For the past 25 years, the third week of November has been proclaimed Geography Awareness Week. Geography Awareness Week is organized by National Geographic Education Programs and encourages citizens to think and learn about the significance of place and how we affect/are affected by it.
The GAI co-hosted a geography/literacy workshop at North Polk HS with the Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium (MISIC). The workshop provided the resources and expertise to develop a model "text set" that links geography content with the Common Core E/LA. Model text sets will be posted on the GAI site in the coming months and examples include US westward expansion and evaluating Brazil's World Cup and Olympic investments considering the nation's socioeconomic gap.
The GAI hosted nine summer workshops in four Iowa communities, including all on-line and international offerings. We provided credit-bearing professional development for over 60 educators in topics ranging from technology to human rights to globalization and water resources. The workshop pictured here was in collaboration with the Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium (MISIC) and integrated geography and literacy for K-6 educators, focusing on the Common Core E/LA.
The GAI was awarded the NASA Iowa Space Grant Consortium 2012-2014 UNI Base Program (led by Dr. John Ophus (PI) in UNI Science Education). The project uses high-altitude ballooning to engage geography/social science and science education students in a multidisciplinary undergraduate research project. Through this, cohorts of Secondary Social Science Education majors will develop and test lesson plans that integrate geography, science, and technology.
The GAI is collaborating with the National Geographic Society and several other state alliances to align the new National Geography Standards with the Common Core "Literacy in History/Social Studies". By about Spring 2013, we expect to distribute an easy-to-use "crosswalk" that will assist Iowa teachers, curriculum coordinators, and AEAs with identifying specific ways that geography curriculum can advance students' reading and writing skills. You can now view and provide feedback on a draft version of the
