geogblog@bushloe

Greenfield Brownfield Debate

2009-11-09T14:28:00.000Z

In Year 7 we are thinking about where we can fit all the extra homes Leicester needs. Many of you have been asked to produce a poster for homework promoting either your greenfield or brownfield development from the point of view of the developer. Above are the examples we looked at in class.

Route around Bradgate

2009-09-15T11:46:00.002+01:00

Click here for the route we will take

View Bradgate Trip in a larger map

Bradgate Trip

2009-06-16T11:49:00.001+01:00

A reminder to year 6 to get their slips and money in before the deadline. A great view over Leicester awaits us.

Old John Bradgate Park Leicester in Leicester

Globalisation

2009-06-12T14:34:00.002+01:00

We have been looking at some of the positive effects of the globalisation of industry in year 7 and 8. We looked at how globalisation means cheaper prices for us and how it offers some people the chance to earn a good wage in the poorest counties of the world. Of course its not always like that. We have already discussed the environmental cost of globalisation, but what about the exploitation of workers. What makes a fair wage and what are good working conditions. of course we can never get a good feel for what its like to work in a factory for long hours and low wages without trying it for ourselves however this game may help us to understand a little bit.

The box

2009-06-07T07:15:00.001+01:00

The BBC have had a project following a shipping container around the world. This may be of interest to year 7 and 8 studying globalisation. View an introduction to this project here. You can track the position of the shipping container here. Shipping containers allow much of the international trade central to globalisation.

Globalisation

2009-06-04T21:52:00.003+01:00

In year 7 and 8 we are looking at Globalisation. Part of this has involved a look at Leicester's fashion trade and how in order to survive companies like JAK are having to source fabric from Bangladesh, design the garment and cut the fabric in Leicester then stitch the garment in countries like Latvia before selling the product in countries like Germany. It is all about reducing input and process costs (especially cheap workers) while selling the finished product where it will get the best price. All the transport involved may make sense moneywise but does it make environmental sense? For another example of the effects of globalisation take a look at this video on the banana trade.

If you are still confused by some of the terms we have been using then some of them are explained in this short video (yes I know its a bit outdated mentioning minidisks!)

Mental Maps

2009-06-04T21:10:00.003+01:00

We've been thinking about the way we view or perceive our local area in Year 6. One of the things we looked at was how to assess our local area and we used this site (thanks to geoblogs) to get us warmed up. The site is part of a mapping project by "My Society" but more on that another time. We looked at views like the one below and gave it a score out of 10 for how "scenic" it was. It raised lots of questions such as "what is scenic" and "what makes one view an 8 and another view a 9". I was delighted that my desktop background of Whitby Abbey scored a 10! This all leads us to the question of how we rate our local area and why some of us give it such a high score and others such a low one, we will be exploring this further.

Japan

2009-05-26T13:28:00.002+01:00

As we progress with our studies of Japan in year 9 there have been a number of you who have been keen to have a go at origami. Remember we used origami as a way of gaining insight into the Japanese way of thinking and culture, we said it included design, engineering, attention to detail and an obsession with attention to detail and precision. For those of you wanting a bit more challenge why not try a couple of designs on this link.

Blogging Break

2009-03-22T12:46:00.000Z

Apologies but there will be a brief blogging break on this and the Eco Club at Bushloe blog as we need to free up a bit of time for other projects to progress. We will return at half term in May.

Breathing Earth

2009-03-11T20:49:00.002Z

Many thanks to Joel and his mum for reminding us about this site. Really interesting as we continue looking at population and development in year 9.

Is Development always good?

2009-02-23T22:12:00.003Z

Many thanks to Tony Cassidy for this one. Perfect timing for year 9. Some real food for thought in this promotional video for a book.

Development: Coffee

2009-02-15T21:18:00.000Z

As we start to consider the issue of development in year 9 we will think about how the worlds wealth is divided up. It is well worth spending the time reading these interviews with those involved with the coffee trade and thinking about their different experiences. What makes the difference and is this something that we can be involved in and affects us?

Measuring and Mapping Development

2009-02-05T21:31:00.002Z

The trouble with development is working out what it is. Is it wealth and if so how do you measure it? Perhaps we could look at how much money a country has, but does that tell us if the money is spread across the population of a country? perhaps we look at other ways of measuring development like how long people live or how well educated they are? Even if we do work out a way of measuring development how do we find out and show which countries are most and least developed?
To make our lives easier others have tried to solve these problems for us. Take a look at this lovely graphic showing how wealth is spread across the world. Can you work out which are the poorest and richest parts of the world? Even more helpful is the gapminder site which allows you to create the most amazing and mindblowing graphs and maps on world development. A word of warning though it is not always easy to understand and you may need to take the tutorial. We will be using this in class though, so its worth taking time to understand it.

Snow

2009-02-01T21:10:00.004Z

With snow due to sweep in tonight and through the course of Monday we will be looking at this in year 8 lessons. The cold airmass is heading in from Russia and picking up moisture over the North Sea. We have discussed in some classes before how weather coming from this direction often brings snow in Winter. Monday also sees the launch of the BBC's new weather pages, we will give this a try in lessons to see how long the snow will last and the processes behind it. It was interesting to see on the BBC news that they had recorded thunder and lightning during the snow (see previous entry on Thundersnow). I'm off now to look out of my window to see if any more snow is falling...

