Ask Me Anything about using geography to teach history with Rachel Hansen // November 2023

We are honored to have Rachel Hansen join us this week for to answer your questions on using geography to help students understand history and the world around us. A Distinguished AP Human Geography educator and National Geographic Explorer, she is passionate about designing learning experiences that compel students to engage in meaningful, authentic projects in their communities, where they can build relationships that produce sustainable change the world. Rachel leads her students in using geography to take action in their own community.

As a Big History educator, Rachel has included geography in her instruction to help students understand the impact of both human and physical geography on world history. In honor of Geography Awareness Week this month, she will answer your questions on incorporating geography skills into your history instruction.

To help get started, Rachel recommends checking out the following resources:

National Geography Mapmaker: add layers of historic and contemporary data to make maps
Esri's GeoInquiries: geographic inquiry activities by content theme (Earth Science, Government, US History, World History, etc.)
Our Spatial Brains: student activities from middle through high school, including a focus on US History, World History, Earth Science
Mapping History Tool: an online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives
Library of Congress Maps: searchable database of US maps from 1100 to 2023
ArcGIS Online: free mapping software for K-12 schools in the USA

Be sure to check out the OER Project Historical World Maps available on the Teacher Resources page.

What questions do you have for Rachel? Here are some ideas you may want to consider:

What are the best ways to incorporate geography into a history course?
Why is it important to use geography when teaching history?
How can I make geography engaging for students?

Share your questions in the comments below. We look forward to exploring the world with you!

Want to learn even more about incorporating geography into your history instruction? Check out the recording of our recent OER Project Skills Clinic - Mapping History.

Laura Massa over 2 years ago in reply to Rachel Hansen

Excellent Rachel Hansen ! The Personal Supply Chain activity would be a great idea to incorporate in the LBHP. I am familiarized with the T-shirt supply chain video as I use it in my classes for AP Human Geography.
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Rachel Hansen over 2 years ago in reply to Laura Massa

Students love the t-shirt supply chain video!
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Rachel Hansen over 2 years ago in reply to Laura Massa

Hi, Laura Massa ! Yes, you (and students) can create free public accounts; however, they have limited functionality compared to the professional account. The good news is, all K-12 students in the USA have FREE access to the professional account. You can request a free account for your school here.

You can do quite a bit on the free account, so perhaps that will suffice for your needs. We have the professional account, which also allows students to use the mapping software, ArcGIS Online. I hope this helps!
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Rachel Hansen over 2 years ago in reply to Laura Massa

I took a class this summer from a local university on StoryMaps and used the data from my M.A. advanced GIS/programming final project. The possibilities of student projects on StoryMaps are endless. It seems like a great tool for sharing stories about local phenomenon!
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Laura Massa over 2 years ago in reply to Rachel Hansen

Thank you Rachel Hansen I requested an account and they will respond to me in a week.
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Rachel Hansen over 2 years ago in reply to Laura Massa

Amazing! Happy to help if you have any questions about the setup process!
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Donnetta Elsasser over 2 years ago in reply to Rachel Hansen

This is fantastic, Rachel Hansen ;even better than I was expecting.

Can you clarify what I'm supposed to do with slides 20 and 22?

And thank you, thank you, thank you!
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Rachel Hansen over 2 years ago in reply to Donnetta Elsasser

Yes! Slide 20 we play “name the title of that map.” It’s landlocked states of the world. This was a consequence of superimposed colonial boundaries. Slide 22 shows GDP. Many landlocked states have lower GDPs than their coastal neighbors.

My pleasure! Glad these are helpful!
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Curtis Greeley over 2 years ago

Hi, Rachel Hansen !

Thanks for fielding these questions, the discussion has been enlightening.

I was wondering if you knew of any mapping software that students might use to create digital maps of their community. I know some districts have access to ARCGIS online or StoryMaps. There is also Google My Maps, but my knowledge in this area is fairly limited as to what's available. Thoughts?
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Rachel Hansen over 2 years ago in reply to Curtis Greeley

Hi, Curtis Greeley ! All K-12 schools have free access to ArcGIS Online, which is the industry standard for making online, digital maps. You can put in a request to set up a school district account here. What's nice about ArcGIS is that it allows students to layer on recent Census data and other Living Atlas layers of interesting data.

Google My Maps is also a fairly intuitive, user-friendly way to create digital maps of the community. You can embed images, videos, and links within the map. You can also use colors and symbols to communicate different patterns and trends.

If you have the time to invest in setting up ArcGIS accounts and teaching students to use the tool, I think it's well worth the up-front investment. If you need something quick and easy, with minimal frontloading, then Google My Maps is the way to go!
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