NASA spots Tropical Storm Nock-ten intensify

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Interrelationships

Inquiry: What might the impacts be from this storm?

Activity: Gather population data of the region. Conduct an issue analysis relating to the storm. Come up with strategies to deal with the situation and share via story map.

Credit: Credits: NASA MODIS Rapid Response/NOAA

What if the fighting in Aleppo was happening in Toronto?

By Nick Westoll Online Digital Broadcast Journalist  Global News

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Geographic Perspective, Interrelationships

Inquiry: What should be done to stop this Genocide? How might citizens end this Genocide because Governments aren't willing to do what needs to be done even after Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and the Sudan. What might this world look like if the powers that should don't end Genocide?

Activity: Understand the issues by completing an issue analysis. Use the conversational and sensitive document to help deliver with delivery of the topic. Create a story map and share with appropriate audience to cause change.
Supporting material from The Gaurdian

Aleppo’s people are being slaughtered. Did we learn nothing from Srebrenica?

Nedžad Avdić

Concepts of Thinking: Geographic Perspective, Interrelationships
Inquiry: Why might the Global leaders not come together to solve this on going genocide?
Activity: Conduct an issue analyse and evaluate  each of the stakeholders. Determine a possible  solution that might be acceptable to all stakeholders. Communicate via story map.

Watch As 15 Years' Worth Of Earthquakes Shake The Planet

NOAA Science On a Sphere

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

Inquiry: How might this information be used?

Activity: Gather information on World population and create an annotated map. What are some observations/conclusion that might be made regarding Patterns and Trends and or Interrelationships? Conduct an issue analysis to on the event to determine what might need to be done? Communicate via story map.

The world’s wet regions are getting wetter and the dry regions are getting drier

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

Inquiry: How might this pattern impact different communities around world.

Activity: Gather and organize the data and create a graph to interpret and evaluate the data. What prediction might be made? Create an annotated map to show where these evens are most likely to occur. Observe the map to determine the spatial significance of places impacted the most. Conduct an issue analysis to help evaluate for interrelationships. Communicate via story map.

CIA concludes Russia interfered to help Trump win election, say reports 

Damien Gayle and agencies

Concepts of Thinking: Geographic Perspective, Interrelationships

Inquiry: What might be to fallout of these findings?

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis on the situation. Create an annotated map if the stakeholders. Determine possible outcomes and communicate via story map.

Federal funding gap disadvantages First Nations students: PBO

Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press

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

Inquiry: How might this gap be reduced? Why hasn't the gap be reduced already?

Activity: Gather data on Education funding for the nation and create an annotated map. Conduct an issue analysis to develop an understanding of the problem. Suggest a solution and communicate to an appropriate audience via story map.

Warming U.S. Could See Extreme Rains Increase Fivefold 

By Andrea Thompson

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance,

Patterns and Trends, Interrelationships

Inquiry: How might this impact Canadians?

Activity: Gather information on climate in Canada. Create an annotated map of the different regions in Canada. Conduct an issue analysis to come up with a plan to deal with any changes that might occur. Communicate via story map.

30 Years of Oil and Gas Pipeline Accidents, Mapped

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

Inquiry: What might be the best location and method to transport fossil fuels? How might such accidents involving fossil fuel infrastructure be minimized? How might a better alternative to fossil fuels be distributed? 

Activity: Conduct a Geographic inquiry to develop an alternative. Gather data on fossil fuel disasters  and observe any patterns that may appear. Conduct an issue analysis to better understand the problem. Create an annotated map to show communities impacted by this type of infrastructure. Communicate results via story map.

Fake news tries to blame human-caused global warming on El Niño

Concepts of Thinking: Interrelationships, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry: How might people better protect themselves from fake news? How might fake news impact national policies? How might the spread of fake news impact others?

Activity: Gather information on fake news. Complete a Venn diagram to help determine the difference between fake, satire, and real news. Conduct an issue analysis to develop a possible solution. Communicate to an appropriate audience the concerns and solutions to the spread of fake news.

Standing Rock: US denies key permit for Dakota Access pipeline, in win for tribe

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

Inquiry: What might have been the reason why the government changed the location in the first place? How might the government proceed in determining an appropriate location for the pipeline?

Activity: Determine the characteristics of an appropriate site for the pipeline. Create an annotated map of the possibilities. Conduct an issue analysis to and determine a possible solution. Communicate via story map to an appropriate audience.

