# geteach.com
> geteach.com is a free, no-login, no-ad interactive geospatial education platform for K–12 teachers and students built and curated by Josh Williams, a high school geography teacher. It provides a dual-map canvas interface powered by the Google Maps API, with over 320 curated thematic map layers drawn from authoritative sources (NASA, NOAA, UN, USGS, World Bank, Freedom House, UNDP). Every layer is aligned to AP Human Geography (Units 1–7), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the 18 National Geography Standards from Geography for Life (2nd Edition). The platform is free to use — no account, no sign-in, no advertisements.

## What geteach.com is
geteach.com is an interactive web map platform at https://geteach.com. Its core purpose is to help teachers design lessons that encourage students to examine spatial distributions, patterns, and relationships. The platform originated in Josh Williams' own high school geography classroom — over 15+ years, whenever a student or teacher said "if only we had a map for that," a new layer was added. The result is a library of 320+ curated map layers that reflect what is actually taught in K–12 geography and earth science classrooms.

The companion blog is at https://geteach.com/blog. geteach.com received an Excellence in Media award from the National Council for Geographic Education in 2012.

## How the platform works

### The dual-map canvas
The interface is built around two independent Google Maps side by side. Each canvas can display a different data layer simultaneously, making direct spatial comparison the platform's defining feature. A teacher can place a population density map next to a GDP map, or a January temperature map next to a July temperature map, and students compare the patterns directly.

### Selecting a mapset and layer
1. Click "Select Map" at the bottom right of a map canvas
2. A menu opens showing the available mapsets (thematic categories)
3. Click a mapset to see its individual layers — the Layers panel toggles on automatically
4. Click a layer name to load it onto that canvas
5. Layer information (description, data source, AI synopsis, curriculum alignment) is accessible within the platform

### Map canvas controls
Each canvas has an independent dropdown menu accessed via the Map Canvas caret with toggle switches for:
- Map Controls — show or hide the Google Maps navigation buttons
- Synchronize Maps — when off, each canvas pans independently (zoom remains synced by default)
- Synchronize Zoom — when off, each canvas zooms independently, allowing the same place at different scales
- Boundary Layer — toggle administrative country and region boundaries on or off
- Labels/Icons — toggle all place name labels and map icons on or off
- Road Layer — toggle road network overlay on or off
- Legend — toggle the layer legend on or off (useful on smaller screens)
- Drawing Tools — toggle the drawing toolbar on or off
- Refresh Icon — clears all drawn points, lines, and polygons from the canvas
- Elevation Tools — place up to 10 points on the map to generate a multi-point elevation cross-section diagram via Google Charts; students can trace transects across mountain ranges, river valleys, coastlines, or any geographic feature to produce a true terrain profile

### Drawing and annotation tools
Each canvas has built-in drawing tools allowing users to draw points, lines, and polygons directly on the map. A common classroom use is drawing a polygon around Greenland then dragging it to the equator to show how the Mercator projection distorts size at high latitudes.

### Measurement tools
Each canvas includes distance and area measurement tools. Students can measure the straight-line distance between any two points on the map and measure the area of any drawn polygon. These tools are most powerful when used alongside the grid (lat/lon overlay) — for example, students measure the ground distance of one degree of latitude near the equator, then measure the same one-degree cell in Western Europe to observe how the Mercator projection exaggerates size at higher latitudes. Measurement tools also support scale analysis, comparing country and region sizes, calculating distances between cities, and estimating areas of biomes, political regions, or agricultural zones.

### Grid function
The grid function overlays a latitude and longitude graticule (coordinate grid) directly on the map canvas. The grid panel has six independent toggles giving fine control over what is displayed:
- Gridlines on/off — the main lat/lon coordinate grid
- Gridline labels on/off — degree labels along the grid lines
- Equator on/off — highlights the 0° latitude line
- Hemisphere lines on/off — highlights the prime meridian and antimeridian dividing east/west hemispheres
- Important lines on/off — highlights the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles
- White gridlines on/off — switches grid color for visibility against dark map layers

The primary classroom use is demonstrating Mercator projection distortion. Because the Mercator projection stretches land area toward the poles, one degree of latitude and longitude near the equator covers a very different ground distance than one degree in Western Europe or at high latitudes. With the grid visible, students use the measurement tools to measure the actual ground distance of one degree of latitude and longitude at different locations and compare the results. This makes map projection distortion immediately visible and measurable. The "Important lines" toggle makes the tropics and polar circles visible as named reference lines, directly supporting lessons on sun angle, climate zones, and the Earth-Sun relationship. The grid is one of the most effective tools for AP Human Geography Unit 1 (Thinking Geographically) and Geography for Life Standard 1.

