Sunday 27 March 2011

Using police.uk maps in a geography lesson

I have provided a lesson plan which has got some ideas on how to use the police.uk site in a geography lesson.

Here is a variety of other uses and ideas.

1. Get the uses from the Police themselves. On the site it will provide you with the police team in that local area searched from the home page which asks you for a post code or the place name. This could be as an introduction to the use of police.uk OR to demonstrate the geography skill of your classes get the students to demonstrate all the uses they have found and how they use it. Then evaluate this with how the Police use it. Students come show where they would station the offices in that area and compare this with where the Police actually locate them.

2. Field visit! When you look at the Police map they show you the level of crime at street level. However when I went on street view for the area I was interested low and behold the street view was not available for that street or the other 2 worst affected! TYPICAL. So how about getting the students to visit those sites and to analyse why that site is affected by crime and to take pictures to create their own in class street view of crime as a display!

3. Get students to update the 2011 police.uk site to incorporate the line graphs that the 2010 version had! http://maps.police.uk/ This will aid students to develop key geographical skills essential in geography. Students could then examine the 2 datas and evaluate the benefits/positives and costs/negatives of each map.

4. Students could analyse to see if trends appear. E.g. is one area only impacted by car crime, robbery, burglary etc. To aid students with this they could look at the mapzone GIS idea that Police use. Students could do a GIS project wit the data they have.

5. students examine the social media that their local force has that is linked to the police.uk site. E.g. Twitter, Facebook, youtube. The information that the social media sites contain is for the current month the maps are based on the previous month. Students can then on a google base map label the crimes in the current month and then evaluate this with the previous 3 months. Is crime getting worse or better?

police_uk_lesson_plan.doc Download this file

 

IPad2

Well I've had the iPad2 for 26 1/2 hours and it definitely is an improvement over the iPad1.

When I was in the queue in Newcastle Eldon Square at 3pm my partner asked me the simple but important question. "But why bother you've got the 'ipad'???

This made me actually sit down and think and evaluate why I actually had got a Bus into town to buy a piece of tech which I had already!?!? So I sat myself down (the queue wasn't moving and feet were hurting - trying to avoid Apple Deep Vein Thrombosis) and evaluated the pros and cons

Issues

The cons were clear. Price for a glorified YouTube machine (how partner has used ipad1) would be steep.

Still no USB port or Effective Microsoft office pack (keynotes etc are great but I'm thinking about those who will feel it is essential to have for compatibility issues.

The new cover at £35.00 is a bit too much of a gimmick at that price! Hunt around for a case. I've got a gimp case and found it to be great. Mind it doesn't offer the working stand support. I've found it a pain in the backside to get the apple one in the position i want so it's sat on a coffee table in my conservatory:(

Pros

The obvious pros with the ipad2 over the ipad1 are the cameras. They'll offer as an educational learning tool endless extra opportunities, e.g. iMovie a fantastic tool for creating a presentation with music, video transitions editing, blog pictures, videos, animations, fieldwork pictures, pictures to show students collaborating for display, evident collection to take pictures of good examples of work and bad ones to point out where to move on to with work etc etc

The speed compared to ipad1 is a very obvious improvement. I've held direct comparisons and have found going into YouTube and loading a video it takes about 4 seconds less. That doesn't sound that much but just count 4 seconds and imagine yourself sat there waiting for a website to load!

Download speed is again improved quite considerably about 5-10 seconds faster I've found.

The weight has definitely reduced so you don't get after an hour the feeling if 'oh I'd best put this down:(

I hope this has given you a bit of information on the pros and cons (limitations) of the new ipad2 compared to it's predecessor the ipad1.

Enjoy!

Friday 25 March 2011

Positive and negative effect of tourism in Thailand

This lesson we found out more negatives than positives in Thailand. One of the things we found out was that the bali bombings in Thailand caused a wider more negative effect this caused less people to visit. Another thing we found out was a disease called SARS and it was spreading around the globe.another negative effect is the smuggling of illegal trade and animals were trained to amuse people.positive things are the island is still foresting by 50percent . Also Thailand is close to the equator. This means it will be hot. Thailand has been increasing with 3.6 million tourist visiting which will make money for them.

Thursday 24 March 2011

Effects of Tourism on Thailand

A Students Geography Club Caldera Model Idea


A Students Caldera Model idea

 I love it when a student in geography club comes up with a lovely 'creative' idea.

He begins the model this lunchtime!

J Sayers

T:
M:
E: sayers@branksome.org.uk


 

liam pape caldera idea.doc Download this file

liam pape caldera idea sketch.doc Download this file

Tsunami model simulation edit 3!

 EDIT 3
Driving in to work this morning I thought 'hang on John you're missing a trick here!' 'Why not get some cross links going with resistant materials/craft construction (technology) and build a model simulator!? I had in my mind the great meander simulator in my mind created by @tonycassidy and thought why not make a large scale version of the 'Bang goes the theory BBC tsunami model simulator built by Gem in the workshop' Make it large enough so that you can trace the waves for say 4-5 seconds in the model. I want it to create a stick slip fault using plastic under tension and then release off a catch. Naturally I dont want the plastic once slipped to break the surface of the water and divert waves generated in different directions as the crust in an earthquake out to sea wouldnt break the surface. Therefore it is going to have to be deep. The basin for the model I'd like to make out of perspex so that we can see under the water surf ace the scouring effect on the ocean floor. Going to fill it with sand at the slope end of the basin near the coast. This will let us see the effects on the beach at the coast once the tsunami wave reaches it. Then I want to trace the wave with students filming it from different angles from a cross section perspective, birds-eye view over head perspective then a panning view and from different angles watching the wave extend out over land.
Perhaps have objects in the way once out of the basin and see how far the waters power extends to cause damage.
Now to go and chat to the technology department and see what they think!

 

J Sayers

T:
M:
E: sayers@branksome.org.uk
 

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Tsunami Simulation model idea? with 3 edits!

EDIT 3
Driving in to work this morning I thought 'hang on John you're missing a trick here!' 'Why not get some cross links going with resistant materials/craft construction (technology) and build a model simulator!? I had in my mind the great meander simulator in my mind created by @tonycassidy and thought why not make a large scale version of the 'Bang goes the theory BBC tsunami model simulator built by Gem in the workshop' Make it large enough so that you can trace the waves for say 4-5 seconds in the model. I want it to create a stick slip fault using plastic under tension and then release off a catch. Naturally I dont want the plastic once slipped to break the surface of the water and divert waves generated in different directions as the crust in an earthquake out to sea wouldnt break the surface. Therefore it is going to have to be deep. The basin for the model I'd like to make out of perspex so that we can see under the water surface the scouring effect on the ocean floor. Going to fill it with sand at the slope end of the basin near the coast. This will let us see the effects on the beach at the coast once the tsunami wave reaches it. Then I want to trace the wave with students filming it from different angles from a cross section perspective, birds-eye view over head perspective then a panning view and from different angles watching the wave extend out over land.
Perhaps have objects in the way once out of the basin and see how far the waters power extends to cause damage.
Now to go and chat to the technology department and see what they think!

Hmmm thinking of taking a bath tub into school and simulating a tsunami wave once its broken the sea defences (bath tub). The aim is to work out the velocity by filming how long it takes the wave (created by beginning a shockwave/push, using a slip flick by giving plastic a tension fold and releasing it) to travel from one end of the bath to the other. The slip will push the water to the sloping end of the bath to simulate a wave rising up the coastal slope to the shoreline (lip of the bath). Then working out the distance travelled from the wave/water once it leaves the bath (ocean basin). We can adjust the landscape once the water leaves the bath by adding slopes to the land to simulate the changes. The aim is to see the extend water will reach in relation to the velocity it reaches in the bath once it hits friction of the land.
I'll get students to film on their mobiles and the digital camera from different angles to create a 3D reconstruction. To see if the waves water rises up the slope when the velocity decreases rising up the slope of the bath.
That is the aim:) watch this space in the future:)


@cornish_james suggestion is a great one! Use a dingy to simulate the basin and on the coastal slope to the shore line use sand to build a sand bank. This will hopefully then recreate the scouring away of the coastal slope by the tsunami. This could then aid seeing the effects this has on the 2nd wave!

Thinking hats mat to use in a lesson.

Thinking Hats Mats to use during a lesson, enquiry etc.

Thai_Tourism_Towers_branksome.docx Download this file

River erosion, transportation activities

Activities for a rotation around the room on river erosion and transportation with the starts of deposition.

HOW_CAN_YOU_GET_ME_TO_THE_OTHER_SIDE_OF_THE_CLASSROOM.doc Download this file

erosion_actions.doc Download this file
RIVER_TRANSPORTATION_DEPOSITION_GRAPH.doc Download this file

River erosion, transportation activities

Activities for a rotation around the room on river erosion and transportation with the starts of deposition.

