Students improve their geography knowledge through classroom map-based lessons. Photograph by Mark Thiessen

…in the 21st century all of these will require geo-literacy.

Geo-literacy is the ability to reason about the world to make personal, professional, and civic decisions. It is essential for life in today's complex and inter-connected society.

Today's students will be the first truly global generation—are we preparing them to tackle the challenges they will face in their lifetimes?

Just as students need reading, writing, and math skills, they need geo-literacy. Unfortunately, too few Americans understand the human and physical processes that shape the world around them. That lack of understanding undermines our ability to participate in a global society and compete in a global economy.

Despite its importance to our children's future, geo-literacy is not a priority in today's schools, leaving teachers and schools without the resources to teach important content like cultural, political, and economic geography, earth science, environmental science, ecology, and geographic information systems (GIS).

For more than two decades, the National Geographic Society has been leading an initiative to educate children about the world they will inherit. National Geographic is committed to building a geo-literate society. And we need your help.


The Fund for Geo-Literacy supports the National Geographic Society's efforts to promote and improve geo-literacy across the U.S. Donations to the Fund support the development and distribution of print and online materials for students, as well as teacher training programs.

STUDENT MATERIALS
Each year, thousands of teachers, students, and parents use learning resources created by National Geographic's Education Programs. For example Geography Action! helps educators promote geo-literacy in schools and communities across the U.S. and Canada through online lesson plans, maps, and classroom and home activities. National Geographic also brings state-of-the-art technology into the classroom through programs like FieldScope, a "citizen science" program that helps students investigate real-world issues through data collection and data analysis with GIS.

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Our National Teacher Leadership Academy is a two-year program to develop leaders in geo-literacy education. In the first year, teachers work on their own instruction skills, and in the second year they learn to facilitate the development of other teachers.

Teachers use National Geographic materials to enhance their geography curriculum. Photograph courtesy National Geographic Education Programs

Peggy Steel Clay, retired teacher, first Teacher-in-Residence at National Geographic:
"I received from the National Geographic Society an awareness that I mattered. They cared about me—and they wanted to make sure that I had all that they had, so that I could bring it back home."

Susannah Batko-Yovino, first female National Geographic Bee champion who went on to study and practice medicine:
"Learning geography is incredibly important because if you don't understand where something happened, you can't understand why or how. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that without geography, you're lost."

Charlie Fitzpatrick, former Teacher-in-Residence at National Geographic, currently K-12 Education Manager at ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute):
"[Working at NGS]... Focusing on geography for hour after hour and days on end, I began to see patterns, relationships, and interaction where before had drifted a numbingly vast sea of details... What had begun as a pleasant little voyage of personal discovery had morphed into a mission that continues—to help people see and embrace the richness and relationships in the world around them, to be sentient decision-makers, and to understand the infinite ways in which geography matters."

You are the key to insuring that our children are ready to become geographically literate global citizens. Become a partner with National Geographic and classroom teachers across America by supporting the Fund for Geo-Literacy. Your tax-deductible contribution supports the development and distribution of world-class teaching materials, expansion of geographic technology in classrooms, and national teacher training workshops. We depend on the support of people like you to make education programs possible. Your gift of $25, $45, $100 or more, will give our kids and teachers the best tools and resources so that our students of today can be tomorrow's global leaders. Donate today!

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