Search

GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Supporting geography educators everywhere with current digital resources.

Open Search
Author

sethdixon

I am a geography professor at Rhode Island College.

Inside the Colorado deluge

“Two things that helped make this rainfall historic are breadth and duration. Colorado can get much higher rainfall rates for brief periods and over small areas.”

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

Our thoughts are with our colleagues and friends in Colorado as they are dealing with the impact of this historic weather event.  The geographic factors that contributed to this flooding are explained in this article from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).  Some are calling this a millennial flood, as it is well past the 100-year stage of flooding. 

Tags: physical, disasters, environment, water, weather and climate.

See on www2.ucar.edu

big-thompson-road-failure

0

The Map That Lincoln Used to See the Reach of Slavery

“Historian Susan Schulten writes in her book Mapping the Nation: History and Cartography in Nineteenth-Century America that during the 1850s many abolitionists used maps to show slavery’s historical development and to illustrate political divisions within the South. (You can see many of those maps on the book’s companion website.)  Schulten writes that President Lincoln referred to this particular map often, using it to understand how the progress of emancipation might affect Union troops on the ground. The map (hi-res) even appears in the familiar Francis Bicknell Carpenter portrait First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, visible leaning against a wall in the lower right-hand corner of the room.”

Tags: mapping, historical, cartography.

See on www.slate.com

0

This Pittsburgh restaurant only serves food from America’s “enemies”

Conflict Kitchen is the only restaurant in the world that serves cuisine solely from countries with which the U.S. is in conflict.

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

Questions to Ponder: What do you think the purpose of Conflict Kitchen is for the restaurant owners?  Many people choose restaurants for a cultural experience; what type of cultural experiences are these patrons searching for by eating at Conflict Kitchen?  What political overtones are there to these cultural encounters?  

Tags: food, political, culture.

See on roadtrippers.kinja.com

0

Vegan food truck makes rounds in ‘food deserts’

Baruch Ben-Yehudah is tackling Prince George’s County’s “food desert” problem. His vegan food truck delivers nourishment to neighborhoods lacking fresh groceries.

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

What are food deserts?  Why do they form?  What does this Washington Post video suggest about the demographic composition of food deserts?


Tags: Washington DC, agriculture, food, urban, poverty, place, socioeconomic.

See on www.washingtonpost.com

0

A 250-mile show of support for Catalonia independence

More than 1 million flag-draped and face-painted Catalans held hands and formed a 250-mile human chain across the northeastern Spanish region Wednesday in a demonstration of their desires for independence.

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

September 11th means different things is different places.  While many Americans were remembering the terrorist attacks of 2001, it was Catalonian National Day.  In addition to the festivities, they organized a massive public demonstration to support independence and to garner international attention.  They created a ‘human border’ that stretched across the region to apply pressure on the Spanish government to allow a vote that would let Catalonia break away and form their own country.  While this energy and enthusiasm swept Barcelona, the Spanish government stopped the protest from spreading into neighboring Valencia (many Valencians speak Catalan).

Questions to Ponder: How do public events such as this impact the political process?  Is it significant that the link about the Spanish government stopping Valencia comes from a Scottish newspaper?  Why?  How can social media and technology (such as the hastags #CatalanWay #ViaCatalana) impact social movements?  

Tags: Catalonia, Spain, political, devolution, autonomy, Europe, culture.

See on www.latimes.com

Human Border

0

Above Australia’s Northern Territory

Over half of Australia lies within the tropics, but it is home to only five percent of the population. It is a frontier land with little infrastructure, populated by cattle barons, crocodile hunters and aboriginal tribes.

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

Australia’s Northern Territory(NT) is region that is climatically inhospitable to large human settlements and is the least population region of the lightly population country.   Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) is the Northern Territory’s iconic landscape, and it is home to approximately 212,000 people according to the 2011 Australian census.  Most of the economic activity centers on resources extraction (mining); aboriginal groups control 1/5th of the NT which many hope to discourage.  This photo gallery provides a excellent glimpse into these remote places.

Tags: Australia.

See on www.boston.com

0

Interactive: Mapping the Shale Gas Boom

Where in the United States is fracking unlocking natural gas from shale rock?

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

See on www.smithsonianmag.com

0

3D relationships on 2D surfaces

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

We take for granted that a map is an accurate representation of the Earth, but we cannot forget that every map at a global scales has some distortions. 

Tags: map projections.

0

Oral History and September 11th

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

This lesson plan from the Choices Program will:

  • Explore the human dimension of the September 11 attacks by conducting an interview.
  • Consider the benefits and limitations of using oral history to learn about the past.
  • Assess their own views on September 11th.

See on www.choices.edu

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