Carbon Calculators

2009-01-24T22:00:00.000Z

In year 7 we are going to be thinking about the impact we have on the world. We have already found that everything we do has some kind of impact, good or bad. Often the energy we use adds more carbondioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere adding to global warming. It is important we are aware of the impact we make so we can do something about it. A good way is to use a carbon calculator which works out the amount of CO2 released by our activities. A simple one to use is here on the BP website (you may want to think about why an oil company would do this) . My result is above, it may be below the national average (I doubt this!) but I'm aware of how much more energy I can save. You can also try this calculator. Of course what matters is what we do about it. You can keep up to date on what we are doing in school by reading our Bushloe Eco Club blog, even better why not come along and make a difference yourself. If that is not for you why not draw up a list of ways to save energy in your home and act on it (some ideas here), a small way to start could be to monitor and save the energy used by your computer! If you want to learn more why not play the climate change pentathlon.

More maps

2009-01-20T20:47:00.002Z

As we are thinking about maps in year 6 it seems a good time to think about the functions of maps. While the OS maps are for general use other maps are designed to show particular things. Some maps hardly look like maps at all as anyone who has seen a map of the London Underground will tell you. Take a look at this map. It shows the motorway network of the UK but why does it look so strange? Have a think about what the person who designed it was trying to show. Also think about how maps can be used to show information, what about this map of the London underground system that shows frequency or what about the worldmapper maps that use the size of the countries to show information.

Ever dug a hole?

2009-01-18T20:37:00.000Z

Have you ever dug a hole and wondered where it would come out if you carried on? Well now you can find out by clicking here. If you think it could be Australia you may be suprised. Oh and if you are tempted to check the results, don't try to dig a hole yourself, it's impossible as we will find out in year 9.

Command words and deeper essays

2009-01-18T14:16:00.001Z

These wise words from Mark Cowan should be things we all think about when doing tests or any response where a little more detail is called for.

Exam command words: A poem

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: explain describe)

Weather: Thundersnow!

2009-01-17T15:51:00.002Z

It's always exciting having a storm, though of course they can cause great damage. Tonight a storm is forecast that could include something called thundersnow! You can read about this here. This is the kind of thing those of you studying the weather in year 8 need to keep an eye on as you could include it in your project work.

Grid Coordinates

2009-01-16T21:05:00.001Z

If you are still confused by 6 figure grid coordinates then you can improve your skills by having a go at some of these. For the full background and details of how grid coordinates work go to the OS site for a full tutorial.

Maps Year 6

2009-01-14T20:20:00.001Z

Our exploration of maps is now well underway. Remember that as spies you must not reveal your secret identity to anyone. You may also be expected to travel the world and know where you are going. Why not brush up on your map skills and have a little fun along the way with this country location game and work out your traveller IQ! Just click on the link and scroll down the page or select one of the other challenges on offer.

Weather

2009-01-12T13:11:00.001Z

Just to remind those of you in Year 8 who are studying the weather about the helpful sites out there. The Met office is a good place to start and of course the BBC's new weather pages (select the Beta link) are a great place to catch up on what's going on with our weather now. More weather links are available here. Also for some weather webcams you can look here.

Options

2009-01-11T22:07:00.004Z

From this week Year 9 will be thinking about which options to take for GCSE. As usual many of you will be considering taking Geography while others may be as yet undecided. It may be worth having a look at these videos (you may not be able to access them in school) to give you an idea of what Geography can offer you.

Also two further videos:
Going places with Geography 1
and
Going places with Geography 2
These are well worth a look if you are still making up your mind, though you may well have to view them at home as you tube is blocked in school.

Endangered Species

2009-01-10T12:57:00.004Z

We are just starting our endangered species project. A fairly simple (ish) list is available here to help you get a few ideas. The information sheet is given out at school, it is also available on our geography website available at the moment via the Bushloe Website holding page, just click on the geography minisite link and select the homework page. Ideal for those of you who lose it or for parents to have a look.

Also the Wombat is back to remind us that everything is connected. This is an important theme to explore when doing your project, particularly when thinking about the impact of humans on animal and plant habitat.

Year 9 Population

2009-01-07T12:00:00.002Z

Now that we have returned for the New Year we begin our studies again in Population in year 9. This week we are going to compare population to a bath! If you are still puzzled by this then think of the water as people and think what the taps and plughole could represent, as you think about it more deeply, what about other things like the size of the bath or the overflow?

One of the important trends we have seen is that people are living longer. This has a big effect on the age of the population. We can see this effect on something called a population pyramid. We will be covering this over the next couple of weeks but if you want to have a look at what is predicted to happen and even have a play around with some possible outcomes try this out. Just click on start simulation, after 2050 you can use the sliders to adjust how long people live and how many babies are born. What happens for example if birth rate falls?

