North of England Floods

Boxing day is usually a day of recovering from or continuing with the excesses of Christmas Day.  For many parts of the UK the month of December has been one long nightmare.  First Desmond and now Eva have dropped their rainfall onto large parts of the UK with the North of England causing widespread flooding.

The two maps below show live flood warnings for December 26th at around 10pm.  These are taken from the Environment Agency and you can see below just how many warnings were in place.

Obviously there is a huge amount of news coverage, making it difficult to sum up everything. .  The BBC introduction gives you some idea of the devastation.  Below you will find some news sites below to get a real understanding of what is happening

BBC Live reports Sunday December 27th
Guardian Live reports Sunday December 27th
Pinterest Board about the floods

UK Floods - Storm Desmond

Desmond caused huge amounts of damage across parts of the UK this December, particularly in parts of Cumbria which has now experience several large flood events over recent years, this has now developed further with Storm Eva which I will post about soon.

Before the holiday students had the chance to research the flood to explore the impact of peoples lives.

Anisia found out the following information along with some footage of the flooding.

The UK flooding is a recent problem that people face daily now in some parts of the UK. This damage was caused over the last 3 days and had made it harder for everybody in the UK (parts that are affected) to travel from place to place and even difficult to get out of the house, if the house is still in good shape. Schools, hospital services and travel have been disrupted after Storm Desmond brought winds, terrifying rain and flooding to the UK, making them towns of rivers. In Cumbria and Lancashire more than 43,000 homes are suffering from power cuts, while an estimated 5,200 homes have been affected by flooding.








Meilin found used a Guardian article and found out...

The flood and rain in the UK has made headlines in most newspapers. Thousands of homes and businesses have been consumed by the flood, across northern England and Scotland.Weather forecasts say that the heavy rain and wind will persist for the up coming weeks. Luckily, people will not have to pay council taxes and business rates until they are back to their properties.

The rain keeps on coming and just last night December 23rd more flooding was taking place.

Pompeii

If you have not yet found the time to visit Pompeii then I suggest you put it on your list of places to visit.  Whilst you're there check out Napoli for some of, if not the best pizza you will ever eat, and the stunning Costiera Amalfitana (Amalfi Coast), just try and explore more than the standard tourist places for a far more interesting experience.

Pompeii itself is an incredibly interesting place to visit, all the time you are in the shadow of Vesuvius, which hopefully you can find the time to visit.  Then imagine that the volcano you are seeing was once much taller and one giant feature on the landscape.  Take the time to explore and in the summer be prepared for the heat.  

Pompeii the film is set in the last days of the now famous town.  The plot is, much like Titanic is very predictable and so it should be no surprise to you that the Volcano erupts and the town is destroyed.  The effects put into the film are certainly impressive and give you some idea of what it could have been like.

"A slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him." IMDB

If you haven't seen it yet it will be one of the first films in next terms Geography Film club, you can write your own review if you like to be shared here.  In the meantime have a look at the movie trailers below.

Star Wars Weather

You can't have failed to notice Star Wars, the Force has well and truly awakened.  Even the streets of Bucharest are adorned with the faces of Storm Troopers.  Can you find all the Storm Trooper locations?  This one was lurking near Unirii.

Even the weather presenters are getting in on the act.  Check out this effort from the UK.

If you wanted to continue exploring more of Star Wars you could think about the different environments encountered in the films, what are they like?  How are they formed?  How would you survive there?  There is even a Star Wars app which right now is telling me the weather in Retford is like Kamino, so what is the weather like for me?

Desert Survival Video

As part of a unit of work on the Middle East year 9 students explored the desert environment.  One of their tasks was to present a survival guide for the desert.  The video here shows one students work, what do you think?  Would you survive following the advice here?

Into the Storm

I finally got round to watching this film over the weekend having picked it up in on a trip to one of the many malls in Bucharest.
I was really keen to see the film based on the trailer to see how they show the effects of a tornado.

The film focuses on a school teacher and his two sons, they cross paths with a group of storm chasers who are attempting to film the eye of a tornado.  Throw in a couple of amateur storm chasers with a go-pro and a truck for some light relief and there's enough to keep you entertained during the film.

