Since my original three branches that I selected as possibilities for my research paper were too broad, I have decided to go along the route of tourism and landmarks for my paper. I have decided to specifically focus upon Chichen Itza, the Aztec temple. I am going to basically do a report on the temple (its history, etc.), and then I’m going to talk about how it’s had an effect on Mexico (due to tourism, etc.) I may also extended into the Aztec culture as well, but very seldomly. As a back-up paper (if this one doesn’t turn out), I will research about the Incan civilization Machu Picchu.

As a part of my passion project on the geography and cultures encompassing the Earth, I have now been required to research and record the findings of my topic in an informative essay. In order to start, I am required to come up with 3 directions, relating to my passion project, in which I can go with this paper. One of the directions I have narrowed it down to are recreation, tourism, and sport geography.  This consists of the study of leisure time activities and their effect on the world and the local environment. I have also narrowed it down to how a countries’ status is personally related to these things (Is there a correlation between the two?) For my last direction in this informative essay, I have chose to go with the broad concept of how geography has affected the world today, an amalgamation, so to speak, of my first 2 ideas.

1. Ecuador is one of the only two countries in South America that does not border Brazil.

2. Guinea Pig is considered to be a delicacy in Ecuador!

3. Ecuador is the smallest country in the Andean Highlands.

4. The Galapagos Islands is a part of present day Ecuador. It is known for its varieties of wildlife, including marine iguanas, shown in my image, and Galapagos tortoises.

5. Ecuador’s capital is Quito, and it is situated at the base of a volcano! The volcano is called Pichincha, and it is a stratovolcano!

6. Chimborazo Volcano is the highest point in Ecuador at 6,268 meters, and its location along the equatorial bulge actually makes it the  summit that’s the farthest point on the Earth’s surface from the Earth’s center — Even higher than Everest!

7.The country is divided into 4 geographical regions – coastal lowlands, mountain highlands, eastern jungle lowlands, and the Galapagos Islands.

8. The majority of balsa wood in the world comes from Ecuador.

9. Ecuador is named for the equator, which runs through the country.

10. Ecuador was the first nation in 2008 to declare that nature has constitutional rights.

11. Ecuador’s Independence Day is on August 10th.

1. In Finland, Donald Duck comics are banned because he does not wear trousers!

2. The longest palindromic word, SAIPPUAKIVIKAUPPIAS, comes from Finland, meaning a dealer of caustic soda.

Finland is the most educated country in the world.

Finland borders the Baltic Sea and is a Nordic/ Scandinavian Country.

Finish people drink more coffee than any other country in the world! (About 12 kg per year)

Finland is known to have more lakes than any other country in the world — 187, 888 lakes that are bigger than 5 acres in area.

Finland created a National Failure Day in 2010. By 2020 they plan to have an official flag day!

Rovio, the game design company that created Angry Birds is a Finnish company. Their headquarters are in a city called Espoo, near that of the capital Helsinki.

According to Matadornetwork.com Finnish is the fourth hardest language for an American to learn. Other sites, however, say its easier to learn thanyou think.

Finland hosts a number of odd competitions such as wife carrying, mobile phone throwing, and boot throwing.

There are approximately 179, 584 islands within Finland.

The amount you get fined for speeding in Finland depends on the amount you earn.

When driving in Finland you have to keep your headlights on at all times.

There are approximately 2.2 million saunas in Finland and 0 payphones!

When looking at my passion project, the main thing that could act as a hurdle is staying interested in the project. Many other passion projects have become less and less interesting to more and more people as the project went on, and I’m hoping to avoid that. I also plan to contact Mr. Lawhead to answer my researching questions for my Passion Project. I have finally learned the lesson that some people are only doing this project because they have too. I have also learned that it will be fun, enjoying, and easy to keep up with, in terms of the project, if and only if you feel truly passionate about the subject of your project (as well as the project itself).

Welcome to Ryan’s blog! This is a part of my Passion Project Genius Hour. For my Genius Hour project I’m planning on informing the world of all the geographic aspects around the world. This will hopefully be significant to the community due to the fact that its sometimes hard to find just the perfect thing  in terms of geographical aspects people are looking for.  I plan on educating the world overall on the geography around the world, and I plan on making this for everyone. Finally, I also plan on informing everybody about the cultures around the world. If I do, in fact pursue my passion in college, I plan on taking classes related to geography. With that, if I was to pursue a job in my passion, I would be hopeful to have a job where I could travel around the world while doing something interesting with that.