Environmental Issues

2009-01-05T12:35:00.001Z

A few more Environmental Issues to get us started on this topic courtesy of the Animals Save the Planet people.

It's Christmas!

2008-12-19T16:06:00.006Z

Well you all seem to have made it to the end of term and are now enjoying your well earned break but the geography doesn't stop there. I wonder if you have thought about where those Christmas presents come from? If you answered Father Christmas then you may be interested in the NORAD tracks Santa site which uses our favourite tool Google Earth (along with Radar, fighter jets and webcams of course) to track Santa as he delivers presents on Christmas Eve. Those of you who have been planning Santas route around the world in lessons will already know that by starting in New Zealand and working his way west Santa can make the night last 36 hours! However this still means that he has to travel at 650 miles per second to visit everyones house in time. At this speed friction from air resistance would usually heat an object to 5000 degrees Celcius in 4 thousanths of a second and vapourise it. Fortunately Santa is magic, as we all know and so he survives. It may explain Rudolf's red nose though!

As we all know there is only so much toy making elves can do and so with the population of the world hitting over 6.7 billion people and rising fast Santa has increasingly followed the global trend of "outsourcing"to make many toys. This Christmas we are asking you all in year 7 and 9 (though anyone is welcome to join in!) to record where your Christmas presents were made so we can build up a map of global manufacturing. To join in either leave your list of countries as a comment on this blog or make a list and bring it with you to your first lesson back. My class yesterday though China would be the clear winner but what do you think?

Environmental Issues

2008-12-06T13:52:00.002Z

Year 7 will be starting their studies of Environmental Issues. Here is a quick film to get us started.

Population and Development

2008-12-06T13:23:00.002Z

Year 9 are about to start their new topic of Population and Environment. With ever increasing pressures on our planets resources the scene is set for an exploration into one of worlds most pressing issues. In the first few lessons we will look at how many people there are in the world. You might want to check this out for yourself by looking at a World Clock. We will also think about the worlds resources with this short film giving us food for thought. The map above shows world population the larger the country the bigger the population, you can find more of these on the worldmapper website.

Hurricane Gustav

2008-08-31T16:56:00.006+01:00

Welcome back to all for the new term. Some of you in Year 8 have just started studying for the Weather topic and I'm sure you will have noticed Hurricane Gustav heading towards New Orleans in the USA. Some of you will remember the last time this happened and will realise why so many are keeping a careful eye on it. You can see a stuning picture of this storm on the NASA site. Why not keep a track of the Hurricane in Google Earth by switching on the weather layer or check out the latest details on the National Hurricane Center website. It is worth remembering that Hurricanes get all their energy from the sea and you can see how passing over Cuba last night took a lot of the force out of Gustav from this loop. A lot now depends on the temperature of the sea between Cuba and New Orleans. Worth looking at this over the next 24 hours.

Bradgate 2008

2008-06-23T10:03:00.002+01:00

Although late September seems a way off yet it is only a few short school weeks before the next year 7 Bradgate trip. Because of this we always try to collect all the permission slips and payment before the end of term in year 6. The trip is a great way of learning a range of fieldwork techniques and provides several of our detailed case studies for year 7. As such it is a very important part of the year 7 curriculum and one in which all members of year 7 have participated in the past (even with broken legs!) More materials about the trip will be posted here over the coming weeks.

Just like being there!

2008-02-21T13:53:00.002Z

The image above represents one of hundreds of 360 degree panorama images you can access through the following link. The great thing is you are totally surrounded by the image so as you rotate it you feel like you're really there. Some even have sound files attached so it sounds like you're there too.

Minamata - Year 9 Japan

2008-02-21T13:29:00.006Z

The image above is one of a set which you have seen in Year 9 to introduce some of the environmental issues linked to Japans development. These so called "Kogai" incidents have modern parallels in countries which are currently experiencing rapid development. I am pleased it has raised discussion and if you want to investigate further try following this link which is the source of the image above and follows the Minamata case in detail.

Geography Roundup

2008-01-21T21:30:00.000Z

The geogblog has been getting a bit neglected of late as Eco Club has been taking up a lot of our time recently, you can read all about our latest projects on the Eco Club blog. Eco Club is all about the practical things we can do around the school to protect our amazing planet, year 7 have been especially active Eco Clubbers as we have been studying the impact that people have on the environment. Mr. Batchelors classes are handing in their Endangered Species projects this week and starting the design an eco house mini project in class. We will be going on to look at the issue of "food miles" the end of which may just precede the start of the Big Green Grow allotment project which starts in March.

In year 8 we are just undertaking the Toyota work which is due to be finished next week and year 9 continue exploring Japan. It is a big few weeks for all of you in year 9 as you think about your options, I'm doing my best not to sway those of you seeking advice on whether to take Geography -the best and most useful subject in the world. I think I'm doing quite well so far.

