Africa is home to the world’s largest diamonds - but advances in mining technology are enabling other regions of the world to get in on the act. Most recently, Canada unearthed the biggest diamond ever found in North America - the Foxfire. It has spent the last couple of months on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.
1. When did the story of the Foxfire diamond begin?
2. Why do we know the Foxfire diamond was bigger at some stage?
3. When was the Foxfire discovered?
4. How much did Deepak Sheth pay for the diamond?
5. What will happen to the Diavik mine in a few years’ time?
The story of the Foxfire diamond began two billion years ago, when it was forged by fire and forces deep beneath the Earth. Now the largest uncut diamond from North America is being studied by scientists at the National Museum of Natural History.
It looks like a lump of quartz.
I think a lot of people would agree with you and I'm sure a lot of people, if they saw that just laying along the side of the road, would probably not even think about picking it up.
Diamonds are as mysterious as meteorites. Both travel through time and space to offer clues about the origins of the universe. These diamonds perilous journey is even more remarkable as most are destroyed or splintered by the volcanic action that propels them at high speed to the Earth's surface.
We know by looking at these flat surfaces that there was more to this diamond at one time, that during either this violent descent as part of this volcanic eruption, or the explosion at the surface, or the mining operation, something caused this diamond to be broken and these flat faces are the broken cleavage surfaces, so someplace, someplace there are other pieces to this diamond.
Better get hunting.
Better get looking. We don't know this is the biggest piece or the smallest piece. Somewhere there are other pieces that would fit on to these flat surfaces right here.
The Foxfire was discovered in 2015 in one of the most inaccessible parts of the world, the Diavik mine in the barren lands of Canada's Northwest Territories, about 130 miles from the Arctic Circle.
The mine spends most of the year frozen in snow. Last year the Foxfire was sold at an auction to Deepak Sheth, a businessman and collector.
So can I hold it?
Of course, of course, please. You’re holding a history.
Holding history that's very heavy.
Yes, it is hundred and eighty-seven point sixty-three carat diamond. It's a miracle of nature.
How much did you pay for it?
Many, many millions of dollars.
How many millions?
I'm sorry. [I] cannot divulge that.
But it's worth many, many millions, it’s a multi-million dollar diamond.
Yes, it is.
I'm feeling quite nervous you can take it back.
Sure, sure.
Mr Sheth plans to keep the diamond in its rough condition but anyone hoping to find its missing parts had better hurry. In just a few years the Diavik mine will close, leaving any treasure buried beneath the ice.
Jane O'Brien, BBC News Washington.
Key:
1 two billion years ago
2 by looking at its flat surfaces
3 in 2015
4 he won’t say, many millions
5 it will close
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Geography. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Geography. Mostrar todas las entradas
jueves, 16 de febrero de 2017
jueves, 3 de noviembre de 2016
Saving the Dead Sea
The Dead Sea, the salty lake located at the lowest point on Earth, is gradually shrinking under the heat of the Middle Eastern sun.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.
1 Why is there a danger that the Dead Sea dries?
2 How fast is the level of the water dropping?
3 Why are sinkholes forming?
4 How far do tourists at the resort have to go these days before they reach the beach?
5 What effects do the mud baths have on tourists?
6 Why are Israel, Jordan and Syria mentioned?
7 What kind of animal is an ibex?
The Dead Sea is one of the great ecological treasures of the world but for years there has been a fear that the sea might live up to its name and die as the countries of the Middle East drain the river system for precious drinking water. Now there’s hope that is about to change. Kevin Connelly reports.
The surface of the Dead Sea. It’s the lowest point on the face of the Earth and it’s getting lower. The level of the dense mineral-rich water is dropping at a rate of more than a metre a year.
A hundred years ago, British engineers marked the level of the waters of the Dead Sea here, high up on this rock. How much have things changed? Well, look how far the level has dropped over the course of the century, and it’s still dropping every single day.
As the waters retreat, thousands of sinkholes are forming. They are created when underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse. They give the landscape a kind of lunar beauty. But they can be bad for business. The buildings of this beach resort collapsed into a sinkhole last year and now it has closed down. The effect, like a slow motion earthquake.
