Summary National cemeteries are powerful geographic places, yet they are rarely used as instructional anchors in the classroom. This session presents a place based inquiry model that uses national cemeteries to help students explore space, movement, scale, and human impact through the study of Korean War veterans. Through the Korean War Legacy Foundation’s Veterans Legacy […]
Summary Explore the history and background of the Arab-Israeli conflict through primary source documents and teaching strategies that support critical analysis of texts. Major historical developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict will be discussed. Participants will develop content knowledge, experience student activities, and receive ready-to-use resources and links to digital resources with detailed lesson plans including […]
Summary The “Die Hard as a Christmas movie” debate offers an entry point for engaging students in learning about culture and its interpretation. As classroom practice shifts toward an emphasis on human geography and the use of geo-literacy skills, understanding how to engage students with complexity of geography is increasingly important. Because social studies teachers […]
Summary As the ongoing "gerrymandering wars" intensify, this session asserts redistricting's "place" in broader civics education. Mid-decade redistricting battles continue to erupt across the country, including right here in Virginia—but contrary to media narratives, these battles are not unprecedented. Exploring the history and mechanics of redistricting and gerrymandering through a nonpartisan and spatially-grounded lens, we […]
Summary This interactive workshop models how ArcGIS StoryMaps can be used to support geographic thinking and civic stewardship through narrative mapping in secondary classrooms. Participants will engage with a classroom-ready lesson centered on displacement in southwest Louisiana Indigenous communities, including Isle de Jean Charles and Pointe-au-Chien. Using curated photographs, community interviews, historical shoreline data, erosion […]
Summary Population dynamics have been in the news, especially related to falling birthrates and what that might portend for future generations, economics and the environment. This session engages participants with the latest data and projections from demographers and prognosticators but also puts the data into a historical context. The data is included in experiential activities […]
Summary This session examines some of the major environmental challenges in the Middle East, particularly around water resources, and the ways that Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians are cooperating to meet these challenges. Participants will develop pedagogic content knowledge about environmental challenges in the Middle East; regional cooperation among Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority to […]
Summary Human-led exploitation of our planet has resulted in an enormous environmental crisis. Anthropocentrism, the belief that the world was made for humans and everything in it is meant for human use, often goes unnamed in conversations about systemic issues. Yet, this pervasive worldview is at the root of our ecological crisis and is deeply […]
Summary Why do the Five Themes of Geography often feel like a flat checklist of definitions rather than a dynamic lens for understanding the world? Too often, geography instruction in the secondary classroom stops at memorization, leaving students disconnected from the human stories behind the maps. This hands-on workshop seeks to enliven the geographic experience […]
Summary This session will introduce the evolution of place-naming in Virginia. We will start with a hands-on activity using the John Smith Floor Map (large version created by the Virginia Geographic Alliance) to explore Native American and early European toponyms. We will look at the impacts of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars on Virginia place […]
Summary Promoting critical thinking among students is often at the top of our teaching goals. We want students to develop a careful, questioning approach to their work so they are critical of the sources they use to find answers and be cautious about the answers they reach. Innovations in artificial intelligence -- particularly the latest […]
Summary This interactive workshop is designed for preservice and new to the classroom teachers who want to build confidence and creativity in teaching geography. Participants will explore practical, engaging strategies for bringing geographic concepts to life in diverse classroom settings. The session emphasizes active learning, critical thinking, and real-world connections that help students understand the […]