The Network of Alliances for Geographic Education has an exciting new national initiative for 2017: the State Giant Traveling Map Program. At least two giant maps of California (17 x 21 feet, so not as large as the giant continent maps) will be circulating the state beginning in January. The maps are specifically designed for use by 3rd and 4th grade students, and they come with lesson plans designed by National Geographic and tied to standards for those grades.
At the CGA, we see geographic knowledge and skills and global citizenship as intertwined and mutually supportive. Therefore, we encourage educators to use travel as part of an individualized professional development strategy. We are happy to share the following information from GEEO, a unique non-profit organization designed to serve educators and offering a fabulous range of travel experiences at reasonable cost.
CGA members who are US high school teachers, here is a chance to help connect high school educational programs to real-world work skills and career opportunities in a new way…
Support the AAG’s Proposal for a New Advanced Placement course in Geographic Information Science & Technology
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced on July 14 that the State Board of Education voted to approve the History–Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, which will update and upgrade history and social science instruction in California. This is great news that has been a long-time in coming. It is important to note that NO CHANGE has been made to the state’s History-Social Science Standards. Our friends at the California History-Social Science Project explain that and other important points about the new framework and what it means here:
It is that time of year again! Hundreds of school level bees occurred throughout the state from November to January, with a winner being crowned at each school. Now the top 105 school winners have been selected by the National Geographic Society and invited to take their talents to Fresno to see if they can emerge on top of a very intense competition.
The competition will begin at 8 am on Friday, April 1 at the Satellite Student Union on the Fresno State campus. Once the preliminary rounds have been completed, the general public is welcome to come and watch the final and championship rounds, which will begin around 11 am.
State Bee Coordinator Sean Boyd, of the Fresno State Geography Department, was recently interviewed on the Central Valley Today television news program, and you can view that segment here:
And a group of Mass Communication/Journalism students at Fresno State created a theatrical trailer for the Bee, which you can also view:
Good luck to all 105 competitors and congratulations to the thousands of students who participated in bees held at their school sites.
Millions of people on Earth depend on fish as a source of protein along with beef and chicken. However, the growing population’s demand for fish has resulted in over fishing. Fish that are large in size are usually the targets for fishers and these species are usually what humans consume. For example, “of the 465 shark species assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 74 are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered” (Wild Seafood).
The Cricket Busters, a group of ten students from Clark Magnet High School, have identified a solution to this problem. Eating insects such as crickets and worms are a much better protein source because they do not require land like cows and chickens do and they
are not endangered like fish. Cows are also bad for the environment because they release methane gas into the environment and they don’t give as much protein per gram than crickets.
Join our BioBlitz partners at the King Gillette Ranch for this FREE workshop to investigate biodiversity in the Santa Monica Mountains and life’s enabling substance, water. By blending EEI and Project WET activities together the workshop will illustrate the three dimensional learning cycle that is integral to the Next Generation Science Standards. Educators get research-based planning tools that, when implemented with integrity, will bring immediate benefits to students. Ample time for collegial co-planning is built into the workshop as we explore biodiversity in the parks. This workshop is designed to support teachers planning to visit a National Park area with their class or participate in Bio-Blitzes in the park or at their own school sites – but all are invited to attend this training and get outside with us!
The CGA’s goal of creating a geographically competent workforce depends on increasing the quality of geography education in K-12 and making sure students see geography as a viable college major and career field. Professor Zia Salim at CSU Fullerton is helping to build the bridge between high school and college-level geography.
Dr. Salim (far right of the photo) and the CSUF Geography Department hosted 100 students from La Habra High School on Dec. 4, 2015 as part of an outreach program to Advanced Placement Human Geography classes. The program included an exercise utilizing geographic information systems and presentations on a variety of geographic topics. AP Human Geography is the fastest growing AP course nationwide, and we are excited to see high school students being exposed to what is happening at the university level so that they can give full consideration to geography as a field of study.
Creating links between geographers at the college and university level and geography and social studies teachers in their local area is one strategy that the CGA is looking to expand. If you are a geographer that would like to connect with K-12 teachers and students, or a K-12 teacher looking to make a connection to a college or university in your area, please let us know!
