To help you with your topic on Agriculture, here is the video cartoon that I have shown to you all regarding high-tech commercial pastoral farming. Look out for all the different negative as well as positive impacts of this practice
The Meatrix
For those who are fast-food 'junkies' and cannot live without your hamburgers, here's a little video on what goes on 'behind-the-scenes' ......
Blog Entries. I am very impressed with your creativity and punctuality in uploading your blog entries onto your respective class blogs. I am also very heartened with the fact that every group cooperates and no one messes up the blogs. =)
There are still a few groups that have not uploaded your entries and please do so as this will be counted in your project marks. Links. As promised, refer to the links section on the left to see the blogs of your fellow school mates, I hope that the entries that they have uploaded will be give you some ideas and be useful for your PW GY component.
The entries are only for your reference and please do not copy some other group's work totally. Integrity is a key word for all. Blazing Race. Your elder brothers and sisters in Sec 3 have just participate in an 'Amazing Race'-like event last Saturday. Although they had to go around Sg and race against time, I am very sure they enjoyed themselves and learnt a little bit more about the Geographical features around Singapore.
You may want to check out their photos :
http://blss3ecoregy.blogspot.com
Who knows, this might spark your interest in Geography even more and eventually take part in the next blazing race yourself! =)
Geography is All Around as long as you Open Your Mind to it.
If you are accessing this blog from a pc/laptop/netbook/phone that DOES NOT have a java software (the icon is an orange cup of coffee), then you are not able to view my twitter updates under the "Tweet with Me" column on the right.
As I have mentioned in class, Twitter is a very good site where you really can get real-time updates on geographical issues globally and I just did a fresh batch of updates on articles pertaining to the topics that you are studying now.
So,to solve this problem, I suggest you download Java @ http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp
This is a very safe software in which you will need anyways if you want to play all your free online games (those that are flash files) and practically watch most stuff. This is NOT a compulsory download and I will NOT be liable should anything unwanted happen to your pc/laptop.
Alternatively, you may follow my updates on geographical issues on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/divageographer
Remember : Geography is all around you - if you just open your mind to it. =)
Introduction to the Aswan High Dam (Re-cap) & Mini-Project
Last week, we watched an episode from Captain Planet regarding the positive and negative impacts of the Ganges River. I hope you are all entertained and yet learn something from that short cartoon video clip.
This week, I will be introducing to you the Aswan High Dam and will guide you on the mini-project that you are to do and present in week 4.
Take a look at this video below which gives a brief introduction to the dam. (you may want to turn down the volume because the video is very loud)
Mini-project task:
1) Each group is to conduct research on at least 2 uses and 2 problems of the dams 2) Each member of the group is to record your group's findings on the guided worksheet given by me. 3) Each group will be assigned either a 'use' or a 'problem' by me for your presentation in week 4. 4) The presentation consist of a 5 mins skit of the 'use' or 'problem' that has been assigned. 5) The marks for the presentation will add towards your CA.
Rubrics for marking
5 marks - Content of the skit presented (proper use of dialogues/situation to discuss problem or use)
5marks - Creativity and Effort in presentation (Use of props, reading from script, etc).
To help you with this task, below are a list of websites that you can access to find out more about the problems and uses:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam : Read up under 'Benefits' & 'Environmental & Cultural' problems
2) http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/byrnes-africa/KAYMUR/LINK.htm : Provides very good summary of the uses and problems
3)http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40203/Aswan-High-Dam: Scroll to 2nd half of the webpage which describes the uses and negative effects (problems) of the dam
4)http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/nile.htm: Scroll to 2nd half of the webpage to see the uses and negative effects of the dam
IF YOU NEED HELP IN ANY WAY FOR THIS PROJECT, LOOK FOR ME IN THE STAFFROOM ANYTIME AFTER 1240PM on WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS.
Below is a video from an episode of a cartoon that I used to watch when I was your age entitled "Captain Planet". (I knew I wanted to be a Geographer even at that age! =) )
Since we are doing on the Ganges River these 2 weeks and I have shown you a 'preview' of how important the river is to the people living in the area, I want you to watch the video and then think about the questions that come after.
