Fl. Educator Programs
The following websites are by no means a complete representation of all of the information on the World-Wide-Web for each of the topics below.  Hopefully the information presented here will continue to grow.

It is the teachers responsibility to review any website prior to using it in class.

If you have any additional suggestions, broken links, etc., for this site please email it to Michael Ballard at ballardm@citrus.k12.fl.us

 

Geography Resources

 

General Resources General Country Info Map collections 5 Themes

World Regions Asia Africa Europe North America South America Australia Antarctica
 

General Resources

TITLE DESCRIPTION
CIA: Reference Maps Various maps of the world in both jpeg and pdf format that are updated annually.
Cities Around the World Click on the name of a city to show a zoomable image centred on that city. If it's night there, and you'd prefer to see the city by day, click the "No night" box and press the Update button below the image.
Cities of Today – Cities of Tomorrow The United Nations hosts this site on urbanization in the world.  Included are lesson plans, quizzes, and much more.
Culture Quest The Internet Public Library site features two animals that want to find out how the rest of the world lives. Younger students will enjoy taking this fun tour. Each stop along the way explains the country's folktales, visits museums, and shares local recipes.
Exploratorium: Origins Explore the extraordinary places, people, tools, and ideas behind the search for the origins of matter, the universe, and life itself.
Fact Sheet: Landslides and Mudslides Fact sheet about landslides from the Centers for Disease Control. Landslides occur when masses of rock, earth, or debris move down a slope. Debris flows, also known as mudslides, are a common type of fast-moving landslide that tends to flow in channels.
Geography Animations This is a new and exciting development where diagrams are brought to life. They are an excellent way of improving your understanding of some of the key processes that take place in our world.
Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names This site allows you to look up practically any river, bay, historic site, etc. in the world.
Gourmet Recipes for Kids This site hosts a number of International Gourmet Recipes for kids for use in a multicultural presentation.
Hive Group: World Population Honeycomb Map This Honeycomb map (built with stats from the 2004 CIA Factbook) is fascinating. Playing around with it will certainly help you better grasp the relative population, geographic area, and density of the world's biggest countries. The first thing you need to understand is that each square represents a country. You control how the countries are grouped within the Honeycomb, what data is represented by the size of the square (population, size, or density) and what is represented by the color of the square. Clicking on any square will display the country's quick facts, along with a link to its Wikipedia entry.
Inspiration Templates Here's that other amazing Inspiration template site. It's great because it includes both elementary and junior high and intends to collect templates for the high school level as well. Plus, the templates are very thorough. And... includes templates for Thinking Maps which many schools are using.
National Geographic Magazine This is the online and interactive edition of the famous magazine. It includes articles and pictures from the current issue of the magazine as well as archive with links to the past 9 years of the periodical.
National Geographic News This is a daily news service produced by the popular magazine. Its focus is on the geographic aspects of world news, and it can for example on a particular day report on earthquake studies in Tokyo, large catfish in Thailand and the salvage of a ship on the Carolina coast that may just possibly be the last ship of the pirate Blackbeard.
National Geographic Online On the evening of January 13, 1888, thirty-three men traveled on foot, horseback, and in horse drawn carriages through the streets of Washington to the Cosmos Club, then on Lafayette Square across from the White House. They convened around a large mahogany table to discuss “the advisability of organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” The entity they were about to create would become the largest nonprofit scientific and ed. institution in the world.
Population Index on the Web Population Index is the primary reference tool to the world's population literature. It presents an annotated bibliography of recently published books, journal articles, working papers, and other materials on population topics. This website provides a searchable and browsable database containing 46,035 abstracts of demographic literature published in Population Index in the period 1986-2000.
Population Reference Bureau The Population Reference Bureau informs people around the world about population, health, and the environment, and empowers them to use that information to advance the well-being of current and future generations.
Songs for Teaching Geography Eighteen songs for teaching geography by clicking on the link for music and vocal.  The words are also available for using in the classroom.
Speech Accent Archive You can probably separate a Staten Island from a South Carolina. But can you detect the difference between a British Manchester and an Oxford? With this fascinating sound file archive of speech accents from around the world, you can explore unique accents and delve into your own linguistic study.
TerraFly TerraFly changes the way you view your world. Simply enter an address, and this site will put you at the controls of a bird's view aerial imagery to explore your digital earth.
Test Your Geography Knowledge  If you were shown a picture of South America, would you be able to point out where Uruguay is? Or how about Eritrea on a map of the Middle East? Put your geography knowledge to the test with these quizzes that cover every part of the world.
The ABCs of Geography This site has an extensive on-line dictionary of Geographic terms – possibly the most comprehensive on the Web.  The definitions of terms that have been included are most of the major subject specific words that students will come across when studying Geography from the school years in the age range 12-18
The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth hosts the best and most complete online collection of astronaut photographs of the Earth. Beginning with the Mercury missions in the early 1960s, astronauts have taken photographs of the Earth. This NASA database tracks the locations, supporting data, and digital images for these photographs.
The Good Earth  See stunning images of our beautiful planet, taken by satellites, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station.  This multimedia tour allows you to experience the Earth as you have never seen her before.  
Time and Date Monday Night Football comes out Monday night, right? Not if you're in Australia, where it's Tuesday morning when it comes out. When can you expect a timely reply to an e-mail? Is it OK to call Norway right now, or are you going to wake someone up? Time and Date is more than just a world clock, it also generates calendars for any year, has countdown timers, will calculate the number of days between two different dates, and more.
Traditions of the Sun:  Ancient Astronomy It is difficult to understate the importance of the Sun. Its light and warmth provide energy for growing plants, and ultimately makes life itself possible. We invite you to explore this site, to learn about the ancestral Native Americans in New Mexico and the ancient Maya in the Yucatan, while gaining a better understanding of the active Sun, and its importance to them - and, to us.
Traveler Game Place names flash on the screen, and you have to click as close to their correct location on a blank world map. Your speed and accuracy help you advance.  Can be a challenging game.
U.S. and World Population Clocks This site from the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, presents the most recent national and world population estimates.
US Dept. of State Geography Quizzes A collection of quizzes hosted by the US Department of State on various aspects of world geography and nations.
World Clock Site contains a ‘world clock’ which statistically breaks down a number of events and areas of interest, portraying a running total of (for instance) number of computer produced this year, number of marriages/divorces, and more.
World Geography Lesson Plans A collection of lesson plans on all aspects and regions of Geography for the secondary level.
World O Meter Want to know the world's cold, hard facts—right now? Get real-time info on the world's population, number of births per second, how many bicycles have been made this year, how many people have seen movies so far, and so on. Bliss for an information junkie
Worldwide Table Manners This site provides information and a quiz about worldwide table manners!  This Flash animated quiz will take about 5 minutes to complete.

