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Expected Duration: 6-8 hours // Deadline: July 19, 2017 (GMT 20:00)
Introduction: What is geography?
Introduction: What is geography?
“Geography is both science and art” -H.C. Darby (1962)
“Geography is the study of earth as the home of people” -Yi-Fu Tuan (1991)
Geography is the study of Earth’s peoples, places and environments. It is, quite simply, about the world in which we live.
Geography is unique in bridging the social sciences (human geography) with the natural sciences (physical geography).
Human geography concerns the understanding of the dynamics of cultures, societies and economies.
Physical geography concerns the understanding of the dynamics of physical landscapes and natural resources.
Geography puts this understanding of social and physical processes within the context of places and regions - recognising the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the world, and the links between them.
Understanding the causes of differences and inequalities between places and social groups underlie much of the newer developments in human geography.
Geography is, in the broadest sense, an education for life and for living.
Learning through geography helps us all to be more socially and environmentally sensitive, informed and responsible citizens and employees.
(Excerpt adapted from the Royal Geographic Society)
Here is a useful general framework for thinking about Geography:
Here is a useful general framework for thinking about Geography:
- Population Dynamics
- Infrastructure Development, Gender, Fertility, MIgrations, and the Demographic Transition Model.
- Disparities in Wealth and Development
- Causes and Effects of Disparity, Indices of Measurement
- Environmental Quality and Sustainability
- Quality of Air, Water, Soil, Biodiversity, and Stewardship and Development
- Patterns in Resource Consumption
- Ecological Footprints, Consumption Patterns, Lifestyles
- Globalisation
- Socio-Cultural, Political, Economic, Environmental, and Demographic Interactions [S.P.E.E.D.]
Geography is going to be the most useful and inclusive lens through which you will see and analyse the world as you travel with TGS. There will always be some aspect of Geography or S.P.E.E.D. in every module and experience you have with us.
Geography in Botswana
Geography in Botswana
We are going to begin by taking a look at some SPEED factors in Botswana, and compare them to your own countries. This will not only help you get oriented, but will give us a chance to see what you are interested in learning about.
The results from this online task will form the foundation for a short exercise on learning how to learn here at TGS. After you land in Botswana, in week 3 or 4 during the Learning to Learn week, we will explore your chosen SPEED factors of Botswana and show you how to perform academic research, including making a proper bibliography.
If time permits, we will collaborate to make a short e-magazine full of SPEED articles that you will write about Botswana, and share that with your families back home.
Task 1: Culture Smart! Botswana [4 hours]
Task 1: Culture Smart! Botswana [4 hours]
You will find the Culture Smart! Botswana e-book pre-loaded onto your kindle account which will be activated as of 1 July. Use your iPad to access and read this informative introduction to Botswana.
Task 2: Explore SPEED Factors [2 hours]
Task 2: Explore SPEED Factors [2 hours]
What are SPEED factors of a society?
Socio-cultural - these are factors that are related to social or cultural norms and values. These influence behaviors and attitudes and how people interact with each other. e.g. treatment of gender, race, orientation, social status, belief systems.
Political - these are factors that reflect government, policies, laws, treaties, international relations, trade agreements, and value systems. These are often a result of the socio-cultural and economic factors.
Economic - these are factors that reflect disparity of wealth, trade agreements, GDP, GNI, foreign investment, commodities and real estate markets, how energy is produced, employment rates, and rate of harvesting of natural capital. These are often a result of the socio-cultural and political and environmental factors.
Environmental - these are factors that reflect the amount of natural capital of natural resources and how they are exploited, how waste is managed, and how energy is produced. These are often a result of the socio-cultural, economic, and political factors.
Demographic - these are factors that reflect the statistical characteristics of a society. e.g. age, sex, education level, marital status, access to medical care, birth rate, death rate, family size. These are often a result of the socio-cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors.
Hopefully you can see that everything is interconnected.
A great way to begin exploring this concept is through the use of Hans Rosling’s GapMinder website.
Check out the interactive graphic below.
Are you curious about what those giant coloured circles are that are bouncing around? This is a unique visual representation of each country's journey through time since the year 1800, in terms of income per capita, and life expectancy. Each circle is a different country and the SIZE of the circle represents its population SIZE.
Now watch the late Hans Rosling himself explain his visualization!
Here is another graphic that focuses on Canada [J's home country] compared to Botswana.
This temporal representation of a country's development is based upon statistics that have been gathered over the years and then combined in interesting ways to look for patterns and interactions.
Time for you to play around a bit.
1. Go to the Gapminder website.
2. Change the selection of "Canada" to your home country.
3. Run the simulation.
- Do you notice any patterns?
- Are there any historical events that might be linked to significant changes in income or life expectancy?
4. Now add the following to the simulation:
a country from Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South America, another country from Africa, and Russia.
5. Run the simulation.
- Do you notice any patterns?
- Are there any historical events that might be linked to significant changes in income or life expectancy?
TAsk 3: Select SPEED FACTORS [30 minutes]
TAsk 3: Select SPEED FACTORS [30 minutes]
6. Now start exploring the x and y axes. Each has a drop-down menu that you can use to change the measurement to another SPEED factor.
For example, here is Female Adult Literacy rate versus Child Mortality.
7. Explore different SPEED factors for 5 countries. Experiment with the visualizer.
Task 4: Botswana SPEED [30 minutes]
Task 4: Botswana SPEED [30 minutes]
8. Use your knowledge from the Culture Smart ebook to contribute to the following table on Botswana.
9. Use Gapminder to explore SPEED issues in Botswana and share your findings and ideas on the following table.
Enrichment!
Enrichment!
If you have time, check out these great videos through the lens of Geography.
>> Before You Depart <<
>> Before You Depart <<
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