02 Dec 12:38
WASHINGTON (Nov. 14, 2008)--National Geographic invites budding explorers on a seven-day "tour" of the marvelous cultures and natural wonders of the Americas during Geography Awareness Week 2008, Nov. 16-22. Geography Awareness Week is part of Geography Action!, an annual conservation and awareness program for schools and students in grades K through 12, designed to educate and excite youngsters about the world's natural, cultural and historic treasures. This year's spotlight on the Americas is National Geographic's third leg of a five-year journey focusing its geographic lens on five world regions.

At the Geography Action! Web site (nationalgeographic.com/geographyaction), teachers can find an assortment of resources, including hands-on activities; downloadable lesson plans and maps; a free, downloadable Americas map kit with tips for creating a jumbo-sized map of the Western Hemisphere; and links to additional resources on the Americas.

"Our compelling maps, activities, lesson plans and educational resources on the Americas will help students and teachers learn about these extraordinarily diverse continents," said Terry Garcia, National Geographic executive vice president of Mission Programs. "Web resources give students and teachers the necessary tools to understand the varied cultures and history of the Americas, the importance of their local regions, and the larger issues of relationships among people, places and environments."

Geography Action! is a program of National Geographic Education & Children's Programs, which provides grants, training, hands-on activities and support for educators and organizations.

02 Dec 12:38
WASHINGTON (Oct. 14, 2008)A group of Maine students will have the unique opportunity this month to document their communities of Vinalhaven and North Haven Islands under the direction of National Geographic contributing photographers Amy Toensing and Matt Moyer during a National Geographic Photo Camp. From Monday, Oct. 20, to Wednesday, Oct. 22, the high schoolers will photograph, edit and design a portrait of their experiences on the islands. The Photo Camp is presented in partnership with the Island Institute, an organization that supports the islands' communities and helps preserve the region's biodiversity.

During the three-day workshop, the young photographers will explore the natural environment of the two geographically close island communities. Toensing and Moyer will brief the students on photographic vision, equipment and technique and guide them through the process of creating a story through photography and writing, working with cameras and laptop computers provided by National Geographic. The students will create a multimedia show, using the images, which will convey the students' perception of the experience.

Participants, their families and community members are invited to a presentation of the students' work on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 4 p.m. at Waterman's Community Center, 12 Main Street, North Haven, and at 7 p.m. at Vinalhaven High School, 22 Arcola Lane, Vinalhaven.

Following the Photo Camp, four students will be selected to be youth ambassadors for Pop!Tech, an acclaimed ideas summit held each fall in Camden, Maine, exploring the new ideas, technologies and forces of change shaping our future. During the conference, Oct. 23-25, the student ambassadors will have the opportunity to learn from and participate in sessions with eminent thought leaders and change agents. The student also will present their multimedia show from Photo Camp and photograph the Pop!Tech presenters and conference fellows. Their images from the conference will displayed during the Pop!Tech closing gala on Oct. 25.

"We hope that Photo Camp 2008 will provide students with a unique lens on the world and help expand their awareness of the environment and their impact on it," said Terry Garcia, National Geographic's executive vice president, Mission Programs. "We are honored to participate in this endeavor."

The theme of the Photo Camp is environment and conservation, and the aim is to draw attention to youth perspectives on their generation's connection to the natural world.

EVOLT SLR cameras for the Photo Camp have been provided by Olympus Imaging America Inc. Memory cards have been donated to the Photo Camp program by PNY Technologies.

In addition to Toensing's work for National Geographic magazine, she has covered editorial assignments for various national and international publications and private corporations since 2000. Her photographic stories intimately render the lives of ordinary people, and her images have received honors in International Pictures of the Year competitions. In 2003 Toensing was named Photographic Alumni Fellow at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, where she worked on a portrait of Muslim teenage girls living in Western culture.

Moyer's photographic work in Egypt, New York City and Iraq focuses on the people behind the news story, and he was named a Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow for the 2007-2008 academic year at the University of Michigan.

National Geographic Missions Programs is sponsoring other Photo Camps this year in Taos, N.M.; Rajasthan, India; Chesapeake Bay; Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.D.; Costa Rica; Appalachian Trail; New York City; Santa Monica, Calif., and Miami, in partnership with VisionWorkshops of Annapolis, Md. Visit nationalgeographic.com/photocamp for more information.

The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge," the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 325 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.

The Island Institute is a membership-based nonprofit that serves as a voice for the balanced future of the islands and waters of the Gulf of Maine, particularly the 15 year-round island and working-waterfront communities along the Maine coast. More information is available at islandinstitute.org.

Pop!Tech is a renowned ideas summit and social innovation network dedicated to accelerating the positive impact of world-changing people and ideas. The organization is known for its visionary Pop!Tech conferences, engaging media productions and the innovative social change programs that it fosters worldwide. "Pop!Tech 2008: Scarcity and Abundance" will be held Oct. 23-25, 2008, in Camden, Maine, and will be simulcast live on www.poptech.org.

02 Dec 12:38
WASHINGTON (Oct. 1, 2008)--The National Geographic Kids Web site has rocketed into a new universe of gaming with the launch of "Pluto's Secret," a sophisticated, multi-level, online adventure game available now at www.nationalgeographic.com/kids.

