The Newsletter of the Connecticut Geographic Alliance
Endowed by the National Geographic Society Education Foundation

Fall 2008

Connecticut Geographic Alliance

University of Connecticut Geography Department
CLAS Building     U-4148
Storrs, Connecticut 06269-4148
Phone:  860-486-0374     Fax:  860-486-1348
Email:  Thomas.Lewis@uconn.edu

Co-coordinators

Thomas Lewis, Resident Associate Professor
Department of Geography, University of Connecticut, Storrs
860-486-0374
TLewis6895@aol.com

William DeGrazia, Educator
203-375-8882
BDGeoTC@aol.com

Rita Courtois, Administrative Assistant
RitaCourtois@yahoo.com

CGA Website:  www.CTGeoAlliance.org

October 9-12, 2008
     National Council for Geographic Education
     Annual Conference, Dearborn, MI
October 30, 2008
     Geography Action! Kickoff 2008, Yale University,
     Luce Hall, 4:30-8:00 p.m.
October 31-November 2, 2008
     NESTVAL Annual Conference,
     Plymouth State University, NH
November 7, 2008
     Connecticut Council for the Social Studies
     Annual Fall Conference, Central Connecticut  
     State University Student Union
November 6-15, 2008
     Geography Awareness Week
November 14-16, 2008
     National Council for the Social Studies Annual
     Conference, Houston, TX
December 3, 2008
     CGA Steering Committee Meeting, Welles-
     Turner Library, Glastonbury, 5:00-8:00 p.m.
February 27-28, 2009
     National School Conference on International
     Youth Exchange, Hartford Hilton Hotel
March 15-19, 2009
     Northeast Regional Conference (NERC),
     Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers
April 3, 2009
     21st Annual Connecticut Geographic Bee,
     Central Connecticut State University
March 22-27, 2009
     American Association of Geographers Annual
     Meeting, Las Vegas, NV
May 2009 (exact date to be announced)
     High School Geographic Challenge, University
     of Connecticut, Storrs
May 19-20, 2009
     National Geographic Bee, Washington, D.C.

 

The Connecticut Geographic Alliance

The Connecticut Geographic Alliance (CGA) is an organization of educators, business people, and other citizens dedicated to improving geographic education in Connecticut.  Our members include teachers and administrators from most Connecticut towns, geography and education faculty from the state's colleges and universities, and concerned citizens in business and government.

Our organization is part of the National Geographic Society’s Geographic Alliance Network.  Alliance activities are supported by an endowment from the National Geographic Society Education Foundation.  In addition, the University of Connecticut provides a home base for the Alliance in its Geography Department.

The Mission Statement of the Connecticut Geographic Alliance is “to promote the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge, foster innovation in geographic education, and encourage stewardship and conservation of Earth's natural and cultural resources in pre-kindergarten through college.”

We seek to improve geographic education in Connecticut by promoting student mastery of geography as a core subject area; providing content and leadership training for teachers; offering in-service programs that use geography to address broad interdisciplinary, environmental, urban, and multicultural issues; making the National and State Geography Standards an integral part of the Social Studies; and providing family programs at the K-5 and Middle School levels.

CGA Receives NGSEF Funding for 2008-2009

Co-coordinators Tom Lewis and Bill DeGrazia are pleased to announce that the CGA has received funding in the amount of $50,000 from the National Geographic Society Education Foundation that will allow the CGA to continue its work throughout the 2008-2009 school year.  The Endowment Committee continues to seek funding on the State level and encourages all CGA members (as well as their colleagues and students) to write or email their State senators and representatives to let them know how important funding for improved geographic education in Connecticut is and to encourage their support during the next budget session for the restoration of an endowment for the CGA’s mission.  You can locate the names and addresses of your senators and representatives by visiting http://www.cga.ct.gov.  Additional sources of funding to restore the CGA’s endowment are also being sought.  Anyone who has any leads on public or private sector funding possibilities is asked to email the information to Tom Lewis (TLewis6895@aol.com) or to Bill DeGrazia (BDGeoTC@aol.com).

CGA Members in the News

Submitted by Bill DeGrazia, CGA Co-coordinator
Tom Brodnitzki, an outstanding teacher at the Metropolitan Learning Center in Bloomfield since 2001, will receive the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award by the National Council for Geographic Education at their Annual Conference in October.  A 2007 Milken Family Foundation winner, Tom has created a geography scholarship for a deserving student at his school.  He has served as a CGA Teaching Consultant and My Wonderful World Coordinator as well.

Laura Krenicki, sixth grade teacher at the William J. Johnston Middle School in Colchester, will also receive the 2008 Distinguished Teaching Award at the October NCGE Annual Conference in Dearborn, Michigan.  Laura is the Geography Action! Coordinator and a Teaching Consultant for the Connecticut Geographic Alliance and she will organize the annual Kickoff Event at Yale University on October 30.