OPEC agrees first output cut since 2008; Saudis open to ‘big hit’, but details still unclear Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal, Reuters

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

Inquiry: Who might these restrictions impact Canadians? Why might OPEC countries be willing to cut oil production?

Activity: Create an annotated map of OPEC countries and countries that import oil to. Observe for patterns and trends. Conduct an issue analysis to help evaluate the consequences of this reduction. Develop a plan to account for this project cuts and communicate via story map.

Shrinking glaciers cause state-of-emergency drought in Bolivia

Jan Rocha for Climate News Network, part of the Guardian Environment Network

Concepts of Thinking: Interrelationships, Spatial Significance, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry:  How might this situation impact surrounding nations?

Activity: Create an annotated map of the glaciers in the region and the countries that depend on them. Conduct an issue analysis to help develop a solution to the problem. Communicate findings via story map to an appropriate audience.

 Bolivians in La Paz fetch water from a tanker truck provided by officials of the Bolivian public water company, Epsas. Photograph: Martin Alipaz/EPA

An ugly homicide number we need to discuss 

Scott Gilmore November 25, 2016

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

Inquiry: Why might Indigenous homicide rates be so high in the far north? What might be needed to reduce these rates?

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis to determine the views that might be contributing to the problem. Create an annotated map of collected data to illustrate the problem. Develop a solution and communicate via story map to an appropriate audience.

Researchers fear B.C. coast becoming dangerous for returning whales By Liam Britten, CBC News

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

Inquiry: How has the natural movement of the whale become so dangerous? What might the best resolution to this problem be.

Activity: Create a spatial journal/annotated map of the issue. Conduct an issue analysis and incorporate geographic perspective to develop a resolution. Communicate via story map.

Shipping maps win at the Information Is Beautiful Awards

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Patterns and Trends, 

Inquiry: How might this data be used by different stakeholders?

Activity: Gather information on the destination ports. Create graphs to indicate how the volume of transport. Create an annotated map for analysis and or developing more inquiry questions for exploration. Communiacte finding via story map.

The State of Circumpolar Walrus Populations, WWF Canada 

Prepared by Jeff W. Higdon and D. Bruce Stewart
Concepts of Thinking: Patterns and Trends, Interrelationships, Spatial Significance, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry: How might human activity impact walrus populations? What might be the best way to reduce human impact on the walrus?

Activity: Create a spatial journal of the area the walrus occupy and to this map data on human activity. Use a Venn diagram to help organize data for analysis. Conduct an issue analysis to come up with ways to support the walrus populations. Communicate via story map.

Canadians' Quality Of Life Not Keeping Up With Economic Growth: Study

The Huffington Post Canada  |  By Daniel Tencer

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

Inquiry: Why might people's quality of life not be keeping up with GDP growth? How might Canadians increase their quality of life?

Activity: Gather information on quality of life indicators. Conduct an issue analysis to develop a geographic perspective and suggest possible ways to improve quality of life. Communicate via story map.

Canadians Will Need 20% More Income To Buy That House They Wanted

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance,

Geographic Perspective, Patterns and Trends

Inquiry: How might this increase impact the Canadian economy?

Activity: Gather data on factors that contribute to the Canadian economy. Conduct an issue analysis to determine the impacts. Decide on a path that might have least negative impact on the Canadian economy. Communicate results via story map.

Big oil v orcas: Canadians fight pipeline that threatens killer whales on the brink

Concepts of Thinking: Interrelationships, Spatial Significance, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry: What might be the best way to meet the need for oil and meet the need for conservation?

Activity: Use the concepts of thinking graphic organizers and conduct an issue analysis. Use this information to create a spatial journal to decide on how to move forward. Develop a story map to communicate to an appropriate audience.

Otherworldly Destinations Here on Earth

National Geographic

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Patterns and Trends

Inquiry: How might these land forms have been formed?

Activity: Investigate of these land forms were created. Create a spatial journal of these places describing the formations. What might account for any patterns observed?  Communicate via story map.

Conservation Decisions Must Protect the Livelihoods of People Living in Africa 

By: Ross Harvey

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

Inquiry: How might conservation interact with development?

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis of one of the concerns in the reading. Use the concepts of thinking graphic organizers to clarify the problem. Create a spatial journal of different concerns. Develop a resolution and then communicate via story map to an appropriate audience.

