Wolfram launches iOS app for Geography

Wolfram Alpha, the computational search engine has a new iOS app. Wolfram Geography Course Assistant App allows you to compare socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic data for any country in the world.



The app is $4.99 and available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

This could be a great app for Geography and Social Studies teachers and students.

To purchase the app, visit the iTunes App Store:
http://url.wolfram.com/2E.QkQ1m/

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Giza 3D - great, interactive 3D recreation of the Great Pyramids

Gaza 3D is a very cool project that recreates the Great Pyramids in 3D online to view in your web browser.   It is a collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Harvard University, and Dassault Systems (who make lots of great products including CATIA CAD systems).

The project is historically accurate and based on scholarly data. Documents from an expedition at the Giza pyramids were digitized and used to create the simulation.

There is a guided interactive tour on the site through 10 different areas on the Giza plateau with photos, object galleries and links to historical documents. You can zoom around the areas and click on object for more information.

This is a great resource for teachers and students studying the Great Pyramids in history or engineering classes to be able to explore them online. There is a tremendous amount of information here and it is a fun way to explore the Giza plateau.

Check it out: http://giza3d.3ds.com/#discover



Technical Note: You have to download a plugin to use it (the site will link you to it) and on Mac you will need to use Firefox in 32-bit mode. A broadband internet connection is also strongly recommended.

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WhatWasThere - historical photos linked to Google Maps - visit the past!

WhatWasThere is an excellent resource for geography, history, and fun. It connects historical photos to Google Maps, letting you see what places looked like in the past. You can tour locations, browse photos and even upload your own historical photos.

This is a great way to explore the world historically, or just take a look at what your hometown looked like in the past. Social Studies, History, and Geography classes could use this as learning activities or projects.

Here is a photo of the Frisbee Pie Company from the early 1900's. Their pie plate throwing contest led to the original Frisbee.

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CIA World Factbook - excellent resource about countries of the world

The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) World Factbook is an incredible resource about the countries of the world. It's free and available online and you can also download a copy for offline viewing and access. Older versions (back to 2000) are also available, which can be good for history teachers looking for older information.

The site has information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. The Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.. It's a great resource to find out information about the countries of the world and the CIA is constantly updating it.

Check it out and share it with your students. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

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