All the best to Higher & Advanced Higher candidates

Well here we are at the end of a year of hard work - well done to all of you. We have had a lot of fun. I have certainly enjoyed teaching you all. Keep calm and sleep well tonight ! Coast photos from Geography Photos as a final bit or revision for the Higher class can you name the features ?

Keep on going ....

Striding Edge and Red Tarn

Stickle Tarn

Thirlmere - what type of feature is this and where is it found ?

Almost there now folks - hope you have had a useful day of revision today and have enough energy left for tomorrow too ! Don't forget to vary your revision methods - practice questions, reading the blogs, using revision notes, testing yourself, using the interactive web sites to name but a few.

Some lovely glaciation photos for you this evening taken by my good friend and available to us via Geography photos. Could you describe the formatiom of these features ?

M is for ....

Nice to have seen some of you in school today. I hope the rest of you are keeping fit and healthy in this last few days.

A poser to start with tonight. Read the title and add your own words - relevant to Paper 2. M is for ...... - think of at least 5. Remember specific examples / figures /place names are absolutely crucial to get as many marks as possible in your 25 mark answers.

Practice a few question to time - 35 mins per question to be safe.

RLR The format of RLR questions was slightly different last year - do not be put off - read all parts of the question very carefully, look at the number of marks for each sub section. Will it be coasts this year ? - who knows but you must be prepared for all 3 - glaciation, limestone & coasts.

D & H Ensure you know your indicators, read the question very carefully - is it asking about differences between or within a country ? Named examples - use your figures !

Photos tonight from the limestone area of the Dordogne in France

Keeping your eye on the ball

Using a football analogy in the title today - keep on track and keep going not much further now ! I know some of you have had a long period of revision and others still have exams on Friday to do first. Those last few days of work will be worth it ! I have heard from some of you over the last few days with queries. Don't forget to look over the blog links I have given you over the year and I will keep you calm on Monday morning. Today I have been writing my course review of the last year and of course you have all had a special mention ! IIIS fieldwork yesterday and we had wonderful weather.

The photo is of Thornton Force waterfall in the Yorkshire Dales - could you draw a diagram to help explain how it has formed ?

Soils

A few photographs to remind you of the soil section of our Biosphere work and some one word answer questions as a little test.

Name of the zone that material moves out of in a podzol ?
Type of humus found in brown earths ?
Downward movement of minerals in a soil caused by precipitation being greater than evaporation
F refers to ….. in a soil profile
The h in Ah refers to ...

Malaria

There has been a lot in the news over the last few days about malaria as it is "Malaria Awareness Week". 14th - 20th May. An article worth following up was in the Scotsman on Thursday.
http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=764232007

71% of all deaths from malaria are in children under 5. Once infected a child can die within 48 hours of the symptoms first appearing. the article gives examples of the effects on people who have caught malaria.

Another web site with information is http://malariahotspots.co.uk/ - it too has some interesting information (although you need to be aware that it is funded by a drug company.)

You must know malaria well as your Case Study for Development and Health - it could be worth many marks to you !

I hope you have managed to do some Geography revision. I know Biology / PE are next week but try to fit in some Geography too ! Email, ring or come into schol if you are stuck - don't sit at home worrying.

Abortion in Brazil

Pope Benedict is currently touring Brazil. David Willey Rome correspondent for the BBC has put together a diary. Day 3 refers to pregnancy rates and views of abortion in today's Brazil. One of the statistics is relevant to our discussions on population. Almost a third of Brazilian school girls aged 14 - 17 are out of school because they are pregnant. Think about the factors influencing such a figure, role of the church and increasing secularism - can you think of others ?http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6645057.stm

Eco Towns

We have been talking at AH about eco villages and today on the news eco towns are referred to by Gordon Brown as part of his bid to become leader of the Labour party. Follow the story here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6650639.stm

More psammosere links

Just a very short post to bring this to your attention. A web site set up by the Field Studies Council (who run Kindrogan) and other field centres relating to sand dune formation. Well worth a look.

http://www.theseashore.org.uk/index.html

Coasts revision

Another bright and lovely day. Don't forget to have a break in your revision progamme - fresh air and a walk will rejuvenate you although maybe not at this time of the morning !

As a follow on from the post yesterday a reminder about the excellent BBC Scotland web site.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/geog/coastline/index.shtml
It has been written by Geography teachers and is aimed at Intermediate and Higher Geography students. It is useful as a stand alone resource but obviously uses elements shown in the corresponding two tv progammes shown in class. The enhanced site differentiates betweeen the physical and human environment and therefore includes information relevant to RLR.

Another interesting web site relating to the Dorset coast is
http://www.jurassiccoast.com/
There is a lot of relevant information for coasts, RLR and mass movement e.g. landslides
http://www.jurassiccoast.com/278/the-coast-uncovered-30/coastal-processes-142/landslides-392.html

The geograph web site allows you to look at photos taken all over the U.K. the site is http://www.geograph.org.uk/ and then you can seach either by grid square or name. Ty it out by searching for a named coastal feature e.g. Durdle Door http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/55738 The photographs have been taken by Gwyn Jones & Sarah Johnson who like all contributors to geograph have allowed their publication under Creative Common License. If you are travelling in the UK this Summer why not take and submit some photos ?

Coastal features

A few questions to start with today.

1. Where is this ? (Clue fieldwork in IIS - we looked from the South side).
2. What is the feature called ?
3. How is it formed - could you draw diagrams and write an explanation ?
4. Using "O.S. get a map" http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm - can you find the O.S. map that shows this feature ?
This is a useful site to use when you want an O.S map to refer to.
5. For an excellent animation use the following link to the Geography site from Wycombe High School
http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?file=21605
In terms of Rural Land Resources there were some interesting activities taking place down there too see top photo) It has been so windy today that I am sure these people have had a VERY exciting day. Not a hobby I would like to take up. Remember to think about social and economic opportunities in all of your areas of study - limestone, glacial and coastal regions.

Mass movement

More Lithosphere revision today everyone's favourite topic ! - mass movement. There was a question about slumping last year but you can not assume anything so ensure you learn all of mass movement carefully. Remember the key points we identified and use the key words to help you focus on a detailed answer.

Hope you enjoyed the short movies and the photos of the landslip at Charmouth last January produced by some of my virtual Geography colleagues. I have been humming "slip sliding away" all day.

Slumping at Blackgang Chine (www.geographyphotos.com)

Meanwhile the Advanced Higher class are finishing off their Geographical Studies - keep going - this is the last lap now ! They are looking good - keep checking those Bibliographies and keep track of your word count. 3,000 words / 25 pages is the limit - you will be penalised if you go over either.