My Take of An Inconvenient Truth

The website www.climatecrises.net is the official website of the film “An inconvenient Truth”. The website summarizes the film as “one man's fervent crusade to halt global warming's deadly progress in its tracks by exposing the myths and misconceptions that surround it.” For Al Gore, the much debated issue of global warming is no longer a political issue - it’s a moral issue – and this comes across very strongly in his film. But to what extent is Mr. Gore’s clear passion for the issue clouded by his desire to be in the limelight? To what extent do money, power, and fame play a role in the way Mr. Gore handles his delivery of this ‘travelling presentation’ and the marketing of this film? Are the ‘scare tactics’ used in this film necessary, and if so, what is the ultimate purpose of the film? I will attempt to answer these and other questions in the critique that follows.

Before being critical of Mr. Gore, I’d like to say that I personally believe this movie does more good than harm. If it has done nothing else, this film has at least helped to bring the issues of global warming and climate change into a wider arena for public discussion, and I say this while recognizing that not everyone agrees with me. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the way the information is presented, at least the information is being presented - something that might not have happened if Mr. Gore didn’t make this film. And, to be perfectly clear about where I stand, I believe the vast majority of facts presented in this film are true – even in the face of mounting criticism against the filmmakers. Are there some distorted or exaggerated facts? Most likely. Does this stand in the way of the major purpose of this film? I don’t think so. Viewers, I believe, are smarter than that. In this day and age, we can’t believe in just one source of knowledge, we’re always critical and skeptical. I think of “An Inconvenient Truth” as one piece in the larger solution to slowing global warming and mitigating climate change. 

With this in mind, it’s important to explain how this movie impacted my understanding and position regarding climate change. To be honest, I didn’t know the basic science behind global warming the first time I watched this movie back in 2005. I understood the concept of a greenhouse and was therefore able to perceive of the Earth as a greenhouse with the atmosphere acting as the glass roof, but I certainly couldn’t explain the raw science as well as I can now. At that time I was interested in environmental issues, however, and was very keen to watch this film. When I first watched this film, I have to admit, it scared me. It made me think about the Earth and our impact on the Earth in a more focused way – even if I, admittedly, did little to change my lifestyle. This film was one of many factors which inspired me to learn more about the Earth and the people living on it - an inherently geographical pursuit. At first it made me think about dooms day. It made me think that we really don’t have a chance to fix the problems that are wrong with this planet and that the entire planet as a whole is at risk of literally ‘going bad’ or ‘becoming toxic’. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the filmmakers wanted to use this ‘scare tactic’ to give people a jolt and to some degree I can’t find fault in that. How else do you get people to pay attention? Sometimes provocation is an easy solution. But as I watch it again now, years later, as I study geography, my mind has changed.  
I now understand the science behind global warming and I recognize that there are many more variables in the equation. The radiation balance of the Earth is not only a factor of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as this movie tends to make one believe, but is rather a cocktail of competing ‘warming’ and ‘cooling’ effects. I no longer believe that our impacts on the planet can cause the planet to ‘go bad’ or ‘become toxic.’ In fact, it’s my position that in the long term, we are fairly insignificant in terms of the health of the planet as a whole. The planet will survive human habitation on it – it will adapt. The question is whether or not humans can sustain themselves on a planet which is adapting. Obviously, this is a vital question – it’s just not the obvious one that comes from watching this movie. It’s my guess that most people who watch this film tie the fate of the planet and the fate of humanity together, but this bi-lateral dependence is not so. Again, and to put it as clearly as possible, humanity may not be able to survive on a changed Earth, but the Earth can and will survive a change in or even extinction of, humanity.
Many would argue that the fate of the planet is insignificant if there are no humans on it – and rightly so in many ways! There is no doubt that climate change, natural or human induced, is going to effect humans in many negative ways (and probably a few positive ones too). It’s this that I think should be the central theme of this argument and something I wish the film focused on more. Mitigation is one thing (and one that hasn’t been overly successful), but adaptation is another. We need to start to think about how we will adapt to a changing climate, rather than continually fighting over whether climate change is human induced or not. Al Gore’s motive for making this movie is probably not centered on this. I do not believe Al Gore truly has the future victims of climate change as his central priority and I’m not sure he is the best spokesperson either. But the fact of the matter is that he has brought the issue into the limelight and has created space for those with more humanitarian missions in mind to implement them. I cannot bash Al Gore for this.

