GEO 101: Exam #3

Earth is divided into…

spheres (hemispheres; North, East, South, West)

what divides the northern & southern hemispheres?

equator/0° latitude (horizontal)

highest latitude

90° (North Pole)

what divides the eastern & western hemisphere?

prime meridian/0° longitude/Greenwich (vertical)

highest longitude

180° west, 180° east

are north & south physical or cultural geography?

physical

are west & east physical or cultural geography?

cultural

if you’re in the north-west quadrant, you’re…

north of the equator, west of the prime meridian

international date line

• determines time

• midnight @IDL = beginning of a new day

IDL & 180° are one & the same, EXCEPT when they’re not

• IDL is bent by countries; don’t want country separated by 24 hour time difference

ex: Kirabati, America & Russia

timezones

• 24,000 mi to travel the equator

• 24 hours in a day

• 24 timezones

• time zones standardize time

***begins prime meridian, ends IDL/180°

???

what is the issue with maps?

a sphere is being projected onto a flat surface without absolute accuracy

bad map

• mercator projection

• 1500s cartographer Gerardus Mercator

• 1st to figure out the math that produced the map

• Greenland

  • Earth’s largest island

  • continent: largest land mass (Australia)

  • distorted; Greenland > Australia

• Antarctica - barely exists

good map

• Robinson Projection

• 1968 Aurthur Robinson

• discovers alternative math that produced a more-accurate projection

distortion of a flat map

• to fly from NY to Tokyo, the perceived straight line is going through Los Angeles, Hawaii, Marshall, Guam

• if you were to actually fly in a straight line, you would pass through Alaska because the Earth is curved

• a flat map produced perceived straight lines that are not actually straight lines due to the curve of the Earth

If you were asked to fly around the Earth at 500mph & given 48,000 hours, how many times could you go around?

minimum: once (via equator)

maximum: twice 1,440 (via North Pole)

• depends where you take off from/what latitude you start at; the Earth is a sphere so the distance becomes shorter as you get closer to the poles

• it takes 2 minutes for the average air craft to make a complete 360° turn “standard great turn”

• every time you turn, you’ve flown around the Earth via North Pole

Of the United States’ 50 states, Alaska is the Northern, Eastern (?), & Western most state. Why?

• archipelago - chain of islands

• most significant archipelago - Aleutian islands

• Aleutian islands extend so far West, they cross the 180° & therefore are in the Eastern Hemisphere; but they do not cross the IDL because it’s bent

F.E. (Far East)

• refers to China, Japan, South Korea

• in reference the Prime Meridian; farthest point without crossing 180° & entering Western Hemisphere

mid East

• refers to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel

• halfway from the Prime Meridian going East

N.E. (Near East)

• refers to Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria

• East nearest to Prime Meridian

Western Europe

• refers to Italy & Germany

• they’re in the East but considered West due to cultural logic, not geographic logic

  • Adriatic sea

    • cross this sea, enter N.E.

    • cultural change: Catholic (West) → Muslim (East)

Orient Point, LI

• Orient = East (very geographic term, 90° on compass)

• Orient Point = Eastern most point

• 2nd meaning : to direct, direction

Occident Point, LI

• Occident = West

• Occident Point = Western most point

• Barrack Obama

  • attended Occidental College in LA

names that make no sense

• Greenland : not green; rock & ice

• Rhode Island : not an island

• Hudson Bay : not a bay; more like a sea

• Great Lakes : not lakes; more like seas

• Cape Verde : not green; black mountains & beaches

• People makes maps, illogic shows

names that make perfect sense

• Long Island

• Rocky Mountains

• Ecuador : equator

• Ivory Coast : elephant tusks

• Liberia : liberty

  • flag looks like the American flag

  • USD currency

  • newly freed slaves went to Liberia to establish their own life

  • capital : Monroe

  • city named Freetown

• Minneapolis : Minnesota City

• Thermopolis : hot springs

• Maryland : named after Virgin Mary by Roman Catholics

  • Lord Boltimore : city of Boltimore

  • Queen Anne : capital Annapolic

what is the PISA?

