Instructify

Taking a group of students on a field trip to Rome may be financially unrealistic, and taking them to Ancient Rome is physically impossible. Fortunately, an international team of researchers worked more than 10 years to provide the next best thing: a three-dimensional model of Rome in the year 320 AD.

Enter Ancient Rome 3D and witness the best view of Ancient Rome in over 15 centuries. Brought to you by Google Earth, this digital glimpse into the past is simply awesome. For those of you who have never used Google Earth, the two-minute instructional video on the intro page is helpful. You will need to download the program itself, which will run the simulation. A word of caution: slower computers (like mine) may have a hard time running Ancient Rome 3D without freezing up. I suggest closing all other programs and exercising a little patience. You should also note that the directional control at the top of the screen adjusts your horizontal perspective. In other words, the control allows you to see buildings as if you were walking towards them, as opposed to the default overhead angle.

Once you’ve become familiar with the program, the next step is to introduce Ancient Rome 3D into the classroom. Google is sponsoring a Rome Curriculum Competition, “accepting curricula from all grade levels and K-12 subject areas including art history, math, social studies, physics, and philosophy.” Contest winners will feel like they’ve achieved gladiatorial victory, without the risk of getting torn apart by wild animals. –JIMI RADABAUGH

Ancient Rome 3D

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I don’t envy you geography teachers. Ever since Pangaea split apart over 100 million years ago you’ve been stuck dealing with the same seven shapes. Sure, every once in a while a landmass changes names because of a change in ownership, but you have to admit that an awful lot of maps look the same.

Not so with SHOW/WORLD, which bills itself as “a new way to look at the world.” The premise is simple; you select a topic, such as population or CO2 emissions, and the traditional map transforms into a new map based on the data for that topic. For example, China appears larger on the population map, as it represents 19 percent of the world’s total population. The United States looks enormous on the armed forces spending map, as it accounts for 45 percent of what the world invests in the military. Topics range from education to energy, technology to tourism, and many other points in between.

While it’s true that this site is quite similar to Worldmapper, SHOW/WORLD has more to offer. In addition to maps that are re-sized in relation to a given topic, SHOW/WORLD provides percentages and overall rankings for individual countries compared to the rest of the world. There’s also a space for recommended reading, as well as a comments section. In short, SHOW/WORLD is a great resource for geography teachers searching for new variations on the same old world map. -JIMI RADABAUGH

SHOW/WORLD

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As a classroom teacher my favorite unit to teach is on geography with the use of the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. Each year after reading this story I would have my students become the character Flat Stanley.  Each student’s silhouette would be traced on white banner paper. They would then take their cutout home to work with their family to decorate this piece of banner paper and bring it to life to resemble themselves. Boy, did I unleash some creative juices — from real bluejeans and hair to actual enlarged photos of students’ faces.

They would then embark on their own Flat Stanley adventure by mailing their prototype to a family member or friend. As each flat student made their journey we would plot their destinations on a map. In addition to family and friends we would always send one Flat Stanley to the White House to meet the President.

The best part of the project, in addition to learning valuable geography, government, and home and family connection lessons, was to see what the recipients actually did with their guest. When our flat students returned home they had photo albums and journals of all of their adventures. I had pictures of flat students in Egypt on Camels in front of the pyramids, and at the Air Force Academy actually skydiving on a back of a cadet (I wonder who took the picture). Everywhere our flat students traveled they were taken to what ever historical landmark was nearby. What a wealth of teachable experiences my students were exposed to that would have never happened from just reading about them.

So now where do we go from here? It’s time for Flat Stanley to leave the 1964 way of traveling behind and travel like a 21st Century citizen in the digital world.

Digital Flat Stanley is a website that is taking this project to the digital level through video conferencing and wikis. Once you sign up for the project you are assigned a partner school with which you exchange your Flat Stanley. After your class has taken their guest on some adventures they will meet with their partner schools through a 30 minute video conference. During this time the students can share the adventures their guest went on around their community. At the completion of the project your Flat Stanley and students will have visited 4 different places. Just imagine the adventures your Flat Stanley may have and the new friends you will make along the way with this great 21st century project. -MONIQUE ST.LOUIS

Digital Flat Stanley

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Did you know Iceland celebrates their independence from Denmark every June 17th? How about that Samoa has 2,337 kilometers of roadways? Or that Ukraine is an actual country and not just a territory in Risk? You too can use facts like these to win at Jeopardy, lord it over your colleagues, or even impart it to your students. It’s easy with The World Factbook from the Central Intelligence Agency (yes, that Central Intelligence Agency).

