage with your class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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