Ms. Garratt’s Blog
Here you’ll find a range of resources to help you get the most from your PSHE lessons. I’ve included links to recommended websites as well as a range of study materials to help you become increasingly independent and successful learners. If you need help come and see me or contact me through this Blog.Archive for Environment
3 Princes, Daniel Craig, Robin Williams, The Dalai Lama and a Computer Generated Frog
Watching the early evening news tonight I picked up on the fact that Prince Charles has been filmed with a very fetching large green frog – I assumed it was the real thing but not so – and has persuaded others including his two sons, Daniel Craig and The Dalai Lama no less, to be similarly filmed, complete with the attendant frog.
It’s all to do with raising people’s awareness about environment issues, in particular our care of the rain forests. Apparently you can find the video footage on My Space and possibly on YouTube as well. Can the first person to find it, send the link through as a comment to this Post? I have an evening of marking ahead of me and would appreciate some help with this one!
Thanks
Carbon Capture and Storage – Useful for Section D of the Religious Studies Examination
carbon-capture-and-storage-observer-editorial
The attached file is a copy of an article that appeared in The Observer a few days ago. Take a few minutes to read it through – it will mean you can learn/revise the basic principles of Carbon Capture and Storage and make brief reference to it when you write about what can be done to reduce CO2 emissions. It’s interesting that the British Government has made this commitment in respect of building new coal-fired power stations at this time. I guess we’re likely to hear more about Carbon Capture in the future. Who knows, you might be able to tell your grandchildren that you remember how it all began…
Barack Obama – Some Perspectives
This file contains a summary of some recent legislation that will be brought into law by the Obama Administration. I’ve highlighted some extracts that you might be able to refer to in Section D of the summer examination.
Guardian Interview With James Lovelock in 2008
In case you don’t get to the i-Player interview with James Lovelock, this file contains the text of an interview with him that must have been done last year. I’ve highlighted a few of the sections. I suggest you make a one sentence summary of the key ideas and learn them. At the very least in the exam be able to say that because of human activity, in Lovelock’s view, the world is now damaged beyond its capacity to repair itself (his Gaia Theory).
James Lovelock Talking About Environment Issues (Be Quick or You’ll Miss It!)
I listened to an interview with James Lovelock on Radio 4′s Material World programme on 26th February. It’s available to listen to for a week via i-Player. This is the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hr41m/MaterialWorld260209
It’s well worth listening to. He’s an independent scentist, well-known for his Gaia Theory. His latest book has just been published. It’s called The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning: Enjoy It While You Can.
In the interview he talks about climate change and global warming in apocalyptic terms. If you think that the IPCC (Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change) view is depressing, check out Lovelock ! If he’s right, the world as you know it will have changed immeasurably by 2040.
Professor Chris Field on Climate Change
I downloaded this article written by Ben Leach and published on 15th February 2009, from the Internet. It’s the best summary I could find. Referring to the key statements made here will help you produce a good answer to the Section D Planet Earth examination question.
Climate change will be more devastating than predicted, one of the world’s leading environmental scientists has warned.
Global warming is likely to accelerate at a much faster pace and cause more environmental damage than previously anticipated, said professor Chris Field of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Higher temperatures could ignite tropical forests and melt the Arctic tundra, releasing billions of tons of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, he claimed.
Professor Field, of Stanford University, said: ‘There is a real risk that human-caused climate change will accelerate the release of carbon dioxide from forest and tundra ecosystems, which have been storing a lot of carbon for thousands of years.
‘We don’t want to cross a critical threshold where this massive release of carbon starts to run on autopilot.’
Professor Field was speaking ahead of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago, where he will present his findings.
He added: ‘We now have data showing that from 2000 to 2007 grrenhouse gas emissions increased far more rapidly than we expected, primarily because developing countries, like China and India, saw a huge upsurge in electric power generation, almost all of it based on coal.’
He warned that the trend is likely to continue if more developing countries turn to coal and other carbon-intensive fuels to meet their energy needs.
Professor Field added: ‘Without effective action, climate change is going to be larger and more difficult to deal with than we thought. If you look at the set of things that we can do as a society, taking aggressive action on climate seems like one that has the best possibility of a win-win. We really have very little time.’
The IPCC is one of the world’s leading climate change study centres.
Check out Chris Field on the Internet if you want to know more.
Checking Out the News to Write Great Exam Answers
I looked at the Google News Home Page when I came home tonight. At 6pm the lead story above the line was ‘Pope sends sympathies; aid flows for fire victims’ while the UK’s lead story was titled ‘Winter Storm; Floods Join Snow’.
Always check current news stories and make very brief notes on appropriate ones that you can cite as supporting evidence for what you say in your examination answers.
Over a few weeks you should be able to gather plenty of examples to support your answers, particularly to questions on the Suffering and Planet Earth sections of the paper. Remember examiners will be very impressed to see that you can make clear connections between what’s going on in the world and the questions they set.
Try summarising the key facts for a current news story and send them through to this Blog so they can be shared with other students preparing for the R.S. Exam. I’ll count contributions as homework. It could be a bit like freerice.com – if lots of people do a little bit and share their efforts, we could get a lot done and everyone could benefit. A couple of students have already promised that they’ll have a go at summarising a current news story. See what you can do.
Snow Sculpting Yet?
Built that snowman yet? There are some interesting examples down our road including the 7 foot tall one that’s very impressive and has mysteriously moved from the middle of the road to the end of a garden.
The forecast says that it’ll stay cold and there may be more snow so you’ll still got time to make something. Who knows, it may be another 20 years before we get this much snow again.
Take a photo of you and your creation (and be creative!) and I’ll sort out a small prize for the best one.
Make a Snowman for the Future
Take a break from doing what you’re doing. Go outside and make a snowman. Take a photograph of you and it together. Date the photo and put it somewhere safe.
50 years or so down the line you’ll be able to show the photo to your grandchildren who, depending on how climate change has or hasn’t progressed, may or may not know what snow is all about!
In all probability they won’t go to school as you know it, so you’ll also be able to tell them about the Snowdays you used to enjoy.
Chief Sealth’s Statement – An Early Statement on the Care of Our Planet
chief-sealths-seattles-statement
In class we’ve looked at Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and considered the points he makes about climate change. You’ve seen some sample Section D Planet Earth questions and have seen how reference to Al Gore’s documentary could help you produce a good quality, well-referenced answer in the examination.
The attached file contains a powerful statement made in 1854 by the Native American Indian Chief Sealth (sometimes called Chief Seattle). I’ve included a brief introductory note, but if you’re interested in finding out more about what led to Sealth speaking out in this way, ten minutes on the Internet will probably do it.
Read through the statement and highlight the most memorable phrases. What points of similarity do you see between what Sealth is talking about and what’s happening in our world today? Pick them out and highlight them in another colour.
Remember, making brief, direct and appropriate reference to what Sealth is concerned with in your Section D Planet Earth answer will impress the examiner and that’s what you want to do!