The CIA World Factbook has information on pretty much every country on earth — not surprising, since it’s the CIA we’re talking about. They’ve got the skinny on every country’s climate, type of government, prominent religions, literacy rates, natural resources, infant mortality rate, and lots more information you’d probably never think to ask about. The only way to find out more about these places would be to visit them yourself.

This site should be your students’ first stop if they’re researching a country for a social studies or a foreign language class. They can also print a PDF of the book for offline usage. You seriously won’t believe the depth of information available at The World Factbook. See for yourself so you and your students can put those facts to good use. -BILL FERRIS

The World Factbook

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When I think “maps in the classroom,” I think: struggling with spring-loads, explaining out-dated political boundaries, and approximating locations off the map by pointing to a blank spot on the wall. It doesn’t have to be that way. Instructify has already written up a number of great websites (see related stuff below!) for changing the way you use maps in your classroom, and now we’ve got one more to add to the list: Wanderlust, brought to you by GOOD Magazine.

Wanderlust is an interactive graphic that allows you to take a gander at a number of famous paths. You’ll find factual routes (like Amelia Earhart’s second attempt to circumnavigate the globe) and fictitious routes (like Jules Verne’s A Journey to the Center of the Earth) and routes that are somewhere in between (like the Pan-Am Highway). Each of these historic journeys is plotted with points of interest, although, don’t expect too much content — it’s just a graphic after all. Wanderlust would be an ideal device to spice up a presentation. -MARIELLE PRINCE

Wanderlust

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Have you ever tried to have every computer in your class, or better yet, every computer in your lab go to Google Earth at the very same time? If you haven’t, don’t because those of us who have done this, have often earned the unending enmity of our school/district tech support. This is because there is no surer way to bring a network to its knees than running Google Earth, especially multiple copies from one site or node on a network. After many cookies, and cheerful smiles, you may repair that relationship with your network administrator. But how do you use Google Earth (a really wow tool) without causing a Google Earthquake on your network?

Your first option is to “cache” some of the big image files used in Google Earth. A less time and technically intensive solution is available though. Google Maps is starting to get a lot of the functionality of Google Earth, with less memory and bandwidth. Recent upgrades will let you add placemarks, and images to a map, and to save and share that information on maps. There are some “basic” overlays of photos and Wikipedia entries that can be added, and views include a satellite option. You can even export KML files to Google Earth. People are starting to do Google Lit Trips on Maps.

Don’t let “poor” memory keep you from using Google to teach geography in your class or lab, just use Google Maps instead. -ALICE MERCER

Google Maps

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Amazing! Overwhelming! Mesmerizing! The only way to describe the 2,008 drummers that began the theatrical and technology enriched opening ceremonies in this year’s Summer Olympics at the “Birds Nest” in Beijing. Much of Chinese Culture was infused into the opening ceremonies. Thank goodness the commentators where there to narrate much of the symbolism of the program, or I would have missed out.

But what are the Olympics like for the people who get to watch first hand? Is there culture shock? Is it hard to get around during such a busy time? Fortunately, you and your students can get a fresh perspective on the games and Chinese culture visit You Are Here: Beijing from National Geographic Kids.

The blog is written by David, a 12-year-old American boy living in Beijing. David shares many cultural and Olympic experiences from a child’s perspective. Visit his post on “Getting Around Beijing” to get an insider’s view on the everyday routines of the Chinese. Read about how they are using odd and even license plate rotations to cut down on the pollution in China. Also check out posts about the games themselves, including how this year’s Olympic Games have five mascots (what is a sporting event without the mascots to get the crowd involved?). Read about them and what each mascot represents in Chinese culture. Also find out fun facts, such as why Hong Kong–about 1230 miles from Beijing–was chosen for the equestrian Olympic events. Feel free to leave your comments on the site before leaving as others have done.

If you didn’t find the information you were looking for on David’s blog when it comes to China’s history, The Birds Nest, or the Water Cube and you don’t have the commentators to answer them for you, not to worry. At the bottom of the blog you will find three different links that will take you to information on all of that and much more. -MONIQUE ST. LOUIS

You Are Here: Beijing 

From its beginning, social studies has been a mashup discipline, the marriage of fuzzy social sciences with more tangible fields like physical geography, to say nothing of history and civics. At times, it can be hard for teachers to make these disparate components seem like functioning parts of the same whole, as opposed to some awkwardly cobbled-together Frankenstein of facts.

