GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

This gorgeous gallery shows some of the most beautiful and distinct walkways around the world.  Take some time to just walk, and appreciate the world we live in.  Pictured above is the “stunning flower walkway [that] is the known as the Wisteria Tunnel, situated in the Kawachi Fuji Garden (City of Kitakyushu). It is an 80-meter (260 ft) long tunnel of white Fuji flowers, while a tunnel of yellow Kingusari needs a few more years to become an actual tunnel.”

See on www.theworldgeography.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

There are “babyloids” and relatives-for-rent in an increasingly childless Japan.

While many parts of the world are concerned with population growth, Japan is struggling to find ways to slow down the demographic decline.  What economic and cultural forces are leading the the changing nature of Japanese demographics?  A video that explains the changing nature of modern Japanese relationships and gender norms can be accessed here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/japan-population-decline-youth-no-sex_n_1242014.html

See on www.nytimes.com

See on Scoop.it – History and Social Studies Education

Here is the link for this week’s best of twitter teacher resources.

This is a fabulous list of educational resources on Google Docs (with a strong emphasis on history and social studies).  This also demonstrates how one educator has harnessed the power of twitter as a source of professional development and educational networking.  All of these links were compiled during one week by one teacher; just think about possibilities when digital curation becomes collaborative!   

See on twitter.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
This is a great public Prezi that covers many (all?) of the models and theories that are a part of the AP Human Geography course.  I love it when teachers digitally share their resources, so others can benefit from their class work.

See on prezi.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

After just two years in orbit, ESA’s GOCE satellite has gathered enough data to map Earth’s gravity with unrivalled precision.

Gravity isn’t the same everywhere.  “ESA’s GOCE mission has delivered the most accurate model of the ‘geoid’ ever produced, which will be used to further our understanding of how Earth works. The colours in the image represent deviations in height (–100 m to +100 m) from an ideal geoid. The blue colours represent low values and the reds/yellows represent high values. The geoid is the surface of an ideal global ocean in the absence of tides and currents, shaped only by gravity. It is a crucial reference for measuring ocean circulation, sea-level change and ice dynamics – all affected by climate change.”  Follow the link to see an animated version. 

See on www.esa.int

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

Links to course, exam and teaching resources for AP Human Geography…

The AP Human Geography test is less than one month away (May 18th).  This is hardly a ‘new’ resource, but there are great materials, sample questions, lesson plans, teaching strategies and other helpful resources for teaching college level human geography. 

See on apcentral.collegeboard.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

In this feature length film Gary Burns, Canada’s king of surreal comedy, joins journalist Jim Brown on an outing to the suburbs.

This 2006 documentary is a critical look at suburbia that has comments from suburbanites interspersed with planners, real estate agents, experts and urban academics. 

See on topdocumentaryfilms.com

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

China is now the world’s largest car market, and a crucial one for Detroit companies. Chinese consumers bought 18.5 million vehicles last year, and foreigners, especially Americans, have played a key role in developing the industry.

China now is the world’s largest auto market as China is no longer simply a place where things are produced.  China has become a consumer on good as their workers wages allow them to consume more goods. 

See on www.npr.org

See on Scoop.it – Geography Education

We can learn a lot from examining the way China’s diet has changed in the last 20 years — as well as its required efficiencies and the agriculture that supports it.

The United States still consumes more meat per capita than China, but as China’s economy has grown (along with it’s income and standard of living), the consumer habits have changed as well.  What will the impacts of the rise in Chinese meat consumption mean? 

See on grist.org