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General Country Informational Resources

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Background Notes These publications include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty. The Background Notes are updated/revised by the Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs as they are received from the Department's regional bureaus and are added to the database of the Department of State website you are now using.
Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments The Central Intelligence Agency publishes and updates the online directory of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments weekly. The directory is intended to be used primarily as a reference aid and includes as many governments of the world as is considered practical, some of them not officially recognized by the United States.
CIA World Factbook Country information has been updated as of April 21, 2005.  Along with the new entities and the regular information updates, The World Factbook now also features six new fields. In the 'People' category, a major infectious diseases field has been added for countries deemed to pose a higher degree of risk for travelers. In the 'Economy' category, entries have been added for current account balance, investment (gross fixed), public debt, and reserves of foreign exchange and gold. The 'Transnational' issues category has a new refugees and internally displaced persons entry
Countries of the World This 1,500-page site offers a wealth of information on the nations for the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Countries of the World This site by InfoPlease presents facts on world and country flags, maps, geography, history, statistics, disasters, current events, and international relations. Profiles of every country include geography, maps, history, current ruler, area, population, capital, largest city, and more.
Currency Converter This site allows you to perform interactive foreign exchange rate calculations on the Internet, using live, up-to-the-minute currency rates. There is support for more than 180 currencies from over 250 geographical locations.
ETHNOLOGUE: Languages Around the World Ethnologue organizes languages of the world by geographical region and country, language name and family indexes.  The introduction gives nice overview of language and culture.  Click on Browse the Web version and find out more than you probably want to know about the languages of each country/region of the world.  Nepal, for instance, has 126 languages!
Flags of the World Flags of the World (FOTW) is so very interesting. Not only do you have thousands of images of flags, both modern and historical, but FOTW provides the stories of how those flags came to be. You can even use FOTW to track geopolitical changes in a place - it's a goldmine of information for a historical geographer. Vexillological!
Galaxy Want to get overwhelmed?  About 260,000 links to information on individual countries of the world…. 295 links for Nepal alone!
Geographia This site, presented in magazine format, has images, text, and maps concerning countries on every continent of the world.  Interesting and lively presentation mode.
Library of Congress Country Studies The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress holds more than 4.5 million items, of which Map Collections represents only a small fraction, those that have been converted to digital form. The focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that are not covered by copyright protection.
Multi Cultural Calendar This website shows the unique ways KIDLINK kids are celebrating their country's holidays and festivals. The entries might contain recipes for holiday foods, historical background, significance of the holidays and the special ways in which these days are observed.
NationMaster Welcome to NationMaster.com, a massive central data source and a handy way to graphically compare nations. NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD. Using the form above, you can generate maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease
The World Factbook, 2008 The U.S. government's complete geographical handbook, featuring full-color maps and flags of all nations and geographical entities. Each country profile tracks such demographics as population, ethnicity and literacy rates, as well as political, geographical and economic data.
UN For Kids This site contains flags, maps, and lesson plans to study the world. 1,967 downloadable files from 192 countries and the United Nations are available in Adobe Acrobat, PowerPoint and Word formats.  A great resource for use in the classroom.