How other countries would vote in the American election 

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

Inquiry: How might this world view impact how Trump leads?

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis and create a spatial journal of the countries views. Create a story map to communicate results to an appropriate audience

Photo of the Day National Geographic

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

Inquiry: Where might these photos have been taken. Why might these photos have been taken?

Activity: Examine the photos and develop inquiry questions that might be used for each of the photos. Try to answer the questions and communicate.

Top 19 geovisualization tools, APIs and libraries that will let you create beautiful web maps. By Aleks Buczkowski

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Patterns and Trends,

Inquiry: How might these map application s be used to show voting trends in the US elections?

Activity: Try the different apps and evaluate how well different types of data can be manipulated to share desired results.

A More Accurate World Map Wins Prestigious Japanese Design Award

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance

Inquiry: How might viewing the world this way impact others?

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis of the different types of map projects. Choose a few and discuss why and how each map might be used.

Every year, nearly 1.3M people die in traffic accidents.

Concepts of Thinking: Patterns and Trends, Spatial Significance

Inquiry: How might car fatalities be stopped globally?

Activity: Gather data to create a spatial journal of car fatalities. What might account for any patterns and trends that can be observed? Conduct an issue analysis of the issue. Communicate via story map.

Oil may hit ‘low-$40s’ if OPEC fails to deliver quota deal: Goldman Sachs Ben Sharples, Bloomberg News

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

Inquiry: How might the change in oil prices impact Canadians?

Activity: Gather data on world oil prices and the global economy. Create a spatial journal of key events. Make predictions as to what now might happen and communicate via a story map. 

Italy earthquake: 6.6-magnitude tremor rocks nation's center

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

Inquiry: How could people prepare for such an event?

Activity: Create a spatial journal of past earth quakes in the region (patterns and trends). Conduct an issue analysis to develop possibilities to help the region. Communicate via story map.

Prescribed burns begin in Kananaskis Valley By Erika Stark, CBC News

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

Inquiry: How might the decision where to burn be made?

Activity: Gather relevant data and create a spatial journal. Conduct an issue analysis and determine where to burn and/or what other things might be done instead of prescribed burns. Communicate results via story map.

Geographic Concepts of Thinking Graphic Organizers. 

These are useful tools for teachers and students appling the concepts of thinking to help better understand geographic issues.
Students are able to fill out the organizer for individual events/issues and then develop solution that can be communicated.

Global Gender Pay Gap Won't Close For 170 Years: Report By The Associated Press

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

Inquiry: What might be necessary to create a situation where women and men earn the salary for the same work? 

Activity: Create a spatial journal of the countries and the percentage gap they hold. Observe for patterns and trends and develop a strategy that might help improve the situation for women so that they can actually earn the same. Communicate the strategy via story map. 

The Migration of Anatomically Modern Humans

Concepts of Thinking; Spatial Significance, Patterns and Trends

Inquiry:Why might people have migrated? How might people have traveled? Why did people choose their routes? How might these routes relate to current migration routes?

Activity: Gather data on current migration (An other source). Create a proportional width arrow map indicating routes and numbers. Conduct an issue analysis and develop predictions to help meet the needs of future migrants. Communicate via story map. 

Related resource.

Arctic indigenous leaders from Alaska, Russia, and Canada to make historic London address on impacts of Arctic Ocean shipping Press release from Pacific Environment

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Interrelationships, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry: Why might such an address be needed? How might this address impact the region? 

Activity: Conduct an issue analysis of the issue. Create a spatial journal to help understand the importance of spatial significance in the region. Evaluate the interrelationships and develop a plan that can be communicated to the appropriate audience via story map.

Diesel spill near Bella Bella an 'environmental disaster,' says nearby First Nation By Megan Thomas, CBC News

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance,

Interrelationships, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry: How might this spill impact the region? What might be the best way to deal with this situation? 

Activity: Create a spatial journal of this spill and the affected area. Conduct an issue analysis and develop a solution to the situation. Communicate results via story map. 

Haiti Health Conditions Worsen A Week After Hurricane Matthew

By The Associated Press

Concepts of Thinking: Spatial Significance, Interrelationship, Geographic Perspective

Inquiry: What might be the best way to meet the needs of Haiti?

Activity: Gather information on Haiti's situation. Conduct an issue analysis to determine how to support Haiti. Communicate results as a story map.