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.