GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

50% yes, 50% no.  The raw statistics would tell you that the country is perfectly divided on this question of whether or not the University of Alabama has the greatest college football program of all time.  Not surprising to geographers, in a evenly split polls, elections, or other data results, there are oftentimes strong regional factors that influence variation in the data (in this case, local allegiances, media bias and general sport fanaticism).  

Questions to Ponder:  Alabama’s voting pattern is obvious, what explains for some of the other poll results from particular states?  Why is there a general East/West divide on this question?  What are the regional factors that influence the voting patterns?  Would the result be different on 6 months from now?

Tags: sport, statistics, mapping, regions.

This New York Times short video is an intriguing glimpse into some of the cultural pressures behind having the designation of being an official world heritage site.  The grerat mosque combined with the traditional mud-brick feel to the whole city draws in tourists and is a source of communal pride, but many homeowners want to modernize and feel locked into traditional architecture by outside organizations that want them to preserve an ‘authentic’ cultural legacy.

Tags: Islam, tourism, place, religion, culture, historical, community, Mali, Africa.

Some of the best free professional development opportunities are found online as educators develop Personal Leaning Networks (PLN).  This is a sampling of important voices from my PLN, with important links, updates and perspectives–so glad to be a part of your PLNs!

This is the audio archive of a 2007 radio interview with Jerome Dobson, Geography Professor at the University of Kansas and President of the American Geographical Society.  In this interview he discusses many topics including the importance of geographic education, how to define geography and showing the relevance of the disciple in solving real-world problems.  He gives historical context as to why geography became minimized within the United States.   

Tags: geography education, geo-inspiration, podcast.

Over 6 million of those living in Canada were born outside of Canada an migrated there.  This infographic cleverly outlines both where migrants live in Canada and where they came from.  Ethnic enclaves are an important part of Canada’s rural and urban cultural landscapes.  Since the 1960s, the majority of immigrants have come from Asia, changing some traditional neighborhoods. 

Tags: Canada, ethnicity, migration, infographic, neighborhood. 

This image is appears to be a regional inset of the classic Earth at Night composite image however this nighttime remote sensing image was taken from Sept. 2012.  The Earth at Night image is typically used in classrooms to discuss what this actually means for human geography (Population density?  Development? Consumption? Where? How come?).  However, this particular portion of the global image focused on the Korean Peninsula highlights two other specific issues:

1. the impact of a totalitarian state can actually be seen from space as South Korea has a per captia income level 17 times higher than that of North Korea. 
2. the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) can be seen in the Yellow Sea as fishing vessels form a line approximately 200 nautical miles off the coast of South Korea.     

Tags:  economic, political, resources, water, sovereignty, coastal, territoriality, states, unit 4 political, remote sensing.

These scientists explain some of the purposes and applications of remote sensing at a level that is accessible for just about any audience. 

Tags: remote sensing, geospatial, unit 1 Geoprinciples, K12.

This is an old article, but a fascinating topic that cuts across many geographic issues.  Uluru, the landform that that European explorers named Ayers Rock, was the key place that is at the center of a struggle between indigenous people and the government.  Many feel that the government’s course of action in the mid 2000’s was paternalistic and racist.  They banned alcohol and pornography in over 70 indigenous communities in an attempt to lower the rates of child sex abuse.  Sex Abuse is high (and often hidden)  in aboriginal communities where a child is 7 times more likely to be abused than in the rest of the Australian population.

Questions to Ponder: Would the government impose such measures on other populations within Australia?  When crimes have a racial component, does a government have the right to limit a particular groups’ actions?  Why or why not?

Tags: Australia, indigenous, ethnicity, race, Oceania.