howtosmile blog

Pop quiz: Which among the following exemplifies geography?

Daniel Edelson, National Geographic’s Vice President of Education, says,

"The question of whether geography is a science or not ends up being a question of how one defines the term 'geography.' It is certainly true that much of geography falls outside the U.S. K-12 science curriculum. For example, the study of cultures, of political and diplomatic relationships, and even the study of trade are not sciences as we define science in U.S. schools. We teach that content in a section of the curriculum we call 'social studies.'

Ever wonder where all that spam clogging your inbox comes from? If someone were to answer your idle speculation with a list of originating IP addresses, would you sit down with a cup of hot cocoa and study that document?

1. Where do they speak Tswana?

2. The port of Rotterdam is built on the delta of which major European river?

3. Which Canadian province produces more than half of the country's manufactured goods?

4. To visit the ruins of Persepolis, an ancient ceremonial capital of Persia, you would have to travel to what present-day country?

Answers:

Where do they speak Tswana? If you know, and you’re under the age of 15, you might want to be part of the 2011 National Geography Bee.

First come the school-level bees, then the state bees, with national finals (moderated by Jeopardy’s Alex Trebek) in May 2011.

Veteran conference-goers are often connoisseurs of schwag, the free promotional items handed out at industry events. And given that most conference-going means sitting in dim windowless rooms, they know that the best schwag either gets you moving or wakes up your dulled senses with strange sounds and flashing lights.

With howtosmile.org’s official launch, the new site has boosted functionality, enhanced community tools, and provided more ways for educators to contextualize and extend SMILE’s hands-on activities.

Even if you've been tooling around the site, you may not have noticed some of the innovations:

At an unassuming table in an unremarkable exhibit hall, sandwich bags filled with tongue depressors and rubber bands were an unexpectedly hot item.

What do inline skates, CDs, Frisbees, and even the clothes you wear have in common? On a Thursday in late August, science educator Cassie Byrd (pictured) put the question to the homeschooled girls participating in the Exploratorium’s Girls’ Science Institute.