Allyson Lubs, one of the CGA’s newest Teaching Consultant, has taken her first teaching position as a sixth grade teacher at Pawcatuck Middle School in Stonington, Connecticut.  A 2008 graduate of Central Connecticut State University, we wish Allyson the best on her voyage of discovery.

Congratulations to our friends and colleagues at the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies.  The CCSS 2008 Professional Awards recipients include Elizabeth Porter (John H. Stedman Passion for the Social Studies Teaching Award), Fred Turner (Excellence in Social Studies Education), Maxwell Amoh (Friend of CCSS), Dick Harper (CCSS Service Award), and current CGA Steering Committee member Ken Keller (Addazio Award).

If you or a colleague has achieved a notable moment in geography education, please send the news to Bill DeGrazia at BDGeoTC@aol.com for inclusion in a future CGA newsletter.

Co-Coordinator Lewis to Step Down

Tom Lewis, CGA co-coordinator, announced to the Steering Committee on September 9 that he will end his tenure on December 31, 2008.  In his letter to the National Geographic Society Education Foundation dated August 30, Tom thanked Charles Sterling, NGSEF Program Analyst, as well as all of his colleagues in Connecticut for their support.  Tom agreed to come on board for a three-year commitment in 1997!  We thank Tom for his dedication to and efforts on behalf of the CGA during the last eleven years.  He will continue to serve on the CGA Steering Committee in the future.

CGA Teacher Mini-Grants Available

Do you have a geography project that you have designed to use in your classroom or community but don’t have the money to fund it?  Consider applying for a mini-grant of up to $300 to implement your project!  The application is easy to complete.  Visit www.CTGeoAlliance.org for more information.

Newsletter Contributors

Thanks are extended to several CGA members who contributed information for this edition of On The Road including John Meyers, Laura Krenicki, Joyce Crebase, Bill DeGrazia, Rita Courtois, and Tom Lewis.

Newspaper in Education Update

Beginning on September 18 and continuing throughout the 2008-2009 school year, the Hartford Courant will publish a series of geography articles in the newspaper.  This high-interest, yearlong program will be published twice a month to give students a glimpse of life in fifteen significant national and international cities such as Reykjavik, New Orleans, Istanbul, Havana, Abuja, Beijing and more.  Offered by Newspaper in Education (NIE), in collaboration with the Connecticut Geographic Alliance (CGA) and Yale University’s Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER), the series has been written by CGA members, and PIER directors.  This is the fourth year for this very well received Newspaper in Education program entitled “Geography Connections.”  This year the program is offered online in an e-Edition PDF format at NO COST to teachers.  Many classes throughout the state will be using this series to supplement the Social Studies and Language Arts curriculum at their schools.  The series includes geographic information, interesting trivia, student activities, and suggestions for using the newspaper and resources for further study.  Teachers may still sign up for the program by visiting http://www.courantnie.com/NDGeographyConnections.html for registration and ordering information.  Use the news to make geography connections with your students!

High School Geographic Challenge Update

Plans for the May 2009 High School Geographic Challenge are underway (specific date to be announced soon).  It will once again be held on the University of Connecticut’s Storrs campus.  The theme will mirror the Geography Action! focus “Mapping the Americas.”  Detailed information about the competition and registration forms will be mailed to all high schools in January.  The information will also be included in the Winter edition of On The Road and on the CGA website.  We look forward to another successful event in 2009!

Teacher’s Guide to Modern Geography

The American Association of Geographers’ Teacher’s Guide to Modern Geography includes instructional and resource materials designed to improve the preparation of teachers to teach geography.  TGMG resources offer faculty members, preservice education students, and inservice teachers the opportunity to learn geography as well as how to teach it conceptually.  The materials include an interactive, multimedia CD containing geography lessons and teacher’s notes that use an inquiry-based approach to instruction using geographic questions, a set of overhead transparency masters promoting spatial thinking skills, and a Teaching Geography textbook by Guilford Publications that provides background information and a disciplinary foundation.  The Teaching Geography CD-ROM may be purchased for $25 (single copy) from the AAG Online Store at http://communicate.aag.org/eseries/ScriptContent/Custom/AAGOnline/AAGShop/.  Previews of the CD modules can be found at http://www.aag.org/tgmg/materials.htm.  The project was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).

Excerpted from the MWW website, www.mywonderfulworld.org
My Wonderful World is a National Geographic-led campaign -- backed by a coalition of national business and no-profit organizations -- to expand geographic learning in school, at home, and in communities and to give kids the power of global knowledge.  In its first year, more than 55,000 people signed up to show their support for the campaign.

