Search

GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Supporting geography educators everywhere with current digital resources.

Open Search
Category

Uncategorized

NASA Satellites Find Freshwater Losses in Middle East

A new study using data from a pair of gravity-measuring NASA satellites finds that large parts of the arid Middle East region lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade.

“[This] data show an alarming rate of decrease in total water storage in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater storage loss on Earth, after India,” said Jay Famiglietti, principal investigator of the study and a hydrologist and professor at UC Irvine. “The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought. Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and the region does not coordinate its water management because of different interpretations of international laws.”

Tags: water, environment, consumption, resources, environment depend, Middle East, Iraq.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This is a perfect example of geospatial technologies can lead to a better understanding of how the Earth’s physical systems are changing because of human geography.  Teaching geography is about showing how these systems are interconnected.   

See on www.nasa.gov

0

Hot Commodities

“77 Photos of the mass production of the Earth’s natural resources.  In the picture above, a Tibetan villager works in a salt field. Salt has been the most common food preservative, especially for meat, for thousands of years.” 

Tags: consumption, agriculture, resources, labor, industry, economic, unit 6 industry.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

Coal, steel, gold, iron, copper, aluminum and oil are all incredibly important commodities.  Agricultural products such as rice, cotton, corn, wheat and coffee all travel far beyond their area of origin.   Where do these resources come from?  How are they produced?  This gallery of 77 pictures is a fantastic tour of the resources that are key cogs in the global economy.  

See on photos.msn.com

1

EU horse meat scandal exposes dangers of globalism

When horse meat was discovered in beef hamburgers in Ireland last month, governments, corporations and regulators assured a panicked public that it was complete

Tags: food, agriculture, consumption, unit 5 agriculture, globalization, agribusiness.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

Just what is in our food anyway?  This scandal reveals how removed comsumers are from the production of the foods that they purchase.  As these commodity chains become longer and more complex, food safety appears to take a back seat to profit margins.   

See on www.examiner.com

0

Which Countries Don’t Have a Minimum Wage?

In a surprising move, President Obama proposed during the State of the Union address to increasing the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour.

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This made many people ask the question “how many countries have minimum wages?”

See on www.slate.com

0

Impact: Earth!

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

Given the recent meteor in Russia, interest has been high on the subject.  Have you every wanted to simulate a the impact of a meteorite?  Then this is just what you’ve always wanted. If you would rather to see an incredibly entertaining clip from the Daily Show, (disclaimer: it’s a VERY irreverant look at the the dash-cam footage from Russia that many just discovered after the meteor hit last week) then knock yourself out.  

See on www.purdue.edu

0

Flags Quiz | Box Clever | QuizFortune

Like a flag, can you represent? From the most famous flags to the more obscure, challenge your knowledge of flags from around the world in our fun Flags Quiz!

See on www.quizfortune.com

0

Mapping Europe’s Borderlands: Russian Cartography in the Age of Empire

This is a rich and fascinating angle on history enhanced by a bounty of beautiful reproductions. Rare is a book this aesthetically pleasing and intellectually original.

“Maps are not merely distilled representations of geographic realities. Over time, they come to represent an organic bundling of history: reconstructed, imagined, and manipulated. Historically, they have been the tools with which expanding empires have legitimized their conquests, imposed identities, and created administrative order, and with which victims have constructed alternative narratives and salvaged their own national memories. Never was this truer than in the period in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when a burgeoning Romanov empire joined Austria and Prussia in wiping Poland-Lithuania from the map and absorbing it into their swelling realms. Seegel intricately analyzes the cartography of imperial Russia and Poland-Lithuania as the science evolved and historical demands were placed on it. This is a rich and fascinating angle on history enhanced by a bounty of beautiful reproductions. Rare is a book this aesthetically pleasing and intellectually original. Seegel should be congratulated for creating it, and the University of Chicago Press, for producing it.”  You may also see this title on Amazon. 

Tags: book reviews, Russia, cartography, historical.

See on www.foreignaffairs.com

0

38 Maps You Never Knew You Needed

“Some prime examples of fascinating maps.” 

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This is a very entertaining collection of maps.  Shown above is a map that displays what is on the other side of the Globe (see, it’s the Argentinians and Chileans that would “dig a hole to China”).  Superimposed on every location is its antipod (location directly opposite on the other side of the Earth).  The journal of radical leftist geography is entitled Antipode, implying that they see the world through a different perspective and plays off of this concept. 

See on www.buzzfeed.com

0

Teaching about Racism in Japan

Is there racism and discrimination in Japan? I was surprised to find out that almost all of my high school students (about 1000 students) were not aware of t…

Seth Dixon, Ph.D.‘s insight:

This YouTube video has caused a tremendous amount of controversy in Japan, where most see discrimination as a problem in other societies.  For some more context on the controversy, read this great Washington Post article on the subject.    

See on www.youtube.com

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