LocateStreet

After GeoGuessr, here comes LOCATESTREET 

This is a variation on GeoGuessr, with various points being offered for guidance, although the Elevation option doesn't offer that much help...

You can choose to play on a Global basis, or other scales.

You are presented with 4 options of location to choose from, and if you pick the correct option you can earn bonus points for clicking on the actual location on a map...
The site takes you to some fairly out of the way places... I seemed to end up on rural roads, and in cul-de-sacs on industrial estates quite often.

Hardcore players should choose the GLOBAL option... and discover that South America looks a lot like Australia in places...
Choose the COUNTRY option, and explore a range of countries from a list, which includes the UK. This offers potential for a CITY based search for example.
There are also some US based Thematic search options.

The game is addictive. Had to stop myself playing on it last night....
If you get one of the highest scores so far you can enter your e-mail to be added to the High Score table. May be an incentive for some to use additional 'support' to search for business names etc., but that wouldn't be in the spirit of the game...

Also, while playing, I've come across a few random sights.
This looks like some sort of hawk diving into a field to catch something ?

And what is this bloke doing standing in the road ?

The game was developed by Nick Burkhart of Chelonia Labs in California.

As with GeoGuessr, there are various clues that you can look for to help with locating yourself in fairly random housing estates.

Telephone dialling codes tend not to be blurred out. 020 will tell you that you're in London.

If on a main road, head for junctions where there'll be road signs.

Look at the vernacular building materials - some places have distinctive stone or house designs.

Become familiar with the basic geography of London, which features heavily in the UK option.

Be aware though, that they can be misleading. I spotted a Yorkshire registration on a motorbike, which ended up being up in the far north of Scotland, flipping tourists...

Follow in the footsteps of Robert MacFarlane

If you have some free time this summer, you could follow in the footsteps of Robert MacFarlane, who has featured in this blog many times...
Visit the Wayfarer website for more details and to enter the competition....

We’re looking for someone who doesn’t mind getting their boots dirty, can string a sentence or two together and can get creative about how they share their journey with the world. You should already know your way around social networks and be able to produce short videos on your own. The winner will become our Wayfarer and will get paid to travel around the UK throughout July and August (so please only enter if you’ll be available all summer). You’ll visit some of the Old Ways paths, but, even better, you’ll strike out on your own and make some new discoveries, on or off the beaten path. You will then report back on your adventures through blog posts, photos, videos and tweets.

Follow the Things

For the last week or so, and for the next few weeks as well on and off, I'm going to be spending some time working to develop materials for the rather splendid Follow the Things website. 

The website is created in the form of a 'shopping experience', but follows the stories behind the products which sit on the 'shelves'. It explores themes related to trade justice, which are of course very raw and topical at the moment, with the rising death toll from the incident at Rana Plaza in Savar, near Dhaka.

We're working on a range of materials which will help you to engage with the website, as well as creating your own materials and stories. At the same time, there are some changes coming to the website, which will include a brand new area for teachers and students.

We'll also be creating:
- Reading lists of books that are linked to this theme, such as Kelsey Timmerman's 'Where am I wearing' and 'Where am I eating' and explorations such as Conor Woodman's 'Unfair Trade'
- Opportunities for you to get involved
- Some further missions on the special Follow the Things challenger area of the Mission:Explore website.
- Thinking on the people who manufacture items that you wear, or use - this will particularly link to the events in Bangladesh and beyond.

Go to the PRODUCTS OF SLAVERY website to find out more about this process.
You can also download a rather nice PDF of a poster (which can also be ordered as a hard copy) - donations are also welcome if you download the PDF

We'll be having one (or more) Google Hangouts later in May to give you the chance to see the updated site in action

We're covering social media too - we'll be adding links to:
- Twitter lists of relevant accounts relating to trade justice - you can also follow FOLLOW the THINGS on Twitter to get the latest relevant news retweeted out from a range of organisations
- Websites and ready made resources to extend your knowledge in this area
- Pinterest boards with relevant images from campaigns
- Case Studies of trade justice issues, and particular products which might resonate with students as young consumers:

These will focus on some of the more popular areas of the website, such as our LEGO re-enactments.
With LEGO now being the world's biggest toy brand apparently, this is perhaps a good time to focus on these, as well as the Lego School being built in Billund, Denmark.

And we'll also be developing ready-made materials for CPD sessions, so that you could spend a departmental meeting exploring the ideas on the site.

There's no shortage of interesting material and inspiration related to this issue..
For example, here's an interactive map which shows the places that supply Apple. Thanks to Karl Donert for the link here.

At a time when the world is increasingly globalised and interdependent, the work that is covered on Follow the Things is becoming more important than ever...

Deserves to be widely seen....

Professor David Lambert - my old boss....

600 up...

There are now 600 posts on CULTCHA.
Thanks for reading / visiting / sharing....

Love the toad (warts and all)

A modern classic...

Dan Raven Ellison on VoiceAmerica.com

A good interview with Dan Raven Ellison from Mission:Explore on Voice America.com: an American talk radio show. Part of an April Explorers series.

Go to the Voice America website to hear the show.

You can also download the mp3 to listen to on the go.... which would be appropriate.
Here's the trail information:

National Geographic Explorer Daniel Raven-Ellison is a geography teacher, but not in the traditional sense. 

