“Ever curious about the reaches of the United Nation and what they do? Here’s a great video featuring Dr. Binoy Kampmark from RMIT University. This short video can help improve your understanding of the UN, including its role in world politics and policy making.”
Source: www.youtube.com
This video is a part of a TED-ED lesson that is short and sweet.
Tags: supranationalism, political, TED, video.
A school that lays in ruins, hospitals and refugee camps under attack, and a city center with the size of Manhattan destroyed by shelling — these are some of the shocking details of a new United Nations report on the conflict in Syria, four years after in began.
Tags: Syria, MiddleEast, conflict, political, remote sensing.
Source: www.washingtonpost.com
“A photo gallery of the world’s ten smallest countries, from 0.2 square miles on up to 115 square miles, these ten smallest countries are microstates.”
Source: geography.about.com
What makes a country a country? While there are many definitions, full political sovereignty is the gold standard. This list has some people to try to create their own micronation (except for that little sovereignty detail). As a student project, building their own fictitious micronation is a way to get them to think about the needs of a state and society in a more holistic manner.
Tags: political, states, unit 4 political.
Stratfor conducted extensive scenario planning when considering Russia’s offensive military options toward Ukraine. In this video some of the broader themes and deduction will be examined.
Source: www.youtube.com
The first 5:30 of the video is an introduction to the computerized scenario for the second half which comprises the actual analysis of what may (or may not) happen depending on how Russia gambles its military forces. Here is a transcript of the last half of the video.
Tags: Ukraine, Russia, geopolitics, political, war.
All the latest news on the the search for the lost ships of the Franklin Expedition, as well as information on past searches, the technology used in the searches, historical information about the Franklin Expedition itself, and much more.
Source: www.canadiangeographic.ca
Come learn about one of the greatest discoveries and explorations in our time that recovers the memory of explorers of yesteryear. These 6 lesson plans are incredibly engaging and are a fantastic example of geographic concepts.
Tags: Canada, teacher training, edtech.
“Thanks to Fred Kunze for this growing set of MAGE educational podcasts. They are indexed according to the Minnesota Academic Standards in History and Social Studies benchmarks, keywords, and grade levels.”
Source: lt.umn.edu
Did you know that MAGE has dozens of podcasts for geography teachers? Well, now you do.
Tag: podcast.
“Glance at the map above, Second Largest Religious Tradition in Each State 2010, and you will see that Buddhism (orange), Judaism (pink) and Islam (blue) are the runner-up religions across the country.
No surprises there. But can you believe that Hindu (dark orange) is the No. 2 tradition in Arizona and Delaware, and that Baha’i (green) ranks second in South Carolina? These numbers, although they look impressive when laid out in the map, represent a very tiny fraction of the population in any of the states listed.”
Source: www.npr.org
This map of the spatial pattern of the second largest religious tradition in each state, tells a different story than the tabular data on the left.
Questions to Ponder: What are the most interesting stories and patterns visible in the spatial, mapped data? What is the main second religion that is not as visually dominant on the map? Why are both data sources valuable in understanding religions in the United States?
Do you know how the internet gets across the ocean? This amazing map shows every cable that makes it possible.
Source: www.vox.com
Because globalization.
Tags: Time-Space Compression, development, technology, economic, globalization, industry, unit 6 industry..
In the 19th century, London was the capital of the largest empire the world had ever known — and it was infamously filthy. It had choking, sooty fogs; the Thames River was thick with human sewage; and the streets were covered with mud. But according to Lee Jackson, author of Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth, mud was actually a euphemism. ‘It was essentially composed of horse dung,’ he tells Fresh Air’s Sam Briger. ‘There were tens of thousands of working horses in London [with] inevitable consequences for the streets. And the Victorians never really found an effective way of removing that, unfortunately.'”
Source: www.npr.org
History gets sanitized, and the we forget some of the more unpleasant parts of past geographies. Victorian London was filthy, but this isn’t just a problem of the past as it remains an urban and developmental issue. The NY Times just reported on how the sewage system is clogged with wet wipes say aren’t as ‘flushable’ as advertized. These are the negative externalities of urbanization. This map of San Francisco shows the spatial and social inequalities of public restrooms and other public amenities for the homeless. India is the country with the most people without adequate access to sanitary waste disposal and that is a massive impediment to their progress. Public urination is also health/gender issue and the city of Hamburg is fighting back with a technological deterrent to public urination (actually quite entertaining). And if you want the “news of the weird” version of this story on the geography of human waste…well, here you go (you were warned).
Tags: London, UK, historical, pollution, urban ecology, podcast.
GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION 