Free Printable Geography Lessons for National Geography Bee

A hilarious "Wheel of Fortune" geography fail prompted much laughter and some concern over larger fails in education. WSB-TV reported on Feb. 20 that David Dalley thought his prize trip to Venice was taking him to Paris! This situation may be funny, but it also underscores why older folks bemoan that school don't teach geography anymore. To remedy that, here are free printable geography lessons, landforms geographical features maps and topography maps and earth science activities. There are even maps on Venice, France and Italy for poor David Dalley!

What in the world are landforms? A better question is where in the world are landforms. Landforms are geographic features that define the terrain and topography of an area. Terms for geographical landforms include: mountain, mesa, butte, plateau, dune, hill, bluff, cliff, promontory, valley, canyon, strait, peninsula, cape, delta, river, tributary, lake, bay, sea, ocean, key, island, isthmus, archipelago and atoll, Geographical landforms, also called terrain or topography, are formed by weather and climate factors. Landforms affect and are affected by biome or natural habitat of the region--desert, savanna, rainforest, forest, polar or arctic tundra. eastern woodland, swamp, meadow. To some extent, the plant and animal life affect and are affected by geographical landforms.

Discovery Education free social studies lesson plans, including free printable geography worksheets, landforms coloring pages, terrain and topography maps. worksheets, diagrams, labeling pages, coloring pages, puzzles, maps, quizzes and activities. Teacher Planet has free printable geography worksheets with matching activities to teach geography and landforms vocabulary. There are geography worksheets for different regions, states in the United States, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome and as well as some Jewish terms are included. Here are more landforms worksheetsand coloring pages from Printable Worksheets. Super Teacher Resources has some free printable geography worksheets.

Eduplace is Houghton-Mifflin's resource center for learning printables, including free printable geography worksheets and outline maps. There are free printable maps from every continent and country around the globe. Eduplace has free printable labeled and blank maps to use for answer key and tests. ABC Teach has lots of free printable geography worksheets, landforms lesson plans, topography maps, political maps and social studies lesson plans. Students can use maps to draw in landforms. Assign special needs and younger students to color code labeled maps to help them learn about geography. You might also laminate the map and assign students to cut out the countries and states in the map to make a map puzzle.

ESL Tower has many free printable geography worksheets, landforms coloring pages, diagrams, puzzles and topography maps.
Edupics has free printable social studies coloring pages, world maps, landforms coloring pages, biomes, habitats, nature scenes, political maps, topography maps to use as geography worksheets. Edupics boasts the largest, most comprehensive collection of detailed educational diagrams and coloring pages.

Free Printable American Girl Activities for Memorial Day

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pleasant Company American Girl dolls, several will be getting their own live action shows on Amazon Prime. Mattel (owner of Pleasant Company) and Amazon are collaborating on two films featuring the American Girl BeForever historical dolls and others featuring the contemporary American Girl of the Year dolls. American Girl dolls Kit Kittredge and MaryEllen Larkin had their own shows, now others join in the fun. To celebrate the birthday and the new films, here are free printable American Girl activities. Print American Girl dolls coloring pages.craft activities, skits, literature-based lesson plans, writing prompts, games, puzzles and lesson plans.

American Girl doll characters each represent a different part of the country, time period and ethnic background. Each girl has her own series of books. American Girl has created these free printable craft activities activities for the BeForever historical dolls American Girl characters Addy, Caroline, Josefina, Julie, Kaya, Kit, Maryellen, Melody, Rebecca and Samantha. Each of the American Gril dolls has six corresponding books covering seasons, birthdays and holidays. They feature in historical mysteries, too. Here are free printable American Girl readers guides for parents and teachers. There was a play kit, party kit, craft activities book and recipe book for each doll, too. Here are free printable American Girl teachers guides for with craft activities and lesson plans on historical dolls. Here's a collection of all the free printable American Girl activities. Check out the super cute craft activities, games, puzzles, coloring pages and part supplies. Tip Junkie offers free printable American Girl games and free printable paper dolls and doll clothes. Some American Girl dolls are included.

