GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

“The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) continues to both promote and celebrate geographic teaching and learning. Our activities include conducting and gathering research, producing journals and other geography publications, developing curricular resources at the K-12 and University levels, providing professional development opportunities, and organizing an annual conference.”

Source: www.ncge.org

The NCGE promotes geographic education, which we need now more than ever–here are the labor statistics about the future need for geographers supporting the statements in the image above. 

Tags: NCGE, geography education, labor.

“Dear Subway, I really wish you would have talked to a farmer. I really wish you would have done so before your big announcement saying you would, as of 2016, be sourcing all of your turkey and chicken as being raised without antibiotics.”

Source: hewittfarmsinc.wordpress.com

This is not a typical source, but it captures an important perspective on our food production systems.  Some policies (like this one from Subway) are designed to increase customer confidence in the quality of the product, but they don’t reflect some of the practical issues that farmers have to face on the farm.  

Tags: food, economic, food production, agribusiness.

When you learned about The Periodic Table of Elements in high school, it probably didn’t look like this. Above, we have a different way of visualizing the elements. Created by Professor William F. Sheehan at Santa Clara University in 1970, this chart takes the elements (usually shown like this) and scales them relative to their abundance on the Earth’s surface.

Source: www.openculture.com

The Periodic Table of Elements shows each element as a box, but that doesn’t help us understand which elements are the most scarce and abundant.  The “rare earths” are crucial ingredients in cell phones, laptops and magnets that create clean energy; China controls 95% of the rare earths production and are no longer exporting these materials to other countries (some consider the availability of rare earths a risk to U.S. national security). 

Tags:  pollution, industry, economic, energy, resources, environment, environment modify, sustainability.

“The curriculum ‘Empire, Republic, Democracy: A History of Turkey’ traces the final years of the Ottoman Empire, the birth of the Turkish Republic, and contemporary issues in Turkey. Learn more at www.choices.edu/turkey “

Source: vimeo.com

This video is a great introduction to the Choices Program’s new unit on Turkey…a country that is truly a bridge between the Middle East and Europe, without being fully in either.   This unique global position makes Turkey a very important country to understand both culturally and politically.

Tags: political, culture, Turkey, historical.

In a study of seven world metros, only a little more than a quarter of the streets were named for women.

Tags: gender, mapping, urban, toponyms.

Source: www.citylab.com

This fabulous 1927 map shows some of the key reasons why the movie industry flourished in Los Angeles–California’s physical geography is incredibly diverse. As the industry was emerging in the first half of the 20th century, they didn’t have massive budgets to travel the world to give their locations a great degree of geographic accuracy it their set locations. Southern California was the ideal home base for a wide range of locations that could physically approximate so many environments and ecosystems. This cost saving strategy had more than economic ramifications; this strategy reinforced many spatial (and cultural) stereotypes in the movies that powerfully influenced how people conceptualized what these places were like. These geographies of cinematic imagination, created for economic purposes, shape our regional perceptions.

Tags: place, California, landscape, popular culture, industry.

Source: geographyeducation.org

“A Romp Around the World to 24 Countries.  The perfect gift for adventurers young and old – this book is a whirlwind exploration of world cultures!”

Source: www.australiatozimbabwe.com

I’ve received an advance copy of Australia to Zimbabwe and it is a delightful book that appeals to all ages (everyone in my house ate it up). Carefully layered so that readers can customize the experience to fit their interests, time, and goals, this treasure trove just begs the reader to keep exploring as they flip through its pages. Australia to Zimbabwe presents facts in a context that enlivens learning about the people and places of the world and heightens the reader’s curiosity. With the online supplemental materials, this book brings to life the sights, sounds, and smells of far-away places.  Teachers, librarians, and parents alike should all be excited to get their hands on this book when it comes out November 17th.

Tags: education, K12, geography education, book reviews.

Let’s review exactly what population has to do with economic growth

Source: theweek.com