Geography Education

What I find to be the most interesting aspect of this animation is that each fluctuation of the border has a story behind it. You could teach a really interesting class on just those small changes, and why they took place.

I love animation maps.  Great for getting students interested in learning.

It is interesting in this map that you can see the growing megalopolis on the eastern coast, as well as the blending of rural and urban locations.

This map is very useful in examining the distribution of people and geography in North America. It's easy to see that our once rural based country is completely dominated by cities, most of which are near the coast. It's fun to play around with as you can see where mountain ranges are as well as other topographic changes just by the concentrations of people, or lack there of.

This is an interesting map, because it is clear that manufacturing appears in specific location based on multiples factors. The element that I took away from this map was one of transportation. Manufacturing is located in areas where it is relatively easy to move goods and materials from one major city to another.

This picture really blew my mind. I had no idea that the destruction caused by a tornado left a literal straight path of destruction, and that that path could be seen from space no less. I wonder if they all travel in a straight line, or if they circle?

 This video was a very powerful reminder that culture and traditions are important no matter the size and influence of them. Finding a man who is thought to be the last in the United States to speak a language is something that I had never even considered previously.

We often see similar graphics and articles for the U.S.  It's great to see something with a great amount of impact regarding our neighbor to the north

Quoted in the article is Mr. Beasley, director of planning for the City of Toronto: “Ethnic neighbourhoods are a joy when you have them, and it’s a joy when you don’t have to have them." When you don't HAVE TO have ethnic communities? Huh.

I work in a store in Newport, RI and I constantly hear complaints about how the US doesnt manufacture anything itself. This map is great evidence that the US does make its own goods. It also shows what areas of the world the US most effects and how proximity influences the effect the US has on these other countries. It is an interesting read as I learned a great deal about the goods and services of the US and it gave me a better idea of the United State's place in world trade.

I wrote an essay two years ago, before Park51 opened, about the controversy surrounding it. Later, when I heard that it had finally opened, I was relieved. There were so many problems that the Islamic center faced because there was a lot of tension due to the center's proximity to Ground Zero. The Muslims need a place like this, especially close to Ground Zero to portray how it was terrorist groups that committed the terrible crimes and attacked the country and not the Islamic religion. In recent history, the US has had many problems with many Middle Eastern countries based on differences in beliefs, and the acceptance and tolerance of this cultural center portray how people can overcome these differences and not profile people based on religion, race, and ethnicity.

I found this map very interesting because my original thought was that the most migration would take place close to the boarders and flow exponentially outward. The fact that Chicago has more migration from Mexico than Texas, Arizona, or California kind of throws a wrench in that hypothesis. Perhaps migration is not based so much on location, but rather what work is available in the region, how strict the local laws on immigration are, and if there is family in the area.