• minimally culturally biased

• Tests life & reasoning skills

• “The smartest kids in the world are not in Finland, but Roslyn, Nassau County”

• Also taken in Copiague & Hauppague, but they “won’t share the results with the general public”

• Americans are afraid of the PISA, there’s a certain risk

• America spends more money on education than any other country but we’re not yielding the results

• American schools aren’t performing the way they should

Why America has a comparatively weak secondary & primary school systems according to Ripley

• value on teachers is low

• technology

• homogenous societies

• geography of parenthood

• reading

• national trauma (war)

value on teachers is low

• Teaching is viewed as a default occupation

• Getting into ed school is America: extremely attainable, minimally-selective

• Rhode Island College Graduate Program - acknowledges producing mediocre teachers for mediocre students

Technology

• Too much reliance on technology

• Technology is not going to make kids smarter

• Naked teaching : teacher, a room, a piece of chalk & chalk board

• Grounded in communication = successful teaching, reliance on technology = useless 

homogenous societies

• America is NOT a homogeneous society, we are a heterogeneous 

• Everyone in America has a different view on education 

• America can’t implement reforms as quickly as other nations

geography of parenthood

• Parents respond towards their kids as students differently than parents in America

• Parents in other countries respond as coaches, in America parents respond as cheerleaders who are always on your side (ex: finishing a book)

• Americans believe that schools produce self-esteem, becomes confused with academics 

reading

• Americans don’t read

How did the education systems in PL, SK, & FL become what they are?

• national trauma (war)

• Poland : Nazis & Communists

• South Korea : Korean War

  • 1955 : obscene rate of illiteracy (80%)

• Finnland : Russians invade Finland during WinterWar of 1939 (before WWII)

  • fought alongside the Germans during WWII to regain land they lost with Russia

  • 1960 : half of all Finns didn’t graduate high school

• education became the biggest priority for reform

Finnish sisu

• strength in the face of odds

• inner fire

• Finland’s version of drive, quiet force that never quits

• unique blend of grit and perseverance

• a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity of the ability to keep fighting after most people quit, and to fight with the will to win

• don’t need talent

What is Poland’s secret sauce?

no tracking (stop separating students into different academic paths at a young age)

• USA = social darwinism; the strong will eat the weak (enables tracking)

• Poland teachers write all students grades on the board; this holds students accountable & motivates them to work harder

What is South Korea’s secret sauce?

pressure

• South Korea is a Confucian society

  • focused on age (age is precious & wisdom), it’s honored

  • “this is for my grandparents, you have to remember; my grandparents had nothing.”

  • to not work hard in school would embarrass their family because they worked so hard to build the system & put them through it

• they will accept the pressure because they know the sacrifices others have made for them

• national exam must be faced, everything rests on its resukts

• when you take the exam, the country is with you; not about just them but the country as a whole

• aunts & uncles will get their nieces & nephews things to bring them luck on the exam; pencils, pens, sweets

• free taxi rides are given on test day, aircraft is rerouted

• wear a special outfit to wear for the exam; honor the exam

• expect the best & good grades; country is behind you, parents are behind you

What is Finland’s secret sauce?

teachers

• very well respected

  • only 20% of applicants were accepted

  • rigorous requirements : attend one of the eight prestigious teacher-training universities, special Finnish literature exam

  • harshly critiqued during training

  • could chose their own curriculums because they received proper education training

• payed the starting salary of a medical intern

• teachers don’t get to know their students to avoid bias, don’t know students names

Ripley’s view on sports in high school

• no place for sports in academics; distraction from academic rigor

• counter argument : the best students are athletes

  • teaches you how to compete, accept loss, work with a team

  • critical part of American schools