Monday, March 31, 2014

More WOW: World of Wonder


Image above: Mount Roraima, South America


Related links to Spatialworlds 
Geogaction
Spatialworlds website
GeogSpace

Australian Geography Teachers' Association website
'Towards a National Geography Curriculum' project website
Humsteach blog

manning@chariot.net.au    

Where am I??  
Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'





This link  provides 33 unbelievable places to see as a geographer. To my knowledge they have not been manipulated to any extent and are just WOW places.  Here are just a few of my favorites. How many have you visited and/or used as a starter in your geography class? Why not make them a screensaver on your class computer for every week of the year? Great discussion point for students about how formed, where are they and are they real??






Nature (human and animal) at its best
While on about the WOW of nature, this home video of rescuing a Humpback Whale and it’s thanking of its rescuers is certainly awe-inspiring.




Perception is everything


Sunday, March 30, 2014

Literacy, Geo-literacy!



The traditional definition of literacy is: “Literacy is the ability to read and write”.  However in our modern technological society the concept of literacy is expanding to include the ability to function in a wide variety of contexts and areas of human endeavour and disciplines. It is not unusual to hear educators talking about scientific literacy, financial literacy, media literacy, visual literacy, spatial literacy and geo-literacy, to name just a few. Interestingly the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority in their overview has limited their definition to:

“In the Australian Curriculum, students become literate as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to interpret and use language confidently for learning and communicating…”

However the actual ACARA Geography curriculum does go further with the concept of literacy and gives credence to the idea of geo-literacy when it states:

“In Geography, students develop literacy capability as they learn how to build geographical knowledge and understanding and how to explore, discuss, analyse and communicate geographical information, concepts and ideas. They use a wide range of informational and literary texts, for example, interviews, reports, stories, photographs and maps, to help them understand the places that make up our world, learning to evaluate these texts and recognising how language and images can be used to make and manipulate meaning. They learn to comprehend and compose graphical and visual texts through working with maps, diagrams, photographs and remotely sensed and satellite images.”


Such geo-literacy is developing quite a following in the United States through the work of the National Geographical Society. 


" In our modern, globally interconnected society, it is more important than ever that people understand the world around them. For that reason, National Geographic is committed to advancing geo-literacy in the U.S. and around the world."  National Geographic 2014

Scoop.it aficionado, Seth Dixon has put together an interesting article on geo-literacy which contains some great short videos on geo-literacy from the National Geographic. Click here to view the article and videos.  

As Seth says in his article:

“Students are not simply passive recipients of learning that is transmitted to them; students can actively shape what they learn.  However, if we can create an environment that promotes and encourages higher-order thinking, we can help our students see their role in shaping a new world–that is our goal in promoting geo-literacy.”

and ... 

Whilst talking about the Australian Curriculum: Geography and the reasons why geography is so important for student capacity building,  the video introduction to the curriculum may be worth a look on the ACARA site. 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Geography crusaders: Why Geography matters



Image above: A talk by a US Geography 'crusader', about 'Why Geography matters"
As Seth Dixon says on his Geography Education Scoop.it:
"Harm de Blij (author of many school texts in the US ) passed away early this week.  He was a tireless advocate for geography and geography education.  He understood that without geographic expertise, our foreign policy would suffer and our collective ability to thrive in an era of globalization would be curtailed.  I was always captivated by his presentations and was continually astounded by the depth and breadth of his knowledge.  Rest in peace."

Related links to Spatialworlds 
Geogaction
Spatialworlds website
GeogSpace

Australian Geography Teachers' Association website
'Towards a National Geography Curriculum' project website
Humsteach blog


Where am I??  
Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'


A great new addition from Alaric Maude: Understanding Australian Curriculum for primary schools






Alaric Maude, an Australian geography 'crusader'.


A recent worthy addition to the support materials for the Australian Curriculum: Geography is Associate Professor Alaric Maude's new book titled:
Understanding and Teaching the Australian Curriculum: Geography for Primary Schools.  
Alaric was the ACARA Lead Writer for the geography curriculum and has a great knowledge of why the curriculum was structured and written the way it was and what the content descriptions and elaborations mean. 


The scope of the book is to discuss every content description and almost every content elaboration in the Australian Curriculum: Geography. Extracts from the book can be found on the Hawker Brownlow site.


In reference to the structure of the book, Alaric writes:

Chapter 1 explains geography as a subject, discussing why it is in the curriculum and highlighting concepts and ways of thinking relevant to the primary school years. It also outlines what geography contributes to a primary school education. Chapters 2 and 3 address each of the two strands in the Australian Curriculum: Geography – Knowledge and Understanding, and Inquiry and Skills – and show how the strands are structured. These chapters also identify the key progressions from Foundation to Year 6 that teachers and curriculum planners should be aware of and provide suggestions on how to link geography content with related material in mathematics, science and history. Finally, Chapter 3 also explains how the Australian Curriculum: Geography develops its three cross-curriculum priorities: the Asia region, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, and sustainability.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Spatial literacy galore



Image above:  A WOW look at a walk in Utah.

Related links to Spatialworlds 
Geogaction
Spatialworlds website
GeogSpace

Australian Geography Teachers' Association website
'Towards a National Geography Curriculum' project website
Humsteach blog


Where am I??  
Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'



Spatial literacy galore
Some great spatial literacy sites to explore in the classroom.

A GIS atlas of the US showing diversity, population change, ageing and housing.

 Map projections are one of the fundamental concepts of geography and cartography. Selecting the right map projection is one of the important first considerations for accurate GIS analysis.  The problem with projections (and the reason why there are so many types) is that it is very difficult to represent the curved 3D surface of the Earth on a flat 2D surface of a map; some distortion is bound to occur.

A fantastic tool for understanding dramatic weather news events around the globe, the history of human civilization or how our activities may be changing the future climate.

An interactive map showing hundreds of different criteria to create thematic maps

A  multinational team of researchers led by psychologist and American expat Jason Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge in the U.K. has sought to draw the regional lines more clearly, literally mapping the American mood, with state-by-state ratings of personality and temperament.

An interactive simulation map of births and deaths around the world.

This visualisation shows a world unevenly aglow with television attention.