Happy New Year

Hope this is a good one folks, no matter what it brings. Be positive everyone. Here's how they did it in Oz.One or two fireworks!

Norad

Just a reminder to visit the Norad tracking Santa site here to see all the amazing places he visits. No speeding Santa!
noradsanta

Santa and 24s Jack Bauer

Just too cute for words

Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody

Ok now I should be asking why you are watching this and not revising for the S4 prelim tomorrow? Maybe a little breather? Keep it short.

Extreme Environments

Anyone remember why this is wrong? Keep revising after you have seen this. Use the S1weather tag on the right. Don't forget depressions and anticyclones in Britain too.

Earthquake revision

Nice link here to a video clip showing earthquake damage in Kobe, Japan. You might want to do this for your homework activity.
Link here.

Example of home made tornado

Can you do better?

Film your own example and bring it in. We will judge which is better.

Cactus Adaptation

Camel adaptation

Revision resources - Online Geography

A great site here summarising a lot of the stuff you will need for prelims and the final exams. Not all the sections are the same as ours as this is from the English GCSE system rather than Standard Grades but there is still a heck of a lot to keep you busy revising and taking new notes.
Link here

Reduce Reuse Recycle

Thanks to @mclaughlin_aj on twitter for this tip off.

Twister

Wizard of Oz link

Some good pictures in this one.

China changes the Weather-possibly.....

The snow that fell on Beijing last week was the heaviest for many years. It was also, China claims, man-made. Some areas of farmland in the north of China were suffering because of drought. So on Saturday night China's meteorologists (weather experts) fired 186 explosive rockets with chemicals to "seed" clouds and encourage snow to fall. The US has tried this in California. The chemicals fired into the sky, usually dry ice or silver iodide, are supposed to provide a surface for water vapour to form rain. But there is little evidence that it works – after all, how do we know it would not have rained anyway? Such doubts have not stopped China claiming tha they did control the weather. Officials said the blue skies that were over Beijing's parade to celebrate 60 years of communism were a result of cloud-seeding. In 2008, more than 1,000 rockets were fired to ensure a dry night for last year's Olympic opening ceremony. As interest grows, so does concern about whether such techniques, known as geoengineering, are good for the planet and humans. "If climate change turns ugly, then many countries will start looking at desperate measures," says an energy expert ." Geoengineering worries experts for two reasons. First, the massive side effects; what it could do to the world's rainfall, for example. Second, once started, geoengineering would probably have to be continued, as stopping could bring lots of changes in climate.
With a lot of potential disasters some say, there must be a law against geoengineering. What do you think?

Underwear and the box

The BBC Box has arrived back in the UK. It left Scotland full of whisky and travelled the world. The recession hit the journey too. Listen to the story here.

Fighting Malaria

A good site here mentioned in Ollie Bray's blog here. This is a topic covered by Higher and Intermediate geography. Well woth a read. link here.

Just because.....

I can

Tornado in a bottle experiment

One for S1 to try before we start the next unit on Weather extremes. Make sure it doesn't leak or you make a real mess in the kitchen - no irn bru please!

Chocolate week

It's Chocolate Week, in case you needed an excuse for more chocolate. Here’s some information about different types we have mentioned in class.
• Traidcraft has been fighting poverty through trade, with all its profits going back to the producers. It has made a commitment to convert to sustainable palm oil for all of its products. Good news for the orang utangs.
• Divine Chocolate Kuapa Kokoo, the farmers' co-operative that produces the cocoa for Divine.
Outside of these ethical leaders, the chocolate trade is anything but sweet. More than a third of cocoa traded globally comes from Ivory Coast recently 54 children were rescued from slave labour, from its plantations. Violence in the country since 2002 has also been called the "chocolate war, with hundreds dying in conflicts over the cocoa trade.
In February, the Gates Foundation pledged £14.4m to examine conditions in the west African trade. Hershey, Kraft Foods and Mars have pledged a further £26.3m to the project. And since Cadbury's Dairy Milk brand went Fairtrade – things are perhaps looking up for these children and adults.
Chocolate is a good example of how ethical consumption can change things in the world. Even before Dairy Milk's decision sales of Fairtrade chocolate in the UK grew from £1m in 1998 to £26.8m in 2008. Cadbury's will be supplied by Kuapa Kokoo, the co-op that co-owns Divine. If it hadn’t been for Divine spending years working with farmers and educating people like us about this issue, there's no way Cadbury's could have changed to Fairtrade.

