GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

A young man for the tough streets of South Central Los Angeles found refuge from from gang troubles out in the desert in a community on the Salton Sea.  His family believes this unconventional move was key to him becoming a successful football player at the University of Minnesota.  His personal geographies follows uncommon migrational patterns, but it demonstrates that personal geographies can show some of the great diversity that is a part of the human mosaic.      

Tags: Los Angeles, sport, migration.

The world is in the palm of your hand; what will you do?  This is a question that each generation collectively needs to ask itself.  We can consider ourselves stewards of this planet with its vast natural resources and abundant potential.  If we make choices that are sustainable for the future we will keep many of these amazing possibilities open to future generations.  (For Hi-res image click here).  Just one more reason to read Geography Education.  

Tags: resources, sustainability.

Tags: water, mapping, USA.

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.