The Geography Department

A Message from Father Christmas

2009-12-22T19:25:00.004Z

I just found this on the BBC website, and thought you might be interested in what Father Christmas has to say about climate change. Have a good Christmas - and to quote another member of the Geography Department, climate change doesn't stop for Christmas! (You can listen to Mr Regan's climate change song, by clicking here.)

Faces from the Frontline

2009-12-12T21:06:00.003Z

Today's Guardian magazine is devoted to looking at the impacts of climate change around the world. If you click on this link, you can see how people are being affected all around the world now.

Bhopal - 25 yeas on

2009-12-04T20:13:00.003Z

Students in Years 10 and 11 have looked at the cyanide gas leak that happened in the Indian city of Bhopal in 1984. It is a good case study of all the negative aspects of multinational companies. This week saw the 25th anniversary of this dreadful industrial accident, and many of the victims have received very little compensation. People are still being affected because the area, and in particular, the water supply, has not been cleaned up. This article tells you all about it.

Copenhagen Summit 2009

2009-12-01T20:56:00.008Z

This conference which runs from the 7th to the 18th December in Copenhagen, Denmark, has been labelled as the last chance to save the planet from the worst effects of global warming. The conference is likely to be given huge amounts of media coverage because of its importance. The BBC has a lot of articles and up to date material here, and the Guardian has information here. GCSE and A Level students need to be up to date with what's going on at this conference - your new text books are out of date already!

Cumbria Floods November 2009

2009-12-01T20:50:00.004Z

The BBC Cumbria website has a large amount of resources on the recent floods, including many, many photos which you can access here. You can read about the weather that caused the flooding here.

A Week of Natural Disasters

2009-10-03T17:46:00.004+01:00

This week has seen a number of major natural disasters hit East Asia. You can read about the tsunami that his Samoa on Tuesday here - this page has links to information on which countries were hit, and an animated guide to tsunamis. This article is about a surfer who survived the tsunami by staying out at sea.

On Wednesday, two major earthquakes hit Indonesia - a magnitude 7.6 followed by a 6.8. So far, the death toll stands at 1 100. You can read about the earthquake and its aftermath here - again, there are many links to other related articles and sites on this page.

Earlier in the week Typhoon Ketswana hit Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines, where many people were affected by heavy rain, strong winds and landslides. You can read about it here. Today, the Philippines is being hit by Typhoon Parma, although the capital city, Manila looks like it will escape the worst of it. The BBC report of this typhoon is here.

Away from Asia, the city of Messina on Sicily (Italy) has been badly affected by heavy rain and mudslides. Information and film of this can be found here. So far, the death toll stands at more than 50.

All of these events can be used as case studies for GCSE and A Level. Think about the causes of the disaster, the consequences (social, economic, environmental, political) and the responses (local, national, international).

Join the 10:10 Campaign - and get your friends to sign up too!

2009-09-05T16:21:00.001+01:00

This week, a grass roots campaign started to encourage people to do their bit in the face of global warming. It's called the 10:10 campaign, and asks you to try to cut your carbon emissions by 10% by the end of 2010. You can read about it here and at this website, there are ways you can help to reduce your emissions. In case you're wondering why you should bother, read this article about what's happening in the Arctic right now. On this page, you can see what lots of people are promising to do in order to reduce their carbon footprint.

Changing attitudes in China?

2009-07-24T15:58:00.003+01:00

After enforcing the One Child Policy for several decades, are attitudes finally changing in the world's most populous country? Read about what's happening in Shanghai here.

Solutions to Climate Change?

2009-07-13T21:44:00.002+01:00

Today's Guardian contained practical suggestions about how to deal with climate change - what do you think of these ideas? You can read about these solutions here. You can watch video clips on each of them here, and vote for your favourite idea here.

Africa - a land of contrasts

2009-05-13T11:00:00.003+01:00

These links might help year 7 with their Africa assessment:

Click here for a useful visual summary of contrasts in Africa.

Virtual tourist here (but remember this might not show you everything about Africa, only the bits for tourists!)

Africa - a land of contrasts

View more presentations from HNurton.

A New National Park for England

2009-04-01T21:39:00.004+01:00

Today the Government confirmed that the South Downs are to become the 10th National Park in England. You can read about why it is being protected and the implications of it becoming a National Park here.

There are some pictures of the area here.

Too Many People?