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Map Collections

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Atlapedia Atlapedia Online contains full color physical maps, political maps as well as key facts and statistics on countries of the world.
Blank Outline Map of Iraq A useful resource for use in current events.
Education Place: Outline Maps These world maps may be printed and copied for personal or classroom use.
Eduplace: Outline Maps Houghton Mifflin's Education Place provides printable outline maps in Adobe PDF of all fifty states individually, by region and of the entire country. They also have specialized U.S. maps, such as those with postal codes, climate data, and physical geography. For dozens of interactive geography games, following the small link to GeoNet from the entry page. To see the list of available games, click on either the U.S. or World map.
Elementary Lesson Plans for Globe and Maps The George F. Cram Company has posted lesson plans that can be used by teachers to develop map and globe skills.
Google At Night General Electric Foundation Scholar-Leaders Program participant Peter Pesti has done a beautiful tweak with Google Maps that shows the world at night. Overlays also include Day, Dusk, Day Map, Dusk Map, and Night Map.
Google Maps Maps are great for getting around, but online maps could be a lot better. So Google decided to make dynamic, interactive maps that are draggable - no clicking and waiting for graphics to reload each time you want to view the adjacent parts of a map. Want to be able to type in the name of a region or neighborhood and see any part of it as easily as with a regular street map? Now you can with Google Maps. Since these maps are draggable, you can use your mouse or the directional arrows to pan left, right, up and  down to see areas that are hidden offscreen. You can also use the slider  to zoom in and zoom out.
Individualized Maps The Mineral Resources Program (MRP) of the U.S. Geological Survey maintains an Internet web site to provide public access to various forms of digital data. Digital data sets include geology, geochemistry, geophysics, mineral resources, base maps, and other data. Coverage varies from regional to global. Users can create individualized maps by selecting data sets and map areas.
Map Collections: 1500-2004 The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress holds more than 4.5 million items, of which Map Collections represents only a small fraction, those that have been converted to digital form. The focus of Map Collections is Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. These images were created from maps and atlases and, in general, are restricted to items that are not covered by copyright protection. Map Collections is organized according to seven major categories. Because a map will be assigned to only one category, unless it is part of more than one core collection, searching Map Collections at this level will provide the most complete results since the indexes for all categories are searched simultaneously.
Map Lessons: The Route to Improved Geography Skills Features lessons to teach all students about landforms, the global economy, maps from space, more!
Maplandia Maplandia.com provides the searchable world gazetteer based on Google Maps, the most comprehensive online satellite imagery ever available. More than 2,000,000 places all over the world are divided into many geographical categories according to continents, countries and administrative regions. Colored region contours, direct Google Earth links and other no elsewhere to find features make exploring the world easy as never before. Maplandia.com is here for you. Don't wait, explore the world today!
Maps A wide series of map games on over a variety of continents.
Maps In Our Lives This exhibition from the Library of Congress celebrates the fields of surveying and cartography. Take the virtual tour to see George Washington's survey maps of Mount Vernon, as well as other maps created over the past few hundred years that are used to represent topography, population, natural resources, ethnic diversity, streets, and much more.
Maps in the News This is an interesting way to view current affairs. Access the maps of all the places whose names are in the news... 
Maps that Teach This is a geography site that contains many online and downloadable maps and games that can be used in the classroom.
National Atlas Make interactive maps within your web browser! This program allows you to make your own maps. Select, change, and display map layers. Roam across America and zoom in to reveal more detail. Point at map features to learn more about them. Locate and map more than 2,000,000 geographic names in the United States. New map layers are added each month.
National Atlas: Printable Maps Odds are you are looking for all the usual (but useful) printable outline maps of the states, which the U.S. Department of the Interior has in spades. But they also have eight additional printable maps and seven interactive maps. Printable maps include Congressional Districts, Indian Reservations, Precipitation, and Presidential Elections. Interactive maps include Volcanoes, and Vegetation Growth. Don't leave without exploring MapMaker, an online application that let's you build a U.S. map to your specifications, and includes all sorts of unusual options, such as mapping hazardous waste handlers or red-backed salamanders.
National GEOgraphic: Map Machine National Geographic's redesigned online atlas gives you the world - your way. Find nearly any place on Earth, and view it by population, climate, and much more. Plus, browse antique maps, find country facts, or plan your next outdoor adventure with our trail maps.
Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection The PCL Map Collection is a huge collection of scanned paper maps on the Internet. Most of the maps are public domain maps from the CIA but they're great maps. The historical map collection is great, too. Fascinating!
Printable Maps  A collection of continent – and select nation – maps.
Show World This site is fantastic.  It includes cartograms of the countries of the world based on demographic, economic, environment, and more. You can also access similar data from the United States by clicking USA at the top.
Strange Maps  Strange Maps. This one's hard to describe, but it's what happens when you cross a fascination with maps with an overactive imagination. For instance, what if you took a map of the 50 U.S. states and instead of putting on the state names, rename each state with the country whose Gross Domestic Product most closely matches that state? California would b  France; Colorado, Finland. Texas (sorry, eh?) would be Canada. Another one: a heat map of Europe in 2071 ...if global warming continues at the current rate. It's fun, interesting, maybe even educational.
The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has over 11,000 maps online. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. Collection categories include antique  atlas, globe, school geography, maritime chart, state, county, city, pocket, wall, children’s and manuscript maps. The collection can be used to study history,  genealogy and family history.
The Upside Down Map Page   This site puts a whole new perspective on the world. Here you will see maps with South at the top and North at the bottom. And you can read about other maps that are printed with the East in the top or center of the map. 
TIME for Kids: Using Maps & Globes Students will locate countries on a world map or globe.
Urbanization Map The BBC provides an interesting look at urban growth around the world from 1955 to 2015. It's a pretty neat animation; use the slider under the map to change the year and see the differences.
USGS Learning Web Contains several activities are presented to assist in teaching the concepts of reading maps. Includes a Teacher's Guide.
World Atlas There are several maps, photos and collections of information such as bodies of water and flags at this world atlas site.  You'll find a lot of useful geography tools here for use in your classroom.
World Atlas Provides facts, flags, and maps including every continent, country, dependency, island, major city, ocean, province, state, and territory on the planet!
World City Maps The maps on this site were produced by U.S. Government agencies as noted. Many of these maps are no longer issued.
World Climate World Climate is an extensive database of climate data for places around the world. Just type in the name of a city and you'll be able to obtain great climate information. Brrrrr!
World Gazetteer This site provides current population figures for cities, towns and places of all countries along with the largest cities of the world and current national flags.
World Mapper Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.  There are now nearly 600 maps. Maps 1-366 are also available as PDF posters.

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5 Themes of Geography

TITLE DESCRIPTION
CoreIndex.com A platform to find worldwide businesses and business partners among importers, exporters, traders and distributors. A search engine designed to make finding information about business faster and easier.  It also provides an interesting look at what other nations produce.
Five Activities for Teaching Geography's Five Themes Educator’s World provided the resources on this web page.  From their introduction:  Looking for activities to teach the five themes of geography? We've got them for you -- 25 of them! Included: Activities for students at every level!
Five Themes of Geography Strategies and activities for teaching the five themes of geography from National Geographic.
Five Themes of Geography and Current Events The Educators Reference Desk hosts this site which has a lesson plan for teaching the five themes of geography and connecting them to today’s world through current events.
Five Themes of Geography Assignment This About.com site has a complete lesson for teaching the Five Themes of Geography to secondary students in an interesting and engaging manner.

