First damage assessment says 80 per cent of homes lost in Beacon Hill in Fort McMurray PAIGE PARSONS, Edmonton Journal

Concepts of Thinking: Interrelationships, Geographic Perspective, Spatial Significance

Inquiry: How will the residence leave Fort McMurray? What might the impact of this fire be  on the local economy? 

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis to determine course of action to rebuild by the local government. Create a story map to communicate to an appropriate audience.

Support material
Further reading and inquiry
Fire enters Saskatchewan May 19th Inquiry: What might be the ecological impacts be as the fire continues to spread.

Zimbabwe’s Wild Animals For Sale: National Parks Forced To Sell Wildlife Amid Drought BY MORGAN WINSOR, International Business Times

Concepts of thinking: Spatial Significance, Geographic Perspective, Patterns and Trends

Inquiry: WHAT MIGHT BE A BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO SELLING THE ANIMALS? How might selling of the animals impact their well being? When might the weather condition change to support the animals?

Activity: CONDUCT an ISSUE analysis to help determine the IMPACT of selling the animals and map.  add to the map the location of the animals to be sold as well as weather Patterns and trends to help make a prediction as to when condition might get better.  

support material

Peak Oil Could Hit In Just 14 Years, But It Might Not Be What You Think 

The Huffington Post Canada  |  By Jesse Ferreras

Concepts of Thinking: Patterns and Trends, Geographic Perspective, interrelationships, Spatial Significance

Inquiry: How might peak oil be calculated? What might the impacts be of reaching Peak Oil?

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis. Analyze maps, graphs and charts to make predictions on the effects of reaching Peak Oil. Create a story map to communicate results to an appropriate audience.

The Mind-Boggling Scale of Mount Saint Helens's Crater

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Patterns and Trends

Inquiry: When might Mount Saint Helens's have as large an eruption as it did in 1980? What impacts might this new eruption cause?

Activity: Gather information on volcanic eruptions. Create a map of potential location of significant eruptions. Add to this map population data. Communicate to an appropriate audience via story map.

In Photos: The Largest Burning of Ivory in History By Frederick Paxton and Ben Bryant

Concepts of Thinking: Patterns and Trends, Interrelationship, Spatial Significance, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry: If ivory is so expensive why might people be burning so much of it? What might be the impact of burning this ivory be?

Activity: Create a proportional width arrow map of where the ivory is coming from and where it is going. Conduct an issue analysis to help understand the stakeholders. Make prediction as to what might happen and create recommendations as to what should be happening that can be used to communicate to a particular audience.

El Niño and the stratospheric polar vortex 

Author: Amy Butler

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Patterns and Trends, Interrelationship

Inquiry: How might the vortex impact El Nino? How might human activities contribute to these environmental events

Activity: Create a map of the areas affected by each of these environmental events, human activities/development in the area. Use graphs and charts to make predictions of future events and map out results that can then be communicated to the appropriate audience via story map.

California plans to unleash fly to crush ivy invasion By Michael Doyle, McClatchy Washington Bureau

Concepts of Thinking: Interrelationships, Spatial Significance, Patterns and Trends

Inquiry: What might have led to the increased ivy invasion? How might this form of weed control impact people?

Activity: Create a map of the origin of the ivy. Add to it the extent of which the ivy has grown into, human data and other species in the area. Make predictions as to what might happen if this project is successful or unsuccessful and communicate via story map.