2009-04-01T21:33:00.003+01:00

This article on the BBC website may be useful for A2 (Population and Resource Management) and GCSE (Food and Water Supply, and Population Change).

Earth Hour

2009-03-28T14:59:00.003Z

Tonight between 8.30pm and 9.30pm, take part in WWF's Earth Hour. We're all being asked to turn our lights out for an hour, to raise awareness about climate change and global warming. There's lots you can do on this website. Watch the video here, too.

Ecotourism

2009-03-28T14:54:00.002Z

For those of you in Year 11 (and U6?) who are struggling with an Ecotourism case study, try this from today's Guardian Travel section.

Birth and deaths in real time

2009-03-07T20:40:00.001Z

Look at www.breathingearth.net which shows birth and death rates by country in real time. It also shows CO2 emissions. Its quite hypnotic really!

Spotlight - part 2 - exam questions

2009-03-05T22:45:00.003Z

Here are the exam questions for the spotlight group (and everyone else in Mrs Smith's and Mrs Nurton's groups!)
Spotlight Practice Questions

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work history islam

AS web links

2009-02-22T21:15:00.002Z

This school does the same AS course as us and there are loads of useful website links listed. They don't do the 'Health' human option (which we do) but there are loads of useful links for all the other topics.

Gentrification

2009-02-18T12:06:00.003Z

There is a good overview of gentrification here.

Why are there 3000 abandoned cars at the airport in Dubai?

2009-02-17T16:58:00.003Z

This article from the New York Times details the mass exodus of foreign workers (who make up 90% of Dubai's population) due to the global economic downturn. Definately worth reading for an up-to-date example of migration!

Case study instructions

2009-01-14T22:22:00.000Z

Case Study Instructions Jan09

Publish at Scribd or explore others: geography case study

Case study card

2009-01-14T22:15:00.002Z

Use this blank to do your case studies on. Remeber, you can alter / amend some of the sub-headings depending on the specific case study. To download it click on the 'ipaper' word at the top of the document.
GCS Case Study Card

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work geography case study

Year 11 Case Studies

2009-01-14T21:49:00.003Z

The case study you are making this week is on the volcanic eruption at Mt St Helens, Washington, USA in 1980. Mrs Smith's group need to hand in the work on Tuesday 20th Jan, Mrs Nurton's group on Wednesday 21st Jan.

Useful websites can be found here and here.

The Future of the Maldives

2008-11-12T20:34:00.005Z

The Maldives are a group of low lying coral islands in the Indian Ocean that rely on tourism to keep their economy going. The islands and the people who live their are likely to be some of the first casualties of global warming - it will create many environmental refugees here. The President of the Maldives is trying to plan for the future. You can read about what he is trying to do here. You can listen to his proposals here.

Our Increasing Life Expectancy

2008-11-12T20:27:00.002Z

I found these maps on the BBC website which show how longevity (people living for a long time) has spread north throught he UK. You can see the article and the maps here. What implications does this have for our society in the future?

Snippy

2008-09-15T22:39:00.002+01:00

I've mentioned this little handy tool to a few people.....snippy. Lets you copy a selection of a web page or document easily.
Click here for more information and to download it.

10 Ways to Google-up your coursework

2008-09-15T22:33:00.003+01:00

Ten ways to use Google Earth to improve your coursework - some fabulous ideas from Noel Jenkins at Juicy Geography. I've just told all my group to draw desire line maps..... how about doing it in Google Earth?

Click here to see all 10 suggestions.

Thanks to Noel Jenkins for sharing this!

Atlantic Hurricanes

2008-09-12T20:40:00.003+01:00

2008 was forecast to be a busy hurricane season. You can see the predictions that were made in August here. The hurricane currently wreaking havoc in the Caribbean and threatening Texas, is Hurricane Ike - this one has already hit Cuba and Haiti, and is now heading for the USA. You can see the damage it has already done in the Caribbean here, and video footage of the enormous waves lashing Texas as the hurricane approaches, here. Accounts of the devastation that Ike has caused in Haiti, the poorest country in the Caribbean, can be found here. Haiti has already been hit by several tropical storms this season. You can follow the progress of this season's hurricanes on the National Hurricane Center website.

Olympic medal winners

2008-08-13T00:14:00.003+01:00

Keep up to date with the location of Olympic medal winners

Mission Explore!

2008-07-06T21:01:00.004+01:00

What are you going to do over the Summer? You should get out more!
Go to Mission Explore and take on a challenge this summer......

