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John Snow’s cholera map of London recreated

What would John Snow’s famous cholera map look like on a modern map of London, using modern mapping tools?

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

John Snow’s cholera map is often noted as a prime example of using spatial thinking to solve a scientific problem.  Here are a variety of resources to explore this classic example.  Here is an article that highlights the spatial thinking that produced this map, with KML files and in Google Fusion Tables.  See also these online GIS layers of Dr. Snow’s famous map. 


Tags: medical, models, spatial, mapping.   

See on www.guardian.co.uk

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My escape from North Korea


“As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee thought her country was ‘the best on the planet.’ It wasn’t until the famine of the 90s that she began to to wonder. She escaped the country at 14, to begin a life in hiding, as a refugee in China. Hers is a harrowing, personal tale of survival and hope.”

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

Not all migration is voluntary and this woman’s personal struggle to flee North Korea alternates between heartwarming and heartbreaking.  Her accent is thick, but it is worth it to her her story from her own mouth. 

Tags: North Korea, migration, political, East Asia, development, states, poverty.

See on www.youtube.com

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When Technology and Tradition Collide: From Gender Bias to Sex Selection

“Every year, as a result of prenatal sex selection, 1.5 million girls around the world are missing at birth.  How do we know these girls are missing if they were never born? Under normal circumstances, about 102 to 107 male babies are born for every 100 female babies born. This is called the sex ratio at birth, or SRB.”

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

How do local cultures create these demographic statistics?  How do these demographic statistics impact local cultures? 


Tags: gender, statistics, China, population.

See on www.prb.org

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Urban Agriculture

“Aerial photo tour across countries and continents with a French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand”

 

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

I love Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s photography; so many of them are geography lessons in and of themselves as he captures compelling images of the cultural landscape.  This particular gallery shows 32 stunning images including this one above showing urban agriculture in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Worldwide, there are 800 million amateur farmers in built-up areas. In estates in south eastern Asia and some towns in central and South America, many people depend on this activity for survival. It’s the same story in Europe; in Berlin there are more than 80,000 urban farmers, and in Russia more than 72% of all urban homes till their own patch of land, balcony or even roof. Urban agriculture is on the [rise] and there could be twice as many people enjoying it within twenty years.”

 

Tags: agriculture, food, landscape, images, urban, unit 5 agriculture, unit 7 cities.

See on pixtale.net

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Thinking like a Geographer

WARNING! This video contains explicit geographical scenes that may offend the non-worldy-wise.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This music video is just for fun, but there is some solid content embedded in the lyrics…if you never want your students to laugh or smile, I do not recommend sharing this with your classes.  If your students already see you a goofy, fun-loving teacher, this might be right in your wheelhouse.   

Tags: geo-inspiration, geography education.

See on www.youtube.com

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Food stamps put Rhode Island town on monthly boom-and-bust cycle

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

Rhode Island is one of five states in which the number of people getting  help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly known as ‘food stamps’) has more than doubled since 2008. In 2012, 16 percent of its residents received aid from the program. Read the related article.  The article details how Woonsocket’s economy is impacted by these monthly fluctuations is disposable income.  Why is Rhode Island one of that states with a doubling participation in this program? 

See on www.washingtonpost.com

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A world of projections

Welcome, Metafilter visitors! How can you map a sphere unto the plane? well you can’t if you want to keep size, shape and proportions. Here are the alternatives… Learn more about the different projections.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

We are accustomed to spatial distortion in maps; when we see that same distortion on a picture, it gives us an alternative perspective on the level of spatial distortion that we see on maps.  The Azimuthal (circular) projections are my favorite for this photographic project.   

Tags:  mapping, cartography, perspective, map.

See on www.flickr.com

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What the Internet Looks Like

You are looking at, more or less, a portrait of the internet over an average 24 hours in 2012—higher usage in yellows and reds; lower in greens and blues—created by an anonymous researcher for the “Internet Census 2012” project.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This is a stunning animated graphic the represents internet usage.  The temporal dynamics of map make it especially mesmerizing. 

See on gawker.com

EarthPulse

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Turning A Boom Town Into A Real Town

Thousands of workers have flooded into the town. But they’re reluctant to call it home.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This oil boom is visible from space; it has created a real estate market where a one-bedroom apartment goes for $2100 a month (census map showing population increase -slide 4).  Still, the overwhelmingly male population that works here is not willing to move their families with them and truly put down some roots.  Some fear a potential “bust” on this economic prosperity and others don’t see the amenities that encourage lasting settlement growth (schools, parks, cultural events, etc.).  The city of Williston, North Dakota “feels like a frontier town” and will build a huge recreational center and other things to entice these temporary workers to become permanent residents.  More than just jobs are needed to made a city attractive to potential migrants.  

Tags: migration, podcast, urban.

See on www.npr.org

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