Starter Activities in Geography
DEVELOPMENT
1. A good starter game on relative development of countries.
http://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/interactive/2012/dec/20/geography-game-how-well-know-world
2. Compare countries based on specific indicators
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org
3. Geography Development game that also helps those in developing countries
http://freerice.com/
4. Great poster to promote discussion for development geography
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151689513216026&set=a.1015
0119611211026.290930.260097656025&type=1&theater
5. First world problems read by third world people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxyhfiCO_XQ
6. Teenage Affluenza
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFZz6ICzpjI
7. The NZ version of the Affluenza video is on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXeuVrfDT3k
8. Country Profiles
http://www.indexmundi.com
9. Mapping Children’s chances
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22688596
10. An interactive map showing the racial composition of the USA. It takes a little
while to correctly download but is fascinating. Try minimizing the map and look
at the population distribution patterns.
http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html
11. A great news article about a recent aquifer find in Kenya in one of their dry
desert regions of Turkana and its implications.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24049800
12. A video great for Year 12 Development on Venezuela that recently topped the
charts as the 'happiest place in South America".
http://english.cntv.cn/program/general_news/20131031/102215.shtml
13. A great interactive map showing the world gender gap:
http://widgets.weforum.org/gender-gap-heat-map/
14. A fabulous BBC2 programme on population called 'don't Panic The Truth
About Population by Hans Rosling. Below is both information on this programme
and the video promotion for it that gives a wonderful idea of the disparities of
distribution of wealth in the world.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2013/45/this-world-hansrosling.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpdyCJi3Ib4
15. For any of you who study the USA as a region in your Inequalities in
Development topic. All a video about why the USA has a big gender gap.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/july-dec13/gerson_11-02.html
16. This is a book on line called 'How’s Life' that compares countries of the world
in terms of quality of life. If you click on each individual country at the bottom
you can see how it does in a range of indicators compared to other.
http://www.oecd.org/statistics/howslife.htm
2014 Term 1
17. A You Tube discussion on world wealth that makes a fabulous introduction to
the disparities topic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWSxzjyMNpU
Along with this is also this
article http://econfix.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/global-inequality/
18. An interesting article on child labour (cotton pickers in India).There are links
to organisations that promote fair trading. It might also be of interest to social
studies teachers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26294513
19. This video clip looks at the issue of child workers in India targeted at a tea
planation and would be useful for Level 2 Development
geography. http://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/video/2014/mar/01/tetley-tea-maids-real-price-cup-teavideo?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487. It is part of an interesting site that looks at
worker abuse around the world.
20. A great one for the Development topic on 'How the Earth Has changed In The
Last 20 Years" http://www.unfpa.org/public/home/news/pid/16955
21. This is somewhat gruesome to watch (so preview it first) but is a great
documentary on sweatshop
labour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noL8nFSzsDc
22. This site looks at the Economics of Birth control – it could be a little complex
for Level 1 and more suitable for the 2.3 Development topic
http://www.upworthy.com/the-side-effect-of-birth-control-no-one-talks-about
23. This is a radio programme looking at modern day slavery in Brazil. It is
especially good at looking at the fine line between what is traditionally
thought of as 'slavery' and what is more 'inhumane conditions'. Certainly a great
mini documentary to promote discussion. You can hear this
at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01n9h17
24. Another one for the Development topic is a site
called http://www.edutopia.org/blog/film-festival-poverty-education-lessons.
This includes short clips from the movie "Living on One dollar" at. It follows 4
American teenagers going to Guatamala and how they
coped living off only $1 a day and their attitudes to the poverty they experience.
25. This is a map of the USA that shows the states as names of countries that
have equivalent GDP. Wonderful to get students to appreciate the real size of the
USA and as an introduction to economic development.