Global Food Crisis

2008-05-30T13:25:00.004+01:00

All this week, the Guardian newspaper has been doing special reports on the global food crisis. There are some excellent case studies, and useful information for A2 students - Year 11 should look too, as this is all relevant to the Food and Water Supply unit. The website is here - there is a particularly good interactive guide here.

Pisa's leaning tower 'stabilised'

2008-05-28T19:34:00.002+01:00

An interesting story for those studying Italy in Year 7. Click here to read the story from the BBC website.

Barcelona Water Shortage

2008-05-15T14:24:00.002+01:00

Barcelona, Spain's second city, is suffering from a chronic water shortage. This week, they have announced how they are dealing with this. You can read about it here. This will be a useful case study for Year 10s who will be doing the Food and Water Supply unit soon.

Cyclone and Earthquake Update

2008-05-15T14:13:00.002+01:00

The BBC now has in depth areas on its website for both of the natural disasters that have hit Asia this month. There are many useful links from these pages.
Cyclone Nargis
China Earthquake

Earthquake in China

2008-05-13T21:15:00.004+01:00

More bad news from Asia - a magnitude 7.9 earthquake has struck the SW of China. A day after the quake, the death toll stands at 12 000, but this figure is likely to rise. You can read about this disaster here and here. There are some pictures from China here - the BBC warns that you may find some of them disturbing.

There is an interesting article here about the contrasting responses to this disaster and the cyclone in Burma.

Cyclone Nargis

2008-05-11T22:48:00.004+01:00

It is now over a week since Cyclone Nargis hit Burma in South East Asia. The death toll is likely to be the highest from a tropical storm for many years, and the disaster is far from over. You can look at an interactive explanation of what happened here. For an explanation of the causes of tropical storms, look here. For general information about the disaster, there are up to date news stories here and here. If you want to find out how you can donate to the disaster fund, click here.

Coastal Erosion in Yorkshire

2008-04-04T21:26:00.002+01:00

Here is an article from today about a landslide in East Yorkshire that has swept gardens onto the beach and left houses very close to the edge!

AS Work on Deforestation

2008-03-28T07:00:00.002Z

Here's the powerpoint I asked you to look at about tropical rainforest deforestation. Please make sure you've read it carefully by next Wednesday!

| View | Upload your own

Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread'

2008-03-25T19:54:00.002Z

Here is a story from the BBC website published today regarding the ongoing problems in Antarctica.

This is especially useful for the current Year 9 Antarctica assessment.

Depressions - Year 10

2008-03-20T21:03:00.004Z

As promised, here are a few websites for you to look at about depressions.

Try this powerpoint to show what we learnt today. BBC bitesize has a good summary of depressions, fronts etc (make sure you look at the next couple of pages on this website). The BBC website has some information about how depressions form - click on the Fronts section on tbe right as well for additional information. The Met Office has a more comprehensive explanation, including the weather associated with the passage of a depression.

When you've looked at these, have a look at the current pressure chart and the satellite photo, and see if you can spot the different features of a depression and how the weather will change over the next few hours. Good luck!

And if you want to see it again, you can download Postman Pat does Depressions here!

Largest earthquake for 25 years hits England!

2008-02-27T11:55:00.002Z

Did the earth move for you this morning? We didn't feel the earthquake in Guildford but plenty of people did.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 struck just after 1am this morning with the epicentre at Market Rasen in Lincolnshire. Read the full story on teh BBC website here.

Jumper - Anywhere is possible....with Geography!

2008-02-19T21:46:00.000Z

Life in a shanty town

2008-02-18T21:40:00.000Z

"Adama Gondor, a medic, will be keeping a regular diary for the BBC News website about running a clinic in a coastal slum of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown.
Here she discusses the challenges she faces in Kroo Bay, where shanty houses have been built on a rubbish dump on the banks of the Crocodile River."

This will be particularly useful for year 11 who have just been looking at conditions in shnaty towns.

Can you turn it off?

2008-02-11T21:39:00.000Z

From 1800 on Wednesday 27th February for 24 hours, people in the UK are being asked to turn off any electric appliances that are not being used. Electricity usage is going to be monitored by the National Grid, who are hoping that demand will drop by between 1 and 3% as a result of this. E-Day, as event is being called, is being supported by many charities in the UK, but also big businesses. The event is being billed as your chance to do something about energy consumption - you can read about it here. Encourage your family and friends, and even your teachers, to turn it off on E-Day!