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World Regions

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Awesome Library This site truly is an awesome library of information on the countries of the world, with data, maps, and other information on all of the nations of the world.
Cities Around the World Cities Around the World presents over 5,500 photographic images from the slide collections of the American Geographic Society Library at the University of Wisconsin. The images selected for this project focus on architecture, city life, people, transportation and other aspects of urban development, such as neighborhoods, commercial streets, and business districts.
Data Mash – Earth Album This site is an excellent example of a datamash called Earth Album. This album combines Flickr and Google Earth to allow you to see photographs from all over the world.
EarthCam - Where The World Watches The World Let EarthCam take you from the sandy beaches in Hawaii to the snowy peaks of Mt. Fuji; from the watery depths of a coral reef to the starry expanse of space.
Flash Earth Use Flash Earth to explore satellite and aerial imagery all over the world.
Geographic Educational site providing geography information including the people of various countries, flags, maps, and country data.
How Far Is It? This service uses data from the US Census and a supplementary list of cities around the world to find the latitude and longitude of two places, and then calculates the distance between them (as the crow flies). It also provides a map showing the two places, using the Xerox PARC Map Server.
Human Org  Animated maps show how often people die of hunger, aids, malaria, and preventable diseases. Print a world letter to end these problems.
License Plates of the World License plates from around the world – both past and present license plates - are presented on this website.
National Anthems  Learn the history of over 400 anthems past and present at this informative site. You can listen to a sound file of the anthem, check out the lyrics, or view the sheet music. Just click the letter of the country you want to learn about and pick your country from that menu.
The World Clock Zone Want to know what time it is in Istanbul, or perhaps Mexico City? With the World Clock, you can find out the time and date of many places around the world. 
Traveler IQ Challenge This rather addictive game that tests your knowledge of geography.  And it's timed, so you don't have much time to think about that capital city or famous landmark are on the map.
Virtual Tourist VirtualTourist. Where in the world do you want to go, either in your armchair or really? VirtualTourist is a worldwide travel community where real travelers and locals share real travel advice and experiences. Nearly a million members have posted information and photos about just every place you'd ever want to visit, with what to see, what to avoid, where to eat, where to shop. And if you can't find what you're looking for, you can post a question on the forum and get answers from locals or people who have been there.
World Coins Money makes the world go 'round.  Ever seen a Kroner from Denmark? I'll bet you a Romanian Bani you don't know how many Indonesian Rupees make up 10 Turkish Lira. Doesn't matter—these coins of the world are just for looking, not exchange. Now, is it Euros or Gyros…?
World Statesmen Need to know who ruled Tunisia in 1704 -- and what his flag looked like? This site will tell you. It has a complete and up-to-date encyclopedia of all the leaders of virtually all nations and territories (international organizations and recent religious leaders are listed separately). This site provides detailed chronologies, flags, national anthems, maps and indexes to enhance your research into the world of history and politics.