Geography is more than places on a map.  It is global connections, people and cultures, economics and environments.  Our young people need to know geography to understand today’s world and succeed in tomorrow’s.  But they are not getting enough of it – in school or out of school.  A National Geographic-Roper survey shows half of young Americans cannot locate world powers like Japan and India on a map.  Twenty percent cannot even find the Pacific Ocean.  Without geography, our children are not ready for the world.  The goal of My Wonderful World is to make geography education a priority because kids who understand the world today and succeed in it tomorrow.

My Wonderful World is working to promote the importance of global knowledge through Public Service Advertising with television, radio and print ads in media outlets across the United States.  Members of the MWW coalition are sharing the word with their members and the public as well in addition to conducting their own projects such as Budget Rent-a-Car’s two “Geo Brain Game” contests for $1,000 savings bonds and 4-H’s new state and county fair student mapping contest.   MyWonderfulWorld.org is the center of the campaign, offering resources for parents, teachers and students.  Members can also receive a monthly e-newsletter.  The site also makes it easy for users to tell their representatives in Congress that global literacy matters and that geography education is a must for U.S. schools.

In addition, MWW now has local campaign leaders in forty-seven states who are working to make My Wonderful World a household name by getting the PSAs on the air, providing a presence at professional association meetings, writing letters to local papers, etc.  In Connecticut, this position has been held for the last several years by Tom Brodnitzki, a teacher at the Metropolitan Learning Center in Bloomfield.  The position will soon be assumed by Allyson Lubs, a sixth-grade teacher at Pawcatuck Middle School in Stonington.

The campaign is working!  More than 750 news stories have been run about the National Geographic-Roper poll and the My Wonderful World campaign worldwide, generating more than 250 million media impressions.  More than $9 million in television and radio ad time has been donated to show the MWW public service announcements across the United States.  More then 55,000 people have signed up to join the campaign.  Twenty-five national business and nonprofit organizations have joined the campaign, pledging action and outreach.  Congress is considering the first geography education bill in the nation’s history, called the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act, which would allocate $15 million annually for teacher training.  State and local PTAs and PTOs across the country have received kits with all the tools to host a geography-themed meeting.  MyWonderfulWorld.org was named a Webby Award finalist along with four other top sites and the MWW television as has won two prestigious media industry awards – the Aurora Award and the Cine Golden Eagle.

What can you do?  Join the campaign and receive the MWW e-newsletter.  Download an action kit for parents, educators, kids or teens.  Notify your lawmakers to tell them you support geography education.  Spread the word to other educators and parents about the MWW campaign and the resources available to anyone.  Visit the website (www.mywonderfulworld.org) to participate in the blog for campaign updates and timely geography-related articles and discussion, to see the MWW coalition members and to view the public service announcements for yourself.

Geography Action! 2008 Mapping the Americas

Contributed by Laura Krenicki, Geography Action! Coordinator
Geography Action! is an annual conservation and awareness program designed by the National Geographic Education Foundation to educate and excite people about our natural, cultural, and historical treasures.  This year, the five-year, round-the-world curriculum series focuses on “Mapping the Americas,” emphasizing the regional and cultural geography of the Americas and promoting geographic fluency in our schools.  National Geography Awareness Week, held November 6-15, 2008, is an excellent opportunity to join Geography Action! in promoting geographic literacy and host your own schoolwide geography event!  The Connecticut Geographic Alliance, in conjunction with National Geographic’s education programs, have educational resource toolkits for teachers and parents and will have them available at the Geography Action! Kickoff Event on October 30 at Yale University.  Past speakers have included Ambassador of Indonesia Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, Mia Farrow and Clay Aiken and the program this year will be just as exciting!  The theme of “Mapping the Americas” connects well to both social studies and science curricula and educators are encouraged to attend the Kickoff Event with other teachers from their schools.  For additional information about this year’s Geography Action! theme, planning school events, or the CGA annual Kickoff Event, you may contact Laura Krenicki, Connecticut’s Geography Action! Coordinator ay krenickilaura@yaoo.com.

Geography Action! 2008 Kickoff Event News

Each year the Connecticut Geographic Alliance celebrates the Geography Action! program with a Kickoff Event  to give teachers ideas, materials, and resources to help them implement the year’s theme in their classrooms.

Thursday, October 30, 2008
4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
MacMillan Center for International & Area Studies at Yale
Luce Hall, New Haven, Connecticut

By participating in this year’s theme, educators will guide their students to:

Participants will receive materials for use in the classroom including maps and mapping materials, as well as the newly published Geography Action! toolkit with CD.

Program Agenda

Buffet dinner is included in the cost of registration.

Participation fee:  $30 (add $5 if you would like to be awarded .3 CEUs upon completion of the program).  The fee includes registration, a packet of handouts for classroom use, and a light dinner.  Checks should be payable to “Connecticut Geographic Alliance.”

This workshop is a collaboration of the Connecticut Geographic Alliance and Programs in
International Educational Resources (PIER) of the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies.

