1st Day of School Globe

LESSON PLAN: The First Day of School

Day 1 is daunting. Where does one start? Do you jump right in with content? Do a fun ice-breaker to get them engaged? Maybe you’re limited to attendance, fire-drill protocols, […]

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INTERACTIVE via the New York Times: An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2016 Election

This extremely detailed map of the 2016 election shows voter percentages using a CHOROPLETH map. VOTER PRECINCTS are depicted in shades of red and blue with detailed data when hovered. […]

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Illustrated Text: Cultural Diffusion-An Introduction

Find out what happens when humans are stripped naked of technology, cultures collide, and when aliens have their input. This page covers CULTURAL DIFFUSION, CULTURAL CONVERGENCE (TRANSCULTURATION), SPONTANEOUS (INDEPENDENT INVENTION), […]

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INTERACTIVE: Vox Borders via Vox

I revisited this website because I remembered how AWESOME it is. I saw this last year and hadn’t archived it yet. You will want to use this with your classes. […]

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LESSON PLAN: Elements of a Good One-Pager Activity

I had the good fortune of someone being kind enough to haul my monstrous poster presentation of student work over to the Duke Convention center for the AP Human Geography […]

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VR: Creating Custom Google Expeditions using Google Tour Creator

Big news! Google just opened up Google Tour Creator, a site that allows users to create custom virtual tours. This will be of great interest to those who don’t want […]

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VR: Testing Virtual Reality in the Classroom

“Resistance is Futile…“ I recently tested the HTC Vive virtual reality system in my World History and Human Geography classrooms, and the results were mixed. But before I tell you […]

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2018 AP HuGe Exam Collaborative FRQ Rubric

Keep adding bullet points if you have another idea! Add a strikeout if a response is totally off the mark and make a helpful note why. Click to Collaborate and […]

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ARTICLE: Too Many Men via Washington Post

A great article with dynamic demographic charts that show the effects of patriarchal societies where males are the preferred gender. Social, economic, demographic, and political repercussions are discussed.  Click to […]

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Illustrated Textbook: The Cultural Hearths

In this installment, we address the world’s CULTURAL HEARTHS and their greatest achievements, why exceptional North America wasn’t one of them, and the role of merchant traders in the formation […]

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VIDEO: Urbanization and the future of cities via TedEd

Here is a great little video (4:08) that discusses the rise of cities and how we now have 50% of the world’s population clustered in them. It takes us from […]

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Illustrated Textbook: Movement: An Introduction

Find out why MOVEMENT is so important to the subject of Human Geography, learn what a CULTURAL HEARTH is, and find out why trial and error is humans’ best friend. […]

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Illustrated Textbook: Gender Affects Place

In this edition we find out about the growing topic of GENDERED SPACES, the traditional roles of women, and how golf can be a “choosy” sport. Click to read!

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Illustrated Textbook: Ethnicity Affects Place

In this update we use Chinatown, Chicago to illustrate that ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS provide unique backdrops for expressing ETHNIC IDENTITY within the BUILT LANDSCAPE.

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LESSONS & WORKSHEETS: State of the Union Bingo 2018

A colleague brought in a State of the Union BINGO this morning, but it had options for “standing up and clapping”, “interrupted boos”, etc. So I edited the document and […]

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Illustrated Textbook: Cultural Traits to Realms

What do the Russians, Vladimir Putin, and human geography all have in common? _____ [Insert joke answer here], because I don’t have one. In this episode, Russian nesting dolls help […]

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Illustrated Textbook: The Cultural Landscape & Carl Sauer

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. In this edition we discuss how CULTURAL LANDSCAPES and the BUILT ENVIRONMENT are one in the same, and of course, the importance of […]

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Illustrated Textbook: The Building Blocks of Culture-2

The second page of this layout covers CUSTOMS, RITUALS, VALUES, and TABOOs. In this edition, we find out our sports fan doesn’t change his socks, that rituals tend to have […]

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Illustrated Textbook: The Building Blocks of the Cultural Landscape

In page one of this double-layout, we use sports fans and hooligans as our inspiration to teach the different building blocks of culture that help shape the cultural landscape. We […]

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ARTICLE via Newsweek: Alabama has the Worst Poverty in the Developed World, U.N. Official Says

Human Imprint: This short article could be presented at the beginning of the year to have kids conduct a Why of Where investigation into the reason for Alabama’s poverty, and it’s […]

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Illustrated Textbook: Yi-Fu Tuan & Sense of Place

This week, we immortalize Yi-Fu Tuan, Professor Emeritus at the University of Madison, Wisconsin. We find out that sense of place is important when fostering citizenship, and how no one […]

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Space vs Place

Illustrated Textbook: Space vs. Place

In this installment, we explore the difference between SPACE and PLACE. We find out why having a SENSE-OF-PLACE matters, and what happens when it weakens. Click to read!

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Illustrated Textbook: Koppen’s Climate Map

We see color make a special appearance with the KOPPEN-GEIGER CLIMATE MAP, we try to make sense of Koppen’s letters, and ask why it’s so important to characterize place traits anyway. […]

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Illustrated Textbook: Place-It’s Physical Characteristics

In this installment, we venture back to Australia to introduce the next theme of geography, PLACE. We find out how SITE is different from place characteristics, and why there’s no […]

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Illustrated Textbook: Crappy Mappy

On this page we wrap up our introduction of maps as we come face to face with a terrifying Greenland, we find out what happens when we stay in our […]

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