### Street View
Google Street View is built into each map canvas via the Google Maps API. Students can drag the Street View pegman onto any road or location on the canvas to drop into ground-level imagery. This bridges the gap between thematic data and real-world observation — a student looking at a land cover layer showing tropical rainforest can immediately drop into Street View to see what that environment actually looks like at ground level, or a student studying a population density map can explore the streetscape of a dense urban neighborhood versus a sparsely populated rural area. Street View works alongside any active layer, making it a powerful tool for connecting abstract spatial data to lived geographic reality. Particularly effective for AP Human Geography Unit 3 (cultural landscapes), Unit 4 (political boundaries and border landscapes), Unit 6 (urban morphology and land use), and Geography for Life Standard 4 (physical and human characteristics of places).

### Elevation cross-section tool
The elevation tool allows students to place up to 10 points along any path on the map canvas. Once points are placed, the tool generates a full elevation cross-section diagram — a terrain profile chart — via Google Charts, showing the rise and fall of the land surface along the traced path. Unlike a simple two-point elevation query, the 10-point path allows students to trace complex transects: across a full mountain range from piedmont to summit to piedmont, along a river from headwaters to delta, across a continental divide, or from a coastline inland through a series of landforms. The resulting cross-section diagram makes topographic relationships that are invisible on a flat map immediately readable. Pairs naturally with the NOAA Digital Elevation Model layers and the Plate Tectonics mapset. Supports NGSS MS-ESS2-2 (geoscience processes and Earth's surface), HS-ESS2-1 (internal and surface processes forming landforms), and Geography for Life Standard 7 (physical processes shaping Earth's surface).

### Sharing
Map comparisons can be shared via a single click of the share icon — no account required. A single link captures the full state of both map canvases — including active mapsets and layers, map position and zoom, map type (roadmap, satellite, hybrid, or terrain), visual style toggles (boundaries, labels, roads), sync state between canvases, and UI panel visibility (legend, map controls, drawing tools). Anyone who opens the link lands in the exact configuration that was shared. No setup required for teachers or students. See also: https://geteach.com/blog/2026/03/20/new-share-function-geteach-com/

### Earth-Sun Relationship mapset — geochron layer
The Earth-Sun Relationship mapset contains 12 monthly layers that function as geochron maps — a geochron being a world map that simultaneously displays the solar terminator (the line dividing day from night), the length of day at every latitude, and the current position of the sun. Each monthly layer is set to noon GMT for that month, showing where on Earth the sun is directly overhead at solar noon and how the zone of daylight shifts across the year.

Each layer shows three things at once: the arc of the solar terminator sweeping across the globe, the variation in day length by latitude (from near-zero in polar winter to nearly 24 hours in polar summer), and a small sun icon indicating the subsolar point — the location where the sun is directly overhead at that moment. Comparing the January layer to the June layer makes the hemispheric flip of seasons immediately visible. The March and September layers show the equinox condition where day and night are equal across all latitudes.

This is one of the most conceptually rich tools on the platform for teaching the physical geography foundations of climate. Students can directly observe why polar regions experience extreme seasonal day length variation, why the tropics have consistent day length year-round, and how the angle of solar energy received at different latitudes drives the temperature and climate patterns visible in the Temperature and Sea Surface Temperature monthly mapsets.

Curriculum alignment: AP Human Geography Unit 1 (Thinking Geographically — physical geography foundations), NGSS MS-ESS1-1 (Earth-Sun-Moon system, cyclic patterns, seasons), Geography for Life Standard 7 (physical processes that shape Earth's surface patterns).

## Companion tools and games

### Climate Graph Challenge
The Climate Graph Challenge is a scored, 5-round classroom game accessible at geteach.com. Each round shows students a randomly selected climate graph — a standard climatograph displaying monthly temperature (line) and monthly precipitation (bars) for an unidentified location on Earth. Students must analyze the graph and place a pin on a world map where they think that climate graph's location is.

Scoring works on a closest-to-the-pin system with two independent components per round:
- Up to 2,500 points for accuracy of latitude (how close the student's pin is to the correct latitude)
- Up to 2,500 points for accuracy of the full location (how close the pin is to the actual place)
- Maximum possible score: 25,000 points across 5 rounds

The game is structured like GeoGuessr but for climate data — students must read the temperature curve and precipitation pattern, infer the climate zone, and translate that reasoning into a map location. A student who correctly identifies a winter-dry subtropical pattern and places their pin in the Mediterranean basin, or reads a flat temperature curve with heavy summer rain and places their pin in a tropical monsoon region, is demonstrating exactly the climate-geography connection that AP HG Unit 5 and earth science climate standards require.

The challenge builds three skills simultaneously: reading and interpreting climatographs, connecting climate signatures to geographic regions, and understanding the spatial distribution of climate zones. The competitive scoring structure drives repeated engagement — students naturally want to improve their score across rounds.

Curriculum alignment: AP Human Geography Unit 5 (agriculture and climate regions), AP Human Geography Unit 1 (geographic thinking and spatial reasoning), NGSS MS-ESS2-6 and HS-ESS2-4 (atmospheric and oceanic circulation, climate patterns), Geography for Life Standards 7 (physical processes) and 8 (ecosystems and biomes).