Happy ending?

Thanks to Tony Cassidy on twitter for this one.

Is there a happy ending?........All depend on you.

Population Satistics explained

Just a wee video here which explains things quite clearly for Higher.
Population growth explained

Earthquakes

I have been really behind this week and haven't blogged about the dreadful events in Samoa and Indonesia. Tweets taking up too much of my time these days! Here is a brief summary of the events. Thousands of people may have died in remote areas when a powerful earthquake struck Sumatra. Australian, British, Japanese and South Korean rescuers have arrived in Indonesia and European countries and Russia are also sending help. As usual lots of fantastic info on the BBC website on this week’s activities. See link here. S2 in particular should look at this as we will be examining this over the next few months. Some short videos on this here too from the BBC.

Moments after the Sumatra quake
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8287159.stm
Whole areas flattened by quake
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8288588.stm
Inside a destroyed village in Sumatra
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8288644.stm
Close to the epicentre in Sumatra
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8288227.stm

Limestone coastal erosion

Nice example here of erosion at the coast and of how limestone reacts naturally to water.

These 12 rocks are named after the Apostles in the Bible but the name is not strictly true now. Can you find out how many are left? They are in the Port Campbell National Park near Melbourne, Australia.

Fairtrade chocolate

Swap your choc to Fairtrade choc

Continents song

The continents song
Feel free to sing along Carrick kids. Thanks to Tony Cassidy via twitter.

Or the hip hop version here. This does the oceans too.Which do you prefer?

New blog

The pupils who were in London this week might want to look at the new blog with a selection of photos of out trip on it. see link here....
http://carrick-marrlondon.blogspot.com

Fair Trade chocolate

Bit of fun here for S2

Palm Oil Campaign

Puppets discuss latitude and longitude

Where is Matt?

This has being doing the rounds for a while but we will use it in class this week.

Have you got the Power?

Not geography but it made me laugh again.

Travel

Is this the new way to travel?

Not sure it is a good way to get to school. Saves fossil fuels? What powers the hoses though?

Alan?

Bit of a laugh before you guys come back to school.

Thanks to Liz Smith on twitter for this one.

Revision site

All you ever wanted to be up to date with Geography. See this site here for lots of links to other blogs and map bits and pieces. Good to dip into regularly. Don't follow the example of the picture here!!!!
http://geography.alltop.com/

Climate scientists warn of wild weather in the year ahead as El Niño starts

Drought, floods and other extreme events to increase. El Niño - "the child" in Spanish - was named by fishermen in Peru and Ecuador (South America) because the phenomenon arrives at Christmas there. It is part of a natural weather cycle that happens approximately every 3-7 years and affects weather across the world for a year. It is caused by changes in temperatures of the ocean, with the first sign being warming in the Pacific Ocean. El Niño is also strongly linked to droughts in Africa, Australia and Asia, and wetter-than-normal weather in other areas like USA. The last major El Niño in 1998 killed over 2,000 people and caused billions of dollars worth of damage to crops. 2009 has already been marked by an unusual weather patterns in SE Asia, and droughts and major floods in Australia, the US, China and Latin America. Read the rest of this Guardian article here. There is also a good Interactive way to learn about this phenomenon here.

Traffic solutions in Tokyo

Thanks to Val Vannet for finding this one. One way to maximise the numbers on a train.

Ways to use a map.

Thanks to Tony Cassidy and Victoria Ellis via twitter for this one. I want to do the sand dunes surfing bit. I know….. not a pretty sight but lots of fun! Do you think this will help get a good pass at Standard grade or Higher?

Fairtrade bananas

Short animation explaining how Fairtrade works and helping to dispel some common misconceptions. Bernadette and Carlos – 2 bananas discuss this issue.

Message from a BBC newsreader - George Alagiah on Fair trade

Results Day

I hope many of you are happy bunnies today having received that dreaded envelope. Well done to those who did better than you expected. Of course I never doubted you could do it !