Enter Worldmapper, a site that aggregates data from just about every country in the world and displays it visually on a flattened global map. Well, not really a map. A cartogram, which “re-sizes each territory according to the variable being mapped.” For example, a cartogram of GDP wealth shows a gigantic U.S., Europe, and Japan, a sizable China and India, and a tiny just about everywhere else.

Worldmapper has 366 maps so far, with more on the way. The maps are sorted into categories (food, housing, health, death, etc.) for easy browsing and are ready to use in the classroom: Text in the sidebar of each page explains the variable being shown, giving context and sometimes clarifying why a certain country stands out or doesn’t appear at all. Some pages also include relevant quotations or interesting facts. For example, I learned from the alcohol consumption map (What? I was thirsty curious.) that when a baby girl is born in South China, “her parents will brew alcohol for her, bury it underground and keep it until she marries.” (Fascinating!)

You may want to save that one for trivia night with friends. But add this site to your bag of tricks, and watch the world of social studies open before your students’ eyes. -EMILY JACK

Worldmapper

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Okay, let’s be honest — I know that some of you still have maps hanging in your classroom with Germany separated into two distinct counties and the USSR. Or worse, some may not even have a map or globe in your classroom at all. Are you fighting with other teachers for use of the limited reference books in your school’s library? Are your Social Studies or Science books not presenting enough information for your lessons? Well Fact Monster is here to put an end to that, and bring your classroom up to date with the latest facts from around the world.

Fact Monster is a great child-friendly reference website that is full of factual information. It has Almanacs, an Encyclopedia, Dictionary, and Thesaurus. You can find maps of any place in the world (think of all the wall space you will save). The site allows you to calculate distance to and from places or find the exact coordinates of a location. You can access information from all over the world on wars, geography, natural disasters, accident archives, and religion.

Explore information on the US in the areas of history, government, education, laws and rights, population, race and ethnicity, landmarks, and speeches and documents. Learn about people with fun facts, biographies, and information on US Presidents and Famous Women. The sports section presents information ranging from any sport you can think of to the Olympics to animal sports including the Iditarod and much more. There are endless Science, Technology, and Math resources. This is a great site to use for current events discussions. Your students can use the site to help with homework or project assignments. They can also accesses a Blog for Boys and Girls from age 6 – 14 to read articles on current events or participate in interactive activities. -MONIQUE ST.LOUIS

Fact Monster

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Want to take your class on a trip to the Grand Canyon to see the Colorado River? How about a trip to New York City or Paris, France? Can’t afford the gas you say? Well not to worry. With Google Earth 4.3 you can take your students to any location on the globe without leaving the comfort of your classroom, or filling up your gas tank!

If you haven’t used it before, Google Earth is a Web-based program that uses satellite imagery to show places all over the world. All you need to do is download the free program and you are ready to get started. If you have used Google Earth before, version 4.3 has some great new features to take advantage of as you travel around the world. Some of these include photo-realistic buildings, swoop navigation from space to street-level, numerous layers that can be turned on to show anything from locations of volcanoes to the weather. With Google’s new street view, you can place your students virtually on almost any main street in the country. You can show your students how day and night work on our planet by using the dawn to dusk views with the sunlight feature. Take your students to any landform and not only see the 3-D image, but also view all the sight-seeing pictures and information provided by numerous professional organizations to help make this learning experience more memorable.

The new Google Earth 4.3 is out of this world - and if that is your next destination, just click on the outer-space feature and you can explore our solar system in the same way you explored our planet. -MONIQUE ST. LOUIS

Google Earth 4.3

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Today’s young people are tomorrow’s diplomats. That may be a hard concept to internalize as you watch your students duel over a bag of Hot Cheetos in the cafeteria, but it’s true. To get them off to a good start, send them to Future State, the U.S. Department of State’s website for youths.

The site introduces students to the secretary of state, shares stories from the children of diplomats living overseas, provides starting places for those interested in careers in diplomacy, and links to fact sheets about every country in the world. Games for younger students teach them about world flags and test their geographic smarts.