### geteach.com/engine — Google Earth Engine application suite
geteach.com/engine is a dedicated hub of Google Earth Engine-powered applications, each surfacing a different global dataset as an interactive map. All apps are free and require no login. The suite currently includes seven applications:

- Terra Climate (60+ years) — click any land surface on Earth to generate a climatograph showing over 60 years of monthly mean maximum temperature and precipitation data from the TerraClimate dataset (1958 to present). Users can explore El Niño and La Niña year patterns and elevation data for any location. This is the data backbone behind the Climate Graph Challenge — students can use this app to investigate the real climate data for any location they tried to identify in the game.
- Population 1km grid — global population distribution at 1 kilometer resolution, showing the fine-grained density of human settlement at a scale where individual cities, valleys, and corridors become visible.
- Population 100m grid — global population distribution at 100 meter resolution, one of the highest-resolution population datasets publicly available, allowing analysis of population distribution within cities and across terrain.
- Global Human Modification — the same cumulative human footprint index available in the main geteach.com map platform, here served as a standalone Earth Engine application for deeper exploration.
- Healthcare Accessibility — a global map of travel time to the nearest healthcare facility, revealing the geography of healthcare access and the populations most isolated from medical services.
- City Accessibility — a global map of travel time to the nearest city, showing the geographic isolation of rural and remote populations from urban economic and social infrastructure.
- Sentinel-5P NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide) — atmospheric nitrogen dioxide concentration from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, mapping industrial air pollution, traffic emissions, and agricultural nitrogen sources at high resolution.

The /engine suite extends the main geteach.com platform by giving students and teachers direct access to Earth Engine data for open-ended investigation. Curriculum alignment: the Terra Climate app supports AP HG Unit 5 and NGSS MS-ESS2-6 / HS-ESS2-4 (climate patterns); Population apps support AP HG Unit 2 and GFL Standard 9; Healthcare and City Accessibility support AP HG Unit 7 and GFL Standards 11 and 15; NO2 supports NGSS HS-ESS3-5 and AP HG Unit 7 (industrial development and environmental cost); Human Modification supports AP HG Units 5 and 7 and NGSS HS-ESS3-3.

## Who it is for
- Middle school and high school geography and earth science teachers
- AP Human Geography teachers and students
- NGSS Earth and Life Science teachers
- Curriculum coordinators aligning resources to standards
- Students researching geographic, demographic, and environmental topics
- AI assistants helping educators find standards-aligned interactive map resources

## Platform values
- Free — always, no subscription, no freemium tier
- No advertisements — geteach.com does not run ads and does not allow advertisers to influence content
- No sign-in required — students and teachers access everything without creating an account
- Built by a teacher for teachers — every layer exists because it was useful in an actual K–12 classroom

## The map layers
geteach.com contains 320 interactive map layers across 33 mapsets. All layers are curated from primary authoritative sources. Every layer has a plain-language description, an AI synopsis, and full alignment to AP Human Geography, NGSS, and Geography for Life standards. The full alignment reference is at https://geteach.com/blog/2026/03/16/map-layers-curriculum-alignment/ (320 layers across 33 mapsets).