Wet July 2009

Just a bit of proof from the BBC and Met Office that we have had a wet July with less sun than average this year. Read the rest of this article here and see where the West of Scotland is in the league table compared to other parts of the UK. The North of Scotland was better off than us when examining the hours of sunshine. Right I'm off to the Orkneys now! I always loved it there as all my classes know. Click the graph for a link to the BBC article on this.

Shanghai now wants a 'two-child policy'

Couples who were both only children, which includes most of the city's young adults, are allowed a second child. There are too many old people in the city and fewer people to look after them. There is a similar problem in Europe. The many only children of China have earned the nickname of "little emperors" as they are very spoiled.
China's birth-control policies have been hugely controversial in other countries and even in China itself, as enforcement has involved forced abortions and other abuses.
It has also been blamed for a gender imbalance, as a traditional preference for boys has persuaded some parents to abort girl babies. In other words more boys are being born than girls and this is now causing problems when boys cannot find a wife in some areas. Read the rest of this BBC article here. Look at sme of the links on this BBC page too as they are very seful for Int 2 and Higher.

Earthquake moves New Zealand towards Australia

A massive earthquake last week has brought New Zealand closer to Australia, scientists say. it was a 7.8 magnitude quake. The quake was powerful enough to generate a small tsunami with a wave of one metre (3ft) recorded on the west coast of New Zealand. It was New Zealand's biggest earthquake in 78 years. New Zealand frequently suffers earthquakes because it sits on the meeting point of the Australian and Pacific continental plates. Read the rest of this BBC article here.

Swine Flu

No comment. “Thanks” to Alan Parkinson on SLN for this one! Silly season continues with a bit of Billy Joel in there as well..

Moon Landing 40 years on

Confession – yes I do remember this. I was very, VERY young at the time and I was forced to stay up to watch it in the middle of the night. I’m glad now my parents made me watch. History can almost be as good as Geography sometimes!!!

Global Warming

Nice video here from the Osocio blog. Makes you think – I hope.

Australian town bans bottled water

People of an Australian town have voted to ban the sale of bottled water. They are possibly the first in the world to do this. Bottled water today is often criticised as an environmental menace, with bottles filling up landfills and requiring lots of energy to produce and transport. To prevent a loss of profit in the town's shops that sell bottled water, they suggested they instead sell reusable bottles for about the same price. Residents will be able to fill the bottles for free at public fountains, or pay a small amount to fill them with filtered water. Last year, students at Leeds University voted for a ban on bottled water at the university's shops, but no UK village, town or city has yet followed in its footsteps. Read the rest of this Guardian article here.

Water resources!!!!

Just too cute for words. This is the silly season remember.

Nearly time to go.

Nice reminder here from a colleague of this use of Google earth Click the pic below to see our message.

Volcanoes starter

Thanks to GeoDave on SLN for this wee starter movie. Watch out for me strutting my stuff at the end!

All over

For those of you who I didn't see today, I hope you feel OK about the Geography exams. Highers seemed especially pleased. I thought it was a good paper for us as well. S grades -oh dear the least I say about the General paper, the better. Haven't had a chance to examine all the Credit yet. No doubt some bits will have caused a problem but I'm sure you all coped. All exams are nearly over and the new timetables start soon. See you back on the 8th June folks! Good luck to all S5 and S6 pupils leaving this summer. Pop in and visit at a later date. As you know I am always busy but still keen to see you nontheless.

EMDC or ELDC?

I know I have posted this before but I think considering the post below it is relevant to put this in again. Love the fact that the educators are almost as good as chimpanzees! No comment please from you Carrick lot I may throw a banana at you!

HIV rates of spread in the world

Thanks to Richard Allaway for this video. This is a great piece of revision for Higher and Int 2 Development and Health. Brilliant reminder of how useful Gapminder is when you look carefully.

Plastic Bags

Love this video. From Osocio

Weathering Introduction

Swine Flu

Thanks to Alan Parkinson over at Living Geography for highlighting this one. Interesting for Int 2 Development and Health and even Higher (loosely).

Carrick is Quaking up!