                                                                                    
Geography Action! Americas Kickoff Event Registration
Mapping the Americas
Thursday, October 30, 2008
4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
MacMillan Center for International & Area Studies at Yale University
Luce Hall, New Haven, Connecticut

 

Registration Form

Name ________________________________________________________________
School ________________________________________________________________
School Address__________________________________________________________
Home Address __________________________________________________________
Telephone number _______________________________________________________
Email _________________________________________________________________

What grade(s) do you teach?              

Participation Fee:   $30 (add $5 if you would like to be awarded .3 CEUs upon completion of the program).  The fee includes registration, a packet of handouts for classroom use, and a light dinner. 

Checks should be payable to “Connecticut Geographic Alliance.”

If you are interested in the CEU option (please add $5 to your registration fee), indicate your Social Security Number      _____-____-_____

 

Please remember to check-in when you arrive at the conference.
A name badge is required for admittance to all events.

 

Additional program information will be available on the CGA website:  www.CTGeoAlliance.org 

Mail registration form and fee (payable to “Connecticut Geographic Alliance”) to:
     Rita Courtois, CGA Administrative Assistant
     P.O. Box 275
     Vernon CT 06066-0275                                          Questions?  Call the CGA office at 860-486-0374

Register Your School for the 2009 Geographic Bee

Submitted by William DeGrazia, Connecticut Geographic Bee Coordinator
Save the date!  The 21st annual Connecticut Geographic Bee is planned for April 3, 2009, on the campus of Central Connecticut State University.  Each year, nearly 250 schools participate in the Connecticut Bee.  Nationally, thousands of students throughout the country participate in the contest using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society.  The Bee is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography.

Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge.  Principals can register their school by sending a request on school letterhead (and the registration fee of $70) to: National Geographic Bee, 1145 17th St NW, Washington DC, 20036-4701. 

Questions regarding the National Geographic Bee can be answered by visiting www.nationalgeographic. com/geographybee/registration.html or by calling the Beeline at 202-828-6659.  Schools that register will receive all of the contest materials and information they need to prepare for the Bee.  Each school’s Bee will produce one winner.  That school winner will complete a qualifying test to determine the top 100 scoring students who are then invited to the state-level Bee to be held on April 3, 2009 at CCSU.  The winner of the Connecticut Bee will represent the state at the national finals in Washington, D.C. on May 19-20, 2009. 

2008 National Geographic Bee Results

Excerpted from National Geographic News press release, May 21, 2008
www.nationalgeographic.com/news
Eleven-year-old sixth-grader Akshay Rajagopal of Lincoln, Nebraska, took top honors at the 2008 National Geographic Bee held in Washington, D.C. on May 20 and May 21, 2008.  He won a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society.  Akshay, who attends Lincoln’s Lux Middle School, did not miss a single question in any of the national competition’s rounds.  Second-place winner and recipient of a $15,000 college scholarship was Alabama's Hunter Bledsoe, a thirteen-year-old eighth-grader at Hewitt Trussville Middle School.  Third place and a $10,000 college scholarship went to thirteen-year-old eighth grader William Lee of Joyce Middle School in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Fifty-five state and territory winners took part in the preliminary rounds of the 2008 National Geographic Bee on May 20.  The top ten contestants met in the final round, moderated for the 20th year by "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek.  Congratulations to all of the 2008 participants!

How Would You Have Fared in the Bee?

Each year nearly five million students begin the National Geographic Bee journey in November and by the last round of competition in May only a few are left standing.  How would you have done in the 2008 Bee?  Here are the final five questions – see if you can choose the correct answer (note: in the actual Bee, questions are open-ended, not multiple choice):

Answers appear on page 13.

GIS Day Planned in Hartford

The Connecticut Geospatial Information Systems Council will co-host an event to celebrate GIS Day on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at Southern Connecticut State University’s Michael J. Adanti Student Center in New Haven.  GIS Day will provide a forum for informing new and seasoned users about some of the latest capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  GIS is a computer technology that allows people to collect, display, and analyze information about real world locations that can be referenced on a map.  Activities will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on November 19.  GIS Day will be held in conjunction with Geography Awareness Week, November 16-22, 2008.  All over the world, organizations will host functions to showcase this powerful technology.  For more information on this event, or other Geospatial Information Systems Council activities, visit www.ct.gov/gis.

NESTVAL 2008 Annual Meeting

The 2008 Annual Meeting of the NESTVAL (New England-St. Lawrence Valley) geographic society will be held from Friday, October 31 through Sunday, November 2 at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.  The weekend event will include events such as the World Geography Bowl, a fifteen-year tradition, and paper and poster presentation sessions.  Several field trips are also scheduled including excursions to the Hubbard Brook Forest Experiment Station and Franconia Notch State Park and a tour of the Quincy Bog Nature Center.  Contact Dr. Bryon Middlekauff at 603-535-2637 or bryonm@plymouth.edu for additional information.

