End of term

Some winter scene photos from geograph http://www.geograph.org.uk/ to get you in the mood for Christmas. Follow the link to see more. If you search "snowscape" you will find over 200 snowy scenes to admire.

With the end of term now in sight you need to be reviewing what you have achieved during this term. VS is undoubtedly the hardest year in school. You have spent many hours working away making notes, revising topics, completing homework questions and past paper answers. Think about your target grade - what are you wanting to achieve ? Have you given yourself the best opportunity to reach that goal ? If not what can you do about it next term ?

Obviously you will be needing some time off to relax and enjoy the festivities but do bear in mind that your estimate exams will sooooon be upon you ! Look over your notes and if there is anything you are unsure of make a note of it and ask for help when we return to school.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy, safe and successful 2008.

South Georgia web cam

I have shown this to the IV Senior classes but it is well worth a look. It is the web cam on South Georgia in the South Atlantic which was pointed out to me by some Geography collleagues a few months ago. It is updated every 3 minutes and there are often some interesting scenes to view. This one has to be one of the best I have seen and was taken just 5 minutes ago. Click on the picture to follow the link.

Development & Health

As you near the end of this topic with Mrs Ch don't forget to make use of the BBC web site. There is some very useful information for you to use. Click on the picture above to take you to the site and relevant articles about malaria. ( Do remember not all the topics are relevant to Higher. The site has been developed for use by Intermediate 2 students too.)

Rural

As we have been studying the sections of the Rural part of the course I have been emphasising the types of question you may be asked for shifting cultivation, intensive subsitence agriculture and extensive commercial farming. The farming system, landscape, population density and changes are all very common and you must be able to asnwer for all three of our Case Study areas.

The Google Earth images are well worth searching out for yourselves again as well as recalling the photographs you have been shown in class and those in your text book too.

The BBC bitesize site has some rural questions so make use of that too.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/higher/geography/human/rural_rev.shtml

Geographical Christmas gifts

Now the dance is over you can turn your eyes to the next big event on the horizon - Christmas. With this in mind and as a link to the Development & Health work you are covering at present for Paper 2 there are some web sites with alternative suggestions for Christmas gifts / charity donations.

Oxfam Unwrappped
www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/

Action Aid - sponsor a child
http://www.actionaid.org.uk/100044/child_sponsorship.html

Water Aid SH2OP for life
http://shop.wateraid.org/

One form have raised money for the charity "Send a Cow" this year too.
http://www.sendacow.org.uk/

There are many organisations now encouraging people to donate in this more unusual manner - have you considered it ?? Do you really need all those bubble baths / smelly items that people give as presents or could you offer someone in need real hope by paying for a toilet, malaria net or school books ??

These are just a few ideas - you may like to suggest some others too ?

Target Setting

As we have now completed some of the Paper 1 units and you have undertaken both Human Geography and Physical Geography it is time to start to reflect on the work we have covered so far.
Do you understand the work you have completed ?
Are there areas you need further clarification on.
Are your notes up to date ?
Ar you making / using revision notes/ books/ cards
Are you spending a "fair" balance of your time on Geography ? We understand you have other subjects too but Geography needs one fifth of your time if you are studying five subjects.

Tomorrow you will be asked to complete your target sheet - this will ask you to detail aspects of the course you enjoy and those you find difficult. You will have the opportunity to think about your target grade - this is your decision not ours !

Later in the year you will review your targets in light of NAB and estimate results. It is certainly a good idea to have something to focus on durign this very busy Higher year and it does work as the current 6th years will tell you !

Industry

As we start our section of work on industry for the Human Interactions section of the Higher paper a few photographs to look at of various types of industry from around the U.K. courtesy of geographyphotos.

Think about the type of industry being shown

What are the raw materials?

What is the finished product ?

What location factors would have been important when siting the industry originally ?

What problems may the industry be suffering today ?

What may happen in the future ?

We will be looking at many of these factors together with some GMTs e.g. O.S. mapwork and labelling of diagrams / explanation of data.