Google Earth Update Leicester

2007-11-17T15:52:00.000Z

After the improvement to Leicester's coverage in Google Earth we were still left with imagery that was seven years old. Now this has been updated with images that are just a couple of years old. You can now clearly see the blue roof of the school(still under construction) and Bradgate Park in the distance. Notice the sky now has clouds, this is because Google Earth has a new weather layer which is updated in near real time, but much more detailed than the overlay we have used in class. Could be useful for the year 8 weather benefits and hazards project.

Options Year 9

2007-11-16T17:27:00.000Z

As the time grows closer for year 9 to choose their options, you may want to take note of the following:

"Geography in the widest sense of the concept remains to me the queen of sciences. It holds the key that unlocks the coherence of the physical world as its sister, history, unlocks that of mankind's occupation of it. Without geography's mapping of planet Earth, the work of chemists, biologists and physicists is disjointed, mere technique.

It is geography that applies common sense to the statistical hysteria of the climatologists. It is geography that brings global warming into context and applies the test of feasibility to whatever political priorities are deemed necessary. It is geography that explains why each of us is located where we are, in neighbourhood, nation, continent and planet, and how fragile might be that location. Without geography's instruction, we are in every sense lost - random robots who can only read and count."

Simon Jenkins in the Guardian newspaper today (full article here)

Of course I don't want to influence your decision...

The first Eco club tree is planted.

2007-11-12T14:15:00.000Z

For those who followed the disasterous adventures of Mr Notleys tree "Twiggy" and the slightly less dire tales of "Twiggy II" will be pleased to hear that "Twiggy III" is now safely growing in our grounds. Twiggy III - like its predecessors is an Oak tree and was kindly donated by the family of a Year 6 student.

Weather Hazards

2007-11-08T20:20:00.000Z

Warnings of a big storm surge in the North Sea tonight. Those of you in year 8 doing your weather benefits and hazards projects will want to keep an eye on this. Notice the causes. Lets just hope we don't now see the effects. For more details the BBC website reports on this here.

City Model

2007-09-28T16:25:00.000+01:00

In year 7 we are looking at whether the city model can be applied to Leicester using Google Earth. The KMZ file can be downloaded here. If you want to check the powerpoint just click above or click on the link for full screen. We found that Leicester does fit the city model surprisingly well though Oadby was perhaps an exception. Some sets got as far as discussing the changes we could make to the model so it explained Leicester more fully.

Weather help from the Met office.

2007-09-11T12:53:00.000+01:00

Those of you in Year 8 doing the weather topic may like to check out the Meteorological offices web site.click here. The site contains a huge amount of information, pictures and ideas.

Make your own planet.

2007-07-11T11:07:00.000+01:00

Lots of you have asked for the file to make a larger version of the Blue Marble globe from lessons. Click here to open the PDF file ready for printing.

Alternatively try a model of the Ozone layer (click here) , or the continents (click here). If you want a further challenge why not create an origami globe (a good chance to brush up on your paper folding skills if you are in year 9!)

Floods

2007-07-02T11:18:00.000+01:00

Now that the floodwater is going down in the North it is a good time to reflect on what has happened and look at the effects of our wet June. Ajp on the sln geography forum has posted an excellent presentation on slideshare, have a look and see what you think. It feels like a good time to live in the Midlands even if the weather outlook is for more rain. Those of you in year 7 bear in mind that this will make a great study for your weather benefits and hazards project in year 8.

Bradgate Park

2007-07-01T22:09:00.000+01:00

The Bradgate Park trip may not be until September but we are collecting the money now so the trip can go out early next term. The Bradgate trip underpins a lot of the geography work undertaken in year 7. Full details of the trip can be found here. The deadline for money and slips is the 5th July, many thanks for the many returns we have had already.

Development

2007-07-01T21:47:00.000+01:00

After playing the trading game in year 9 we have been reflecting on what we have learned. We used the excellent site Gapminder to look at the real progress made by Bangladesh, Kenya, India, China, USA and Japan and we found that unlike our game where the poorest nations could sometimes overcome disadvantage real life less developed nations tended to stay poor.
We also looked at trends and patterns examining positive and negative correlations between different indicators some of you noticed for example that urbanisation seemed linked to incresed wealth. This led us on to the idea of cause and effect. One interesting trend was noticed by LOE3 who spotted that the number of children women had went down as more girls went to school.

So what do you think, is there a link? Is it a cause or effect and why do you think there is a link? We will discuss this in class or you could leave a comment. For those of you who we will be seeing for the last time this week, we wish you well for the future and remember to keep checking back here to find out whats going on at your old school. We'll be sad to see you go :-(

Lightning in Google Earth

2007-06-19T21:24:00.000+01:00

We don't normally feature Google Earth layers on this blog, but this one has to be mentioned since we have now had 2 days of lightning in the past week. Its a layer from GuiWeather.com that shows you live lightning updates worldwide. As lightning swept across Leicestershire tonight from the south I was able to watch its arrival on Google Earth as it homed in on the Bushloe summer concert (being held outdoors). To get the layer just make sure you have Google Earth installed and click on this link for the KML file.

Developments in our grounds

2007-06-15T15:53:00.000+01:00

Recent days have seen more progress in the school grounds. Have a look at the photos. More to follow on this one...

Google Earth updates AT LAST!!!!

