On the Earth Day of Christmas ....

For a proper Christmas celebration this year, check out last year's Twelve Days of Earth Science from
Highly Allochthonous. It's beautifully silly and fun, and I wish I'd thought of it - and might just copy the idea. :D

Geography as a fascinating and relevant subject

The youtube account holder is "geogfilms," so I expect enthusiasm and lack of objectivity. ;)

oh the places you'll go

Mary Agnes Chase (1869-1963),
sitting at desk with specimens
Originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

I'd gotten frustrated at my local community college for running out of classes I need to take, and want to take, this year. You see, I (*sigh*) procrastinated finishing my application for the local Cal State university geography program long enough that the state budget crisis interfered, and the university system decided not to admit any more applicants this school year for winter and spring quarters. This means I can't take classes, unless I'm willing to pay a lot for Open University classes (and there's room in them, unlikely given that cuts also reduced the total number of classes), until next fall.

So I'm trying to fill my year with classes that I don't need (as there are no more lower division classes that I need, period, ever) but that will be fascinating and most important, useful, both in my classes once I do get to the university, and in my career after that.

The community college where I'd been finishing geography (required) and astronomy (fun!) classes had run out of things for me. So I poked around.

And wow - it turns out another local community college has so many classes I could get a second AA (hush, I won't ... or will I?) before going on.

Check this out, classwise:

Environmental writing (I'm not sure if this is a study of environmental literature or learning how to write about it, and I don't care! Whee!)
Early childhood environmental education
Intro to creek watershed restoration
American Indian history and culture
Civilization's impact on the environment: psychology of trashing the earth
Environmental racism and justice
Natural History field classes (a few courses: local herpetology, local ornithology, Monterey Bay, Devil's Postpile)
Habitat Restoration Gardening
Wildlife and watershed
Contemporary Native Americans in the bay area
Permaculture design

I'm just blissed out, here. And that doesn't even count GIS and Spanish.

I can't take them all, but there are enough that I can fill my year with fun.

Give geography its place

What use is geography? (school recruitment video from the UK)

careers in geography

(This is part 32,208,498,408 or so in a series of videos that I try not to post more than once every couple of weeks, because they aren't mind-bendingly interesting, but seem to have some good information.

Girl Scouts are geographiles

2009-05-18 Rachel showing USGS stuff to Girl Scouts (6)
Originally uploaded by juverna.

Here's why Girl Scouts rock, among other reasons.

Rachel (in 4th grade) was among the friends I went to the USGS open house with. She collected a bunch of material -- geologic maps, mineral posters, bookmarks, stamps, anything sciencey and interesting -- at the open house, and showed it to her Girl Scout friends, and they were fascinated.

Rachel is a science geek, and an interesting kid. Her Girl Scout friends rock.

There are a lot of good reasons for girls to participate in Scouting, if they can find a good troop:

• Girl Scouts don't require religious attachment or belief.


• Girl Scouts encourage girls to be bold and adventurous, to be smart, and independent.


• Girl Scouts have fun.


• Girl Scouts don't discriminate on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.


• Girl Scouts work on environmental awareness.


• Girl Scouts learn science.

What else rocks about Girl Scouting?

This almost makes me want an iPhone

I really love my Palm Treo, but the interface of the iPhone allows games . . . I mean, um, learning tools like this, in ways Palm's interface can't.

I have no idea how well this app works, I've never tried it. I have no connection with the company that makes it. I just want to play with it.

Why study geography?

River processes

This is a pretty little school presentation.

To live is to learn, I can't imagine giving up curiosity

Swiped directly from Living Geography;
"... teachers are, first and foremost, public intellectuals. They really do need to 'know' something worthwhile, relevant and enjoyable to teach. That is why teaching is a graduate profession. Teachers need to have learned something, and in a dynamic subject like geography they need to keep learning."

Lilly the map kid

I've read so much about Lilly, and whether she's just parroting information, or really "knows" this stuff. What is knowing, when it comes to labels? Aren't we parroting, too? Does it matter, if she's learning to be fascinated by maps?

Kids and the Ocean

photo Solitary Islands Marine Park

The Ocean Doctor continues on his quest to share the wonders of the ocean and its exploration and conservation with children all over the western hemisphere. His travels this year have brought him to South Dakota, Missouri, and Cuba. But he can't do it all without help. That much airfare, traveling food, and time off really add up.

If you can throw just a dollar or a bit more in the tip jar to help this science educator bring the ocean to children thousands of miles away from it, either literally or figuratively, please do. Check out his blog, see what he's doing, and find a way to help.

Thanks.

(the photo is not the Ocean Doctor -- I should ask him for a photo I can use, hm.)

Geographilia as a calling

DSCN1943
Originally uploaded by gman8.

In the early nineties, I took a geography lab from the best geography teacher I’ve ever had, at the best community college I’ve ever attended.

The class was sheer fun. For our first field trip, he asked us each to find cross country skis or snow shoes, then brought us up to Lassen Park in April, when the road was still closed by deep snow. We’d spent some time learning how to take field notes, find directions, and other elements of geography field work, and when we arrived at the park, someone asked, “Is there anything special we should be noting?” He replied, “No, really, I just wanted you to see what Lassen is like before the road opens.”

It was quiet, and everything was white. The fumaroles steamed from underneath the snow. He warned us about the hollows that melted out around the fumaroles, capped by snow, and told us about participating in the rescue (because he works in Lassen back country rescue, did then, still does) of a man who had fallen face down into a pit, and would suffocate down there if someone couldn’t get their face down there and provide him some rescue breathing until help could arrive to pull him out, which was considerably later.

He pointed out mountain chickadees by their calls, and explained the geology of the mountain. The joy he felt in this snowy park – his place, which he knew intimately, and wanted to share with us – was palpable to the point of magic.

Everything about that class, and its prerequisite basic physical geography classroom course, seemed to be because the teacher thought it was cool, that he wanted us to see these neat things he thought were cool. From him I learned how rare the Mediterranean climate type is, and he shared with us that he first settled in the Sacramento Valley, in the sixties, because he crossed the Sierra and saw a redwood tree and a palm tree growing side by side, and was charmed. When we learned about weather patterns over and currents within the ocean, he told us about his summer fishing in Ireland, when a hurricane in the Caribbean managed to send lobster pots up the Irish rivers. He spent a big part of one class playing us an NPR show about people who had been struck by lightning and survived.

That magic hooked me. That magic sucked me into geography as a field, something I could do, rather than a dry high school course where we figured out adiabatic cooling rates.

Geographiles would be a lot better off if more people who are captivated by the magic would actually teach it, write about it, and share what we love. Perhaps that’s a call to action.