What I can criticize him for, however, is his self-centeredness. It seems the positive benefits of this film are a lucky offshoot for him – something he didn’t plan. What struck me vividly as I watched this film again was how much of the film revolved around Mr. Gore himself, and not the issue at hand. I recognize that there is some attempt at story-telling in order to make this a more marketable film, but it was a bit over the top. From the opening scene with Gore in his limo, to the scenes on the farm, to the near loss of his son, this film is just as much an autobiography to make himself look good as it is a political tool for fighting global warming. In the face of an embarrassing loss in the 2000 presidential election, it seems that Gore needed this film for his own ego.

So what was Mr. Gore’s purpose in making this movie? I think it was primarily to promote awareness for an issue that he truly does care about, but I also think there was a secondary motive to improve his image. What was the plan Mr. Gore and the producers had when making this film? I think it was to do anything possible to make this issue a news headline and they figured out that ‘scare tactics’ were the best strategy. Would this film have been different if it wasn’t Al Gore presenting the facts? Absolutely, but I personally don’t believe that Al Gore is the key to the debate that this as sparked – rather, it’s the issue itself which is attractive for us to follow.  

SnagFilms Film Widget

Travel Diary 2.0 Style - Good for Geo-Fieldwork or Trips

Check out http://www.loggel.com/ for a great online tool to organize pictures, videos, and text from any trip. Ability to geo-tag is my favorite for geography teachers. I can envision this being used for work in the field or simply as an assessment for a school trip during an 'activity week' or 'classroom without walls' experience. Could be very useful for World Challenge as well.

IB Geography 2009 Pre-test Online - No username or password needed

I'm experimenting with a free quiz maker today from the site www.proprofs.com which you can sign up for. I've previously created a 75 question 'pre-test' in PowerPoint which comprehensively covers the new IB Geography Curriculum for 2009. See the entire quiz in .ppt form here (btw, this also includes an excel file with sources and another with shows how each question links to the new IB Geography Specification). Finally, I've found a way to put this online for free, but I've only included the first 10 questions of the quiz for time-saving purposes. I can see myself using this tool from www.proprofs.com to create 'pre-tests' for all of my classes. Results can be analyzed and saved in excel format. Below is the example quiz which I've embedded here an struggling to embed into this blog. Go ahead and try the quiz yourself by clicking on the screenshot below which links to the page with the quiz! Thanks.

Twitter wants to know location too!

In a follow up to my previous post about mapping 'tweets' in order to understand the spatial distribution of certain social phenomena this article discusses how Twitter is now interested in doing exactly this on a grander scale.  Take a look.

http://www.businessinsider.com/one-of-twitters-next-projects-location-2009-6

Real Time Mapping from Social Networking Sites

Well the MLB All Star Game just ended and my team (NL) lost AGAIN - 13 years in a row without a victory!

In light of baseball season, here's an idea for creating your own 'thematic maps' which kids can get into.  It was inspired by the map below which shows the areas of the continental US which support each of the 30 teams in Major Baseball Teams.  In essence, this is meant to be a map of each team's "fan base".  This could be used to explain the Gravity Model, but also to disprove it!  Some teams have fans fairly far from the city in which they play. 

But how can one test if this map is true or not?  I think it would be interesting for students to attempt to 're-create' this map using 'real-time' data - this can be done using the social networking site "Twitter".  The map below was created for me by the author of a great blog called Mibazaar (www.mibazaar.com).  It shows a mashup in Google Maps of all of the 'tweets' which have the term "go cubs" in them.  In this way, students are able to plot the locations of 'cubs fans' across the nation based on what they are writing on twitter.  Wouldn't it be cool to aggregate all of the plots over time and see if the map above is correct or not?  After all, "Cubs Nation" as shown in the map above is of quite an awkward shape, spilling over into Iowa and parts of Indiana.  How about across the rest of the USA - are there Cubs fans that the map above doesn't show?  Could one do this for all 30 major league teams and, in essence, 're-create' the map above?  



View Larger Map


Can you spot any problems with the map above?  I've yet to figure out:

1.  How to aggregate all of the 'tweets' so you get a full picture of the cumulative total?

2. How to write the code so only "go cubs" (as a phrase) comes up in the results and not "go" and "cubs" seperately?

3. How to do this for the entire USA and not just the 'east' and the 'west'

But, overall, I think this is really cool and a great way to get students interested in mapping something they are interested in.  Any comments?  Ways to make this better or more 'useable' in the classroom?  Is anyone doing something like this at the moment in their Geography classrooms?  Would love to hear!