2007-06-05T20:01:00.000+01:00

At last what we have been waiting for since Google Earth first changed our view of the world; decent quality imagery! Leicester has been included in the latest update and Wigston has been given especially good quality coverage. It isn't all good news though, see if you can work out how old the images are, judging from the car outside my old house I would say about 7 years at least. We may have to wait a little longer for the new school to feature (for those in year 6 the image is centred on the old Bushloe) but at least we can tell its out of date now!

Rivers

2007-05-30T14:07:00.000+01:00

In Year 6 you should be looking at finishing your journey of a river project. Remember to look at the upper course of the river with its waterfalls and V shaped valleys, the middle course with its meanders and the lower course with its deltas and estuaries. Don't forget to include the impact of people with farming, trade and transport, water supply and towns all areas to mention. Include diagrams, photos and other evidence. You can recap on the journey of a river here and a list of useful sites can be found here.

Etna blows its top!

2007-05-11T09:28:00.000+01:00

As if on cue Mount Etna, Europes largest and most active volcano, has begun to erupt again. This should be of interest to year 8 in preparation for their "Mount Etna newspaper" coursework assessment. For new video footage follow this link.

How about collecting and/or recording any news about this event in a file ready to use.

Make a chain.

2007-04-18T11:53:00.000+01:00

Please give a little time to look at this website and join the campaign. The organisers are attempting to promote the cause of Education for all children. Members of the powerful G8 group have commited themselves to giving all children worldwide access to a primary level education by 2015 and this appeal is to provide them with a reminder and encourage them to keep to the timetable. Remember what you take for granted others need your help to gain.

Eco House with Sketch Up

2007-03-28T16:22:00.000+01:00

After our attempts to design eco houses in class I know a number of you are keen to use Sketch Up to make your designs look better (and even place them in Google Earth). The link to download the free software is here. Make sure you ask before installing on your parents PC! When you finish the design be sure to save a view as a .png file and then paste it into Word before adding your labels.

Eco House

2007-03-22T11:36:00.000Z

In year 7 we are designing our Eco Houses. What is always surprising is just how many things there are to think about. For example is it better to upgrade existing buildings or build new ones? Do we superinsulate and build underground or do we maximise the use of heat from the sun with south facing windows? Above is our local "Eco House" at Brocks Hill, but lets not forget the environmental features of our new school building. We have been looking at a number of other examples in class, you can view some of them again by following the links here. Also here are some past examples of work for this homework (can you do better?).

Population and Development

2007-03-22T11:19:00.000Z

The school theme this week has been "Developing Countries" and in year 9 we have just started our new topic of population and development. To introduce the topic we looked at the population counter and saw just how fast the worlds population is growing. We also agreed that a world with over 6.6 billion people living on it is really hard to get our head around. To help us we watched miniature earth which shows us what the world would be like as a community of only 100 people. Which poses the question; if we lived in a community where only 3 of the hundred owned 59% of the wealth would we do anything about it?

Development Theme and Geography.

2007-03-20T09:50:00.000Z

The theme for this cycle is Development. Year 9 should pay particular attention to the activities and news as we are about to start the topic of "Population and Development".
For further information showing the whole issue of global inequalities how about visiting Gapminder. Other links can be found on our Weblinks page.
Remember this is something which involves us all.

Japan

2007-03-09T16:19:00.000Z

As we draw our studies of Japan to a close it seems a good time to reflect on what we have covered. I came across this excellent series of images compiled by a user on Slideshare. It seems to sum up the themes we have covered quite well.

Fair Trade Fortnight

2007-03-05T21:57:00.000Z

I meant to mention this last week. Just a few more days left of Fair Trade Fortnight. Look at the screens around school for more details.

Geography and reading week.

2007-03-02T12:37:00.000Z

Thanks to all the groups who have been involved in doing "Horrible Geography" book reviews this week. The results have been amazing and it's been hard to choose the winners in each class.

Those who have been selected will be given the chance to process their reviews next lesson and then get them published on the geography website under pupils work.

Once again thanks for supporting Reading week with such enthusiasm.

Tornado rips apart Alabama High school

2007-03-02T12:07:00.000Z

Tornadoes have killed at least 17 people in the southern US states of Alabama, Georgia and Missouri.

Victims included at least five people killed when a tornado ripped through an Alabama school building, and two dead when a hospital was hit in Georgia.

For those of you in Year 8 who have recently completed your
"Weather benefits and hazards" project this story may be of particular interest.

For an animated guide to how Tornadoes happen click on this picture link.

Napoli update.

2007-03-02T11:56:00.000Z

Salvage experts in charge of the recovery of the MSC Napoli, grounded off Lyme Bay in Devon, are planning to remove the ship from the coast.

Mr Middleton, the secretary of state's representative in maritime salvage and intervention said "It will be a case of trying to work out the best methodology, whether we cut her in two or whether we refloat her as she is. But she will be removed."

