1. RATIONALE FOR TECHNOLOGY Many times when people think of United States Geography they only think of maps, states, and capitals. Yet there is much more than that. With the use of technology the country can be closer than ever with students being able to learn about different cities, regions, landmarks, and cultures that all live within our one country. This presentation will show how technology such as blogs, podcasts, websites, and videos can be integrated into a teaching a topic on United States Geography.

2. The following 4 slides will give examples of resources that can be found on the internet to exhibit cultural, physical, and regional differences in Americas geography All websites used in this presentation have been proven reliable, beneficial, and informative about teaching and learning about US Geography. Clicking on images will activate the hyperlink, starting the videos or bringing you to the original website. 3. BLOG ABOUT U.S. GEOGRAPHY Around the States in 89 Days is a blog by two Austrian men, Thomas Pasterk and his best friend Richard, and their road trip across the United States. The blog gives a foreigners view of the geography of the United States and covers multiple American landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. The blog can be used to show students the major landmarks in America as well as regional geographical, cultural, and social differences noted by the authors 4. PODCAST ABOUT U.S. GEOGRAPHY These podcasts are walking tours of Boston and Washington D.C., two of the most historic cities in America. They discuss key areas of the city that students should learn about when learning about the city and state. Teachers can play certain podcasts for the students when discussing that specific state in class or have students listen to their preferred podcast at home to learn about what interests them the most about the city. Boston Washington D.C. 5. YOUTUBE VIDEO ABOUT THE STATES CULTUREhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyYy7dmAnM8 This video can be used to show students that there is something unique and interesting about each and every state and that states culture. This video also integrates a popular young adult author, John Green, into the lesson to connect with students even more. 6. YOUTUBE VIDEO ABOUT THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF AMERICAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djt4trIlDjM This YouTube video goes over the physical geographical aspects that can be found within America. 7. The internet has a ton of information about the physical and culture identity of America and the states. Each state has their own website with information about working, living, and visiting the state. 8. INTERNET RESOURCES PAGE 1 Nations Online Nations Online has information on each state as well as it has links to each states website all in one place (click hyperlink to go to website) National Geographic National Geographic has libraries of images of the United States landmarks and cities including physical and cultural geographic images (students will have to make a free account to access photos/click hyperlink to go to website) 9. INTERNET SOURCES PAGE 2 Sheppard Software Sheppard Software is a website with multiple games at multiple difficulties, all about U.S. Geography. (click hyperlink to go to site) 10. INSPIRATION DESIGN Inspiration can be used to create compare and contrast charts such as this one Ive created to allow students to place regions side by side to compare their similarities and differences 11. TEACHING MATERIAL PAGE 1 Teaching material such as worksheets, word searches, and quizzes can be made at the website www.havefunteaching.com This is a word search I created of the names of the Northwest states of America using Have Fun Teaching : 12. TEACHING MATERIAL PAGE 2 Another site which has good material for teachers is Smart Exchange which allows for teachers to download lessons and resources to be used on the Smart board. C. Austin created a 50 States interactive Smart board game where students drag and drop states into their proper spaces. 13. TEACHING MATERIAL PAGE 3 Another website which has useful material for teachers is Info Please Info Please has worksheets, quizzes, and trivia ready to go for teachers to use, or even to sharpen their own skills. There are a bunch of material which pertains to U.S. Geography 14. SUBJECT SPECIFIC RESOURCE National Geographic Education is a subject specific resource I would use to teach my topic of geography. I would use the website by using the different teaching resources like the AP Human Geography portal. 15. USES OF THE INTERNET Websites which could be used to help back up my topic include: http://www.ushistory.org/us/ - General information on U.S. History including the expansion of the country. http://americanhistory.si.edu/ - The National Museum of American History has collections on almost anything in American history including cultural exhibits such as America on the Move. 16. WEB 2.0 Websites that allow for teachers to collaborate include: https://www.dropbox.com/ -allows for teachers to put their work in an online cloud which can be accessed by whomever they choose http://www.slideshare.net/ -allows for teachers to post presentations online and