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Breakfasts Around the World

Imgur is used to share photos with social networks and online communities, and has the funniest pictures from all over the Internet.

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

Previously I shared a gallery portraying 20 families from around world together with a full week of groceries (from the book Hungry Planet or in this abbreviated online version).  Today it’s the breakfast table which shows differences in agricultural, development and cultural patterns around the world.

Tags: food, agriculture, worldwide, consumption, culture, development.

See on imgur.com

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Rising Anti-Immigration Sentiment in the EU

Stratfor Europe Analyst Adriano Bosoni discusses the political implications of the increasing number of migrants from the European Union’s periphery to its core…

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

The economic crisis has contributed to rising anti-immigration sentiment and policies in Europe.  Immigrants from Eastern Europe continue to enter the core, but now more from the struggling southern periphery of Europe are also on the move.   

One of the free response questions in the 2012 AP Human Geography test focused on increasing Muslim population in many European countries.  This video some background context for that particular Free Response Question (as would this article from Al Jazeera titled Europe’s failure to integrate Muslims).

See on www.youtube.com

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Ancient Eurasiatic ‘superfamily’ found at root of European and Asian languages

“Languages spoken by billions of people across Europe and Asia are descended from an ancient tongue uttered in southern Europe at the end of the last ice age, according to research.  The claim, by scientists in Britain, points to a common origin for vocabularies as varied as English and Urdu, Japanese and Itelmen, a language spoken along the north-eastern edge of Russia.  The ancestral language, spoken at least 15,000 years ago, gave rise to seven more that formed an ancient Eurasiatic ‘superfamily’, the researchers say. These in turn split into languages now spoken all over Eurasia, from Portugal to Siberia.”

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

See on www.rawstory.com

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Geography lessons make a world of difference in education

“To meet workforce needs, scholarships must be available to support the best and brightest students who choose to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in geography”

The authors of this article are from American Geographical Society and discuss the results of a study that indicate that Americans want more geography education in the school systems today.  Often geography gets buried within the social studies curriculum and it is up to the individual teacher to ensure how much geography actually gets taught in the classroom.  This is not a new problem; in a bulletin published by the Bureau of Education in 1922, it was said, “So long as it is assumed that history is all of the social studies the elements of the others will be neglected as they are now.”  This article provides good sources to help educators argue for more geographic content in the curriculum at all educational levels.

Tags: Geography Education, geo-inspiration.

See on www.nj.com

GeoEd

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Google Maps Engine

“Google Maps Engine makes it easy for you to create beautiful maps, share them with others, and reach your audience no matter where they are. It’s built on the same platform that provides Google services to millions of people worldwide, so your users have a consistent and familiar experience wherever they are.”

Seth Dixon‘s insight:

Google has become more and more involved with geospatial technologies and platforms.  This new Maps Engine (still in beta testing) appears to be Google entry into the world of GIS.  Maps Engine is not nearly as robust as ArcGIS Online or even Google Earth and it has many limitations (can’t upload a CSV file with more than 100 data points, can’t use KML or shapefiles, no archive of ready-made layers, etc). 

It’s redeeming value lies in the simplicity of the platform; if all you want to do is draw your own points, lines and polygons on top of a map and be able to get started within 30 seconds, then this is worth exploring.  Those features are incredibly intuitive and user-friendly and I foresee various educational possibilities using this in the classroom, but am still ‘test-driving’ the platform.

Tags:  google, GIS, geospatial, edtech, K12.

See on accounts.google.com

Google Maps Engine

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In historic shift, Saudis to allow some girls’ sports

“Private girls’ schools are now allowed to hold sports activities in accordance with the rules of Shariah, or Islamic law. Students must adhere to ‘decent dress’ codes and Saudi women teachers will be given priority in supervising the activities, according to the Education Ministry’s requirements.  The decision makes sports once again a stage for the push to improve women’s rights, nearly a year after two Saudi female athletes made an unprecedented appearance at the Olympics.”  This news comes at a time when Saudi Arabia has allowed women to ride bikes (sort of).

Tags: Saudi Arabia, culture, gender, religion, Middle East.

See on www.cbsnews.com

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American Homes Through the Decades

New homes dominate the market across the Sunbelt, but you can also find older homes with historical features and distinct architectural styles in most major metros — from stained glass windows in homes built before the 1900s to snail showers found in homes from the 2000s.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This interactive feature shows some intriguing historical insight into the United States metropolitan housing markets and this article associated with the interactive analyzes the growth trends in particular cities.

Questions to Ponder: how is this real estate interactive a portal into the historical economic geography of U.S. cities?  What explains the regional patterns?  New England?  Texas?  

Tags: housing, urban, unit 7 cities.

See on trends.truliablog.com

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Is It Crazy to Think We Can Eradicate Poverty?

The end to extreme poverty might very well be within reach. But is the bar too low?

The World Bank aims to raise just about everyone on Earth above the $1.25-a-day income threshold. In Zambia, an average person living in such dire poverty might be able to afford, on a given day, two or three plates of cornmeal porridge, a tomato, a mango, a spoonful each of oil and sugar, a bit of chicken or fish, maybe a handful of nuts. But he would have just pocket change to spend on transportation, housing, education and everything else.

See on www.nytimes.com

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What is a Hotspot?


1) What is a hotspot? A volcanic “hotspot” is an area in the upper mantle from which heat rises in a plume from deep in the Earth. High heat and lower pressure at the base of the mantle facilitates melting of the rock. This melt, called magma, rises through cracks to the surface and forms volcanoes. As the tectonic plate moves over the stationary hot spot, the volcanoes are rafted away and new ones form in their place.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

Why are the Hawaiian Islands a linear formation if there are not plate boundaries in that region?  Why are the islands seemingly arranged from largest to smallest?  The answers lie in the physical geography of ‘hot spots.’  After this introductory video, you can learn more about the geologic life cycle of a hot spot volcanic island in this companion video shown below. 

Tags: Oceania, physical, geomorphology, landforms.

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