We will discuss the questions in class and those who do not participate in this activity seriously will have 'coffee' with me after school later during the week.
Questions to think about:
1) What are some of the activities do the people do in the river? 2) What kind(s) of pollution is/are described in the clip? (water, air, land?) 3) Where do the pollution of the river come from? (the people? the factories? both? any others?)
My dear students, I know how much you all love to play online games so I present to you ... Miss Atikk's Guide to Online Educational Geography Games.
In this post, I will recommend to you a few online geography games which I personally find very entertaining and fun yet educational at the same time.. I will give you a screenshot, a short description of the game followed by the direct link (if available). I hope that by reading this post, you will take some time to try out these games and who knows, you might just enjoy them as much as I do! =)
Disclaimer: The games that I recommend below are only to be played AFTER you have completed all your homework, house work, revision for school and other chores. Also, these are games afterall and are in NO WAY to be used as a replacement to materials studied in school.
1) Geo Challenge on Facebook by Playfish
What is it? An application on facebook (that is why you need to have an account) where you can challenge your friends on their geographical knowledge of the world! The game goes by level where you will match flags, cities, natural & man-made landforms to their respective countries with the game getting harder and harder as you progress on.
Be warned, this game is SUPER addictive so please only play this game during your free time = after you have done all your homework, house work and revision for school work.
What is it? This is not exactly a 'game' but for those of you who are curious about the world and like to play games like The Sims, you will love Google Earth because it lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share with others. There's even a 'flight simulator' that you can download so you can pretend that you are flying high up in the clouds looking down all while being at home in front of your computer! =)
What is it? A website where educators create educational games & quizzes for students. There are a number of games and quizzes that you can try and I especially like the ones to do with matching the right definitions to the landforms and locating the various landforms around the world. Be warned that some of the quizzes are very tough and this website might be more useful for those who are doing revision on their work.
This blog has been created especially for you so that you are still able to learn, share and discuss geographical happenings/stories from around the world all in the comfort of your own home. =)
Before I go into the 'serious' things, , since we are geographers who care about the Earth and with the recent death of the King of Pop (MJ), I want to share with you this video:
TRIVIA QN: Can anyone tell me in which rainforest is the video taken (0:10-0:30)? =)
1) Home-based Learning Assignments
From time to time, I will put up assignments here as blog posts and you will be given ample time and clear instructions to complete the assignments before submitting them back to me (further instructions will be given in the blog post itself)
Failure to abide by the assignment due dates will mean remedial classes for all of us where we will all discuss together about how human beings can go about managing their environment better or the latest eco-friendly device that you have read/heard about. =)
2) News and Updates
If I do find interesting news and updates related to geography that I would like to share with you, I will also post them up here... for these posts, I would love to hear your thoughts and comments on them so do click on the comment button found at the bottom of the posts to share your view.
Note: All comments that you leave has to be constructive or related to the topic and do leave your name so that we will know who's making the comment. Any irrelevant comments or that with inappropriate words and content will be deleted.
3) Twitter Updates
You may have notice the sidebar with the line "Tweet with Me".. well, that is from the twitter programme that I am on and from time to time, it will be updated with what I find interesting in the world of geography. You are very much welcome to follow me on twitter and if you have any difficulties in understanding the programme, do come to me and I'll be glad to help you out! =)
My secondary school geog teacher once told me : "Knowledge is not just based on textbooks alone" and here I am sharing with you the same quote. For those very new to twitter, give it a try - you'll be amazed at the sheer amount of news and information that you learn about the world just from those 140character 'tweets'. =)
4) Questions or Queries
For other questions or queries that you have, it is best that you email me as I check my mail very frequently. You may do so at atikk.mekrat@gmail.com
Welcome to the Virtual Class for 1E/1N Geography students of Boon Lay Secondary School.
In a recent study, teenagers like yourselves are said to be spending an average of 31 hrs online every week!
So while you're busy chatting on msn or finding music videos on youtube, lets do some work for geog, shall we? =)
