'How to Live on Earth'

Benedict Cumberbatch has explored some hopeful geographical stories for a new documentary which is now available to view on YouTube.

There are some accompanying teacher resource and other materials to download if you are interested in using some sections with students.

Pale Blue Dot - taken 35 years ago today

I refer to this picture and the associated quotes quite a lot in my teaching.

It was taken on 14th February 1990 - 35 years ago today.

The picture was remastered in 2020.

The one I often show was taken by the Cassini Spacecraft in 2013 as it approached Saturn.

Here's an animation I show...

GTE Conference 2025

 My session took place after the morning break on Day 2.

I spoke about the work we had done at King's Ely Prep to develop a new unit on Samantha Harvey's 'Orbital'.

This was still a work in progress, but has gone down well so far, and there is more to come in the final 2 weeks of this half term.

I will be blogging about this again once it has been completed, and sharing all the resources. Year 6 have been enjoying the unit I think - a questionnaire is coming up.

Thanks to Sophie Wilson for sharing some images of me in action. I was pleased with the reception to, and interest in, the talk and the project.

Images: Sophie Wilson

'Orbital'

 

A cross-posting from my GeoLibrary blog which has hundreds of books recommended and with some information about where they might be used, and why they deserve a shelf on the GeoLibrary.

This book is on the Booker longlist. It's a fiction book, but is packed with geography.

It's about four astronauts and two cosmonauts in the International Space Station.

The author said of the book that she wanted to write a 'space pastoral'

The book follows one day, and the orbits they trace over the world. In between their routine jobs and exercise, we hear about them and their families and their thoughts as they stare down on the earth below - tracking the path of a super-typhoon with their privileged view of the world below.

There are some truly wonderful passages, and it's definitely a geography book.

The descriptions of each landscape and country as they appear are really beautiful.

The section here is part of a chapter - they are all very short and this helps you subdivide the book if you want to prolong the reading of it and savour each page - which looks at the point where the astronauts and cosmonauts realise that they can see the hand of people everywhere on the planet which is described as "a landscape of want" - something I've talked about before.

It also links with another story I've told many times before: Bill Anders, 'Earthrise' and the impact of the experience of being in space on those who have to literally come back down to Earth.

I've just finished it and it comes very highly recommended.

Read an extract here.

My copy was published by Vintage and purchased from Topping Books in Ely - support your local independent bookshops!

Paperback, 144pp

ISBN: 978-1529922936

Earth - the final episode

 This series concluded last night...

Catch it on iPlayer - particularly this final episode.

In 30 mins on @BBCTwo we conclude our #Earth series . 4.5 (ish) million years in 5 (ish) hours . Only the BBC could/would do this & get the support of >200 scientists @OpenUniversity I’d say it has been the greatest story ever told , and I’d say my final PTC is one of the most… https://t.co/yQXUqVZtgi

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) August 14, 2023

Our Place in Space

I've been following the latest installation by Oliver Jeffers. It allows people to find out their Place in Space: to put Earth into its context.

"The only place where... stories are told."

Astronauts have the 'overview effect' when they look down on the planet and Oliver wanted to show the scale of the Solar System.

Oliver has created a walk way which runs through the city of Derry and is shortly heading for Cambridge.

See more details here. 

If you can’t get to Belfast or Cambridge this summer, there is a free app which allows you to follow the walk virtually. Download it from this link.

One of the aims of the walk is to consider scale – an important idea in geography too. 

 There are also teaching resources to download exploring some of the ideas, which may be of interest even if you don’t follow the trail. Let us know if you take part with your class, or perhaps your family.

The trail is about humanity's place in the solar system.

It's going to Cambridge after Belfast. The route will take it through Cambridge.

What's done is done, what's yet to be is clearly yet to be. In other words, sandwiched as we are between the "everything" that is behind us and the "zero" beyond us, ours is an ephemeral existence in which there is neither coincidence nor possibility.”

Haruki Murakami

There's a lovely free illustrated app by Oliver Jeffers as well, where you can take a virtual route if you can't get to the location where the walk is installed.

Listen to Oliver taking a walk with Clare Balding on her programme 'Ramblings'.

GAIA by Luke Jerram

It was terrific today to get an early chance to see Luke Jerram's GAIA hanging at the end of the nave in Ely Cathedral when we went over there for our Junior School service as usual. I've seen it another few settings, but Ely Cathedral and it's Octagon is a very special place and one I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in while teaching at King's Ely.

ArcGIS Indicators of the Planet

An excellent resource which we shall be referring to during lessons and also form time.

Pale Blue Dot

As used with Year 7 this week.

Pale Blue Dot from Chin Li Zhi on Vimeo.