Dedicated to the Teaching of Geography in the State of Illinois

Our purpose is the promotion and enhancement of geographic knowledge in the schools and among the general populace of Illinois. To achieve this purpose, the Alliance maintains a strong grassroots organization of geographic educators from schools and universities, participates in educational reform at the district, state, and national levels. We engage in an active program of preservice and in-service teacher education, develop curriculum materials based on the National Geography Standards, and foster public awareness of the importance of geography in our society.

News

Apply to be Part of the 2019 Delegation of AP Human Geography Teachers to South Korea

The dates for the 2019 Delegation of APHG teachers to South Korea are June 26 U.S. departure and July 2 return. APHG teachers are given priority to participate in the U.S. Delegation. Other high school geography teachers may also apply. The program is designed to provide an international experience that will expand your world view, and especially your knowledge of the Korean Peninsula. If you are an APHG teacher and interested, please contact Joseph Stoltman (stoltman@wmich.edu) to receive an application.

Earn Professional Development Hours and/or Graduate Credit with Population Education this Summer

Population Education is excited to announce that registration is open for our Summer 2019 online professional development course for science and social studies educators of grades 6-12! Discover student-centered learning strategies that use contemporary issues and real-world data to examine the social and environmental impacts of human population and engage in meaningful dialogue with teachers across the world. The course is asynchronous, which means students can work at their own leisure and pace while still abiding by the pre-set submission deadlines. There are weekly discussion boards, journals, and a final project, all built to provide participants with meaningful feedback and materials to use within their own educational setting.

The Summer semester condenses a typically eight-week course into just four weeks of fast-paced online learning, giving teachers the opportunity to earn graduate credit and CEUs while still enjoying their summer break.
Choose to earn three (3) graduate education credits from Adams State University and/ or 45 professional development clock hours (4.5 CEUs) for completing the full four weeks.
The cost is $80.00 for CEUs only or $245.00 for CEUs plus graduate credit.
The class will be capped at 30 participants, so don’t wait to sign up!

For more information and to register, visit https://populationeducation.org/online-course-registration/.

2019 Barbara Petchenik Children's World Map Drawing Competition

Teachers, are you looking for a great art, science, or social studies project? Encourage your students to create an entry for the Barbara Petchenik Children's Map Competition 2019, for a chance to represent the United States as a national finalist at the International Cartographic Conference in Tokyo, Japan, from July 15-19, 2019.

This map competition celebrates the creativity, imagination, artistry, and wisdom of child mapmakers. Students from your school may become representatives of the U.S. in a map exhibit featuring student entries from around the world, and the illustrations will be considered for greeting card, calendar, and poster designs for organizations such as UNICEF. All entries must be postmarked and mailed by March 1, 2019.

Click here to learn more.

World of 7 Billion Video Contest

Back by popular demand, the World of 7 Billion student video contest helps you bring technology and creativity into your middle and high school classes. The contest challenges students to create a short video connecting world population growth to one of three global challenges: preserving biodiversity, sustainable resource use, or human rights. Students can win cash prizes (featuring 80+ new prizes this year!), and participating teachers will receive free curriculum resources. The deadline for submissions is February 28^th, 2019 – use this lesson plan to get started now! Full contest guidelines, resources for research, past winners, and more can be found here.

Events

2019 GeoBee - Join the Ultimate Geography Competition for Grades 4-8!

Registration is open for the 2018-2019 National Geographic GeoBee! Register your school-grades 4-8-for the annual competition that inspires and rewards students' curiosity about the world. Registration includes study resources for your class, participation and school champion certificates, and more than 400 exciting GeoBee questions to quiz your students about geography, cultures, physical features, history, earth science, and more!

Important Dates:

August 1, 2018: Registration opens
October 1, 2018: School GeoBee materials available for download
October 1–February 1, 2019: School GeoBees held; date and time determined locally
December 21: Registration by check closes.
December 22, 2018–January 25, 2019: Registration limited to credit card transactions
January 25, 2019: Last day for School GeoBee registration
February 1, 2019: Deadline for completion of online State GeoBee qualifying test.
March 4, 2019: State GeoBee qualifiers announced on NatGeoBee.org/results
March 29, 2019: State GeoBees held
May 19-22, 2019: National Championship held at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.