Purpose: Research the geographic situation of a country of the world. You may choose any country of the world, except the country where you were raised and the United States. For the country you choose, you will collect data about the country and discuss it with a current event in that country. You will show how the statistical data and the current event described in a recent news article are related. The news article and the statistical data must be related. If you cannot find a relationship, then choose another article or a different country. The news article must not be more than one (1) year old.
Geographic Data Sources: Using reliable sources listed below, fill out the Country Statistics Worksheet for the country of your choice. The worksheet is available here in two formats: Worksheet for Country Statistics.docxPreview the document Worksheet for Country Statistics.pdfPreview the document There are numerous data sources for the countries of the world, some more reliable than others. The Population Reference Bureau (www.prb.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), the CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), the 2016 UNDP Human Development Report (http://hdr.undp.org/en/2016-report (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), your textbook, and an atlas are all reliable sources. Use only these reliable sources. Do not use Wikipedia as it will not be accepted. If you turn in a data sheet citing Wikipedia as a source, you will not get credit for the data sheet. Please contact me if you have any difficulty finding the sources or if you want to check to see if a source which is not listed is acceptable.
News Article Sources: There are numerous news sources that follow international current events. The BBC News (news.bbc.co.uk/news (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), CNN World (www.cnn.com/WORLD/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), Fox News Channel (www.foxnews.com/world (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), The Economist (www.economist.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.), and Reuters (www.reuters.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) are good places to start. Many countries throughout the world have English newspapers that can be accessed via the internet and these can be found with a quick Google search. Please contact me if you have any difficulty finding news sources.
The Essay: You will write a minimum 1,000 word essay. Properly cite any references or quotes and include a bibliography or works cited section. Start your essay by giving an overview of the geography of the country – physical geography, population, culture, economics, and politics. Next, briefly explain the current event or issue from your news article. Most of the essay should discuss how the current event or issue and the data statistics are related, focusing on the following questions:
#1 – What statistics provide a better understanding of the current event or issue?
#2 – How could the author of the article have improved their reporting by using the data? Why?
#3 – Where and how can you see globalization in the data you collected and/or the current event or issue news article?
I will expect you to demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and terms in your essay. Remember, the news article and the statistical data must be related. If you cannot find a relationship, then choose another article or a different country. An essay that simply states “I could not find a relationship between the news article and the statistics” is insufficient.
Cautionary note on plagiarism: Your essay should express your thoughts using your words. You may quote from other authors/sources, but the quotes must be used to support or improve your thoughts and words. All quotes must be short and be enclosed in quotation marks and be properly referenced. Paragraphs consisting mostly of quotes will not be accepted. Large sentence blocks or paragraphs copied directly from any source will be considered plagiarism. Anything that is copied directly from any source, and not properly quoted, will be considered plagiarism. All plagiarism will result in a zero for this assignment.
Final product: You will turn in the following:
A map of the country you selected. (A simple internet search will reveal numerous maps.)
A copy of the current event news article that you chose.
The completed data worksheet.
The essay (TYPED, DOUBLE SPACED)
How to turn in this assignment:
Submit this exercise electronically by placing all the information in a Microsoft Word file and uploading it to Canvas, just as you did for the mapping exercise. Here’s how to assemble your electronic document:
Start with a map of your country. A simple internet search will reveal numerous maps. Just copy a paste one into your document.
A copy of the current event or issue news article that you chose. First list the citation of the news article, so I know where you got it. Include the internet URL, too. Then copy and paste the article into your document.
Now include the completed data table. The blank on is here: Worksheet for Country Statistics.pdfPreview the document Worksheet for Country Statistics.docxPreview the document
