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My Wonderful World is delighted to be joined today by Jan Harp Domene, President of coalition partner the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Jan identifies the current election season as an opportunity to make the case for expanding geographic education offerings nationwide, and highlights the PTA's efforts to get students involved in learning about civics and geopolitical issues.

In light of last Friday’s presidential debate on foreign policy and the impending global economic crisis, I can’t think of a better time to be talking about the world and the role we play in it. And by “we,” I mean everybody—not just the people who want to be President next January. I tell the young parents who join PTA that they are the future leaders of our organization, but it’s also true that kids are the future leaders of our country. They might grow up to be the President, or they might be the head of their own company, or they might be a leader in their own community. Whatever path they take, kids today will almost certainly be more connected to the world outside our borders than the generation that preceded them.

So how are we preparing our kids for this world that seems to be getting smaller and smaller? In addition to the basics like math, science, and reading, are we also teaching them about civics and art and geography and language? Understanding other cultures, and even our own evolving America, is going to be increasingly important as time goes on. Consider this: there are already more than twice as many people in the world primarily speaking Mandarin as there are primarily speaking English—with that gap likely to get bigger in the coming decades. And what does it mean that in 2050 there will be more school-age Hispanic children than school-age non-Hispanic white children in the United States? Regardless of where we live, the odds are increasing that we’re going to be talking to people from all over the map. If we’re going to understand one another, a good place to start is knowing where exactly on that map we’re all from. That’s why we’re so proud to be a part of the My Wonderful World coalition along with National Geographic and other leading organizations. Working together, we’ve created an action kit to help parents become advocates on behalf of geographic education.

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Tell Us:
Did you get a chance to watch the first Presidential debate on foreign policy Friday night? If you didn’t, get up to speed with these recommended resources:

1. Quotes on key foreign policy issues, including Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia/Georgia, and energy independence (BBC News)
2. Watch the debate in full (BBC News)
3. Written transcript of the debate (LA Times Blog)

What did you think of the focus on foreign policy relative to other issues, like domestic economic policy (Of course, as new developments in the European and Asian stock markets following last week’s bailout of leading U.S. financial and insurance institutions reveal, U.S. economic dynamics have great influence on the global economy and can hardly be approached from a purely “domestic” perspective.)? Is there any specific topic or world region you wished the candidates had addressed that they did not?          

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New Election Map.
Gear up for the Vice-Presidential debate tonight by checking out the latest iteration of the red-blue state election map. I like this one from “Real Clear Politics,” which crunches state numbers by averaging results from several national polls.

 “Improving Iowa Schools: Provide Help in Teaching about Global Understanding.”
In this opinion-editorial piece that appeared in the Des Moines Register on Monday, retired educator and school principal Joe Millard makes the case for geography, urging state officials to increase global education offerings.

Project Urban Earth Aims to “Reclaim the Streets.”

Geography teacher Daniel Raven-Ellison of Thatcham, England, traveled to Mumbai, Mexico City, and London to look at urban development trends--from street level, through photography. His methodology: Walk across the entire city. Snap a picture every eight steps. Combine images into a stop-motion film photo montage. His goal: Show cities objectively, as they really are. “I wanted to show the changing face of the city from ground level. Urban Earth is about challenging the way we see the world. We see most of our urban environments through the screen of the car door. This aims to show what the cities are really like and reclaim the streets.” It’s an important task in this, the first year in human history when more than 50% of people live in cities. Check out Daniel’s blog for more on the project.

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Some people argue that great art is inspired by simplicity. Did you know that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony might have been inspired by three notes of a local bird's song? Well, David Matysiak is following suit by taking the kid's game of telephone and creating a series of musical anthologies in his Telephono project.

Telephono is a fun, collaborative, creative mash-up concept: Matysiak writes an initial piece of music and sends it to a fellow musician, who then has the freedom to change "anything or everything" about the original version. The second musician sends it to a third, and the chain continues. At each stage, artists send their product back to Matysiak.

Because the process is archived at each step, a listener of the entire process can hear the specific changes that each musician makes. What's especially awesome about this project is that it travels across state lines, country borders and international oceans, showing that place can contribute to the artistic process.

