GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

A nonprofit organization run by current and former favela residents called Redes da Mare has started the first mapping program to systematically chart our the favelas for municipal governments.  We take for granted what having an address on a named street means in a modern society; it is a portal to public utilities, recognition with businesses and countless other social benefits.  Being left ‘off the map’ is synonymous with being left behind.  By finding their way on the city maps they are removing some of the social stigma that sought to treat them as if they did not exist.  

Tags: Brazil, urban, squatter, mapping. 

While this is not predicting a coup in any of these places, this map is a visualization of data that was used to assess the factors that would make a coup likely (to see an alternate map, here is the Washington Post’s review of the same data that mapped the 30 countries most likely to have a coup). 

Questions to Ponder: What factors do you think would be important in compilling data of this nature?  What makes a country susceptible to this type of governmental overthrow?  What creates governmental stability? 

Tags: political, conflict, unit 4 political, governance, Africa.

There are some great images (and a post-landslide helicopter flight video) of the massive landslide that occurred Jan 21, 2013.  The rockslide extends over 3 km, with an elevation change of approximately 800 meters.  This is an excellent example to help students visualize mass wasting, alpine glaciation and erosion in general.  While the mountain didn’t explode strictly speaking, I couldn’t help but love the headline “Mount Dixon explodes!”    

Tags: New Zealand, physical, geomorphology, erosion.

UNICEF workers have stated: “More than 600,000 have fled the conflict in Syria and registered as refugees. The number of Syrians who have left without registering is unknown but is likely to be hundreds of thousands. We do know, however, that children make up around half the number of refugees and that is certainly no way for any child to live their childhood.”

Tags: Syria, conflict, political, MiddleEast, war.

It’s no secret that Japan’s population is aging and can not replace itself.  Since it is not a destination country for migrants, this is going to have serious economic ramifications as the percentage of the Japanese population over 60 is expected to rise above 40% over the course of this next generation.  Given the harsh statements by the new Japanese finance minister, it’s a huge political concern (although a difficult one mention in campaigns).  Some have already questioned Japan’s ability to survive this demographic implosion as adult diapers are now a bigger moneymaker in Japan than children’s diapers.

Tags: Japan, declining population, economic, population, demographics, unit 2 population, East Asia.

Some of the photography and photo galleries of this cultural event are breathtaking–literally for those taking the plunge.  Russians cut the ice in the shape of a cross and bath in water that is blessed and considered holy.  This appears to be a religious tradition that is particularly adapted to the environmental conditions of the religious adherents (since it appears that the extreme climate plays a critical role in the activity).  Part of the practice involves sacrifice; the colder the swim, the greater the manifestation of religious devotion.    

Tags: Russia, religion, culture. 

This month the U.S. Census Bureau has released the beta version of a very nice online mapping tool to display the 2010 data.  The mapper will create PDF versions of any map produced online (file sizes from 20-55KB) and the user can export the raw data to Excel.  While the user is more limited in how to display the data than they would using a GIS, this is a simple way to explore some of the basic census information.

Tags: statistics, census, GIS, mapping, cartography.