Why you should start the new IGCSE Geography Curriculum with the unit on Development

I spent the morning thining about my future job as teacher of the new IGCSE Geography curriculum and which units within the curriculum are the most important.  I asked myself which unit should be taught first to the new incoming Year 10 group in Fall 2009.  I came up with an answer - to teach Unit C9: Development and Human Welfare first thing.  Ironic, because this is the LAST unit listed in the spec - but it shouldn't be!  Please see my reasoning below and help me think about this by commenting.  Thanks

I would argue that this section is one of the most important in the geography curriculum and should be taught at the very beginning of the first year of IGSCE Geography. I believe that one of the main reasons for studying geography is to understand why people in different places are different in terms of what they have, how they interact in their own place (culture), and how they think about the world. In fact, this specification itself starts out with a section that says “Edexcel IGCSE in Geography enables students to appreciate the differences and similarities between people’s views of the world, its environments, societies and cultures .” In order to understand why people view the world differently, one has to understand their starting point. The vast majority of students that enroll in an Edexcel IGCSE course in geography come from a starting point that is privileged and to some extent biased to western ways of thinking. I think the most relevant way to start a class in geography is to begin by opening students’ eyes to the rest of the world and to instill in students the value of thinking from a different perspective. In addition to the reasoning above, the following are other reasons why unit C9 of the new IGCSE Geography curriculum should be the first unit taught in Year 10.

• Students enter IGCSE Geography with vast differences in their geographical knowledge and understanding. Unit C9 is one of the most flexible units in terms of the ability to differentiate for different levels of ability. While some students might simply be trying to grasp the concept of which countries are ‘developed’ and ‘developing’, others can let their imaginations run wild as development is a topic that the entire world is still trying to solve – there is plenty of data for students who excel.  

• This unit lends itself immediately to the use of a variety of geographic tools and techniques including the use of maps, the creation of maps, the use of data, the use of virtual globes and GIS.

• The topic can be broken down into a very simple question – Why are some places ‘rich’ and some places ‘poor’? Students won’t be afraid of this question – but will find over time that it is not an easy question to answer. It sparks investigative thinking.

• There is a TON of extremely useful data available for teaching about development including works by Jared Diamond regarding the history of development and modern UN data which can be visualized using an incredible tool called Gapminder. Students will NOT get bored to start the year and first impressions matter!

• From my experience, the overemphasis on physical geography is a major complaint that students have about Key Stage 3 and IGSCE geography. I’ve noticed that most students that say they ‘hate geography’ complain about ‘rote memorization’ of physical processes. They roll their eyes thinking about the formation of a waterfall, ox-bow lake, or the dynamics of the coast. Many of them have had this drilled into them in middle school through worksheets and are begging for something new to inspire them at the Key Stage 4 level. Too many Year 10 IGSCE courses start with ‘Unit A1: River Environments’ solely because this comes up first on the spec.

• Throughout the rest of the course, we as teachers will constantly be differentiating between ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries. We will talk about how hazards, agriculture, economic geography, or settlements patterns all differ in ‘developed’ regions vs. those in ‘developing’ regions. Why not give students the basis for this distinction at the beginning? The terms and acronyms from unit C9 are some of the most used throughout the course.

I feel as if I could go on and on about why this unit is the most important starting point. The above reasons make a strong case, however, and I’ll you to comment on whether you agree or not with my thoughts. What do you think? Should Unit C9 – Development and Human Welfare be taught first in the New IGSCE Geography Curriculum? 

Lesson Plan: Simulating river life as an early American settler - the 'fall line' cities of the Mid-Atlantic

Students that hate geography are probably used to lessons like this one (no offence to the lesson planner!)

Memorize the 'regions' of Virginia, color in a map, do a worksheet - yada yada yada snooze.

Here's a way to use Google Earth to 'see' Virginia and at the same time learn some real geography. The lesson plan for this lesson (.doc file plus .jpg pictures) can be found here.