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Asia

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Afghanistan: Land in Crisis National Geographic offers lesson plans and a downloadable map on Afghanistan.
Asian Geography Quiz Demonstrate a fearless pursuit of academic excellence by plunging, head-first of course, into these questions. Return every week for another quiz on one of the 14,000 topics in the Knowledge Master Library.
Center for Southeast Asian Studies This site has a variety of resources available for the Secondary level teacher for all of Asia in a variety of subtopics.
China Page: Chinese New Year Visit to learn more about the Chinese calendar, whose history dates back to the second millennium BCE. According to the twelve-animal Chinese zodiac, 2008 is the Year of the Rat. "This system is extremely practical. A child does not have to learn a new answer to the question, 'How old are you?' in each new year. Old people often lose track of their age, because they are rarely asked about their present age. Every one just have to remember that he or she was born in the "Year of the Dog" or whatever."
China: An Inner Realm China, an Inner Realm is where one can explore fascinating facts pertaining to the land, culture, and language of the vast and diverse nation. Because China is so immense, its land contains some of the world's driest deserts, highest mountains, an d richest farmland; and being the world's oldest living civilization, its culture and language are the most rich, dating all the way back to the 1700's B.C. China is so diverse and rich in its interior that it is in itself a world within. So what are yo u waiting for? Pack those bags and travel to one of the world's most intriguing and charming places: China, an Inner Realm.
Chinese Culture Center: Celebration of the Chinese New Year From the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, this informative Chinese New Year page describes dozens of new year's customs, including Lai-See (red envelopes of money given to children), everybody's birthday (the day when everyone turns one year older), and the Lantern Festival (the end of the New Year celebration.) "On New Year's day, everyone had on new clothes, and would put on his best behavior. It was considered improper to tell a lie, raise one's voice, use indecent language, or break anything on the first day of the year."
Global Connections: The Middle East This PBS site has a rich set of materials on the Middle East organized in three parts. The first is a timeline outlining Middle Eastern history since 1900. Then readers are invited to explore the Middle East through a theme such as politics, science, economics, etc. Then there are big questions such as: What has been the role of natural resources in the politics and economy of the region?
Interactive Middle East Map This is a great interactive map of the Mid East for use in the classroom.  See how much you know.
Japan: Images of a People This site contains a three-part lesson plan with activities and maps from Smithsonian Education.
Kaboose: Chinese New Year Crafts For Chinese New Year crafts, this Kaboose page is top notch. Each craft includes a photograph and detailed instructions. The interstitial ads which pop up between pages are a bit annoying, but the quality of the rest of the site is worth this small irritation. Crafts which catch the eye include Chinese New Year Dragon made from an egg carton, and the easy Paper Lanterns. Some of the crafts are offsite, which can be a bit confusing if you are not expecting to land somewhere else.
Mongolia This American Forum for Global Education site contains a lesson plan, activities, printable resources for learning the geography and geographic connections for Mongolia.
Virtual Tour of Beijing Enjoy a virtual tour of the capital of China.

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Africa

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Africa For centuries, Africa has mesmerized the world with its stunning scenery, its ancient civilizations, its unique art, and hypnotizing music. This is your chance to experience the world's most fascinating continent. This rich site accompanies the PBS series Africa. Explore the regions of Africa from the Sahara south to Southern Africa.
Africa Map Quiz Interactive as well as pdf Africa map quizzes.
Africa:  One Continent, Many Worlds Discover firsthand the vitality and significance of African peoples, their communities through out the world, and the natural riches of the African Continent. Your journey begins here with the "AFRICA: One Continent. Many Worlds." web site, hosted by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Africam: Wildlife Camera From the site: "Nkorho Pan is a natural water hole in the prestigious Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve, in South Africa. Nkorho pan is named after Nkorho bush Lodge  <http://www.nkorho.com>which gets it name from the Shangaan derivative for the call of the yellow-billed hornbill, a common and unusual looking bird from this area."  Be sure to check out the other wildlife cameras offered on the site!
African Geography Lesson Plan A high school lesson plan in which students identify the major geographic characteristics of Africa and predict their impact on trade and travel.
African Geography Webquest This Webquest is designed to help students explore African geography. The student will create a virtual scrapbook to showcase their work.
African Studies This comprehensive site sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania offers hundreds of links and resources on Africa studies. Check out the multimedia archives and the K-12 Africa section.
African Voices What is it like to live, work, and play in Africa? In African Voices, you can wander the shops in a virtual African market; listen to Somali women talk about their portable houses that fit on a camel's back; design a mudcloth and save it as computer wallpaper; and visit the people and history of Africa.
Internet African History Sourcebook From ancient times to the modern era, here are dozens of primary materials about the history of Africa. These are excellent sources on ancient history, the Greek and Roman period slavery and abolition, European imperialism, and modern Africa.
The Living Africa Take a virtual safari; visit different areas and cultures – all from your computer
The Suez Canal This teacher developed site provides an excellent article about the Canal which includes a great map.
Webquest – A Study of Africa Students are working in groups of 5, exploring the Five Regions of Africa. They are gathering information on many aspects of Africa, including their cultures, technology, healthcare, economics & government, languages, natural resources, ecosystems and wildlife. Five groups are putting a Travel Guide together. Students will present their research to the class using a Power Point Presentation with Streaming Video Clips.