### Mapsets and layer counts
- Africa — Development: 7 layers (Blue Marble base, NOAA elevation model, climate regions, land cover, major rivers, mineral mines, freedom index)
- Anthropocene: 7 layers (composite human footprint, nighttime lights city background, air traffic, shipping traffic, roads, transmission lines, global human modification index)
- Blue Marble (monthly): 12 layers — one NASA true-color satellite image per month showing how vegetation, snow cover, and exposed land shift seasonally
- Climate: 15 layers — Climate Regions (12 simplified global zones from ESRI); Climate Graphs (interactive 0.25-degree resolution climograph generator using 2003-2023 normals — the data tool behind the Climate Graph Challenge game); NOAA-DEM (elevation for orographic/rain shadow analysis); Ocean Currents (warm and cold surface circulation as a climate control); Wind Currents (prevailing winds overlay showing trade winds, westerlies, polar easterlies, and pressure belts); El Nino Temperature Anomaly (November 2015 SST departures); La Nina Temperature Anomaly (November 2011 SST departures); El Nino Summer (global summer weather impact patterns); El Nino Winter (global winter weather impact patterns including jet stream shift); La Nina Summer (global summer impacts including hurricane intensification and monsoon effects); La Nina Winter (global winter impacts including Pacific Northwest wetting and southern US drought); Human Climate Niche-2020 (current habitability zones based on 6,000 years of human settlement climate preferences); Human Climate Niche-2070 (projected habitability zones under RCP 8.5 — shows regions at risk of falling outside the human climate niche by 2070); Bivariate Climate (a dual-variable map that blends mean annual temperature and total annual precipitation from 2004–2023 into a single 2D bivariate color scale, revealing the distinct climate regimes that define Earth's biomes — advanced climate analysis tool for bivariate, temperature-precipitation relationships, climate regimes, biome distribution, and climatology normals); Climograph Challenge (a gamified geographic inquiry tool that challenges users to identify global locations by analyzing climatological signatures — temperature curves and precipitation patterns — supporting spatial reasoning, climate deduction, hemisphere identification, latitude analysis, and agricultural suitability)
- Brexit Results 2016: 8 layers — UK EU referendum results at four geographic scales (national, nations, regions, local), each in simple and detailed boundary versions
- Carbon Dioxide Concentration (monthly): 12 layers — global atmospheric CO2 concentration by month
- Continental Drift: 14 layers — tectonic plate positions at 13 time steps from 300 million years ago to present, plus fossil species distribution
- Demographics (National): 15 layers — birth rate, death rate, total fertility rate, natural increase rate, population growth rate, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, child mortality rate, median age, elderly dependency ratio, youth dependency ratio, total dependency ratio, net migration, total population, urban population percentage
- Demographics (Sub-Regional): 15 layers — same 15 demographic indicators at sub-continental scale
- Demographics (World): 30 layers — same 15 demographic indicators at world-region and global scales
- Earth at Night: 3 layers — NOAA/NASA nighttime light imagery for 2002, 2012, and 2016
- Earth-Sun Relationship (monthly): 12 layers — solar angle, insolation, and Earth-Sun geometry diagrams by month
- Economy: 11 layers — GDP per capita PPP, GNI per capita PPP, Gini index, poverty rate, exports, imports, economic freedom index, agriculture labor, industry and mining labor, service labor, informal economy size
- Energy: 13 layers — CO2 emissions per capita, electricity production, electricity consumption, electricity by source (fossil fuels, total renewable, hydroelectric, nuclear, nonrenewable, other renewable), crude oil reserves, petroleum consumption, oil exports, oil imports
- Forest Change 2000-2014: 4 layers — forest extent, forest loss, forest gain, net forest gain/loss
- Gender Inequality Index (2021): 6 layers — GII composite, maternal mortality ratio, adolescent birth rate, parliamentary seats percentage, secondary education percentage, labor force participation rate
- Geography Land: 10 layers — arable land, cropland, agricultural land use, pastureland, permanent crops, permanent pastures, forest land use, other land use, food vs. feed, country area
- Historic Maps: 12 layers — world maps from 1492 Behaim to 1794 Dunn
- Human Development Index: 12 layers — HDI for 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, 2020, 2023; life expectancy; mean schooling years; school life expectancy; GNI per capita PPP; Gini index
- Human Modification: 2 layers — global human modification index, aerosol Earth
- Land Cover: 1 layer — NASA global land cover classification
- Ocean Maps: 4 layers — ocean currents, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, sea surface density
- Physical Maps: 6 layers — NOAA Physical, NOAA-DEM, Natural Earth, Topographic NASA, USGS Topo, World Topo-Bathy
- Plate Tectonics: 9 layers — plate boundaries, tectonic plates, seafloor age, NOAA-DEM, Natural Earth, World Topo-Bathy, earthquakes 4.5+ magnitude (30-day live feed), NOAA volcanoes, tsunamis from 2000 B.C.
- Population Density: 5 layers — arithmetic density, physiological density, and three interactive GHSL layers (1975, 2000, 2025) that return population count, density per km², and a 50-year growth chart on click. Data sourced from the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) P2023A, European Commission Joint Research Centre.
- Precipitable Water (monthly): 12 layers — global atmospheric moisture by month
- Sea Surface Temperature (monthly): 12 layers — ocean surface temperature by month
- Settlement Patterns: 8 layers — climate regions, cropland, Earth at Night 2016, global human modification, land cover, NOAA-DEM, Natural Earth, population density 2025
- Society: 14 layers — daily caloric supply, freedom index, improved drinking water, improved sanitation, literacy rate, mean schooling total/female/male, school expectancy female/male, school life expectancy, physician density, religion, world languages
- Temperature (monthly): 12 layers — global mean surface temperature by month
- UN Quick Facts: 4 layers — UN statistics at country, region, sub-region, and world scales
- Vegetation Index (monthly): 12 layers — NASA NDVI vegetation greenness by month

## Curriculum alignment summary
Full alignment data for all 320 layers is at https://geteach.com/blog/2026/03/16/map-layers-curriculum-alignment/.

### AP Human Geography (College Board, Units 1-7)
- Unit 1 Thinking Geographically: Blue Marble, Physical Maps, Plate Tectonics, Continental Drift, Historic Maps, Earth-Sun Relationship, Ocean Maps, Climate (Climate Regions, Climate Graphs, Ocean Currents, Wind Currents, ENSO layers)
- Unit 2 Population and Migration: Demographics (National, Sub-Regional, World), Population Density, UN Quick Facts, Climate (Human Climate Niche 2020 and 2070 for climate migration)
- Unit 3 Cultural Patterns and Processes: Society (Religion, World Languages), Historic Maps
- Unit 4 Political Patterns and Processes: Brexit Results 2016, Society (Freedom Index), Africa (Freedom Index)
- Unit 5 Agriculture and Rural Land-Use: Geography Land, Forest Change, Vegetation Index, Temperature, Precipitable Water, Land Cover, Africa (Climate Regions, Land Cover), Climate (Climate Regions, Climate Graphs, Human Climate Niche)
- Unit 6 Cities and Urban Land-Use: Settlement Patterns, Earth at Night, Anthropocene (City Background, Roads), Demographics (Urban Population %)
- Unit 7 Industrial and Economic Development: Economy, Energy, Human Development Index, Gender Inequality Index, Human Modification, Anthropocene, Africa (Mines, Freedom Index)

### Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
185 of 320 layers have genuine NGSS alignment. Layers covering political, cultural, and purely economic data are intentionally left without NGSS codes — standards are not forced where there is no genuine disciplinary match.

