More About Geo - Globe

Geo-Globe: Interactive Geography is the work of three students from geographically diverse regions: Maya, from Nelson, British Columbia, Canada; Deepak, from Springfield, Illinois, USA; Kasia, from Warsaw, Poland. It was created for the ThinkQuest Competition. Our goal was to use the advantages of the World Wide Web to present various aspects of geography interactively, in a way that is interesting and fun. Because the Internet reaches to most corners of the globe, it is important for students to know something about the places they're connecting to. It's a huge world, full of countless wonders, and the Internet makes them more accessible than ever.

Features of this site:

Interactivity enhanced by the use of JavaScript
User contribution encouraged and stored with CGI scripts
Downloadable sections for off-line play
Sound and images "pre-loaded" for speed
Many integrated links to interesting sites
Intriguing facts we bet you didn't know
To encourage interaction, this site makes heavy use of JavaScript. Image maps, check boxes, and radio buttons collect responses from viewers. CGI scripts are also used in each section to record user input. Since it is important to check the accuracy of any input, most user contributions will be screened before they are added to the site. JavaScript is used to validate input from HTML forms before it is processed by CGI scripts. The different sections of the site also make use of windows without status bars or buttons. This is to avoid navigational confusion with the many frames employed. We have left menus on, so the JavaScript source code can still be viewed, and we hope others will find it helpful.
In order to keep the site as speedy as possible, we have employed several techniques: Images are relatively small and are re-used wherever possible. Minimum number of colors and shades are used. Sound effect files are "pre-loaded" (loaded where they will be least noticed) before use, and are kept as short as possible. Once each game has initially loaded, there is very little delay between questions.

Credits & Copyright info
The sources of the different elements of this site are:
Program Code -- the hundreds of lines of JavaScript were written, edited, tested, de-bugged, de-bugged, and de-bugged again by the Geo-Globe team.
Text -- all original work of the Geo-Globe team.
Graphics (including maps) -- all original work of the Geo-Globe team.
Photographs -- all modified from Corel Draw clip art except wetland photos which are provided by and used with permission from Naomi Woods.
Sound Effects -- all recorded by the Geo-Globe team for this project.
Background MIDI music -- copyright by Michael D. Walthius, as indicated on the main pages, and used according to his guidelines for "webtunes".
CGI scripts are highly modified versions of a script by Matt Wright available on the web.

Information for Teachers
We have designed versions of several sections of the site which can be played off-line, perfect for classroom use when a connection is not available. (Of course, you still need to use a Web browser.) The files for these versions have been bundled together and compressed for downloading. You can read more about downloading a particular game on that game's main screen.
We have integrated our links to other sites within the different sections of Geo-Globe. This should make it easy for students to find additional information on any subject they may become interested in. Because this site is designed as a "jumping off" point rather than an in-depth reference, it is based on a collection of intriguing and often surprising facts about different aspects of the world. These facts should appeal to students' curiosity. We have also been very careful about checking the accuracy of our facts.
Almost all sections of Geo-Globe are designed to be added to, and we hope they will grow with input from students. If students can be encouraged to find that super-hard question to stump even advanced players, or a better question for beginners, then this site and their knowledge will evolve. The Geo-Globe team has already learned a great deal!

About our Links
Selected links for all geographical regions covered in the different games are spread throughout those games. We have also collected all the links in Geo-Globe into one List of All Links, organized alphabetically. We have tried our best to "hand-pick" links that provide useful information about places mentioned, preferably from within those regions. We cannot guarantee, and are not responsible for, the content of links. Because many of the links are to small-scale sites, some of the sites may move, and some may change. We will attempt to monitor the links periodically, and update the links to pages that have moved.
All of the links to sites outside Geo-Globe open in a new window. To get back to Geo-Globe, all you have to do is close the window that the link has opened in.

Sources of Information

The following books were the major non Internet sources of the factual information in Geo-Globe: Interactive Geography:
The World Book Encyclopedia of Science Vol. IV: The Planet Earth
The World Book Encyclopedia of Science Vol. V: The Plant World
New Book of Popular Science
The Living Planet
Natural Wonders of the World
The Encyclopedia of Animals
The Times Atlas of the World
Gaia: An Atlas of Planet Management
Much of our information was obtained from Web Sites, such as those listed on our List of All Links.

The following books were the major non Internet sources of technical information for this site:
Special Edition-Using JavaScript by Mark C. Reynolds, QUE Books, 1996
Special Edition-Using CGI by Jeffry Dwight and Michael Erwin, QUE Books, 1996
PERL 5 by Example by David Medinets, QUE Books, 1996
Designing Multimedia Web Sites by Stella Gassaway, Gary Davis and Catherine Gregory, Hayden Books, 1996
Web Developer's Guide to JavaScript & VBScript by Peter Aitken, Coriolis Group Books, 1996
A search on the web will turn up many useful links to sites with information on JavaScript.

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New: July, 1997
Updated: July, 1997
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