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General Geography Information
CIA -- The World Factbook
Look up any fact, geographical, political or
economic, about any country you care to think of.
This site has been set up by the CIA, so presumably
is useful for any would be spies!!!
City Populations
Lots of information about the populations of cities
around the world.
Earth and Moon viewer
A definite must for work on the Earth in Space! View
a map of the Earth showing day and night regions
right at this moment, as seen from the sun, the
moon, or a satellite. Or view the moon from above
named locations. There is also a link to an
interactive orrery.
Earth View
This is the page of Earth and Moon Viewer which
shows day and night at the moment.
The Ellis Island, New York, site
Lots of links and search facilities relating to the
millions who passed through Ellis Island and into a
new life in the United States.
Geograph
This site aims to collect a representative
photograph from every square kilometre of Great
Britain and Ireland. There are lots there already.
Has your area been caught?
Geographia
This site is really intended as a tourist
information guide to the world. There is masses of
country-specific information presented in a lively,
colourful and well-structured way. There are links
to countries' own tourist information sites. Much of
the information will be accessible to pupils.
Geography Dictionary and Glossary
Over 1500 terms defined. Useful!
Geography - Learn on the internet
Lots of stuff aimed mainly at secondary. Well worth
exploring.
GeoNet
The Guardian 07.01.97.described this as 'a one man
bid to set up the definitive web site for Geography
teachers'. Good on ideas and is gradually developing
its resources. Well worth a closer look.
GeoResource
An excellent site. Resources for pupil / student use
(Cases studies, virtual fieldwork, outline maps,
collections of photographs and more) and collections
of really useful links, categorised by topic. Easy
to navigate.
Google Earth Blog
Keep up to date with what's new and interesting on
Google Earth.
Juicy Geography
The author of this site is an AST in the South West
of England. His site is full of lovely Geography
stuff, including a useful collection of ideas for
using Google Earth in class.
National Geographic
Gives access to an online version of the National
Geographic magazine. There is also the facility to
print out maps, and to view an archive of
photographic images. Provides links to travel and
tourism sites. Some of the pages are very slow to
load.
The National Railway Museum, York
Definitely one for railway buffs! Perhaps not so
much for teachers, although there is a nice section
on the history of railway posters. The graphics can
make it slow to download.
The National Tramway Museum
The UK's premier museum about trams, at Crich in
Derbyshire.
Staffordshire Learning Net Geography Pages
Produced by Staffs for their teachers, but available
to all (and well worth a look, too). Too much to
pick out examples - but worth visiting for the
photos alone.
Sunrise and Sunset Calendar
Make a sunrise and sunset calendar for the current
month for you location. This page is for UK but you
can also get calendars for USA or Canada from other
pages on the site.
US-Africa
Comprehensive (although not necessarily up to date)
information about each of the countries in Africa.
(The site has annoying pop-up ads on every page,
though, so make sure your pop-up blocker is on).
WorldAtlas
Do not be fooled - this amazing site is so much more
than just a collection of maps. They subtitle the
site "Explore Your World" and they are true to their
word. What is the time in...? want a map showing
where Lake Mweru is? (Zambia); want information
about any country? The latitude and longitude of any
named place (or postcode) the list goes on and on...
Wonderful and useful.
Environment & Habitats
Biomes
Excellent information from Enchanted Learning about
the types of habitat that are found on our planet
(once you have scrolled down the page from the
membership advert).
Earthlights
A Photograph of the Earth's surface at night, taken
from space showing the lights of settlements.
Amazing but may take a long time to download.
Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment
A UK government site with masses of information on
the atmosphere and weather. Includes lots of stuff
on the health of the atmosphere eg. acid rain, air
quality, ozone depletion. Many of the pages are
presented at "younger" and "older" levels (but even
the "younger" pages are a bit wordy).
Environment Agency of England and Wales
Lots of information from this National Agency.
What's It Like Where You Live?
Pages about tundra, desert, temperate forests,
grasslands, taiga This site is part of a the larger
Evergreen Project site called "Biomes of the World".
A well thought out and comprehensive resource. The
Evergreen Project also has two other sections that
might be of interest on
Freshwater ecosystems and
Marine Ecosystems.