In short, geography is about exploring and investigating not just where something is, but also why it's there. In this lesson, students use Google Earth to follow the rivers of the mid-Atlantic region upstream until they reach the 'fall line' (the border between the coastal plain and the Piedmonts which is characterized by waterfalls and rapids). As they do so, they will be virtually travelling through one of the most beautiful sections of the United States and they're encouraged to "stop and smell the flowers" (again, virtually:) Here's some screenshots:

The aim of the lesson is to add a series of placemarks which can be connected to establish the location of the fall line in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA.

Students literally 'cruise' up-river. As they wind through the meanders of the river they pass natural and man-made environments which they are encouraged to explore.

As they do so they encounter the cities and environments of the mid-Atlantic through user-created content. Way more interactive, way better than a worksheet, and way more real.

Journal Article Review:

Article Summary
Tom Dillehay’s article titled “Probing deeper into first American studies” is effectively a review of the most progressive thinking on the first human settlement in the Americas. Dillehay looks at how archaeological, genetic, bioanthropological, as well as geographic evidence are used in conjunction with one another to come up with the hypotheses that we have today about the first peopling of the Americas. There is no clear consensus amongst the scientific community about who came first and from which direction, but the article’s first line does state “[o]f the possible entry routes into the Americas, Beringia, a land bride from Siberia to the interior and coastal areas of Alaska and Northwest Canada is the most viable.” I believe that learning the truth about the initial peopling of the continent (and the world for that matter) is important for geographers. We study how humans co-exist with their environment and how that has changed over time and I think it’s important to have a complete historical record of our existence as homo sapiens. To some extent this research is more historical than geographic, but history is important for geographers to understand; it can be a basis for making geographic decisions. This article is anthropologic in nature (it’s written by a professor of Anthropology) and is mainly concerned with evidence coming from carbon dated archaeological records and genetic DNA analysis, but for me, the overall concept is worth thinking more critically about. Who were the first people to arrive on our continent and when did they come? Was it just one group or many ‘waves’ of migration? In what ways did they settle and use the land? How did they spread across the vast emptiness of the land? Once we know who was first, what does that mean? Are those people entitled to that land forever? Should settlement and land rights be based on a ‘first come – first serve” basis? If not, does that justify colonization even as recent as today? This article has inspired these and similar questions out of me.

Connection to GCU Lecture / Extension Videos
I decided to find an article on this subject after watching the lectures in the first section of GCU 676 about North America and how it can be classified as a region. Lecture #4 of this class focused on the settlement patterns of North America. While I was intrigued by the present day demographics and the migrations of the last few decades, my ears perked up when the presenter mentioned that the jury is still out about who actually came first. How can we be so short sighted? It seems to me that we spend too much time in history class learning about the recent past. If one of the main reasons for studying history is not to repeat the same mistakes, then we need to understand ALL of the mistakes that we have made over ALL time periods. What I mean by this is that there is ultimately a lot we can learn from the original inhabitants of North America which we have dismissed entirely since we don’t even know who they are yet exactly. Other lectures in this series discussed the concept of ‘Manifest Destiny’ and the dangers of such an ideology. Do we not think in the same way today to some extent? The MIT lecture about ‘American Exceptionalism’ seems to prove that we do. And what might help us change this dangerous thought process? I think it’s a greater understanding and respect for those that have come before us. This article, therefore, is my way of tuning into the debate and trying to understand what we know and what we don’t know about those who inhabited our continent first.

How I can use these ideas in a geography classroom
This article immediately reminded me of a wonderful source for studying the history of humankind and the diffusion of human beings across the planet – The Genographic Project by National Geographic. Without hesitating, I went straight to the project’s website to learn more and was fascinated by the detail, but also simplicity of its explanations. I’d like to discuss what I find important about this project and how I might plug my students in or use its ideas in my geography classroom.

The following is a good description of The Genographic Project taken from its website at: https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html
“The Genographic Project is seeking to chart new knowledge about the migratory history of the human species by using sophisticated laboratory and computer analysis of DNA contributed by hundreds of thousands of people from around the world. In this unprecedented and of real-time research effort, the Genographic Project is closing the gaps of what science knows today about humankind's ancient migration stories.”

