Geography!

Here is a post that was scheduled to be automatically published last week but due to some sort of technical glitch did not show up. Well, better late than never! We had a fantastic time in DC, meeting students, parents and teachers from all around the world (finalists represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Atlantic and Pacific Territories, and the Department of Defense schools). It's never too early to start preparing for next year's bee!

This week I'm in Washington, DC at the National Geographic Bee with our school geography bee winner who last month became the state champion! The final rounds of the national bee take place on May 23rd and will be televised.

The bee is open to students in grades 4-8, but you're never too young to start learning about geography! If you have your sights set on the bee, remember that it's not just about memorizing names and places. It's also about understanding the earth through geology and human cultures as well. So the more you can learn about history, current events, earth sciences, languages, the economy and everything else that goes into our wonderfully diverse planet, the better a competitor you'll be - not to mention just a more informed human being!

Here are a couple of my favorite sites for studying up on classic geography topics:

• Geography Map Games
• Sheppard Software Geography Games

Remember that several of the OWS databases we subscribe to, particularly CultureGrams and World Book Online, are also great preparation. See Sharepoint and my OWS teacher website for login information.