Follow this story with the BBC here

Local Cooling

2007-02-23T15:48:00.000Z

This could be a project for the weekend. In year 7 we have been thinking about ways we can save energy. One way is to optimise the energy settings on your computer. Sadly this can be a bit tricky and you will never know if you are really saving energy. Now by downloading the software from this site it will do it for you and then it will tell you just how much energy you have saved (some geographers have been using global cooling for some time). Of course you could always just switch the computer off.

Bushloe gets the green fingered touch!

2007-02-21T13:53:00.000Z

Some of you may have noticed that the landscape around Bushloe has recently begun to sprout new plants and trees at an alarming rate! Don't worry, this is not some freak result of global warming but the latest additions to our landscaping, including planting of outdoor teaching areas a sensory garden and borders. Want to know more? Check out the plan on the Eco-club notice board outside Rooms 12 and 13.

Geography Photos update

2007-02-21T09:24:00.000Z

Thanks for the early returns of geography photographs to add to our online collection with flickr. The quality is great but we need more please. Remember if you have been somewhere interesting or seen something geographical e-mail it into school with a short message explaining where, when and what it is!!

Geography at Bushloe Site Updated!

2007-02-16T10:56:00.000Z

The main Geography at Bushloe site now has a brand new look and lots of new features. As well as keeping the previous content the new version now has more games, resources and links than ever before. We have also started a new Geography Live! page with webcams and other live feeds. All in all well worth a look.

We told you it would snow!

2007-02-08T16:00:00.000Z

Well we tracked the snow today as it swept its way northwards. Those of you in Mr. Batchelor's classes had the chance to see the snow around the country on the weather cams. Sadly as you can see from the photo of the school Leicestershire only got a thin covering. Watch out tonight as plunging temperatures bring freezing fog! Remember to keep track of the weather here and check out Leicestershire in the snow here.

Snow Joke!

2007-02-07T10:15:00.000Z

Some of you may have heard about the forecasts of severe weather for Thursday and the weekend. To find out the real story keep in touch using this link.

Latest UK Weather and Flood Warnings thanks to the BBC

Thursday 8 February WEATHER WARNING Wales, Midlands, southern and southeast England: Snow will become heavy during the early morning and may fall for as long as 6 hours at any one location. Typically 5cm of lying snow can be expected with as much as 15cm possible in some areas. Snow will move further north during the morning and afternoon. Valid until 1100GMT
Click here to check out weather web cams from around the UK, can you see any snow yet?

Lets try a poll...

2007-02-06T20:41:00.000Z

Get Free Research Polls

General: Turkey Trouble

2007-02-03T21:36:00.000Z

If you are a turkey you can normally expect life to be looking up after Christmas, not so in Suffolk this week where an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus has killed 2600 turkeys. The good news is that if you are not a turkey or a bird you should be OK as the virus has generally yet to make the leap to humans. Scientists are keeping a careful eye on the whole issue as if the virus could yet change or mutate into a form that humans can catch. Details of this story can be found here and a map showing the spread of the virus is also interesting to explore. The whole story has got me thinking about how useful maps are in showing the spread of things like this and how viruses can now spread much more quickly in our mobile society. By the way the study of disease occurrence (where diseases are found) and distribution (how they spread over space) is called epidemiology. All of which begs one question; where did I catch the flu that has made me so ill this week..?

General: Google Earth Mystery

2007-02-02T16:00:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago we posted a mystery image from Google Earth. In fact it showed the shadows of trees cast on the River Thames in London, clearly the sun was low in the sky though the shadow shows the sun was still in the south. What could this tell us about the time of year it was taken? (Over to you year 9!). It should also remind us that these are images and not maps. Year 6 may want to think about the differences.

Year 7: Global Warming Again

2007-02-02T15:29:00.000Z

Hardly a day seems to go by without a mention of Global Warming in the media. Today though a very important report on the issue came out. It is supported by 2500 scientists and 100 countries. Even though it takes a cautious approach it still forecasts at least a 3 degree rise in temperatures by the end of the century and says it is now very likely the warming is due to human behaviour. Read more about the report and what the predictions are by clicking here. Why not come along to Eco Club next week or think about the sorts of things you could do to help this issue or just learn more about what Global Warming is about. The image above by the way shows Europe from space at night, perhaps worth reflecting upon how much CO2 is released to keep all those lights going while we are asleep?

Geography images, be a school photographer.

2007-02-01T12:43:00.000Z

Are you a top photographer? The great thing about Geography is that pictures tell a thousand words. As the holiday season approaches and you get to travel far and wide, how about bringing us back some of your digital images of weather, landscapes or other interesting features! Just not your dad buried up to his neck with the tide coming in Ehh!! Best ones will be included online in our Flicker collection

It's the World, but not as we know it!!

2007-01-31T16:10:00.000Z

The map above was taken from the Worldmapper web site. On this site you can see many images of the World distorted to show information. The example above is of World Population and each country is the correct size for its populaton rather than its land area. Can you see any surprises? Perhaps you can explore the site and send us comments back on what catches your attention.

Year 7: To fly for?

