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World Cities - Urban Observatory

12/17/2015

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Examine the Urban Observatory website.

Compare London, Tokyo and New York. 
Compare different aspects of these cities by choosing different themes from the left hand menu. 

Population Density and housing density: Describe the population and housing density of London. Where are the densest areas? Are particularly dense areas in a particular part of the city?How is the density spread out across the city - does it spread out radially? is it north/south, etc. How do these results compare with New York and Tokyo? How would you account for the differences?

Work - Commercial and Industrial: Describe where the commercial areas of the city are located. Where are the industrial areas located? How does this compare to New York and Tokyo? Account for the differences.

Movement - Road speed, traffic and airports: How would you compare the road speeds and traffic evident between the three cities? Why would this be the case? How would it impact on the way the city functions? What information can we gather about the importance of the airports in New York and London? Account for the difference in flight numbers between the two cities.

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Tourism - Are we loving Venice to death?

6/18/2014

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The continual movement of cruise ship passengers in and out of Venice presents a conundrum in terms of tourist carrying capacity and sustainability. Over 60,000 visitors enter Venice each day, many from large cruise ships docking in Venice's port. The huge number of tourists coming into Venice provide a continual market for tours, gondola rides, water taxis, ferries, masks, venetian glass trinkets and jewellery and endless assortments of plastic souvenirs. Cafés and restaurants line the streets and canals targeting tourists with meal deals and views of iconic streetscapes or panoramic views of the historic canals. The Rialto Bridge is constantly packed with people after the perfect view, portrait or selfie shot. Surrounding the bridge the cafés and hotels nearby are flooded with tourists doing the traditional tourist trail around the islands. 

The benefits of large scale tourism in Venice seem obvious - taxes, jobs (both direct and indirect), funds to support other aspects of the community. However given that many of those who travel on large cruise ships sleep and often eat on board, the benefits may not be as clear as one might expect. Despite the huge numbers of people coming into Venice they spend little per person compared to those who visit, stay in a local hotel and consume all their meals at local restaurants and cafés. 

Preservation
If managed correctly, funds received from the large numbers of tourists can be used to fund much needed restoration projects. Tourists pay a city tax when they stay in a hotel in Italy. In Venice this money is said to go towards conservation and restoration of historic buildings and monuments. However, a large proportion of money collected is used on administrative positions and policing, as well as marketing campaigns to encourage more tourists. Restoration and conservation initiatives exist but their funding comes from elsewhere. 
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Tourism has provided motivation and a source of income for preserving the gondola as a mode of transport. Traditionally a form of public transport, the gondola evolved until the mid 20th century. The profession of being a gondolier is strictly controlled by a guild and the vast majority of the actual gondolas are owned by one business. The gondola industry provides jobs not only for the gondoliers but also those working at Tramontin boatyard involved in repair and upkeep.


Homogenised culture
A main reason that people travel is to experience another culture. Given the global nature of the cities that many of us live in, we can already taste foods, purchase groceries, listen to music from foreign cultures in our own cities. Many who travel want to have an authentic experience of what life is like in another culture. However, the real Venetians are leaving the city in droves. Many leave in search of a professional life outside of the tourist industry. Abandoned flats are purchased by hoteliers and converted into guesthouses. The impact of the hotel industry has pushed up housing prices making housing affordability for locals a serious issue. Local stores have closed down leaving few options for local residents to buy groceries or necessities. Shop closures mark the creation of new tourist and designer clothing stores. The real Venice is dying. 


The vast number of tourists reduces the ability of cafés and restaurants to provide authentic dining experiences. In some of the cafés in Venice packaged or frozen food is served to enable the cafés to cater for the vast number of people in peak periods. As a result travellers may be disappointed by this aspect of their stay as they are not experiencing the authentic taste of Venice. 


Mass production of tourist items reduces the ability to see or purchase authentic and original  works. The Murano glass industry (or Venetian glass)  is known worldwide. Tourists can visit Murano glass factories and stores, but unless they get off the beaten track most tourists will only be exposed to fairly simplified designs and reproductions available in the main tourist areas. While some traditional Venetian mask and costume stores still exist, it is more common to see stores filled with plastic replicas made in China. 
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Local protest
The huge numbers of tourists coming into Venice is seen as a curse by some of the locals. Various graffiti sites show slogans such as, "No big ships" and "No big ship, no stupid tourists". Handmade signage in various parts of the area indicate the continual intrusion of large numbers of tourists in the everyday life of locals. No Big Ships Venice Committee is a local protest group attempting to limit the size of ships entering Venice. In January a ban was out in place to limit the number of cruise ships entering Giudecca Canal, but the ban was lifted a few months later after lobbying from workers on the port.


