See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
An NPR team begins a series of reports from North Africa, where last year’s revolutions have Tunisia, Libya and Egypt writing new rules for their changing societies.
The Arab Spring has reworked the political landscape in Tunisia; this podcast looks at the cultural changes that have also taken place because of the political shifts. How are culture and politics interconnected?
See on www.npr.org
See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
Genes and the environment both shape health and development. But their effects are not always equal. Researchers in the U.K. say they’ve mapped hotspots where nature has a stronger influence, and others where nurture dominates.
All people are a combination of their genes as well as the environment (a mix of ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’). A recent study of over 5,000 twins throughout the UK saw regional concentrations where it appears that environmental factors had a greater than normal influence (centered around London). I’m still scratching my head wondering what to make of this data, but this is a compelling project.
See on www.npr.org
See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
Ask this question: Which region of the world currently is the home to 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies? Most people (myself included) would be surprised to hear that the region is sub-Saharan Africa. While Sub-Saharan Africa is still the least economically developed region with some very significant challenges, too often Africa is only taught as a region of problems and negative patterns.
Trade between Africa and the rest of the world has tripled in the last decade. Since 2005, Africa is officially receiving more private foreign investment than official aid. With many counties “skipping the landline phase” and going straight to cell phone technologies, the rapid acceleration of technology means that they Africa’s economic infrastructure has the potential to increase quickly.
See on www.foreignpolicy.com
See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
Hint: India is last among the G20 and the United States didn’t crack the top five in the latest survey to reflect poorly on the situation of American women.
A poll of 370 gender experts yielded some interesting results that reflect the local cultural, economic and political geographies. Beyond using the lists of best and worst countries (since the rankings are still based on rather subjective criteria), students can come up with their most important factors in evaluating gender equity and evaluate the countries based on their own evaluations.
See on rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com
See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
Socks is a online magazine about Media, Art, Architecture, Cities, Design, Technology.
Our society is obviously heavily dependent on oil. Yet we often don’t see the environmental impacts of our collective oil consumption on the landscape because the negative impacts have been spatially separated away from oil consumers. This is an excellent compilation of photos by Edward Burtynsky that makes the connection between oil consumption and changes to both the physical and cultural landscapes explicit. For more images by this artist, see: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com
See on socks-studio.com
See on Scoop.it – Regional Geography
Hiking to the top of Preikestolen (the Pulpit Rock) near Stavanger, Norway. An amazing and wondrous hike.
For the inner explorer in all of us, this is a geographic dream. To read more about this fantastic climb, see: http://digitalnomad.nationalgeographic.com/2012/05/24/hiking-preikestolen/
See on www.youtube.com
See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
Channel 5 – Behind closed Doors Series on Container City at Trinity Buoy Wharf…
On my daily commute, I drive by a colorful container building in Providence, RI. In terms of it’s spatial configuration and aesthetic statement within the urban landscape, I found it fascinating. After doing some more research, I began to appreciate this as a form of sustainable housing that 1) costs less than traditional structures, 2) can be built MUCH quicker that standard buildings and 3) has the potential to be an effective recycling method. For more on ‘Container Cities,’ see: http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/kaidbenfield/40875/shipping-container-cities-bring-creative-funky-approach-green-construction
See on www.youtube.com
See on Scoop.it – Geography Education
I typically would not link to a Wikipedia article, but this one is not only well crafted, but represents an academic collaborative work in its own right. This a fabulous cartographic gallery that explores the history of geographical thought through the ages (as archived in the earliest maps). Enjoy the maps, and even more, the intellectual context that this article provides for each of these images.
See on en.wikipedia.org
See on Scoop.it – Cultural Geography
Study offers evidence that long countries give better protection to languages than those that are wide.
This article explains some of the research that Jared Diamond’s hypothesis in “Guns, Germs and Steel” generated. More specifically, this particular research hypothesizes that in a given country, its primary axis of orientation (North-South, East-West or balanced) helps to predict the survival of indigenous languages. While I have some skepticism about Diamond’s core thesis, this is a good extension for teachers that use Guns, Germs and Steel in their classes.
See on www.nature.com
GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION 