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Resource Library | Video

Resource Library
Video

Exploring with GIS: A StoryMap of the Silk Road

Exploring with GIS: A StoryMap of the Silk Road

Join journalist and National Geographic Fellow, Paul Salopek, as he follows in our ancestors' footsteps—literally! Paul’s 10-year trek on foot follows the path of human migration and aims to tell local stories about our changing world. 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. Paul's journey takes him along part of this influential route and shows him how important the area still is for many of the same reasons. Telling stories like these through maps brings us from a global level to the local level and can inspire us all to be more global citizens.

Grades

5 - 12+

Subjects

Geography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Human Geography, Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations

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Related Resources
  • Out of Eden Walk

    Paul Salopek, a National Geographic Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is conducting an experiment in slow journalism by retracing the journey of some of our human ancestors’ migration beyond Africa. He began his multiyear journey in 2013 in Ethiopia, and will walk around 33,800 kilometers (21,000 miles) ending at the southern tip of South America. Along the way, he is walking with guides, stopping to speak with local people and document their stories, and sharing his experiences along the way.

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Related Resources
  • Out of Eden Walk

    Paul Salopek, a National Geographic Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is conducting an experiment in slow journalism by retracing the journey of some of our human ancestors’ migration beyond Africa. He began his multiyear journey in 2013 in Ethiopia, and will walk around 33,800 kilometers (21,000 miles) ending at the southern tip of South America. Along the way, he is walking with guides, stopping to speak with local people and document their stories, and sharing his experiences along the way.

    View Collection
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    Storytelling is the cultural practice of sharing stories with others. There are many forms of storytelling—oral, digital, and written—and the medium used is often reflective of the people telling the stories. Each group has specific tales they tell and many serve a purpose such as entertainment, cultural preservation, or instilling moral values. Photography, while also a form of art, is often a part of storytelling, especially in its digital form. One indication the art of photography has become its own form of storytelling is the phrase “a picture is worth 1,000 words.”     Capture your students in action with these materials on storytelling and photography.

    View Collection
  • On Foot in the Path of the Silk Road

    A walk through the birthplace of globalization

    View Interactive
  • The Silk Roads

    This is an educator idea for teaching the significance of the Silk Roads to cultural development. The idea involves linking a map of the Silk Roads during China's Han Dynasty to Italian explorer Marco Polo’s descriptions of the area and to current-day photographs.

    View Map
  • The Silk Road

    For more than 1,500 years, the network of routes known as the Silk Road contributed to the exchange of goods and ideas among diverse cultures. 

    View Article

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Privacy Notice |  Sustainability Policy |  Terms of Service |  Code of Ethics

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