The State of Geography Education Research

Abstract

College enrollment and Association of American Geographers membership data reveal a significant deficit in minority participation in geography and environmental science. The author asserts that this dearth may have its origin at the K-12 level, where science subjects are presented in a manner that alienates socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils. With recent research indicating that low-income and nonwhite communities are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation, it is pertinent that methods be developed to increase the number of minority students choosing to pursue environmental careers. Involving students directly in projects investigating the pollution in their communities aids in enhancing student interest. By participating in a lead (Pb) contamination study, students are introduced to several geographic subdisciplines including cartography, demography, and environmental geography. Students also acquire skills in spatial analysis, map interpretation, and graphic design. Complementing basic lead-soil field investigations with geographic information systems, spreadsheet, and/or computer mapping software, offers students a valuable high-tech learning experience.     

Cropping patterns in the Canadian Prairies: thirty years of change

Changes in cropping patterns in the Canadian Prairies are examined from the early 1960s to the mid-1990s using census data. Patterns of change within the region are mapped by census division using averaged proportions of land in crops occupied by the main crops for three pairs of census years. Spring wheat and oat have undergone the most significant relative declines. Canola increased dramatically from being the sixth-ranked crop by area in the early 1960s to the third-ranked crop by area by the 1990s. The main change in the Brown soil zone has been a large decline in spring wheat and a compensatory gain in durum wheat. Increases in special crops, especially pulse crops, canola and durum wheat have offset a substantial decline in spring wheat in the Dark Brown soil zone. Barley, tame hay and especially canola have increased at the expense of spring wheat, oat and flaxseed in the Black and Gray soil zones. Prices, transportation costs, changing export markets, crop breeding and local processing all have contributed to these changes.     

动态分段技术在北京水务普查中的应用研究

动态分段技术是一种新的线性特征的动态分析、显示和绘图技术。本文对动态分段数据模型进行探讨,提出一套基于动态分段技术构建河流数据模型的实现方法,它解决了传统数据及属性管理和分析中一对多、线性度量以及分段数据等难题,为水务普查成果数据的管理和分析提供了一定借鉴意义。     

基于ArcGIS的地理国情普查图的设计与编制

随着地理国情普查数据库建设的深入,如何利用地理国情数据编制地理国情普查图是下一步的工作重点。本文以吉林省东丰县地理国情普查数据为例,应用Arc GIS平台进行数据编辑与处理,使用Photoshop的图像处理技术将地图学和美学相融合,阐述了地理国情普查图的设计和编制方法。     

利用泰森多边形和格网平滑的人口密度空间化研究——以徐州市为例

在运用泰森多边形作边界替代得到徐州市区人口密度的分布图后,采用GCAWI法实现了徐州市区人口数据的空间化,提出了采用大小两种格网错置的平滑方法,并运用此方法得到徐州市2000年和2005年的500 m×500 m的格网人口密度分布图。结果表明:①通过对比两个年份的人口密度分布图可以发现,徐州市区人口密度在2000年~2005年期间具有南移东扩的趋势;②利用大小两种格网错置平滑的方法实现了对人口密度空间化与平滑两个功能,平滑后的结果表明,徐州市区人口密度的空间分布具有块状集聚、轴状延伸的格局,整体来看呈现出"大"字形的态势;③通过与直接运用核函数内插得到的人口密度分布图的对比可以发现,前者对反映人口密度分布的细部差异比较敏感,而后者仅能反映出人口密度空间分布的整体格局。     

Occurrence and distribution pattern of Palaemon spp. shrimps in a shallow submarine cave environment: a study case in South‐eastern Italy

The common shrimps of the genus Palaemon are often reported as living in Mediterranean submarine caves. The present study quantifies the distribution pattern of a Palaemon spp. populations throughout 1 year of observations in a shallow submarine cave in South‐eastern Italy, Ionian Sea. The cave was subdivided into six sectors from the entrance towards the inner portion of the ‘blind cave’ and 16 dives (four per season, during both day and night) were performed with SCUBA equipment. The population was estimated in situ using visual census. Four different species of Palaemon were identified. This study has shown that Palaemon spp. assemblages live throughout the year in submarine caves. Moreover, the results suggest submarine caves play an important role in the biology of Palaemon spp. populations, by providing refuge, juvenile recruitment and food resources.     

基于六普数据的中国流动人口住房状况的空间格局

住房是流动人口融入城市、实现市民化过程中必须解决的关键问题。基于2010 年第六次人口普查数据,采用住房拥有率、租住房率、住房面积指数、住房不受干扰指数、住房质量指数和住房费用指数6 个指标考察流动人口的住房状况,并综合运用数理统计、空间自相关和系统聚类法揭示流动人口住房状况的属性特征、空间分布与集聚类型。研究发现,与城镇常住人口相比,流动人口的住房状况较差。从空间分布看,流动人口住房状况的各项指标具有显著的空间正相关,在空间分布上不仅存在集聚现象,而且有明显的集聚中心。研究结果还表明,流动人口住房条件综合状况可划分为较好、中等、中等偏下、较差4 级类型区,在全国尺度上的空间分布除个别类型外具有团块聚合的结构特征。在考虑社会公平的前提下,应分类解决不同类型区域流动人口的住房问题。     

Mapping the multiple geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples in Australia

Mixed-ethnicity partnerships are becoming increasingly common in Australia and other countries of high immigration. Formal and de facto marriages involving partners from different ethnic backgrounds are key indicators of decreasing social distance between groups. Yet mixed-ethnicity couples have received scant attention from Australian geographers. We use customised data from the 2011 Australian census to analyse the nation-wide distribution of several types of mixed-ethnicity couples. We focus on couples comprised of an Anglo-European (ethnic majority) partner, and a partner from a ‘visible’ ethnic minority group. Our analyses explore the residential geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples vis-à-vis ‘co-ethnic couples’ (where partners share the same ethnicity). We find that mixed-ethnicity couples are more widely dispersed across Australian cities and regions than comparative co-ethnic couples. However, each type of mixed-ethnicity couple has its own unique residential pattern: there are multiple geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples in Australia. These distinctive patterns reflect the migration and settlement histories of the couples’ constituent ethnic groups, but also hold great potential to shift seemingly entrenched ethnic residential geographies in the present and future.     

The turnaround in Australia: some first observations from the 1991 census

"The aim of this paper is to utilise recently released census results to examine patterns of population change in non-metropolitan Australia during the 1986-91 period, focusing particularly upon the net migration component of that change. The paper presents an overview of recent trends in population change in non-metropolitan areas and then moves to an analysis of net migration patterns in non-metropolitan local government areas during the late 1980s using a Life Table Survival Ratio technique to estimate net migration. It appears that the trends observed in the early 1980s have continued into the late 1980s and early 1990s, and that overall the 'turnaround' is slowing down and becoming more diversified, more complex, and much less predictable in the 1990s."     

利用自动化制图来减少管线制图中的错误

文章中介绍了管线制图中的几种易出错的工作环节以及相应的处理办法。并简要说明了如何使用AutoCAD2000 VBA以及ADO来实现该思想。