Explorer Babak Tafreshi has been documenting scenes of the night sky since the 1990s. This adventurous journey bridges science and art, using astrophotography to contribute to nature conservation. The habitat and behavior of many nocturnal species are largely impacted by our artificial lights; his work aims to increase awareness of the values of the natural night environment and how to preserve it from our growing light pollution. Join to learn more about his work and what we can learn from the world at night. 

Explorer Classroom is an interactive session that connects learners with National Geographic Explorers for short lessons and Q&A. After the featured Explorer’s lesson, your students will have a chance to have their questions answered in real time! This event is recommended for student groups in grades 3-8, but all are welcome, and will take place on October 12th @ 10am and 2pm ET; register for the time that works best for your class. A recording of the event will be available to watch on-demand on our YouTube channel if your students cannot attend live. 

Each month of the school year will be organized around a specific theme to help students build an #ExplorerMindset. October’s theme is Connecting with the Unknown! We’ll focus on demonstrating the attitudes of curiosity and empathy, and the skills of communication and using geographic perspectives. The related standards are Geography and Earth and Human Activity. Teachers, we’ve also created a new interactive guide, Explorer Mindset in Action! Share this with your students to take them on a learning journey with each of our Explorers and spark their curiosity.

#ExplorerClassroom is for everyone! All events are free.

There are two ways to participate in the virtual event, as a featured class on screen or watching live on YouTube. If space is available, you may request to be a featured class during the registration process.