Moving at the Speed of Creativity

Category: geography

  • 8th Grade GeoMap Project For English: Road to Hiroshima

    My 8th grade daughter asked me over the weekend if I had any ideas for a project she could do in her English class related to John Hersey’s book, “Hiroshima,” which her class just finished reading. My first thought was a GeoMap project, which would overlay statistics about the numbers of Japanese and U.S. soldiers…

  • Learn About Google Fusion Tables

    The ability to connect information to geographic locations and display that combined data geo-spatially can be very powerful. In September 2011, I had an opportunity to learn a little about how Google Fusion Tables support geo-spatial data manipulation  in Sean Maday‘s presentation at the Google Geo-Teacher’s Institute in Lewiston, Maine. Last week at the ISTE conference…

  • Podcast404: Learning About the Textile Industry Through Object-Based Global Exchange

    This podcast is an interview with Branson Skinner and Liz Ricketts, founders of theOR.org and a global exchange framework which helps students learn about the textile industry, sustainable textile production, and a host of global literacy issues through the object-based curriculum TheseThingsTakeTime. This interview was recorded in Washington D.C. on June 15, 2013, at the…

  • My Hail Story

    (Cross-posted from Sounds of My World) This evening felt like I was in a movie. As I drove down our street into our neighborhood I could see wispy storm clouds moving like the fingers of an angry witch, barely highlighted by the ambient light of the streetlights. I parked out front and brought my bags…

  • Why National Geographic on the iPad is Amazing

    I LOVE being able to read National Geographic magazine on my iPad! In so many ways, the iPad version of National Geographic defines the possibilities of engaging multimedia content on digital tablets. I recorded a five minute screencast today to explain and SHOW what I mean when I say, “The iPad app version of National…

  • Al Jazeera, Arab Spring, & Opposing Extremism in Our Midst in the USA

    This evening I watched a wonderful, informative and challenging TEDtalk by Bobby Ghosh: “Why global jihad is losing.” This is an important TEDtalk to watch for several reasons. (It was filmed in September 2012.) According to his official TED bio: Bobby Ghosh is an Editor-at-Large at Time magazine, where he covers conflict, global affairs and…

  • At the Eastern Edge of our Continent: Wells Reserve at Laudholm (Maine)

    Today our family explored the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, which is “a National Estuarine Research Reserve with its headquarters listed on the National Register of Historic Places.” We don’t have estuaries in Oklahoma. According to the English WikiPedia, an estuary is: …a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams…

  • Boiling River: Best Kept Secret In Yellowstone National Park

    If you visit Yellowstone National Park and are interested in “experiencing” hot springs in a very direct way, you won’t want to miss “Boiling River.” This special place is maintained by the Park Service but not listed on official Yellowstone maps or marked with road signs. The popularity of Boiling River has led to some…

  • Follow a National Geographic Expedition to Everest: Live

    The latest National Geographic magazine in the NG iPad app provides a realtime opportunity to track a current/live expedition to climb Mount Everest. You can see in the updated image of the mountain route the current position of the climbers at the base of the mountain. National Geographic is definitely pushing the boundaries of what…

  • iGeography by Jenny Ashby (Workflows for Learning with iPads)

    These are my notes from Jenny Ashby‘s breakout session, “iGeography” at the 2012 Mobile Learning Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 13, 2012. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. The official conference session description was: Students today have the world in their hands. Geography couldn’t be easier using various apps on the iPad.…