Place is literally infused in some pieces of Telephono. For example, Italian musician Enrico Molteni took a pop song sent to him from Chicago musician, Mike Kinsella, and added sounds of an Italian beach to the track. (Check out each step of this process! From Matysiak's first repetitive guitar riff called "There Was No Expiration Date on the Carton of Milk That Wore My Thinning Face" to Molteni's re-titled pop-version "Ain't We Superhuman").

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We've just added a new blog to our 'roll: GeoCarta.

GeoCarta features articles relating to topics of surveying, mapping (cartography), navigation, and geotechnologies. Examples of recent post titles include: "Mapping Minefields in Angola ," "Self-Driving Auto Navigates Streets of San Francisco " "GPS System Vulnerable to Fake Signals "and "Welsh Hikers Make Mountain out of Hill ."

One of the stories I found most interesting, and timely, was a piece on Colorado's use of GIS (Geographic Information System) to prepare for last month's Democratic National Convention in Denver. The article describes how state officials at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) worked with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and a group called DenverGIS to create real-time maps of information including road closures, demonstrations, security forces, and scheduled events. The maps, visible in Google Earth, helped convention planners, security personnel, medical professionals, and other officials evaluate and respond to ever-changing circumstances typical of an event of such magnitude. I don't know whether GIS technology was similarly employed by coordinators of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in St.Paul, Minnesota. In light of the significant security and logistical challenges posed by large numbers of demonstrators at the event, however, I'm betting planners will opt to use it in the future!

GeoCarta is edited by Roger Hart, president of Area Surveying and long time land surveyor in the state of Texas. Check it out for the full story on the Democratic Convention, and much more!

Sarah for My Wonderful World

Images courtesy of and GeoCarta and DemConvention.com.

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It's not easy keeping pace with this jet-setting family of four on their year-long trip around the world. Earlier in the summer, we introduced you to the Jenss family; Dad Rainer, Mom Carol, and boys Tyler (11) and Stefen (8). By our first post, they had already traveled the scenic coastline of Maine, eaten the "best pizza" in Chicago, and seen the roaming bison of the Badlands. Since then, the Jensses have made their way across the United States, exploring national parks like Yellowstone and Glacier, trekking around cities like Seattle and San Francisco, and learning how to surf on the islands of Hawaii. The family has finished their American tour, and is now in China exploring the Inner Mongolian Desert and enjoying delicious rice and dumplings in Beijing.

Both the parents and the kids keep a travel blog and post their thoughts regularly. Before they ventured across the Pacific, the family listed the best and the worst parts of their American road trip. While the parents complained about crowded trails and the lack of home-cooked meals, the boys affectionately wrote about tourist attractions and pizza. Therein lies the beauty of travel; you can stand next to someone and experience completely different things!

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"Without geography you're nowhere."
--Jimmy Buffet (1946--) I'm not sure if he was the first to coin the phrase, but the statement has recently been attributed to legendary singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffet. I want to know: If changes in latitudes in fact yield changes in attitudes, as his album title implies, where exactly on the map is Margaritaville?!

"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography."
--Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), American writer.
Quick: Find Iraq and Afghanistan on a map!

"A little instruction in cartography--a little practice in the use of the compass and the spirit level, a topographical map of the town common, an excursion with a road map--would have given me a fat round earth in place of my paper ghost."
--Mary Antin (1881-1949), U.S. socialite and author, born in Russia, on the deficiencies of geography teaching in elementary schools....proving that the need for more geography in schools is nothing new!

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Journey to ancient ruins high in the mountains of Peru. Unlock the secrets of rock art produced by the oldest continuous civilization on Earth. Learn about conservation efforts in the Canadian Rain Forest.

National Geographic Kids offers videos on a variety of compelling topics such as people and places, science and space, animals, and the environment. All are short, (1 to10 minutes) accessible, and appealing for a wide range of audiences, making them great for use in the classroom, or to watch with the kids at home (or for doing "research" at work)!

