GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

This TED-ED lesson is a quick primer into the geographic context of linguistic change and variability that we find all around the world. 

Tags: language, TED, regions, folk cultures, toponyms, historical, culture, diffusion.

As announced earlier this week, ESRI will be donating ArcGIS organizational accounts to all K-12 schools in the United States, and here is a video of ESRI’s CEO Jack Dangermond explaining the importance of spatial thinking in STEM education.  President Obama referenced this donation during his speech at the White House’s Science Fair.  Currently many geography educators are planning new ways to use this to their advantage.  Explore what ArcGIS can do,  and consider how this might be a part of what you can do with your students (this article is a primer if you don’t know what ArcGIS is yet).  Click here to request an organizational account for your school.

Tags: mapping, GIS,  K12, ESRI, geospatial, edtech.

I normally don’t share items that are for sale, since I don’t endorse products.  However, even if no one buys this t-shirt, I think this audience would be able to appreciate the message. 

International trade agreements are usually discussed at the national level.  “NAFTA benefits Mexico” is a commonly heard saying because trade with the United States and Canada strengthens the manufacturing sector in Mexico.  Even if there is an overall benefit to a country, there are always winners and losers for different regions, economic sectors and many other demographic groups.   Farmers in southern Mexico were certainly a sector that struggled mightily under NAFTA.

Tags: Mexico, supranationalism, industry, place, agriculture, food production,

This is a big announcement from ESRI, home of ArcGIS online and other geospatial tools.  They are making ArcGIS online organizational accounts free for all K-12 schools in the United States.  As ESRI spokespeople have said, “this will open up ArcGIS Online far beyond just a public account, by permitting more control of sharing, access to more data, engaging much more powerful analyses, supporting apps like Collector or Explorer, integrating with ArcMap and Microsoft Office, enabling login to Community Analyst, and lots more, with still more on the way.”  Click here to request an organizational account for your school. 

Tags: mapping, GIS,  K12, ESRI, geospatial, edtech.

The pre-Columbian symbols of the condor, serpent and Tree of Life adorn the architecture of these brightly colored ballrooms that also have European-imported chandeliers, arches and other baroque elements.  The spread of globalization is often assumed to be a homogenizing cultural force, but local cultures typically take elements of the global, and make it their own.  The global becomes local and deeply rooted in place and reshapes place.

Tags:  globalization, architecture, South America, folk cultures, culture, Bolivia.

On this Memorial Day, I wanted to remember some of the lingering impacts of war. In one way or another, every individual, society, country and place has been impacted and shaped by the numerous armed conflicts over the generations.  So many veterans bear physical scars of war, much like these landscapes mark the trauma of WWI.  Also worth remembering are the unseen emotional and mental scars that are a part of the true cost of war. 

Tags: historical, war, landscape.

What happens to massive cargo vessels after they are outdated?  There are tons of scrap metal, but they aren’t

designed to be taken apart.  The ship-breakers of South Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are 3 of the 4 global leaders in recycling ships) risk much to mine this resource.  This is an economic function that is a part of a globalized economy, but one than was never intended.  There are major health risks to the workers and pollutants to the local community that are endemic in this industry that manages to survive on the scraps of the global economy.

Tags: Bangladesh,  South Asia, poverty, development, economic, globalization, industry, labor.

This video is a brief introduction on how to utilize the EnviroAtlas mapping platform that has been created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  This has great potential for the classroom and as a portal for students to explore the data on their own.      

Tags: mapping, environment, physical.