Under the direction of teacher Stephanie Buttell-Maxin, students in two 3rd grade Spanish immersion classes took to “the field” to study biodiversity firsthand as part of a schoolyard BioBlitz. “The field,” in this case, is an area immediately adjacent to the school campus that includes a tidal creek. While the area is far from pristine, it provides valuable habitat within an area that is heavily impacted by high density and industrial land uses. Paradise Creek has provided a focal point for environmental education and community activism at Kimball, with students participating in water quality monitoring and site clean ups over the years. BioBlitzing has also been a regular activity.
Before even starting the BioBlitz, Mrs. Maxin oriented the students in a thoughtful way by posing two compelling questions about biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations. For the activity, we prepared materials to aide the students in making field observations. Each was given a worksheet and a site map for taking notes, plus magnifiers and cameras that were shared among the students. Mrs. Maxin keeps a wonderful collection of photos and plant samples so the students could use those as resources when trying to determine what they were observing. Prior to heading out into the field, students were provided with some instruction on what naturalists do and coached in using all of their senses to examine the natural world closely. Each small group of 3-5 students was led by an adult, but students decided what to document and collected all of the data on their own.
The students really enjoyed taking a closer look at a place they already knew well, and they were able to uncover new information. They realized how many different kinds of plants occupied this small space, and they also experienced how challenging it can be to get a good photo of a moving target. Their knowledge of the site also proved useful in guiding their investigations. Students referred to their site maps and used map reading skills to mark the locations of their observations on that map. While being naturalists, students also commented on how the trash left behind by people (and washed in by the tides) presented a challenge to the health of the plants and animals, and therefore to the well-being of the students themselves. Civic involvement often means taking care of the place where you live, and they were motivated to make improvements to this place.
Classroom activities reinforced the field activities. Students reflected on their experiences in the field and responded to the questions about biodiversity and adaptations. They made presentations about what they had learned. A table top-sized reproduction of that site map was used in the classroom to transfer all of the observations onto a single map, reinforcing map reading skills and providing extra help for those students who struggled to relate the site map to the real space that they had just explored. Finally, their best observations – those that included good photos and definitive locational information – were entered into iNaturalist, where a project had been set up specifically for the Kimball BioBlitz. With assistance from other users on iNaturalist, the group’s 28 observations yielded 17 confirmed species identifications within 24 hours of completing the project. Another exciting development is that 13 of the observations have been certified as “Research Grade,” which means the students are contributing to scientific knowledge through “crowdsourcing” or “citizen science.”
Congratulations to Mrs. Maxin and the 3rd graders at Kimball Elementary for a job well done. And thank you to the volunteers who helped make this a great experience for the students: Patricia Simpson, Christopher Maxin, Emanuel Delgado, and T Herman.
On October 16, 2015, the CGA provided a workshop on using ArcGIS Online to a group of 18 enthusiastic high school educators who teach science, social science, journalism, and career technical education courses at Placer UHSD. Gregg Ramseth, the district’s director of technology and assessment, has led the way in utilizing the free AGO Organizational accounts made available by Esri as part of the President’s ConnectEd Initiative, and a number of the teachers in the district are stepping up and engaging in the technology.
Placer Union High School District teachers utilize ArcGIS Online during professional development workshop on Oct. 16, 2015.
Teachers Robin Herrnberger and Greg Sloan participated in the first workshop held at Placer UHSD in the Spring, and then they attended the GeoTech Center summer workshop held at San Diego State University. They are now eyeing the possibility of attending Esri’s T3G Institute in the Summer of 2016! Greg will begin acting as an instructional coach for the district in January, which will further assist the district in supporting the inquiry-based learning promoted in the C3 Framework, engaging students in the kinds of practices called for in the Next Generation Science Standards, and building 21st century job skills.
Greg and Robin are demonstrating how teachers can ramp up their own skills in order to utilize the GIS software to its fullest educational potential, but at the workshop we also emphasized that teachers can make good use of ArcGIS Online with minimal training on their part. Teachers explored the standards-based GeoInquiries that Esri has created for teachers of earth science and history, and they also found that they could create their very own simple map within a matter of minutes.
The CGA looks forward to continuing to support the Placer Union High School District. Other districts interested in taking advantage of the free, industry-standard GIS software now available to K-12 schools should visit http://edcommunity.esri.com/ and reach out to the California Geographic Alliance to schedule a teacher professional development workshop.
Teachers discover opportunities for data visualization and effective communication presented by ArcGIS Online.
Resources for the teaching and learning of geography
