Ford vows to return land to the Greenbelt. That's a 'victory' for Hamilton, says councillor

Concepts of Geographic Thinking: Geographic Perspective, Interrelationships, Spatial Significance

Inquiry: Where might the land developers get their projected profit of 8.2 billion dollars now that the government put the speculated land back into the untouchable Greenbelt?  How might the Conservative Government pay for the reversal of their plans to develop the Ontario Greenbelt? 

Activity: Collect data on the Ontario Greenbelt and the projected land that was to be developed. Create a spatial journal of the land to be developed by developers that the Ford Government has connections with. Gather data on how much the land was purchased for and how much profit these developers were going to make if they were actually allowed to build on the protected land. 

How might land developers make their projected profits now that they can not build there? Conduct an issue analysis and the Greenbelt timeline to help develop an action plan to understand how governments pay for projects that get cancelled. Communicate your solution via story map to ensure that that take taxpayer is not on the hook for the project profit loss by the new greenbelt land owners. 

 

A grim report about climate change in Ontario was kept quiet for 8 months Mike Crawley · CBC News · Posted: Sep 13, 2023 

Concepts of  Geographic Thinking: Geographic Perspective, Interrelationship, Spatial Significance

Inquiry: How might the Government address the results of this report to ensure sustainability for future generations?

Activity:  Collect data on past practices and policies of the current Government on the environment.  Create a spatial journal to indicate areas in Ontario that are greatest at risk because of environmental degradation. Conduct and issue analysis to examine other groups views on environmental sustainability. Weigh the pros and cons of these views and develop an action plan that can help Ontario become more sustainable and the communicate the message via story map. 

 

Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano spews more gas and ash

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

Inquiry: How might local citizens be impacted by the eruption? How could communities prepare for eruptions in the future? How might urban design reduce the impact of eruptions?

Activity: Gather data on Popocatepetl. Understand how communities in the past have been impacted. Determine how governments might be able to prepare for future eruptions. Conduct an issue analysis to determine what responsibility different stakeholders have in the event of an eruption. Create a story map to communicate what preparation should be taken by the stakeholders. 

 

Vatican repudiates Doctrine of Discovery in response to demands from Indigenous people 

Nicole Winfield · The Associated Press · Posted: Mar 30, 2023

Concepts of Geographic Thinking: Geographic Perspective, Interrelationships

Inquiry: How might this new perspective on the Doctrine of Discovery guide Truth and Reconciliation  in Canada and other countries that were colonized since the introduction of the Doctrine in 1493? How might this view impact Truth and Reconciliation?

Activity: Collect data on the impacts countries that were colonized by Spain, Portugal, France and England as a result of the implementation of the Doctrine of Discovery and create a spatial journal to create a map of the data. Using the issue analysis, outline how these countries have impacted the indigenous populations through colonization in Canada and across the Globe. Create an outline that will help address this issue and move forward with Truth and Reconciliation for Indigenous people. Communicate results in a story map and share.

 

California, Western Drought Update: Prolific Snowpack, Rising Reservoirs, But More Still Needed

Concepts of Geographic Thinking:

 Patterns and Trends, Spatial Significance,

 Interrelationships

Inquiry: How might drought conditions impact communities? What might communities have to do to get access to the water they may need in the future?

Activity: Collect data on the water level of Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and Great Salt Lake. Create a spatrial journal to show how the water levels have changed over time and highlight the counties connected to theses reservoirs. Use the issue analysis to review where communities impacted by the drop in water levels in these three lakes get water and what issues new source may cause. Create an action plan that can help address the issue of decreased, long term, water levels in these lakes and propose a possible solution and communicate via story map.

 

Glaciers in the Antarctic Peninsula are Moving Faster During the Summers 

Caitlin Dempsey | February 27, 2023 | Glaciology

Concepts of Geographic Thinking:

 Interrelationships,  Patterns and Trends

Inquiry: How might the movement of glaciers be impacted as the Global Warming continues? How might locations prepare for what might happen as the movement of ice speeds up?

Activity: Examine the data to determine how the speed of the glaciers impacts iceberg creation. Create a spatial journal to show where glaciers are moving the fastest to determine locations that might be impacted by them. Conduct an issue analysis to understand potential stakeholders in the increase in glacier movements and iceberg creation. Create a Story Map to explain the issue and suggest how to reduce the speed of glacier movement and why this might be important for populations.

 

More than 7,000 dead and more than 35,000 injured from Turkiye-Syria earthquake 

From CNN's Hande Atay Alam and Hira Humayun

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

Inquiry: How could an earthquake cause so much damage in this location? How might/should the international community respond to this natural disaster?

Activity: Collect historical earthquake data from this region. Create a spatial journal of the data along with plate tectonic boundaries to help understand the interrelationships that are going on in the region. Collect information on what emergency response to an earthquake might look like from different countries. Conduct an issue analysis to determine the stakeholders perspective on the issue. Create an action plan on how to organize the help to best support the groups involved and communicate through a story map.