How in the World #6 – Summer Solstice and the Seasons

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Today is the Summer Solstice of 2010!  What’s important about the summer solstice?  It’s the day of the year when the northern hemisphere of Earth is tilted at it’s maximum extent towards the sun.  It also means the longest day of the year for those in the northern hemisphere and the shortest day of the year for those in the southern hemisphere.  From this point forward in time the Earth will slowly begin tilting its axis away from the Sun until the northern hemisphere experiences the winter solstice on December 21, 2010.  The back and forth tilting of the Earth’s axis is what creates the seasons.  Watch the following video for a simple overview of the solstices, equinoxes and seasons below.

To learn more about the sun and earth relationships check out Dr. Jane R. Thorngren’s website.

Geography in the News – iPad GIS

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GIS on the Apple iPad

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… I might consider the purchase of an iPad now (anybody have $500 they can donate?) .  GISRoam allows the user to create, edit and perform attribute queries.  This app is currently FREE, so don’t wait too long to download and try it!  If any one gets the chance to review this application, please, PLEASE contact us and let us know what you think about it!

Happy Weekend!

Geography in the News – BP Oil Spill

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So the BP Oil Spill is not breaking news, but as of this post it’s still happening.  The scale of the spill is still not easy to comprehend and today I found myself wondering “how large is it really?” The the following link “6 Ways to Visualize the BP Oil Spill” helps to put things in perspective. The page from makeuseof.com provides 6 other links from commercial, federal and private entities that are attempting to aid in the monitoring and public awareness of this crisis. Embedded below is an interesting Google Map mash-up that allows you to place the oil slick on different geographic extents:

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Check the following RSS Box for updated imagery from NASA’s Oil Spill Monitoring Page, this is where those hours of studying your remote sensing text books and labs come to life.

How in the World #5

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… do we track where people are moving to and where they are moving from?

The map below is an interesting interactive way to show migration based on IRS Tax data!  Clear the map and choose a county to see where people are coming from and where they are going to.  For more information on the Migration Geography, follow this link provided by the BBC.

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World Cup 2010

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The World Cup has an obvious geographical component that educators can use to capture their students enthusiasm.  Below are a few links to some teacher resources (lesson plans, resources, etc…) that may be useful!

These are just a few to get the creative juices flowing, I’m sure you’ll be able to find much more on your own.  With that I leave you with a snazzy video I found from Teacher Planet that can be used in an ESL setting.

How in the World #4

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Can Saharan Dust play a role in coral reef and human health?

The below link provided by the USGS will open an overview page on African Dust. The video describes Saharan Dust transport to the Caribbean. A casual observation about locust transport from Africa to the Caribbean is very interesting!

Follow up by reading the USGS resource page at this link.

Map of the Week #8

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This “Map of the Week” post was inspired by some maps that were given as a gift. Yes, the best maps are the ones freely given! These maps came to me by a friend at the WV GIS Technical Center a couple years ago.

The best thing about these maps is that they came with a book! The book’s title is “Annual Report of the State Geologist for the Year 1907” The reports included within are:
The maps within outline the report on the Inland Waterway that may have more than a strong connection to the Intracoastal Waterway that was authorized in 1919 by the United States Congress. Below are the maps included with the text that can’t be found at Google Books or The N.J. DEP. As always the maps are available to download from MAGIC’s Flikr account! Click on the sheet title above each map for the corresponding Flikr page.
Additionally, you can view and download the report from the New Jersey Departement of Environmental Protection here. At the previous link you will have access to the Annual Report of the State Geologist for many different years.
If you want to examine current Intracoastal Waterway navigation maps, check out NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey Online Chart Viewer. This link will bring you to a portion of the New Jersey Intracoastal Waterway, while this link will bring you to an index of all the available charts for the Intracoastal Waterway for online viewing.
All this talk get’s me in the mood to go sailing! Maybe I should sign up for some lessons first?

Did You Know? #26

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You can view Aerial Photos directly from our photo indices!
Use MAGIC‘s Google Map indices mash-up to search for aerial photos anywhere in Connecticut.

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Years of aerial photos that are available for direct preview are:

Other photo indices are available to preview in Google maps and will soon be enabled for direct photo preview. Also, as an alternative, download Google Earth and preview the indices in conjunction with other KML files from MAGIC’s GIS Data offerings.

Did You Know #25: Tufts University GIS Poster Expo

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Tufts University recently held the 2010 GIS Poster Expo to showcase how GIS is being used within research at Tufts. With well over 50 posters being presented, this expo provides multiple examples of how GIS is being utilized by researchers from a variety of disciplines.

So if you are looking for inspiration for your next GIS project or poster presentation be sure to check out the 2010 GIS Poster Expo Website. Let us know if you would be interested in a similar event being established here at MAGIC or through a collaboration across institutions.

Special thanks to Patrick Florance at Tufts University for announcing this event on the Maps-l listserv!