GeographyAwareness





How Long Is A Piece Of String?

Oct 25th, 2011 | By

It’s amazing what you can find if you slow down when you’re flipping through the channels.  The other day I happened to stop at PBS and caught this wonderful documentary, “How Long Is A Piece Of String?”, published by the BBC.  It features comedian Alan Davies attempting to accurately measure the length of a piece of string. [...]



Always… Never Forget To Check With The Experts

Sep 26th, 2011 | By

Thanks to Real Genius for the title. Climate scientists are engaged in a little damage control after Britain’s Time Comprehensive Atlas of the World mistakenly claimed Greeland’s glaciers are melting at a breakneck rate. If you compare the ice cover from 1999 and 2011, the Atlas reports a 15% loss in ice coverage. Climate scientists [...]



Geography Education Specialty Group of the AAG

Aug 31st, 2011 | By

As some of you may know, I took up the mantle of Treasurer of the GESG this year. Since I have an audience to reach out to through the blog, I thought I would take some time to evangelize the GESG and encourage folks to keep it in mind as they renew their AAG membership [...]



Storm Tracks Move Toward The Poles

Aug 16th, 2011 | By

Climate models have predicted this for years, but it’s never been observed… until now. Ars Technica discusses the issue in brief. For the non-physical geographers out there (of which I count myself), storm tracks are the mid-latitude storm patterns that bring most of the precipitation to the heavy population centers in the world. As the [...]



Cicadas, Locusts, and Mapping

May 29th, 2011 | By

Throughout history, cicada and locusts have produced fascination, food, and frustration, among other f words. The Cicada Mania site “Dedicated to cicadas, the most amazing insects in the world.” provides TONS of information on cicadas. Other calls for citizen scientists include those of University of Georgia, Dept. of Entomology, asking for pictures and locations of [...]



Geospatial Revolution Episode 4

May 3rd, 2011 | By


iTunes highlights learning Geography

Apr 29th, 2011 | By

In my regular trip to the iTunes App Store today I saw an exciting feature labeled Apps for Learning Geography. The sections featured include Maps, World Facts, People & Cultures, Earth Science, and Games. Some of the apps include the NGS World Atlas, ArcGIS, Geographia, Britannica Kids: Aztec Empire, Dinosaurs iPad, and National Geographic GeoBee [...]



Understanding Risk and Resilience to Natural Hazards

Apr 18th, 2011 | By

In this week’s podcast we talked to USGS Geographer Dr Nathan Wood. Located at the USGS Western Geographic Science Center, Nate discussed an array of research locations in the interview that revolved around helping communities understand their vulnerability or risk to natural hazards such as volcanoes, tsunamis and other hazards. In the interview he highlighted [...]



US Census 2010 data and redistricting

Jan 7th, 2011 | By

In about a month, the US Census Bureau will be releasing the 2010 Census data to states so that they can begin the process of redistricting for the House of Representatives, as well as state legislatures that use those boundaries for election districts. This process happens every ten years, and is a vital part of [...]



The Best Landmarks in the US Nobody Visits

Dec 13th, 2010 | By

When you travel around the US there are lots of interesting landmarks to see.  Unfortunately, only a few get the top billing.  Not to disparage the Grand Canyon’s and Jamestown’s of the country, but there are some great places to see that get lost in the limelight.  Checkout this list from Matador Trips of the 20 Overlooked [...]