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Europe

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Central Europe Online This Web site has links to Czechoslovakian, Polish, and Slovakian newspapers. It also contains the new constitutions of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.
Discover Gibraltar This site has over 300 pages, and more than 1000 photographs. Use the drop-down menu to navigate to sections about Gibraltar's history, its relationship with Spain, and an answer to the frequently asked question: Why is Gibraltar British? "On the 4th August 1704, the English fleet, under Admiral Sir George Rooke, entered the Gibraltar Bay. At 3 P.M. 1,800 English and Dutch marines were landed close to the Rock with the Dutch Prince Hesse at the head. After several days of fierce fighting, the Spanish surrendered the Rock."
Geography Trivia: Europe This site contains interesting trivia on the geography of Europe.
History and Geography of Europe This site has quite a bit of information about Europe, including a large photo section, timelines, and a variety of map resources.
Italy Guides: Virtual Travel in the City of the Renaissance: Florence Like a mini-vacation, Italy Guides brings you the best of Florence with QuickTime Virtual Realty tours, downloadable audio tours in MP3 format, and a photo gallery. Virtual tours are available for the Duomo (cathedral) of Florence, the Giotto's Bell Tower, the Dome of Brunelleschi, and twelve other sights. Last month when I was in Florence with my family, our hotel was adjacent to the piazza Santa Maria Novella, so seeing that tour brought back some great memories.
Physical Geography of Europe With concise text and numerous links to maps and other visual resources, this site provides a detailed analysis of the physical geography of Europe and its effect on culture, economy, and politic
The Eiffel Tower If you can't visit the Eiffel Tower in real life, try the official Eiffel Tower Web site, where you can take a virtual tour, see the view of Paris from the tower itself, and get all sorts of fun statistics to make your visit more meaningful.

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North America

TITLE DESCRIPTION
About U.S. Counties This site by the National Association of Counties collects information on counties, such as county officials, courthouse addresses, county seats, cities in a county.
American FactFinder Your source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data including latest population estimates.
American Field Guide Immerse yourself in the great outdoors without ever leaving your desk. Tap into the sights and sounds from a wide variety of environments throughout America. We've collected over 1400 video clips that enable you to experience America's wilderness firsthand - simply browse the topics or search for your particular interests.
Area Code and Zip Code Look-ups The site offers numerous U.S. demographic look-ups including: "Lookup ZIP Codes, city names, the location of phone numbers or the cities covered by an area code." - "Enter any street name in the U.S. and get a listing of which states and cities have the street name. Even displays local street address detail." - "2000 Income tax information by ZIP Code. Includes average AGI, number of returns, average refund, filing status, age and more." - "Lookup any Canadian address and get the Postal Code, time zone and area code." - "Displays a listing of the Area Code + Prefixes and Zip Codes that fall within a radius." - "Obtain a list of the ZIP Codes in any county in the United States."
Canada: Teaching and Learning About Canada From the site: “Information and links for teachers and students dealing with Canadian Geography, History, Politics, Time Zones, Graphs and Tables, Maps and much more.”
Canadian Maps Here's an awesome collection of downloadable Canadian maps.  Have a look at the links at the bottom for further resources.
Columbia Gazetteer of North America With 50,000 entries, this most comprehensive encyclopedia of geographical places and features will prove invaluable to anyone for whom places hold fascination and who require accurate data about them. It covers every incorporated place and county in the United States, along with several thousand unincorporated places, special-purpose sites, and physical features, as well as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
DC FLYBY Get a bird's eye view of Washington D.C. with this cool site.  While flying over the city, stop at each location to get more information about it.  
Discover Jamaica A lot of information on the geography, history, economy, and political scene in Jamaica.
Grand Canyon Explorer On January 11, 1908, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt declares the massive Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona a national monument.