Wild Places
This is the Friends of the Earth site and it places
emphasis on our need to protect our wild areas. Best
bit of the site is where you can type in your
postcode and a map of your local arae is generated
showing local sites of special scientific interest (SSSI).
Clicking on them shows information about each site
and whether it is under threat.
Ice and Snow
All About Glaciers
Lots of information and photographs (including some
then and now pairs, showing how glaciers have
changed).
Freezeframe - Historic Polar Photographs
Just what it says - there are photos, biographies of
polar explorers, information about people who live
in the Arctic regions, information about surviving
in cold climates and more. This is a developing
resource based at the Scott Polar Research Institute
in the University of Cambridge.
Icefields and Glaciers
This one is from the website of the Tongass National
Forest in Alaska. Lots of clear explanations and
plenty of photographs.
Africa
Masai Mara
Information about the area and its wildlife.
America (N & S)
The Inca Trail
An informative photographic tour of the towns and mountains around Machu Picchu in Peru.
India
Lonely
Planet: Destination India
Mainly tourist information but may be useful.
An Introduction to India
Some useful information, quite a high reading age.
Chembakolli
This is the Indian village suggested for study in QCA Unit 10. The
site is run by the charity Action Aid. You can order the recommended
resources and subscribe to the further materials on the site for
very reasonable fee.
India
An extensive collection of links from this
Australian teachers' site.
Maps If
you are looking for Maps there are lots here.
The AA
No actual maps but the route finder is excellent. Children can
plan a road journey and then follow it on a map or atlas. The route planner gives full
details of the route, mileage and expected journey time.
Google Maps
View maps down to street level or satellite images.
There is an easy to use slider to zoom with or you
can use your mouse wheel. You can also overlay the
streets onto the satellite image. Uses the same
satellite images as Google Earth (I think).
How
Far is it?
This is actually a site about Indonesia and Bali,
but they provide this handy distance calculator.
Look up the distance as the crow flies between two places on the Earth's surface. You can
ask for towns or give longitude and latitude. Some of those crows fly HUGE distances!
Find anywhere in the world (including street maps).
Old
Maps
This site sells old maps, but you can look at small
sections of old maps and magnify them up. Worth a
look.
Streetmap.co.uk
Excellent site for UK maps. Street maps of London and some other areas and lots of other
easily navigated maps.
World Atlas : Maps and Geography of the World
This one is from About (The Human Internet) and is crammed full of maps and data about the
different countries of the world. I have only had a quick look but it looks good.
World
Time Interactive Atlas
You have a globe. See where it is day and where it is night. Click on a spot to turn the
globe to face you. Zoom in or out. Find out the time and the times of sunrise and sunset
for today in the cities of the country you have selected. Or choose your country from an
alphabetical list. The site is simple, clear and quick.
Lonely Planet:
The Lonely Planet produce tourist guides. Click on
the map to find out about the places.
Rivers
The
Amazon River
A simple site about the Amazon with maps, photos and basic information. Some nice photos
of wildlife and a really good aerial shot of meanders.
Rivers and Coasts
Excellent site from BBC Schools.
The River
Thames
All sorts of stuff about Old Father Thames.Useful links page.
River Derwent
This is a page from a website that deals with the
peak district. There is some basic information about
the River Derwent and some nice photos of the river
and its surrounding scenere, including a very
effective 360 degree panorama.
A
Walk along the River Roe
This page is dedicated to the River Roe in Ulster. This is a page from the excellent
Limavady site (see Settlements section)
The
River Trent
This site follows the River Trent from source to mouth, including aerial photographs,
narrative and useful vocabulary along the upper, middle and lower course of the river. It
has sections on River facts, Flooding, Settlement, Uses and Conservation. A very useful
site!
Settlements
Ironbridge
Gorge Museum Trust
The Ironbridge Gorge was the Silicon Valley of the first Industrial Revolution and was the
first area to be awarded the status of World Heritage Site.Information about the area and
the museums and the beginning of a collection of project activities for pupils who are
visiting the museums (in the Resources section).
Ironbridge,
Shropshire (Virtual Tour)
A virtual tour of the town of Ironbridge and the
historic surrounding area. Photographs and
informative text.
Limavady
Jochen Lueg, who produced this excellent site says, "This site is full of irrelevant
but valuable information about the Town of Limavady and some of the people that have the
good fortune to live there." Limavady is in Ulster. The site contains photos of the
town and some of its events and characters and lots of information about life in the town.