"Pluto's Secret" joins hundreds of videos, interactive features, games, stories and recently launched blogs on the site, which was designated a 2008 Parents' Choice Recommended award winner in August. All the content on www.nationalgeographic.com/kids is created specifically for kids and tied to the National Geographic mission of inspiring viewers to care about the planet.

"Pluto's Secret," geared for 8- to 14-year-olds, marks the debut of two animated characters named Nat and Geo (Nathan and Georgia) -- young explorer friends who met in school and have become inseparable -- and their monkey pal Gordo.

Nathan is a nature-lover. He loves ecology, trees, animals and everything that has to do with nature. Georgia is a science buff; she likes chemistry, physics and astronomy. Together, they travel across our solar system, solving missions that unlock information that will eventually reveal why Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Along they way, they must run planetary obstacle courses -- running, jumping and manipulating gravity to avoid lava spouts, gas clouds and melting blocks of ice. On each planet, Nat and Geo meet a robot scientist who helps them get closer to answering the big question about Pluto. Players toggle between playing as the Nat and Geo characters, using each for their unique game-play abilities to complete game tasks quickly.

"This is a very immersive game with arcade- and console- quality graphics and environments, said Michelle Sullivan, executive producer of the National Geographic Kids Web site. "But we also designed the game to ignite the spark of learning in our growing online audience of kids who look to the NatGeo Kids' Web site for in-school and after-school engagement."

The site continues to add to its slate of new interactive features, including more games, videos and several kid-penned blogs. Year-to-date, unique visitors to www.nationalgeographic.com/kids are up 33 percent, according to internal Omniture statistics. Page views have grown by 68 percent in the same period.

To create "Pluto's Secret," National Geographic collaborated with Sarbakan (www.sarbakan.com), a leading casual game development studio based in Qubec City, Canada. Over the last 10 years, Sarbakan has supplied a wide range of industries with cross-platform games and interactive content for clients such as Nickelodeon, Warner Bros, Hasbro, DaimlerChrysler, Viacom, Playfirst and RealArcade. In addition to providing clients with licensed game production services, Sarbakan also offers titles based on its own roster of intellectual properties, including past successful online products such as "Good Night Mr. Snoozleberg," "Firechild," "Arcane" and "Steppenwolf" and brand-new console titles like "Wordmaster" and the upcoming "Dig It Up."

National Geographic Digital Media (NGDM) is the multimedia division of National Geographic Ventures, the wholly owned, taxable subsidiary of the National Geographic Society, one of the world's largest educational and scientific nonprofit organizations. At the forefront of the digital media revolution, NGDM publishes Nationalgeographic.com; delivers multimedia content to digital consumers; manages content partnerships across broadband, mobile, gaming and other consumer digital platforms; and provides video and film footage to commercial, theatrical, education and other digital footage markets.

01 Dec 10:23
As we age and life just seems to pass us by, there are many things we have the tendency to forget about or not ever think about.  One of these so important things we rarely, if ever, think about is what will happen to our beloved pets after we are goneprobably because we never think [...]

30 Nov 16:42
The cool winds of winter are already blowing through the nation.  Some states are experiencing sooner and greater than expected snowfalls.  So, what can you do to make sure your companion animals are prepared for the coming months?  Here are just a handful of helpful tips If your companion animal is older and arthritic, be [...]

23 Nov 15:48
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and whether that conjures warm memories of family gathered around a wonderful feast or a nightmare of in-laws that have inundated your house, it is important to remember that pets will be around for the holidays as well. Personally, Thanksgiving is my favorite meal and it isnt hard to imagine [...]

30 Apr 00:00
A dog that has been in contact with many other dogs, perhaps at a shelter situation may have gotten an upper respiratory infection. A loud, noisy cough is often a characteristic of infectious canine tracheobronchitis. Some cases can be mild with the pet showing few other changes, but in other cases the dog may be quite ill and show a lack of appetite, be lethargic and have some respiratory difficulties. Depending on the degree of severity the dog will need rest, a good diet, perhaps some antibiotics and should be isolated from other dogs to avoid spreading the disease. More complicated cases may need further intervention as determined by the veterinarian.

30 Apr 00:00
It is quite normal for a young dog to investigate their environment and chew on items as part of that process. It is important to provide plenty of appropriate chew toys to avoid damage to household items and to prevent the puppy from ingesting dangerous items. When the puppy cannot be supervised, she should be placed in a safe, dog proofed area. Proper chew toys should be provided. These can be hard rubber toys that have been stuffed with food to make them more attractive. In some situations a puppy might enjoy manipulating feeder toy to get their meal. Rotating toys and providing different ones daily can help direct normal puppy chewing to the right place.

30 Apr 00:00
Depending on the time of year, a dog or puppy may loose a great deal of his undercoat. A puppy will also loose some of their "puppy" fur as he grows an adult coat. An infection or allergy could also cause hair loss. If there are bald areas where the hair is not growing back or the dog is scratching and pulling out the hair, a veterinary visit is needed.