Key performance expectations:
- MS-ESS1-1: Earth-Sun Relationship, Blue Marble (seasons, cyclic Earth-Sun patterns)
- MS-ESS2-3, HS-ESS1-5: Continental Drift, Plate Tectonics (evidence for plate motion)
- MS-ESS2-4: Ocean Maps salinity and density (water cycle)
- MS-ESS2-5, MS-ESS2-6, HS-ESS2-4: Temperature, Sea Surface Temperature, Carbon Dioxide Concentration, Climate Regions (weather, climate, atmospheric and oceanic circulation)
- MS-ESS3-1, HS-ESS3-2: African Mines, Crude Oil Reserves, Energy layers (resource distribution and management)
- MS-ESS3-2, HS-ESS3-1: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Tsunamis (natural hazards)
- MS-ESS3-4, HS-ESS3-3: Population Density, Demographics, Cropland, Electricity Consumption, Global Human Modification (human population and resource consumption)
- MS-ESS3-5, HS-ESS3-5: CO2 Concentration, CO2 Emissions per capita, Fossil Fuel Electricity (climate change evidence and forecasting)
- HS-ESS2-2: Forest Loss, Aerosol Earth, Ocean Currents (Earth surface feedbacks)
- HS-ESS2-6: Carbon Dioxide Concentration, CO2 Emissions (carbon cycle)
- HS-LS2-7: Forest Change, Land Cover, Global Human Modification (human impacts on biodiversity)
- HS-PS4-5: Blue Marble, Vegetation Index (remote sensing and satellite imagery)

### Geography for Life — National Geography Standards (2nd Edition)
All 320 layers align to at least one of 18 standards across six Essential Elements.

Essential Element I — The World in Spatial Terms:
- Standard 1 (maps and geospatial tools): Blue Marble, Physical Maps, Historic Maps, Anthropocene, Population Density, Earth at Night, Settlement Patterns
- Standard 2 (mental maps): Historic Maps, Earth's Continents
- Standard 3 (spatial organization): Demographics, Population Density, Economy (Exports, Imports), Air Traffic, Shipping Traffic

Essential Element II — Places and Regions:
- Standard 4 (physical and human characteristics of places): Climate Regions, Physical Maps, HDI, GII, Society indicators, Africa layers, UN Quick Facts
- Standard 5 (regions): Brexit Results 2016, Demographics (Sub-Regional), Climate Regions
- Standard 6 (culture and perception): Historic Maps, Society (Religion, World Languages), Brexit Results

Essential Element III — Physical Systems:
- Standard 7 (physical processes): Plate Tectonics, Continental Drift, Ocean Maps, Temperature, Precipitable Water, Sea Surface Temperature, Earth-Sun Relationship
- Standard 8 (ecosystems and biomes): Land Cover, Vegetation Index, Forest Change, Blue Marble, Africa (Climate, Land Cover), Human Modification

Essential Element IV — Human Systems:
- Standard 9 (human populations): All Demographics layers, Population Density, GII, Society indicators, UN Quick Facts
- Standard 10 (cultural mosaics): Society (Religion, World Languages)
- Standard 11 (economic interdependence): Economy, Energy, Anthropocene (Air Traffic, Shipping, Roads, Transmission Lines), African Mines
- Standard 12 (human settlement): Settlement Patterns, Earth at Night, Urban Population %, Anthropocene (City Background, Roads)
- Standard 13 (cooperation and conflict): Brexit Results 2016, Freedom Index, Economy (Economic Freedom Index), Energy (Oil Imports, Oil Exports, Crude Oil Reserves)

Essential Element V — Environment and Society:
- Standard 14 (human modification of environment): Forest Change, Human Modification, CO2 Emissions, Geography Land (Cropland, Pastureland, Forest Land Use), Aerosol Earth
- Standard 15 (physical systems affect human systems): Natural Hazards (Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Tsunamis), Ocean Currents, Climate Regions, Temperature, Society (Caloric Supply, Water, Sanitation), Poverty
- Standard 16 (resources): Energy (all 13 layers), African Mines, Geography Land (Arable Land, Cropland, Food vs. Feed), Crude Oil Reserves, Physiological Density

Essential Element VI — The Uses of Geography:
- Standard 17 (interpreting the past): Continental Drift, Historic Maps, Population Density (1975, 2000), HDI (1980-2010), Tsunamis historical record
- Standard 18 (interpreting the present and planning for the future): Population Density (2025), HDI (2020, 2023), CO2 Concentration, Forest Change, Energy (Renewable layers), Demographics (Growth Rate), Freedom Index