Even the resorts that remain are struggling. When this one opened 30 years ago on the Israeli shore, the waves reached these beach umbrellas. Now it’s a two-kilometre ride on the tourist train to the water, and every holiday season the sea retreats further, the ride gets longer and the future seems more uncertain.
It has been a bad life in the last few years because you are seeing like your homeland or your home landscape going and disappearing, shrinking, and you know that maybe you leave for your children or grandchildren something that won’t be like the place that you grew up in.
The tourists keep coming, though. Some like the buoyancy of the super salty water, it’s impossible to sink in it. Others even find something magical and maybe medicinal in the mud.
Actually, it makes you feel so good, free, stressless, like you’re living in another place with this mud.
The once mighty river Jordan was the Dead Sea's main source of water. Now it’s dying itself as Israel, Jordan and Syria tap into the rivers of the Middle East to water their farms and feed their people. This building in a bone-dry landscape was once a hydroelectric power station but the river that drove it has dried to a trickle.
Jordan and Israel still evaporate the shrinking waters too for its valuable deposits of phosphates. The salt residues produce landscapes that are almost arctic in the desert sun. A small group of Jordanian families has farmed here in this harsh landscape for generations. Now the ground is disintegrating beneath them as sinkholes appear here, too.
But where it does retreat, nature sometimes returns. Our cameras filming at the side of this camping ground, abandoned because of sinkholes only last year, caught a glimpse of this herd of ibex, a type of desert goat, moving back in.
There is a plan to save the Dead Sea by piping water across the deserts to the south from the Red Sea. It will be expensive, the governments in the region say it’s worth it, and it will happen. In the meantime, though, the sea continues to dwindle.
Kevin Connelly, BBC News, at the Dead Sea.
Key:
1 because the Middle East countries take lots of water from the rivers around it.
2 (more than) a metre per year
3 because underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse
4 two kilometres
5 they are medicinal, they make them feel good and stressless
6 because these countries take water from the rivers in the Middle East to water farms and for drinking purposes
7 a goat
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.
1 Why is there a danger that the Dead Sea dries?
2 How fast is the level of the water dropping?
3 Why are sinkholes forming?
4 How far do tourists at the resort have to go these days before they reach the beach?
5 What effects do the mud baths have on tourists?
6 Why are Israel, Jordan and Syria mentioned?
7 What kind of animal is an ibex?
The Dead Sea is one of the great ecological treasures of the world but for years there has been a fear that the sea might live up to its name and die as the countries of the Middle East drain the river system for precious drinking water. Now there’s hope that is about to change. Kevin Connelly reports.
The surface of the Dead Sea. It’s the lowest point on the face of the Earth and it’s getting lower. The level of the dense mineral-rich water is dropping at a rate of more than a metre a year.
A hundred years ago, British engineers marked the level of the waters of the Dead Sea here, high up on this rock. How much have things changed? Well, look how far the level has dropped over the course of the century, and it’s still dropping every single day.
As the waters retreat, thousands of sinkholes are forming. They are created when underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse. They give the landscape a kind of lunar beauty. But they can be bad for business. The buildings of this beach resort collapsed into a sinkhole last year and now it has closed down. The effect, like a slow motion earthquake.
Even the resorts that remain are struggling. When this one opened 30 years ago on the Israeli shore, the waves reached these beach umbrellas. Now it’s a two-kilometre ride on the tourist train to the water, and every holiday season the sea retreats further, the ride gets longer and the future seems more uncertain.
It has been a bad life in the last few years because you are seeing like your homeland or your home landscape going and disappearing, shrinking, and you know that maybe you leave for your children or grandchildren something that won’t be like the place that you grew up in.
The tourists keep coming, though. Some like the buoyancy of the super salty water, it’s impossible to sink in it. Others even find something magical and maybe medicinal in the mud.
Actually, it makes you feel so good, free, stressless, like you’re living in another place with this mud.
The once mighty river Jordan was the Dead Sea's main source of water. Now it’s dying itself as Israel, Jordan and Syria tap into the rivers of the Middle East to water their farms and feed their people. This building in a bone-dry landscape was once a hydroelectric power station but the river that drove it has dried to a trickle.
Jordan and Israel still evaporate the shrinking waters too for its valuable deposits of phosphates. The salt residues produce landscapes that are almost arctic in the desert sun. A small group of Jordanian families has farmed here in this harsh landscape for generations. Now the ground is disintegrating beneath them as sinkholes appear here, too.
