The inclusion of a British astronaut on the International Space Station will have caused many people in Britain to take interest in seeing it pass overhead. This article explains why it can only be seen for brief times and when conditions are suitable.

Ever want to take a quick, deep-dive into a map found in students' textbooks? Ever want to use a web-based map to bring that static, print map to life? Maybe the map would be better with interactive or near real-time data. This article discusses the new Earth Science GeoInquiries! Earth Science GeoInquiries from Esri are instructional resources…

This commentary adopts a broad perspective in considering the contributions of papers from cross- and interdisciplinary fields of mathematics education, psychology, child development and neuroscience. The discussion aims to complement the commentary by Dindyal, focused on background research on geometry and implications for pedagogy and curricula.…

If you love taking mathematics lessons outdoors, then you will love this article. Leicha Bragg describes geocaching, which combines technology, treasure hunting and mathematics, and results in purposeful, authentic and engaging mathematics.

The seasons are often modeled for students using two spherical objects, one representing the Sun and one representing the Earth. Solely using this model, however, neglects a critical aspect of learning--how students actually see the world. This lesson challenges students to explore seasonal variations as they create and analyze sunrise/sunset…

As always in real estate, everything in technology these days seems to be about location. From Google's recent addition of a "nearby" location limit to its suite of search options to the spate of location-based mobile apps and social networks, physical proximity has become the linchpin of a trend to connect technology to the real world. In this…

Geospatial tools, which include global positioning systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing, are increasingly driving a variety of applications. Local governments and private industry are embracing these tools, and the public is beginning to demand geospatial services. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported that…

The utilization of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and geobrowsers (Google Earth) have become increasingly prevalent in the study of genocide. These applications offer teachers and students the opportunity to analyze historical and contemporary genocidal acts from a critical geographic perspective in which the confluence of historical…

English 302: Writing about the Arts is a practicum course offered at the University of Windsor for upper-level English undergraduate students. The course asks students to write about a variety of art forms and requires engagement with multiple genres of writing as a way for students to effectively order their experiences, reconstruct meaning in…

Determining the direction in which to face another location on the globe is a problem with significant social and religious meaning, and one with a rich and interesting history in the Western world. Yet a fully satisfying geographic solution to this problem is hindered by our intuitive perception of the world as a flat surface-where a "straight"…

The ability to see whether a map is equal-area, conformal, or neither is useful for looking intelligently at large-area maps. For example, only if a map is equal-area can reliable judgments of relative size be made. If a map is equal-area, latitude-longitude cells are equal in size between a given pair of parallels, the cells between a given pair…

Lists a short Applesoft program which uses Hi-Res graphics to help students aged eight and up learn the points of a compass. Program features include help on incorrect responses and display of the percentages of correct responses at the end of a session. (JN)

The project described in this paper was developed by the Census Bureau to train census enumerators. The approach called "geographic gameboard," consists of three components: (1) an imaginary, graphically depicted community (Abbotsville, Oklahoma); (2) a census map that corresponds to the census geography of Abbotsville; and (3) blank…

Fifth grade students can become familiar with images of earth generated by space sensor Landsat satellites which sense nearly all surfaces of the earth once every 18 days. Two false color composites in which different colors represent various geographic formations were obtained for the northern Ohio region where the students live. The class had no…

Suggests that small-scale mapping activities can be used in geography courses to help students understand geographic concepts such as latitude, longitude, situation, relative location, and national boundaries. (Author/DB)