This unique book combines state-specific facts and 30 fun-to-do hands-on projects. The Geography Projects Book includes creating a montage of the wildlife that lives in your state using cut-out pictures, recreating the path of a state river with pipe cleaners, building a state tree from fresh or dried leaves or needles from as many types of trees as possible, testing soil samples and more! Kids will have a blast and build essential knowledge skills including research, reading, writing, science and math. Great for students in K-8 grades and for displaying in the classroom, library or home.

Exploring Nebraska through Project-Based Leaning includes 50 well-thought-out projects designed for grades 3-5. In assigning your students projects that dig into NebraskaÕs geography, history, government, economy, current events, and famous people, you will deepen their appreciation and understanding of Nebraska while simultaneously improving their analytical skills and ability to recognize patterns and big-picture themes. Project-based learning today is much different than the craft-heavy classroom activities popular in the past. Inquiry, planning, research, collaboration, and analysis are key components of project-based learning activities today. However, that doesnÕt mean creativity, individual expression, and fun are out. They definitely arenÕt! Each project is designed to help students gain important knowledge and skills that are derived from standards and key concepts at the heart of academic subject areas. Students are asked to analyze and solve problems, to gather and interpret data, to develop and evaluate solutions, to support their answers with evidence, to think critically in a sustained way, and to use their newfound knowledge to formulate new questions worthy of exploring. While some projects are more complex and take longer than others, they all are set up in the same structure. Each begins with the central project-driving questions, proceeds through research and supportive questions, has the student choose a presentation option, and ends with a broader-view inquiry. Rubrics for reflection and assessments are included, too. This consistent framework will make it easier for you assign projects and for your students to follow along and consistently meet expectations. Encourage your students to take charge of their projects as much as possible. As a teacher, you can act as a facilitator and guide. The projects are structured such that students can often work through the process on their own or through cooperation with their classmates.

Grades K-8. Features 30 geography projects for kids to complete-and includes actual state facts. Each project is quick, easy, and inexpensive! Projects include: constructing a replica of the state's capitol building; creating a montage of the wildlife that lives in our state using cut-out pictures; recreating the path of a state river using a wire coat hanger; building a state tree from fresh or dried leaves/ needles from as many trees as possible; and more! Students will have a blast creating projects sure to end up as part of a geography resource center-all about your state! Most projects use ordinary, easy-to-access materials. 32 pages.

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- Introduction -- Part 1 -- 1. Toward Critical Data Studies -- 2. Big Data ... Why (Oh Why?) This Computational Social Science? -- Part 2 -- 3. Smaller and Slower Data in an Era of Big Data -- 4. Reflexivity, Positionality, and Rigor in the Context of Big Data Research -- Part 3 -- 5. A Hybrid Approach to Geotweets -- 6. Geosocial Footprints and Geoprivacy Concerns -- 7. Foursquare in the City of Fountains -- Part 4 -- 8. Big City, Big Data -- 9. Framing Digital Exclusion in Technologically Mediated Urban Spaces -- Part 5 -- 10. Bringing the Big Data of Climate Change Down to Human Scale -- 11. Synergizing Geoweb and Digital Humanitarian Research -- Part 6 -- 12. Rethinking the Geoweb and Big Data -- Bibliography -- List of Contributors -- Index -- About Jim Thatcher -- About Josef Eckert -- About Andrew Shears

As a New Deal program, the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) aimed to put unemployed writers, teachers, and librarians to work. The contributors were to collect information, write essays, conduct interviews, and edit material with the goal of producing guidebooks in each of the then forty-eight states and U.S. territories. Project administrators hoped that these guides, known as the American Guide Series, would promote a national appreciation for America's history, culture, and diversity and preserve democracy at a time when militarism was on the rise and parts of the world were dominated by fascism. Marilyn Irvin Holt focuses on the Nebraska project, which was one of the most prolific branches of the national program. Best remembered for its state guide and series of folklore and pioneer pamphlets, the project also produced town guides, published a volume on African Americans in Nebraska, and created an ethnic study of Italians in Omaha. In Nebraska during the New Deal Holt examines Nebraska’s contribution to the project, both in terms of its place within the national FWP as well as its operation in comparison to other state projects.

2018 Nebraska Book Award The state of Nebraska has a rich and varied culture, from the eastern metropolitan cities of Omaha and Lincoln to the ranches of the western Sand Hills. The first atlas of Nebraska published in over thirty years, this collection chronicles the history of the state with more than three hundred original, full-color maps accompanied by extended explanatory text. Far more than simply the geography of Nebraska, this atlas explores a myriad of subjects from Native Americans to settlement patterns, agricultural ventures to employment, and voting records to crime rates. These detailed and beautifully designed maps convey the significance of the state, capturing the essence of its people and land. This volume promises to be an essential reference tool to enjoy for many years to come.