15-21 November 2009
Since 1888, the National Geographic Society has worked to build and spread geographic knowledge. Geography Awareness Week began in 1987 as a celebration of the importance of geography in our lives. Every year, National Geographic creates a set of activities for teachers to use with their students and their families to celebrate geography. These activities can be found on the Geography Action Web site. In 2006, National Geographic began a five-year campaign, entitled My Wonderful World, to help people experience the power of geography.
What is GIS?
GIS allows us to view, understand, question, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. A GIS helps you answer questions and solve problems by looking at your data in a way that is quickly understood and easily shared.
Learn More
Geography Awareness on the blog
Why Use GIS to Study Geography?
It is difficult to think of a discipline that is as critical as Geography. Geography is concerned with every key issue of the 21st Century: Climate, biodiversity, urban sprawl, habitat, sustainability, energy, water quality and availability, natural hazards, politics, agriculture, population change, and much more.
GIS is a perfect tool for studying Geography because (1) GIS was created to be an inquiry-based, problem-solving toolkit. (2) Each of the issues above are intricately tied to locations and affected by spatial relationships—mountains, ocean currents, climate, vegetation, human impact, and much more.
Through GIS, students use maps, satellite images, graphs, and databases that are focused on the question of “where,” to analyze patterns, trends, and influences, in the past, present, and future. (3) Through GIS, students analyze data, they make decisions, they form values, and they are empowered to make a difference in our world. (4) Students gain valuable skills in the use of GIS, including critical thinking, spatial thinking, data management, and multimedia use.
2009 Geography Resources
Video:
Welcome to Geography Awareness Week [6:52 mins]
Video:
Exploring GIS and Geography (part 1) [7:03 mins]
Video:
Exploring GIS and Geography (part 2) [9:21 mins]
Video:
Exploring GIS and Geography (part 3) [7:02 mins]
Video:
The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) [9:25 mins]