Coral reef bleaching

2008-02-09T09:36:00.000Z

Here is an article about the use of ocean temperature monitoring equipment to try and protect vulnerable coral reefs. This is of increasing concern as an impact of global warming and climate change.

AS Field Trip to London Friday 8th February 2008

2008-02-08T21:51:00.000Z

Here's a hastily put together slideshow of the photos I took today when we were in London looking at contrasting examples of urban redevelopment. Feel free to use any of them!

| View | Upload your own

Are we ready for the Effects of Global Warming?

2008-02-05T20:19:00.000Z

The vast majority of scientists now believe that human activity is the cause of global warming, but until recently, they have expected that the effects of this warming will happen gradually over a number of decades or even centuries. This week, scientists have identified a number of tipping points which could be reached soon - these will begin a process of positive feedback, and speed up the warming process. Read about it here.

Air Pollution in London

2008-02-04T22:27:00.000Z

AS Geographers have been looking at examples of how different cities suffer from, and try to manage air pollution. Here is London's latest attempt to reduce smog and pollution problems. This is a relevant and very up to date case study with which you could wow the examiners!!

Why choose Geography?

2008-02-03T21:02:00.000Z

Play the short film below....

Choose Geography at option time!

Images of Global Warming

2008-02-01T21:35:00.000Z

This website contains lots of pictures which show evidence of global warming. There are a number of different sections, but the Glaciers section has some particularly stark images.

Fancy a Starbucks?

2008-02-01T10:52:00.000Z

A report out today shows that all is not going well for Starbucks! Read the full story on the BBC news website here.

This is a useful article for year 9s (studying globalisation as part of the 'Global Fashion Industry' topic and for A level (globalisation, role of multinationals and so on).

Weird Weather

2008-01-27T15:00:00.000Z

For an unusual weather story, click here!

Nuts!

2008-01-26T13:49:00.000Z

Here's an interesting film about globalisation and fair trade, as explained by an American peanut! Enjoy!

Divorce rises because of One Child Policy

2008-01-25T08:49:00.000Z

A news article from the BBC today says that China's divorce rate has risen by over 20% in the last year. Some people suggest this is a result of the One Child Policy which has produced a generation of adults unable to sustain relationships. Click here to read the full article.

Increasing Rainforest Deforestation

2008-01-24T23:09:00.000Z

Here are a few articles about the increasing rates of rainforest deforestation in Brazil.

Original story

A response

Increasing pressure

Rising Sea Levels and Tuvalu

2008-01-23T15:54:00.000Z

AS Geographers - this is the link to the news report item from yesterday about the impacts of global warming and sea level rise on the South Pacific island of Tuvalu. There is an article here with lots of interesting links too. This is also relevant for GCSE and A2 students - a useful case study - as well as anyone else with an interest in the environment.

Earthweek - A Diary of the Planet

2008-01-22T22:33:00.000Z

This is a really useful website that summarises the major physical events that have happened each week. It tells you where there has been earthquake and volcano activity, storms, highest and lowest temperatures and other interesting things, such as a snake invasion in SE Australia this week!

Is your home at risk of flooding?

2008-01-18T23:03:00.000Z

Find out if your home is at risk of flooding with the maps on this website

A level Geography

2008-01-18T07:23:00.000Z

From September 2008 we will be following the new AQA A-level syllabus. Click on the slideshow below to see what you will be studying (some of the formatting has changed when Slideshare converted it but you should still be able to read it!).
If you have any questions about this course please speak to a member of the Geography Department.

| View | Upload your own

Mrs Nurton's year 8 homework

2008-01-15T20:00:00.000Z

Tuesday 15th Jan - homework 2 set today which is:
'Collect a weather map from newspaper or internet. Identify any areas where rainfall is happening and suggest what type of rainfall it is.'

If you can't remember the work you did on the different types of rainfall this link may help -click here

This is a powerpoint on the internet so you'll need to click through / scroll down to see it (don't worry if the first page is just a blank screen...scroll down, it will appear!)

Mozambique floods

2008-01-12T14:50:00.000Z

This is topical because we've just started this topic in year 7.
Mozambique is flooding again. Click here for a Newsround guides to floods.

