GeoSources 2022

GEOSOURCE 22-25

Christmas Geography Quiz!

There is a world of Geography in Christmas! Many of the same people in the Christian story are also venerated in Islam, not to mention the many Pagan connections to our modern Christmas celebration. It really is an international festival. Here are 25 questions to test your knowledge of Christmas around the world!

gSlides | PDF slides | PDF page | PDF answers

GEOSOURCE 22-24

COP15 on Biodiversity

With COP-15 about to start in Montréal (7-19 Dec), here are some resources to help with the context of this all-important meeting on Biodiversity:

Our World in Data: Biodiversity

UN Biodiversity Conference

Canada & COP15

CBC: What is COP15? Why it matters and what's at stake at the Montreal summit

The Guardian: Canada and China prepare to open Cop15 biodiversity summit despite rifts

GEOSOURCE 22-23

FIFA World Cup Coverage

Purists are all about the game, however, like any international sporting event, there is a lot of geography to unpack outside of the day-to-day matches. The Digital Atlas Project has combed the many media outlets to curate an ever-growing list of articles that take you beyond the hype of the game itself. You will find them linked on our home page and on the GeoHeadlinesWorld page.

GEOSOURCE 22-22

Our World in Data

Hands down, OWID is the single best data source on the Internet for demographics, health, education, energy, poverty and measuring progress towards the SDGs. For educators and learners, the advantages are two-fold: their maps and graphs are outstanding in scale, breadth and depth; and each topic includes clear explanations that replace any need for textbooks or Wikipedia. Most importantly, OWID is entirely credible, academically sound, and is not commercial. Check out their
Public Health Explorer
Poverty Data Explorer
Climate Change Explorer
and many, many more.

GEOSOURCE 22-21

Plate Tectonics

On our Plate Tectonics page is an extensive collection of maps, illustrations, animations and videos to help understand this immense and fascinating topic. We have a whole page specifically devoted to a curated collection of the best Plate Tectonics Illustrations plus another page on the GeoHazards related to Plate Tectonics. Lastly, have a look at our Google Earth KMZ-KML files page for some 'real life' views.

GEOSOURCE 22-20

Population Pyramids and the Demographic Transition Model

Fundamental and essential to understanding Changing Populations are Population or Age-Sex Pyramids and the Demographic Transition Model (DTM). Along with Clarke's Model of changing economic sectors, they help us understand and, possibly, predict future populations, while being careful to avoid geographic determinism! Visit our Demographics page for instructional videos and visualizations.

GEOSOURCE 22-19

OEC Tradle

Which country in the world has Integrated Circuits at 24% of its exports and Refined Petroleum as 6%?
Here is a geography game that will make you think! Carefully examine the total exports and the value of those exports, then deduce which country it represents. You have six guesses.
Then visit OEC.world to find up to date trade statistics for all countries. A great resource for economic geography.

GEOSOURCE 22-18

Are you starting your year with the Gapminder Test?

Upgrade your worldview!

This is the mantra of the Gapminder foundation. Remember them? Hans and Ola Rosling, Bubble graphs, TED Talks, etc.? Their goal is to dispel the many myths around global poverty, hunger and development. Suggestion: Start with the UN SDG Test. There are also tests on each of the SDGs, plu smore on regions and countries of the world.
Get thinking!

GEOSOURCE 22-17

What is Geography?

Geography is a humanity but it is also a science - a geospatial science. It is important to examine physical and human issues that impact people and the environment, but a critical first step is to collect location-based data and use mapping analysis to learn about spatial relationships. It is hardwired into Geography!

Visit our What is Geography? page to get started!

GEOSOURCE 22-16

ArcGIS Living Atlas
Indicators of the Planet

A 'one stop shop' for at least 18 specific indicators of the health of Earth, it's natural systems, ecosystems and people from agencies around the globe. Though US-biased, each of the indicators is linked to an ArcGIS story and interactive world map to examine both regional and global patterns. This is an ESSENTIAL RESOURCE for geographers at all levels.

GEOSOURCE 22-15

Energy Resources

Once a part of Resources, DAP has built a completely new page dedicated to Energy. it begins with Earth's Energy Budget and includes a couple of activities build understanding, followed by videos, data and visuals to describe and explain global energy production and consumption as well as all types of energy: fossil fuels, nuclear and renewables.