CCSS Annual Fall Conference
“Choosing Our Future: Determining the Role of the Social Studies”
www.ctsocialstudies.org

This is an absolutely critical time for the discipline of social studies.  Numerous reports have shown that national and state testing has reduced the time spent on social studies in schools across America.  There is vigorous debate over what should be taught in our social studies classes.  Join the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies at the annual conference to help analyze and determine the role of social studies and the social studies curriculum in the twenty-first century.  The conference will be held on Friday, November 7, 2008 at the Central Connecticut State University Student Union Building in New Britain.  Registration will begin at 7:00 a.m. and conference events at 8:15 a.m.  Dr. Eugene Leach, Trinity College professor of history and American studies and History Department Chair, will provide the keynote address, “Perspectives on the American Dream.”  The lunchtime speaker will be Bruce Frasier, director of the Connecticut Humanities Council and producer of numerous CPTV documentaries, who will address the revitalization of history in the state of Connecticut.  Teachers of all grade levels will find valuable information to take back to their classrooms from this conference.  Panel discussions and professional development workshops will take place along with many session choices on varied social studies topics.  The deadline for pre-registration is October 28.  Online registration is also available at www.ctsocialstudies.org (deadline for online registration is October 31).  All conference attendees must register and wear a badge.  Additional information about registration options and fees is available at the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies’ website (www.ctsocialstudies.org).

Successful CGA Summer Workshop
“Exploring Our Hemisphere”

The 2008 CGA Summer Institute took place during the week of August 4 through August 7 at the Mark Twain House in Hartford.  “Exploring Our Hemisphere: Teaching Geography of Latin America” a multi-disciplinary professional development workshop for educators, focused on the physical, human, political and economic geography of Latin America.  It also examined the Latin American connection to Connecticut through a site visit to the Park Avenue Latino community in Hartford.  Eighteen participants, many teachers from the newly opened Hartford Academy of Latino Studies, received up-to-date information as well as materials, lesson plans, and instructional strategies from experienced teachers and innovators in the area of international education.  The summer institute was designed to enhance the ability of participating educators to improve student learning in a global context.

The summer institute was a collaborative effort between the Connecticut Geographic Alliance and the World Affairs Council of Connecticut.  A second summer institute is planned with the WAC-CT for August 2009.  Additional information will be available in future editions of On The Road as well as on the CGA’s website.

World Affairs Council Sponsors 60th Annual Model United Nations

Submitted by John Meyers, World Affairs Council of Connecticut
World food crisis; Privatizing global water resources; Access to medications in crises;
Responsibility to protect; Loss of global biodiversity; Global privacy rights…

What do these issues have in common?  These are just a few of the topics that will be discussed at the World Affairs Council of Connecticut’s 2008-2009 Model United Nations.  The Model UN program is one of the best methods of helping students think critically about current global issues – while having fun with other students from around the state.

The World Affairs Council makes every effort to arrange meetings with U.N. Missions from the countries that schools represent in the Model UN.  Last year students visited with representatives from more than fifty countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Indonesia, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Liberia, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, India, South Korea, Botswana, Russia and others.

Foundation funding enables the World Affairs Council to offer the program at reduced fees for schools/students.  And there’s still time to join – get your country today!  Contact John Meyers, Project Director, World Affairs Council, to participate (jmeyers@ctwac.org or 860-241-6118).

Advanced Placement Human Geography Workshop

During July 2008, six teachers took part in an Advanced Placement Human Geography workshop at the Taft Educational Center in Watertown.  CGA Teacher Consultant and APHG teacher Kenneth Keller led the workshop.  APHG is now in its ninth year as an Advanced Placement course.  Approximately 40,000 students took the APHG exam last spring throughout the United States and Canada, a significant increase of 7500 over the 2007 number of exams administered.  A similar workshop will be held at the Taft Educational Center during the summer of 2009.  Tuition scholarships from the CGA will be available to interested Connecticut teachers whose schools plan to offer the course within two years from the time they participate in the workshop.  Additional information will be available in future newsletters.

“Teaching and Learning with Monarch Butterflies” Summer Institute

Although the 2008 workshop was cancelled due to low enrollment numbers, next summer’s workshop is already planned.  It will be held at the Webster Hill School in West Hartford from July 27 through July 29, 2009.  Applications are usually available in January on the EIRC website (www.eirc.org).  Information will also be available in the winter edition of On The Road and on the CGA website (www.ctgeoalliance.org).  The Connecticut Geographic Alliance will again offer grants to teachers and preservice teachers to cover the cost of the 2009 workshop that promises to once again be an exciting one with lots of ideas and materials for educators.  Plan ahead and save the dates!  Tell others about it.  It is a great way to start the year and get students interested.  A study of Monarchs includes geography, math, reading, English, science, and more.  As you watch the Monarch butterflies migrate toward Mexico, think of how much you and your students can learn from them!

