Assignment 5 - Cultural Biases : Sub-Saharan Africa Google Earth Visit and "Geography Now"
- Due Nov 30, 2020 by 11:59pm
- Points 25
- Submitting a file upload
- File Types doc, docx, and pdf
- Available Nov 23, 2020 at 8am - Nov 30, 2020 at 11:59pm
Cultural Biases Assignment:
Google Earth Visit and "Geography Now"
For this assignment, we're going to get as close as we can to visiting a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. You will choose three to five locations in a country from the list below and visit them using Google Earth. You will also watch a brief video overview of that Country by "Geography Now". But before you do that, you are going to think and write about what you expect to see. After your "site" visits using Google Earth and watching the appropriate "Geography Now" video you are going to consider how what you saw differed or confirmed your expectations and what the implications of cultural biases are personally and globally .
Steps to complete this assignment:
You will be using Google Earth and "Geography Now" videos to virtually visit a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. You will be examining your preconceptions about the region and comparing them to what you see. You will prepare a 4 or 5 paragraph essay discussing those preconceptions, the realities presented by your virtual visit and the implications of such biases for a country or region.
- Select one of the following countries: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cote D'Iviore, Kenya. Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Eswatini (Swaziland), Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, or Rwanda
- Once you've selected your country from the list above, think about and write a paragraph about what you would expect to see if you visited that country. I would like you to do this without any preparation - no looking up the country online or reading about it it your textbook. Knowing what you know without any new information what would you expect from that country?
- Consider the following: What do you imagine the physical landscape will look like? Do you think it will be desert or forest or grassland? How do you expect to find people dressed? What kind of housing will people live in? Will it be urban, rural, suburban, traditional or modern? Will people primarily be driving cars, bikes, scooters, on foot or all of the above? Will you see crops growing or animals grazing? Would you see wild animals and if yes, what kind?
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Now we're going to visit that country using Google Earth. Here are the steps to doing that.
- If you haven't already done so, download Google Earth (Links to an external site.).
- Next launch Google Earth. On the left side of the screen you will see a search icon. Type in the name of the country you have chosen. Google Earth will take you there.
- Once there, you will see a number of controls on the left side of the screen.
Press the little human icon (the street view icon). Locations that have street view available will be highlighted blue.
- Choose 3 to 5 locations and view them in street view.
- Use the + or - icons to zoom in or out. If you need help, read the Google Earth User Guide. (Links to an external site.)
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Write down the name of each location you select and make observations of what you see while in street view.
- Create a word document and take notes on the landscape, any people you see, the infrastructure, vehicles, housing , all of the things you imagined in #2 above.
- After you have completed your Google Earth tour, please find and watch the "Geography Now" video for your country. (Links to an external site.)
- Based on the video and your notes on the Google Earth visits write a paragraph or two about how what you saw was different than your preconceptions and/ or similar to what you expected see.
- Please write a conclusion that summarizes your preconceptions, explores where you think they may have come from and how such preconceptions could impact your interactions with people from that country. Based on the material presented earlier in this unit, what are some of the implications for the region as whole from preconceived notions?
- Please submit a PDF of your Essay and the notes from your virtual visit to Canvas by