But where it does retreat, nature sometimes returns. Our cameras filming at the side of this camping ground, abandoned because of sinkholes only last year, caught a glimpse of this herd of ibex, a type of desert goat, moving back in.
There is a plan to save the Dead Sea by piping water across the deserts to the south from the Red Sea. It will be expensive, the governments in the region say it’s worth it, and it will happen. In the meantime, though, the sea continues to dwindle.
Kevin Connelly, BBC News, at the Dead Sea.
Key:
1 because the Middle East countries take lots of water from the rivers around it.
2 (more than) a metre per year
3 because underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse
4 two kilometres
5 they are medicinal, they make them feel good and stressless
6 because these countries take water from the rivers in the Middle East to water farms and for drinking purposes
7 a goat
jueves, 15 de septiembre de 2016
Road trip across Bolivian Salt Flats
Phill Jupitus and Marcus Brigstocke attempt to cross the stunning salt lake Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How much salt does the lake contain?
2 What is the one feature of Salar de Uyuni that is outstanding on planet Earth?
3 How fast should they drive when crossing the lake?
4 Where can Salar de Uyuni be seen from?
It's estimated the lake contains 10 billion tonnes of salt. Below the crust lie pools of brine thought to contain over half the world's lithium reserves. As the surface edge is flooded, entering the lake is a dicey proposition.
I'm nervous about that, actually.
That's quite a way, isn't it?
That's a way in water, and there's now way of seeing how deep that gets.
Look at it, look at this! Look at the sodium chloride!
I really want to taste some.
I have, it's salty.
You just tasted?
Yeah.
Bold.
This is unbelievable. It's so crunchy.
I'd come across, but I'm wearing suede shoes.
It's dreamlike, it's so weird. For a kick-off, the brightness. It's the brightest place on the planet I've ever been, and it's just...there's a beauty to it. Over my shoulder there, there's a line of horizon you can't quite make out. It's just absurd and beautiful and wonderful and I can't wait to get on it.
That's deeper than it looks.
It's loose as well.
Right, OK, so that's how it's going to be for the wheels as well.
Yeah, yeah.
We're just going to need to take it very steady because also, if you flick this water up into the engine and stuff, not that I know what happens, but something bad happens.
I've seen some things in my life but, my God, this is just... and the volcano.
How deep do you think that gets?
Well, we'll find out. We've got to go real slow, but we've got to keep moving.
It's been an honour, sir.
Likewise!
Right, keep it under 10 miles an hour, we were told.
Yep, nice and steady.
How do you feel about just driving into a lake, Phill?
I feel very weird.
Yeah, that's pretty deep, man.
Yeah.
Ha!
This is mad.
Oh, my God!
Careful, man. What are you doing?
Water ballet, my friend!
Easy, don't spray it up into the engine.
I won't, I won't.
What way are we headed?
We're going in exactly the right direction.
Yeah, so this line here. You see the end of that headland there? I'm going to keep pointing at that. Very occasionally I get a surge of fear that it's going to crack,
and we're going to disappear into many metres of water beneath.
A lake of brine.
Yeah.
It's kind of scary, I've got to say.
They say you can see the curvature of the earth once you get out here to the middle. Isn't that crazy? Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong could see this from the moon.
Just keep a steady speed, yeah?
Shall do.
Oh, my God!
Phill, it's incredible.
I'm so glad I'm dressed like this. Dude, you're going to have to try this when I drive. It's awesome.
Marcus?
Yeah?
I'm 50 this year.
Also, it's quite a small window.
You'll be fine.
Key:
1 10 billion tonnes
2 its brightness
3 10 miles an hour
4 from space / from the moon
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How much salt does the lake contain?
2 What is the one feature of Salar de Uyuni that is outstanding on planet Earth?
3 How fast should they drive when crossing the lake?
4 Where can Salar de Uyuni be seen from?
It's estimated the lake contains 10 billion tonnes of salt. Below the crust lie pools of brine thought to contain over half the world's lithium reserves. As the surface edge is flooded, entering the lake is a dicey proposition.
I'm nervous about that, actually.
That's quite a way, isn't it?
That's a way in water, and there's now way of seeing how deep that gets.
Look at it, look at this! Look at the sodium chloride!