Can't say more at the moment but Carrick will be involved in a great project recording earthquakes from around the world soon. We hope this will be a really exciting thing for pupils and will involve Geography and Science together. Have a good holiday weekend everyone.

Google Alphabet

Article here from the Mail to show all the letters of the alphabet in places on Google Earth. Appealed to me anyway. What do you think? Link to original on the image above.

Go-ahead for carbon-capture power stations

Confession before we start this one. I really don't know much about this at all but I think it is something we are going to be hearing a lot in the future. Better get learning! Four new coal plants could be built before 2020 and their emissions reduced. Apparently each new power station must be fitted with technology to trap / store their carbon dioxide underground. Does this make them safe /better? I'm not sure and very suspicious. It has the potential to cut the CO2 output from a power station by up to 90 per cent. In 2008 coal power stations provided 31 per cent of the UK's electricity, with around a third of the coal coming from the UK. A lot of the coal though comes from other countries like Russia and Britain doesn't want to rely on other countries too much for this. (Can you work out why? ) Britain though has lots of coal left under the ground and perhaps we need to use it to stop relying on foreign nations. Ayrshire could play an important role in this in the future. Think of the huge opencast mines we have already in Ayrshire. Will this mean more jobs here? But what about the pollution? This 90% redection is only theoretical and what happens if it doesn't work properly? Will we end up in the position when we get jobs at the price of pollution? Read the complete articles on this from the Independent here and here.

World rivers in trouble

Nice map here from the Guardian showing this issue. See here. This map shows the change in run-off worked out from records worldwide between 1948 and 2004, with blue shades indicating more water and reddish colors less water. This really is climate change "in your face". look at the UKs plus figure and remember the flooding problems we have had in our country in recent years. Some of these have been written on this blog. Do a quick search at the top on flooding. As this article says though the worst areas affected are in Africa and water may be the cause of the next war.

Amazing world

Some fantastic pictures here of out planet. Think of Wall E when you look at one picture in particular. For Carrick pupils - there is a prize if you can tell me which picture is the relevant one on Monday. Open to all year groups.

World’s rivers are drying up.

Water levels in some of the world's important rivers have dropped by a huge amount over the past 50 years. This is partly due to climate change and will become even more important as the population increases in the future. Read more here and /or try the water quiz here.

Desertification

Desertification summed up
video here to help with this section. Thanks to sln contributor - Cindy for the linkWatch out for the “magic stones” and no I won’t be pronouncing the French bit in class!!

Survivor rescued 42 hours after Italian quake

Officials say 260 people are now known to have died in Monday's earthquake and about 28,000 are homeless. Aftershocks continue to hit the region. Amazingly a woman was pulled alive from the rubble of the Italian earthquake 42 hours after it smashed central Italy. Watch the video here on this. Here is a CNN piece on the aftermath and effect of the aftershocks in Italy. Link here with good photos of all the aftershocks and rescue attempts. Some spectacular photos from the BBC here also and lots of links on this page too.

Earthquake hits central Italy

The earthquake measured 6.3 on the richter scale and struck at 3.30am. Most people were in their beds. Watch the video here to see the rescue dogs working and some of the 10,000 homes damaged. At the moment they think over 50 people have died but this total may not be accurate. Can you think why? It lasted about 30 seconds only but look at the destruction! The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake's epicentre was believed to be about 60 miles (95 km) from Rome and that its depth was 6.2 miles (10 km). Earthquakes can be particularly dangerous in parts of Italy because so many buildings are centuries old. Hospitals appealed for help from doctors and nurses from all over Italy. The smell of gas filled some parts of the mountain towns and villages as mains ruptured.
In Rome, which is rarely hit by earthquake activity, people were woken up by the quake, which rattled furniture and swayed lights in most of central Italy.

The BBC reports here

Earthquakes in Action

I spent a good day yesterday with the Doc and Mrs Mac in Edinburgh at a launch by the British Geological Survey of the School Seismology Project showing simple machines which can be used in schools to measure earthquakes. These should be a little more accurate however than the ancient Chinese seismometer above. It has great potential for us and we are really excited about the possibilities we can roll out from this. Even if we aren't fortunate enough to get one given to us, we hopefully can apply for some funding to go ahead with this project. More here. I think S2 and Int 2 would get a lot from it. We were shown some simple methods of measuring the sound of an earthquake and identifying exacltly where in the world it happened and also how to use jelly to see how strong it was! More on this later.