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/countries-vs-us-states-gdp-map-2014-2
2014 Term 2
26. This wiki accesses any data about NZ you may want! Well worth a look – simply
click on the factor at the side to reveal the data in graphic
form http://wikinewzealand.org/?cat=10 and in the same series is this
http://wikinewzealand.org/?cat=8
27. An article on closing the gender gap. Be good for
development. www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2014/global-gender-gap.aspx
28. This is an NZ Herald resource looking at the most deprived parts of New
Zealand. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1125403
2
29. This is on a food theme – it compares how much food people around the world
eat per day. Great for development. http://www.dose.com/lists/2715/23-Photos-OfPeople-From-All-Over-The-World-Next-To-How-Much-Food-They-Eat-Per-Day
30. This resource is great for disparities - it shows pictures of rich people living next
door to poor people in Mexico. Great to discuss the evidence of
development. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/aerial-housingphotographs-show-stark-division-between-rich-and-poor-in-mexico-9384197.html
31. This is a great you tube clip for both the development topic and population –
looking at the effect technology is having in solving world health issues. It was
produced as part of the global health 2035
report. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecko4AbUuwo
32. Another great visual that shows the world as 100
people. https://www.facebook.com/wrcommission/photos/a.75009033995.76134.2
8158738995/10152423355883996/?type=1&theater
33. This is a gallery of photos showing different people globally who live on less than
US$1 a
day. http://www.theguardian.com/society/gallery/2014/jun/05/portraits-ofpeople-living-on-a-dollar-a-day-in-pictures
34. Social and economic deprivation is explored in this
site http://www.otago.ac.nz/wellington/research/hirp/otago020194.html
35. If you scroll down this site you will find some fabulous images dealing with the
poverty gap - perfect for the development
topic http://www.one.org/us/2014/05/20/12-data-visualizations-that-illustratepovertys-biggest-challenges/
36. This is a site on the world cup with a link to
development http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/issues-we-workon/inequality-worldcup?utm_source=oxf.am&utm_medium=cup&utm_content=redirect
37. This is a map showing changing trends of income in the world – fabulous to look
at spatial and temporal patterns as well as inequalities http://io9.com/interactivemap-showing-how-income-inequality-has-chang-1573585711
38. Connected with this theme is this map that should promote some discussion - It
compares the GDP of metropolitan cities in the USA to countries worldwide. Great
for the development topic at Level 2 http://www.citylab.com/work/2014/03/newyork-metros-economy-almost-large-australias/8543/
39. Also on a development theme is this gallery of photographs captured by different
photographers to show what inequality looks
like. http://ideas.ted.com/2014/06/03/gallery-what-inequality-looks-like/
40. This shows great satellite shots for teaching about Patterns and also fits with
Development themes http://www.boredpanda.com/daily-overview-satelliteaerial-photography-earth/
41. If you want more information about favelas as Brazil takes centre stage again this
week try this site http://www.clausbantel.de/www_gb/txt_favelas.html
42. First some old favorites have resurfaced and the end of term is an ideal time to
show these. The first is Hans Gosling's "The joy of stats” 200 countries in 4 minutes.
This is a must for Level 2 students if you have not previously shown
it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo&safe=active
43. Ideal for those of you doing the development topic is this poverty
index. http://www.ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/
2014 Term 3
44. A development quiz http://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/interactive/2012/dec/20/geography-game-how-well-know-world
45. This delightful short video shows what happens when cocoa planters are given
chocolate to taste https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEN4hcZutO0
46. This article explains why fair trade coffee might not be as good as it
sounds http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-wydick/10-reasons-fair-trade-coffeedoesnt-work_b_5651663.html
47. A great interactive looking a women's rights around the
world http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/nginteractive/2014/feb/04/womens-rights-country-by-country-interactive
48. Also on 'Women changing the world" is this cultural story of girls riding bikes in
Afghanistan http://awwproject.org/2014/08/biking-on-the-streets-of-kabul/
49. This is a wonderful global map showing the fragility index of countries around
the world. Great for Level 2 Development. Again shows why we should be proud of
NZ which ranks the 6th best! http://ffp.statesindex.org/
50. An info graphic that ranks the best places in the world to be a working
woman http://www.economist.com/news/business/21598669-bestand-worstplacesbe-working-woman-glass-ceiling-index?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/glassceilingindex
51. CNN have produced their '10 Healthiest cities in the world" - some may surprise
you http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2014/09/health/cnn10-healthiestcities/?sr=fb090614HealthiestCities12pStoryLink
52. An amazing website that compares the statistics of countries – some stats are a
bit old but still enough for great discussion http://www.sacmeq.org/interactivemaps/statplanet/StatPlanet.html.
53. A useful site for the Development or Population topic. If you go to this site and
put in the names of any 2 countries such as 'USA Laos'' it comes up with a
comparison table of numerous characteristics. http://www.wolframalpha.com/
2014 Term 4
54. An interview with Malala Yousafzai – winner of the nobel peace prize. This 16
year old has some wonderful ideas on how education is the key to development.
Perfect for Year 12 Development studies. Alternatively just watch the first 5 mins for
an intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjGL6YY6oMs&feature=youtu.be
55. How the recent nobel prize on LED lights has an impact on the developing
world http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/10/13/47358/led-lights-are-atransformative-technology/
56. Another Hans Rosling with a lot to think about – it explains why the development
within countries is now more important than development between countries using
the USA, Cuba and Chile as examples. Fabulous for Level 2 Development
Geography https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDK1OaFvtls
57. A good one for Level 2 development looking at the issue of food availability and
difference between developed and developing
world.http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/15/opinion/fraser-world-foodday/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 thanks to Andrew Lessard of Napier Girls for this.
58. Another on the issue of how to feed the growing world's population is this great
National Geographic video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB9Enh6yP0w
59. A great case study for ways of bridging the development gap – this looks at how
one gang member used break dancing to advance the quality of life of children in
Cambodia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeIosguHbxk
60. A great article with some great geography concepts in it that looks at the effect
of having wealthy resources on the development of the
Congo http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24396390
61. As Bob Geldof records his new Band Aid Christmas song this article questions if
this is really appropriate
today http://m.aljazeera.com/story/20141112103245331194
62. Last week it was 'World Toilet Day' and before you dismiss this as nonsense this
article looks at the whole issue in India with some startling cultural
facts http://www.theglobalist.com/indias-potty-problem/
63. If you didn't catch this in last weeks NZ Herald it is certainly worth keeping. This
is an interactive map showing what people earn in different parts of
NZ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=113667
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