Our Political Geography unit just got a lot more fun and memorable with vocabulary speed dating! We found out there are actually so many relationships between terms, and special connections were made in all classes. Thanks to all you hard-working students who mastered your terms and represented them so well during speed dating this week; and congrats to those who set themselves apart and earned best couple for your class! The day's best pickup line was "Are you a Unitary State? Because I see UNI together!" For teachers who want to know more about this assignment, here is the link to the assignment page which includes the grading rubric and the terms.
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Above are some images of my recent trip to Chiapas, Mexico. I was fortunate to be able to travel around the region with friends from an NGO, Fair World Project. They are advocates for small farmers around the world. I received a grant from a U.S. organization called Fund for Teachers and they allowed me to design my own learning experience. I researched the effects of NAFTA on corn farmers in southern Mexico, very near the global hearth of corn cultivation. I collected evidence, including video interviews with the farmers, to use in class.These will become a case study that stretches across several units. It was an amazing experience from start to finish. When most people think of Mexico, I'm not sure they picture the tall mountains and cool dry air found in this region, which is also home to indigenous farmers of Mayan ancestry. We can see cultural diffusion as well; as evidenced by the many Christian churches in the area that originated with the Spanish missionaries of the colonial era. Chiapas is a fascinating and stunningly beautiful state with a complex cultural landscape. Most of the photos above have captions. Click on each photo to enlarge it and read more about it.
My daughter Emily, who is 19 and is a sophomore studying at UC/DAAP joined me on this trip, along with her best friend Olivia. Read their blog for some of what they had to say about their experience. Nicaragua is a beautiful country so far. I climbed my first volcano today and it was an active one! Tomorrow we visit a coffee farm which is a co-op for Equal Exchange Coffee. Today we are in Granada and you can see from the photos below it is a beautiful Spanish colonial city. Nicaragua is the land of lakes and volcanos, and is part of the "ring of fire," which goes around the Pacific and is an area of volcanic activity because the tectonic plates come together and move a lot, releasing pressure.
Some of you are emailing with questions and I will try to get back to you when I am able. I may not have internet tomorrow. Thanks for your patience! |
Why?Some people and places are so awesome, you just have to take a picture! Archives
January 2016
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