* AVAILABLE EXHIBITION: EARTH 2U, EXPLORING GEOGRAPHY, Version II Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the National Geographic Society Due to a cancellation, there is an available booking from June 22, 1996, through August 18, 1996. * DESCRIPTION: Unless you're an extra-terrestrial, you probably spend the majority of your time here on Earth. It's your home. It's a convenient place to stand--and you'd be lost without it. But how much do you *really* know about it? EARTH 2U, EXPLORING GEOGRAPHY applies today#s most up-to-date geographic teaching approaches--drawn from the National Geographic Society#s newly updated geographic standards--through hands-on fun for kids: things to lift up, turn around, touch, and smell; computer interactives to play with and explore; digitally-imaged videos to watch and learn from; funny cartoons drawn by noted illustrator Marc Rosenthal; awesome National Geographic photographs; and amusing text by children#s author Paul Rosenthal that asks questions, tells stories, and teaches facts, skills, history, and lore. A funny, spindly-legged cartoon bird named Seymour D. Earth serves as mascot, tour guide, and teacher as he leads kids and their adults through the exhibition. Version II contains these four sections: INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY KIOSK: You don#t have to discover anything to be an explorer. You don#t have to wear a pith helmet, wade through swamps, or go around presuming people are Dr. Livingstone. EARTH 2U, EXPLORING GEOGRAPHY encourages you to become an explorer in your own home, neighborhood, and universe. This introductory section prepares visitors for their adventure through the exhibition with computer interactives that illustrate important geographic concepts. LANDSCAPES/LANDSHAPES: Dorothy picked right up on the fact that not every place looks like Kansas. (Except maybe Oklahoma.) Land comes in different shapes and colors: mountains and plains, sand hills and salt marshes, green forests, red deserts, and icy white tundras. Where you are affects what you do, from the clothes you wear to the foods you eat#and the home in which you live. This section introduces the many faces of the earth and shows how people, cultures, and history are shaped by the shape of the land. POPULATION: Nothing affects geography more than people. People dam rivers, turn forests into farmland, and use up resources like oil, trees, and water. They build houses and highways, breathe air, make garbage, and generally take up space. They also have babies and invent medicines that help them live longer. That#s why the earth#s population will double in the next 40 years. (Just think about *that* the next time you squeeze onto a crowded bus or wait in line for a movie.) Designed to look like a giant #6,000,000,000,# this section examines the impact of a rapidly growing population on our earth. Consumption facts, innovative solutions, and a #Kids Did It!# game convey both the seriousness of the degradation of our natural resources and the success of various conservation programs around the world. EVERYDAY THINGS: It#s easy to think of the world as an enormous place. So big, in fact, that things that happen way over there couldn#t possibly affect us here. This section shows how geography and trade shape our lives, our lunch, everything#right down to the kitchen sink. And we, as individuals, affect the world environment#here, there, and everywhere. #Everything comes from somewhere, even the kitchen sink!# is the theme of this section, designed as an interactive #kitchen.# * EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: The exhibition includes comprehensive educational materials for each exhibitor. These include: an educational trunk, to keep, full of games, maps, and learning activities; geography education curriculum guides drawn from the National Geographic Society's geographic education standards for museum educators and teachers; geography collector cards and albums for every child that visits the show with a school group, and classroom incentives such as buttons, pencils, magnets, and stickers for school groups. * FUNDING ASSISTANCE: In conjunction with its national sponsorship of EARTH 2U, EXPLORING GEOGRAPHY, Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. is offering exhibitors the opportunity to participate in "Challenge Journey: A Fundraising Adventure," a matching grant program. For every dollar that exhibitors raise from individual donors towards the costs of hosting EARTH 2U, EXPLORING GEOGRAPHY, Nissan will match it with fifty cents, up to a total matching gift of $10,000. Devopment materials--including pledge cards for donors and helpful hints to assist exhibitors in securing donations--will be provided to each exhibitor. * SPECIFICATIONS (Version II): 188 square meters (2,000 square feet) $18,000 for 8 weeks, plus prorated shipping estimated at $7,500 Moderate security; some special requirements apply. Exhibitors will be required to provide SITES with a complete and current facility report. * FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please call the SITES Scheduling Office at (202) 357-3168 x4, or e-mail to <[log in to unmask]> to receive a full packet of information about the exhibition. Other dates are also available for both Version I and Version II, which will both travel into the next millenium. EARTH 2U, EXPLORING GEOGRAPHY has been organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the National Geographic Society. The exhibition and educational programs have been made possible through the generous support of Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. __________________ Nicole M. Bouvier Scheduling and Exhibitor Relations Coordinator Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) <[log in to unmask]> e-mail (202) 357-3168 x120 phone (202) 357-4324 fax