If you think you know Middle East geography, try this ...

[RKP5637]

(or want to learn)

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/mapgame.html

Home site = http://www.rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml

[BillyJack]

1. What a great lesson!

I TOTALLY failed this. (okay, I knew which continent the countries were on, but I really couldn't place most of the countries accurately in their correct place).

Thanks for this....

[RKP5637]

3. Yeah, it was fun. I can't say how many I missed, it's too embarrassing, but it

sure seems a great way to learn. I'm making that one of my projects to get better...
Welcome to DU!
:hi:

[BillyJack]

8. Thanks for the welcome

I'm really happy to have found this place! :-)

[RKP5637]

12. I've been here about a year. The people are pretty nice and many know a

lot about many things. It's always interesting and the moderators are great.

[patrick t. cakes]

2. the "stans" got me.....

[csziggy]

10. For me it was the "stans" AND non coastal Africa

None of those countries existed when I was in school, though some of the names were around as regions or cultural groups.

[steve2470]

20. the stans and interior Africa got me also nt

[JackintheGreen]

32. Yup. Me too.

The stans mostly came into independence long after high school and the interior of Africa just wasn't taught in central IL.

[patrick t. cakes]

33. Non coastal africa too. Never heard of West Sahara either

i did know it was in the west though..:)

[csziggy]

Actually I managed to guess the right spot for West Sahara

But some of those countries, I never heard of before. The "stans" were absolute guesses for me. All we had on maps when I was a kid was USSR for an entire huge block of the world. As for Africa - some of our geography books were old enough much of the continent was covered with the colonial names - some of the places *were* still colonies!

[csziggy]

36. Actually I managed to guess the right spot for West Sahara

But some of those countries, I never heard of before. The "stans" were absolute guesses for me. All we had on maps when I was a kid was USSR for an entire huge block of the world. As for Africa - some of our geography books were old enough much of the continent was covered with the colonial names - some of the places *were* still colonies!

[Igel]

37. You'd probably have learned it as "Spanish Sahara."

It was Spanish territory when I was a kid, IIRC, and there was a funny kind of two-front insurgency when I was a teenager and young adult. Morocco wanted it for, IIRC, the phosphate deposits there and so was the primary recipient of insurgental ire, even though they weren't the actual colonial power. "Polisario" something or other ("liberation front"?) seems to crawl out of some fissure as well.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

4. That was really fun!!!!!!

[Bigmack]

5. When I taught Modern US History to seniors in HS...

The first test they had was a geography test of basically the whole world.

The Stans... the Balkans.. the Middle East.... the whole works. Kids could retest if they got C or below.... two times maximum.

They screamed like wounded elk.

The the Balkans blew up... the Middle East is always blowing up... then we invaded Iraq..

The kids suddenly understood why they had to know at least some Geography.

At the end of the semester, they could take the geography test again if they wanted to fatten their grades.

I feel that I done good!

[RKP5637]

26. Yep!!! Excellent!!! n/t

[Solly Mack]

6. I love these maps!!!

Thanks!!

[rabs]

30. Here's a map

It's apt for the dolts who spend their time watching Faux TV



Gads, my state is where Hawaii used to be.

[panader0]

7. Cool

I missed a couple of the 'stans'.
I lived in Morocco when I was 6 and 7, back in '56 and '57. My Dad was stationed there.

[ReggieVeggie]

9. google maps

I couldn't figure out where Bahrain was and googled it. It's just so funny to me to be able to look up a country and have a google map show you the country, the roads, street views, etc. How things have changed.

On the quiz, I did fairly well but Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt were the ones I knew offhand.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I had trouble with the Stans, I did not had to memorize them

when at school.

Oh and they had no space for bahrain.

[RKP5637]

15. It's there. It's very very very very tiny, just below the Persian Gulf. I had to

look for it quite awhile.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Where it should be

[malmapus]

22. The "Stans" got me too.

Was so much easier back in the day when that was all just "USSR" lol.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. I know, this is funny in a way

and once southern sudan is added.

[malmapus]

24. Very true!

I forgot about that vote they had, wow.

[madinmaryland]

28. The four stans had me confused.

[JDPriestly]

34. I had to go full screen to find Bahrain.

This was a great exercise. I'll probably do it again. It was fun. The National Geographic site also has puzzles of this kind.

[rabs]

35. Mas "stans" en español

Aquinostan
Dondestan
Yanostan

These and other made the Spanish-language blogs when bushie attacked Afghistan. There were others but only remember these three.

[steve2470]

13. a tad of nitpicking...

there is a sliver of Afghanistan that touches China... see here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan

Afghanistan (i /æfˈɡænɪstæn/; افغانستان afġānistān), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked and mountainous country in south-central Asia.<9> It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.

The Rethinking map did not show this. FWIW.

[RKP5637]

18. Interesting!!! Just that sliver that goes over to China. Thanks! n/t

[steve2470]

19. yvw ! nt

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. Very cool! It's unfortunate that most of what I know of the region came from following wars.

[AnOhioan]

17. Did pretty well.....

until I hit the "stan" countries

[AsahinaKimi]

I wonder how fast

The people of Fox News could figure out where countries are.. in compared to say MSNBC? Yeah,.. Fox News is still trying to find EGYPT!

[RKP5637]

25. Yep, but Fox News just labels them the way they happen to right or wrong and then Glenn Beck teaches

the viewers in Glenn Beck U. LOL
:rofl:

[AsahinaKimi]

21. dupe

[krispos42]

27. I think I did pretty well

In the "stans" I got Pakistan and Afghanistan right, and Armenia. The rest I had to sort of fuddle around in.

In the rest, I missed 4 on the first try but got all of them right on the second... I was off by one country. :-)

[RKP5637]

29. I had to fuddle around quite a bit. I'm glad it wasn't an exam. I'll get it so I

can zoom right through them. It's on my list of things to learn well.

[Shandris]

31. I only had 2 wrong until I hit Africa, then it was splat-city.

Although, there weren't NEAR that many nations last time I had to play with a map like that. The only reason I knew the -stans was because of some article I saw in Newsweek a few years back, although I can't even remember why it stuck with me now.