Use the controls at the bottom of the powerpoint below to see some of the images of the most recent flooding. It is likely to get worse!

| View | Upload your own

China's One Child Policy

2008-01-04T22:27:00.000Z

Two excellent short films about the impacts of China's one Child policy can be found
here and here

Adopt a granny?

2008-01-04T21:18:00.000Z

How will Italy cope with its ageing population?
Have a look at the three articles from the BBC below
Italians fear a poor old age

Adopt a granny

Italy's pensions timebomb

How are European countries encouraging women to have more children?

2008-01-04T16:49:00.000Z

Click on this BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4837422.stm to see how different European governments are encouraging women to have more children.

Click on the link below for more information about Italy paying 10,000 Euros for each child....An article from the Guardian
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/europe/story/0,,1081021,00.html

and here is an alternative way to increase their population

Santa should relocate to Kyrgyzstan...

2007-12-19T21:34:00.000Z

According to an article on the BBC website Santa should relocate to Kyrgyzstan.....

Read the full article and the reasons why here

Thanks to Mrs Wright, a Head of Geography at a school in Leighton Buzzard for pointing this article out!

Father Christmas and climate change

2007-12-06T20:31:00.000Z

Turn your sound up.....

Thanks to Steve, a Field Studies Leader in Lancashire for pointing this out!

Alphabet of Nations

2007-11-23T21:30:00.000Z

Try this video from You Tube.

Personally I would have said 'West Xylophone' didn't exist but there is a website....
http://westxylophone.com/

Just proves you can't believe everything you read on the internet!

Thanks to Miss Ellis, a Geography teacher in Derbyshire for pointing this out!

Penguins and seals

2007-11-23T14:45:00.000Z

You can find the webcam for South Georgia by clicking here

Are there any seals or penguins in front of the camera at the moment?

Bhopal - an industrial accident

2007-11-20T17:50:00.000Z

The following information may help year 10 complete their homework on the Bhopal industrial incident in India in December 1984:

The factory was owned by Union Carbide, a U.S. owned multinational company. The factory produced pesticides (Sevin) which were needed by India to help increase food supplies for a rapidly growing population.

On the 3rd December 1984 a series of events led to a chemical reaction and escaping MIC gas which killed and maimed thousands.

There were several failures in the safety procedures which led to the disaster. If any of these had been in place, the disaster may have been prevented, or the effects may have been reduced:
 Sections of pipelines being cleaned should have been isolated – this was not done
 Gauges in the central control room were not working properly (cost-cutting by the company?)
 For 6 weeks prior to the accident the pressure gauge for the MIC tank was showing ‘no pressure’. This was ignored as a faulty gauge but in fact there was a leaky tank (and if air could get out then water could get in!)
 MIC (the chemical) needs to be kept cool. The cooling system had been switched off (under orders from the Senior Management) since May 1984.
 The vent gas scrubber, which neutralises toxic gases before they are released into the atmosphere, was switched off for maintenance.

The disaster occurred because water used to flush out some pipes found its way through the main pipeline system and into the MIC tanks. Here it mixed with the MIC and the resulting chemical reaction led to the leaking of the toxic gas cloud over Bhopal.

Who was to blame?
You decide……
 Was it Union Carbide for failing to have adequate safety procedures in place?
 Was it the local people for building shanty settlements so close to the factory? (Something that wouldn’t have been allowed with planning restrictions in a MEDC)
 Was it the Indian government for failing to check that safety procedures were in place?
 Was it a disgruntled former Union Carbide employee who sabotaged the plant? (as the company claimed?)

What were the effects?
Death, blindness, breathing problems, birth defects….. and more. Use the information given in class and any additional information from websites to find out more about the effects, including numbers of people estimated to have been killed and injured.

Websites
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bhopal/default.stm is a good starting point.

Cyclone Sidr hits Bangladesh

2007-11-17T20:34:00.000Z

In the last few days, Bangladesh has been badly hit by Cyclone Sidr. There is some really useful information here including interactive guides, photos, video footage and eye witness accounts. This would make a useful case study for GCSE, AS (Climatic Hazards) and A2 (Coasts - the cyclone caused a 5m storm surge). BBC coverage is here and includes information about the management of the cyclone here . There is also an animated guide to cyclones.

Oil Spill in California

2007-11-09T23:50:00.000Z

In the news today - oil spill in California. read about the spill and the clean up operation here.