HOW_CAN_YOU_GET_ME_TO_THE_OTHER_SIDE_OF_THE_CLASSROOM.doc Download this file

erosion_actions.doc Download this file
RIVER_TRANSPORTATION_DEPOSITION_GRAPH.doc Download this file

Mind map on solving Global Warming from net

solving_global_warming.doc Download this file

Podcast of a shield volcano from one of my students.

Shield Volcanoes.m4a Listen on Posterous

 Basalt rather than Basmati the only real issue. Students can really make you laugh :)

J Sayers

T:
M:
E: sayers@branksome.org.uk


 

Podcast of how to describe a graph using basic steps

Graph descriptions.m4a Listen on Posterous

Podcast of how to describe a graph using basic steps

Podcast of a shield volcano from one of my students.

Shield Volcanoes.m4a Listen on Posterous

 Basalt rather than Basmati the only real issue. Students can really make you laugh :)

J Sayers

T:
M:
E: sayers@branksome.org.uk


 

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Students investigating countries in year 7

Geography Yakoo's World Nations of the World

Year 7s watch the song and they are then linked to a country or location in the video clip and they investigate elements of human geography in that country, elements of physical geography and elements of environmental geography going on in that country/place. Great little min project / homework for students to do independent enquiries with:)

Then to extend link to http://bit.ly/dfG1Np 7 wonders campaign website. Students check to see is their a wonder nominee that is on the list? If not is there a neighbouring country that has one? If not can they nominate a physical wonder from their country and a heritage building? Or an industrial wonder from there?

Geography Yakoo's World Nations of the World

Year 7s watch the song and they are then linked to a country or location in the video clip and they investigate elements of human geography in that country, elements of physical geography and elements of environmental geography going on in that country/place. Great little min project / homework for students to do independent enquiries with:)

Then to extend link to http://bit.ly/dfG1Np 7 wonders campaign website. Students check to see is their a wonder nominee that is on the list? If not is there a neighbouring country that has one? If not can they nominate a physical wonder from their country and a heritage building? Or a industrial wonder from there?

Sunday 20 March 2011

Negative effects of tourism on thailand imovie

A range of different negative effects on Thailand from Tourism

tourism_negative_1.m4v Watch on Posterous

Thai Tourism Towers lesson overview

tourism_tower.docx Download this file

Basic guides to using google search tools 'Timeline' and 'Wonder wheel'

I recently got pointed to google's 'more search tools'. I have found that they have given students greater depth to their research and their writing is becoming more focussed and specific. It has also given me more variety in what students submit when they do a piece of extended writing as by them using google search tools with variation they get pointed to different websites depending on their views (evaluation) of the information. As a direct result in class discussion has greater variety and depth to it and so more students seem to hold their hands up and volunteer what they have researched. Have a go with your classes and see if it has the same impacts.

Using_Google_‘more_search_tools’_for_greater_research_depth_and_thinking.docx Download this file

Be Creative with Carpet Tubes

Make a Didgeredoo

Didgeredoos
This week I will be making 2 Thai tourism towers to compare positive and negative effects of tourism.

You can also produce Totem Poles with them! Give it a go!

What am I? How am I formed?

P161

The picture has a physical landform in it. Can you guess what it is? How is it formed? Download the picture, put it into a word document and label/annotate the key features and processes that create this landform

Student of the Week certificates

P156

Students are the most important aspect of any school. This is one of my techniques to make students feel valued when they produce work beyond their expectation in the hope it will give confidence to strive on!

Friday 18 March 2011

Hosting #ukedchat

Well the end to a very eventful day!


Thursdays are my dream teaching day! I have 3 GCSE groups a gorgeous year 7 group and PSHCE with my form class of 3 years. 


My year 10s were an absolute dream today making great links with the various causes of tsunamis they came up with 10 different causes! (1. ocean floor based earthquake, 2. Ocean floor based volcanic eruption, 3. landslide caused by human error - building on unstable land over its loading capacity and structural potential, 4. meteor impact in ocean, 5. comet impact in sea, 6. volcanic eruption landslide (La Palma Canaries) 7. Volcanic rock landslide Hawaii due to instability and wave hydraulic action erosion 8. underwater nuclear experiments 9. Nuclear warhead landing in ocean 10. nuclear warhead hitting coast and causing landslide) I thought they could have gone on!!!! They then categorised the effects of tsunamis into human and physical effects and primary and secondary and based this on the current Japanese crisis including the Nuclear issue. They subsequently added to this with short and long effects.