I really want to taste some.
I have, it's salty.
You just tasted?
Yeah.
Bold.
This is unbelievable. It's so crunchy.
I'd come across, but I'm wearing suede shoes.
It's dreamlike, it's so weird. For a kick-off, the brightness. It's the brightest place on the planet I've ever been, and it's just...there's a beauty to it. Over my shoulder there, there's a line of horizon you can't quite make out. It's just absurd and beautiful and wonderful and I can't wait to get on it.
That's deeper than it looks.
It's loose as well.
Right, OK, so that's how it's going to be for the wheels as well.
Yeah, yeah.
We're just going to need to take it very steady because also, if you flick this water up into the engine and stuff, not that I know what happens, but something bad happens.
I've seen some things in my life but, my God, this is just... and the volcano.
How deep do you think that gets?
Well, we'll find out. We've got to go real slow, but we've got to keep moving.
It's been an honour, sir.
Likewise!
Right, keep it under 10 miles an hour, we were told.
Yep, nice and steady.
How do you feel about just driving into a lake, Phill?
I feel very weird.
Yeah, that's pretty deep, man.
Yeah.
Ha!
This is mad.
Oh, my God!
Careful, man. What are you doing?
Water ballet, my friend!
Easy, don't spray it up into the engine.
I won't, I won't.
What way are we headed?
We're going in exactly the right direction.
Yeah, so this line here. You see the end of that headland there? I'm going to keep pointing at that. Very occasionally I get a surge of fear that it's going to crack,
and we're going to disappear into many metres of water beneath.
A lake of brine.
Yeah.
It's kind of scary, I've got to say.
They say you can see the curvature of the earth once you get out here to the middle. Isn't that crazy? Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong could see this from the moon.
Just keep a steady speed, yeah?
Shall do.
Oh, my God!
Phill, it's incredible.
I'm so glad I'm dressed like this. Dude, you're going to have to try this when I drive. It's awesome.
Marcus?
Yeah?
I'm 50 this year.
Also, it's quite a small window.
You'll be fine.
Key:
1 10 billion tonnes
2 its brightness
3 10 miles an hour
4 from space / from the moon
domingo, 14 de junio de 2015
Extensive listening: India's water crisis
India's water crisis is part of the BBC documentary series Our World featuring news on issues around the world.
India receives adequate rainfall for its billion-plus population, but the country is facing a crisis as water is diverted from poor rural areas to fill water tanks and swimming pools in richer cities like Delhi.
BBC Our World India's Water Crisis from stalker on Vimeo.
India receives adequate rainfall for its billion-plus population, but the country is facing a crisis as water is diverted from poor rural areas to fill water tanks and swimming pools in richer cities like Delhi.
BBC Our World India's Water Crisis from stalker on Vimeo.
miércoles, 15 de octubre de 2014
Talking point: Maps and geography
This week's talking point is maps and geography. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas flow more easily when you meet up with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
You can do a listening activity based on the video on this blog post.
How to use a GPS
Hello there. This is the Tom-tom One Satellite Navigation Unit. I’m going to give you a review about how to use it. You push the button up on the top and hold it until the screen lights up, and then it will track the satellites. So it’s… the blue arrow is where we are, and it’s showing us a map of the roads ahead.
You push, you touch the screen and it brings up the main menu, and here you go navigate too. And then you if you’re going to an address that you’ve never been to before, you push “address” and then you can choose from these four. If it’s, you’re going to do it through a postcode, if you’re going to the city centre, and this is a street and a house number or crossing an intersection. I mostly use the postcode and the street and house number. Or if I’m going into a city, I just push city.
So then I go to “press postcode” and it gives me the postcode. So if I press this one… The postcode is coming up up there. You don’t need the space, and then it will bring you up all the possible streets under that and you need to select them. If you can’t see it in the top two, you push that arrow, and it brings you up all of the once. And then you press “back” again. That’s Lower High Street, I know that because that’s where I live. I push it and it asks me for the number. I put the number… (16). And then it brings you up the choice of which route you want to go. The fastest route, shortest route, avoiding motorways, walking route, bicycle route or limited speed. I always go for the fastest route. I press “done”, it calculates the distance. Gives me a brief view of the map how I’m going to go. It says it’s going to take seven minutes, it’s 2.4 miles. Then I press “done”, and here it tells me which way to go. And down here it tells you the time that it is now, which is quarter past seven and the time that I’m going to arrive approximately. Here it tells you what’s the next turn, which in 170 yards. And down there it tells you the speed that you’re doing. And then I put it up on the… I plug it in to make sure…there it tells you there are satellites that are locating it, at the bottom right.