Often disaster films are not 100% accurate, read back to the post on San Andreas for one example.  So how do Tornadoes form?  There is a great TED video which explains the conditions needed that you can watch below.

Have you seen the film?  What did you think?  Would you like to earn extra house points by writing a review?  Post a comment or email me to get earning those points.

You can see I also picked up Pompei staring 24's Kiefer Sutherland and the man who knows nothing from Game of Thrones.  I haven't had time to watch this one yet but I will add a post soon.

Climbing High

After the trip to see Everest with year 9 and the KS4/5 students I wanted to know more about the disaster, and what happened.  Films often take liberties with the truth taking a back seat to the spectacle, and due to the tragic nature of the story some aspects cannot be 100% accurate as the only people who know what happened lost their lives in climb.
Ms Carman told me of this book Climbing High the day after the trip, she thoroughly recommended it and suggested I pick it up from the library.  To be honest, I haven't used the library much, my mistake really, and I should try to make better use of it this next half term, though I do have several books waiting to be read at home.

So, the book.  It follows the disaster through the eyes of Lene Gammelgaard, the first Danish woman to summit Everest.  This was part of her process of coming to terms with what happened and follows a diary format charting her arrival in Nepal, through the preparation climbs from Base Camp to the summit attempt and subsequent disaster.
It is very much a first person account, if Lene doesn't experience it then we learn what she knows, which is often brief pieces of information, highlighting at times how alone you could be on the top of the world.
It's impossible not to feel for her, and the others on the expeditions whilst reading the account, especially knowing what has happened, and that for some people she is writing about their last days.
If you've seen the film then you will already know what happens, if you are interested to build a wider picture of what happened on this fateful climb then this book is certainly worth taking the time to read, and with it being available from the school library it shouldn't be hard to find.  If you do take the time to read it then post your thoughts in the comments section, you may even like to write your own review which could be shared with your English teacher.  Or if you have recently read another Geography themed booked email me a review and I will share it on here, and you can earn house points and certificates.

Climbing High Good Reads Reviews

Would you take a 20 minute flight?

We all know there's nothing I like to talk about more than football, and Tottenham.  An article from this weekend came up regarding the mighty Spurs and their visit to Bournemouth.
White Hart Lane to Dean Court is 126 miles according to google maps, with a journey time of 2h 28 minutes, though via coach this could be over 3 hours.

Spurs however decided to fly, a flight time of 20 minutes.  Footballing wise the club are saying the decision was justified as we left with a 5-1 win and Harry 'Hurricane' Kane grabbing a hat-trick.

What about the environment though?  Can you use this Carbon Footprint calculator to work out if Spurs would have been better off driving?  Does the result justify the journey?

You could also think about what is the longest and shortest flight you have ever taken?  Did you need to take that flight or was there an alternative?

I think mine would be East Midlands to Belfast as the shortest, (somewhere around 90 minutes) I think with Paris to Shangai being the longest.

If you would like to read the article about the Spurs flight click here.

Afghanistan - Pakistan Earthquake

A 7.5 Earthquake hit Pakistan and Afghanistan this week causing at least 260 people to lose their lives and damage across borders in the region.  As I find articles I am adding them into the news folder on Pearltrees.

Can you remember how Earthquakes happen?  Which type of plate boundary caused this Earthquake?  If you would like to earn extra house points then can you produce piece of display work on the impact the earthquake has had on people in the region.

Geography in songs...

Last week on BBC 6 music (check it out for a range of music) there was a feature with a huge Geographical theme.
Bands named after places, who have written a song with a place in it.

So how can we do?  We'll broaden it out a bit, in the comments post songs that have:

Places in the song title
Something Geographical in song title
Songs about a Geographical issue
Bands named after places

How about these to start us off...

Tsunami - Manic Street Preachers
Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
Maximo Park- Named after Maximo Gomez Park in Little Havana, Miami

If we can get enough then I'll create a page for them.  House points are available for your suggestions!!

Piatra Craiului

Last week Year 7 and 8 left behind the constantly developing urban area of Bucharest with it's traffic and heat, heading out to Piatra Craiului for their outward bound trip.

But what is it?  Where does it's name come from?  How was it formed?

Create an information poster about our trip location to gain extra housepoints.

How did it come to this in Syria?

