GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

This website, Dangers of Fracking, is clearly not produced by the oil industry.  What I enjoy about this resource is that as you scroll down, it adds more context to the environmental issues and geographic factors.  This type of website promotes holistic thinking and interdisciplinary approach to complex problems.  

Tags: energy, resources, environment, environment modify, ecology.

Every 10 years the centroid (the center of U.S. population) is calculated using the latest census data.  As the map above shows, the centroid has continued moved west throughout history, but in the last 60 years has moved to the south and west.  The recent shift to the south coincides with the mass availability of air conditioning (among other factors) which opened up the Sun Belt.  In this article in Orion Magazine, Jeremy Miller discusses the historical shifts in the spatial patterns of the U.S. population and the history of the centroid.  you can listen to podcast versions of this article as well, one by NPR and a more in depth one by Orion Magazine.

Questions to Ponder:  Would the centroids of other countries be as mobile or predictable?  Why or why not?  What does the centroid tell us?

Tags: statistics, census, mapping, migration, population, historical, USA.

I was delighted to speak at Brown University this summer as a part of the Choices Program’s summer institute.  This is the video of that talk (as well as the hyperlinked slides) that is my modest attempt to tackle such a monumental question in my profession.

Tags: geography education, teacher training.

All maps are compromises; the Mercator projection preserves shape but distorts size, and so on.  What about sacrificing locational accuracy to preserve the aesthetic design or readability?  Just some things to think about as you peruse these redesigned subway maps.  

Tags: visualization, transportation, mapping, NYC.

I you haven’t ‘liked’ the Church of Geography on Facebook, you really should. These geo-sermons are worth the huge investment of a simple click.  

In many countries, geography education is in peril.  In Chile, the Education Ministry is rewriting the curriculum and many are afraid that Geography will be squeezed out (sound familiar?).  This Spanish-language video is a statement of why geography is fundamental, practical and a important as a lived experience.  You can also find “Min Educ: No Mates La Geografia” on Facebook and YouTube.

I recently posted a New York Times video about the rapid rise in industrial fishing and the production of Talapia.  Even with the rise of aquaculture as a major source of seafood, the world’s oceans are still depleted.  As the world’s population rises, many folk cultures with their roots in small fishing villages have transformed into primarily urban societies, but these urban societies still have a strong cultural preference for seafood and consume at levels that are not sustainable.    

Tags: environment modify, folk cultures, consumption, water, physical.

I’m pleased to announce a FREE Webinar about the AP Human Geography Online Graduate Program at Elmhurst College on Aug. 7 at 8:00 PM EST. Sponsored by GIS Etc., the webinar will answer questions about the program and what is included in the professional development experience.  

Scholarships have reduced the costs by $600 per course for all NCGE members who are public school teachers. 

Sometimes people refer to the ‘culture of the United States’ or the ‘geography of Florida’ in the singular.  While this is grammatically correct, it obscures the reality that there are many ‘cultures of the United States’ and that there are intertwined ‘geographies of Florida’ that help explain why the George Zimmerman case and Trayvon Martin’s death are such lightning rods of debate about social justice, race, class and gender these days.