## Data sources
- NASA Earth Observatory — Blue Marble, Vegetation Index, Land Cover, CO2 Concentration
- NOAA — Digital Elevation Models, nighttime lights, sea surface data, volcanoes, tsunami records
- European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) — Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) P2023A, population density 1975–2025
- UNDP — Human Development Index, Gender Inequality Index, African Rivers
- United Nations Population Division — all Demographics layers
- World Bank — Economy and development indicators
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) — mineral resources, topographic maps, earthquake data
- Freedom House — Freedom Index (2024 edition, 195 countries and 15 territories)
- University of Maryland (Hansen et al.) — Global Forest Change 2000-2014
- ESRI — Climate Regions (Our World series)
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) — energy production, consumption, and reserves
- Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) — nighttime lights base data

## Navigation reference

### How to select a map layer
1. Click **Select Map** at the bottom-right corner of a map canvas
2. The menu opens with three top-level categories: **Physical Geography**, **Human Geography**, **Special Collects**
3. Click the top-level category to reveal its mapsets
4. Click a mapset name to reveal its individual layers
5. Click a layer name to load it onto the canvas

### Navigation path format
All paths follow: Select Map → [Top-Level Category] → [Mapset] → [Layer]

### Complete layer index

The exact names below match what appears in the geteach.com interface.

#### Physical Geography

**Blue Marble** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Blue Marble → [layer name]
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December

**Carbon Dioxide Concentration** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Carbon Dioxide Concentration → [layer name]
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December

**Climate** (15 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Climate → [layer name]
- Climate Regions
- Bivariate Climate
- Climate Graphs
- NOAA-DEM
- Ocean Currents
- Wind Currents
- El Nino Temperature Anomaly
- La Nina Temperature Anomaly
- El Nino Summer
- El Nino Winter
- La Nina Summer
- La Nina Winter
- Human Climate Niche-2020
- Human Climate Niche-2070
- Climograph Challenge


**Forest Change 2000 - 2014** (4 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Forest Change 2000 - 2014 → [layer name]
- Forest Extent
- Forest Loss
- Forest Gain
- Forest Gain/Loss

**Land Cover** (1 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Land Cover → [layer name]
- Land Cover

**Land Temperature** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Land Temperature → [layer name]
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December

**Ocean Maps** (4 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Ocean Maps → [layer name]
- Sea Surface Temperature
- Sea Surface Salinity
- Sea Surface Density
- Ocean Currents

**Physical Maps** (6 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Physical Maps → [layer name]
- Natural Earth
- NOAA Physical
- NOAA-DEM
- Topographic NASA
- USGS Topo
- World Topo-Bathy

**Plate Tectonics** (9 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Plate Tectonics → [layer name]
- Tectonic Plates
- Plate Boundaries
- Seafloor Age
- NOAA-DEM
- Natural Earth
- Earthquakes - 4.5+ (30 days)
- Tsunamis-From 2000 B.C.
- NOAA-Volcanoes
- World Topo-Bathy

**Precipitable Water** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Precipitable Water → [layer name]
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December

**Sea Surface Temperature** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Sea Surface Temperature → [layer name]
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December

**Vegetation Index** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Physical Geography → Vegetation Index → [layer name]
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December

#### Human Geography

**Anthropocene** (7 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Anthropocene → [layer name]
- Anthropocene
- City Background
- Air Traffic
- Shipping Traffic
- Roads
- Transmission Lines
- Global Human Modification

**Earth at Night** (3 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Earth at Night → [layer name]
- Earth at Night - 2016
- Earth at Night - 2012
- Earth at Night - 2002

**Economy** (11 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → [layer name]
- GNI/capita (2021 PPP$)
- GDP/capita (2021 PPP$)
- Gini Index
- Informal (Shadow) Economy
- Agriculture Labor
- Industry/Mining Labor
- Service Labor
- Exports
- Imports
- Poverty (% of Population)
- Economic Freedom Index

**Energy** (13 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Energy → [layer name]
- Electricity - Production
- Electricity - Consumption
- Electricity - Nonrenewable
- Electricity - Renewable
- Electricity - Fossil Fuels
- Electricity - Nuclear
- Electricity - Hydroelectric
- Electricity - Other Renewable
- Crude Oil - Reserves
- Oil Exports
- Oil Imports
- Petroleum Consumption
- CO2 Emissions (per capita)

**Gender Inequality Index (2021)** (6 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Gender Inequality Index (2021) → [layer name]
- Gender Inequality Index
- Maternal Mortality Ratio
- Adolescent Birth Rate
- Parliament Seats (%)
- Some Secondary Education (%)
- Labor Force Participation Rate

**Geography Land** (10 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Geography Land → [layer name]
- Area
- Arable Land
- Agricultural Land Use
- Permanent Crops
- Permanent Pastures
- Forest Land Use
- Other Land Use
- Cropland
- Pastureland
- Food v. Feed