History of Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada The narrow focus of this excellent site allows it to create a fascinating and immersive multimedia experience. The collection of resources assembled by the Las Vegas Sun newspaper includes a comprehensive series of video documentaries, timelines, audio recordings, interactive maps, and stories from the Sun archives. Special features cover topics ranging from nuclear weapons testing to the role of the mob in Las Vegas history, although there is not enough information included on most of these topics for in-depth research. While some aspects of the site can have the feel of slick advertising for the city, the overall quality of the presentation makes it worth a visit for anyone interested in the subject matter.
National Atlas of the United States You've seen other atlases. They're typically big books of paper maps. The pages in this atlas are here on the Internet whenever you need them. This is a new portrayal of America in maps. We use new technologies, but we honor traditions of accuracy, reliability, and innovation. You've found the single best Federal source for national maps and geographic information on the Web. The people and places of the United States are here.
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age: 1831-1929" portrays the early history of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico through first-person accounts, political writings, & histories drawn from the Library of Congress's general collections.
Recent US Earthquakes The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program provides earthquake information for current and past earthquakes, hazards and preparedness information, and education resources for teachers and students.
Reference Maps These sites by the U.S. Census Bureau lets you locate Census geographies and view Census data in map format. You can use these sites to create, print, and download two types of maps-Reference Maps and Thematic Maps. Customizable options such as Boundaries, Features, and Title are available for both types of maps. Data Classes is a customizable option offered only for Thematic Maps. Thematic Maps show interesting facts about places by using colors or patterns to shade areas on the map. You use Thematic Maps when you want to see statistical data, such as population or median income, displayed on a map. To create a Thematic Map, you select the geographic area and the theme for the map. Reference Maps display the location and geographic boundaries for Census tabulation areas (for example, the boundaries of a Census tract). For Reference Maps, you specify the geographic area you want to see.
Roadside America Ever wanted to visit the world's largest thermometer museum? How about a thirteen feet tall Jimmy Carter peanut? Such oddities abound at Roadside America, a site that offers a quirky set of reviews for the road tripper with some time to spare. Click a state on the user-friendly map to get a list of bizarre attractions, from the Plumbing Museum of Worcester, Mass., to the Shrine of the Miracle Tortilla in Lake Arthur, New Mexico. Quicktime clips for several locales--check out the Santa Cruz mystery spot and the travelogues of a Wienermobile driver. Finish your visit with the sight of the week or the online pet cemetery for nonstop weirdness. An improvement: Site now has a hotel finder.  
State & County QuickFacts Quick, easy access to facts about people, business, and geography from the U.S. Census Bureau.
State Master From the site: “Welcome to StateMaster, a unique statistical database which allows you to research and compare a multitude of different data on US states. We have compiled information from various primary sources such as the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. More than just a mere collection of various data, StateMaster goes beyond the numbers to provide you with visualization technology like pie charts, maps, graphs and scatterplots. We also have thousands of map and flag images, state profiles, and correlations.”
The 50 States State information resource links to state homepages, symbols, flags, maps, constitutions, representatives, songs, birds, flowers, trees, etc.
The States Explore the U.S. state by state with image galleries, historical maps, and featured video on topics relating to each state.  Also provides a game called Place the State to check the geography skills of the students.
U.S. Gazetteer A powerful geographic and demographic tool that allows you to search for 1990 and 2000 Census data by simply typing in a zip code or city and state. Data is retrieved in easily read tabular form. You can also ask the site to draw the map of the area for you, through its link to the Tiger Map Server.
U.S. Population Finder The Population Finder displays population numbers from the 1990 Census, Census 2000, and the latest Population Estimates data, and selected links to tables and maps showing population data. Use the simple geographic search form at the top of the page to change your geographic selection to a particular state, county, city, town, 5-digit ZIP code, or census tract. Census tracts are only returned when using search by address.
USA City Link All the states, the American flag, government departments, moments in American history, and more.
USA Interactive Map Students can drag and drop the states onto a US map.  The game is different every time and it gives you mileage errors.