Online Encyclopedia of Connecticut History

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut and the Connecticut Humanities Council are collaborating to produce an online Encyclopedia of Connecticut History.  The project will take three years to complete and is expected to cost $700,000.  Connecticut Public Broadcasting and the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies are creating related curriculum units for teachers.  Until CHOL is ready for use, visit the Connecticut Heritage Gateway at www.ctheritage.org for useful information about Connecticut history and geography.

U.S. Geological Survey Education Resources Website

The U.S. Geological Survey provides scientific information intended to help educate the public about natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and issues that affect our quality of life.  Visit the USGS website at http://education.usgs.gov to discover selected online resources, including lessons, data, maps, and more, to support teaching, learning, education (K-12), and university-level inquiry and research.

Upcoming Latin American Events at PIER

Friday, October 3 – 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
Global Lens Film Series – Promoting Cross-cultural Understanding through Film
As part of PIER’s Global Lens Film Series, come to see two Argentine films for free.  Friday, October 3, at 212 York Street (New Haven), see “The Custodian” (Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina, 2006) at 7:00 p.m. and “Kept & Dreamless” (Vera Fogwill and Martin Desalvo, Argentina, 2005) at 9:30 p.m.  This event is free of charge and open to the public.  Global Lens 2008 is hosted by PIER (Programs in International Educational Resources) in collaboration with the Councils on Middle East Studies, Latin American and Iberian Studies, African Studies, European Studies, East Asian Studies, South Asian Studies, and Southeast Asian Studies at the MacMillan Center, Yale University.  For trailers and more information, see www.globalfilm.org.

Saturday, October 11 – 7:00 p.m. – Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall Street, New Haven
“Mujeres en Acción” Folkloric Dance Performance
This is a multimedia performance of folkloric dancing from Nicaragua performed by a five-member dance ensemble.  Through dance, video, storytelling, and gourd art displays, learn the story of Women in Action, a group of forty women living in one of the poorest settlements in Managua, Nicaragua, who are working together to organize community health, nutrition, and education programs.  This event is free and open to the public.  Suggested donations of $10 (by check, made out to Compas) will be accepted.  This event is sponsored by Compas, Yale’s Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies and PIER, and the New Haven / León Sister City Project.

Saturday, October 25 – 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Teacher Workshop – Critical Voices: Colonial Legacies
This workshop is presented by the Yale Center for British Art.  It will present a model for integrating film, text, and the visual arts in the classroom.  Through an interactive exploration of the book A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, the film Life and Debt by Stephanie Black, and several works of art in the Center’s collection, participants will explore responses to colonial legacies in the Caribbean and in Great Britain.  Each registrant will receive a free copy of A Small Place.  The workshop will also feature a presentation by Hazel Carby, Chair of the Department of African American Studies, Yale University.  The event is free and most appropriate for middle and high school teachers.  Register online at ycba.yale.edu/education or call 203-432-2858 for more information.  Available for .5 CEUs.

Journey North Project
Track Spring’s Journey North: Migrations, Mystery Schools, Climate & More

Teachers and students in kindergarten through grade twelve classrooms are invited to participate in Journey North’s 16th annual global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change.  A free Internet-based “citizen science” project, Journey North enables students in 11,000 schools to watch the wave of spring as it unfolds.  Students monitor migration patterns of Monarch butterflies, hummingbirds, whooping cranes, and other animals; the blooming of plants; and changing sunlight, temperatures, and other signs of spring.  They can share their local observations with classmates across North America and beyond, and look for patterns on real-time maps.  As they pout their observations into a global context, and connect with field scientists, participants are better prepared to explore how climate and other factors affect living things.

Each Journey North study features many entry points and resources that address learning standard: Journey North for Kids reading booklets and lessons, photos and video clips, weekly migration updates, interactive maps, instructional units and many migration “stories.”

Thanks to Annenberg Media, Journey North website access and participation is free.  View the spring projects at http://www.learner.org/jnorth/season/spring2009.  Plan now – the journey begins on February 1, 2009!

PIER Summer Institute Update

Numerous educators attended the 2008 PIER Summer Institute, “From Sand to Sea: Cultural Exchange Through Trade on the Silk Road” from July 7 through July 16at Yale University in New Haven.  Several of these participants then took part in the separate optional field study to western China and the Arabian Peninsula.  The Silk Road, as an interconnected web of trade routes linking the ancient societies of Asia with those of the Subcontinent and the Near East, contributed to the development of most of the world's great civilizations.  The week included a virtual journey along these land and sea routes exploring not only the commodities traded, such as textiles and spices, but also the cultural exchanges and interactions that inevitably accompanied these commercial activities.  Through these explorations and more, participants learned how both the histories and present-day realities of East Asia and the Middle East are deeply intertwined.