GEOSOURCE 22-14

Solar & Wind Power around the Globe

Visual Capitalist has produced an up-to-date look at who is producing renewable flow energy and how much is being produced.

GEOSOURCE 22-13

Canada in Review

It's coming up to the end of the school year – time for some review ahead of exams and culminating tasks. Head over to the Photos from Across Canada page to test your knowledge of Canada's regions. Expect to "give evidence from the photo" to support your claim.

The same can be done for climate graphs, but you'll need to download them and crop the climate station off the top.

There are also Topographic Map sections linked to Google Earth – a great way to foster critical thinking.

GEOSOURCE 22-12

ClimateAtlas.ca
"It's not climate change,
it's everything change."

This interactive Map is a treasure-trove of comparative data for low and high carbon scenarios and over different time periods. For or every community across Canada there is temperature, precipitation, hot and cold weather, and agriculture. Additionally, there are PDF reports for each place, topic pages for agriculture, forestry and others, and many helpful videos and articles.

GEOSOURCE 22-11

MapChart.net

Create your own customized maps of the world, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and many countries from around the world. With tons of tutorials, mobile apps and even Excel configuration, this online web app is ideal for a number of uses where GIS is overkill and Excel/Sheets are clunky. you can even Save and come back to it later. Great for both learners and educators.

GEOSOURCE 22-10

Plate Tectonics

Learn more about the processes that drive volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis by visiting our Plate Tectonics pages. Dozens of curated resources describe and explain the mechanics of 'continental drift' and the evidence supporting it. While there, check out our pages for GeoHazards, Plate Tectonics Illustrations and Google Earth files for Plate Tectonics.

GEOSOURCE 22-09

The 15-minute City

Spurred on by the work of Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Professor Carlos Moreno, the idea of the 15-minute city has come of age . To remain vibrant and modern, cities need to become more liveable while reducing their ecological footprint. The 15-minute City is one way to achieve this and we have curated a set of resources to support learning about them.

GEOSOURCE 22-08

The World Counts

Population , Climate Change, Resources, Pollution - All are counted with up-to-the-second reporting. Lots to explore here and the website makes for a great discussion-starter or class starter. For example, DYK we have used 750,000 tons of pesticides so far this year? And we've emitted over 8.2 billion tons of CO2! These are just two of the hundreds of factoids available on The World Counts.

GEOSOURCE 22-07

If It Were My Home

Do you want to learn what it's like to live in another country? Do you want to compare countries from around the world? Find out at IF IT WERE MY HOME.com. It's superficial to begin with, but selecting "More Info" will give you better insights.

GEOSOURCE 22-06

Political Regimes 2020

Geopolitics has reared its ugly head once again. Our World in Data has an excellent section on the movement towards democracy over the last 200 years. Yes, we took a giant step back this month, and, yes, democracy is a bumpy road, but progress is being made, even though it may seem like 2 steps forward and one step back.

GEOSOURCE 22-05

Geography Lessons
on YouTube

Need vids? Always! Geography Lessons is a well-produced collection of straightforward animated videos explaining fundamental concepts in both physical and human geography. No hype, no games-show-host impersonations, just clearly animated and narrated lessons - ideal for flipped teaching or to support students who learn better through videos.

GEOSOURCE 22-04

Biomes and Biodiversity

Check out the many resources on the Biomes and Biodiversity page for

• Terrestrial Biomes;

• Biomes of the World video series;

• Biodiversity Hotspots;

• Habitat Loss and Invasive Species

and more!

GEOSOURCE 22-03

Two brilliant sources for Canada: Changing Populations

Stats Canada have really upped their game with the quality of some of their data visualizations. Canada's Population Clock provides real-time modelling of births, deaths, immigration and emigration, and makes a great lesson starter.

GEOSOURCE 22-02

EN-ROADS Climate Change Simulator

Solve the Climate Change crisis – Interactively. Work with multiple scenarios to reduce GHGs to limit atmospheric temperatures to a rise of 2°C or even 1.5°C. The simulator really brings home the idea of multiple solutions and trade-offs.

GEOSOURCE 22-01

Population Pyramids and the Demographic Transition Model

Fundamental and essential to understanding Changing Populations are these two geographic models, while being careful not to use these as geographic determinism!