Welcome to Geography and Global Issues

1. Welcome to Geography and Global Issues 2013-2014

2. Please Choose one question to share • If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why? • What is your favorite tradition? Why? • Would you rather be really hot or really cold? Why? • You win a million dollars, but must give half of it to a charity. What charity would you choose? • What was the weirdest food that you ever ate?

3. Please share the answers to these with your seating group • Are you a planner or a procrastinator? Example? • How many places have you lived? You can share the number of physical residences and/or the number of cities. • How many brothers and sisters do you have? What's your birth order?

4. Now get up and find a new partner • What is something unexpected that has changed about you in the last few years? • What cartoon character best represents your personal philosophy? • What is the weirdest gift you have ever received? • If you could be any color in a Crayola box, what color would you be and why?

5. Final Set of Questions • I was once mistaken for ... • If you were to get a tattoo, what would it say or what would the graphic be? • If you could have had the starring role in one film already made, which movie would you pick? • Is there a story behind your name? What is it?

6. What did you learn about your classmates?

7. with your group, draw the world. Decide together: • Where to start • What to include • What to label • What view or perspective to use • Etc. **Warning: keep your labels on the small side. You will be adding to these maps.**

8. Now evaluate the accuracy of your map

9. Now add(or label) the following to your map: • 10 Physical Characteristics • 10 Human Characteristics • 10 Global Issues

10. After sharing Your maps with the class… • What did the maps say about our understanding of the world? In what ways did they show our biases, misunderstandings, worldviews, etc.? • What might explain these biases, misunderstandings, worldviews, etc.? • What makes a “global issue” a global issue? • What patterns or themes do you see in the global issues that you all identified? What might explain those issues or why you chose to include them?

11. What is geography? • Please define and or describe geography in your own words. • Feel free to include examples of things we may study, other topics, terms or pictures if it helps you describe your ideas. • Definition

12. According to the state of Colorado: • Geography provides students with an understanding of spatial perspectives and technologies for spatial analysis, awareness of interdependence of world regions and resources and how places are connected on local, national and global scales.

13. What can we learn from maps & What does a map need to include?

14. Choose one of the maps on your table and: • Identify the TOADLS for the map. • Explain the map’s primary purpose? • How do you know? • What are at least three new things that you learned from this map. Please try to go beyond the obvious observations. • Connections: how can you connect the content of this map to something else that you have studied, experienced or heard about?

15. Homework: • Find an article from a reputable news source about something that interests you. • Please read the article and bring a paper copy of the article with you on Friday.