6 Virtual Resources for Learning World Geography

1. GeoGuessr.com

This is a fantastic, immersive online game that’s great to play as a group. GeoGuessr uses Google Maps to drop the player in the middle of an unknown location. Using only your surrounding context clues, you make a guess of where the world you could possibly be. If discovering the whole wide, wild world is a bit of a daunting task, you can start off slow with a specifically themed game. Explore the streets of New York City, or be whisked away to the most Famous Places on the planet.

2. Stack the States iPhone/iPad App

This game was voted the Best Kids App for iPad, and is one of the more fun and engaging ways for elementary-age students to learn the geography of the United States. And this App isn’t a one trick pony; for $1.99 in the iTunes store, it comes with five different games for optimum discovery. Play with the US as a jigsaw puzzle, or learn the capitals of each state too! Stack the States Lite is a free download, and features only the favorite stackable game.

3. Cities of the World

In this challenging virtual game, players have to pin a point on the map of the world where they think a major city is located. You earn points based on how close your pin is to the precise location of the city, and you have only 15 seconds to make your choice. The developers also added the option to play with different languages like Spanish and French, so this game can double as a language learning lesson!

4. Map-race.com

Map Race uses Google Maps to give you a birds eye view of an unknown city or landscape, and lets you choose from a selection of four options to guess where you’re spying. The clock is ticking, so try to guess where you are as soon as you can to get the best score! And be careful with your guesses—a wrong guess adds to your overall time.The person with the lowest time is the winner. You can create an account to track your progress and compare scores with friends.

5. Create a “treasure hunt”

 This game lets you create a quiz to guide students around the world on a treasure hunt. You provide a clue for each entry, and the location of an establishment, anywhere in the world! Perhaps you can do a tour of State Houses in every major United States city, or a map that visits all the wonders of the world.

6. Lizardpoint.com

This website has lots of clickable puzzles for students to name countries and cities all around the globe. You can focus in on certain regions, like Europe and The Americas, or even certain countries. One quiz tests your knowledge on the different counties of Ireland! Other quizzes have students match world leaders, historical and current, with the country they lead, or pair flags with their homes.

By Samantha DiMauro, Education World Contributor.