GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

“Dogtown and Z-Boys: A documentary about the pioneering 1970s Zephyr skating team.”

Source: www.youtube.com

Popular culture is shaped by taste-makers, counter-cultural movements, and the blending of cultural practices in new ways creating a distinct aesthetic. Often, the physical geography of a region plays a crucial role in shaping the cultural practices particular to their environment. All of that can be seen quite vividly in the colorful skating revolution of the 1970s that took shape in the Southern California. Kids who grew up idolizing surfers branched out their recreational habits into the modern form of skating that we see today at the X Games. Made legendary through a series of Skateboarder magazine articles, these kids shaped the cultural ethos of skateboarding for over a generation. With the coastal influence of surfing, the socioeconomics of a seaside slum, it’s abandoned piers, the ubiquity of cement and asphalt in the urban landscape, the run-down neighborhood of “Dogtown” was home to cultural movement. The fierce droughts of the 1970 meant abandoned swimming pools; that drought led surfers to the technological infrastructure for modern skating ramps and half pipes as they skated in emptied swimming pools. As stated in those Skaterboarder articles, “two hundred years of American technology has unwittingly created a massive cement playground of unlimited potential. But it was the minds of 11 year olds that could see that potential.” The documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys” (trailer) and the fictionalized “Lords of Dogtown,” (trailer) both produced by skater turned filmmaker Stacy Peralta, chronicle the age (“Lords of Dogtown” is not appropriate for the K-12 classroom viewing).

Tags: place, space, sport, California, landscape, video, popular culture, music.

“Don’t let my New York City–centric comparisons hinder your imagination. The interactive at the top of this page lets you visualize how different parts of the country compare in population density.

Click the button at the bottom of the interactive to select Los Angeles County, for instance, and then click anywhere on the map to generate a (roughly) circular region of (roughly) equal population. The population data come from the 2010 census, and the square mileage was calculated by summing each highlighted county’s total area. You can also use New Jersey (the most densely populated state), Wyoming (the least densely populated state outside of Alaska), Texas, the coasts (the group of all counties that come within 35 miles of either the Atlantic or Pacific oceans), and, yes, New York City as the baseline for your population comparison.”

Tags: cartography, mapping, visualization, urban, density.

Source: www.slate.com

“The Landsat program is the longest continuous global record of the Earth’s surface, and continues to deliver both visually stunning and scientifically valuable images of our planet. This short video (download here) highlights Landsat’s many benefits to society.“

Tags: remote sensing, geospatial, unit 1 GeoPrinciples.

Source: www.youtube.com

Be a part of the Tower of London’s major centenary commemoration for the outbreak of the First World War.

Source: poppies.hrp.org.uk

The news of this art installation this summer captivated the media.  Art transforms the place, and the place breaths additional layers of meaning into the work of art. The result was an highly evocative and poignant landscape created to be a living reminder of multiple historical events and the wounds that war can inflict on a national consciousness.  

Tags:  architecture art, landscape, London, UK, historical, war.

“Those who owe their position to despotic leaders cling to their influence by keeping them operating – perhaps past death.”  

Source: www.theguardian.com

Kim Jong-un has not been seen for over five weeks now, even missing the 69th anniversary of the Worker’s Party. The official governmental explanation is that he is healing, but everything coming out of Pyongyang is shrouded in mystery.  Some think he may have died or that he has been overthrown or fled after an unsuccessful coup attempt.  This might be a trick, but the longer he remains out of the public eye, the speculation will continue as to who is really in charge of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.     

Tags: North Korea, political, East Asia, geopolitics.

“The world is becoming more and more interconnected. Globalization changes how people consume, work and live almost everywhere on the world. Today, many economic, political, cultural or ecological relationships are not explainable from a national perspective. At the same time, a controversial debate about the consequences of globalization has begun.“

Source: www.youtube.com

“In this exclusive, unedited interview, ‘I Am Malala’ author Malala Yousafzai remembers the Taliban’s rise to power in her Pakistani hometown and discusses her efforts to campaign for equal access to education for girls. Malala Yousafzai also offers suggestions for people looking to help out overseas and stresses the importance of education.”

For younger audiences, hearing someone their own age discuss educational opportunities (or the lack thereof) based on gender can leave a profound impression. Today, Malala is a Nobel Peace Prize winner (deservedly so), as she’s become an icon in her own right as she champions developmental opportunities for girls in cultures that historically have not had equal offerings for young women.  Watch this documentary to see who she was before she was thrust into the international spotlight. 

Tags: development, poverty, gender, Pakistan, media.

“No one has found out how to help Denmark’s falling birth rate. Until now. Spies Travels announces a competition where you have to make a baby to win.”

Source: www.youtube.com