• What happened to the National Geographic Xpeditions website?

    National Geographic Xpeditions is now National Geographic Education! Check out our new, media-rich site, which offers more types of content, for more audiences, than ever before. The new website, natgeoed.org, includes some of our most popular archival content in its original format as a convenience to Xpeditions users. Wherever possible, we recommend new resources. To include Xpeditions in search results, check the "include archive" filter.

  • What audiences does National Geographic Education reach?

    We offer resources for educators of Grades K-12 in school settings and out-of-school settings, caregivers of children ages 5-10, kids in Grades K-5, and students in Grades 6-12.

  • Why does it say "Teacher, Informal Educator, Families, Students, and Kids" at the top of each page?

    To reach more learners in more settings, National Geographic Education develops resources for each of these audiences—teachers, informal educators, families, students, and kids. By clicking on your audience tab, your experience in the website will be tailored specifically to your needs.

  • What does "see other versions of this page" mean?

    The site includes a unique new feature called "Audience Versions" that provides you with an opportunity to see how other audiences might use the same resource. You can easily switch between page versions, when available, to see a piece of content tailored for teachers, informal educators, families, students, or kids. Audience versions are designed to meet diverse needs and include changes in look-and-feel, organization, and appropriate text. Check back often, as we'll continue to add more audience versions to your favorite resources.

  • Why is the National Geographic Education site still considered "beta"?

    The site is still under development, so you are seeing only some of the planned features and content. New things will continue to roll out—so check back often!

  • Where can I find the national geography standards?

    The national geography standards were first published in the 1994 book, Geography for Life: National Geography Standards. In 2012, the second edition of the book was published. It includes updated national geography standards, skills, and perspectives. Visit our National Geography Standards page to find excerpts from the book.

  • What are the five themes of geography?

    The five themes of geography were written in 1984 by the Joint Committee on Geographic Education of the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) and the Association of American Geographers (AAG). They include location, place, human/environment interaction, movement, and regions. The themes are outlined in greater detail in the NCGE/AAG publication Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementary and Secondary Schools. This booklet informed educational decision-makers about the need to enrich geography programs in the schools of the United States through the introduction of five organizing themes. The guidelines provided a blueprint that improved the teaching and learning of geography and also complemented the National Geography Standards when they were first published a decade later in 1994. Visit the NCGE and AAG websites for more information.

  • What can I do with the media viewer at the top of activities and other content pages? (What is the resource carousel?)

    National Geographic's audience research told us that users want all of the media they're going to need to engage with a piece of content, in the same page and in the correct order. We designed our unique media player, called a resource carousel, to enable you to browse and interact with media, and even to download it when possible. The resource carousel also allows you to view it in full-screen mode or as a pop-out. This gives you easy access to National Geographic's iconic media and expert resources, such as photos, videos, interactives, illustrations, diagrams, cartoons, and more.

  • Can I download materials from the National Geographic Education website?

    In some cases, yes. Materials with the download icon activated in the lower right-hand corner of the resource carousel may be downloaded for use per our terms of service. Additionally, maps created in the MapMaker 1-Page Maps Tool and the MapMaker Interactive may be downloaded per our Terms of Service.

  • Where can I find rights and permissions information for media and text?

    Media credits appear with each piece of media in the resource carousel. For text, the rights and permissions bar located at the bottom of each page contains a link to our Terms of Service.

  • Who do I contact if I want to license content?

    All licensing requests should be directed to National Geographic Image Collection by emailing stock@ngs.org. NG Image Collection handles requests for all media, including photos, videos, and text.

  • How can I give feedback or share my opinions with National Geographic Education?

    We designed natgeoed.org with you in mind. As the website evolves, we're continuing to take a user-informed approach to best meet the needs of our audiences. You can be a part of that process by telling us what you think.

  • Does National Geographic Education respond to feedback?

    While we can't answer every email, we do respond directly to users whenever possible.

  • Why is there a Verizon Thinkfinity promo on many pages?

    National Geographic Education is a content partner in the Verizon Thinkfinity Consortium. The Consortium includes National Geographic and other educational partners, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Smithsonian. Together, the Consortium partners' educational websites provide free materials to educators and students in all major disciplines.

  • Can I get free or discounted National Geographic magazines for my classroom?

    Yes, we offer a special educator rate of $1 per issue. Click on this link to subscribe.

  • What are different ways I can find content on the site?

    National Geographic Education has may ways to find the content you want. You can use our landing pages and flyout banner to browse materials. You can use our search page to find content by keyword and filter by type, grade, or age. You can also use our collections, accessible through the Key Concept tag cloud, to find materials on a related topic. We also have a Related Materials feature that highlights relevant resources.

  • How can I find and browse all activities or lessons?

    Our current search tool allows you to search by keyword and see results for NG Education or for all of National Geographic. You can filter results by grade and age, audience, type of resource, and subject. You can also view our activities index to see a list of all activities in the site. Soon, you'll be able to find a similar index of all lessons, as one of the new features we roll out.