Through genetic research these scientists and anthropologists have created a map of the best known movements of the human beings since our beginnings in Africa approximately 200,000 years ago. According to the their findings so far, all human beings lived in Africa until 60,000 years ago when they finally made their way out of the continent. From there they populated Asia and Australia first before populating Europe and the Americas. Physical geography (the natural environment) played an important role in this diffusion as it either enabled or limited movement. Australia, for instance, was able to be populated before Europe because it was surprisingly easier to access. Land bridges across the Sunda Shelf connected mainland to insular Southeast Asia and then Australia while mountains obstructed movement into Europe. Similarly, North America could only be inhabited once the land bridge at Beringia was established due to low sea levels during an ice age. It was only later that technology and exploration mixed up the genetic pool drastically.

So why is this project important for the geography classroom? The primary reason I think this is essential knowledge is that it shows us we all come from the same ancestors – that we are equal as human beings no matter what our ‘status’ at the moment is. Having students understand the origins of the human species also allows them to see that migration has been happening since the beginning of humankind and that it is normal. Politics and the modern nation state may have skewed people’s understanding over time of the basic natural inclination of humankind to look for what is best for them and their family. In short, I think an understanding of the origins of humankind helps keep us open minded and lays the foundations for appreciating all human beings for what they are and where they have come from. It helps us understand that our environments shape us in different ways and are a large factor in the way we are and the reasons for differences between people – even if we come from the same place in the beginning. Lastly, an understanding of the time frames over which all of human history has taken place is a useful thing to compare to the time frame over which the planet has existed. What I mean by that is that human existence is just a tiny fraction of the planet’s existence. As geography students, one needs to have an understanding of scale – both spatial as well as temporal.

Ideally, I’d love to have every single student of mine be able to trace their DNA back and create a map of their origins and their ancestry. This, of course, is too expensive for a school project since the kits from National Geography cost more than $100. But what if a student or multiple students were to write to National Geographic asking if we could do it as a class? What if they proposed some sort of a project with achievable goals that is innovative and unique which would be mutually beneficial for National Geographic and my students? What if the students chipped in to trace the origins of just one student in the class or someone famous from the school like the principal? How do we get real projects like this into the school system? We’re always constrained by ‘the unit’ or ‘the exam’ when in reality this type of a project would be so much more useful and memorable for students. Alternatively, I can envision students creating a photo essay which incorporates pictures of human beings with similar DNA sequences of different skin colors, socio-economic backgrounds, or places of origin. If I would have made a bulletin board for this assignment it would have been similar to this. Again, the main goal here, and what I believe is an important goal of geography at the middle or high school level in general, is to push the idea of equality amongst all people across the globe. What better way to do that then to visually show who we are connected to and what they look like? In many cases it may be very different than ourselves.

Indonesia's Pirates

This post has two purposes. The primary reason for posting right now is that I have an assignment due for an online course I'm taking through Arizona State University and this post is meant to be an example of how I would have my students use a blog to reflect on their learning in a World Regional Geography course. I would propose that students who blog/podcast in addition to their test preparation will take more from a geography course. In this post, I've sort of combined the two. This is a blog reflecting on a podcast that I recently came across from NPR about modern day pirates in Indonesia. For me, it's an example of an overlap between geography and development which leads to some interesting social phenomena. Pirates in the year 2009? You bet. Let's take a look.





Background:


Southeast Asia, as we know from our lectures, is a geographical anomoly in many ways. At a global scale it's the gateway to the Indian ocean. Not only does it connect Europe and Africa to East Asia, but it connects the USA to places like India and even the Middle East. At a regional scale, it's split into mainland and insular Southeast Asia, and within these sub-regions there is even more fragmentation. The epidome of this fragmentation is the archipelagic country of Indonesia with more than 17,000 islands (see figure below).



Indonesia is mostly a poor country - only a small percentage of the population controls its wealth. This is not a discussion about why Indonesia is poor although we could debate that for hours and hours - geography may even play some part. Instead, this is a blog about how some intrepid Indonesians make a living - as modern day pirates. In light of recent pirate attacks around the world (most of them off the coast of Somalia), NPR did a series about modern day pirates and I found this podcast particularly interesting given my current work in World Regional Geography class.


To understand why there is piracy in Indonesia, one must start with a map. As was mentioned before, Southeast Asia is the gateway from East Asia in to the Indian Ocean. With no canal across skinny Southern Thailand, ships headed into the Indian Ocean need to dip south of the Malay Peninsula and then back north through the funnel-like Strait of Malacca. For many reasons, this is a very busy area for shipping traffic, and boats with very valuable cargo pass through this area all the time. That alone, however, is not a recipe for disaster. What does lead to trouble is the fact that there are so many disadvantaged people so close by. What would you do if you could make $5000 in a day which might be able to last you for a year? Piracy in Indonesia takes place because of geography coming head to head with sociology and economics.

