David Warlick • Ryann Warlick • Martin Warlick
Shakabuku Infographics Video

Teaching & Learning in the new information landscape…

How Far is it to Mars?

With all of this hype about Mars and the exploration of Mars, there have been many infographics about Mars and space exploration. I have found yet another that is very interesting. Using pixels, this infographic shows how far away Mars is. However, it is not as far away as it used to be.

Most people who remember SPUTNIK and America’s landing on the moon are retiring, so in order to get a first hand experience, most teachers will have to speak with parents or grandparents. But the goal is to get first hand memories of this momentous event that can be related to your students today. For instance, what was someone doing when they found out about these momentous events, what were their thoughts? What did children play with and what were children excited about?

Then have your students imagine what it would be like to walk on Mars. Write a news article about the first Mars landing, or a diary entry as though they were the first person to walk on Mars. Have students discuss what landing on Mars would mean, and what they think will be the next goal after we do land on Mars.

Infographic: http://www.distancetomars.com

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2,000 Years of Continental Climate Changes

This infographic, found on Cool Infographics, shows how the climate has changed over the past 2,000 years in seven regions of the world (nearly all five continents, but not quite). Each color change represents the 30 year mean, and the increase and decrease of the temperature over time can be viewed. How do you think the mean was found before modern technology?

First of all, the infographic shows that North America and Antarctica share a similar temperate trend, and the five remaining regions share an opposite trend. On top of this, the arctic regions are experiencing a warm up and the other regions are showing a cool down. What could cause each of these phenomenon?

Share this with your classroom while studying global warming and other long term weather changes. This is a good example of what global warming can lead to. However, it can also be noticed that the major changes in temperature in North America and Antarctica began around 1200, long before the modern chemicals that are blamed for these changes. What are other explanations?

Blog: http://goo.gl/MFlTU

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Preceden

Preceden (click to view video)

I have been working on the history of my home town, and the book I am using is organized by subject and time, making it a little difficult to keep track of events as they occurred. I just came across this great website that easily allows you to create a timeline. It can be useful for both you and your students.

This will allow you to create both events and time periods, categorizing items by color, and by creating new layers. This is a great way to organize history for your students, and it can be accessed at home as well.

www.preceden.com

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War and Peace

This infographic found on visual.ly is a great infographic about major wars of since America became a country. It goes through every war, from the American Revolution to post 9/11 and shows the amount of time spent in battle, the amount of money spent on war, and the number of lives lost.

According to this infographic, America has spent half of it's its existence in war. Based on my knowledge of history, this is not terribly uncommon. Most countries have been in war in defense or offense over borders, money, or even love. Challenge your students to research some of the minor wars and find out the reasons behind them.

This infographic is also a great example of how to create an infographic. It uses a gun as a timeline, and a bulls eye to show lives loss. It is a great example of how to use implements from the subject to who information in an infographic.

Blog: http://visual.ly/wars-us-fought

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Employers Identify Top 5 Job Skills

The other day I came up with a great way to give extra credit while strengthening your students. Giving extra credit for bringing in necessary supplies, such as tissues, is great, but students who give an extra push that will help them later on in life should get rewarded. Tangible rewards are one of the best ways to motivate students.

In todays infographic, three major cities were surveyed based on the job skills employers in the cities seek. A lot of what was found was collaboration, project management, and internet skills. Well why not encourage your students to harness these skills in middle grades, upper grades, and even elementary grades, and reward them when they exhibit these skills.

This can be done in multiple ways. By having your students come up with their own marketable skills they already have and give them a confidence booster by rewarding them with these. You can also compile a list of marketable skills with you students, and have each student choose a few to work on, and then later assign them to students to give the students something to work on.

During assessments, if the students choose to go for this extra credit, have them outline how they used these marketable skills to complete the task. For instance, with collaboration, how did the students divide the work evenly based on each students skills? How did the students then come back together to share what they learned and put it together. Offer this explanation as extra credit. Many curriculums are teaching these marketable skills, but taking this extra step allows students to realize that this is a marketable skill and share how they used it, as well as receive feedback from you the teacher. Possibly even bring in professionals to give feedback.

Blog: http://visual.ly/employers-identify-top-5-job-skills

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The Future 10 Years From Now

A few decades ago, it was suspected that today we would be wearing metallic space suits and eating food in pill or goo form. But life has changed very little over the past several decades. Our food has become much more processed, but we more or less eat the same things. Styles have changed, but they are recognizable in fashion from the mid to late 20th century.