Tourist Guide
to the Peak District
If you are planning a visit to the Peak District then visit this site first. It is packed
with information about the area, its history, geography, events and accommodation. The
site is well structured and the presentation is both simple and attractive.
Shrewsbury,
Shropshire
An virtual tour of Shrewsbury, by the same team, and in the same
style, as the virtual tour of
Ironbridge (see above).Reviewer's
note: There are many sites on the internet which give local information.
Why not visit a search engine such as Google
and simply type in the name of the place you want to know about? You never know what you
will find! Sustainable Development
One World UK
Aiming to provide the UK's best online coverage of
news and views about human rights and sustainable
development. Use the tabs at the top of the page to
explore the site, which has masses of
information to support work on sustainable
development.
Countryside Learning
Their aim is to educate, inform and inspire
children, parents and teachers, so they can enjoy
and appreciate the countryside while having a
greater understanding of the wide range of issues
surrounding it. Well worth a look.
Rainforests
Amazon
Interactive
Learn about the geography of the Amazon Rainforest. Find out about the inhabitants, and
how they live off the land. Try running an ecotourism project in a simulation based on
those on the Rio Napo in Ecuador.
Photojourney through the
Costa Rican Rainforest
Well described and lots of good quality photos. Lots of short, quick-loading pages.
Rainforest Alliance
An excellent site from this organisation that works
to protect the rainforests and the animals, plants
and people who live in them. News, articles and much
more.
Rainforestconcern
Rainforestconcern is a UK charity. Their website has lots of
information about rainforests. Children will enjoy the Kids
Guided Tour which is actually a sort of animated book about
rainforest, written in kidspeak. Little insects crawl about and some
of them are clickable to pop up information.
Rainforest
Heroes
Rainforest Action Network works to protect the rainforests and the people who live there
through education and the organising of non-violent campaigns. Find out about their work,
and what you can do to help.
Rainforest
Information Centre
Find out about the latest research into rainforest issues and read news updates from
rainforest conservation projects. Obtain a list of eco friendly suppliers of timber
products. A childrens discussion page has just been set up. Check out the Rainforest
Information Centre Children's Forest Links Page at
http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/children/chlinks.htm
Lots of links for children and access to useful info page on rainforests and the dangers
they face.
Rainforest Stories
Stories for children about rainforest animals and
people who work to protect them.
The Rainforest Tram
The Rainforest Aerial Tramway is a company that runs aerial tramways
in the rainforests of Costa Rica, the Dominican
Republic and St Lucia. RFAT is committed to
conservation of the rainforests and their website is
full of information This site give information about
the tram and access to useful pages of links and
information. There are collections of photographs,
including some wonderful images of rainforest
animals (but sadly no captions).
Rain-Tree's
company website
Rain-Tree specialises in medicinal products of rain forest origin. The site has useful
information about the economics of rainforest usage, access to a database of rainforest
plants and their medicinal properties, a fascinating page of rainforest facts, and a
really useful page of categorised links to help with school projects. There is also a
general links page and much much more. A really good resource..
Rainforestweb
Essentially a comprehensive links listing.
Lots of information and articles about rainforests.
Temperate Rainforest Ecosystem
Many people are unaware that, as well as tropical
rainforests, there are also rainforests in cooler
parts of the world. This site has good basic
information about them.
Temperate Rain Forest (ThinkQuest)
Another useful site about temperate rain forests.
Virtual Rainforest
From Michigan State University comes this clickable
picture of a rainforest. Each click pops up an
information window about a rainforest creature or
feature. Excellent.
What's It Like Where You Live? Rainforest
A site full of easy to find information, from flora and fauna, to the causes of
destruction. There is information on both temperate and tropical rainforests.
Zoom Rainforests
A Wealth of basic information about many aspects of rainforests with links to further
information all pitched at a level that is accessible for children. Particularly good are
the pages about rainforest animals.
Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Mountains,
Caves & General Geology
Enchanted Learning's Volcanoes page
A nice labelled cross-section of a volcano and several useful
activities for children. EL's stuff is always worth a look.
Everest
360° Photographic panorama from the top of Mount
Everest. Amazing!
Geology.com
Masses of news and information about every aspect of
Geology.