The original five historical dolls from American Girl were Felicity (1774, colonial), Kirsten (1854, Minnesota territory settler), Addy (African-American, Civil War), Samantha (1904, city dweller) and Molly (1944, World War II). Of those, Felicity, Kirsten and Molly have been retired. The Pleasant Company added Josefina (1824, New Mexico), Kaya (1764 Native American Nez Perce), Julie (1970s, San Francisco), Kit (Great Depression), Rebecca (1914, Jewish), Marie-Grace and Cecilie (black and white friends in 1853 New Orleans), MaryEllen (1950s) and Melody (African American, 1964 during Civil Right era). Printables 4 Kids offers free printable craft activities that have been archived. Some are based on American Girl pets Coconut and Licorice and the AG Bitty Babies dolls. Here areAmerican Girl online games and activities. Here are printable activities from Doll Diaries. And here are lesson plans on diversity from Marie-Grace and Cecilie.

I first discovered the American Girl stories in 1992 with the book "Happy Birthday, Molly." Having a 4-year-old "Molly"of my own, I was always looking for books that used her name. We never really got into the dolls, but we loved the craft and theater kits, cookbooks and stories. As a 10-year homeschooling veteran, these American Girls activities were very useful for social studies (including history, geography and culture) lesson plans. We started an American Girl club where we made the crafts, cooked the foods, used the theater kits to put on dramatic presentations. These activities gave our kids (of both genders) hands-on historical exploration. These activities would make excellent classroom curriculum for upper elementary ages, too.

Free Printable Earth Science, Solar System Activities, Lessons

There are many reasons to celebrate April. April bids farewell to winter and ushers in spring. Easter and Earth Month are celebrated in April. April 22 is the official Earth Day. Here are environmental science worksheets and lesson plans to explore this "green" month of April.

Maine.gov has a free printable earth science activities. There lessons on different environmental features. Teach them as parts of the body.

Rocks (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary). Rocks are the bones of our planet.

Minerals (quartz, silica sand, crystals, MOS Hardness Scale, cleavage, color, mineral identification). Minerals are earth's tendons.

Water (ground water, aquifers, watershed, water cycle, precipitation, percolation, wetlands, acid rain, bodies of water, oceanography, polar ice caps). Water is our earth's lifeblood.

Soil (structure, layers, decomposition, fossils, fossil fuels, composting). Soil is the muscular system.

Geophysics (geology, plate tectonics, magnets, earthquakes, volcanoes, the Ring of Fire, thermodynamics, geysers). Geophysics is the endocrine system. Given the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan, these lessons are even more vital and significant.

Ecology (land use, deforestation, slash and burn farming, fallow periods, water testing, soil evaluation). Think of ecology like health. Caring for the earth is like caring for our bodies. What we put into or do to our bodies heal and sustains or hurts and destroys. Likewise, what we do to our earth either helps or harms it. Environmental groups are like the earth's physicians.

This booklet provides hands-on activities, games, simulations, map reading exercises, field trips, treasure and scavenger hunts, experiments and extensions for social studies, reading and math. It gives interactive practice applications for Point-Slope formula (y=mx+b). That's helpful for S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, math) connections. In keeping with earth month, don't waste paper printing. Use recycled paper or scraps from your recycling bin. Print with biodegradable ink.

For more printable science lessons, visit my blogs Free Printable Lesson Plans and Free Lesson Plans 4U and Science Experiments and Chemistry Lessons.

Free Printable World Flags Coloring Page Activities and Social Studies Lesson Plans

United Nations Day is October 24. There is no more enduring symbol of a nation than its national flag. It’s a thumbnail, an icon for a country. The flag symbolizes pride and rallies people. The flag is flown or lowered to reflect national joy or sorrow. Here are free printable world flags from around the globe. Use these free printable flag coloring pages in geography lessons and social studies cultures units. Students should not be allowed to "free color" the world flags. They should be taught to color them correctly.

