References and Links for — “Meteorology and Myth Part 3: Krishna’s Monsoon Swing”

Welcome QR code readers! If you scanned the code from my poster, then it brought you here. You are still slightly early. In fact, I’m really not ready. I am still compiling that list of references you are looking for.

This blog post is merely a place holder for an abstract and references for a poster/paper yet to be fully written. I will add to the art gallery and reference list as I go along.

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: I teach a general education “Weather and Climate” course. Understanding the circulation of the atmosphere can be a difficult topic for introductory students. However, Earth’s wind systems largely explain climate – and climate explains the world. The purpose of my ongoing “Meteorology and Myth” project is to develop teaching modules which present concepts in an interesting way. Students in the arts and humanities often struggle with physical science. Equally, students in geoscience or STEM fields often need a greater appreciation of the arts and humanities.

This story of monsoons is made to bridge topics in geography, environment and atmospheric science, with history, art, folklore and culture. Teachable moments, discussion and debate is encouraged.

Update! I have created a poster version of the topic. I just now need to find the correct market for it. If you have suggestions, please post in the comments.

References:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon_of_South_Asia

https://www.learnreligions.com/jhulan-yatra-1770179

https://www.pnnl.gov/science/highlights/highlight.asp?id=5037

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290456099_Impact_of_Madden-Julian_oscillation_on_onset_of_summer_monsoon_over_India

https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/the-meaning-of-monsoon-clouds/article24410293.ece

Video: World of Discovery “Chasing India’s Monsoon”

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4th Grade Presentations: Salvador Dali Book Report

I found another of my son’s old PowerPoint presentations while I was reorganizing our home computer. This one goes all the way back to when he was in 4th grade.

This assignment and presentation was supposed to be a biography of a famous person.  They were supposed to find a biography in the school library. He chose “The Mad, Mad, Mad World of Salvador Dali” by Angela Wenzel. Although it was written for kids, I enjoyed reading it myself. I didn’t know a lot about Dali.The kids were assigned to take on the persona of the person, as they read their presentations. My wife used an eyeliner to “draw on” Dali’s famous mustache. Just click on an image to start the slideshow.

I received a lot of good comments from the teachers. The boy was really getting good at making PowerPoint presentations at this point. I think that his presentation holds up pretty well! The YouTube link to the Disney/Dali collaboration has been taken down. I was able to find another posting here:

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the book, here is the link for Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Mad-World-Salvador-Dali-Adventures/dp/3791329448

Who is your favorite surrealist artist? Please comment!

Third Grade Presentations: “Why Lumberton is Special to Me”

I found this old powerpoint file, as I am continuing to organize files on an old computer. This is my son’s report “Why Lumberton is Special to Me”. He was assigned to make a presentation on how his hometown is special.

I had to help him, but he was actually getting pretty good at using PowerPoint … even back in 3rd grade. When I was in 3rd grade, we cut photos out of old magazines to make a poster board.

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Thank you for your help, Mrs. Edwards ! 

AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY PROJECT “FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY — THE PHILIPPINES”

AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY PROJECT “FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY — THE PHILIPPINES”

I was cleaning out and reorganizing some old files on the home computer today, when I found my son’s AP Human Geography project from last fall. The class was studying the “Five Themes” and the assignment was to make a presentation on an assigned country. Lucky Ducks — my son was assigned The Philippines. They were actually supposed to tack it all to a posterboard, but this is a copy of the PowerPoint he made before cutting out and posting the components. I think that it stands up pretty well as just a PowerPoint! I am glad that we kept a copy of the file. He turned it in and received an “A” grade. His teacher wanted to keep the posterboard, but unfortunately — Hurricane Florence happened. The teacher said that the high school’s second floor roof leaked during the storm, then water dripped all over the stack of student posterboards — ruining every one of them.

TGF PowerPoint! Here is his original presentation.

Of course, if it was me … I would add in all kinds of animations, film clips and  picture postcards, and add in all this detail, … yada yada yada.

Here is another version he made that references all the images. Just incase you wonder where the images came from.

What country would you want to make a “Five Themes” project of? Please comment!

The Geography Photo Contest

This slide set is from one of my assignments in my Intro Geography course this summer. I had my students take photos and describe the geography. Please enjoy these student photos and their written comments. (Click any slide to view FULL SIZE.)

Which one — won? Well, they are ALL winners to me!

College Educators: Students love their cellphones. They like to take selfies and share photos and comments on social media. This type of geography assignment should be fun and easy for them to do. Although this assignment is from my Online course, I suggest using the idea of a “photo contest” for a day when you cannot meet with your students due to faculty absence, conference travel, etc. This is another way to get students THINKING and WRITING …  

Please vote for your favorite in my blog comments below!

Art, Allegory and Geographic Education: Cultural and Meteorological Lessons from the Sky Deities of Japan

I will be presenting more about my investigation into the sky deities of Japan at the Applied Geography Conference in October. This presentation grew out of my “Meteorology and Myth” research. The abstract for my presentation: “Art, Allegory and Geographic Education: Cultural and Meteorological Lessons from the Sky Deities of Japan” has been accepted for a special session on educational geography. Here is a sample slide:

The following is a slideshow of some of the artwork to be discussed, TBD

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Credit goes to the original artists. No copyright infringement is intended. See the full presentation for all credits and references, TBD.