African migrants die in Atlantic

2007-11-09T21:41:00.000Z

In July 2006 a boatload of African migrants reached the Canary Islands and were helped by tourists on the beach. This week at least 47 migrants were found dead after failing to reach the Canaries and drifting in the Atlantic for two weeks without enough food and water. Read the full story from the BBC website here.

Interactive maps

2007-11-09T21:31:00.000Z

A superb interactive world map showing data from the world bank can be found here.

Which parts of Africa are richer than others? Click on the map to see!

Ever wondered what some places in Europe are actually like? try the interactive European tourism map here Click on a location to see pictures and short video clips of the places.

Thanks to two Geography teachers from Preston and Woodcote (near Reading) for these links!

East Coast Storm Surge

2007-11-09T21:07:00.000Z

Earlier today, the largest storm surge since 1953 was predicted for the east coast of England. In 1953 several hundred people were killed by flood waters, as very high tides coincided with a deep depression bringing northerly winds that caused the sea to breach flood defences and inundate the land. Today, there were plenty of warnings to people living along the coast, and many homes were evacuated. This article from the BBC explains what happened, and why people were evacuated. Even though the storm surge was not as bad as predicted, the waves were still impressive - there are some good pictures here.

Thinking of a Geography degree?

2007-10-12T22:20:00.000+01:00

A really helpful new site from the Royal Geographical Society....
http://studygeography.rgs.org/

Websites for Three Gorges Dam

2007-10-12T22:11:00.000+01:00

Here are the websites I promised my A2 group today.....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,,1799355,00.html (excellent site with the flash movie intro and a special report)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/08/endangeredspecies.conservation
Yangtze river dolphin declared extinct (Aug 2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwFGyzllCJg
Three gorges documentary style clip from You Tube shown in the lesson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ypN7lDhCZk&mode=related&search=
the time lapse three gorges dam from you Tube shown in the lesson

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5000198.stm
social impacts of the dam from the BBC

http://www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/index.cfm very detailed information (don’t get bogged down with TOO much info!)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2007-10-12T22:09:00.000+01:00

Fantastic pictures from around the world

2007-10-06T20:33:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Alan Parkinson (Head of Geography in Norfolk) for pointing out this fabulous site - 336,458 photos so far (and rising) from around the world - some fantastic pictures......
Click on the website link to take you there...

www.woophy.com/map/index.php

Methods of flood control

2007-10-02T21:17:00.000+01:00

Year 8 - here is the powerpoint that will help you with your assessment (hopefully!)

Has China's One Child Policy been successful?

2007-09-20T09:54:00.000+01:00

How successful has China's 'One Child Policy' been? A recent report says it has prevented 400 million births but China may be storing up problems for the future. Read more about it from the BBC here.

Two approaches to a declining and ageing population....

2007-09-12T21:23:00.000+01:00

Japan have an ageing population and have decided robots may be the solution. read the whole story here.

Meanwhile, in Russia, they are worried they may lose 40 million people, a third of their population, by the middle of the century. Read about their unusual solution to raise the birth rate here.

Migrant workers face English test

2007-09-09T18:37:00.000+01:00

An article from the BBC today (here) says that skilled migrant workers to England are going to have to take an English test.

"The government estimates 35,000 of the 95,000 skilled migrants who entered the UK last year would not have been able to show they could speak the language."
but.... "Exemptions will include international footballers signed by Premiership clubs."

Strange maps

2007-08-28T21:42:00.000+01:00

Here's one way maps can be used to show something different! This map shows the life expectancy of different states by renaming them with countries with the same life expectancy. You'll probably have to click on the map to get a slightly more legible version!
I found it at http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/page/2/

Hurricane Dean

2007-08-20T08:32:00.000+01:00

Normally I'm a little bit jealous of my sister who lives in the Cayman Islands. However, over the weekend, she and her sons have had to leave the island because of the imminent arrival of Hurricane Dean. It is expected to hit Cayman today, at Category 4, possibly 5 (the Saffir Simpson scale which is used to measure hurricane strength only goes up to category 5!). You can track the progress of Dean here - http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/#DEAN - it's already hit Jamaica, and is on its way to the popular tourist resort of Cancun in Mexico. The BBC website has a number of links worth looking at, like http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6955163.stm(news story), http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/6952773.stm (eye witness accounts) and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6956117.stm(for pictures). Makes our dismal "summer" that we've had this year not seem so bad!!