Plans are being made for the 2009 series of PIER summer institutes.  The CGA-sponsored Latin American summer institute will tentatively be held from July 6 through July 10, 2009.  Additional information will be available in future editions of On The Road and on the PIER website (www.yale.edu/macmillan/pier).

Is “Latin America” a Thing of the Past?

Submitted by Tom Lewis, CGA Co-coordinator
About fifty years ago, the name “Anglo America” to describe the regional geography courses with that focus went out of vogue.  Now some are questioning whether the commonly used title “Latin America” is still appropriate.  The indigenous presence is huge, African influences are everywhere, Japanese, South Asian, Dutch and Lebanese, etc. make this a culturally plural realm.  Is “Latin America” a geographic designation that reflects past cultural power and historic dominance and not current or future reality?  Perhaps a new name, “Pan America,” is the umbrella term we could use for South, Middle and North America.  So thinks geographer Harm de Blij of Michigan State University.  What do you think?

National School Conference on International Youth Exchange

The 2nd Annual National School Conference on International Youth Exchange will provide an opportunity for school leaders, educators, and administrators to meet and network with colleagues and leaders of various youth exchange programs.  The Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET), the Connecticut State Department of Education and the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) are sponsoring this forum on a wide range of topics related to international youth exchange.  The conference will be held at the Hilton Hartford Hotel on February 27 and February 28, 2009.  CGA Steering Committee members Dan Gregg (State Department of Education Social Studies Consultant) and Caryn Stedman (Metropolitan Learning Center) are co-chairing this event.  For additional information about the conference, please visit the CSIET website at www.csiet.org/mc/page.do or contact Dan Gregg at dan.gregg@ct.gov. 

International Education Week – November 17-21, 2008

Excerpted from the International Education Week website (http://iew.state.gov)
A joint initiative of the U.S. Departments of State and Education, International Education Week (IEW) is celebrated in more than 100 countries worldwide as an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.  This initiative aims to promote international understanding and build support for educational exchange by encouraging the development of programs that prepare Americans to live and work in a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study in the U.S.  Exchanges are critical to developing mutual understanding and respect, building leadership abroad, fostering an appreciation for the U.S., and investing in the relationship between Americans and people around the world.

Visit http://iew.state.gov/quiz.cfm to take a Global ID Quiz – there’s one on the Geographic Economy, another on Cultural Geography, and a third quiz on Cities of the World.  Promotional ideas and activities including the Flat Stanley and Flat Stella Project are included on this informative website to help schools celebrate International Education Week, November 17-20, 2009.

American Association of Geographers’ Project GeoSTART

Excerpted from the AGG website (http://www.aag.org/geostart)
GeoSTART materials will help middle and high school students learn state-of-the-art approaches to geography, earth science, and spatial thinking using NASA Earth Observing Missions remote sensing imagery and related data.  Each activity is designed to engage one of the eight major modes of spatial thinking that are the focus of this NASA-funded curriculum project.  The activities use this approach to study hurricanes.  As written, the activities contain all of the background information, instructions, satellite imagery, and other materials needed to support a very short but tightly focused inquiry that can fit into a larger unit on hurricanes or natural hazards in many ways.  The materials are available for free download in one total package format or by individual activities.  If activities are downloaded separately, it is still recommended to download the Teacher’s Guide for instructional suggestions and answer keys to each activity.  Activities include:  Hurricane Shapes, Hurricane Frequency, Hurricane Paths, Hurricane Stories, Hurricane Winds, Hurricane Strength, Hurricane Influence, and Hurricane Impact.  Visit www.aag.org/geostart to download one or all of these informative activities for use in your classroom this year.

The People Speak Global Debates

The People Speak (TPS) is an educational campaign designed to engage young people on the global issues that will shape their future.  Young people are ready to take on some of the most serious challenges and exciting opportunities facing our nation and the world.  By engaging them on issues of poverty reduction, global health, and climate change, TPS inspires young people to be a positive force for change in the world.

TPS is sponsoring two Global Debates during the 2008-2009 school year.  The TPS Global Debates will allow students at U.S. and international high schools to hold debates and discussions on one of the most critical issues of our day: climate change.

What are the debate topics?

For additional information about the planned TPS Global Debates or to register your team/school for the competition, visit the TPS website at www.thepeoplespeak.org.  The site contains valuable hints and strategies for teams on how to create a public debate, topic guides, “Debateabases,” research, and other resources to help teams prepare their arguments.

