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GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Supporting geography educators everywhere with current digital resources.

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sethdixon

I am a geography professor at Rhode Island College.

Brexit, UK, Great Britain, and England

“An update of an earlier sketch we did before Brexit, the situation has become a little more unclear since.”

Source: www.youtube.com

PRE-BREXIT VIDEO: The difference between the UK, Great Britain, and England can be confusing (the short version can be shown on a map, but the long version is much more complicated than this).   This is an amusing look at how these complexities lead to real-world complications besides using the right toponym.

GeoEd Tags: Europe, UK, sport, political, autonomy, toponyms.

POST-BREXIT VIDEO: This is a fun song, poking fun add the UK’s difficulty in getting out of the Union, but bringing up all the countries in the old British Empire that also struggled to leave a political Union.

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Growth of Colonial Settlement

European settlement began in the region around Chesapeake Bay and in the Northeast, then spread south and west into the Appalachian Mountains.

 

Questions to Ponder: How did European immigrants settle along the East Coast? How did geography determine settlement patterns? 

 

Tags: migration, map, historical, colonialism, USA, National Geographic.

Source: www.nationalgeographic.org

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Is Zealandia the eighth continent?

“A group of geologists say they’ve enough evidence to confirm the existence of a new continent. Writing in the journal of the Geological Society of America, the group named the eighth continent ‘Zealandia.’ Scientists argue for an 8th continent, Zealandia, in the Geological Society of America.”

Source: www.youtube.com

What makes a continent a continent? There is no set definition of a continent. Some consider cultural groupings and would consider Europe as a separate continent from Asia as a consequence. Geologists consider continental shelves as the defining characteristics of a continent and thus consider Eurasia to be just one continent. We are so accustomed to seeing the coastlines, but if the ocean were drained, we’d see Zealandia and it’s ancient confidential shelf–but don’t expect all the continental maps in elementary schools to change anytime soon.

 

Questions to Ponder: Does human geography or physical geography determine what you consider a continent?  How come?       

 

Tags: physical, tectonics, geology, regions, Oceania.

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Urban world: Meeting the demographic challenge in cities

The days of easy growth in the world’s cities are over, and how they respond to demographic shifts will influence their prosperity.

Source: www.mckinsey.com

Some cities throughout Africa and Asia have experienced spectacular growth.  Europe, on the other isn’t see the same level of growth and is even experiencing urban decline in a few regions. 

 

Questions to Ponder: What patterns do you see in these maps?  What cultural, demographic and economic factors explain some of the regional patterns in these maps?        

 

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Jackalopes Return to Yellowstone Ecosystem

After a 93 year hiatus, the elusive Jackalope has returned to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem! These beautiful, yet frightening, creatures were once widely collected by tourists, but better management practices have allowed a re-introduced pack to thrive again. These guys have been sporadically spotted all around the west, including Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico. Idaho allowed a “shoot on sight” policy for jackalopes, so they have not been seen there in quite a while.

Source: jellostone.com

Long live the Jackalope!!  May the majestic creature once again flourish in the West. 

 

Tags: biogeography, environment, ecology, fun.

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AGS Junior Service Fellow

“Do you know any high school students who have taken the AP® Human Geography course, scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on the exam? If so, let them know they are now eligible to become an American Geographical Society Junior Service Fellow!”

Source: www.youtube.com

The American Geographical Society is pleased to recognize the great work that APHG students have accomplished before reaching college.  “These students have chosen to master collegiate level human geography while still in high school, where they have learned the core geographical concepts that serve as the foundation for a lifetime of geographical learning, public service, and professional success.” In doing this, they have self-selected in to our global geography community and can continue to do so by becoming AGS Junior Service Fellows.  Click here to learn more about the program.  

 

Tags: Geography Education, geo-inspiration.

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Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May Triggers Article 50, Making ‘Brexit’ Official

The United Kingdom has officially kicked off the process of ‘Brexit,’ almost nine months to the date after the country’s momentous vote to leave the European Union.

 

Tags: Europe, UK, supranationalism, globalization, economic, political, images.

Source: www.youtube.com

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Senegal’s Great Green Wall combats desertification

“A 7,000 km barrier is being built along the footsteps of the Sahara to stop the desert expanding. The Great Green Wall project started in 2007 in Senegal, along with 10 countries in Africa to combat the effects of climate change. Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque reports from Widou, deep in the Sahel.”

Source: www.youtube.com

The Great Green Wall initiative is composed of 11 countries that are cooperating together to combat the physical and human geographic characteristics that make the Sahel one of the more vulnerable ecosystems in the world.  This swath running through Africa is the transition zone where tropical Africa meets the Sahara.  The Sahel is susceptible to drought, overgrazing, land degradation and desertification.  These issues of resource management and land use transcend international borders so this “Green Wall” was created with the intent to protect the environment, landscapes and people of the Sahel from desert encroachment (the shorter, social media friendly version of this video is available here).

 

Tags: Africa, Senegal, development, environment, water, biogeography, ecology, environment depend, physical, weather and climate, supranationalism, political ecology.

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Illustrated APHG Textbook

Source: www.illustratedtextbook.com

If you haven’t seen any resources from the Human Imprint, this is a great source of teacher-produced AP Human Geography as well as other social studies.  This new project, the Illustrated Textbook, was created to be a “one-stop-shop for human geography fundamentals” using a fun, graphic style interlaced with content-heavy text.  I’m very excited to see this online textbook continue to unfold. This is definitely on the shortlist of best materials on this site.   

 

Tags: geography education, APHG, infographic, textbook.

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