GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

These quotes are actual complaints received by a travel agency; some tourists were shocked to discover that their foreign excursion would actually have foreign experiences.  I think all of these tourists need just a little more global awareness before they leave their front porch next time.  

• “On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food.”
• “We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish.”
• “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England . It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair.”
• “There were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners.”
• “We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning.”
• “I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes.”

In a busy city like New York, there are never enough places for parking and lanes for traffic.  There is simply not enough space for the flow to be smooth and efficient.  Cyclists that attempt to assert their right to the street are often times referred to as “cyclist activists” as though their activism is synonymous with extremism that  is more easy to dismiss.  Many hold views that privilege a motorists right to space in the city above that of a cyclist.  I saw this tweet by a NYC cycling organization that referred to “activist drivers” who park in the bike lane as attempting to create a “guerrilla can lane.”  They used the terms and language used against them and superimposed it on the larger motorist community which sees itself as having a more natural right to all space in the city.  This video embedded above is an excellent spoof and highlights the dangers of being a cyclist in a motorist-centric world.  Below we see a video as cyclists have clashed with locals in the neighborhood for wearing too little clothes, so they removed the bike lane, but “guerilla cyclists” put it back on the street.  This was dubbed as a hipsters vs Hasidic Jews.    

Tags: transportation, cycling, urban, planning, territoriality, space.

This video (and earlier videos in the same vein) is extremely risky business.  These videos perfectly encapsulates the beliefs, values and ethics that underscore the organic farming movement and resonate with consumers.  This is a key part of Chipotle’s advertising campaign, food with integrity.  Many within the agricultural industry are not amused, and as a group they are Chipotle’s suppliers.  “In general, this romanticized view of agriculture is not going to be able to feed the world,” said Tom Super who is the spokesman for the National Chicken Council.  Many in the industry think that Chipotle pushing its values on consumers.  See this article for more on the tension between Chipotle and agricultural suppliers.

Tags: food, agriculture, food production, agribusiness.

Models in geography, even if they are at times limited in their explanatory power, are excellent pedagogical tools to promote students to think spatially. 

This interactive mapping activity is an excellent tool to introduce the idea of redistricting in general and gerrymandering to be more specific.  The creation of a new congressional district, or the loss of an old one, affects every district around it, necessitating new maps. Even states not adding or losing congressional representatives need new district maps that reflect the population shifts within their borders, so that residents are equally repre­sented no matter where they live. This ritual carving and paring of the United States into 435 sovereign units, known as redistricting, was intended by the Framers solely to keep democracy’s electoral scales balanced. Instead, redistricting today has become a part of the political game—a way for elected leaders to entrench themselves in 435 impregnable garrisons from which they can maintain political power while avoiding demographic realities. 

And how is gerrymandering a part of the current government shutdown?  Read Thomas Friedman’s opinion on the subject or an opinion from the Economist.

Tags: gerrymandering, political, mapping, census, unit 4 political.

This NPR podcast adds some great insight into Charles Marville’s 19th century photography currently on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.  The urban transformations designed by Haussmann made Paris the global capital of modernity and the many cities around the world copied the principles of Haussmannization.  A photographic glimpse into Paris before and during these changes that brought about social upheaval is a marvelous tool for an historical geographic analysis of urbanization.     

Tags: urban, historical, Paris, place, France,  podcast,  images.

Happy October everyone!  This is a fun craft to strengthen kids’ mental maps with a seasonal twist.  If you really love pumpkin globes, you should also see this one below.   

I was delighted to invited to discuss the importance of GIS and geospatial technologies in education at NEARC‘s GIS Educator’s Day.  Earlier this year I gave a presentation at Brown University for the Choices Program on a very related topic (so forgive some of the topical overlap).  This slideshare document has hyperlinked slides so you can access the digital resources mentioned in the talk if you wish.