Environmental impacts and structural damage
The huge cruise liners visiting Venice create huge water currents which erode the water ways and damage the city's fragile foundations.Venice, a sinking city, suffers from flooding regularly and it is believed that the extra erosion caused by the cruise ships is worsening the effects of flooding and damaging the lagoon ecosystem, itself a natural flood mitigator.
For more resources to support 12 Geography - People and Economic Activity (Tourism), see the Economic Activity site.
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Are We Tweeting While Rome burns?

9/24/2013

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The title for this blogpost came from a comment Dermot O'Gorman made in his presentation at the Eco Expo last weekend (you can read my post Living in Harmony with Nature for more information).  As I listened to his presentation I was typing away on my iPad and yes I did tweet. I was a little taken aback by the comment because I have used twitter to connect with environmental groups, researchers, other geography teachers and whole range of like-minded people. As a teacher, Twitter has given me access to current research in education, geography and science, newspaper articles from around the world and discussions on a whole range of issues. It came as a bit of shock to think that maybe sharing all this information wasn't actually achieving anything beyond my own classroom. 

Last week as the new Federal government axed the Climate Commission and moved forward with plans to cut the carbon tax, I saw a plethora of disheartened people conversing, but it seemed that everyone was feeling a little helpless and depressed. Links to a few petitions regarding the axing of the Climate Commission were making the rounds, but they were interspersed with a number of other petitions about new government policies (NBN, cuts to universities, etc). O'Gorman's comment came back to me. Is all this discussion actually going to get anywhere?

At midnight, a new twitter and facebook account opened - the Climate Council. People were invited to sign up and donate money to get the Climate Council off the ground. Made up of many of the same people as the Climate Commission, this group are set to continue the work of the Climate Commission without using federal government money. So many people signed up and tried to donate that the twitter account got suspended several times and the facebook account kept requiring captcha requests to ensure that the popularity and spread of the site was legitimate. In the first 13 hours they had raised $160,000 to get the council up and running, and by the end of the day they had reached over $247,000. This is a great example of how the virtual world can create real change in the real world. 


Read more...
Scientists say climate cuts leave public in the dark.
Support for Climate Council takes off.
Climate Council
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World Heritage Sites and Literacy

8/17/2013

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I think teachers often find it hard to find interesting ways to integrate literacy into lessons. You’ll still occasionally hear discussion of “watering down the curriculum”, but I think these days most people are onboard with the idea that literacy and numeracy are the responsibility of all teachers. It is great to see that this idea has been cemented in the Australian Curriculum in the General Capabilities, and in the new NSW syllabuses in “Learning across the curriculum” content. A few years ago, I developed a lesson template that was based on a stations activity rotation. This was part of a much bigger project with a team of great colleagues, that involved developing a lesson sequence based around literacy needs. More on that another day…

This activity integrated literacy based activities with the content of World Heritage Sites. Students are placed in groups of 4-5, depending on how big your class is. It has six stations that the students move around to after a set time (about 7-8 minutes give or take).

Station 1

In the first station students categorise information. Firstly they divide a series of pictures of World Heritage Sites into either the Natural or Cultural categories. Secondly, they divide a series of written criteria into Natural and Cultural categories. 
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Station 2

At this station the students are provided with an A3 version of the text book (a copy that had been ordered in the past for a student with vision impairment) to read together. They are guided to a page that covers the process of becoming a world heritage site. Students are given a series of steps along the path to becoming a World Heritage Site and must sequence the steps in the correct order in a diagram form. The information is in a written form but the finished sequence creates a diagram.

Station 3

Students are given a series of fact cards about the Galapagos Islands (or any other World Heritage Site). They must choose one fact card and write a paragraph that addresses the dot points on the fact cards. The paragraph must start with a topic sentence, and they must check their work for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, etc. They then swap with another person in their group and check each others' work. The students then need to revise their work based on the comments from their peers.
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Station 4

Students are provided with a passage of information about World Heritage Sites. They are required to identify and correct a series of  grammatical errors. For example, the use of is instead of was, or an instead of the. The students are provided with a handout that summarises the grammatical rules which they are trying to use. Students tend to need quite a bit of help with this station.

Station 5

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Students are given a series of words, each on a separate piece of paper. They must use all of the words provided, and arrange them in the correct order to make a sentence. They must also correctly place the punctuation marks. 

Station 6

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At this station students are asked to examine some stimulus material. In this case I used a picture book about Charles Darwin at the Galapagos Islands, and broadsheets about the Galapagos Islands. Student were asked to draw two animals found at the Galapagos Islands. From the teacher's perspective the important thing about this particular station is that it is entirely self-run, which enables you to get round to the other stations where the students need quite a bit of help.
I usually find that students quite enjoy this lesson. I know it isn’t brain surgery, but it covers some of the content and addresses literacy in several different ways. The activities can obviously be changed to suit the needs of your particular students. As I teach all boys, the fact that the activity requires a lot of movement really engages them, and I actually enjoy how this lesson unfolds. 

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    Louise Swanson

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