Sarah Brady | September 12, 2019
The National Geographic GeoChallenge is a project-based, multilevel competition that empowers students in grades four through eight to develop creative solutions to today’s urgent environmental problems.
Students form teams of between four and six people and – through research, collaboration and creativity – take action on a real-world environmental issues. Along the way, students present their ideas through mapmaking, model building and video production. Combining science, geography and communication skills, GeoChallenge teams generate solutions to critical issues, just like National Geographic Explorers.
Teams with the best projects can advance to the regional and national levels of the competition. The GeoChallenge is open all US schools (private, public, home) and community groups/informal education organizations. There is no charge to register.
The 2019-2020 GeoChallenge theme is “Tackling Plastic.”
With Tackling Plastic!, students will use important skills such as teamwork, research, innovation, critical thinking, and persuasive communication as they learn about watersheds and plastics in our lives and communities; create a solution to prevent plastics from polluting our waterways; communicate about the plastic pollution problem and their team’s solution; design and create a map highlighting the problem and solution; and produce a dynamic video about the team’s solution.
Registrations close December 12, 2019.