APHG Bell Ringers for the week of AUGUST 21, 2017 Prepared by Ken Keller

kkeller1976@comcast.net

Welcomebacktoanotherschoolyear.APHGisnowinits18thseason.ItiscurrentlythefastestgrowingAPcourse!Ilookforwardtoprovidingyouwithweekly/dailybellringersandinitiationsforyourstudents.Togetthemactivelyengagedinlearningaboutourfascinatingandveryrelevantdiscipline.Feelfreetocontactmewithanyquestions,etc.Haveagreatschoolyear.Andremember,studentsshouldalwaysbeprompted,probed,sotospeak,toanswertheWHYquestionwhenrespondingtogeographicinquiryJSecondlawofgeography=“spatialperspective,whyofwhere.”KK

UNIT1:NATUREANDPERSPECTIVESOFGEOGRAPHY

Question#1:Whatdoesitmeantoyoutobe“geographicallyliterate”?

Thenationalgeographystandards(GeographyforLife)provideguidanceforthisquestionintermsofwhatstudentsshouldknowandcando.Whatbasicknowledge,skillsandperspectivesdostudentsexpecttogainfromthisclass?

Question#2:Whatisthesignificanceofthefollowingquote,“timeistohistoryasspaceistogeography?”Askyourstudentswhathistoricaleventswouldbeimportanttoknowaboutinahumangeographyclass?Formoreinformationonthestrategyofteachingahistorycatch-upunitasanintroductiontothiscoursepleasesendKenane-mail.

Question#3:Whatisthefarthestdistanceyouarewilling/abletowalk?Iftherewerenocarsorothertransportation,whatcouldyougettoonfootfromyourhouseatthisdistance?Whatwouldyourlifebeliketoliveonlywithinacircularareawiththisdistanceastheradius?

Youcanmodifythisforphysicallydisabledstudentsifnecessary.Discusswhytheconceptofdistanceissoimportantwhenstudyinggeography.Youcanintroducetheconceptofdistancedecayasthefirstlaw(Tobler’sLaw)ofgeography.Also,inthisexampleyoucanhavestudentsnotebarrierstheymayfaceiftryingtowalkfrompointAtopointB(ex.nosidewalksoreasycrosswalks,majordividinghighways,privateproperty,etc.)Howdothesebarriersimpactconnections/relationships?

Question4:Identifyinganddiscussingthescaleofanalysisanddataaggregation.

Statechoropleth2016U.S.Presidentialelectionresults

Blue=Democraticvictorybasedonelectoralvotes

Red=Republicanvictorybasedonelectoralvotes

CountyChoropleth2016U.S.Presidentialelectionresults

Blue=Democraticvictorybasedonthoseincountywhovoteddemocratic

Red=Republicanvictorybasedonthoseincountywhovotedrepublican

Whydoesthestudyofscalemattersomuchforageographer?Youcanhavestudentsofferideasforwhatinformationtheymightgatheriftheyweretochangethescaleofanalysisorhowdataisaggregatedforthistopic.Forexample,thenumberofpeopleofacertainethnicitywholiveinastate,county,municipality,etc.whomightvoteforacertaincandidateandassociatedpoliticalparty.Whatwouldhappenifpercentageswereusedtoaggregatedataversususingrawnumbers?Whathappenswhenyoucompareruralcountiestourbancounties.Youcanalsohavestudentslookatethnicdiversitymapsbystateandthenbycounty,etc.Howdoestheperceptionofrealitychange?

Question#5:Whataresomewaysinwhichmapscandistortoromitinformationorevenblatantlydeceiveanovicemap-reader?

YoucanshowtheseclipsfromYouTubetogettheconversationstarted:“TheWestWing”-Whyarewechangingmaps?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY(4:00)AND:Whatarecontinents?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBcq1x7P34(3:49)AND/ORhavestudentstakeatourofthefollowingwebsite(s):www.truesize.comhttp://www.ifitweremyhome.com/Askstudentshowtakingthesetour(s)mayhavechangedtheirperceptionofreality?Whymightawebsitesuchasthisbeusefultoageographer.EXTENSION:SolarEclipseGeography:SomegreatresourcesrelatedtotheAugust21,2017fullsolareclipse@https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2017/08/06/this-week-in-geographic-history-solar-eclipse/