One of the big questions about the Refugee Crisis and Syria is how has it got to this point.  Click the image below to a cartoon which sums it up very clearly, and reminds us that wars are never straight forward.

The cartoon itself is taken from Years of Living Dangerously they also have a Facebook page if you are interested (if you are under 13 and not old enough for Facebook ask an adult to show you)

Of course you may disagree or have more questions which you can use the comments section for if you wish.

Refugee Crisis Display

An interactive display outside the Geography room for students (and staff) to share their opinions.  Next time you are passing feel free to add a post-it or chart your feelings.  Thanks to the excellent GeographyPods website for sharing the resources.
For more information as well you can check out a range of news stories I have shared on pearltrees.

New World Map?

Taken from http://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/23058

GeoGuessr

How easy is it work out where somewhere is from an image?  You can test yourself using https://geoguessr.com/ how close can you get to the actual location on the map.  Send me a screen shot of your best attempts.  Can you get closer than 10 metres on any of the maps?

Welcome back

Another summer is drawing to a close, many of you will have been away on a wide range of trips to a huge variety of places.  Some of you will have stayed a bit closer to home.
Hopefully over the summer you have been aware of Geography happening around the world, either through your own personal experiences or from paying close attention to the news.

One of the big European stories has been the issue of migration, there are so many stories and viewpoints available online.  It would be impossible to cover them here and so I will be putting a folder together on pearltrees.  As a Geographer, think critically about what you are reading, ask questions and challenge what you are reading.  What do you think should happen and why?

This article is a good starting point where the author has looked into some of the statistics.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/10/10-truths-about-europes-refugee-crisis

San Andreas... "Rock solid or a bit faulty?"

Year 7 went out to the mall 2 weeks ago to watch The Rock take on Mother Nature and the San Andreas Fault as California faces one of it's biggest fears, no not The Rock trying to act but a giant earthquake.

You can watch the trailer below as well as find out more about the film in general from the IMDB link and the films official site.  From here you can find the game Earthquake Heroes a link to learn what to do in the event of an earthquake,

You may find this article interesting as the science behind the film is discussed.  What did you think of the film?

Climate Change and the Optimistic Future

Thanks to Stefan in Year 8 for sending me this video.   The quote at the start of the video is an excellent point and one we should all consider.  Take a look for yourself as Professor Richard Muller, of Berkeley Earth Foundation, discusses his views on climate change and how he hopes we can leave a better planet for our children.

Where are all the bees?

What will happen if the bees disappear?  Nobody likes being stung and you might think it a welcome relief not to worry about being it (though most bees aren't looking to sting you).  If bees do disappear it well be a major problem for the human race.  This article gives an insight into it and a search online will find you many more articles highlighting just how important they are.  Maybe you know someone who keeps bees, talk to them get involved, take it from me it's not as scary as it seems and fresh honey is delicious!!

Overpopulation, overconsumption – in pictures

You probably saw most of these pictures in assembly on Friday, here they are with some extra information about the pictures.  Year 10 have looked at them as part of their course as well.  If you are interested you can link from the article to sections in the guardian on climate change.  What do you think?  What can we do to make a change to what we are seeing?

Dear Future Generations: Sorry

This has been doing the rounds on social media, year 8 have seen it recently in their lessons.

It's certainly a thought provoking video linking in with Earth Day and one with a lot of important messages in there, will people take notice of it though?

For more information on Earth Day click here

Welcome

Hi

If you're reading this then hopefully you want to find out a bit more about Geography.  I currently teach in Bucharest having previously taught in Milan and Ilkeston.

This blog will share stories relating to Geography that I hope you will be interested in.  You can use the comments section if you wish or discuss the issues in lesson.  If you find something you think I should share then let me know.

Mr Storey

Nepal Earthquake

You can't have failed to notice this in the news this week, in KS3 we have been looking at what is happening in Nepal, the effects and how the country is going to recover.

There is far too much information to share here so I have been putting links into pearltrees which you can find by clicking here.

This is of course a tragic event and one which is likely to take years for Nepal to recover, and for many their lives will never be the same again.  You can get see of the impacts in the news reports here.

We are looking at the Earthquake in our KS3 lessons you may also want to extend this by looking at the excellent GeographyPods website where a whole section has been devoted to learning about the Earthquake.