Nicaragua

• Capital: Managua
• Major City: Leon
• Major Geographical Features
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Caribbean Sea
  • Gulf of Fonseca
  • Lake Managua
  • Lake Nicaragua
  • San Juan River
  • Miskito Cays
  • Islas del Maiz
  • Cordillera Isabella
• Official Name: Republic of Nicaragua
• Religion: Roman Catholic (58.5%)
• Languages:
  • Spanish (97.5%) (official)
  • Miskito
• 2013: Nicaraguan government allows a Chinese company to build a Nicaragua Canal to rival the Panama Canal
  • For more on this, visit http://geography.about.com/b/2013/06/15/the-nicaragua-canal.htm
• Independence: 1821 from Spain
• Government: republic
• Currency: gold Cordoba (NIO)
• New York is slightly larger than Nicaragua
• Literacy: 67.5%
• Climate: tropical
• Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater body in Central America
• Exports
  • Coffee
  • Meat
  • Sweeteners
• Largest nation in Central America

The Cultural Geography of Thanksgiving

As the United States prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving with turkeys, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, the New York Times compiled a list of the quintessential Thanksgiving dish for each US state. Each dish provides an interesting insight into the cultural history and geography of the state. Take a look at some examples below!

• New York: Dutch Apple Pie
• Apple pie is an all-American favorite, but New York LOVES their Dutch Apple Pie. The Dutch were the original settlers of New York and Manhattan Island, and their traditional pie has remained long after they sold the island to the British in 1664. Even after the Dutch relinquished control over present-day New York City, Dutch immigrants continued to settle in New York, helping dig canals and contributing to New York's cultural geography.
• Alaska: Russian Salmon Pie
• Well, perhaps this is the quintessential Alaskan Thanksgiving dish because Alaskans can see Russia from their houses... Clearly, Alaska has a booming fishing industry that revolves around salmon. Moreover, the Russians were the first to settle in Alaska, and the United States had to purchase Alaska (then mocked as "Seward's Ice Box" - opinions changed when they discovered gold there...) from Russia. Anyways, this dish combines cabbage, a favorite of Eastern European Russians, and the salmon omnipresent in Alaskan waters.
• Wyoming: Three Sisters Stew
• Wyoming's quintessential Thanksgiving dish is indicative of the Plains Indians' cuisine which originally inhabited the state. Filled with turkey and pork, two meats native to the Plains, this stew reflects the agricultural habits of the Plains Indians. They used a technique called "Three Sister Farming," hence Three Sisters Stew. They grew corn, beans, and squash plants all next to each other in order to preserve the soil. And, I bet you guessed it! This stew contains the three sisters - corn, beans, and squash!

What cultural geography links can you make with your state's favorite Thanksgiving dish?

South Carolina's dish, Salty Pluff Mud Pie, combines honey, butter, cream, and cocoa powder. Anyone want to move to Charleston?

South Carolina: The Palmetto State

• Capital: Columbia
• Major City: Charleston
• Major Geographical Features
  • Blue Ridge Mountains
  • Piedmont (Mountains)
  • Savannah River
  • Broad River
  • Pee Dee River
  • Atlantic Ocean
• National Parks: Conagree National Park
• 1566: Settled by the Spanish
• 1670: Charles Town settlement established (presently Charleston)
• 1740: Oldest formal gardens established
• 1788: Became 8th state
• 1830: 1st US steam locomotive built for railroad use built in South Carolina
• 1840: 1st American library housed in a separate building at the University of South Carolina
• 1860: 1st state to secede from Union
• 1861: Battle of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor begins Civil War
• Mottoes:
  • "Prepared in Mind and Resources"
  • "While I breathe, I hope"
• Name Meaning: Named for Charles I of England
• Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island are popular golf and beach resorts
• Products
  • Tobacco
  • Cotton
  • Peaches
    • South Carolina produces the second most number of peaches, behind California
• Columbia is sometimes considered the "Earthquake City"
• Famous People
  • Andrew Jackson

Geography in Everyday Life

Geography isn't that subject in schools where you get to look at maps. It's an actual, important study of the Earth that you participate in every day! In fact, you use (or should be using) principles of geography as you make simple decisions each day. Here are some of the ways that you use geography!

• Deciding how to drive somewhere.
• Choosing your vacation destination.
• Looking for your neighborhood Chinese restaurant.
• Watching the news, especially segments on foreign issues.
• Walking around your neighborhood.
• Finding your car.
• Wandering back to your hotel when you are on vacation.
• Looking for a park.
• Following your favorite sports team.
• Moving to another house when your current house continually floods after storms. 
• Building your shed on the flat section of your backyard rather than on the slope.

Clearly, geography has a much simpler side than just looking at maps. Each of these tasks requires, at the very least, a subconscious knowledge of geography - your spatial skills, location awareness, and the ability to compute various snippets of location information. How much of a geographer are you?!

Connecticut: The Constitution State

• Nicknames:
•  Nutmeg State
• Constitution State
• Connecticut was the first colony to have a constitution: The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• Capital: Hartford
• Major Cities:
  • New Haven
  • Bridgeport
  • Waterbury
  • Stamford
• Major Geographical Features
  • Housatonic River
  • Connecticut River
  • Mystic Seaport
  • Thames River
  • Taconic Range
  • Long Island Sound
  • Connecticut Valley Lowlands
  • Thimble Islands
• National Parks: none
• 1614: The Netherlands claims modern-day Connecticut
• 1788: Connecticut becomes the 5th state
• Motto: "He who transplanted still sustains"
• Name Meaning: "Place of Long Tidal River" in Mohegan (a Native American dialect)
• New London is the home of the Coast Guard Academy
• 1/2 of George Washington's troops were from Connecticut
• Hartford is considered the insurance capital of the United States
• Famous People
  • Ethan Allen
  • Benedict Arnold
  • PT Barnum
  • George W. Bush
  • Charles Goodyear
  • Nathan Hale
  • Katharine Hepburn
  • JP Morgan
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe
  • Ralph Nader
  • Noah Webster

Tunisia

• Capital: Tunis
• Major Geographical Features
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Gulf of Gabes
  • Atlas Mountains
  • Sahara Desert
  • Sand Sea
• Official Name: Tunisian Republic
• Religion: Muslim
• Languages:
  • Arabic (official)
  • French
• 146 BC: Romans destroy the city of Carthage (near Tunis)
• 2013: Tunisia and Malta discuss oil drilling cooperation
• Independence: 1956 from France
• Government: republic
• Currency: Tunisian dinar
• Tunisia is slightly larger than Georgia
• Literacy: 74.15%
• Climate
  • North: Temperate
  • South: Desert

Teaching the Midterm Elections

The results of this year's midterm elections. Some states have not yet had Senate and/or gubernatorial races called. Those states have been shaded neither red nor blue.

The midterm elections provide a perfect opportunity to teach about geography! Examine the maps of results of the races. Have your students look for similarities between geographically close states (for example, the South). Explore social and historical connections that could explain the trends in color for certain geographic regions.

Midterm elections and election maps obviously also provide an opportunity to discuss the political system in the United States: the two party system, the Senate (especially term lengths and number of Senators per state), the House of Representatives (same distinguishing factors as the Senate), and the importance of governorships. Last, explain the importance of having a majority in the House and Senate, especially considering the political party of the president.