The most compelling part of the site may be the news and events section, which seems to be targeted toward middle and high school students. As any social studies teacher knows, it can be difficult to make distant countries seem important to a 15-year-old who’s never touched a newspaper. But posts like “An American Girl in Riyadh” can make a far-off place like Saudi Arabia seem real – and even interesting – to the most apathetic American student.

The site can go a long way toward making students feel like the federal government is accessible to them, and that the wide world is not so far away. -EMILY JACK

Future State

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I saw the new Indiana Jones movie last weekend, so I’m suddenly keen on history and archeology. That’s what drew me to BBC Ancient History. This site provides a close-up look at several ancient civilizations, including the Mayan Empire, Mesopotamia, Rome, Greece, India, and several others.

BBC Ancient History packs the usual resources like images, time lines and scholarly articles, along with animated demonstrations of architecture, like an Iron Age Roundhouse from British prehistory. You can also find some surprisingly fun games. I recommend Viking Quest, which is like Oregon Trail, except instead of migrating to the west, you’re trying to loot a monastery in Britain. It’s not easy - for bringing home a paltry 150 pieces of silver and eight slaves, I was banished to a fishing village in Norway.

If you cover any of these civilizations during your world history course - and it’s hard to imagine world history without the Greeks or Egyptians - your students will want to check out BBC Ancient History for additional resources. They’ll get a lot more knowledge, and they won’t even have to bring a bullwhip or fedora. -BILL FERRIS

BBC Ancient History

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So I’m not the greatest at state capitals, or geography in general for that matter. I’m especially terrible at the Midwestern US, which is why I can definitely never remember the capital of Kentucky (Frankfort) or Missouri (Jefferson City). Also, Nevada’s just sounds wrong to me (Carson City?). If you’re anything like me, though, you have more of a photographic memory, so a visual game helps immensely when attempting to recall information.

With the State Capitals Game from Vector Kids your elementary and middle school kids can review their state capitals by selecting a state and choosing the correct capital from three options. I think the best part about this game is that the options they give you are all other capital cities. That way, those 50 cities stay fresh in your students’ brains rather than letting their noggins get cluttered with thinking that maybe Chicago is the capital of Illinois (it’s really Springfield) or Seattle the capital of Washington (Olympia, actually). See, I’m learning already!

Plus - and I think your students would agree - it’s always more fun to learn when you get to play games! -LAUREN FROHNE

State Capitals Game
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I’m terrible at Risk, which probably has something to do with the fact that I’m terrible at geography. My main problem, though, is that I end up with terrible territories:

Opponent: “I’m sending an army into Irkutsk.”

Me: “Meh. You can have it, Nanook.”

Perhaps I’d do better if I got to defend a place I actually cared about, or could at least locate on a map. The New York Times reports a few Ivy Leaguers apparently felt the same way when they created GoCrossCampus.

Like Risk, the goal in GCC is to recruit and position your armies to take over your opponents’ territory. Unlike Risk, the territory consists of college campuses, or U.S. cities and states, and your armies consist of you and your friends. Working as a team with people within your social network, dormitory, whatever, you coordinate your movements to defeat your rival, as well as develop teamwork, collaboration and leadership skills. You can also nominate commanders, and remove nefarious spies from your ranks.

The game’s creators - a small group of Yale students - designed the game to be compatible with existing social networks, both online and face-to-face. They also play up the game’s small time-commitment - only a few minutes every day.

GoCrossCampus isn’t available to the general public just yet, but the founders plan to expand into high schools, as well as corporate team-building exercises. If you can’t wait that long and you’d like to participate at your school ASAP, you can contact them via the GoCrossCampus website. It’s a good way to bolster school spirit, as well as inject a little energy into your next geography lesson. -BILL FERRIS

Storming the Campuses via the New York Times
GoCrossCampus

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100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the World - Stanford, MIT, Berkley, and other colleges are embracing the wonders of podcasting and making them available to you. Who needs to break the bank on expensive tuition when you can just plug in your eardoos and listen your way to knowing Engineering Ethics. Cultivate Greatness has compiled this list that has some great colleges to choose podcasts from… even (shudder) Duke.

The Top 101 Websites for Teachers - Thank me later– or now, if you want– for these 101 websites just for you. This blog is not terribly unlike our own, but you know, not as snarky. Presented by AssortedStuff.com, a site that is just as valuable as this list, but not quite as compartmentalized. There are some great resources here, but if you really want the tools and sites that will help you teach at your best, there is only one source you need. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN