TOP PICKS | 20 TOOLS

Middle and High School Geography Apps and Websites

Geography is concerned with people and places, and the complex relationships between them. The great geography apps, games, and websites on this list help students explore and understand these relationships and how they impact society and culture. As students use these tools to explore more of the planet, they'll begin to think critically about the issues and problems affecting their communities and learn how to be good local and global citizens. To help support students, check out our curated list of atlases, geography quiz tools, map-making programs, and interactive experiences. They offer a nice mix of practical factual learning about states, countries, continents, and more alongside more dynamic exploratory, creative, and critical thinking.

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Explore Interactive Multimedia and Games

National Geographic Education

Top geography resource site provides global exploration opportunities

Bottom line: This is a must-bookmark site for classrooms across the curriculum hunting for inspiring geography-based resources.

Grades: Pre-K–12 Price: Free

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Google Lit Trips

Google Earth-powered tours explore how stories and geography connect

Bottom line: With some initial fiddling, this can be a good option to increase student interest in -- and add depth to -- literary study.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free

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Stack the States 2

Geography trivia game balances facts and fun

Bottom line: This is a clear go-to if you're looking to help students memorize state locations, shapes, capitals, history, and more.

Grades: 2–8 Price: $2.99

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Expeditions

Fire up the warp drive to bring VR field trips to your classroom

Bottom line: With stunning scenes and a flexible delivery method, your students will thank you for journeying together through space and time.

Grades: 2–12 Price: Free, Paid Educators can put together their own kits or purchase a recommended kit. Pricing ranges from $3,999 for 10 students to $9,999 for 30 students.

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GeoBee Challenge HD by National Geographic

Geography buffs can hone their knowledge of places, landmarks

Bottom line: For kids who already know their geography, this is a good way to practice for geography bees, but for kids trying to learn, it can be daunting.

Grades: 3–8 Price: Free

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Oddizzi

Kids travel the world, cultivate global curiosity and responsibility

Bottom line: Kids get a sense of culture and global responsibility via kid-friendly articles and great multimedia.

Grades: 3–8 Price: Free to try, Paid 95 GB Pounds/year classroom and 280 GB Pounds/year for 99 students or under, up to 800 GB Pounds/year for 700 + students

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Google Earth VR

Explore the world with an incredible new perspective and sense of scale

Bottom line: An amazing experience that brings the world to life, despite the heavy investment in VR required.

Grades: 3–12 Price: Free Requires a virtual reality headset.

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Esri GeoInquiries

Captivating, focused map activities support larger curricular lessons

Bottom line: These inquiry-based activities are a valuable visual and investigative resource for teachers and students in many different subjects.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free The ArcGIS for Schools bundle is available to K-12 schools at no cost. Homeschools and youth clubs are also eligible.

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Geoguessr

"Just one more turn" gameplay jazzes up geography

Bottom line: It's not a typical educational game, but students are inspired to explore the world and encouraged to think critically about what defines culture and geography.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free, Paid The optional $2.99/month or $23.88/year Pro version removes ads and allows users to create their own maps for people to play.

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Seterra Geography

Drill geography facts with oddly compelling, no-frills app

Bottom line: A basic but useful way to drill and memorize geography basics.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free, Free to try, Paid On iOS, the free version includes only two maps. It's $1.99 to unlock all the other maps. On Android, there's a free ad-supported version and a $1.99 version without ads.

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BiomeViewer

World habitat app full of intriguing visual comparisons, useful data

Bottom line: This biome reference app helps students get local when understanding their planet Earth.

Grades: 6–12 Price: Free

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Geocaching

Leave and locate hidden packages in a real-world treasure hunt

Bottom line: Kids learn problem-solving, teamwork, and mapping skills, but the site doesn’t provide instruction or explanations for most of those topics; educators will have to fill in the gaps.

Grades: 7–12 Price: Free, Paid Basic membership is free. A premium subscription costs $2.50 a month and gives users extra options, such as downloading multiple geocaches at once.

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StoryMapJS

Pro-oriented storytelling and mapping tool has classroom potential

Bottom line: Getting comfortable with StoryMapJS will require some focus, but students who take the time will gain a new perspective on digital storytelling.

Grades: 7–12 Price: Free

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Get Lost in Atlases and Maps

Google Earth

Cool geographical exploration tool has endless classroom applications

Bottom line: Google Earth is an engaging and completely open-ended app perfect for use across the educational spectrum.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free

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Maps101

Maps and more in this vast history, geography, and civics resource

Bottom line: A well-rounded selection of helpful classroom and research materials; better organization would help kids navigate the site with ease.

Grades: K–12 Price: Free to try Annual subscriptions are $400 to $650 and provide unlimited remote access for an entire school. Teachers can purchase an annual license for $199.

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StrataLogica

High-quality customizable maps help students understand their world

Bottom line: This map app takes time to learn to use but offers both teachers and students highly useful tools for creating custom maps and interactive social studies and science presentations.

Grades: 4–12 Price: Free to try, Paid Begins with 30-day free trial. Educators can then purchase individual packs which include a teacher account, multiple student accounts, and access to additional materials, such as Common Core aligned lesson plans and student activities. In-app content packs are $1.99 each.

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