To recognize California Biodiversity Day , the California Geographic Alliance is organizing students across the state to become Biodiversity Explorers and Mappers. In the interest of developing environmental literacy and stewardship in all young people, this will be an opportunity for close observation and appreciation of the amazing diversity of organisms present in our state, which is a global biodiversity hotspot.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
SDSU Geography Class Examines Impact of COVID-19 on Campus Community
Students in San Diego State University’s Geography Department‘s course on Qualitative Methods in Geography (taught by Dr. Kate Swanson) worked together to produce this excellent StoryMap that examines the impact of COVID-19 on the SDSU community.
Continue reading SDSU Geography Class Examines Impact of COVID-19 on Campus Community
Student Atlas of California Completely Updated and Available Now Online
We are happy to announce the availability of a completely updated and improved second edition of our popular student atlas of California!
Continue reading Student Atlas of California Completely Updated and Available Now Online
Encountering California Biodiversity Close to Home
California has pledged to make all students environmentally and climate change literate. Outdoor education, fieldwork, and deeper connections with place need to be built into K-12 education to make that happen.
As part of this year’s recognition of California Biodiversity Day (September 7, 2020), the California Geographic Alliance is organizing students across the state to become Biodiversity Explorers and Mappers. In the interest of developing environmental literacy and stewardship in all young people, this will be an opportunity for close observation and appreciation of the amazing diversity of organisms present in our state, which is a global biodiversity hotspot. Using the citizen science platform iNaturalist, students will document plants, animals, insects, and other organisms that they observe in their yards, school grounds, or local parks and open spaces. In addition to the individual observations contributing to science, the collective efforts of students will be shared in a unique map using online mapping software (ArcGIS Online) that is freely available to all schools.
Optional informational webinar on 9/3 at 3:45 p.m.
Project links:
iNaturalist project page (and umbrella project for California Biodiversity Day 2020)
Media release
Instructions for participating
Flyer for project and 9/3 webinar
California biodiversity collage
Teaching with Geospatial Technology
Since 2017, the CGA has enjoyed an excellent partnership with Dr. Katsuhiko Oda of the Spatial Sciences Institute at University of Southern California. Dr. Oda has been successful is securing funds to support research on the effectiveness of professional development focused on geospatial technology, and this creates opportunities to provide high quality professional development to California’s teachers. CGA’s experience providing PD matches perfectly with Dr. Oda’s research and teaching interests. Work carried out during the 2017-18 school year was presented at the GIS-Pro / CalGIS Conference in Fall 2018. This year, a grant from Esri, the world’s leading provider of GIS software, provided support for further work. Continue reading Teaching with Geospatial Technology
3 Fun Ways to Accelerate Geographic Learning for Your Students
The 2018-19 school year has barely started, yet here come the holidays, ready or not! We hope it has a wonderful Fall of geographic learning and exploring for educators, students, and all residents of California. The CGA continues to be the one organization in the state focused on promoting and supporting geography education in K-12 schools as well as in after school and informal learning settings. This update is a quick orientation to opportunities for schools, students, and educator, and we have partnership news to share as well, so please read on.
Join 10,000 Schools and Participate in this Year’s National Geographic GeoBee!
Organizing a GeoBee at your school can be a fun way to promote geographic awareness and a global mindset. Registration for the 2018-2019 school year is now open. Any paid school employee can register their school for the National Geographic GeoBee. The registration fee is $120. Schools needing financial support can complete a Registration Discount Request form. Read the full list of rules here. Continue reading 3 Fun Ways to Accelerate Geographic Learning for Your Students
Geography and the H-SS Framework
CGA is Participating in the Statewide Community of Practice for the Content, Literacy, Inquiry, and Citizenship (CLIC) Project (AKA H-SS Framework Rollout 2.0)
As part of the first day of the proceeding, CGA Director Tom Herman gave a short presentation on content knowledge in geography. To access the slides used in the presentation, click here. Please consider including geography and the CGA in Regional Communities of Practice and district Professional Development plans.
Sweetwater Union High School District Uses World Geography and Global Issues Course as Launching Pad for Civic Action
The CGA has an ongoing partnership with SUHSD and ISTEP / California Global Education Project to support the district’s World Geography and Global Issues Course and use it to develop new and innovative ideas for inquiry-based instruction and student engagement. The course has incorporated a year-ending action research project, and this year the work of students was showcased in the first ever Student Conference/Showcase on Issues of Personal, Local, & Global Significance. The event was the brainchild of teachers Kelly Leon and Gina Vattuone, and both the CGA and CGEP stepped forward to help secure speakers, provide refreshments, and offer critical feedback to the students presenting their research.
Perceptions & Knowledge of Geography on an American College Campus
As part of an upper-division Qualitative Research Methods in Geography class at San Diego State University in Fall 2017, students under the guidance of Dr. Kate Swanson researched, surveyed and interviewed geography majors and future social studies teachers to measure students’ basic geographic knowledge and determine how they perceive geography’s value as a discipline. In releasing the report Perceptions & Knowledge of Geography on an American College Campus, Dr. Swanson wrote the following:
“To our surprise, we discovered that interest in and enthusiasm for geography education is high. As stated by one of our interviewees, ‘I just wish that as a teacher, I would have more understanding of geography.’ In our report, we suggest that there may be a window of opportunity to expand geography education, particularly in K-12 schools.
In the report, we present our findings, along with a series of recommendations for incorporating more geography into our educational curriculum. Our main recommendations are as follows:
– Actively promote geography’s interdisciplinary approach as a strength;
– Promote more study abroad opportunities in geography;
– Host more geography awareness events;
– Create a university level ‘Geography for Educators’ course;
– Support moves to bring geography and geospatial technologies into K-12 schools;
– Rebrand geography by highlighting its relevance to today’s global problems;
– Promote tools and technologies that enhance geographic education and spatial learning;
Given our findings, we believe that teacher education in geography is especially important. American teachers recognize the value of our discipline, yet they have little experience with geography education.
Please feel free to share this report widely. I want to reiterate that this report was researched, written and designed by seniors at SDSU!”
A Study of Young People’s Geographical Knowledge, Global Awareness, and Attitudes Toward Geography Education
Students in Dr. Kate Swanson’s Qualitative Methods in Geography upper division course took on a special assignment last year. They constructed a research project that examined young people’s geographical knowledge, global awareness and perspectives on geography education. The young people under study included both undergraduates at San Diego State University and high school students in Sweetwater Union High School District who had taken the district’s World Geography and Global Issues course. While one finding is that there is still a lot of room for improvement in young people’s geographical knowledge, the report also indicates that young people have increasingly global concerns and see geography courses as extremely useful in helping them to make sense of the issues confronting and connecting people around the world. You can review the report here.
There are some interesting excerpts from interviews conducted with 24 Sweetwater students. For example,
Question: Do you think American students need a geography education?
Answer: “Yeah, because I don’t think most kids know what is going on in the world. Like, I don’t think a person who doesn’t have a geography class knows what’s going on in Syria…”
