View full lesson on TED-ED: What do Game of Thrones’ Dothraki, Avatar’s Na’vi, Star Trek’s Klingon and LOTR’s Elvish have in common? They are all fantasy constructed languages, or conlangs. Conlangs have all the delicious complexities of real languages: a high volume of words, grammar rules, and room for messiness and evolution. John McWhorter explains why these invented languages captivate fans long past the rolling credits.
See on www.youtube.com
We chart the routes of, and reasons for, the barriers which are once again dividing populations
This is an in-depth, multi-media interactive that explores the political, economic and cultural implications of borders that are heavily fortified or militarized (I found this too late to be included in the “best posts of 2013” list, but this will be the first to include for 2014). Not all of these borders are political; in Brazil it explores the walls that separate different socioeconomic groups and in Northern Ireland they look at walls dividing religious groups. The interactive examines various borders including U.S./Mexico, Morocco, Syria, India/Bangladesh, Brazil, Israel, Greece/Turkey, Northern Ireland, North/South Korea and Spain. The overarching questions are these: why are we building new walls to divide us? What are the impacts of these barriers?
Tags: borders, political, territoriality, unit 4 political.
See on www.theguardian.com
“A baby born today in Ethiopia is three times more likely to survive to age 5 than one born in 1990. This progress isn’t a result of expensive international aid or the recruitment of foreign doctors into Ethiopia. Instead, the country has invested in simple, bare-bone clinics scattered around the country, which are run by minimally-educated community health workers.”
This NPR podcast shows how local programs that target rural health can have a massive impact on key demographic and development statistics. This is great news– infant mortality rates around the world have dropped from 46 deaths/1000 to 35 deaths/1000 in the last 8 years and local programs such as this one have been a major reason why.
Tags: Ethiopia, Africa, medical, development,
See on www.npr.org
“We are pleased to introduce the world’s first high-resolution HD video of Earth taken from a commercial remote sensing satellite.
This video showcases a selection of the first videos taken from SkySat-1, the first of our planned 24 satellite constellation. The video clips have not yet been calibrated or tuned. SkySat-1 captures up to 90-second video clips at 30 frames per second. The resolution is high enough to resolve objects that impact the global economy like shipping containers, while maintaining a level of clarity that does not determine human activity.”
Most remote sensing videos show still images that are animated to give the temporal sequence a video-like quality. Technology is changing rapidly and this video represents an impressive leap in our ability to monitor changes on Earth’s surface. To read more about SkyBox Imaging and their plans, click here.
Tags: remote sensing, geospatial, unit 1 GeoPrinciples.
See on www.youtube.com
“We are pleased to introduce the world’s first high-resolution HD video of Earth taken from a commercial remote sensing satellite.
This video showcases a selection of the first videos taken from SkySat-1, the first of our planned 24 satellite constellation. The video clips have not yet been calibrated or tuned. SkySat-1 captures up to 90-second video clips at 30 frames per second. The resolution is high enough to resolve objects that impact the global economy like shipping containers, while maintaining a level of clarity that does not determine human activity.”
Most remote sensing videos show still images that are animated to give the temporal sequence a video-like quality. Technology is changing rapidly and this video represents an impressive leap in our ability to monitor changes on Earth’s surface. To read more about SkyBox Imaging and their plans, click here.
Tags: remote sensing, geospatial, unit 1 GeoPrinciples.
See on www.youtube.com
“South Sudan’s crisis began just two weeks ago, on Dec. 15, and it already has observers warning that it could lead to civil war. Fighting has killed an estimated 1,000 people and sent 121,600 fleeing from their homes. International peacekeepers are preparing for the worst; some have been killed and a number of them, including four U.S. troops, have been injured. What’s happening in South Sudan is complicated and can be difficult to follow; understanding how it got to be this way can be even tougher. Here, then, are the most basic answers to your most basic questions. First, a disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive or definitive account of South Sudan and its history — just some background, written so that anyone can understand it.”
See on www.washingtonpost.com
“A sampling of my 35 personal favorite posts of 2013. Enjoy!”
As we reflect on 2013 and prepare for 2014, I’ve compiled 35 post that were helpful to me in my classroom (see page 1 and page 2). These are resources that I enjoyed curating or producing. They might not be the best or the most important for your particular interests, but I look forward to continue curating this site and sharing valuable tidbits to geography educators in 2014.
See on www.scoop.it
More adults in Idaho have embraced wireless life than have adults in any other state, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Many associate wireless communications with the major metropolitan areas; this map and the data used to create it shows that rural states are more likely to abandon landlines.
See on www.washingtonpost.com
This story map was created with the Esri Map Tour application in ArcGIS Online.
This story map shows some of the historical and regional differences in Santa Claus, as well as the cultural diffusion. Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it and a Happy New Year to all.
See on esripm.maps.arcgis.com