Coloring Castle has free printable flag coloring pages. There are black and white flags to color and colored flag templates that shows students how to properly color the flag. Countries represented include: Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, Czeck Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands (Holland), Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

Activity Village includes free printable world flags from the six of the seven continents: Asia, Africa, North and South America, Australia and Europe. The site has many free printable flag coloring pages from Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Croatia, Cyprus, England, Ghana, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Wales. Print geography lessons and social studies printables, coloring pages of famous buildings, landmarks and children in traditional native costume. Free printable geography lessons and social studies activities include maps and charts, too.

World Flags Coloring Pages has free printable world flag coloring pages for just about any nation or country in the world. This site includes free printable United States flags from each state and provincial flags from countries around the world. Be sure to view the original to color properly.

Enchanted Learning has many free printable world flags, national flag lesson plans and flag coloring pages. To print activities with no banner, users are asked to pay a $20 annual site fee. Check out these sites for free printable social studies lesson plans and geography lessons.

Free Printable Coloring Pages of Children Around the World in Traditional Native Dress

The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts designated Feb. 22 World Thinking Day. This day is dedicated to multicultural awareness of children around the world. Little girls growing up in the 1960s may remember a coloring book called "Dolls of Many Lands" with children around the world in traditional costumes and native dress of different countries. Here are free printable coloring pages of children around the world in native dress. Students in social studies can use these coloring pages on World Thinking Day to explore the ceremonial, cultural and traditional costumes of other children around the world. Because as the world gets smaller and more global, it's important that children know and remember native heritage.

Visit Activity Village free printable world lesson plans for social studies. Print pictures landmarks, games, crafts, post cards, maps and flags from around the world. Use these as culture studies worksheets. Get free printable World Thinking Day coloring pages of children around the world in native dress and traditional costumes: explore cultures from Australia, India, China, Japan, Africa, England, Russia, South Africa, Africa, Scotland, New Zealand, Brazil and Wales. There are also free printable coloring pages of pilgrim (or puritan) children, Ancient Egyptian, native American Indian and settler (also called pioneer) children in traditional dress.

Activity Village wishes says these free printable childrens' traditional costumes may be somewhat fanciful and not historically accurate. These world coloring pages imitate the vintage images from old coloring books. Traditional costumes show how children would have dressed for ceremonies or in times past. Here are free printable World Thinking Day coloring pages of children around the worldin traditional costumes. Each child is featured with a country flag in the background. Countries represented are Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Italy, Ireland, India, Hawaii, Guatemala, France, Brazil, Spain, China, Costa Rica and the Netherlands (Holland). Raising our Kids has a free printable children around the world coloring pages.

There's a fun little game you must play to use the website. The names of the countries are written in French. Parlez-vous Francais? Bonne. Vous ne parlez pas Francais? Then use the flags on each of the coloring pages to help you figure out which country is represented. Some are easier than others to decode, so use Google Translate. Here are more free printable children pages of childrenaround the world in traditional costumes. DL-TK has tons of free printable children around the world crafts, games and activities. Happy World Thinking Day!

Free Printable Famous Works of Art, Art History Coloring Pages

International Art Appreciation Day is August 9. But why wait to celebrate famous works of art? Teachers and homeschool parents, would you like some free printable art lesson plans for students? Here are free printable works of art coloring pages. If you're teaching art, art history or fine arts, you'll want these interactive lessons. Get to know the works of the masters with these free printable famous artwork and works of art coloring pages.

Sign up for a newsletter with free samples from Dover Publications. Dover is a leader in activity books, challenging adult coloring pages, period literature, vintage reprints and educational coloring books from history. All you need to submit is your email address and you'll get free samples from selected Dover books from different famous artists.

