More than maps: National Geographic's Daniel Edelson on a broader definition of geography

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Pop quiz: Which among the following exemplifies geography?

--An online GeoQuiz that tests your knowledge of continents and countries
--A computer model of how ocean currents, wind, and wave action affect the spread of an oil spill
--A map of London showing the clusters of cholera cases in that city’s 1854 epidemic

According to Daniel Edelson, National Geographic’s Vice President of Education, they all more than qualify. The essence of modern geography, says Edelson, is interconnectedness. It's about "the complex interdependencies that link us to each other and to the natural resources and ecosystems that sustain us."

"Modern geography is the study of systems on Earth and how they interact. These include social systems like countries and markets, cultural systems like religions and languages, ecological systems like food webs and habitats, and physical systems like oceans and the atmosphere," Edelson continues.

(Check out SMILE's hands-on ocean literacy activities and those that teach about ecosystems.)

Edelson, who has a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University and a B.S. in engineering sciences from Yale, has written textbooks (such as Investigations in Environmental Science, a case-based environmental science textbook for high school) and has developed software, including My World, a geographic information system (GIS) for students in middle school through college.

Geographical information systems allow learners to experiment with and display any kind of data that can be mapped to a location. Examples range from mapping and analyzing data about

--water quality in nearby lakes and rivers
--the movements of the earth‘s tectonic plates, or
--migration patterns of certain segments of the population.

Maps can reveal significant data relationships that are difficult to comprehend otherwise. (See also Where data meets design.)

But if geography is, according to our new, wider definition, nearly boundless, where does geoliteracy start and where do educators begin? Edelson says the key is to narrow down to an achievable goal.

“We [at National Geographic] are focusing our efforts on those aspects of geography that will prepare students to care for the planet,” Edelson writes in a recent column in ArcNews. “Specifically, we have chosen to focus on the geographic knowledge and skills that young people will need to make the decisions they will face throughout their lives that have consequences for the well-being of the planet and its inhabitants.

"We call these far-reaching decisions because—even though the decision makers may not realize it—the consequences of the decisions extend far beyond the individual and his or her location. Far-reaching decisions may be personal, professional, or civic. They may be routine or come once in a lifetime. They range from decisions about how to commute to work to whether to outsource your company's manufacturing overseas to how to vote on a public referendum on immigration.”