National Geographic Education has been implementing teacher professional development programs for the past 25 years in support of our overarching mission to inspire people to care about the planet, and to prepare teachers to inspire their students. The long-term mission of National Geographic Education is to build a geo-literate society—a society prepared to make critical 21st century decisions about places near and far. To that end, our resources and programs for teachers and students are developed with the goal of leading to meaningful changes in understanding about wide-ranging topics in geography, social studies, and science and students' roles as citizens of the world. National Geographic Education’s commitment to teacher professional development supports educators by preparing them to teach effectively in STEM disciplines and about decision-making as part of preparing students to be geo-literate individuals.
A Focus on the Future
National Geographic Education is growing our presence in online learning opportunities for educators, often used as a component of a program that includes face-to-face interactions as well. As we look ahead, we are conducting research and development on innovative strategies for influencing pre-service teacher education and for implementing professional development for teachers at a large scale. This multiplying effect is possible by establishing online collaborative, shared spaces for teachers to increase content knowledge and knowledge of instructional approaches, as well as interact with others and learn from a community.
The NSF-funded Road Map Project brought together experts in geography, education, and research to chart a course for the large-scale improvement of K-12 geography education in the United States. Click here to read the reports.
Find the updated national geography standards. Originally published in 1994, the standards were revised in 2012 to address changes in what we expect students to know and be able to do, in the nature of geography, in approaches to K-12 education, and in technology.
Our goal is to develop learning experiences that build geo-literacy. National Geographic Education's teaching resources span geography, science, and social studies. The activities and lessons aim to build learners' understanding of interconnections among Earth’s systems at local to global scales, as well as relationships to humankind’s past, present, and future.
Learn how you can incorporate the critical skill of decision-making into your classroom practice.
These teacher guides prepare upper elementary and middle school teachers to cover the critical environmental topics of ocean, climate, energy, and freshwater in their classrooms.
Film is often seen as a passive learning medium. The video gallery Experiencing Film: An Active Approach shows teachers using dynamic instructional strategies to engage their students in the classroom.
This collection of videos offers an in-depth look at effective classroom teaching strategies, focusing on media literacy and implementation, geographic concepts, and meaningful integration of technology.
Find information about upcoming webinars, application dates for programs, and more!
National Geographic will offer free of charge, two online courses: FLOW Education: Facilitating Learning Through Outdoor Watershed Education and Water: The Essential Resource. Registration dates will be announced soon.
Learn more about this professional development experience of a lifetime.
Use this activity in professional development learning environments when introducing educators to GIS.
Watch a video to learn how can you plan a schoolyard bioblitz for your school, class, or afterschool program. Hear from teachers, students, and volunteers on their experience of discovering biodiversity through a bioblitz organized in their suburban schoolyard.
This toolkit aids educators and ocean organizations in planning and delivering their own workshop for the marine recreation community in order to raise public awareness about ocean conservation and inspire people to help protect the vital natural resources that the ocean provides.
Work with key mapping concepts at a variety of scales.