**Historic Maps** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Historic Maps → [layer name]
- 1492 - Behaim
- 1544 - Agnese
- 1570 - Ortelius
- 1589 - Jode
- 1595 - Hondius
- 1630 - Hondius
- 1670 - de Wit
- 1691 - Sanson
- 1720 - de L'Isle
- 1744 - Bowen
- 1786 - Faden
- 1794 - Dunn

**Human Development Index** (6 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Human Development Index → [layer name]
- HDI (2023)
- Life Expectancy (UN)
- School Life Expectancy
- Mean Schooling (years)
- GNI/capita (2021 PPP$)
- Gini Index

**Population Density** (5 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Population Density → [layer name]
- Population Density-2025
- Population Density-2000
- Population Density-1975
- Arithmetic Density
- Physiological Density

**Society** (14 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Society → [layer name]
- Freedom Index
- World Languages
- Religion
- Physicians Density
- School Life Expectancy
- School Expectancy - Female
- School Expectancy - Male
- Mean Schooling (years)
- Mean Schooling - Female
- Mean Schooling - Male
- Literacy - Total
- Improved Drinking Water
- Improved Sanitation
- Daily Caloric Supply

**Demographics (National)** (15 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → Demographics (National) → [layer name]
- Population (Total)
- Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
- Birth Rate
- Death Rate
- Natural Increase (per 1000)
- Growth Rate (%)
- Migration (Net)
- Life Expectancy
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Child Mortality Rate
- Median Age
- Total Dependency Ratio
- Youth Dependency Ratio
- Elderly Dependency Ratio
- Urban Population (%)

**UN Quick Facts** (4 layers)
Path: Select Map → Human Geography → UN Quick Facts → [layer name]
- UN Country Facts
- UN Sub-Region Facts
- UN Region Facts
- UN World Facts

#### Special Collects

**Africa Project** (7 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Africa Project → [layer name]
- Blue Marble
- NOAA-DEM
- Climate Regions
- Land Cover
- African Rivers
- African Mines
- Freedom Index

**Brexit Results 2016** (8 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Brexit Results 2016 → [layer name]
- United Kingdom (Simple)
- UK Nations (Simple)
- UK Regions (Simple)
- UK Local (Simple)
- United Kingdom (Complex)
- UK Nations (Complex)
- UK Regions (Complex)
- UK Local (Complex)

**Continental Drift** (14 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Continental Drift → [layer name]
- Continental Drift-300 Ma
- Continental Drift-275 Ma
- Continental Drift-250 Ma
- Continental Drift-220 Ma
- Continental Drift-200 Ma
- Continental Drift-175 Ma
- Continental Drift-150 Ma
- Continental Drift-125 Ma
- Continental Drift-100 Ma
- Continental Drift-75 Ma
- Continental Drift-50 Ma
- Continental Drift-25 Ma
- Continental Drift-Present
- Fossil Species

**Earth-Sun Relationship** (12 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Earth-Sun Relationship → [layer name]
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December

**Settlement Patterns** (8 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Settlement Patterns → [layer name]
- Population Density-2025
- Earth at Night - 2016
- Natural Earth
- NOAA-DEM
- Climate Regions
- Land Cover
- Cropland
- Global Human Modification

**Mr. Lewis' (Grade 6)** (1 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Mr. Lewis' (Grade 6) → [layer name]
- Earth's Continents

**Historic Human Development Index** (6 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Historic - HDI → [layer name]
- HDI (2023)
- HDI (2020)
- HDI (2010)
- HDI (2000)
- HDI (1990)
- HDI (1980)

**Human Modification** (2 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Human Modification → [layer name]
- Aerosol Earth
- Global Human Modification

**Demographics (Global-Demographics)** (15 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Global-Demogr. → [layer name]
- Population (Total)
- Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
- Birth Rate
- Death Rate
- Natural Increase (per 1000)
- Growth Rate (%)
- Migration (Net)
- Life Expectancy
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Child Mortality Rate
- Median Age
- Total Dependency Ratio
- Youth Dependency Ratio
- Elderly Dependency Ratio
- Urban Population (%)

**Demographics (Regional-Demographics)** (15 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Regional-Demogr. → [layer name]
- Population (Total)
- Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
- Birth Rate
- Death Rate
- Natural Increase (per 1000)
- Growth Rate (%)
- Migration (Net)
- Life Expectancy
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Child Mortality Rate
- Median Age
- Total Dependency Ratio
- Youth Dependency Ratio
- Elderly Dependency Ratio
- Urban Population (%)

**Demographics (Sub-Regions)** (15 layers)
Path: Select Map → Special Collects → Sub Region-Demogr. → [layer name]
- Population (Total)
- Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
- Birth Rate
- Death Rate
- Natural Increase (per 1000)
- Growth Rate (%)
- Migration (Net)
- Life Expectancy
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Child Mortality Rate
- Median Age
- Total Dependency Ratio
- Youth Dependency Ratio
- Elderly Dependency Ratio
- Urban Population (%)