It was also good to meet others from around the country interested in these things and to put a face to the Odblog author - Kenny O'Donnell. Hopefully we can collaborate and get a few kids talking together on a Glow meet once things are a bit quieter and the technology is all up and running. I did warn him that I'm rubbish at all the techy stuff!

How to make a house virtually worthless.

Twenty years ago the house above was about 500 metres from the sea. Now it is only 65 m from the 80ft high cliffs at Happisburgh, Norfolk. The reason? - 'chronic coastal erosion'. Happisburgh has fallen victim to 'managed retreat', under which the Government is saving money by surrendering some areas to the sea. Read the whole article here.

South Downs becomes a National Park

This beautiful area of Britain has been made a national park today. The new South Downs national park will spread across Sussex and Hampshire. A lo of the land within the new park was already protected from development because it was classed as an area of outstanding natural beauty. Today's decision makes the South Downs England's 9th national park, bringing the total of areas protected as national parks to 10, including the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, which have equivalent status but are not quite national parks. Scotland has 2 national parks – Cairngorms and Loch Lomond. The BBC has a few pieces on this here too.There are some beautiful pictures also of this are here.

How did Earth Hour look?

Earth Hour 2009- Water Cube And Birds Nest Stadium's Lights Go Off

Malaysia switches off - Petronas Tower

Australia and New Zealand lead the way for Earth Hour 2009

Dubai makes a new World

Here are acouple of pictures from the Mail showing how the credit crunch seems to have missed out this part of the planet. It is rumoured that famous sportsmen and actors have bought some island. Read the rest here. If nothing else it shows how fantastic satellites are as this is the only way this amazing engineering exercise can be seen clearly.

Earth Hour tonight!

At 8.30pm, people, businesses and important buildings around the world will switch off their lights for an hour – WWF’s Earth Hour. Who will be involved? Nelson’s Column, the Forth Bridge, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town and Sydney Opera House. The London Eye, too, will be switched off for the hour. Even the pyramids in Egypt are to be plunged into darkness for an hour.

A little disappointing to see our authority hasn't signed up - lets just hope it is an oversight! Time yet. See the WWF site for more info and the films below.

Here’s the Birds nest stadium in Beijing 2009 as a starting point.

This shows how this idea is now global.

Join in with this and support the world tackle global warming.

World map

Nice site I meant to show you earlier. Highlighted by Alan Parkinson over at Living Geography, this is interesting. Link here.

Street View

Many of you will know about this already but here is a nice short introduction about it. More later - I promise.

Tonga volcanic eruption

New land is made. This truly is "Geography in your face!"

The powerful underwater volcano that erupted in the south Pacific this week has created a new island off the coast of Tonga. The eruption happened about 39 miles north-west of the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa. We don't really know if this new land will remain but it will be interesting to see what happens. This isn't the first time this has happened. See if you can find out about Surtsey in Iceland. Here is a starting point - Surtsey link.Hate to say this but this is perfect timing for Int 2 starting Environmental Hazard next week as a little "extra" in preparation for the exam whilst the Highers cover the Biosphere section. Click the photo link above for a short BBC video on this topic.

Extreme farming

OK this is a bit rude in bits but it made me laugh. Don't think this is all real but who cares?

Desert animal adaptation

Desert Animal adaptation
Thanks to amybee on SLN for this one!

Antarctica

Antarctic follow up for S2 who have looked at this briefly. Another star feature trom Tony Cassidy.

Geography - Why is it relevant to me?

Nice movie here from Tony Cassidy. I’ll forgive the spelling mistake of “effect” rather than “affect” because it is so good!

Higher/ Int 2 Industry

Some extracts here from the BBC site. Make sure you look at this please to supplement and remind you of work we do in class.
Industrial Change in WalesEbbw Vale has changed dramatically. Where now lies a barren empty valley once stood the largest steelworks in Europe. See the BBC site here.

