I’ve reposted (with permission) a recent message to the blog from Jamie Woolley of Greenpeace.
I thought you might be interested in a new Google Earth letter I’ve just
launched, which is following Greenpeace’s ship the Esperanza, as she carries out environmental campaign work, (and created with the Spreadsheet Mapper).
I’m on board and we’re currently sailing from New Guinea on our way to Jakarta.
The purpose of this trip and the campaign as a whole is to highlight the
importance of forests in efforts to tackle climate change and the threats posed
to Indonesia’s remaining forests from logging and palm oil plantations. We’re
documenting what we find along the way, both the magnificence of the forests
which are still standing in this fascinating part of the world and the rampant
deforestation happening right now. But it’s also about how we can protect these
forests, both for the amazing cultures and biodiversity they harbour but also as
a vital buffer against climate change.
Indonesia is the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world and that’s
largely down to deforestation, so what happens to the forests affects not just
local communities (whose traditional rights are being trampled on in the rush
to make money), but everyone on the planet. That’s why Greenpeace is investing
so much time and resources into this trip, and the international make-up of the
crew (including Indonesians, Russians, Argentinians, German and Papua New
Guineans) reflects the global concern around what’s happening here.
I’m posting from the ship and over the next few weeks we’ll be travelling the
length of Indonesia to see exactly what the state of play is. If you’d like any
more information or would like to use any images, please drop me a line (we’re
GMT +9).
On the basis that Wordle can be used to conduct all major decison-making tasks involving chunks of text, here’s the result of my analysis of the AQA GCSE Geography specs A and B.
AQA syllabus A Wordled
AQA Spec B
Hmm - which one to choose? On close inspection, A has more references to GIS and gives prominence to words like Global and Population. Spec B however highlights the words Urban and Investigate, while both give equal importance to Management and Sustainable. Difficult choice - I might display both images side by side on the interactive whiteboard in a darkened room, and let subliminal messages permeate my consciousness.
Wordling the old specs was much easier:
Old Spec A
Old Spec B
A simple choice between Landscapes and Questions…. I think that’s why QCA are more involved in the approval process nowdays!
The newly revised 360 cities website offers an improved way to view places through immersive panoramic photography. Frank Taylor is one of several bloggers to have given the site a mention.
For Geography teachers the site must surely rate highly in a best of 2008 list. 360 panoramas are nothing new, but the concept of a floating sphere as demonstrated by Digital Urban a while ago has been elevated to a new dimension of user friendliness. The 360 cities site itself is, to be honest, rather confusing at first glance. Once a panorama has been located and opened for viewing, the familiar Google Earth icon appears on the left of the image.
I’ve been teaching about inner city regeneration recently, using my old stomping grounds of Brick Lane and Dockands as examples. Old Truman Brewery on 360 cities
Panorama on 360 cities site
Clicking the icon transports the viewer inside Google Earth and the results are spectacular.
Panoramic sphere
Flying into the panorama
Inside the panorama
Try the following Google Earth links to get the idea:
There are thousands of high quality images to discover at 360 cities. Finally, virtual field trips start to make sense! Once an image has been opened in Google Earth it can easily be saved in the My Places panel - I’m already building a library of VR scenes this way.
I’ve revised my mindmap of useful web-based teaching applications. The first version was fairly generic and designed for Newly Qualified Teachers; the new one has been revised in preparation for a forthcoming workshop, and updated specifically for geography teachers. There’s links for virtual reality panoramas (which I’ve been using a fair bit recently) and mentions of the new Google Earth API, Nings and the GPS Visualizer site.
www.Revisited is emphatically NOT a collection of best Geography links, and doesn’t include the many great teacher sites or resources. So please don’t be offended if your site isn’t mentioned! The intention is to highlight some of the best Web 2.0 teaching tools for Geographers. Feel free to make further suggestions. See also 50 ways to tell a story (Thanks Kenny)
Every so often, a perfect day’s surfing reminds me of my overwhelming good fortune to have moved back home to the South West. While many of those I shared waves with today are driving in an exhausted state back up the M5, I’m eating cakes at home.
Local creative-type Richard Gregory is waiting with a supporting film crew, and cast of local surfers, for the ideal weather window in which to complete his One Day film project and capture the essence of North Devon in a 24 hour period of film-making and photography. There’s a teaser below, and lots more information about Richard’s many (unfinished) projects at his Wave Dreamer site.
Richard’s surf films are completely removed from the generic offerings of the industry - the surfing is infused by the sense of place. It would be even better if he ever finished one;) He describes my world in intricate detail. I can’t wait for One Day to be finished - today would have been a good day for the filming.
One Day involves 24 hours of filming. The Geographical Association’s My World in 60 Seconds project is challenging students to make a film that’s just a minute long. I hope to inspire some of my students to have a go. It’s not a competiton, but the best films will be shown on giant screens in city centres around the country.
My World in 60 seconds
Finally, some other recent news from North Devon - maybe the hardest traditional rock climb in the world. If you ever get the chance - go and have a look at Dyer’s Lookout and contemplate James Pearson’s achievement!
My Year 10 class took a well-deserved break today to have some fun with Flickr and the Big Huge Labs Motivator tool. The initial part of the lesson covered copyright issues and Creative Commons, then we got to work with the Motivator tool to create some posters on the theme of urban morphology. No particular reason - just some gratuitous creativity.
In case you didn’t spot Simon Renshaw’s comment on the neo-geography post, why not take a look at some of the Google Maps created by his Year 9 students. Soar Valley Geographers
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