Lending Libraries Available for Educators

There are two lending libraries available to Connecticut educators.  Both are free of charge but may, in some cases, require the borrower to pay for return shipping if the item is being mailed rather than returned in person.  Yale University’s Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER) has a collection of international books, DVDs, VHS tapes, etc.  For information, visit http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/pier/resourcecenter.htm and follow the appropriate links.  To browse holdings online, please visit http://pier-lib.ycias.yale.edu/wx/s.exe.  The University of Connecticut’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies has a lending library for educators as well, specializing in literature for students in elementary school.  To browse holdings, visit http://edoutreach.org/enlace/default.asp.  For more information about UConn’s lending library contact LatinAmerica@uconn.edu.

Teach Europe 2008

On Saturday, November 1, 2008, Yale University’s Programs in International Educational Resources (PIER) will present a  “Teach Europe 2008” conference beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Yale’s New Haven campus.  “Teach Europe 2008” is a professional development conference for K-12 and community college administrators and teachers of history, social studies, art, and language, focused on the EU, European issues and events, and US-EU cultural, political, and economic relations.  Speakers will include Professor David Camerone from Yale University and Marco Fantini from the European Commission.  The conference is sponsored by PIER, the European Studies Council, the Yale Program in European Union Studies, and the Teach Europe Coalition.  For more information about this conference, please contact Brian Carter, PIER Director for European Studies (Brian.Carter@yale.edu or 203-432-3424).

Help the Honey Bees
http://www.helpthehoneybees.com
Imagine a world without honey bees…

Now imagine that world without tasty pears, juicy raspberries and sweet strawberries.  Honey bees are responsible for pollinating one-third of all the foods we eat.  The honey bee populations are disappearing at an alarming rate and these little heroes need to keep buzzing!  Join the Häagen-Dazs ice cream company’s mission to Help the Honey Bees!

We rely on honey bees for one-third of our food supply so when honey bees are in danger, we’re all in danger.  Did you know that:

What can we do to help?

Submissions for the Winter Edition of On The Road Welcome

CGA members are encouraged to submit items of interest for the Winter edition of On The Road that will be published in late January 2009.  The deadline for submissions is January 16.  Please send articles about organization events related to geography, websites of interest for educators, etc. to Bill DeGrazia (BDGeoTC@aol.com) or Rita Courtois (RitaCourtois@yahoo.com) by this date for possible inclusion in the next edition of the CGA newsletter. 

Answers to National Geographic Bee questions from page 7
1. b          2. c          3. b          4. a          5. c

Mission Geography: USA
National Geographic Xpeditions Lesson Plan
www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/05/g35/geospy.html
Grades 3 through 5

Overview:
In this lesson, students will research and learn about the culture, physical geography, and history of states in each region of the United States.  Student will develop a “family travel plan” and create an itinerary to highlight interesting destinations and characteristics of selected states, while working within limitation such as time and available resources.

Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, American history, social studies

Connections to the National Geography Standards:

Time:  Three to five hours

Materials required:

Objectives
Students will:

Geographic Skills:

Suggested Procedure

Opening:
Explain to students that they will be planning a family trip through one region of the United States for the next several classes.  Explain that they will be divided into groups and will have to develop a three-week trip through one region of the United States.  They will have to make sure that during their trip they focus on the geography, culture, and history of at least three states in their assigned region.

Development:
Divide students into groups of three.  Assign each group one of the following regions to explore:

Explain that as “travel planners,” they will need to develop a three-week tour itinerary (or plan) for their families.  Explain that their ultimate product will be an itinerary that describes the planned trip in detail, and that they will share it with the class.

Have students explore the following websites to learn basic information about destinations in the states of their assign region.  As they work, have them take notes about each destination they would like to visit on their family trip.
National Geographic: Destinations Travel Guide – U.S. and Canada
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/

50States.com Regional List of Community Websites
http://www.50states.com/city/regions.htm

Roadside America Offbeat Tourist Attractions Map
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/

State Travel Board Links
http://www.planetware.com/national-information/usa-tourist-offices-national-holidays-us.htm

As students are researching their regions, have them record information on detailed versioned maps of the United States and their selected states printed from the Xpeditions Atlas.

Ask students to compare and contrast several of the states.  Ask them to consider:

Have students plan their tour by filling out the details on their Family Trip Planning Sheet (PDF, Adobe Acrobat Reader required - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/05/g35/geospy35.pdf).  Remind them that there are rules for their trip:

Closing:
Have students publish their three-week trip plan using the Print Press (http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=379&title=).  Tell students to choose either “Brochure” or “Booklet” and to use the Family Trip Planning Sheet as a guide.  Have them print put their final plans when they are finished.

Suggested Student Assessment:
Have the students present their itineraries in small groups.  They should explain how they have given a good representation of the diversity of their assigned region.  Understanding will be demonstrated in the following:

Extending the Lesson:
Have students complete the GeoSpy state identification game (http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Games/GeographyGames/Geospy).  If time allows, have students play until they have a perfect score.