Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance

"In February 2013, a nor’easter pounded the eastern United States, doing particular damage along the coast of New England. Wind gusts reached hurricane-force in several coastal states, raising a four to five-foot (1 to 1.5 meter) storm surge on top of astronomically high tides. The result was extreme beach erosion along the coast of Massachusetts and other coastal areas.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured glimpses of the storm’s effect on the coastal environment. This image was taken on February 10, 2013, just hours after the nor’easter moved out to sea and several feet of fresh snow covered the landscape."

Brown University's Choices Program invites secondary level geography teachers to apply for a 2013 Summer Institute that focuses on using the Choices approach and curricular materials to ask What is Where, Why, and So What?

Using the scholarship and lessons found in our The United States in Afghanistan unit as a springboard, the Institute will explore how the Choices approach and curricula materials can be implemented to develop geographically literate students, capable of asking and answering the big questions in geography.

The goal of the Institute is to build a community of educators dedicated to sharing best practices for using Choices materials and approach to teach about international issues through a geographic lens.

Participants will:

• Benefit from content–rich presentations by university geographers;
• Be immersed in the Choices approach to teaching about contested international issues through presentations, curricular modeling, and discussions;
• Share best practices and approaches for addressing complex international issues with other educators from across the country; and
• Develop plans to share strategies, resources, and insights gained from the Institute with other geography educators.

Housing, meals, Choices curriculum units, and a 20-hour certificate of completion are provided.

There is no fee for the Institute, but participants are required to cover their own travel to and from Providence, RI.

Participants are expected to conduct outreach activities upon completion of the Institute. Choices will provide materials for these activities.

If you have questions, please email Mimi Stephens, Professional Development director.

Detailed satellite images reveal the web of connections that sustain life on Earth.

Imagine your students scaling the high peaks of the Andes, searching for the ancient city of Machu Picchu, and following the Amazon River from its alpine headwaters thousands of miles through the Brazilian rain forest all the way to the Atlantic...