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South America

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Discovering Mexico This National Geographic feature highlights the challenges that Mexico faces today.
Mexico for Kids "The Constitution calls our country the United Mexican States because it consists of thirty-one states and the Federal District, which have joined together to form a federation." Created by the office of the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico, this site introduces Mexican history, government, and biodiversity, and includes a page of current news (such as President's Bush recent visit.)
South American Travel A collection of sites and information about Explorers, Adventures and Naturalists of South America

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Australia

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Guide to Australia This site links you to all pertinent information about Australia, such as geography, culture, general history, and communications.

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Antarctica

TITLE DESCRIPTION
Antarctica Interactive Supersite Journey to the bottom of the Earth with online video of Antarctica's animals in action, downloadable wallpaper photos, an interactive map, and more.
Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is an online find for students of sociology, culture, anthropology, and environmental issues. You'll find hyper linked articles, photographs of the region, and audio and video clips.
Cool Antarctica Before Paul Ward began his teaching career, he spent two years as a marine biologist in Antarctica. Cool Antarctica is a showcase for his pictures and "information to further promote the status of Antarctica a wonderful and unique part of our planet." Best clicks are the captioned slide show, Antarctica Fact File ("Antarctica was imagined by the ancient Greeks, but not even seen until 1820.") and the Antarctica History Exploration Time Line.
Oceanites The World's Antarctic Resource This resource has a lot of potential for classroom use.  There's a lot to learn about the seventh continent - why not start here?

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