Category: Geography In the News

Classroom Ideas, Geography In the News

Testing Crime Theory with Maps: Broken Windows & Violent Crime in Philadelphia

Each year the National Geographic Society sponsors a number of cartography awards to support up-and-coming student map makers. Today I’d like to introduce you to Brad Carter, a student at the Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, who won second prize in the Association of American Geographers-National Geographic Award in Mapping with his map, Broken Windows & Violent Crime in Philadelphia. His prize: $300 and a National Geographic 9th Edition Atlas of the World. Brad shared his map and some insights into his motivations for creating it.
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Where are you from?
Toronto, Ontario
Name one or more dream jobs: 
Too many jobs could fit that description for me to pick just one. Any job that provides a challenge, demands creative problem solving, and offers an element of discovery would make it to the top of the list. That’s probably why I’ve gravitated towards cartography. It offers you the opportunity to work across many fields of study, while at the same time demanding the creativity to express complex information in a single image.
Who is your favorite geographer, map maker, scientist, or adventurer?
If I had to choose a favourite adventurer it would probably be Scott Carpenter, the astronaut that flew in orbit during the Mercury program, then left NASA to participate in the SeaLab project. To have had the opportunity to be a pioneer in the exploration of two great frontiers– outer space and the deep sea–makes his story particularly compelling.
What was your undergraduate major?
Marine Biology

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Classroom Ideas, Geography In the News, Take Action

Taking Classrooms Global With Model UN

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Middle school students in the Global Classrooms DC program visit a mini library station to get information for their debate at the 2012 Spring Model UN Conference. Photo courtesy Latraniecesa Johnson-Wilson.

Mining, child soldiers, the human rights of migrant workers, and crisis in Colombia?

These are issues that challenge the world’s foremost development and security experts, and probably seem foreign and unfamiliar to most U.S. teenagers. However, Model UN youth are taking on these seemingly intractable problems in mock forums across the country this month.

The 2012 Global Classrooms DC (GCDC) Spring Model UN Conference took place on Tuesday, May 1, at the U.S. Department of State, hosted by the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA), the U.S. Department of State, and the Pan American Health Organization. During the event, 600 middle and high school students, including youth from underserved communities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and a special delegation all the way from Tema, Ghana, participated in a daylong program. The agenda consisted of speeches by diplomacy experts followed by the main event: member-state presentations, negotiations on draft resolutions, and unmoderated caucuses among the students.

I can only imagine how exciting it would be to don a junior-sized suit and swap policy recommendations at the State Department, the hub of our nation’s diplomatic activities. As I recall, my own Model UN experience in 7th grade took place at a local community college–and I thought that was pretty snazzy. And yet, as thrilling as the conference surely is for all the participants, it represents only a small part of the broader Model UN program. To prepare for the conference, middle and high school students and teachers participate in year-round activities to help them understand the UN system, increase their knowledge of other cultures and traditions, improve their ability to think analytically, and creatively and collectively tackle global problems.

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Geography In the News, Main

Subterranean Cartography, Geography, and the Usual Politics of the New York City Subway

An article in the New York Times from earlier this month offered an interesting inside look into the difficulties of designing the map of the venerable and labyrinthine New York City subway, the oldest subterranean railroad in North America. In 1972, a cartographer and designer named Massimo Vignelli was tasked with creating the first usable map of the subway system and its ever-expanding tunnels and spur routes. A few years later in 1979, a group of map-makers led by cartographer John Tuaranac revised the older Vignelli map, “with an artist’s touch but a less-than-faithful adherence to the city’s true geography.” Various geographic mistakes were made in the revision. In some places, such as on the West Side of Manhattan, Broadway Avenue is seemingly misplaced among the uniform grid of streets that crisscross the city. Other more noticeable quirks are also present, such as the supersized
outline of Manhattan compared to the real scale of the island.
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The 1972 map, designed by Massimo Vignelli. John Tuaranac’s job was to revise this edition. Photo from visualcomplexity.com.

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Classroom Ideas, Geography In the News

Experiencing the Thrill of Everest from the Safety of the Classroom

Do you have what it takes to ascend the world’s loftiest summit? It’s daunting to imagine the equipment and support a team needs to undertake such a demanding feat of mountaineering, not to mention the mental resolve and perseverance to push through endless nights of bitter cold and wind. But that’s exactly what three members of the Montana State University community are experiencing in the 2012 Mount Everest Education Expedition, sponsored by National Geographic, the North Face, and other partners. Montana State University geologist David Lageson, MSU student Travis Corthouts, MSU alumnus Kris Erickson, and North Face global team athlete Conrad Anker are part of the expedition team. 
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Mount Everest in the Himalayas. Photo by Jodi Cobb.
Following their journey are more than 1000 students from across Montana who have gained access to a unique way of learning about the technical challenges of mountaineering.

“Not only are the students seeing exotic photos and reading updates on MSU’s expedition website, but they are using some of the same equipment in the classroom that the climbers are using on Mount Everest,” said Suzi Taylor, assistant director of outreach and communication at MSU’s Extended University.

“Hundreds of others are following the expedition’s dispatches, photos, and videos via Facebook.”

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Classroom Ideas, Geography In the News

Titanic 100th Anniversary

27297.jpgThis past weekend marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic. The R.M.S. Titanic was a British luxury ocean liner that sank in the North Atlantic after sideswiping an iceberg on its maiden voyage in April of 1912. In preparation for this tragic event, National Geographic Education has developed a collection of materials to help you teach about the Titanic in your classroom.

27606.jpgOcean Exploration Timeline– Use the Ocean Exploration Timeline to see how both the sinking and discovery of the Titanic relate to and influence important events, discoveries and inventions in the history of underwater exploration.

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