The podcast and my reaction:

In short, this podcast highlights how piracy is on the decline in this part of the world because of increased maritime security. It's a combined effort between the Malaysians, Singaporeans, and Indonesians, all of which have economic reasons for not letting cargo ships get hijacked by pirates. The podcast mentions that even the US government is giving funds to help the Indonesians purchase faster boats for increased and more efficient patrolling. What I found very interesting though, was an interview with a former pirate - a young man from the Riau Archipelago of Indonesia, just south of Singapore. I've heard from people that have been to some of the islands in that area that some of the towns are like the wild west - and that pirates are the big men in town. It seems that this source from NPR is confirming that, with the interviewed ex-pirate talking about how pirates would earn their loot and then blow it in a few big nights on the town. Interesting to see how the traditional stereotype of historical pirates (grog and maidens) is replayed even in today's world, albeit in a slightly different setting.

For me, Indonesia is the country I'm most fascinated in. It seems that the unit on Southeast Asia is dominated by this massive and populous country. It's physical location has had a determining influence on its history, and it's archipelagic shape continues to shape it in new ways - not all of them for the better. I hope to learn more about Indonesia in the future and look forward to comparing it to other countries in other regions of the world.

In the Field: Mt. Pulag Climb Feb 13-15, 2009

One of the great things about studying Geography is getting outside and seeing beautiful places is basically research! This post is a bit late, but since my single blog post is getting lonely I figured it's about time to rev it up again. Mt. Pulag is either the 2nd or 3rd highest peak in the Philippines (according to my UP Mountaineer friends it's almost the exact same height as a mountain in Mindanao). Mt. Apo (grandpapo!) is the highest in the 'pinas. Anyway, I brought my friend's GPS with me (thanks Ate Lizz!) and tried to kept loading it up with batteries and tracking our progress. The result is this map in Google Earth which I threw together briefly.



That words "Bungo" means 'skull' in Tagalog and is labelled as such because we passed a cave full of skulls! Well, actually they weren't really hidden, rather on display! The group told me not to worry about NPA in the area but it was still a little freaky! But, I now have a good name for my new tent which I broke out for the first time on this climb. My tent is now called 'Bungo'!

Reminder to self for teaching geography in the future - always bring a GPS on any trip, it's something kids will love to play with and will probably interest them much more than a compass and map will. Also, it's not overly important that you turn these off on the plane (even though they tell you to) as my former colleague/boss who makes makes did on a trip to Palawan recently. It's pretty sweet to plot your flight pattern!

Hopefully it's not 2 months again before my next post. Possible thesis stuff to come next! I'm here in HK now ready to get started on it.

Google Earth: Fundamental for the Geography Classroom

Google Earth has to be a part of any geography teachers arsenal.  The more I play around, the more I think of uses in the classroom, it's just a matter of pinpointing the features that can be used most appropriately.  GE 5 (the latest version) brought the power of voice overs to Google Earth with the new audio touring feature.  I'm stoked.  Now students can create tours within Google Earth (flying from one location to another) and talk to an audience as they do so.  It can be played back and listened to by any other GE 5 user and it's all for free.  Here's how it works.  

1.  Download GE 5 (it's new in Feb 2009 and has the touring feature)

2.  Click on the camera icon on the toolbar and then the record button in the bottom left corner.  Make sure your mic is plugged in! (see screenshot below)

3. Create a tour as a sample for your students

Links to education and other cool stuff:

1. Good for second language learners to practice speaking as part of an assignment

2. Good for the 'quiet' student in class, but who might have much more to say when behind a mic on his/her own

3.  Can be used to recap a school trip, or a summer vacation, or to highlight regions in the news.

4. Allows students to consider the concept of scale, stopping at different scales to make comments.  Much better than a static map in this regard.

5.  It's fun and can be viewed by anyone who has downloaded GE 5!

I've created an example assessment based on a documentary film about  illegal migration from Mali to Europe.  The idea is that students use the touring tool to zoom and talk about the places that these migrants go to as they struggle to get to Europe for a better life.  Email me at calvert.christopher@gmail.com if you want a copy.  I can send you the KMZ file.   Thanks.