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Monday, January 7, 2013

Welcome Back: some resources for a Dreary time


Welcome back Geographers from Ontario and from around the Globe.
Couldn’t help myself
Please Check out Chris Hatfield’s twitter account   “@cmdr_Hatfield “  for some amazing Pictures of the world from space. Here is an example of the Bahamas for a cold dreary January.

Something to think about as we are making our New Year’s resolutions
Does geography hold the key to a healthier future?
Geographic information can help researchers analyze a range of health topics such as food-borne illnesses and breast cancer. "These are all things where place doesn't give us all the answers, but it gives us some ideas where to look," said Russell Kirby, a professor in the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida. Kirby, who has degrees in geography and epidemiology, is working to set up a GIS/public health certificate at his university.

“Check out the Ontario Association for Geographic and Environmental Education on Facebook”

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the days are getting shorter and the temperatures are dropping. To help prepare for the winter ahead, we’re adding more detail and imagery to the map for a variety of chilly destinations, making them more comprehensive and accurate than ever. Starting today, you can virtually experience the Canadian Arctic through new panoramic Street View images of Cambridge Bay and detailed maps created with the help of local community members. And if you’re planning a winter getaway, you can preview the slopes of more than 90 ski and snow resorts around the world, adding to dozens that are already available via Street View today.
Great New Data from Hans Rosling at Gapminder
Stunning new 2011data on number of Cellphones/person: Indonesia=US. Click play & enjoy how fast cellphones spread
Fun and Education with GPS Essentials from Richard Byrne
Yesterday, I published a post about creating QR codes for GPS locations to build scavenger hunts. In that post I mentioned an app called GPS Essentials that a friend turned me on to. I spent some time last evening having fun testing out GPS Essentials.
In addition to the expected features of showing your current latitude and longitude coordinates, GPS Essentials offers a bunch of other useful features. Using GPS Essentials you can measure your current altitude, measure distances, and record your tracks. You can export your tracks and waypoints as KML files to use in Google Earth and Google Maps. You can also import KML and GPX files to use in GPS Essentials to navigate to various locations.
This location will take you to a number of free Android apps for education and specifically Geographical education.
What is Remote Sensing?
These scientists explain some of the purposes and applications of remote sensing at a level that is accessible for just about any audience. 
Scientists Seek Foolproof Signal to Predict Earthquakes
The dream is to be able to forecast earthquakes like we now predict the weather. Even a few minutes' warning would be enough for people to move away from walls or ceilings that might collapse or for nuclear plants and other critical facilities to be shut down safely in advance of the temblor. And if accurate predictions could be made a few days in advance, any necessary evacuations could be planned, much as is done today for hurricanes.
The latest "Tourism Geography Today" news is now out:
America's Real Criminal Element: Lead
New research finds Pb is the hidden villain behind violent crime, lower IQs, and even the ADHD epidemic. And fixing the problem is a lot cheaper than doing nothing.
A Supposedly Fun Thing That's Still Really Dirty
Great article for Travel and Tourism on cruise ships.
Quick Summarizing Strategies to Use in the Classroom
Very useful group of classroom strategies to support summarizing. Thanks to our friends at OHASSTA
Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100
Great interactive explanation of population pyramids over time by country and region
The Places You’ll Go
 Here, Jones talks with James Fallows about what’s next in mapping, why new technology will change travel, and how a billion people learned to love geography.
I highly recommend this short article on the power of maps
World GIS Data
Looking for global GIS data? Listed here are free sources for finding GIS data in both vector and raster formats including satellite imagery.
Census Dotmap
This is a map of every person counted by the 2010 US and 2011 Canadian censuses. The map has341,817,095 dots - one for each person. Wait until you zoom in!! Great for studying Patterns and relationships
Top Ten “Nat Geo Talks of 2012”
Live presentations have been a part of National Geographic since the 1800s, and today more than 140 are viewable online. See this year's best.
“Questioning” BY John Sayers
One aspect of getting back into the classroom and school environment is to listen to the great array of questions, challenges and responses I'll hear and be involved in. I love questioning and the potential depth to thinking it can generate. However far to often including in my own practice I prevent opportunities for taking the thinking deeper by posing a new challenge, problem to keep that engaging thrust of something new flowing in the room. This is good a trigger but like a gun firing the trigger too often at the same target can lead to the death of something. In this case deep thinking that challenges students. 
Spatial Environmental Education: Teaching and Learning about the Environment with a Spatial Framework
By Joseph J. Kerski
Education Manager, Esri
Zooming in to a satellite image to examine deforestation, visualizing the retreat of a glacier, and navigating a trail on a smartphone have become commonplace in the 21st century. People have always been fascinated with investigating their home: the Earth.
Grand Canyon : Blink of Time
from GOTM Films 
Grand Canyon : Blink of Time is a time lapse film featuring the stunning views of the Grand Canyon. Blink of Time brings the viewer on a journey around and into the canyon. Over 80,000 photos were taken over the course of 7 weeks in April, May, and June of 2012 to make this film
<![if !supportLists]>·       <![endif]>Remember to check out the new culminating activities postings
<![if !supportLists]>·       <![endif]>Stay tuned for info on the OAGEE Spring Conference
Mark Lowry
Geography and Geotechnologies Instructional Leader
Social World Studies and Humanities
Toronto District School Board
1 Civic Centre Court
Toronto , On ,M9C 2B3
Tel; (416) 394-7269
Cell; (416) 576-4515
Fax; (416) 394-6420
twitter @geogmark



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