Forget memorizing borders and rivers from maps- Daniel’s approach, sometimes called “guerrilla geography,” is all about getting out into the world, exploring anything and everything, and getting kids excited about non-textbook geography. He devises creative explorations, such as walking across the largest cities on Earth, taking photographs every eight steps to reframe how we think of them. Deeply committed to inspiring young people get off the computer and explore their surroundings, Daniel co-founded Mission:Explore to encourage children to embark on quirky and irreverent missions in their own neighborhoods. 

Daniel’s approach to geography asks, “How can we expect kids to grow up and change the world without exploring and understanding it firsthand?” 

Join Daniel and Host Kate Ebner for a fascinating conversation that will change your ideas about the meaning of exploration.

Mission:Explore Summer Camp

At Mission:Explore, we're planning a range of activities through the summer, and the webpage for our SUMMER CAMP has just gone live.

The Mission:Explore online Summer Camp is going to be 100 days of warped adventures, wild activities and daring challenges. Join the Summer Camp community and from June 1st you will be sent daily missions to explore the great outdoors, no matter where in the world you are.

Carefully crafted by our camp challengers, you will be sent missions to attempt by National Geographic, National Parks, the RSPB, Scouts, John Muir and other exploration experts.

Complete the daring missions outdoors and you will develop your expertise in Mission:Exploring and discover new things about yourself and the world around you. You'll have some random fun and be able to pick up some rewards too.

Visit the page, and see our awesome countdown clock, and check out the Summer Camp challengers that have been confirmed so far...

It's going to be a summer to remember...

New Google Earth sea and atmosphere options...

I was excited to read about a few new features which have been added to Google Earth 7.1
You need to download / update your version of Google Earth to the latest one first.

You will then be able to do several things:
1. Add, or view the SUN - use the SUN icon on the top toolbar, or go to VIEW and tick SUN
2. While you're on the VIEW bar, put a tick next to WATER SURFACE
3. Go to OPTIONS (or view Preferences if you're on a Mac) and tick the new option: PHOTOREALISTIC ATMOSPHERE RENDERING.
This is a BETA option and may not work perfectly for you....

You can now bring the sun down over the water, and with a little tinkering can bring it so that it sets over the water...
Here's a quick go I just had: the sun setting over Loch Slapin, with the Cuillins of the Isle of Skye in the distance...
What can you come up with ?

Here's the Google Earth blog post where I read about the technique first...

Live near an ocean ?

Do you live near a sea or ocean ? 
This is your chance to be part of an exhibition to take place in 2014

Instructions and details here.
Thanks to Derek Robertson for the tipoff...

GA Silver Award

Thanks to Jamie from Digital Explorer for forwarding the certificate for the Frozen Oceans pack, which won a Silver Award at the recent GA Conference, presented by Dame Ellen MacArthur.

If you'd like to download a copy of the resources from the Digital Explorer go HERE - you'll need to register (for free) first...
Check out the other excellent resources, including others I've written such as the Sustainable Fishing pack.
Thanks to Jamie for involving me in the project...

If you'd like to work with me on a project, please get in touch :)

John Muir Trust missions

I mentioned this last week, and our latest booklet with John Muir Trust is now available.
Thanks to Juliet Robertson for providing more information here.

A partnership between the John Muir Trust and Mission:Explore, a group of teachers, artists, activists and adventurers, has created Mission:Explore - John Muir, a free e-book featuring 20 activities that reflect the adventures and ethos of the Victorian Scot. It's just great for any class project on John Muir and brings alive his character and personality.

Supported by Scottish Natural Heritage, it encourages individuals, groups and families of all ages to look, feel, walk, explore, draw, think and even dance in wild nature wherever they find it. Watch how a frog swims, get windswept, create a mini-National Park, and stare at the stars. Missions are illustrated by Tom Morgan Jones and populated with Muir quotes.

It ties in perfectly with Year of Natural Scotland 2013 and the theme of celebrating John Muir. There’s already interest across the UK and in America. Your ebook is free to download from Mission:Explore and John Muir Award web pages, and can be used on smart phones, laptops and tablets, or printed off and used in an old-fashioned way.

"Mission:Explore and the John Muir Award have so much in common. We're both all about discovering, exploring, conserving and sharing, so making this book together made perfect sense. We had a great time making it and are sure that you'll have an even better time doing each of the quirky adventures inside. Good luck!" Daniel Raven-Ellison, Guerrilla Geographer at Mission:Explore, and Rob Bushby, John Muir Award Manager.

"These missions are great, you can really see the spark they've generated with teachers." Carol Walker, South Lanarkshire Outdoor Learning Development Officer

Dan Raven Ellison's TEDx Talk

Dan Raven Ellison, my friend and Geography Collective / Mission:Explore / Explorer HQ colleague was in Switzerland last month doing a TEDx talk on the theme of exploring...

This is well worth watching... Several ideas to use straight away.... particularly the idea of 'polar exploration'.

GA Conference 2013

Over on the Living Geography blog are what will eventually be 18 posts summing up the experience from my perspective.

This was an excellent conference, and I am already looking forward to next year.

Image copyright: Bryan Ledgard / The Geographical Association - all rights reserved - used with permission