Where in the World

The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is located in central Mexico in the states of Estado de Mexico and Michoacan. Covering over 200 square miles, the Reserve was created to protect the wintering habitat of the monarch butterfly. First discovered as an overwintering site in 1975, it was proclaimed a Reserve and Wildlife Zone by government decree in 1980.

Walden Pond is located in Concord, Mass. It is 102 feet deep covering 61 acres with a 1.7 mile circumference. While seemingly unimpressive and indistinct as a natural feature, Walden Pond is nonetheless one of the most famous places in the United States. Often called the birthplace of the conservation movement, Walden Pond served as the inspiration and subject for Henry David Thoreau’s classic "Walden; or Life in the Woods." Thoreau’s book inspired awareness and respect for the natural environment for generations.

Crater Lake is found in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon. At nearly 2,000 feet, it is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the deepest in the world. The lake lies in the caldera (basin) of a volcano that collapsed following eruption about 7,700 years ago. It is surrounded by steep rock walls as high as 2,000 feet in some locations and is about five miles in diameter.

The Mesoamerican Reef is one of the largest reefs in the world, second only to the Great Barrier Reef. The reef spans nearly 700 miles from the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula to the Bay Islands of Honduras. It covers 115 million acres and includes ocean habitats, coastal zones and tropical and cloud forests. There are more than 60 species of coral and 500 species of fish in the reef. It is also home to the whale shark, the world’s largest fish.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, located in western North Dakota, is a unique park. Not only is it the only park to serve as a memorial, but its association with the 26^th president makes it as rich in historic resources as it is in natural wonder.

South America is home to many interesting land formations and natural wonders, including Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat on Earth. The area is the remnant of prehistoric Lake Minchin, which left behind the enormous salt deposits visible today along with two smaller lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake.

The Everglades National Park in southern Florida provides a unique home to hundreds of species. The area contains an intricate combination of ecosystems; hardwood hammocks pineland, mangroves, coastal lowlands, freshwater slough, freshwater marl prairie, cypress, estuarine, and marine (to learn more about each of these ecosystems, including identifying characteristics, click here.

With the release of the new movie Australia (November 26, 2008), Australia is being placed into the pop culture spotlight, making now an opportune time to teach about Australia in the classroom. Ayers Rock is one of the most famous geological structures in the world, and is located in the desolate Northern Territory of Australia. Its aboriginal name is Uluru, and aborigines still use Uluru to this day for religious ceremonies. Some areas of the rock are restricted from having pictures taken, as they are sacred, restricted places for either males or females. To avoid all unnecessary contact with these sacred places in society, these areas are never photographed.

As climate change effects are now being better understood, there are few examples more visually demonstrative of these changes than Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Mount Kilimanjaro is located between several national parks (Amboseli National Park and Tsavo West National Park in Kenya, and Kilimanjaro National Park and Arusha National Park in Tanzania) and stands as Africa’s tallest point at 19,340 feet (5,895 m). Ironically, the term “Kilimanjaro” comes from the Swahili term “Kilima” meaning “little hill” and “njaro” meaning white or shining, referring to the ice cap at the summit.