Teaching Resources
Out of Eden Walk in the Classroom
Join Paul Salopek on his walk across the world and engage students with the stories of our time
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
This page hosts classroom materials and education projects related to the Out of Eden Walk. Materials are provided by the National Geographic Society, Project Zero, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. We encourage educators to use the the following interactive maps, activities, and other educational resources in their classrooms.
Visit the Out of Eden Walk program page to learn more about Paul Salopek’s journey and to read his dispatches from the field.
Resources from National Geographic
A Google Earth Voyager story, archived episodes of Explorer Classroom with Paul, and more classroom resources
Resources from Out of Eden Learn at Project Zero
A free online program for students aged 3–19 in the form of 8–12-week long “learning journeys”
Resources from the Pulitzer Center
A range of resources, from elementary to university, including free lesson plans and writing intensive programs
Resources from National Geographic
Out of Eden and Google Earth
Join Paul on his journey with this interactive Google Earth Voyager Story and accompanying Idea Set.
Videos
Short films with Paul Salopek focused on geography, language arts, and human migration.
Definitions in the Field: Diaspora
What exactly is a 'diaspora'? Join journalist Paul Salopek as he explains this tricky concept and how diasporas have effected human migration.
Definitions in the Field: Trade
Trade doesn't just apply to goods and services. Ideas, religion, and even cuisine can be traded—just ask Paul Salopek! Through Paul's travels around the world, he has discovered many different kinds of trade.
Definitions in the Field: Rural
When you travel around the world on foot, you are bound to encounter different landscapes—Paul Salopek certainly has! Join Paul as he defines one of the most common landscapes: rural.
Slow Journalism
Switch to airplane mode, settle in, and absorb the world around you. Step forward and notice how the landscape changes, what the people wear, and the feeling of your feet on the ground. Paul Salopek, writer and National Geographic Explorer, takes this approach each day as he asks questions, listens, and reflects—a process he's coined, "slow journalism."
Exploring with GIS: A StoryMap of the Silk Road
Story maps from Paul's photos, videos, and writing dispatches help share these stories with the world, like his modern take on the ancient Silk Road. This "road" was a network for goods, people, information, and culture to travel between distant parts of Asia and other parts of the world.
Mapping the Human Journey
See how National Geographic teamed up with Jeff Blossom and Paul Salopek to create a map that mirrors some of our ancestors' route from Africa to the southern tip of South America.
Explorer Classroom
Archived episodes of Explorer Classroom with Paul Salopek.
Nov 16th, 2018
Sept 26th, 2018
Sept 24th, 2018
May 15th, 2018
March 28th, 2018
March 23rd, 2018
Explorer Magazine
Explorer magazine is a not-for-profit classroom resource empowering students in grades K–5/6 to learn about the world. Explorer contains engaging nonfiction content that supports common core, science, and social studies standards.
Click here to learn more Explorer magazine.
Vol. 18 No. 1 of Young Explorer (grades K–1) and Vol. 18 No. 2 of Explorer (grades 2–5/6) feature stories about Paul Salopek.
Explorer magazine is published in Poland as NG Odkrywca. The November 2018 issue of NG Odkrywca featured stories about Paul Salopek.
Click below for a PDF of the article:
Click below for a PDF of the article:
Resources from Out of Eden Learn
An initiative of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Out of Eden Learn is a free online program for students aged 3–19. Inspired by the way Paul’s journalism draws together local and global storytelling, Out of Eden Learn brings youth from diverse backgrounds together online for thoughtful inquiry and exchange. Through 8–12-week long “learning journeys,” young people are invited to slow down to observe the world carefully and listen attentively to others, exchange stories and perspectives with one another, and make connections between their own lives and bigger human stories.
Resources from the Pulitzer Center
The Pulitzer Center connects students and teachers from elementary through university to the Walk through exciting educational programs and free curricular resources. And with more than 800 reporting projects delving deeply into themes Paul will be exploring—including mass migration, water and sanitation, fragile states, and climate change—the Pulitzer Center also serves as a rich and renewing resource of complementary journalism.
Curriculum
Find free lesson plans and exciting educational programs for elementary, middle, and high school students to help teachers connect the themes of the Walk to their coursework.
Walk Like a Journalist
Seventh grade students from Washington, D.C. learn how to use the skills of a journalist to explore their community on foot.
Scouting partnerships
Read about our partnership with the Boy Scouts of America, which features Out of Eden Walk activities at the National Jamboree, Philmont Scout Ranch, and other Scouting programs.
In Partnership With