They have a homework to cover the various responses to tsunamis:)


I was observed by my Line Manager today and got a good with outstanding features (which was nice). I had year 11s also doing a tsunami lesson. They were in an ICT room and I had them working through a geog.ICT file on tsunamis (will upload after this blog post) as task 1. Task 2 involved them in pairs comparing the before and after pictures of 4 parts of Japan. One of the pictures had no impact and they had to link this to location on a map and the proximity to the epicentre of the earthquake (west coast). The students had to write annotations around the photos a key skill for the GCSE exam.  Students then created a blog post by reviewing 4 articles. They had to classify them into a cause, effect or a response article and evaluate the details they included and add extras to improve them. The final task was to exam a google earth kml I had made on the earthquakes and tsunami and add the layers one at a time to see if patterns emerged. They noted them down as they saw them:) Phew!


The day was not over! Far from it! 


I next as manager of my school year 9 football team witnessed them getting a schooling (10-0) One of my players suffered a suspected broken wrist so I had to drive him and his mum to the local hospital for a check up. I had to leave so am hoping he is ok as mum did not ring me to let me know:(


My final part to the day has been hosting the ukedchat on twitter about 'why NQTs leave teaching after or before 5 years and what can we do to stop this from happening?'


It proved to be a very popular chat which I wasn't in control of at all but that is part of the fun watching great practitioners and creative people passing on their thoughts and experiences on any topic. ukedchat had changed my life in teaching more than anything else in my career to date. I recommend it to anyone out there as it will leave you feeling like you do have support in places you least expected.


NOw back to work for me at 12:30am!

Thursday 17 March 2011

Google Earth KML covering the Japan earhquake/tsunami from google

Japan_earthquake2011_nl.kml Download this file

Before and After images of Tsunami Effects

Picture 1
Satellite photos have been released showing the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The image at the top is an aerial photo of Fujitsuka near Sendai before the quake.

The tsunami that followed destroyed almost everything in its path, with many homes flattened, as the bottom photo shows.

Picture 2
It is a similar picture in the nearby city of Natori. The top image is how it looked before.

The bottom photo taken on Saturday shows a devastating scene.

Picture 3
Towns on the coast bore the brunt of the tsunami's powerful waves. The top picture shows Yagawahama in Miyagi state before Friday, and the bottom one is after they hit.

Picture 4
This is Kashima, which is in Fukushima state. The impact of the tsunami on the town is clear in the bottom photo, which shows a large part of the area completely flooded.

Boscastle 2011 post flood management

£4.6 Million project to reduce future flooding of Boscastle - lowering and widening the river bed, tree removal, widening the Culvert and raising the car park area and trial trenches

What am I?

Img_1210

Wind Farm Upland Siting Carbon Dioxide Emission Problems

This was a presentation that I did for an environmental consultancy firm and a series of colleges / schools. If you want me to come and do it at your school / college let me know!

Wind_farm_diss.ppt Download this file

Windfarm Site animation I helped make!

farr-animation.wmv Watch on Posterous

The World Trade Game

Pupils love the competition. 

THE_WORLD_TRADE_GAME.ppt Download this file

Jurassic Coastline powerpoints, Information and avi of Lulworth Cove

What do the colours represent and how does it impact the way the animation plays out and the end landform created?

lulworth_3d_animation_of_cove_formation.avi Watch on Posterous

3 excellent Powerpoints I have found on my web browsing of virtual field trips of Jurassic Coastline.

teacherspowerpoint1_jurassic_coast.ppt Download this file
teacherspowerpoint2.ppt Download this file

Dorset_Coast_-_Field_Trip.ppt Download this file

pdf from Jurassic Heritage Site

Lulworth_Loc_July.pdf Download this file

What is happening to the coast?

Examine the video and link to the music from Maximo Park.

What happens to the coast line? 

During the video are there times when 'the coast changes' more than during other periods? What geographical process might be causing this?

coastal_moviemaker_2.wmv Watch on Posterous

Coastal Graffiti Tagging. What do the tags mean?

Examine the picture from a coastline and think of a link that the graffiti tag has with it.

coasttag.wmv Watch on Posterous

If this lamp post was as tall as the building how big would it be?

Img_1078

What influenced Nick and I to visit this place?

30102008635

What city am I in? What am I famous for?

Use the evidence in the photo to work out what city the photo was taken in.

28102008520

What is the name of the event and where is it?

Using the photo for evidence do an investigation to work out the title question.

27072008176