My personal favorites are the people and places cultural pieces; I delighted in revisiting Kakadu National Park, where I traveled during my time abroad in Australia, and having the chance to refresh my memory on Aboriginal rock art and the esoteric concept of "Dreamtime." I also enjoyed the video about Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas," where my twin sister studied abroad in South America. The clip focused on tensions between the economic benefits and potential pitfalls of soaring tourism at the World Heritage Site, an issue of critical interest and importance to geographers.

Check out all the videos today, and tell us which ones you like best! Just don't get too distracted during the work day (if you're like me, you won't be able to watch just one)!

Sarah for My Wonderful World

Images courtesy AmazingAustralia.com.au

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Hello everyone!

As the seasons change outside of the NGS headquarters in Washington, D.C., so do the interns. My name is Bethany, and I’m the fall intern for My Wonderful World, here to introduce myself and my perspective on the ways in which geography is not just an important tool to us, but is ingrained in us. I look forward to hearing from all of you!

In 30 seconds or less (depending on how fast you read), I’ll give you a run-down of what got me interested in Geography, and how I landed in my NatGeo desk chair. I just graduated from Bucknell University in rural Pennsylvania, a school about three hours from any major city (see map). I used to joke that it wasn’t the middle of nowhere, but the center of everywhere. Bucknell is a J.Crew photo-shoot in the middle of Amish country, so naturally I became interested in dynamic landscapes after I came to school. My spatial interest grew through my dance experiences as I realized a single body could mold the stage into different worlds, simply by changing its relationship to the space. I then gained some global perspective on space from an awesome class on global agriculture (a topic we’ll get to in future blogs), and after two years of college I realized I was destined to live life as a geo-nerd, explaining and defending geography and the relationship between people and places.

One of the ways I’ve tried to contextualize geography is by relating it to current events and personal issues in people’s lives. But, I realized that most students at my school didn’t pick up a newspaper or keep track of current events, even with TV and internet (see this article on how little current events knowledge has changed even with advances in technology). I started thinking about the lack of the knowledge of current events among today’s youth (elementary school through college) in relation to their lack of geographical knowledge…and it made sense. Our national geographic illiteracy is certainly a product of our lack of knowledge and understanding about global events. Parents and educators should consider the impact of encouraging kids to read about global events at a young age. The relatively easy activity of watching and reading international news will lay the foundation for a global consciousness. We need to demonstrate how our actions are interconnected and interdependent with the rest of the world, and how our personal decisions are global and geographical. This deepens our understanding of geography in so many ways, and helps to rid our country’s idea that geography is just memorizing maps.

You might have heard of "Lilly the World Mapster" (by far the cutest Geographer ever) on YouTube.

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Left: Due to its wide geographic expanse, Hurricane Ike created a huge storm surge that inflicted major damage on the barrier island of Galveston, Texas.

It was a rough weekend for the Gulf Coast and the United States economy as Hurricane Ike reached the shores of Texas early Saturday morning. Ike, a Category II hurricane, caused havoc in the Houston area, shutting down airports and oil refineries that play integral roles in our nation's economy. Ike claimed 100 lives, including 30 Americans, and spurred 2,000 rescue attempts, reinstating the apprehension of hurricane season for the American people.

As Ike, now a tropical depression, moves north (track its status on this Weather.com page), the full impact of the storm becomes apparent. Resources have been pulled nationwide for residents in 29 Texas counties declared "disaster areas." Over 7,000 National Guard troops have been mobilized, as well as countless Red Cross volunteers to staff 20,000 shelter facilities. Over two million Texas residents fled the area into surrounding states, and the 140,000 who refused to evacuate are living in water-logged homes. Experts estimate clean-up efforts will range upwards of 10 billion dollars, which would make Ike the third-costliest storm in history.

That 10 billion dollars doesn't account for the extraneous costs the nation's economy will endure. Gas-prices have risen overnight because 14 oil refineries are inoperable. (See how gas prices have fluctuated nationally with this "Gas Temperature" Map.) Major Huston airports such as George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby resumed limited service today, but the total dollar-amount lost through flight-cancellations and reschedules is still undetermined.

