Mission Geography Paper

A number of schools and organizations have, over the years, created various projects that offer innovative curriculum, that is, the content and delivery method of that content promote differentiated instruction. One such project is Mission Geography. This paper will delve into Mission Geography, exploring its various components and offering a critical analysis of the project to see where it fits into a school’s curriculum.

Overview

Mission Geography is a collaboration between the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and the Geography Education National Implementation Project (GENIP) and its constituent organizations, directed by faculty members at Texas A&M University. The goal was to produce three publications linking the

Many activities allow students to work together on authentic activities in order to engage in learning. For example, in one activity addressing the idea of “America the Beautiful” and what is there to see “From Sea to shining Sea”, students are asked to collaborate and write a poem that will describe the images of the United States students are given. In another activity on volcanic eruptions, students are asked to work in groups to organize causes, effects, and human responses. Each activity allows students to receive feedback from the teacher and further develop and refine her/his

This need is especially acute in the areas of physical geography and environment-society relations because an informed citizenry is vital for confronting issues related to global environmental change and economic, political, and social change related to resource scarcity. Mission Geography is unique in that it also takes into account NASA’s mission statement to help frame its own mission. NASA’s current mission statement is, “to drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of Earth.” This mission can be seen in many of the activities of Mission Geography. While Mission Geography was created before the development and implementation of many current standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, with some effort, teachers can align the activities to the standards they wish to address. Mission Geography has not been updated for over a decade, yet, from observation, the material can address the requirements of many of today’s standards across