Don't waste food...

Sainsbury's have released their new FREE FAB FOOD resources, which are aimed at reducing food waste by introducing students to the idea of an audit, and exploring where savings can be made on a personal and school level.
We explore this issue with Year 7, and these look like a useful addition to our resource bank, as some of the activities are relevant to geography.

We will be looking at FOOD WASTE in the Spring term...

Prepare to follow Leo Houlding

“It’s 21st-century exploration, at the edge of impossible.”
An excellent article in The Financial Times on the latest expedition of Leo Houlding.
He is planning to conquer a peak called the Spectre.
A few years ago, I heard Leo speak at the GA Conference on a previous expedition to Antarctica, and the logistics of getting there and completing the climb.
My notes and some links from that 2015 lecture are here. 

He will be using Union Glacier as a base: a location which we know a lot about in Year 8, having explored what it is like to live and work there.
It's coming back to life after the winter, and we've followed the Twitter feed of the organisation ALE.

The FT article includes some useful information on this aspect of the expeditions, and the difference between those and the experiences that wealthy people pay for...

The expedition website is here.
Good luck to Leo when he heads off next month...

Halley VI Base to close next winter

Interesting news today that Halley VI will remain empty next winter, as it has been this winter, for the first time since it was installed...
The Brunt Ice Shelf is still too unstable.
Another reminder of changing ice conditions on the edge of the continent...

The latest expert assessment from BAS glaciologists confirms that the northern movement of a chasm in the Brunt Ice Shelf (which had previously been dormant for around 35 years) accelerated during the last 7 months (the Antarctic winter), and the second crack (known as Halloween crack) that appeared unexpectedly in October 2016, continues to extend eastwards.


Image Credit: BAS

* When it mentions winter, it refers to the austral winter of course....

Game of Thrones and tourism in Northern Ireland

Games of Thrones is coming to the end, with the final season about to start filming in Northern Ireland, Iceland, Croatia and other places. Each of those places has gained in many ways from the series, with many jobs being created both at the locations, and also in the local area. It has also generated a lot of interest from tourists who want to visit the locations they've seen in the series.

We have a plan to run a fieldtrip to Northern Ireland in 2018, and we will be visiting some of the locations featured in this Independent article.

Scott and Amundsen

It's just past the anniversary of the arrival of Scott and Amundsen and their men in the Antarctic ahead of their attempt on the South Pole. Amundsen had a change of plans, after he heard that Robert Peary had reached the North Pole (his original target).

We will be exploring the journey of the two expeditions after half term in Year 8... 
Consider how the different routes the expeditions chose influenced their success (or failure)

Uganda Marathon

In June 2018, four King's Ely teachers - Alison Stewart, Richard Oliver, Amanda Kippax and TOP GEOGRAPHER Claire Kyndt - will be taking on the Uganda Marathon - An Adventure Like No Other with the support of some of their family members.
The challenge will see them taking part in a variety of volunteering projects and activities in Uganda, culminating in either a full or half marathon in Masaka.
Proceeds from their fundraising efforts will be split equally between the Uganda Marathon projects and Mengo Hospital in the capital, Kampala.
A whole host of activities will be planned between now and June to help the King's Ely team raise as much money as possible and, as you can see from this video, the charities are extremely grateful for our support!

El Nino / La Nina pop-up

Thanks to Ben Newbury for producing and sharing the El Nino pop up here at the TES site.
I used it last week, and it went down very well and we had some great results from it.







You need to download the presentation and the accompanying template.

I had to re-print the two sides of the template as it was not quite aligned when it was printed off. This should be done on card to keep the rigidity in the final pop-up element. The powerpoint is very useful in providing all the steps required.
The students really enjoyed the activity, and there were some great outcomes within an hour. Here's one of them:

Finishing touches... pic.twitter.com/OkEAVXmZ4R

— KingsElyGeographers (@KingsElyGeog) September 29, 2017

Changing Arctic - a 360 degree film

Strap your phone into a VR headset, and watch this movie...
The Arctic is changing. 2016 saw record temperatures worldwide, in some places it reached 20C (68 F) above the average. As a result the Arctic is melting. In 2016 the Northwest passage had an ice-free summer, allowing cruise ships access to one of the most remote places on Earth. This virtual tour is a more environmentally-friendly way to view this majestic landscape, and a stark reminder of the consequences of our environment-damaging behaviour.

Welcome to Antarctica

Used this today... great fun, and introduces some of the sights that tourists in Antarctica have the chance to see...

Hurtigruten comes to Antarctica from Hurtigruten AS on Vimeo.

Union Glacier Hexagons

For note taking and discussion...
Click for biggery...
Stills from the Welcome to Union Glacier film on Vimeo, which has been a central part of our Pole to Pole unit for several years.
See the ALE website for more information.

Halley base

Year 8 enjoyed watching this video while they worked...

Journey South

We've been exploring the effort that goes into getting somebody down to Antarctica to work for the British Antarctic Survey (or other countries' research operations)

Greensleeves

Where would you site this ice cream van to make the most profit on a sunny day.
Work out the time wasted spent travelling from one place to another if you are going to move through the day...
Think about the demographics of your customers...

Stop me and buy one...