National Geographic Education National Geographic Education

Program

Geography Awareness Week

Celebrating Geography Worldwide—November 13–19, 2011

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Geography: The Adventure in Your Community

This year’s Geography Awareness Week theme promotes the idea that the geographic perspective is an important way to understand every community—no matter what size, or how long or briefly one has been a part of it. Download and print this year's poster for your classroom or bedroom wall to inspire you!

We invite you—as individuals or teams of students, families, or friends—to explore your own communities anew through geographic eyes by undertaking a series of “missions.” These missions emphasize geographic skills such as photography, storytelling, mapping, and taking action. Complete missions and earn points toward badges in each of the skills, demonstrating that you are able to see your community and the rest of the world with deeper understanding.

So start exploring! Challenge friends, classmates, and family members to join you! Download a print version of the missions in the form of a fun activity booklet, or go directly to the special Geography Awareness Week Mission:Explore website to find the missions online.

Planning Geography Awareness Week Events

Find everything you need to plan events in your own community, school, or neighborhood on the Geography Awareness Week toolkit page.

Celebrate!

  • Take Action badge

    GAWeek 2011 Missions

    Download and print the 2011 GAWeek "missions" as a fun activity booklet—great for use in the classroom, in the field, or at other locations away from a computer.

  • GAWeek 2011 Poster

    GAWeek 2011 Poster

    Download and print the official "Adventure in Your Community" 2011 poster to put on your wall or distribute to students. The colorful poster is also a rich learning tool.

  • Illustration: Booklist

    GAWeek 2011 Booklist

    Explore new communities—real and imaginary—through the pages of a book, with recommended titles from National Geographic staff.

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    GAWeek 2011 Blog-a-thon

    Tune into the 4th annual Geography Awareness Week Blog-a-thon for stories, photos, maps, and perspectives from adventurous communities around the globe!

Resources

  • Mapping Badge

    GAWeek 2011 Backgrounder

    Using the missions in school? Find information on how to connect this activity to the classroom and the National Geography Standards.

  • Geospatial Revolution Videos

    Explore the world of digital mapping and how it is changing the way we think, behave, and interact, with this series of short video clips.

Other Activities

More activities to teach and learn about the world's communities.

Other Articles & Media

Videos, articles, cartoons, maps, and more for further exploration

Encyclopedic Entries

What is the difference between a GPS and a GIS?
Browse our reference library of information about geography terms
you should know.

Real-World Geographers

Sponsored by the Geo-Literacy Coalition

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    GAWeek Toolkit

    Get everything you need to plan and promote your local Geography Awareness Week program here.

GAWeek Partners

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    Partner

    Esri supports the analysis of today’s key issues from local to global scale at all levels of education using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools. Celebrate GIS day on Wednesday, November 16th.

Celebrate now »

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    Partner

    The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) has, for nearly a century, been promoting and supporting geography educators.  Geography educators looking for more resources should consider joining NCGE. 

Learn more »

  • Partner

    The Association of American Geographers (AAG) is a nonprofit scientific and educational society founded in 1904 for geographers and related professionals who work in a wide range of careers all over the world.

Ask a geographer »

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    Partner

    “Community Connections with Geography and the Newspaper,” a free curriculum, is available from the NAA Foundation for use during Geography Awareness Week and beyond.

Download here »

  • World_Savvy_logo.jpg

    Partner

    Explore experiential lessons, workshops, and accompanying resources designed by World Savvy. For more information, contact World Savvy about their suite of national youth engagement programs.

Contact World Savvy »

  • geocaching_v1.jpg

    Partner

    Get outside and work on your GPS and exploring skills! Groundspeak offers a "Geocaching Adventure Kit" with tips for hosting a successful "geocaching" event at your school.

Start geocaching »

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    Partner

    The National Environmental Education Foundation’s Planet Connect encourages teens to submit a video showing how to green your city using STEM for a chance to win great prizes.

Enter the contest »