About the NG Education Site Redesign

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You are visiting National Geographic Education’s completely redesigned beta website. Welcome! We hope you like what you see. The site is still under development, so you are seeing only some of the planned features and content. New things will continue to roll out—and your opinion matters!

Since its founding in 1888 "for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge," the National Geographic Society has worked to educate audiences about our planet. National Geographic Education develops programs for educational settings—in and out of school. We do this by targeting two goals: Geo-Literacy and Educational Outreach.

Our redesigned beta website, NatGeoEd.org, offers an expanded and updated library of National Geographic’s popular education content, highlighting our iconic media and expert resources aligned with education standards. This beta site is just the first phase of a next-generation website with a wide range of free educational resources that bring geography, science, and social studies to life for educators, learners, and their families.

User-Informed Approach

We designed NatGeoEd.org with you in mind. We started with research conducted by the renowned Education Development Center (EDC), a nonprofit education research institute. We’ve now been through several phases of research, as well as user testing with educators. As the website evolves, we’re continuing to take a user-informed approach to best meet the needs of our expanded audiences, which includes students, families, and informal educators. You can be a part of that process by telling us what you think. Simply click on the “Tell Us What You Think” banner that appears on most pages of the website, or take our survey. And, coming soon, you’ll be able to read our developer blog—where we’ll keep you informed about what tools and features are in the works and when you can expect to see them live on the site.
Expanded Audiences & Custom Content

To reach more learners in more settings, the redesign of the NG Education site includes a unique new feature called “Audience View.” You can easily change your audience view to see versions of materials, when available, tailored for teachers, informal educators, families, students, or kids. Audience views are designed to meet diverse user needs, and include changes in look-and-feel, organization, and text. Look for the audience views toolbar to view a version of a page tailored for you. And when you search for content, filter by audience or look at the legend and the “Appropriate For” column to go straight to the version you need.
Interactive Multimedia

To meet the needs of tech-savvy educators and learners, NatGeoEd.org includes interactive multimedia—allowing us to leverage National Geographic’s iconic media and expert resources to provide you with engaging materials adapted for educational uses. You can find multimedia across the site, including photos, videos, illustrations, diagrams, and cartoons. A new feature called a resource carousel provides all the media you need right at your fingertips and in the order of instruction.
Mapping Tools

New mapping tools include interactive maps with thematic data layers, customizable black-and-white outline maps, and FieldScope—a web-based mapping, analysis, and collaboration platform designed to engage students as citizen scientists investigating real-world issues.
Connections to NG Research, Explorers, & Programs

The National Geographic Society is home to rich and diverse resources that have enormous potential to support learning. As the educational outreach arm of National Geographic, NG Education is committed to maximizing the impact of the Society’s media, expeditions, scientific fieldwork, and natural and cultural conservation. We combine National Geographic’s powerful media and leading research with educational materials that build geographic literacy—a critical skill set for the 21st century. From ocean conservation to species migration, the current energy crisis, and other hot topics of the day, National Geographic Education works together with the rest of the Society to bring these critical issues to classrooms and communities.
New Ways to Find and Browse Content

With NatGeoEd.org, we strive to provide a broad range of resources and make it as easy as possible for you to find exactly what you’re looking for. A new search tool allows you to search by keyword and see results for NG Education, for all of National Geographic, or for our Thinkfinity partners. You can filter results by grade and age, type of resource, and subject. In addition, content on the new site is modular, making it easier than ever to use it flexibly and in a variety of ways. You’ll also find background information and vocabulary support across the site, and connections between resources through links to related materials. Coming soon, you will be able to find collections of resources by topic.

Expanded Content Library

Our free online resources include content spanning science, social studies, geography, technology, and other subjects. Click here to see a list of the types of content you can find in the site now, and a list of what's coming soon.

Thinkfinity Consortium

National Geographic Education is a content partner in the Verizon Thinkfinity Consortium. The Consortium includes National Geographic and ten other educational partners, including the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian. Together, the Consortium partners’ educational websites provide free materials to educators and students in all major disciplines. You can search for educational resources from all eleven of the Consortium partners at the Verizon Thinkfinity site. Become a member of the free Thinkfinity Community, and you can find tools to organize your resources and share ideas, plans, and advice with others in the education community. Our website redesign was funded in part by the Verizon Foundation.

Community & Social Media

There are many ways to connect with NG Education. Sign up for our newsletters to get monthly picks of our favorite resources. You can also connect with NG Education on some of your favorite social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Getting the Word Out

If you like what you see on the beta site, please share our resources with your friends and colleagues. Use the email and share tools available across the website to send links to your favorite pages to people in your networks. We will offer limited numbers of thank-you prizes to supporters who help us spread the word through social media. Please visit our Facebook page for more information about these special opportunities.

Thanks again for visiting our new beta website, NatGeoEd.org. We hope you enjoy the site. Please remember to take our brief survey to tell us what you think!

Nat Geo Knows!

Find out how the NG Education website is helping learners understand our world through maps, media, reference, activities, and more. Then explore our website—one place to find the tools to give kids the knowledge they need.

Water

When you turn on the faucet, where does that water come from? Find out how NG Education helps learners understand the systems that sustain us.
Conflict

In 2010, the United States fought wars in what two countries? Find out how NG Education helps learners understand world conflicts.
Government

What kind of government does the United States have? Find out how NG Education helps learners understand how our government works.