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1. FLOW: For Love of Water

This past Wednesday I had the opportunity to see a sneak preview of the new documentary film FLOW: For Love of Water. In the provocative style of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, Irena Salinas explores what many scientists and activists are describing as the “sleeping giant issue of the twenty-first century,”—the global water crisis. This must-see for all interested in global issues left me healthily incensed and with a number of lingering questions. What can be done to abate this problem? Should private companies be allowed to own and sell water? Why haven’t I heard more about this critical issue? Visit flowthefilm.com and be sure to see the show in theaters this month. For more on water matters, check out this article in the Science Daily news.

2. September 11 Remembered

Yesterday marked the seventh anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Citizens around the country stood solemn at new memorials erected in Washington, D.C., and Boston, MA. Others throughout the world have also been impacted by the event in the years since the tragedy. See how:

A. Essays from social scientists around the world.

B. Global Voices Online, five-year anniversary perspectives.

C. International newspaper coverage of September 11, 2001.

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Three schools. Three books and award-winning authors. In three countries.

This is the gist of the groundbreaking Reading Across Continents program uniting students in Washington, D.C., Nigeria, and Ghana through the shared reading of literature.

High school students will read American author and National Teacher of the Year Sharon Draper's Copper Sun, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, and a book by Ghanaian author Ama Ata Aidoo. Through the use of blogging and teleconference technologies, they will discuss cultural and literary connections with each other and the authors themselves. A select group of students will culminate their experience by traveling to foreign destinations as "Literacy Ambassadors," working with their newfound friends to develop literacy-focused community service projects.

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We asked fans to submit their photos showcasing our Wonderful World on the MWW Facebook page, and they delivered! Now, we’ve chosen our favorites from the group and we’re featuring them on the blog.

The first comes from Jake Krong of Vail, Colorado, a long time friend of the campaign and active contributor to the blog.

Wall Arch in the Devil's Garden area of Arches National Park.

Jake says:

“I took this photo earlier this summer... just last week, the arch collapsed in the middle of the night! This is an example of how dynamic our world is; even seemingly permanent fixtures are constantly changing. That’s why it is so important to explore and enjoy nature as much as possible!”

Our thanks to Jake for so elegantly capturing and describing an example of dynamic natural systems. This is a topic of prime interest to geographers, as well as tracking trends and changes in human systems and processes.

If you haven’t already, join our group of nearly 1000 MWW fans on Facebook.com.  There, you can check out the full set of fans photos and add your own to the mix. Maybe one day we’ll even feature your pic on the blog!

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This Friday we bring you five, well, “big holes.” I first learned of these gaping cavities in the Earth via one of those irksome chain emails. This particular bombardment of my inbox, however, turned out to rather intriguing from a geographic perspective. Read on to learn the stories behind these real-world natural and man-made depressions.

 
Kimberly Big Hole, Kimberly, South Africa
Arguably the largest hand-excavated open-pit mine in the world, the “Big Hole” is located in Kimberly, South Africa. The first recorded diamond discovery occurred here in 1866, after which the facility was opened for mining by the DeBeers company in 1884. Open-pit mining was closed in 1914, though underground mining continued until 2005. The site is now a major tourist attraction.

Great Blue Hole, Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize
The Great Blue Hole located off the coast of Belize is a submarine cave, one of several such phenomena in the world. Blue holes are largely devoid of life due to the fact that water deep in the center lacks oxygen. This particular site was made famous by the legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau in the 1970s and was designated a World Heritage Site in 1997.

Glory Hole, Napa County, California
Glory Hole is a non-regulated spillway that forms part of the Monticello Dam, in Napa County,California. A spillway is a structure that helps control the flow of water between the upper and lower portions of a dam.

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With Gustav downgraded from hurricane to mere "tropical depression" status this week, you may be wondering what the all distinctions mean. What, exactly, is the difference among the five categories of hurricanes, and between hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions? How do storms get their names? And what about those cyclones?

If you guessed it has something to do with wind speeds, and geography, you'd be right. Learn how to decipher the meteorological jargon with these answers to "frequently asked questions (FAQs)" provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Outerbeaches.com. Because while you can't control the weather, you can prepare for it. Knowledge is power!

Learning about storm terminology is a great first step to understanding news reports and alerts. Some are doing even more to help prepare themselves and their communities. Rather than rely solely on government agencies like FEMA, 4-H students, GIS professionals and social networkers are taking action into their own hands.