If I push that, that’s for the volume, you just push that…
Navigator voice: At the end of the road, turn right, then take the second right.
…that’s the volume, and there it goes again, it goes back. If I press this, it gives me details of the route. There’s the address that I’m going to. That’s the battery there. It’s not charging now, because the engine is not on, and again it shows me the time it will take me and the distance. Press “done” and… if it says… if you’re driving in the night, you’ll want to change this screen to night vision, which is a lot softer (in your eyes) for your eyes. So you press “change preferences” use night colours, and it brings you out like this. Which I am, always use it like that. And you can add a favorite, navigate to, find alternative routes… That’s more of the menu here. That’s if you want to clear the route, so it says “no route plan” this you can leave it there until you know where else you want to go,… to prepare your route… That’s it.
- Is geography an interesting subject for you?
- How can studying geography help humanity?
- How many names of famous explorers from the past do you remember? What did they achieve?
- Do you have a good sense of direction?
- Do you like using maps?
- Do you find them easy to use?
- How have Google Earth and Google maps improved the traditional two-dimensional maps? Do you know how to use them?
- Have you ever used a navigator when driving? Do you find them easy to use?
- Do you know how to use a compass?
- Have you ever taken part in games like orienteering which use maps to reach a point?
- Imagine that you are going to travel around the world on a sailing ship without electronic equipment or satellite help. What are the most important things you would expect from your map?
- How would your maps be different if, instead of sailing, you are going to book a plane seat to different countries on business trips?
- Why do world maps have north at the top? How useful are they in countries like Australia?
- When you see a map of the world, do you consider it an honest, factual representation of the globe? Why might a map not show the whole truth?
You can do a listening activity based on the video on this blog post.
How to use a GPS
Hello there. This is the Tom-tom One Satellite Navigation Unit. I’m going to give you a review about how to use it. You push the button up on the top and hold it until the screen lights up, and then it will track the satellites. So it’s… the blue arrow is where we are, and it’s showing us a map of the roads ahead.
You push, you touch the screen and it brings up the main menu, and here you go navigate too. And then you if you’re going to an address that you’ve never been to before, you push “address” and then you can choose from these four. If it’s, you’re going to do it through a postcode, if you’re going to the city centre, and this is a street and a house number or crossing an intersection. I mostly use the postcode and the street and house number. Or if I’m going into a city, I just push city.
So then I go to “press postcode” and it gives me the postcode. So if I press this one… The postcode is coming up up there. You don’t need the space, and then it will bring you up all the possible streets under that and you need to select them. If you can’t see it in the top two, you push that arrow, and it brings you up all of the once. And then you press “back” again. That’s Lower High Street, I know that because that’s where I live. I push it and it asks me for the number. I put the number… (16). And then it brings you up the choice of which route you want to go. The fastest route, shortest route, avoiding motorways, walking route, bicycle route or limited speed. I always go for the fastest route. I press “done”, it calculates the distance. Gives me a brief view of the map how I’m going to go. It says it’s going to take seven minutes, it’s 2.4 miles. Then I press “done”, and here it tells me which way to go. And down here it tells you the time that it is now, which is quarter past seven and the time that I’m going to arrive approximately. Here it tells you what’s the next turn, which in 170 yards. And down there it tells you the speed that you’re doing. And then I put it up on the… I plug it in to make sure…there it tells you there are satellites that are locating it, at the bottom right.
If I push that, that’s for the volume, you just push that…
Navigator voice: At the end of the road, turn right, then take the second right.