Published by a professional geologist, Geology.com
offers a wealth of information, including a geology
dictionary, news, over 160 country maps, hundreds of
satellite images, and 250 U.S. state maps.
Old Faithful Webcam
Watch the famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park. The picture is updated about every
20 seconds.
Peakware World Mountain
Encyclopedia
"Welcome
to the web's premier resource on world mountains and mountaineering. Here you can explore
the world, and network with others who share your love for the high country". An
excellent site for mountain information, well produced - the enthusiasm of the production
team shows through.
The Virtual Cave
This is a great site for those interested in caves. Wonderful photographs.
Volcanoes by Country
Find the world's volcanoes either by name or by
clicking the maps. Part of the Volcano World (at
Oregon State) site.
Volcanoes on Line
Great site about Volcanoes, Plate Tectonics etc.
written and presented in a lively, colourful and
child friendly way.
Volcano
World (at Oregon State University)
This is an excellent site for finding out about
volcanoes and other aspects of earth science such as
plate tectonics. It claims to be the "Web's Premier
Volcano Site" and it may be. There is a huge amount
of stuff to explore including activities, games,
maps, lesson notes, and lots more.
NB This is not the same
Volcano World site that we originally linked to.
That still exists and still contains lots of useful
information. However, it is now sponsored by a
Ukrainian dating agency and many of the links on the
pages redirect to the dating agency pages making the
site not really suitable for use with children in
schools.
Volcano World
Movie Clips
This was originally a link to a page on Volcano
World which we can no longer recommend (see note
above). However, the net is full of film clips of
volcanoes in action - just do a search for something
like "volcano movie clips" and you'll find loads.
Weather & Seasons
Clouds
This site excellent by Carl Wozniak is all about clouds. There is an excellent page of
downloadable photos. Carl writes: Clouds comprise a wonderful focus for classroom
study. They're ubiquitous, ever-changing, scientifically interesting and, most importantly
for teachers, ... they're cheap.
The Cloud Appreciation Society
Just what it says on the tin - a website dedicated
to the enjoyment of clouds - lots of information and
photos.
Encyclopedia
of the Atmospheric Environment
A UK government site with masses of information on the atmosphere and weather. Includes lots of
stuff on the health of the atmosphere eg. acid rain, air quality, ozone depletion. Many of
the pages are presented at "younger" and "older" levels (but even the
"younger" pages are a bit wordy).
The
Met. Office
The Weatherman's website! Everything you'd ever need for a "Weather" topic....
and then some! Look in the "Education" section first on this huge searchable
site.
Latest Weather Satellite Pictures
Part of the Met Office site. Great pictures in jpeg format updated every six hours. This
is what the Net was made for!
On-Line
Weather Forecasts: UK
If you want the latest weather forecast for your region then this is the site for you.
Climatic data for the major cities, satellite pictures and even a "weather
window" for your own website. It's all here!
The Tornado Project
All you ever wanted to know about tornadoes but were afraid to ask? Yes, but also a big
push to sell you books, videos and posters! Some useful stuff for teachers can be found in
"The Storm Cellar".
The Weather Dude
American TV weather man, Nick Walker is the Weather Dude. This site includes an online
textbook called Weather Basics in which The Weather Dude explains the weather in simple
terms. There are useful pages on Precipitation, Lightning and Thunder, Clouds, Snow, the
Sun and much more...There are songs about the weather with lyrics and sound clips. There
are also lots of useful links for parents, teachers and pupils.
Wunderground
All about weather around the world: maps, photos,
blogs and more - much more.
World
Climate
Weather data from around the world.
Other Sites
Digital Dialects
A collection of geographical games to help children
(and adults) learn geographical facts (eg the
countries of Africa / the seas and oceans). Fun.
(The main site is a large collection of language
learning games).
Freephoto
Massive image collection. You can download images
for free for classroom or other non-commercial use.
Lots of scope for finding geog-related images.
JetPunk Travel Quizzes
Lots of Geography-based quizzes. Just for fun!
Teaching Ideas for Primary Geography
This site contains a selection of activities and
worksheets to download dealing with mapwork,
learning about places and weather. You are also able
to contribute your own ideas.
Tommy's List of Live Cams Worldwide
Links to web cams all over the world - see what's
happening out there, live!
Toporopa
Quizzes about Europe - educational and fun! |
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