Borders and International Organizations

Ch. 8- Political Geography

Lesson 1: Introduction to Political Geography
Shapes & Borders

Country Analysis: What shapes and borders does YOUR country have? What is their significance?
Article: Stories behind oddly shaped countries
In class assignment: ID country shapes/Borders

Lesson 2: Internal Political Boundaries
Gerrymandering Game
Article: CA Redistricting Politics

Lesson 3: Supranational Organizations
Article: Supranational Organizations- Should we have a global government?
REading: Heartland/Rimland Theory of Geography
Country Analysis: To which of the international organizations we covered in class does your country belong?

Extra Credit Opportunity:
in 2011, Frank Jacob wrote a series of ten or so articles that looked at some of the issues surrounding political borders and boundaries. Though a little detailed, they are a fairly entertaining read. For extra credit (20 pts) look over the articles and write up an analysis of the following question:

What is the overall impact of borders for both nations as a whole and the daily lives of individual people? What are your OWN thoughts about international and internal borders?

You must cite 1 relevant quote, image, or fact from each article (use parenthetical citations with the article title)
Extra Credit: Frank Jacob's Article series on Borders (Due. Feb 1st)