This year’s AGC will be held in Charlotte, NC October 23-25. See the link here for more information about the conference,

http://www.appgeogconf.org/

LINKS AND REFERENCES FOR ART AND IMAGES PDF HERE:

References for AGC MM Art Allegory

 

PREVIEW — “Meteorology and Myth — Part II: A Fair Candlemas”

Welcome QR Code readers! If you have scanned the QR Code on my poster, it has brought you here. I am still compiling my full presentation for the SouthEastern Division of the American Association of Geographers Conference, to be held November 24-25, 2019. This post is just a placeholder for the presentation and reference list TBA. In the meantime, enjoy this preview:

I will be continuing my “Meteorology and Myth” Weather-and-Climate Education series this fall with another project on weather lore, this time titled “Meteorology and Myth – Part II: A Fair Candlemas”

This post is just a placeholder for now.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: I teach an introductory course in “Weather and Climate”.  Whenever February 2nd rolls around, a student will  ask if the “Groundhog Day” predictions are true. I used to always answer “NO!” The presence or absence of sunshine on any one particular day can not be used to determine either a shortened or a prolonged winter. Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions are just folksy nonsense.

However, I got to thinking about it … and began to hypothesize that there may be a teaching opportunity in this legend. Although the Groundhog’s prediction does not make meteorological sense in the short term, perhaps there are long-term climatological averages about prolonged-winters and early-springs, which may have allowed the folklore to survive and diffuse.

The purpose of the overall project is to develop general education teaching modules which bridge topics in geography, atmospheric science, history, art, culture and folklore. Students in the arts and humanities often struggle with physical science. Equally, students in Geoscience and other STEM fields often need a greater appreciation for the arts and humanities. The intent is not to have students “prove” whether or not Groundhog Day predictions are true.  Instead, the  goal is for students to have a better understanding of atmospheric circulations, global teleconnections and weather patterns. Secondarily, students should have a better appreciation for folklore, history, culture and environment.

Look for more updates and embellishments later this fall!

PREVIEW — “The Five Themes of Geography Meet the National Football League”

I will be presenting a paper at the Popular Culture Association of the South / American Culture Association of the South conference this fall.

This year, the conference will be held in downtown Wilmington, NC on September 26-28, at the Hotel Ballast.

Here is a preview slide from my presentation:

 

Look for updates, resources and references later this summer. My proposed abstract for the conference is below:

The Five Themes of Geography Meet the National Football League

ABSTRACT:

Sports references are one way to teach basic geographic concepts to K-12 and general education college students. There is a great interest in professional football (The NFL) although there is less interest in esoteric geographic concepts such as spatial diffusion, cultural landscape, altitudinal zonation, etc. Most college students only take one “general education” elective in college, and many remain uninformed as to how geography relates to their interests. This project presents several discussion topics which could be used to teach the classic “Five Themes of Geography”. The five themes of geography are 1) Location 2) Region 3) Movement 4) Human-Environment Interaction and 5) Place.

Geography as a natural science is discussed in such issues as environmental influences on franchise location, and how the atmosphere influences game physics. Geography as a social science is discussed in issues such as the controversy over team names, marketing problems, and ethnic or cultural identity. Teaching modules were developed for general education courses in geography, which were particularly aimed at education majors. The expected outcome is for these future educators to utilize and embellish these concepts further when teaching the five themes.

Keywords: Five Themes of Geography, Professional Football, K-12 Education, Geography of Popular Culture

For more on the PCA South Conference, see the link here:

PCAS/ACAS

This post is just a placeholder.  There will be a list of works consulted and graphics utilized for the presentation and paper. All of the graphics I used, and several I considered — will be linked here. Original graphics are the property of the original artists/photographers. No copyright infringement is attended.

Posters seen at the Undergraduate Research Conference

The Pembroke Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium was held on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. This annual event is a celebration and recognition of undergraduate research, scholarship, creativity and entrepreneurship.  Faculty mentored their students on a wide variety of research projects. This included students involved in course-based undergraduate research experiences.

Honors student Richard Varner II

Here are some of the posters seen at the conference. Click to view full size JPEG files:

PURC April 10, 2019

Was this undergraduate event a stepping stone to more Geographic research? Will these students develop their ideas further? Who wants to take their posters to the Southeastern Division of the American Association of Geographers? Does anyone want to go to the Applied Geography Conference? How about the North Carolina Geographical Society?

Contact me if interested!

 

My Poster for the Library’s Annual Creativity Showcase!

My Poster for the Library’s Annual Creativity Showcase!

The media blurb from Library: “The Mary Livermore Library will be sponsoring the Third Annual UNCP Research and Creativity Showcase on April 15, 2019 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. This event will feature poster and speaker presentations at the newly-renovated Mary Livermore Library. These presentations will highlight the scholarship, research, and creative works of UNCP faculty and staff during the past year.”

Contact me if you want to learn more about my “Meteorology and Myth” project.

Notice: I have updated this article, originally posted on March 5, to include photos from the event on April 15, 2019. I also contributed another poster to the event “Blogging through the GEOG-ing” as per the TLC Directors request,

Next year my library showcase event poster will continue the Meteorology and Myth theme with a new chapter — “A Fair Candlemas”. See you then.