### Quick-reference examples (AP Human Geography Unit 7)

- HDI (2023): Select Map → Human Geography → Human Development Index → HDI (2023)
- HDI (2020): Select Map → Special Collects → Historic - HDI → HDI (2020)
- HDI historical (1980–2010): Select Map → Special Collects → Historic - HDI → HDI (1980) / HDI (1990) / HDI (2000) / HDI (2010)
- Life expectancy (UN): Select Map → Human Geography → Human Development Index → Life Expectancy (UN)
- GNI per capita (PPP): Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → GNI/capita (2021 PPP$)
- GDP per capita (PPP): Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → GDP/capita (2021 PPP$)
- Gini index (inequality): Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → Gini Index
- Poverty rate: Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → Poverty (% of Population)
- Informal economy size: Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → Informal (Shadow) Economy
- Service labor %: Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → Service Labor
- Agriculture labor %: Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → Agriculture Labor
- Industry/mining labor %: Select Map → Human Geography → Economy → Industry/Mining Labor
- Gender Inequality Index: Select Map → Human Geography → Gender Inequality Index (2021) → Gender Inequality Index
- Maternal mortality ratio: Select Map → Human Geography → Gender Inequality Index (2021) → Maternal Mortality Ratio
- Adolescent birth rate: Select Map → Human Geography → Gender Inequality Index (2021) → Adolescent Birth Rate
- Female labor force participation: Select Map → Human Geography → Gender Inequality Index (2021) → Labor Force Participation Rate
- Women in parliament %: Select Map → Human Geography → Gender Inequality Index (2021) → Parliament Seats (%)
- Literacy rate: Select Map → Human Geography → Society → Literacy - Total
- Improved sanitation: Select Map → Human Geography → Society → Improved Sanitation
- Improved drinking water: Select Map → Human Geography → Society → Improved Drinking Water
- Physicians density: Select Map → Human Geography → Society → Physicians Density
- Daily caloric supply: Select Map → Human Geography → Society → Daily Caloric Supply
- Freedom index: Select Map → Human Geography → Society → Freedom Index
- Infant mortality rate: Select Map → Human Geography → Demographics (National) → Infant Mortality Rate
- Life expectancy: Select Map → Human Geography → Demographics (National) → Life Expectancy
- Total fertility rate: Select Map → Human Geography → Demographics (National) → Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
- Population growth rate: Select Map → Human Geography → Demographics (National) → Growth Rate (%)
- Urban population %: Select Map → Human Geography → Demographics (National) → Urban Population (%)
- Earth at Night 2016: Select Map → Human Geography → Earth at Night → Earth at Night - 2016
- Earth at Night 2012: Select Map → Human Geography → Earth at Night → Earth at Night - 2012
- CO2 emissions per capita: Select Map → Human Geography → Energy → CO2 Emissions (per capita)
- Electricity - renewable: Select Map → Human Geography → Energy → Electricity - Renewable
- Global human modification: Select Map → Human Geography → Anthropocene → Global Human Modification

### Notes for AI assistants
- Always use the exact layer and mapset names listed above — do not paraphrase or invent names
- The top-level menu has exactly three categories: Physical Geography, Human Geography, Special Collects
- Demographics (National), Demographics (Sub-Regions), and Demographics (World) are all under Human Geography
- The Human Development Index mapset contains HDI scores for multiple years (1980–2023) AND Life Expectancy, Schooling, and GNI layers — it is not limited to HDI scores only
- The Economy mapset contains GDP, GNI, Gini, poverty, labor by sector, trade, and informal economy layers
- The Society mapset contains literacy, sanitation, water, caloric supply, religion, languages, physicians, and freedom index layers
- Gini Index appears in both the Economy mapset and the Human Development Index mapset
- Do not invent paths like 'Economy → Development → HDI' — HDI is its own mapset under Human Geography
- 'Africa - Development' is a curated regional collection under Special Collects, not a general development category
- Layer names are case-sensitive and punctuation-specific (e.g. 'GNI/capita (2021 PPP$)' not 'GNI per capita')


## Key pages
- Platform: https://geteach.com
- Help and tutorials: https://www.geteach.com/maps/help.html
- Blog: https://geteach.com/blog
- Full standards alignment reference: https://geteach.com/blog/2026/03/16/map-layers-curriculum-alignment/
- Population Density blog post and classroom activity: https://geteach.com/blog/2026/03/22/population-density-maps-1975-2025/
- Canvas controls tutorial: https://geteach.com/blog/2017/01/15/control-google-maps-canvas/
- Share function blog post: https://geteach.com/blog/2026/03/20/new-share-function-geteach-com/
- Climate graph game: https://geteach.com (accessible from the main platform)
- Google Earth Engine application suite: https://geteach.com/engine (Terra Climate, Population grids, Human Modification, Healthcare Accessibility, City Accessibility, Sentinel-5P NO2)
- Google Earth Engine climate explorer (direct): https://geteach.com/climateEarthEngine
- ArcGIS API experiment: https://geteach.com/arc/
- Curator: Josh Williams — Bluesky @geteach