…that’s the volume, and there it goes again, it goes back. If I press this, it gives me details of the route. There’s the address that I’m going to. That’s the battery there. It’s not charging now, because the engine is not on, and again it shows me the time it will take me and the distance. Press “done” and… if it says… if you’re driving in the night, you’ll want to change this screen to night vision, which is a lot softer (in your eyes) for your eyes. So you press “change preferences” use night colours, and it brings you out like this. Which I am, always use it like that. And you can add a favorite, navigate to, find alternative routes… That’s more of the menu here. That’s if you want to clear the route, so it says “no route plan” this you can leave it there until you know where else you want to go,… to prepare your route… That’s it.
lunes, 29 de julio de 2013
In China, a Staggering Migration
A few weeks ago, The New York Times published this video, which informs about the Chinese government's plans to move 250 million people from the country to cities over the next 12 to 15 years.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.
The video is suitable for Básico 2 and Intermedio 1 students.
The Chinese government plans to move 250,000,000 people from farms to cities. It plans to do this over the next twelve to fifteen years. We are passing over some of the world’s largest (1) ... areas and if we combine the population of all of these cities, we’ll reach 250,000,000 people (2) ... .
The scale of China’s project is staggering. If it works, millions of (3) ... will move from their homes into newly built apartment blocks. Critics of the plan have called it warehousing.
These (4) ... American cities represent only a fraction of China’s (5) ... . We get closer to the total if we add some of Europe’s largest (1) ... areas.
If the Chinese government reaches its (5) ...s, (6) ... of its people will live in cities. The same transition took centuries in western countries.
At 85,000,000 we approach the number of Chinese (7) ... who’ve moved to cities since 2008. That past migration happened naturally. (3) ... found jobs in cities and moved. It was part of the transition that had been under way for decades. China’s (8) ... plan is far more deliberate, and will happen faster. (3) ... will now be forced to relocate.
Even with some of western (4) ... cities behind us, we’re not even (9) ... there. We need to add many of the largest (1) ... areas in the world. The government is hoping the farmers become (1) ... (10) ... . (7) ... typically grow their own food and (11) ... their own energy. If the (3) ... find work in these new cities, they will buy electricity and use public transportation, (12) ... televisions and washing machines and stoke the Chinese economy.
We are almost there now. Just add the population of Tokyo, the world’s largest (1) ... area, and we’ve made it, 250,000,000 people.
Key:
1 urban 2 eventually 3 farmers 4 major 5 goal 6 70% 7 villagers 8 current 9 half-way 10 consumers 11 provide 12 purchase
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing words.
The video is suitable for Básico 2 and Intermedio 1 students.
The Chinese government plans to move 250,000,000 people from farms to cities. It plans to do this over the next twelve to fifteen years. We are passing over some of the world’s largest (1) ... areas and if we combine the population of all of these cities, we’ll reach 250,000,000 people (2) ... .
The scale of China’s project is staggering. If it works, millions of (3) ... will move from their homes into newly built apartment blocks. Critics of the plan have called it warehousing.
These (4) ... American cities represent only a fraction of China’s (5) ... . We get closer to the total if we add some of Europe’s largest (1) ... areas.
If the Chinese government reaches its (5) ...s, (6) ... of its people will live in cities. The same transition took centuries in western countries.
At 85,000,000 we approach the number of Chinese (7) ... who’ve moved to cities since 2008. That past migration happened naturally. (3) ... found jobs in cities and moved. It was part of the transition that had been under way for decades. China’s (8) ... plan is far more deliberate, and will happen faster. (3) ... will now be forced to relocate.
Even with some of western (4) ... cities behind us, we’re not even (9) ... there. We need to add many of the largest (1) ... areas in the world. The government is hoping the farmers become (1) ... (10) ... . (7) ... typically grow their own food and (11) ... their own energy. If the (3) ... find work in these new cities, they will buy electricity and use public transportation, (12) ... televisions and washing machines and stoke the Chinese economy.
We are almost there now. Just add the population of Tokyo, the world’s largest (1) ... area, and we’ve made it, 250,000,000 people.
Key:
1 urban 2 eventually 3 farmers 4 major 5 goal 6 70% 7 villagers 8 current 9 half-way 10 consumers 11 provide 12 purchase
sábado, 30 de junio de 2012
Google's World Wonders Project
I learnt about Google's World Wonders Project through Larry Ferlazzo at the end of May.
Google describes World Wonders Project as a project that enables you to discover 132 historic sites from 18 countries, including Stonehenge, the archaeological areas of Pompeii and the ancient Kyoto temples. In addition to man-made sites, you can explore natural places: wander the sandy dunes of Australia’s Shark Bay or gaze up at the rock domes of Yosemite National Park in California.
