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Tools for Teaching World Geography

August brings us many reasons to highlight geography in our lessons—the anniversaries of Hawaii becoming the 50th state and the opening of the Panama Canal and International Geocaching Day (Aug 19th) to name a few. Explore these events, locations, time periods, and more with your students using the teacher-reviewed edtech tools featured here!

Grades 3-7

Treasure Hunt: Longitude and Latitude

Longitude and latitude are difficult geography concepts for students to comprehend. Share this engaging interactive to help students demystify the terms. Demonstrate this tool on your interactive whiteboard and then have students explore on their own.

Grades 6-12

Make the Dirt Fly

Turn up your speakers and share this interactive about the history of the Panama Canal. Learn about the building process, why it was necessary, and how it works. Challenge teams of students to investigate different areas of this site and share.

Grades 4-12

The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks

This site offers several must-see virtual tours of various National Parks. These 360-degree videos make your students feel like they are really at the park. Guides travel with you on your journey. Read our full review for technology integration ideas.

Grades 4-12

Ancient Mexico - The Art, Culture, and History of Ancient Mesoamerica

Travel to ancient Mexico with your class! Go back in time with this highly visual site to learn about Mayan Gods and the fall of the Aztec empire. View the timeline and an interactive map. August is the anniversary of the fall of the Aztek Empire, 1521.

Tools for Creating Geography Projects

Get your students excited about geography with these mapping tools. Google Maps is a one-stop shop for all mapping tools! And, Map Stack and MapStory can be used to to personalize maps and add a storytelling component to geography lessons. 

Grades 1-12

Google Maps

Google Maps seems to always be changing and improving it's capabilities and options. Check out this cool tool to use to find locations and create your own maps. See our review for a plethora of ideas about how to use Google Maps in the classroom.

Grades 3-12

Map Stack

To get started, simply type a location to find it on the map. You can then personalize the map from several options. Use the drop-down box to change the look of the map: view terrain, toner, and watercolor options. Have groups of students create maps!

Grades 6-12

MapStory

MapStory is a community of users sharing knowledge about how the world evolves geographically over time. Become researchers and knowledge creaters by exploring existing MapStories, composing new stories, reviewing StoryLayers, and building new datasets.

Geography Treasures from TeachersFirst

This week we highlight two geography tools created by TeachersFirst. One shares an interactive of all 50 states. The other is a booklist for learning about Alaska and Hawaii. 

Grades 4-8

The 50 States

Perfect for state projects, this interactive provides basic information on all 50 states. Learn about the people, early history, economy, landforms, and geography. Find classroom application ideas in our review.

Grades K-12

CurriConnects Book List: Alaska and Hawaii

Explore and research the exciting states of Alaska and Hawaii with this curated list of books for students of all ages. Find a variety of informational texts for students to reference.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Three ways to participate:  answer our weekly poll, signup for the Fall Book Study, and join the SFL K12 Advisory Council!