GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Abraj Kudai, a complex in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is set to become the world’s largest hotel by room count when it opens in 2017.

Source: www.cnn.com

Las Vegas currently has the four of the five largest hotels in the world; people flock to the Nevada desert in droves for the gambling and nightlife.  Mecca has a very distinct draw that pulls tourists in from all our the world.  As a sacred pilgrimage site, the tourism industry thrives and needs an immense infrastructure to handle the high volume of visitors that come for the Hajj.

Tags: tourism, Islam, Saudi Arabia, culture, religion, Middle East.

Fremont police say vandals attacked an inflatable dam on Alameda Creek that resulted in the loss of nearly 50 million gallons of water.

Source: kron4.com

Because what’s more fun than losing nearly 50 millions gallons of freshwater during a drought?  The selfishness of some can be so disheartening for the rest of the community. 

“Find worksheets about Geography of Mexico.  Hundreds of worksheets–millions of combinations.”

Source: www.worksheetworks.com

One of the problems with so many outline maps for classroom use is that, depending on your lesson plan, you might want it labeled, showing surrounding countries or in color…but maybe not.  This site let’s you customize these simple maps that are perfect for the K-12 classroom (and yes, they have maps for all regions of the world).  

Tags: Mexico, K12, map, map archives. 

This animation is made from a time series of maps reconstructing the movements of continental crust or blocks, as South America pulled away from North America, starting 170 million years ago. Note that South America is still clinging to Africa at the beginning of the series.

Source: www.youtube.com

The land bridge connecting North and South America is hardly permanent (on a geological time scale that is).  This video is an animated version of the still maps from this article.  

Tags: Mexico, tectonics, physical, video, Middle America.

The University of the District of Columbia is the one land-grant university in the U.S. with an urban focus. It’s leading research on growing food in raised beds, hoop houses and shipping containers.

Tags: agriculture, food, urban, unit 5 agriculture. 

Source: www.npr.org

“For most states, you’re safe adding an –n, and maybe a few other letters, to the state’s name – a la Coloradans, Nebraskans and Californians. For three states, Wyoming, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, the correct method is to add an –ite. For a handful of states in the northeast, the style is to add an ‘r’ – New Yorker, Vermonter, Mainer, Marylander, Connecticuter and Rhode Islander.”

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Having lived in New England for 6 years now, I still haven’t found a polite term to refer to people from Massachusetts.

Jim Cantore gives an INCREDIBLE step-by-step description and 3D view into how a tornado forms – like you’ve never seen before!

Tags: physical, weather and climate, visualization.

Source: www.youtube.com

After viewing news photographs from China for years, one of my favorite visual themes is “large crowd formations.” Whether the subject is military parades or world-record attempts, mass exercises or enormous performances, the images are frequently remarkable. The masses of people can look beautiful or intimidating, projecting a sense of strength and abundance. Individuals can become pixels in a huge painting, or points on a grid, or echoes of each other in identical uniforms or costumes.

Tags: China, East Asia, culture, art, landscape.

Source: www.theatlantic.com