Here's a promotional video.
And here's a screen shot that shows what the site has in store for us:
First of all, you have to choose the language you wish to view the site. You can find the language options in the bottom right hand corner.
Then you have two options to spot the sites of your interest, "Find by location", "Browse by themes".
Finally, when you get to the site you wish to visit, you come across a menu with four options, "Information", "Videos", "Photography" and "3D-models". On top of that, you can have a virtual tour of the site.
Google describes World Wonders Project as a project that enables you to discover 132 historic sites from 18 countries, including Stonehenge, the archaeological areas of Pompeii and the ancient Kyoto temples. In addition to man-made sites, you can explore natural places: wander the sandy dunes of Australia’s Shark Bay or gaze up at the rock domes of Yosemite National Park in California.
Here's a promotional video.
And here's a screen shot that shows what the site has in store for us:
First of all, you have to choose the language you wish to view the site. You can find the language options in the bottom right hand corner.
Then you have two options to spot the sites of your interest, "Find by location", "Browse by themes".
Finally, when you get to the site you wish to visit, you come across a menu with four options, "Information", "Videos", "Photography" and "3D-models". On top of that, you can have a virtual tour of the site.
jueves, 26 de enero de 2012
Australia Day
26th January is Australia Day, which commemorates the first convict ships that brought immigrants to the continent to start the country.
Básico 1 and Básico 2 students can find out some basic information about the country by reading this simple online presentation I learnt from Larry Ferlazzo.
Básico 1 and Básico 2 students can find out some basic information about the country by reading this simple online presentation I learnt from Larry Ferlazzo.
Only In Australia is the title of a slideshow from The News in Australia. It shows images of places and things that make Australia unique and which I also learnt from Larry Ferlazzo.
domingo, 4 de diciembre de 2011
Pronunciation -the name of all USA states
This is a funny online pronunciation activity. By clicking on the picture below you will be directed to an activity on Sheppard Software, which is an educational site with an aim to providing US students of all ages with oportunities to consolidate their knowledge of the subjects they learn throughout the school curriculum.
On this tutorial, you can get familiar with the situation of all US states, their names and how to pronounce them, which is not always evident.
On top of that, information about each state is displayed on a box in the left-hand side corner, which might help us get to know a little bit more about the States.
H/T to Take Away English.
On this tutorial, you can get familiar with the situation of all US states, their names and how to pronounce them, which is not always evident.
On top of that, information about each state is displayed on a box in the left-hand side corner, which might help us get to know a little bit more about the States.
H/T to Take Away English.
miércoles, 12 de octubre de 2011
Go Social Studies Go
Go Social Studies Go is a site developed by Kenneth Udhe, a social studies teacher in Michigan, for his students and the world.
Go Social Studies Go is essentially a series of multimedia books about common social studies topics. The site is divided into four main sections; World Geography, World Religions, Ancient History, and Colonial America. Within each section is a series of booklets containing text, pictures, videos, and links to additional resources.
So what is it in it for the English learner? I think intermediate students can greatly benefit from Go Social Studies Go, as it gives us the opportunity to develop our English vocabulary and reading and listening skills while learning Geography and History.
H/T to Free Technology for Teachers.
Go Social Studies Go is essentially a series of multimedia books about common social studies topics. The site is divided into four main sections; World Geography, World Religions, Ancient History, and Colonial America. Within each section is a series of booklets containing text, pictures, videos, and links to additional resources.
So what is it in it for the English learner? I think intermediate students can greatly benefit from Go Social Studies Go, as it gives us the opportunity to develop our English vocabulary and reading and listening skills while learning Geography and History.
H/T to Free Technology for Teachers.
miércoles, 11 de mayo de 2011
Toporopa
A few days ago Jeffrey Hill told us about Toporopa, which looks like a fun, entertaining site to learn the English names of countries and geographical features in Europe.
This is the way Jeffrey described the site:
This is the way Jeffrey described the site:
Toporopa provides educational and entertaining quizzes for everyone who wants to know more about Europe: countries, capitals, flags, regions, monarchies, mountains, lakes, seas, rivers, islands and other subjects.
So give the site a try to put your knowledge of Geography to the test and to improve your English vocabulary of geographical features.
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