GPS Educational Resources

For Students and Teachers

Information for Students

What is GPS?

The Global Positioning System is a U.S.-owned utility that provides users with positioning, navigation, and timing services.

Who Uses GPS?

GPS is an essential element of the global information infrastructure. The technology is in everything from cell phones and wristwatches to bulldozers, shipping containers, and ATM's.

Montage of GPS applications

Career Corner

"This constellation is flown by young professionals — some straight out of high school with some pretty intensive training... some out of college... some of them have engineering degrees and orbital science degrees."

Resources for Teachers

GPS-Based STEM Curriculum

The U.S. government has released a new curriculum that uses GPS concepts and activities to stimulate student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The curriculum is designed for the middle/high school level and tied to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Thanks to all the educators who helped us test the lesson plans in classrooms to see how students respond to the material. Your feedback improved the curriculum prior to its finalization.

We encourage schools, educators, and after-school programs to use this free STEM curriculum during the 2018-2019 school year. The curriculum is currently hosted at www.GPS-STEM.com, but we plan to migrate it to GPS.gov in the future.

Check out the curriculum at GPS-STEM.com

Classroom Poster

Teachers, order a free copy of the "How GPS Works" poster for your classroom today. Or download and print it yourself.

Learn more

Materials from NOAA Education

The following links lead to GPS-related lesson plans prepared for high school teachers by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Materials from GPS Adventures

The creators of the GPS Adventures exhibit prepared "A Guide for Teachers and Students" featuring activities suitable for grades K-8.

Download 2 MB PDF (box.com)

Materials from the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian Institution's Time and Navigation exhibit includes online teaching resources and rich multimedia related to GPS.

If you're planning a class trip to Washington, D.C., be sure to visit the exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum!

Web Tutorials

These links lead to GPS education pages at other government websites.

Multimedia