The story of the South Wales valleys is a picture of a world that no longer exists. Once a working mining industry, the region now experiences unemployment and poverty. The one colliery still open is Big Pit. It's a museum and tourist attraction.

One hundred and fifty years ago the landscape of South Wales was transformed by the coal industry. From the air you can see the industrial legacy.

There is also a nice summary, especially revision of S grade work and introducing call centres for Intermediate geography. Link here.

Glaciation revision

Glaciation Basic features
Thanks to Mark Cowan for sharing his geography poems – anything that helps you learn this stuff folk! See his blog here http://poemsforgeography.blogspot.com

Is this you?

From Mark Cowan a lovely poem for you to think about. Is this you or anyone you know? What do your prelim results show? Oh dear too heavy for the weekend – sorry!

Belated Valentine's day

Thanks to Miss Ellis at Geogtastic for this one. Isn't google earth cool?

They are preparing for us visiting in June.

Thought I'd show you what Disney in Paris is sorting out for us. Looks as though it will be a good school trip folks! Thanks to Tony Cassidy and Ollie Bray for highlighting this one.

Favela Life - A positive view

Palm Oil destroys huge land areas and their wildlife

Population of the UK hits 60 million

Find more videos like this on Key Stage 3 Geography Ning

Protecting glacier from global warming

Find more videos like this on Key Stage 3 Geography Ning

Recycle video

Find more videos like this on Key Stage 3 Geography Ning

Food miles video

Find more videos like this on Key Stage 3 Geography Ning

Hoderness coastal erosion

Find more videos like this on Key Stage 3 Geography Ning

Water Cycle Songs

Water Cycle Song
Really “cheesy” this one!

Water Cycle Rap

Groundwater Animation Song

India’s disappearing slums

Not because they are improving them, however but because the authorities want the land for other things such as building roads or new hotels before the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Is this the answer? Some are provided with new homes but the majority don’t get any help at all. The authorities say they are there illegally and should go.

Tundra song

Thanks Rebecca for telling me about this one. Can't embed it but here's the link. Go youtube it folks!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9IjGNJPNyzU

Global warming – yes or no?

Global dimming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_dimming
Fossil fuel use, as well as producing greenhouse gases, creates other by-products. These by-products are also pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, soot, and ash. These pollutants however, also change the properties of clouds.
Clouds are formed when water droplets are seeded by air-borne particles, such as pollen. Polluted air results in clouds with larger number of droplets than unpolluted clouds. This then makes those clouds more reflective. More of the sun’s heat and energy is therefore reflected back into space.
This reduction of heat reaching the earth is known as Global Dimming.
Impacts of global dimming: millions already killed by it?
Global warming results from the greenhouse effect caused by, amongst other things, excessive amounts of greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere from fossil fuel burning. It would seem then, that the other by-products which cause global dimming may be an ironic savior.
A deeper look at this, however, shows that unfortunately this is not the case.
Health and environmental effects
The pollutants that lead to global dimming also lead to various human and environmental problems, such as smog, respiratory problems, and acid rain.
The impacts of global dimming itself, however, can be devastating.
Global dimming can be dealt with by cleaning up emissions.
However, if global dimming problems are only addressed, then the effects of global warming will increase even more.
Horizon Video on this topic here. –beware folks it is 48 minutes long!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2058273530743771382
If this is too long then here’s a shorter one

Climate change from the BBC
Good for the new additional section to Higher Geography on the impact of global warming this year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/6528979.stm

Fairtrade water project in Argentina. Water from wine!!!

A lot of subtitles here but this is a good video to watch. It is short folks! Don’t think I am encouraging you to go and drink wine. NO. Adults only please. This does show the power of cooparative work and fair-trade.

Fairtrade from mktlr on Vimeo.

Rainforest to save lovers of chewing gum?

A bonus of the new gum for Britain's local authorities is that it will be biodegradable and start to break down almost immediately after use, potentially saving councils millions in pavement cleaning bills. The chicozapote tree is about to tapped for its resin. It doesn’t do as much damage as deforestation for farming or building and may provide jobs for some people. You can read more here and see a slide show with commentary here.