Journalist Paul Salopek has been en route since January of 2013. He’s walking across three continents to follow the path of our first human ancestors. He started in Ethiopia, the birthplace of humankind, and will end at the southern tip of South America by 2020. Along the way, Paul is writing stories not only about the major issues of our time – such as climate change, technological innovation, and cultural survival – but he’s also seeking out personal, lesser-known stories from the unique individuals he meets.

Register a classroom by Monday, February 27.

National Geographic education grants will support projects that aim to teach people about the world and how it works, empowering them to make it a better place. Funded projects must align with one of the Society’s three focus lenses: The Human Journey, Wildlife and Wild Places, and Our Changing Planet. These lenses are described in more detail on the new grants website.

We are looking for educators who have new ideas for effective strategies in teaching and learning – at any age level, with any audience, and in any location – in the U.S. and internationally. We aim to support educators in formal and informal settings, in community education and outreach, and educator professional development.

We also seek projects that aim to measure what works in teaching and learning – educators who want to research and measure how learning takes place. This dovetails withNational Geographic’s Learning Framework: the set of attitudes, skills, and knowledge that embody the explorer mindset.

Grants will be awarded on a quarterly basis. Upcoming submission deadlines are:

• April 1, 2017, for decision by August 21, 2017
• July 1, 2017, for decision by November 30, 2017

Find grant guidelines and submit applications at http://www.nationalgeographic.org/grants/.

Find out more about Nat Geo WILD’s seventh annual Big Cat Week programming.

Dr. Sarah Parcak Launches Her TED Prize Wish: GlobalXplorer    

Dr. Parcak is the 2016 TED Prize winner, a National Geographic Fellow and professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. GlobalXplorer is the result of Dr. Parcak’s TED Prize, which is generated each year to one exceptional individual, offering them $1 million and the resources of the TED community to create a world-changing project. Dr. Parcak wanted anyone with an Internet connection to “discover and protect the millions of unknown archaeological sites across the globe.”

GlobalXplorer was built in collaboration with the TED Prize, National Geographic, satellite imagery and analytics firm DigitalGlobe, Inc., and platform developer Mondo Robot. While GlobalXplorer has ambitions to span the globe, it is launching in Peru, where Sustainable Preservation Initiative will serve as the on-the-ground partner.

You Decide: Presidential Decisions is an excellent companion to the social studies classroom, particularly any study of the Cold War era. It also highlights the importance of human rights to President Ford, and can lead to discussions about these rights and how presidents can advocate for issues that are important to them. The focus on decision-making in this interactive offers a way to introduce a powerful process that can be used in students’ own decision-making, or in analyzing decisions they may read about in historical context or in current events.

To extend the life of this important documentary beyond its Feb. 6th television broadcast, National Geographic and Picture Motion are partnering on the Gender Revolution Tour, allowing any high school, college, university or nonprofit to sign up to host a free screening and discussion.

Requests to participate in the Gender Revolution Tour can be made by filling out the request form. Screening hosts will be sent a DVD of the film and an extensive discussion guide (PDF), created by Journeys in Film, that provides additional resources on understanding gender.