Geography is seeing. Working with a puzzle is just another way of making the mind work to see, and learn.

These puzzles take you to geographic sites of world significance. By playing them you are not only looking at a picture of a place, but you are working with it in a fun way. For you future world as a teacher, puzzles have an important place in keeping the mind active and alert. Play on...

Note that puzzles with a *** require downloading a file and running it from your hard drive. You will find they puzzles made for your course, or are worth the extra effort to make a point.

• Maps, Globes, General Geography
  • Earth***. Start with the big view. Since the first astronauts saw the earth this way, many have changed their thinking about earth of life on it.
  • World Map***. Get the big picture.
  • World Map. Build your mental map of the world from its most basic picture.
  • Michelle Williams with Globe***. Bring that world view down to a basic world globe.
  • Nava Nava Moe***. Use Gauguin's painting to think about the fact that maps have a message just like art.
  • Geography Class Related Maps
    • Mercator World Map***. Probably the most important map projection ever made. Check out its features. Note the distortion on the top and bottom. Remember that eight to nine Greenlands can fit on the real South America.
    • Robinson Projection***. This popular projection was the choice of thre National Geographic until recently.
    • Van der Grinten***. An older favorite of the National Geographic. It maintains no properties, but gives that round world look. Usually it is cut off from its full extent view.
    • Mollweide Projection***. An modern projection that shows a fairly nice looking global view.
    • Goodes InterruptedProjection***. A popular map in atlases. Kids can be bothered by the gaps.
    • Political Map [Latin America]***. The basic map of K-6.
    • Choroplethic Map: ND 65+***. The basic data map.
    • Cartogram of World Population***. The cartogram is growing in popularity.
    • Isoline: Crater Lake Topographic Map***. The isoline map shows rate of change. It is for the upper end of the K-6 crowd.
    • Weather Vane. Those North, South, East, West, etc directions are for the 7-9 year-olds.
• North America
  • Dawson's Creek***. What does one learn in just watching a TV show about the place in which it is set?
  • Tectonic Plates Map***. The major plates of the Continental Drift scheme.
  • Banff Springs, Alberta shows the Canadian Rockies in one of their world famous locations. Notice the massive peaks of the Rockies and check out the Fairmont Hotel for more information.
  • Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. This bridge is included in most people's image of San Francisco.
  • Canadian Shield Map***. Note its extent.
  • NW Ontario in the Shield***. Note the flat scoured surface with lakes and trees.
  • Map of Canada***. Listen to the national anthem of Canada while you set a puzzle of the map of the nation. From Lesson Tutor.
  • Hydrologic Cycle***. The Hydrologic Cycle is a basic element of K-6 Science and Geography. Check on it in DeBlij and Muller.
  • Mt. Rushmore in Western South Dakota fascinates every one who passes by. The carved heads of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and T. Roosevelt never fail to please. One of America's wonders. For more information on what it is and how it was built, go the National Park Service Site. Check out the story. It is fascinating.
  • Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park is one of America's prime natural wonders. The fissures underneath heat ground water to the point of ejecting it with a slightly off regularity.
  • Place the States from Sheppard Software, is a puzzle of the states that judges your work by adding up how many miles off you were in placing the states.
  • Red and Blue America***. Explore the social and political landscape of America with this very significant recent map. Note that it is a a choroplethic map.
  • Nine Nations of North America***, from Joel Garreau's book of the same name, is a classic regionalization of North America. It fits the standards to the max. Map from Wikipedia.Com
• Latin America
  Cancun, Mexico is where every one wants to go for Spring Break. Kids learn early about places like this.
  • Carmen Miranda***. Miranda is part of our image of Latin America.
  • Latin American Political Map***. Know thy countries.
• Europe
  • Find It Europe is a location game. Learn those european countries with this site.
  • Gondolas of Venice. Every kids learns about the gondolas of Venice, Italy. Venice is built on the water. Slightly out of date, but a classic city.
  • Mad Dogs*** takes a Jack Vettriano painting that makes the point about an old phrase that "only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon time sun."
  • Marianne of France***. The basic stamp of France. She changes over time. Even Bardot was once a model for this stamp series.
  • Marianne of France***. The basic stamp of France. Another example.
  • Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Pisa, Italy, is a classic. The word now is that it may have been designed to lean. It may have been the style.
  • Arles, France. We often think of Europe in terms of its urban landscapes. We have to remember that rural landscapes coexist with the more famous urban. By Van Gogh from Jigzone.com.
  • The Sound of Music***. The Sound of Music is the best look at the Alps short of being there. Check out this Twentieth-Century Fox film.
  • Sound of Music II***. Maria stands next to an Alpine stream near the start of the film. Note the lush landscape.
• Africa and the Middle East
  • Africa Drag and Drop helps you learn the names of the African countries by dragging their names to the map. Not quite a jigsaw puzzle, but it is a learning experience in any case.
  • Poverty: Firewood***. Fuel is hard to come by in the UDC. Women in many places spend hours every day gathering up firewood.
  • Egyptian Tomb Art. The pyramids and tombs of Ancient Egypt are a classic part of our historical studies. From Jigzone.
  • Colonial Africa***. This map shows how much of Africa was under colonial domination and subject to damage.
• Asia
  • Grand Palace, Bangkok, in Thailand (Siam). The King and I is one of those musicals that your high school might put on. Be ready for it with some knowledge of the King and Siam (now Thailand).
  • Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is India's most widely known structure. Check out in puzzle form. Learn about it in our film on India.
  • Map of India***. Check out the Ghats, the Deccan Plateau, and places around India.
  • Mai Kuraki*** represents JPOP music. While AMerican 7-9th grade girls go for Brittany Spears, the Japanese have their own singers. Mai is among them, but she actually can sing.
  • Namie Amuro*** is another JPOP singer who can sing. Namie is actually Japanese-Italian by birth.
  • Mt. Fuji. Mt. Fuji is the most photographed site in the world, and it is a symbol of Japan.
• Oceania and Australia/New Zealand
  Pacific Island. The National Geographic has made the South Pacific the site of romance for kids and young people for decades. Join in on the fun.