Foot and mouth disease update

2007-08-04T22:57:00.000+01:00

The strain of diasease has now been identified and it is identical to that used at the Institute for Animal Health, at Pirbright, three miles from the farm. Defra could not say the laboratory was the source but has increased the size of the protection and surveillance zones covering farms in the area. (from BBC news website)

The map below shows the new, enlarged protection and surveillance zones. The map can be enlarged using the tool on the top of the 'scribd' page below (map from Defra)

Foot and mouth disease found on a farm near Guildford

2007-08-03T23:17:00.000+01:00

Foot and mouth disease has been discovered on a farm close to Guildford.

This is taken from the BBC website: "Cattle at a farm in Surrey have been found to be infected with foot-and-mouth disease. Animals on the farm near Guildford have tested positive for the disease which swept the UK and wreaked havoc in 2001. A 3km protection zone has been put in place around the premises and a UK ban imposed on movement of all livestock."

Read the full story here and now updated here which includes a link to the map below (where it is much clearer!)

The map below shows the 3km protection zone and the 10km surveillance zone that have been put in place. This information is taken from Defra. (http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/fmd/pdf/declaration-pz-sz-rz-070803.pdf)

Cycling around the world

2007-08-01T21:03:00.000+01:00

How would you feel about cycling 18,000 miles? On Sunday 5th August 2007, Mark Beaumont will cycle out of Paris on a solo attempt to break the 18,000 mile World Record to become the fastest person to have ever circumnavigated the globe by bicycle. You will be able to follow the full adventure as it happens by clicking on his website here

He plans to beat the current world record which is 276 days 19 hrs 15 min - just over 9 months. Mark is planning to smash this by cycling around the globe in under 210 days. This seven month race will include 20 countries through Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australasia and North America. We wish him luck!

Floods in Southern Asia

2007-07-31T13:00:00.000+01:00

We aren't the only ones experiencing difficulties with floods at the moment. Weeks of torrential rain, landslides and floods in China have left more than 700 people dead and forced about 5 million others to flee their homes.
Click here and here to see more pictures from the region.

Earthquake in Japan

2007-07-16T22:08:00.000+01:00

Today, a significant earthquake hit the island of Honshu in Japan. Tsunami warnings were issued, and a nuclear power station was damaged. Read the story here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6901213.stm

and look at some pictures here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6900355.stm

Video footage of the quake can be seen here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6900000/newsid_6900200?redirect=6900209.stm&news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1

2007-07-13T23:22:00.000+01:00

Make your own at ProfilePitstop.com

Planet Earth as you may never have seen it before....

2007-07-13T23:04:00.000+01:00

Thanks to coolpics from Slideshare for this....

Makes you think.....

2007-07-13T21:55:00.000+01:00

Turn your sound on then watch the video below from You Tube....

Create pictogram using excel

2007-07-12T20:52:00.000+01:00

For those of you doing coursework at the moment this site here might be helpful - it shows you how to create a pictogram using excel

World Population Clock

2007-07-09T21:24:00.000+01:00

World population clock. If you click on 'Now' button the statistics start again at zero so you can see how fast things are rising.

Created by Poodwaddle.com

2007-07-09T11:42:00.000+01:00

For those of you who wanted to see Yakko's World (the countries song) again here it is....

Find out the distance between two places.....

2007-07-08T21:15:00.000+01:00

This might be useful, especially for those doing coursework.... click here to take you to a website where you can find out the distance between any two UK cities.

Maps of Guildford for Coursework

2007-06-27T22:15:00.000+01:00

The site below has a range of maps for Guildford and the South East:

www.guildford.gov.uk/GuildfordWeb/Maps/

Climate change

2007-06-22T17:57:00.000+01:00

A thought-provoking video I found on You Tube....

Pictures of Guildford

2007-06-11T23:54:00.000+01:00

As we currently still don't have a shared area at school (!) I have put some pictures taken on the fieldwork day onto a powerpoint

You can also download this powerpoint at home to allow you to use any photos you wish. Download at
http://www.slideshare.net/HNurton/pictures-of-guildford

(and click on 'Download file' underneath the slideshow)

Interactive map of Surrey

2007-06-11T23:23:00.000+01:00

A must have for coursework....
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Surrey+Interactive+Map#
An interactive map - zoom in / out /select areas etc etc

Urban geography

2007-06-11T22:58:00.000+01:00

This powerpoint provides a basic outline of the characteristics of the CBD.