COGA in the News

In 2016, over 200 BioBlitzes were held across the country as teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, educators, and other community members work together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible in a specific geographic location.  COGA partnered with the Catamount Institute in Colorado Springs to produce the only public BioBlitz in Colorado on Saturday, May 7, 2016. Sondermann Park was delighted to join Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Fort Sumter National Monument, Chippokes Plantation State Park and over 200 other locations across the United States in identifying, counting, and recording species in this important open space. Over one hundred participants heard woodpeckers, caught (and released) mayflies, and identified multiple types of lichen and grasses important to riparian and grassland ecosystems. Wondering what was observed and collected? Check out the map and photos of Colorado's BioBlitz at Sondermann Park on iNaturalist, and on COGA's facebook page. Many visitors had not been familiar with this community resource and were pleased to have the chance to explore the area under the guidance of teachers who directed children to catch insects with nets, scientists who described the variation of water droplets on plants, and volunteers who made sure all the tables and signs were in place.

UCCS to host the 4th Annual GeoQuiz Night, in honor of GAW

UCCS hosted an Annual GeoQuiz Night as part of Geography Awareness Week

Each November, COGA partnered with the GeoClub, Global Engagement Office, Global Intercultural Research Center, and Students for Environmental Awareness and Sustainability to host a GeoQuiz Trivia Night at UCCS in Clyde's Cafe in the University Center at UCCS.  Students, staff, faculty, and the Colorado Springs public participated in the quizzes and got the chance to test their global knowledge and win prizes.

Colorado STEMworks database spotlights successful STEM programs

The Colorado Geographic Alliance is proud to announce that "Moving GIS into the Classroom" is one of the first seven programs to be accepted into the new Colorado STEMworks database, which was launched in January through a partnership among The Colorado Education Initiative (CEI), Colorado Technology Association (CTA), and Change the Equation (CTEq) to identify and promote effective STEM education programs. The programs also will become part of CTEq's national database.  Read more about the project here.  If your school or district is interested in exploring geospatial technology instruction for teachers, please contact COGA.

GeoFest in Estes Park

GeoFest, a community-wide celebration of our planet, had a turnout of almost 200 people on Saturday, April 25,2015 in Estes Park.  GeoFest, organized by the Estes Park Learning Place, offered visitors a whole new way to wonder about the world.  Colorado Geographic Alliance Leadership Council member and National Geographic Society Maps manager Kevin Lance hosted the COGA booth.  Multiple people stopped by to enter a raffle for National Geographic prizes including inflatable globes, geography books, and road atlases.  The grand prize, a National Geographic Atlas of the World, 10th Edition, was awarded to Shraddah Subash.  Thanks to Kevin and the Estes Park community for providing this opportunity to increase geographic knowledge and spatial understanding.

Colorado Geographic Alliance Receives Esri ConnectED Teacher Professional Development Award in Geospatial Technology

In February 2015, Esri awarded 40 grants to support professional development of educators to foster implementation of Esri's ConnectED offer in communities across the country to address needs of digitally-disadvantaged youth.  Click here to see Schools with GIS from Esri and ConnectED.

Along with Castle View High School, COGA received a $5,000 grant to help teachers to become proficient in ArcGIS Online.  COGA will be working with GIS professionals from plan-it GEO, a geospatial technology firm specializing in urban forestry, planning, and natural resources located in Arvada, and the Englewood Schools, which is developing curricula based on the South Platte River. 

 

The South Platte River Project builds on the work that COGA undertook with school districts in Elizabeth, Grand Junction, Limon, and Windsor to support teachers as they work to move geospatial technology into their classrooms.  If your school or district is interested in hosting a workshop on this topic, please contact coga@uccs.edu.

Teaching Geography with Primary Sources

COGA Teachers Provide Lessons for Students Considering Life on Mars

APHG Teachers Experience South Korea!

This summer, COGA nominated 2 Colorado APHG teachers- Unity Hartman and Rob Gilliam- to be part of the 2014 Korean Delegation and learn about Geographic Education for a Harmonious Global Society. Organized by the Northeast Asian History Foundation, a total of 15 delegates participated in a field experience in Seoul. Read about their journey here!

Geographic Alliances in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon receive $50,000 grant from National Geographic Education Foundation 

Feb 17 2014  The Colorado Geographic Alliance at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs recently received an inaugural collaborative planning grant of $50,000 from the National Geographic Education Foundation, one of three such grants awarded to members of the Network of Alliances for Geographic Education. Using the grant, the Colorado Geographic Alliance, in partnership with The Library of Congress' Teaching with Primary Sources and the geographic alliances in Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon, will create a program to develop a workshop model for teachers. The workshop model will incorporate historical maps, primary source thematic maps, and other geographic representations. This information can be used to obtain, describe and compare spatial patterns and information about people, places, events, regions and environments as an essential resource for answering key questions. Teacher leaders in these four states will serve as the initial developers for this project, which has potential to affect how students think about maps across the country.   For further information, please see  this UCCS press release.

Grant Awarded to COGA by the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado

COGA Leadership Council Strategic Planning Meeting

National Geographic Announces Geography Legislators of the Year