This makes me wonder where this infographic got their information (although it does have a list of sources at the bottom). According to this infographic, we will be eating bugs and wearing billboards in 10 years. What do your students think about this? Do any of your students wear Hollister and American Eagle now? They are now walking billboards. What about the delicacies of the future? Have any of your students traveled? What things have they eaten that would be considered strange by American standards? Maybe this infographic isn’t too far off. Challenge your students to make their own guesses as to what the future will be like, with references.

Blog: http://visual.ly/future-10-years-now

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Extreme Weather Extracts Heavy Toll Across the States

What is the most devastating storm in your memory? For me it was Hurricane Fran, which swept inland into the heart of North Carolina, causing power outages for days and even weeks, and kept us out of school for around two weeks. Trees feel everywhere, and many roads were impassible for weeks. Then there was the crazy snow storm when I was in high school. Two feet here in Raleigh, leaving us out of school for two weeks again. They ended up just telling us to go to school if we could, but absences wouldn’t be counted against you. Power was out for days and even weeks again, but the aftermath wasn’t as bad.

What about for you? Depending on where you live, you may remember other storms. I don’t remember Hurricane Katrina very well, except for deciding to drive home from college that weekend and there not being any gas Charlotte and West. But I’m sure those along the Gulf remember things very differently.

This infographic shares information on how devastating storms were each year. Some may not have affected you at all, and you may have been in the heart of others. For those that you didn’t experience first hand, ask you students to find before, during, and after photos to get a better idea of the devastation. I did this for Hurricane Fran when I was in college. I found photos of flooded streets and had my father back home drive around and take photos of the same streets today, to show how busy the streets are. Everyone was very impressed and this particular project stands out in my mind.

Blog: http://visual.ly/extreme-weather-extracts-heavy-toll-across-states-1992-2012

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How Do Germs Spread?

This infographic, brought to us by Pediatrics After Hours, is brightly designed to grab the attention of one group in particular, kids. Germs are gross, and kids get sick the most often. They are often too preoccupied to remember to do simple things, such as cover their mouths when they cough, or wash their hands before they eat. So it is important to pass along the information that tells them why they need to do these things.

This infographic shares the major ways germs are spread, through touching, eating, drinking, breathing, and bites. It is important to be careful with everything that you do, from cleaning your home regularly, to drinking clean water. One thing one teacher did once was to put glitter glue all over her hands, and we watched how many things she touched. Everywhere the glitter was, we could pass germs.

Post this infographic in bathrooms, by doors, and in eating areas. Make sure you get the word out so that your students can stay in the classroom and not constantly be out sick. Teach your students that we aren’t trying to waste their time by making them wash their hands, it is truly for their own good.

Blog: http://visual.ly/how-do-germs-spread

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My, How Big Our Cars have Gotten

It’s no secret that there are larger cars on the roads now. The majority of cars on the road where I live are SUVs, and several decades ago these didn’t even exist. Your students may not be able to imagine a time when they were unable to stand up in their cars. But ask you students to research the history of SUVs. Why were they created? How were they marketed to be so popular?

This infographic compares the same cars over a series of years to show how they have grown in length and height, as well as weight. What is the benefit of these larger cars? In science class, discuss aerodynamics, and try to figure out which cars have an advantage, cars from the 1950s, or todays cars. Try to find similar sized model cars and make a wind tunnel, showing students the stream of air. Use other things on cars, such as the slant of cars and spoilers to show them the benefit of these.

Blog: http://goo.gl/o5ShI

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World Tax Comparisons

2/7/13 - Gerry Roe posted a comment to this article, asking for the data source on this infographic. The designer did not include the data, which in my opinion, renders the graphic useless. Ryann has not yet commented below. She's busy with her other job and her graduate work.

I did some googling and found three tables with identical data, but none of those documents sited valid sources. I am leaving the graphic up as an example of the critical importance of the basic literacy practice, "Ask questions about the answers that you find."dfw

Taxes are a constant debate among politics. Everyone wants lower taxes, but few people think about why taxes are necessary. Before you show this infographic, challenge each student to find five unique uses for tax money, and imagine what the world would be like without the government having that money.

This infographic shows that the US and Japan have the highest taxes in the world. Why do these two countries need such high taxes? What do each of the countries listed use their taxes on. What is their national debt like? How did they rack up these debts? Make sure your students understand why taxes are necessary, and brainstorm ways for the government to come up with the necessary funds without taxes.

Blog: http://visual.ly/world-tax-comparisons

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Photo taken by Ewan McIntosh in a Taxi in Shanghai

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Cultivating Your Personal Learning Network
2nd Edition (2012)
Redefining Literacy 2.0 (2008)
Classroom Blogging
(2007) • Lulu
• Amazon
Raw Materials for the Mind
(2005)

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