Exploring the Concepts and Content in IGCSE and IBDP Geography
A great little clip from Vox on what geotagging, instagram, and social media is doing to some of our most cherished hidden natural gems here on earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Itjc14Fm-gs
Use the link below to reach a very informative article from the World Economic Forum about the technology that is being used to save lives in the aftermath of a hazard event or disaster.
A special thanks and shout out to an old student (Sasha v.h.) who sent me this incredible link. With relevance to disparities, urban environments, migration, and so much more, these images captured by drones show the distinct spatial differences between ‘rich and poor’, ‘developed and developing’, or maybe even ‘us and them’. An example of such an image taken from the website can be found below.
To all of my students past (and present too, of course), please send me any cool stuff you encounter both online or in your university courses. Would love to hear from you and use what you find in my classes!
Click the link to check out the powerful images:
Photograph: Johnny Miller
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
One of my favourite detailed examples/case studies to teach, below is a list of useful links I have assembled to help illustrate the water consumption issues in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Plenary:
CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lake-mead-is-shrinking-and-with-it-las-vegas-water-supply/
Strategies:
Southern Nevada Water Authority: https://www.snwa.com/consv/restrictions.html
Youtube/Google Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPRGfyd93fo
Las Vegas Sun: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/apr/27/tips-california-what-nevada-has-done-conserve-wate/
Future:
Las Vegas Now: http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/i-team-new-outlook-for-nevadas-water-future/148482842
ElectroCity is a game developed by Genesis Energy where you can build and maintain the growth of a city in a multitude different ways. It teaches students about sustainable urban growth and energy consumption, in an intriguing and memorable way.
ElectroCity link: http://www.electrocity.co.nz/
The link below is to a nifty little game I have used in class to let students discover the consequences of biotic and abiotic resource extraction from the ocean. Nice to use as an activity to introduce content, use it as an activity to summarise what they have learned, or both!
Game from Crystalline Green Ltd: https://crystalline-green-ltd.itch.io/ocean-mining
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.
The link below is to a good activity/game with regards to Urban Environments and Land Use. I have used it previously with IGCSE students, but it could definitely be adapted for IBDP students. I would recommend doing it at least over two periods; when I did it with my IGCSE students, it took around 2 hours before we could begin to wrap things up.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/settlement-game-6446289
The link below is to a feature run by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development on Social Housing in Vienna. This is in many ways linked to the social deprivation area of the syllabus, as well as a more eco-city designed detailed example.
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/pdr_edge_featd_article_011314.html
The link below leads to a download of photographs I have taken of this social housing district of Vienna in the spring of 2018. I have annotated them in order to display features of thoughtful urban planning.
