In This Issue
Grand Canal ExpERIEnce 2007
Don't miss the best teacher institute ever. It's coming July 8-15!
Geofest 2006
Last fall's Geofest in NYC was a great success. Read all about it.
In Memoriam:
Mary Atkins
Editor's Best for 2007 - What we recommend for reading, viewing, and visiting this winter.
Re-Discovering the Grand Erie Canal
Where to go to find traces of New York's gift to the nation, the Erie Canal.
Opportunites for Teachers in 2007
Looking for great learning experiences in geography this summer? We got them here!
Coming Soon -
the NYSCSS Convention!
The Annual Convention of the New York Council for the Social Studies (NYSCSS) will be held in the Rochester Riverside Convention Center on March 21 - 24, 2007.
NYGA will once again have a table with geographic materials and information about the Grand Canal ExpERIEnce 2007.
Watch for a BIG NYGA workshop on Saturday March 24th!
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From the Co-coordinator's Desk
Stephen and Ginny Honored by NCGE
Stephen Vermette and Virginia Figura (Co-coordinators of the NYGA) were awarded Distinguished Teaching awards from the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). Stephen's award was for college/university teaching, and Ginny's award was for informal teaching. The awards were presented at the 91st Annual Meeting of the NCGE at Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
(Editor's Note: Next year's annual meeting will be in Oklahoma City to help the Sooners celebrate 100 years of statehood. The dates are October 18-21. Registration materials and applications for workshop proposals will soon be available on their website).
NYGA Receives Grant from the
National Geographic Society
The New York Geographic Alliance was successful in receiving new funding - $100,000 - from the National Geographic Society. Approximately half the monies will be used to support the curricular development and outreach efforts conducted by the New York City Center for Geographic Learning. A large portion of the remaining monies will be used to support our scheduled summer institute on the Erie Canal, the Grand Canal ExpERIEnce 2007.
Remaining monies will be used to support Geofest 2007 in Little Falls, New York, a number of smaller workshops throughout the state, our presence at social studies conferences, and National Geographic led efforts, such as My Wonderful World. We are exploring single-day outdoor excursions or indoor experiences for teachers during the summer. One suggestion is to explore the Niagara escarpment. There is also the possibility of piloting a week-long Geography camp for students. As the NYGA is your organization, we are interested in any ideas you may have.
Geography T-Shirt Day at Campos Secondary School
Every November Campos Secondary School (Brooklyn) celebrates geography. Students wear T-shirts with geographic themes. This project is the brainchild of NYGA Board member, John Agnello. To learn more about this program (including his grading rubric), visit our Geography Awareness Week page.
Test Your Geo-IQ!
Do you consider yourself a "whiz" at Geography, primed and ready for Jeopardy? Try the following quizzes linked below. The first two are from National Geographic's My Wonderful World. Quiz 1 is the Roper Survey, which has demonstrated that most Americans do not have a basic understanding of geography.
The second quiz uses Google Earth to test your knowledge of Africa, the theme of this year's Geography Awareness Week.
The last quiz highlights New York State. It was put together by Tim McDonnell, and two colleagues from Monroe Community College, Yenal Kucuker and Sean Baker.
My Wonderful World - Roper Survey
 My Wonderful World
Click here to take this quiz!
Geography Awareness Quiz:
Test Your Africa IQ
Click on this link to take this quiz.
You need to download Google Earth (free!) first.
The Great New York IQ Test!
How much do you know about the Empire State? Try out this quiz prepared by members of the Geosciences Dept. of Monroe Community College.
Click here to take this NY quiz.
 
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Geography Awareness