2007-01-25T16:50:00.000Z

You may have watched "Should I Really Give Up Flying?" on BBC2 last night. It dealt with the damage that aeroplanes do to the environment and in particular how they contribute to Global Warming as well as a look at the alternatives. You can find all the details here. Of great interest is the woman who rather than flying to Australia went by land (full story on this here). The trip took two months and cost well over £1000 but saved over 1 tonne of carbon dioxide emissions. Perhaps a sacrifice we will all have to make in the future?

Year 8: Shires Redevelopment Webcam

2007-01-25T16:29:00.000Z

As you already know the Shires Shopping Centre in the centre of Leicester is being redeveloped and extended into the new Highcross Quarter. It is one of many new developments taking place throughout the city at the moment and is due to be finished in 2008 at a cost of £350 million (or the price of around 27 Bushloe's). As they build the structure you can watch it on their webcam by clicking here. Apart from the Shires what other developments are taking place in the city at the moment, perhaps you could leave a comment.

Year8: Gapminder

2007-01-25T16:09:00.000Z

After using this brilliant economic and social visualisation tool in class a number of you in year 8 have asked if you can have a play at home well here is the link to Gapminder. Have a look at the map as well as the scattergraph and play around with the different information available. One good use is to track different countries and do development racing as we did in class, I'd back China if I was you. ;-)

Stricken cargo ship run aground

2007-01-22T09:27:00.000Z

The MSC Napoli cargo ship has been run aground in Lyme bay in Devon after being damaged in last weeks storms. Coastguards and anti-pollution teams are on alert after the ship carrying potentially dangerous chemicals was beached off the "World Heritage site" Jurassic coast.
The ship is carrying almost 2,400 containers, about 150 of which are said to hold hazardous chemical substances.
For Year 8 this may be particularly significant as it is very close to the site for the Exmouth Camp.

For further updates link here to the BBC News

Year 7: More Global Warming

2007-01-19T20:32:00.000Z

For the past few months the BBC have been running an experiment to predict the extent of climate change. It has involved over 50,000 members of the public putting climate prediction software on their computers which ran as a screensaver. The results have now been released and you can watch a programme about it on Sunday night. if you can't wait that long then details are available here.

Year 9: Origami

2007-01-19T15:23:00.000Z

Coming soon in year 9...

Click here for more on "Paper Origami Lessons "

Japanese food

2007-01-19T13:34:00.000Z

Learning about a different country and culture can be very exciting and confusing at the same time. Try this link to see how the Japanese eat Sushi. You can also use other videos from this site to see how various Japanese foods are cooked and prepared

General: It was windy today!

2007-01-18T21:41:00.000Z

You may have noticed it was windy today. The Holiday Inn next to the Walkers Stadium had it's roof blown off and reports have come in from around the city of damage caused by the winds. If you have heard of any damage where you are why not add a comment? Also you may have noticed that as well as a warmer Winter and Autumn we seem to be having a stormier one as well. Do you think this is just a one off or part of a bigger trend, perhaps connected to global warming? Perhaps post a comment on this as well.

General: What is this?

2007-01-18T21:30:00.000Z

Clue: It's from Google Earth, but what is it and where is it from?

Year 7: Global Warming

2007-01-18T21:13:00.000Z

Global Warming is seriously in the news at the minute. The BBC have been featuring a story about how the government is considering setting standards for carbon offsetting schemes. They included a statistic about a transatlantic flight generating 10 times our own weight in carbon. the story was followed by an ironic reference to Prince Charles making a 7000 mile trip to pick up an environmental award. Meanwhile Tesco have followed Marks and Spencer today in outlining their plans to become more environmentally aware. This all seems very promising but questions have already been raised as to the value of carbon offsetting and the seriousness of industry in tackling global warming. If you are in Mr. Batchelor's set 1 you will be discussing this next lesson.

New coastline for Dubai

2007-01-16T13:27:00.000Z

This image comes from Google Earth and shows the incredible new developments along the Dubai coastline. Can you spot Palm 1 and the larger Palm 2 developments?
How did they get their names and what impact could this have on the eco system?
P.S. Anyone spot a more familiar shape in the development to the right of the picture?

Year 7: Global Warming

2007-01-14T20:25:00.000Z

We will soon be starting to look at Global Warming and how this is linked to our unsustainable lifestyles in countries such as our own. We will start to look at sustainable and unsustainable ways of leading our lives. A good starting point is to assess our own impact on the planet. I gave myself a shock today when I used this site. According to the calculator if everyone lived their life like me then we would need 1.9 planets! I wonder how well you will do, perhaps you could post a comment when you find out.

Year 7: Endangered Species Project

2007-01-11T20:42:00.000Z

It is time to start your Endangered Species Project. Full details of what you need to do can be found here. You need to think up your enquiry questions first, remember to relate these to the title of your project. Next you need to choose your endangered animal, a good starting point for this can be found here. Start your research now as we have limited time to complete the work. Remember the points we covered in class about researching using the internet and remember to say where your information comes from and include lots of geographical skills.

General: Man from the OS again

2007-01-08T20:14:00.000Z

The nice man who came from the OS last week has sent us a map showing the work he was doing. Obviously for copywrite reasons we can't publish it here, though if you want to see it pop into the geography room. Thankyou man from the OS!

