World Atlas

Free! World Atlas is a comprehensive resource for information related to geography, population, and countries. From its homepage, users can click on any of the earth’s continents, and the website will report information about the continent’s land, temperature, people/cultures, and more. Plus, often times, the website provides links where users can search for more information related to the continent. Returning to the resource’s main homepage, there are tools that help users locate and learn about cities, distances, latitude and longitude, populations, and bodies of water among other information. Finally, World Atlas also provides articles about timely topics. Instructional Ideas To…

1. To begin class, teachers can have students read an article posted to this website and record three interesting facts and at least one location mentioned in the article. Next, students can use this resource to find the location on the map and see if they can make one or more connections between the facts they recorded and the location. When ready, teachers can ask their students to share some of those connections.
2. Teachers can have students use this resource to find their ideal spot for a vacation. Next, teachers can have students research the population, currency, and culture of that location. Students can then use that information to create a multimedia presentation that presents their location, why they chose that location, and what they will likely experience while visiting it. Teachers can add a twist to this assignment by having students estimate a budget for their trip.
3. When learning about a specific area, teachers can have students find that area on the map using this resource. Next, based on the information about the area reported by this website, teachers can have students complete an activity where they identify facts about the area, questions they have about the area, and a plan for how they can gather the answers to their questions. Teachers can require students to write their questions, their plan to answer those questions, and finally the answers to their questions using an Office app or word processing software. When finished, students can email their work to their teacher.
4. Using the “Distance” tool on the homepage, teachers can have students calculate travel times between different locations on the map. Teachers can increase the rigor of this activity by having students convert the calculated travel times into word problems.
5. Teachers can have students gain a historical understanding of natural disasters by reading the “Retiring a Storm’s Name” section on this website and then viewing the list of names. Next, teachers can have students research the destruction caused by each storm, and students can then rank the top five most destructive storms and include facts and a justification for each ranking. When complete, students can compare lists and their justifications.