Exploring the Concepts and Content in IGCSE and IBDP Geography
While browsing around trying to find reliable and interesting websites pertaining to the Coronavirus that is currently all anyone can talk about, I came across this nifty website. I do not know if it will be updated as time goes along, but it could be an interesting discussions-starter in Food and Health, and Global Interactions units.
https://towardsdatascience.com/coronavirus-data-visualizations-using-plotly-cfbdb8fcfc3d
This 30 minute rundown on the nature of the ‘fast fashion’ industry should be watched by anyone who has interest or passion about shopping, fashion, human geography, human rights, and climate change (and a lot more, of course!). It has many links with the Global Interactions section of the IBDP syllabus, as well as the Resource Consumption section. Take the time to learn the realities of stores like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21, become a more knowledgable and critical consumer, all the while learning about the industry in a humorous way.
https://youtu.be/xGF3ObOBbac
Some explicit language.
The link below is to an excellent resource with regards to many items in the IBDP Geography syllabus. It shows the progression of the most visited countries in the world from 1995 to 2018, using World Bank Data. It has many links to tourism, migration, globalisation, population growth, and more. Thanks user ‘Datalover’ for posting!
In this fascinating article written by K.N.C for the Economist, Michael O’Sullivan’s interview delves into the realities of a post-globalised world. With links to global interactions as well as nationalism/tribalisation, this links well with the Risks and Resilience section of the syllabus.
https://www.economist.com/open-future/2019/06/28/globalisation-is-dead-and-we-need-to-invent-a-new-world-order
In this fantastic documentary, PBS deconstructs the values, approaches, and realities of the modern world of social media. This mini-doc reveals the current consumer culture is completely based off of the way we interact with each other online. It is only loosely based with topics in the HL extension (Surveillance, for example), but it is an eye-opening documentary that anyone who participates in social media should watch. Click the link below to watch it on www.pbs.org.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/generation-like/
This article on medium.com and written by Fábio Esteves does a good job of summarising the importance of privacy in the modern age. I am using this to form a discussion with my HL students in the hacking, identity theft and surveillance section of the Global Interactions part of the syllabus. Click the link below to check it out.
Hussein Nassar has graciously provided 200+ hours of GIS tutorials for no charge to the public. For anyone interested in GIS, particularly those already having beyond a foundational knowledge and skills with regards to ArcGIS, check out his informative videos on how to approach many different facets of GIS and programming.
https://www.husseinnasser.com/p/youtube.html
Last year, my grade 12s really enjoyed this activity for their revision and it ended up being quite straight forward to run. If you don’t have one, make an account at www.padlet.com. As a teacher, on a Smartboard, projector, Prowise; whatever you use, you can copy and paste one of the questions into a padlet. Share the link to your padlet with your students, who can then via any device access it and respond to the question. I did it in groups, so in teams of 3 students could come up with their answer. Then, as a class, when all groups had answered, we looked at the responses on the big screen to analyse who did the best and compare/contrast responses.
Padlet: www.padlet.com
Hazards and Disasters Revision Questions: Hazards and Disasters Questions
Urban Environments Revision Questions: Urban Environments Questions
Global Interactions Revision Questions: Global Interactions Questions
Mind you, these questions were based on the old syllabus, but there are still many relevant and useful questions that have ties to the new syllabus. Also, some questions are quite specific to what I taught in class, so be aware that they will be of no used to you.
GIS is no longer the ‘future’ of geography, it is the now. Browsing through Linkedin jobs, it is clear that any single job related to geography makes it a baseline requirement that the applicant have experience with GIS.
Click the link for an online, free training with the world-renowned GIS company, ESRI. It is a great introduction to the mechanics and usefulness of GIS. It is a course that is helpful for students and teachers alike, and at the end you get a certificate (PD hours!). You will need to make a (free) account.
Below is the PDF download to a Collins revision list/glossary of foundation level geographic terms. Using this can really beef up terminology usage and thereby improve essay writing as well as understanding of short answer questions. The pictures and diagrams throughout can be very helpful to understanding the definitions.
Collins Glossary of Geographical Terminology
(Image taken from link)