Eco Club: New website

2007-01-05T15:28:00.000Z

Because things are developing so fast with the Eco Club and are set to change even faster over the next term we have started a new blog and website. At the moment its rather emty but we are hoping that it will be you the pupils who will provide the content. Check back over the coming term to see this site evolve. Use the links list to your right to take a look at the site so far.

Year 6: Agents in Action

2007-01-03T21:13:00.000Z

Your next clue "sounds like 415104". It follows from the last clue and will form a secret message when you solve the whole series.

General: The man from the OS

2007-01-03T13:30:00.000Z

Ever wondered how the Ordnance Survey keep their maps up to date? Today the man from the OS arrived to survey our new school building. He was using the ultimate in GPS systems accurate to a few mm. One problem though; the roof overhang was getting in the way of the satellites. We can look forward now to our school appearing as it now is on future maps of the area.

General: Listen again to the Today programme

2007-01-01T20:28:00.000Z

The chances are that you missed todays Today programme on Radio 4 edited by geographers for today only. It's not too late to listen again though by clicking here. there was some great geography discussed, especially good for year 7 Environmental Issues in the last 10 minutes.

General: Radio 4 Today on New Years Day

2006-12-31T14:16:00.000Z

So what do you listen to in the morning? If its not the Radio 4 Today programme then its well worth your while retuning for your early morning wake up on New Years Day. A team of Geographers won the chance to edit the New Years day Today programme, well worth a listen for a Geographical perspective on the news. Wishing you all a very happy New Year and hoping that your celebrations are not spoiled by the low pressure system sweeping in tonight (I notice some of you Year 8s included this in your weather tests for question 9!).

Year 7: Environmental Issues Seasonal Changes?

2006-12-28T19:42:00.000Z

As the Snowdrops come through in my garden this Christmas I'm still waiting for the last of the leaves to fall from two of the trees. Clearly this has been exceptionally warm Autumn but is this a one off, part of the normal difference between each year or are we starting to see the effects of global warming? This has got me thinking and so today I looked through my photos for a comparison. the two photos above were taken from more or less the same spot (The Strid in the Yorkshire Dales and at the same time of year in October (give or take about 4 days) however I took one in 2005 and the other one in 2006. Can you spot any differences or work out which is which and why? I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to whether this is evidence of global warming or not and I'll be interested to hear your views in the new term. Do you have any evidence about this Autumn being warm or even evidence that points the other way? If so leave a comment or bring it into school.

General: A Christmas Cracker

2006-12-26T14:33:00.000Z

Came across one of the best cracker jokes ever (geographical of course). "What has a bed but never sleeps and a mouth but never speaks?" Click here when you give up and want the answer (those penguins have been busy again). Thanks must go to whoever provided the crackers for the Christmas dinner at Little Hill School for this.

Year 8: Economic Activities

2006-12-26T14:21:00.000Z

So you've got all your Christmas presents now but have you thought about where they were made? fifty years ago the chances would have been that most if not all your gifts would have been made in the UK, this is no longer the case, in fact are any of them made in the UK at all? Now its Boxing Day just check each of your presents for where they were made, make a list if you get time and note down how many items are made in China. Now ask yourself the question why is this and what effect does this have on the environment? We will discuss this when you return.

Happy Christmas

2006-12-23T21:10:00.000Z

OK perhaps a little early for this, but since I'm not planning too many more updates before Christmas Day I'll tell you that the penguins at the South Pole have been very busy getting a Christmas greeting ready just for you. After Christmas check back here as there will be the next exciting challenge for all you agents in action in year 6, some environmental food for thought for year 7 and a worthwhile Boxing Day activity for year 8, I'll think of something for all of you in year 9 so you don't feel left out. Until then have lovely Christmas.

Tracking Santa

2006-12-22T21:47:00.000Z

Following your attempts to plan Santa's route on Christmas Eve find out which of your routes he really follows on the Norad tracking Santa site. The fun starts Christmas Eve.

Year 8 Weather Benefits and Hazards Project

2006-12-07T20:03:00.000Z

It is not too late to add items to your projects, you may have noticed the London Tornado in the news today.

Comments

2006-12-07T19:55:00.000Z

Thankyou to those of you who have left comments. It is always great to get comments especially if they add something to the blog item and we read every single one of them. Some of you may have noticed that your comments have not made it to the blog and this is because we have two simple rules. The first is that your comments must be in properly formed English and not in SMS text message speak or slang. The second is that you don't leave your full name, (initials would be ideal) this is to protect you as we cannot control who views this blog. This said we really like your comments so keep them coming.

Year 6 Agents in Action

2006-12-07T10:38:00.000Z

Here is the solution to the earlier message. You needed to use the map to crack it (6 figure grid reference).

Year 8 Weather Benefits and Hazards Project

2006-12-01T11:09:00.000Z

You may want to take a look at this breaking news to include in your projects.

Year 7 Make your own Favella!

2006-12-01T10:44:00.000Z

Just one example of your own attempts to build a Favella house.