Edupics has free printable coloring pages of works of art. Famous artists include: Klee, Van Gogh, da Vinci, Grimmer, Murillo, Cezanne, Monet, Delacroix, Chardin, Hopper, Fragonard, Caravaggio, Klimt, Brueghel, Kustodiev, Picasso, Gunmann, Renior, Vermeer and more. There are also some aboriginal primitives. Coloring from DL-TK has free printable works of art coloring pages.

About Art History has free printable works of art to color. Coloring pages include artwork by Leonardo da Vinci - Mona Lisa, Henri Rousseau - The Sleeping Gypsy, Vincent van Gogh - Starry Night and Sunflowers,Grant Wood - American Gothic and Andy Warhol - Marilyn Monroe.

Enchanted Learning publishes a free printable famous artists calendar each year. Each month there is a different work of art by various artists. Famous artists calendars have featured works by John Singer Sargent, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Mary Cassatt, Velasquez, Jan Vermeer, Edgar Degas, Jacques-Louis David, Auguste Rodin, Edvard Munsch and Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (portrait painter- painted Benjamin Franklin in the image used on the American $100 bill). Use the artwork from different years as works of art coloring pages.

Visit Enchanted Learning for coloring pages from famous artists for hundreds more free printable artwork coloring pages. Art is organized by artist's name and country of origin. There are various genres of printable art coloring pages: sculpture, oil painting, prints, pen and ink, watercolor, mural and more, primitives and more. If you pay a $20 site fee for personal use (or a school use fee), you'll get unlimited banner-free printables.

Activity Village has free printable works of art from Ancient Greece coloring pages from Greek statues and pottery. Check Karen's Whimsy for loads of free printable world artwork coloring pages, from Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Pacific Islands, Africa, medieval, renaissance, church art, fairies, literature, world religions, fantasy, and more.

Free Printable Lesson Plans from The Hunger Games Books

It's an understatement to say that "The Hunger Games" book trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, has taken the world by storm. "The Hunger Games" movie blasted to top spot when it came out in book and then movie. The saga continued in "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" which don't stay long on book shelves. All four movies The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1 and Mockingjay Part 2, were wildly popular. If you're planning to teach a unit on The Hunger Games books or movies, here are free printable Hunger Games lesson plans and activities for several different content areas. As for age level, the movie is acceptable for kids over eight but the books are a bit graphic. Read The Hunger Games books series with kids over 12.

This education blog has links for free printable Hunger Games lesson plans that you can download and use in class. No sign-up is necessary, so homeschool parents can access Hunger Games printables for personal use too. There are writing activities, graphic organizers, comparison-contrast charts, story sequencing activities, Hunger Games simulations, problem-solving lessons, survival skill games and more. Here's a list of free printable Hunger Games book activities from Fabulous Classroom

This is a 20 page packet of free printable Hunger Games activities based on core curriculum objectives. Hunger Games lesson plans fall primarily in literature and reading, but there are some science, social studies and marketing lessons, too. The Hunger Games book activities could provide a good allegory for labor struggles, economic revolutions and political theory. Here are many more free printable Hunger Games lesson plans, movie and book activities based on Mockingjay and Catching Fire as well as Hunger Games. Here's a really cool game based on Panem the Capitol.

The Hunger Games movie fan page has games you can play or use for lesson plans, based on Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Here are free printable Hunger Games coloring pages. There are some nice ones of the Mockingjay and from Catching Fire. These books appealed first to middle school and high school students but lots of adults are getting hooked on the Mockingjay too! Readers who favor utopian/dystopian novels put "The Hunger Games" right up there with "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and "1984" (George Orwell). My husband reads mostly arcane books of history and technology. Rarely does he pick up a work of fiction. He'd not heard much about "The Hunger Games" until we took our teen and young adult kids to see it. I thought he'd find it juvenile, but he loved it and is reading the books. Happy Hunger Games! And "may the odds ever be in your favor."