GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

Wealthy cities seem to have it all. Expansive, well-manicured parks. Fine dining. Renowned orchestras and theaters. More trees. Wait, trees?

I certainly wouldn’t argue that trees create economic inequality, but there appears to be a strong correlation in between high income neighborhoods and large mature trees in cities throughout the world (for a scholarly reference from the Journal, Landscape and Urban Planning, see: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204607002174 ). Why is there such a connection? In terms of landscape analysis, what does this say about those who have created these environments? Why do societies value trees in cities? How does the presence of trees change the sense of place of a particular neighborhood? For more Google images that show the correlation between income and trees (and to share your own), see: http://persquaremile.com/2012/05/24/income-inequality-seen-from-space/ 

See on persquaremile.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

What did the Delta look like 200 years ago? See an interactive map of the historical habitat and present day landscape, as well as the old photos, maps and journals used by historical ecologists to answer that question.

This interactive module has over 20 different maps and perspectives to show both the physical and human geography of a particular environment.  As the delta’s ecosystem has been failing, the importance of understanding the interconnections between people, places and our environment becomes all the more critical.

See on science.kqed.org

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

“Real World Math: Using Google Earth in the Math Curriculum.”   Back to my interdisciplinary approach to strengthening geographic education, image hearing that there is a Math teacher at your school using this, wouldn’t you want to be a part of it?  Too often knowledge is taught within disciplinary silos; students need opportunities to make real world connections between the disciplines to breath life into how they are taught.  This site reminds me of http://www.googlelittrips.org/ which allows real world geography to be a part of literature/English classes.    

See on www.realworldmath.org

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

With the country also known as Burma taking steps toward democracy and respect for human rights, Coke is returning after a 60-year absence. What are the two nations where it still won’t be doing business?

Globalization has made many companies and products ubiquitious throughout the world.  We take their presence as a matter of course, a sign that the largest brands are in essentially every country in the world–but not all.  Until recently Coca Cola was not in three markets, all for political reasons.  Now that Burma is becoming more democratic, Coca-Cola will bring their product to all countries of South East Asia.  Any guesses on the 2 countries that still don’t have Coke?

UPDATED CORRECTION: Thanks to the great people at About.com ‘s geography page, I was informed that there are more than just the initially listed two countries (North Korea and Cuba) not within the Coke universe (such as Somalia and East Timor to name a few).  For more on this see: http://geography.about.com/b/2012/06/15/coca-cola-in-every-country-but-three-no.htm

See on www.npr.org

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

Genes and the environment both shape health and development. But their effects are not always equal. Researchers in the U.K. say they’ve mapped hotspots where nature has a stronger influence, and others where nurture dominates.

All people are a combination of their genes as well as the environment (a mix of ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’).  A recent study of over 5,000 twins throughout the UK saw regional concentrations where it appears that environmental factors had a greater than normal influence (centered around London).  I’m still scratching my head wondering what to make of this data, but this is a compelling project.     

See on www.npr.org

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

Ask this question: Which region of the world currently is the home to 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies?  Most people (myself included) would be surprised to hear that the region is sub-Saharan Africa.  While Sub-Saharan Africa is still the least economically developed region with some very significant challenges, too often Africa is only taught as a region of problems and negative patterns.  

Trade between Africa and the rest of the world has tripled in the last decade.  Since 2005, Africa is officially receiving more private foreign investment than official aid.  With many counties “skipping the landline phase” and going straight to cell phone technologies, the rapid acceleration of technology means that they Africa’s economic infrastructure has the potential to increase quickly.      

See on www.foreignpolicy.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

Hint: India is last among the G20 and the United States didn’t crack the top five in the latest survey to reflect poorly on the situation of American women.

A poll of 370 gender experts yielded some interesting results that reflect the local cultural, economic and political geographies.  Beyond using the lists of best and worst countries (since the rankings are still based on rather subjective criteria), students can come up with their most important factors in evaluating gender equity and evaluate the countries based on their own evaluations. 

See on rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

Socks is a online magazine about Media, Art, Architecture, Cities, Design, Technology.

Our society is obviously heavily dependent on oil.  Yet we often don’t see the environmental impacts of our collective oil consumption on the landscape because the negative impacts have been spatially separated away from oil consumers.  This is an excellent compilation of photos by Edward Burtynsky that makes the connection between oil consumption and changes to both the physical and cultural landscapes explicit.  For more images by this artist, see: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com

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