Websites

General Information:

Geography - A great site for kids with information on flags, maps, oceans, continents, and explorers.  For teachers there are  printouts of maps and "label me" maps, geography crafts and activities.

Social Studies for Kids - This page has the geography links.

World Geography Facts - There is a collection of interesting facts at this kid-friendly site.

All About Maps - Learn about how maps work, cartography, mapping through history and topographic maps at this site.

Cities in Canada - Population distribution, geographic size and more at this kid-friendly site.

Maps of Canada - Find physical maps, relief maps, regional maps and more. 

Climate and Climate Graphs of Canada - This site provides information, graphs and links to other sites about climate in Canada.

Mapping Canada - Watch Canada change as you click on this interactive map of the developing nation.  There is information to accompany each date.

Latitude and Longitude:

Lost at Sea: The Search for Longitude - A NOVA production with teacher's guide, this site has information about ancient navigation, finding your own longitude, opinions of scientists on our greatest challenge today, and animated clips on the Global Positioning System.

Latitude and Longitude Lookup - This site has the latitude and longitude of various cities in Canada.

Time Zones:

World Time - Find out what time it is in locations around the world.

Greenwich Mean Time

Times Around the World - Two clocks from Kidlink which show the local time vs. time from anywhere you click on their interactive map.

Time Zone Map of Canada - This site is from Teaching and Learning about Canada and includes the map and several links to other interesting time zone sites.

Canada's Time Zones - There are two maps to download at this site.

Making a Map:

The Mathematics of Cartography - Students can find out what maps are, the history, how math is used and then try some problems.

How are Flat Chart and Maps Made of our Round Planet? - This is a page of text for children.

Other Sites:

The Seven Continents - Read text, look at pictures and listen to music as you learn about each of the continents of the world.

How Far is it?  -  This site will calculate the distance between any two points on the globe.

Maps and Geography - Here is a site of maps from National Geographic.

Modern Maps - There are lots of maps to print out at this site. 

Map Terms - A glossary of terms is here from Kidz World.

Geography Dictionary

Cardinal Directions - Students move through this site as in a Powerpoint presentation, with a bit of information on each page.  There is a quiz at the end and teacher's notes too.

Lesson plans

General Lessons:

Xpeditions - Search for lessons, maps and activities at this National Geographic site.

Lesson Plans and Teaching Strategies - A wide assortment of links to social studies lessons on the web.

Specific Lessons:

The Continent Game - Students learn to compare the continents in a variety of ways.

Continent Story - Help students remember the continents through the use of a short story.

Map Adventures - This unit includes seven lessons appropriate for K-3.  Students learn how to visualize objects from different perspectives and how to understand and use maps. 

What Do Maps Show? - These four lessons are designed for students in grade 5 - 8.  Students learn how to read various maps and learn the importance of using a legend.

Exploring Maps - Designed for students in grades 7 - 12, these four lessons introduce students to basic map making and map reading skills.

Latitude and Longitude - A lesson aimed at grade three's, students learn about latitude and longitude through music.

Create a Scale Map - This lesson from PBS teaches students about measurement in several short pages of information.

Children Map their World - This site is home to a mapping competition for children.  The aim is to promote children's representations of the world.

Mapmaking Project - activities are broken into special, creative and research and then a final project.

Planning a Canadian Expedition - Students plan an expedition after researching various physical and climatic regions in Canada.

Creating an Edible Map - Students create a map using the physical geography and/or borders of an area.

Paper Mache Globe - Learn basic world geography while making this globe.

Newspaper Latitude and Longitude - Students practice looking up the latitude and longitude of place names found in the newspaper.

Making a Playground Map - This primary activity is meant to help students develop mapmaking skills and strengthen their sense of direction.

Mapping the School - This is a primary activity to help develop mapmaking skills.