Next message: Cindy Lee Duckert: "[Channel-talkgeography] talking online and an introduction"
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
In Video 2, I was intrigued by the idea of push and pull factors as
motivators in migration. Naming them so makes it easier to consider the
underlying factors/problems and possible ways to address these
situations. While we speak of human nomads and migrant workers, here is a
new idea.I was also struck by the idea of seasonal migration in humans,
something we usually consider only in birds, monarch butterflies and
fish. I thought I might like to induce my learners to draw some parallels
to push/pull factors in animal migration as a way to draw out the basic
biological needs of some of these factors (food, water, climate, shelter,
"economics") and some of the differences we find in human situations
(political considerations - could we compare them to dominance of
particular pack leaders???)
Carolyn Mayrose's question of "would you like to live here?" strikes me as
a good beginning. She used the strategy of moving from the familiar to the
unfamiliar in introducing new concepts, but I saw an opportunity to build
on that plan. Most of us do not truly see our own geographic situations -
it is so familiar as to be invisible. If we "reap benefits...only if we
mitigate risks," should we not consider what risks our own areas
have. Sometimes this is easier to see if someone has recently moved to the
area or has many family members who live elsewhere. As an exampl, when I
went to college in California, my family was concerned about ever
earthquake they heard reported. One my husband and I moved to Wisconsin,
his many-generation Californian family feared the report of all the
tornadoes throughout the Midwest. The climate we take for granted is not
"normal" but only accustomed. I would like my learners to see the risks
and benefits their own areas have. Perhaps we could introduce the idea of
property insurance (hurricane, fire, flood, etc.) and how geographic risks
are assessed. One of the major employers in our area is an insurance agency.
INQUIRY METHODOLOGY
Use with special circumstances/inclusion classes
Because the focus is on the methods of finding out and not on a limited set
of "right answers," I have found that traditionally strong learners are
able to go into depth and those with learning difficulties are able to do
something with a great chance of success. She reflected on what methods
and tools students were using to gain successful insights into the
questions under consideration, drawing their attention to the learning
strategies that were working. I have done well at congratulating my
learners on their discoveries before, but not their methods. Ms.
Maytorse's strategy would seem to have greater consequences.
---
Cindy Lee Duckert, duckert@focol.org
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