GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

The United States as a whole does not have demographic numbers similar to European countries with declining populations…but ‘white’ America does.  The NY Times also noted that this statistical benchmark happened, but it was quietly mentioned with many other demographic statistics without an analysis of how this will impact the United States.  

Question to Ponder: how will this impact the United States in coming generations?  What will the cultural, economic and political impacts be?  Why explains the differents between the distinct populations in the United States?

Tags: USA, declining population, population, demographics, ethnicity.

The origins of the protests were based on hikes in public transit fares, but a movement of general discontent began, with many voices and multiple perspectives.  While the World Cup is a rallying point, many argue that it isn’t the World Cup they are angry about, but corruption and social inequality.  FIFA is starting to think of contingency plans if protests continue and threaten the World Cup.  The lack of clear leadership some feel is the reason why the protest have lost some steam in July as stated in this NPR podcast.  This photo essay of the protest movement with a gallery of 39 photos is quite intriguing.  

Tags: sport, Brazil, images, South America.

I’m a little late for Canada Day, but the information about the origins of the names of all the Provinces and Territories is great information any time of year. 

Tags: Canada, toponyms, historical, trivia.

I was unaware that Waffle House is based in Atlanta and IHOP began in California.  So, given those points of origin, what does this map (and the other maps in the article) tell us about how these restaurants diffused?  What does this tell us about diffusion in general?

Tags: food, diffusion, the South, regions.

With all the feel of an old, hand-drawn maps, this watercolor map layer is designed to wash out rough edges and makes a map with current road layers still feel like a vintage map.  Compare and constrast with the toner and terrain layouts. 

Tags: mapping, cartography, art.

While many in the geography education business bemoan student’s lack of global awareness as a rationale for geography education, this is the key angle that I feel we should be pushing: the workforce.  We currently are not producing enough students with geospatial skills in the United States to fill the jobs (one of the problems with geography being classified as a social science).  Now that is a practical reason to support geography that non-geographers can understand.

Tags: labor, geospatial, edtech, geography education,