Smartphones and volcanic eruptions

Istanbul

“If the world was only one country, Istanbul would be its capital!”

Napoleon

Istanbul is a city I've been researching for an EDC city case study for a textbook that is coming out next year.
Istanbul is the largest city in Europe.

The Economist has published a useful resource on the
https://www.economist.com/special-report/2016/02/04/the-lure-of-the-city

This has involved a lot of research and chasing down contacts and other links with the city.
I think, and hope I've done it justice.
I also found some resources developed by a colleague.

This report can be downloaded, and is well worth reading to add particular detail.

ISMEP has produced a useful document too.
PDF download
https://www.ipkb.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ISMEP1_ISMEP_EN_240214.pdf


I like the final lines of the report.

"It is important to bear in mind that earthquake resistant schools will educate creative and powerful brains. The children who are going to build our future cannot be sacrificed to earthquakes."

The city's Historic Centre has been pedestrianised to help with the flow of tourists.



The MetroBus is a newish addition to the city's landscape: a subsidised transport system, which connects the Asian and European parts of the city.
There are lots of attractions to this service.

The Pedestrianization of Istanbul's Historic Peninsula - EMBARQ Turkey - 31 October 2013 from EMBARQ

More to come in a few month's time.

Image credit
Hagia Sophia by Lluisa Iborra from the Noun Project

Iain Stewart on Earthquakes

A repost of this video I will be using tomorrow...

15 years of Earthquakes in under 2 minutes...

Discuss....

Risky World

Image copyright Ben Hennig, and used with permission under Creative Commons license

Used with Year 9 this week.

What questions would you be able to answer / ask?

Taiwan Earthquake

So Year 9 were just doing their presentations on earthquakes on Friday, and a few hours later I'm browsing my Twitter feed and some images start appearing from Taiwan of buildings leaning over, and others apparently collapsed.

Challenge for Year 9 would be to find out a little more about this particular earthquake, and to come and find me to let me know what they've discovered… there are alphas potentially available for those that do...

Cities at risk of an Earthquake

Another splendid map by Ben Hennig.... Can you explain the pattern Year 9?

Anatomy of an Earthquake

A very useful video for the Year 9 Risky World topic. New in the last week from Professor Iain Stewart.

Chile Earthquake

I hope Year 9 have been keeping track of the events in Chile following two large earthquakes in the last few days. Geography doesn't stop even though we're on holiday.

There is plenty on the BBC and other news sites, and maps have also started to be produced using ESRI ArcGIS Online, which we will be exploring in the summer term. One aspect of this has been the low casualty rate, which is down to the preparedness of the authorities for events like this.

We've also had the poor air quality of the last few days, with an air flow which has dragged sand from the Sahara Desert up over the country. Did any of you notice it on your car ? Mine is so dirty that I didn't notice...

For Year 8s, I've been reading this book as I've been asked to write about my new book 'Extreme Survival' and connect it with the idea of exploration. Year 7s can look forward to using this in the Michaelmas term this year.

I've also been busy with the launch of a new website which kicks off thinking around the idea that London should be a National Park.
Enjoy London if you're heading there over the holiday...

Mt. Sinabung eruption - Geography is the News...

"...the only sign of life [was] an ownerless mobile phone ringing inside an abandoned bag".

Year 9's Risky World topic explores the problems of Tectonic Hazards.
These affect locations around the world, which lie along the boundaries between large sections of the earth's crust.
There are lots of potential case studies of eruptions for volcanoes and earthquakes.
We will be exploring HAITI in particular, using materials created by Miss Kyndt.
Just yesterday, there was another reminder that Geography isn't just in the News, Geography IS the News.
Mount Sinabung: a volcano on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia explosively erupted, killing a reported 11 people...
I heard about it first, as I often do these days, via Twitter.
It was picked up by the major news channels such as CNN

Sadly, the reports today are saying that the death toll might be higher and there was also damage to crops and other structures. A reminder that this relates the definition of a Natural Hazard that we discussed.

The volcano has been on high alert for some months now, as reported by the BBC

You can also check out the special HAZARDS Flipboard magazine which is being curated by a number of teachers.
Flipboard is an App on the iPads, and you could start to contribute your own articles to a journal that you have created as an alternative form of prep. Be creative and make sure that you are reading around the topics that we are covering in the classroom.