GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

World Atlas is an educational resource for world maps, atlases, and in-depth geography information. Teachers and students: free maps of Europe, USA, Canada, Florida, Caribbean Islands and much more.

This World Atlas, in addition to have many maps at a variety of scales as is very common these days, has the added feature of embedding facts and other informative features based on your scale and regional context.  Students can explore this at their own pace to learn about what every region of the world that interests them the most. 

Via www.worldatlas.com

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

This website houses the past research, images and future missions of the European Space Agency. The greatest scientific knowledge we have gained through the space program is actually about our home planet. Space-age technologies literally give geographers a chance to step back and put the Earth in better perspective. Images from this site are fantastic resource use to teach the thematic content, but also it is a great resource to show the relevance of geospatial technologies.  I love this particular image of Venice.  For more see: www.esa.int  

Via www.esa.int

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

I’ll let the comic speak for itself. 

Via greenmonk.net

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

April 22 will mark Earth Day worldwide, an event now in its 42nd year and observed in 175 countries. The original grass-roots environmental action helped spur the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act in the United States.

This is a great collection of photos, including this one from Mexico City’s Paseo de la Reforma (where I did my dissertation research).  Protestors placed gas masks of the statues lining Mexico City’s elite boulevard to protest air pollution in the high-altitude basin. 

Via www.boston.com

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

The European country where Skype was born made a conscious decision to embrace the web after shaking off Soviet shackles Eesti keel | Estonian language version…

Can you imagine walking over 100 miles without losing your internet connection?  Estonia has done it by making internet access a public service along the lines of water and electricity.  The impacts and effects or profound considering that 9 in 10 Estonians have a computerized ID card that they can use to vote, transfer money and access all the information the state has on them.  Although this may sound very dystopian and authoritarian to many, Estonians argue that it actually empowers citizens to keep the state in check.      

Via www.guardian.co.uk

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

It’s the biggest political scandal to hit China in years, and it destroys any possibility of a smooth transition to the next generation of top leaders.

Seth Dixon-On April, 10th, Bo Xilai was suspended from the Central Committee and the Politburo amid allegations of his wife being suspected of murder.  This juicy gossip leads to political and social media pitfalls for the Chinese government.  One of the great paradoxes in China is the juxtaposition of it’s rush towards economic prosperity through technological modernity combined with the authoritarian impulse to control the media.  For three day, the government shut down SINA, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter because the gossip was too prevalent to monitor all of the discussions.  Chinese bloggers are finding ways around the overworked censors through coded messages, that won’t trip the alarm bells. 

Via www.businessweek.com

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

Top 10 Beaches from National Geographic…

I’d glady go to any of these gorgeous spots to appreciate the geographic marvels.  If you could only go to one travel destination (and had an unlimited budget), where would you choose to go?  How come?

Via travel.nationalgeographic.com

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

This is fantastic compilation of resources to act a culminating review before the big test. 

Via pantherfile.uwm.edu

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

A compilation of letters exchanged between two 18-year-old girls who live in Jerusalem: one Israeli and the other Palestinian. Having met through a student exchange program, they openly discuss their frustrations with the political situation of 2002, and over time come to appreciate the others cultural and political viewpoints. This is a great cross-cultural interaction as the girls show their misconceptions of the other group, but through open dialogue come to an appreciation for other perspectives. This would be a good project to have student read the book and synthesize the cultural and political elements within them to reinforce the class content with a real-world example.

Via us.macmillan.com