CA Results and More!

Dear Students,


CA Results.
I am very pleased to tell you that most of you did well for the GY CA 4 this time round. I can see effort being put in to study for the test in most of you. Keep this up and you will reap what you sow at the end of Sec 4 and 5! =)


Blazing Race.
Your fellow schoolmates from the Core GY class 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 upcoming Humanities events yourself! =)

Sec 1 GY Projects.
The sec 1s have just completed a GY mini-project on rivers and have uploaded their findings on their own class blogs... although they are only sec 1s, I am very impressed with their work and you may want to encourage and view the works of your little brothers and sisters using the 'link' tabs on the left hand side of the blog :

http://blss1e1ngy.blogspot.com

Geography is All Around as long as you Open Your Mind to it.

Twitter Updates

Dear Students,

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. =)

Home-Based Learning : Week 3

Home-Based Learning : Term 3 Wk 3

Re-cap on Reasons for Variations in Global Food Consumption

The table below shows the variations (different amount) of food consumption in the world. (You may want to click on the image to have a clearer view).

Basically, the areas that are in bright yellow shows areas where the amount of food consumed per day is >3000 calories while the areas in dark greenish-yellow shows areas where the amount of food consumed per day is <2000 calories.



Question:

1) Describe the general trend between the areas with high calories consumed per day and the areas with very low calories consumed per day. [2m]

2) With reference to studies you have made (TB pg175-178), give 3 reasons why these differences in food consumption exist . [6m]

3) Describe 2 impacts that arise due to the variations in global food consumption. [4m]

Home-Based Learning : Week 2

Home-Based Learning: Term 3 Week 2

Re-cap on Consumption of Non-Staple Food

In week 1, you have learnt about the different levels of food consumption between the DCs and LDCs, the meaning of staple and non-staple food and why there is a change in food preferences globally.

The table below shows the changes in the consumption of non-staple food items.


Questions:

1) With reference to what you have studied in class (TB pg 172-174) , describe the changes in the amount of 'high-value food items' such as cheese and soft drinks in the 1970 and 1996 in USA.

2) Think about what the consequences (impacts) of these changes in the DCs and the LDCs are.

Starving Child Stalked by Vulture -- Term 3 Wk 1

As we are halfway through our chapter on Geography of Food, I would like you all to reflect again on the picture that I have shown you earlier at the start of this topic.

DESCRIPTION:

Starving Child Vulture

One photograph that has helped awaken the world about the effects of poverty in Africa is the one above showing a Sudanese child being stalked by a vulture nearby. It is quite obvious that the child was starving to death, while the vulture was patiently waiting for the toddler to die so he can have a good meal.

Nobody knows what happened to the child, who crawled his way to a United Nations food camp. Photographer Kevin Carter won a Pulitzer Prize for this shocking picture, but he eventually committed suicide three months after he took the shot.

Source: http://photosthatchangedtheworld.com/starving-child-vulture/


I want you think about this question:



1) Up until the present time, there still exist variations in food consumption between DCs and LDCs and so what are the impacts of this phenomenon? (please do not tell me you do not know what DCs and LDCs mean alright..)

Ms Atikk's Guide to Online Educational Geo Games.....

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.

Where to find? http://apps.facebook.com/geochallenge/?pf_ref=x1035


2) Google Earth by Google



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! =)

Where to find? http://earth.google.com/


3) Quia by Quia Web




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.


Where to find? http://www.quia.com/shared/geo/


And Viola! I hope you all enjoy this post... and we'll do something more serious in the next post! =)

Welcome!

Welcome to one and all!

Instructions to BLSS 3N Elective Geography Students


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