This page features a rotating selection of materials, events, and activities that are available through our sister geographic alliances. Don't worry! We won't cancel your GAI membership for participating in other state alliances or incorporating their resources--in fact, we STRONGLY encourage it!
Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance
RIGEA has done a lot with networking on Facebook and Twitter. Great geography resources are shared on the website on a daily basis, which are updated on the home page. Under the Lesson Plan tab, they include a way for teachers to download and print large-sized maps. In regards to resources, the alliance emphasizes Geo-literacy as well as connecting geography to its common core.
Details on downloading the large-sized maps can be found here.
Minnesota Alliance for Geographic Education
GeoThentic is a program designed by the LT Media Lab at the University of Minnesota. It is created on the basis of explaining how a K-12 teacher should use a geospatial technology such as Google Earth in the classroom. They should encourage learners to utilize geospatial technologies to analyze contemporary issues. This program would be useful for Iowa teachers who are considering using geography-related technologies in their classes or who have just began using Google Earth and other techniques.
Details for this program can be found here.
Oregon Geographic Alliance
“World Hunger” is a lesson for 11th and 12th grade students. It presents an inquiry question of “Where in the world does hunger come from and how do natural resources affect the way countries support their population?” Students will be researching different nations' efforts to combat hunger. Potentially connecting with Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts, students analyze data and compile it into a informational speech. Students will also project what might happen to their country if they continue at their current status, an excellent fit with the National Geography Standard 18. Because this lesson plan is not region-specific, Iowa teachers would easily be able to incorporate it into their classes. Teachers could even add a component that is based here in Iowa--don't forget about our state's very own "World Food Prize".
The full lesson plan is found here.
Arkansas Geographic Alliance
The “Scientific Revolution” lesson plan integrates geography and science together. The objectives of this lesson are to identify and explain the contributions of key people in the Scientific Revolution and also map the countries central to the revolution. This lesson plan is a way for teachers to combine STEM with geography, in a way that also links with history. Iowa teachers could also create an avenue for their students to reflect on how they would have been affected if the scientists had been residents of our own state.
The full lesson plan is found here.
Arizona Geographic Alliance
Alliance created programs GeoLiteracy, GeoMath, and GeoHistory are used to increase student achievement on state-mandated tests and promote geographic education by linking every geography performance objective to tested associated standards. Practicing reading and writing skills, math skills, and history skills, and maximizing classroom instruction time are benefits to GeoLiteracy. Lessons of GeoLiteracy are research based, piloted with diverse populations, and based on standards.