Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 9: Urban Geography

Twitter: Chase and I designed and created this Twitter as a way to help more people find out about Rail to Trails.  We included a link to the Rails To Trails website and started a Rails To Trails hashtag. We also included articles about new trails that have recently been opened. Overall this Twitter allows virtually anyone to stumble upon it without knowing a thing about Rails To Trails and within minutes have a great understanding about what Rails To Trails is and their mission.

Link to Twitter account: https://twitter.com/RailsToTrailsCo

Sentence: Kiki Wallace wanted there to be an urban, environmentally friendly living space in Colorado but there was no such thing in Colorado in the early 1990's so she teamed up with firm Duany Plater Zyberk & Company then they designed and built Prospect New Town in Longmont Colorado which is considered around the US as one of the most urban and environmentally friendly neighborhoods in America.
http://www.prospectnewtown.com/


Map:

This is a map of the Roamn Empire at their peak. During this time period all of the countries in the Roman Empire became very urban due to the advanced technology, city planning, and the agglomeration of so many countries all intertwined.
http://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/research/research-projects/humanities/an-empire-of-2000-cities-urban-networks-and-economic-integration-in-the-roman-empire

Models:

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 8: Political Geography

Sentence: Mexican immigrants wanted to enter the U.S. for new job opportunities and new begginings but people in the U.S. disliked the fact that immigrants where "taking their jobs" so the U.S. Government increased border patrol and security and then it became very hard to enter the U.S. from Mexico as an immigrant and it made it very hard for people who live near the boarder due to all of the traffic and extra security. 

Article: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/30/u-s-border-apprehensions-of-mexicans-fall-to-historic-lows/

Map: This map shows the Mexican United States border which is constantly a problem for both countries. In recent years it has become very hard to enter and/or leave from one of the countries to another. 

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 8: Political Geography and Gerrymandering Solved

Jack S.
AP Human Geography
2/3/16
Gerrymandering Solved
Chapter 8: Political Geography

Thoughts and Ruminations 

      In the article Gerrymandering Solved, by Christopher Ingraham, a software engineer named Brian Olsen solves the problem of gerrymandering in his spare time. He created a program that redraws district laws so they are, "optimally compact." By redrawing these lines not only are the districts more compact, but elections can no longer be rigged in the favor of one candidate which will increase their political ability. 

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 8: Political Geography and Lines in the Sand

Jack S.
AP Human Geography
2/3/16
Lines in the Sand
Chapter 8: Political Geography

Thoughts and Ruminations 

       In Lines in the Sand, by Cullen Murphy, a map drawn by T.E. Lawrence is discussed. This map was discovered by Lawrence in 1918 and submitted to the British government who was drawing the new boundaries for the Middle East. Lawrence's map had boundaries that were beneficial to the areas underlying social and religious contours. However, his map was rejected and the British government drew their own boundaries and changing Middle Eastern countries territoriality from then on. 

     

 

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 8: Political Geography and Crossing the Mexican-American Border, Every Day

Jack S.
AP Human Geography
2/3/16
Crossing the Mexican-American Border, Every Day
Chapter 8: Political Geography

Thoughts and Ruminations

          The article Crossing the Mexican-American Border, Every Day, by Alana Semuels, follows a college student named Valeria Padilla, who drives from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to El Paso, Texas every day to attend her college classes. Semuels points out how hard it is to pass from Mexico into the United States and vice-versa. This is because a core country like the U.S. makes it very hard for people in semi-periphery countries like Mexico to enter the country. 

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 8: Political Geography and Texas is About to Turn Blue

Jack S.
AP Human Geography
2/3/16
Texas is About to Turn Blue
Chapter 8: Political Geography

Thoughts and Ruminations

     Texas is About to Turn Blue, by Juan Wilder, is about the significance of Texas' Political Geography. Wilder writes about how Texas is slowly, "turning blue," which means it is becoming more Democratic rather than Republican, and how if Texas does become a Democratic state a Republican candidate may never win the election again. 

Research Book Post #4- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 100-130

   In the beginning of this section, Patel writes about if one should worry about higher GHG emissions from oil sands. He goes on to show that GHG emissions have in fact doubled since the beginning of oil sand production. Later in this section Patel shows what strides are being made to reduce GHG emissions in our world today. Oil sand production uses lots of energy which is one of the reasons GHG emissions went up when oil sand production started, so with scientists developing more renewable forms of energy the production of oil sands will not raise GHG emissions as high. The tail end of this section is chapter 6 which talks about the threats oil production poses to biodiversity including the changing of the earths surface.

Research Book Post #3- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 80-100

     This section of the book consists of chapter 3, 4, and 5. Chapter 3 and 4 are more back-round chapters on Canadian oil sands. Patel stresses that the base knowledge of this topic is critical to understanding the more complicated aspects of it. The second half of chapter 3 talks about the first commercial oil sand plant and the history behind how it came to be. Chapter 4 covers what oil sands are and where they are located. The end of chapter 4 also covered how oil sand are produced. Chapter 5 begins talking about the toll oil takes on the environment. This includes Green House Gas emissions (GHG) and climate change. Patel gives a good amount of information on climate change because it plays such a big role in this topic.

Research Book Post #2- The Future of Oil- Sanjay Patel- Pages 50-80

      In the first few pages of this section of the book, Patel explains what oil sands are and how they can help solve the oil problem in the world today. He explains the pros and cons of the "extra heavy" Venezuelan oil sands. One of the big upsides is that Venezuela has lots of oil sands, but the downside is that it takes extra refining which is why its called "extra heavy oil sand". Patel also talks about the Canadian oil sands and how that is a better solution because they have almost as much oil as Venezuela and it does not need as much refinement. Towards the end of this section of the book chapter 3 begins, Chapter 3 is, "The History of Canadian Oil Sands" which gives one a deeper look into who discovered them, early attempts to utilize the sands, and how they came to be so important. The primary info in the first few pages was about the first explores and pioneers to discover the Canadian Oil Sands.