There's a Rang-Tan in my bedroom...

A new video on Palm Oil by Greenpeace...

Rainforest biome

A good rainforest activity from the Rainforest Alliance for Year 9 to get in preparation for a unit later this week. Place the rainforest animals in their correct part of the rainforest... a look at the structure of the biome and different layers... Catch up with last week's Planet Earth 2 as well.

Global Ecosystems StoryMap

A song for the rain forests

Rio Olympics - the BBC trailer

The BBC trailer for their Rio Olympics coverage places a lot of emphasis on the wildlife of the Amazon… How relevant is that to the urban locations for the games? Is Brazil defined by the Amazon? Are some of these animals threatened by habitat change? Some interesting discussions to be had…

Year 9 Revision Cards

Year 9s can use these cards to make their own, there are some blank ones, or answer the questions that are provided below to make yourself some revision cards /flash cards. You could also produce some mind maps or other visual forms of revision material to refer to as the week progresses.

Y9 Revision Cards

Tropical Rainforests in Google Street View

We were exploring tropical rainforests earlier this week, and following up a speech made by Prince Charles to the WWF where he suggested that the important element that will be needed to find a way to make the forest worth more alive than dead.

Here's a StreetView links page.
Google has created a range of images and maps.

Year 9 Revision Materials

These are now available on Firefly.
Go to Pupils > Year 9 > Geography > Revision Materials 2016

The theme is ENDANGERED BIOMES.

A journey down a line of longitude

Exploring the biomes through which the line passes…
Thanks to Miss Kyndt for the sheet below which you may find helpful.

A Journey Along a Line…

Endangered Biomes

Year 9 will start to look at biomes this term.

We will have a focus on coral reefs to begin with, and also consider what makes up biomes on land.
What are coral reefs like?
I know someone who knows...

Coral Reef 5-4-3-2-1 or 'barrier grief'

Coral reefs around the world are threatened.

They are threatened by changes in the oceans, such as rising temperatures and acidity, and also the influx of sediment from the land surface. There is also the threat of tourism, and the removal of certain species as they are seen as a resource, or have some specific value e.g. Clown fish after the launch of Pixar's 'Finding Nemo' film. These are part of the reef ecosystem of course, so removing this one animal can then impact on the other

Coral Reefs also sometimes have UNESCO World Heritage Status, which means that they are protected from change. One reef which falls into this category is the Great Barrier Reef.

There are, however, some problems with the reef's standing due to plans for some dumping of industrial material, and also routes for shipping through the reef.

This follows plans in 2012 to develop some new ports for larger vessels and allow them to pass through the reef.
Simon Reeve's series on Australia touched on this issue too, and the article had the great headline 'barrier grief'...

Explore this issue over the summer.
I've also got a case study that I wrote for a book that was never used, which I'll be putting to use next year.

Rainforest Connection

A useful example of how technology can help reduce the risk of rainforests being affected. This will be useful when exploring the sustainable development of forests.
Watch the video here and see how old smartphones can help save the trees....
A kickstarter project.
The project needs to raise a lot more money in the next few weeks if it is to go ahead...

Terrestrial Eco-regions map...

A detailed map, made with ArcGIS Online, which we shall be exploring in more detail next year in the Geography department (and elsewhere in King's)

Useful for Year 9s exploring the boundaries of biomes



View Larger Map

Cold.... and hot....

Year 9 should check out this Google Trek through Iqaluit.
It's a reminder of the stress that climate places on living things. What adaptations are there to the climate ? What vegetation exists in these places so far North ?

Follow that up with a trek to the Amazon Rainforest....

Year 9 Rainforests

We have been looking at a number of biomes, as part of preparation for the final exams of the year. These will take place later in June.
It's worth reminding you that there are various biomes that you might want to write about in the exam.
We've focussed on the tropical forests with some groups.

Tropical rainforests may cover only two per cent of the planet’s surface but they’re home to half of all its species, including humans.

Nevertheless, surviving in this hostile environment demands both skill and an intimate understanding of the jungle ecology.

The main impediments to survival in the jungle is not a lack of edible species, but the fact that most of the things you might want to eat live high in the canopy, 30 metres or so above a hungry human’s mouth. As a result, securing enough meat for dinner can be a constant struggle and rainforest-dwellers must develop an extensive knowledge of the plants and animal around them.

Source: BBC: Human Planet

The BBC website has details on all the biomes and the various adaptations of plants and animals.

One useful resource for exploring the different climates of the venues (something we talked about with Roy Hodgson's comments on Manaus), there is this resource on the GeographyPods website.

Finally, keep an eye out for a programme featuring David Beckham in the rainforest that has apparently been made in association with the World Cup.

And check out this INFOGRAPHIC for further information....

Biomes and endangered ecosystems

A biome is an area which has a characteristic climate. As a result of this, they are associated with particular types of vegetation.
The term is connected with ecosystem.

An ecosystem is an interconnection between living and non-living elements. These include flora and fauna (plants and animals), air, water, soil and rocks.
All of this is driven by the energy of the sun.

Year 9 will need to be aware of the difference between the different biomes for the exam.
There will not be time to explore all the biomes in detail, so we are going to be focussing on a few, which will vary depending on the time that is available.

Last week, we started to 'create' some animals and plants that would have some specific adaptations. Remember that each living thing in an ecosystem has certain requirements, and in order to survive has to keep these coming... or it gets 'stressed', and ultimately dies.

We used an activity called 'Making an Animal' from a book called 'Thinking through Geography 2', which has been around for a while.

We also focussed on some specific adaptations of plants and animals in a number of biomes...

We will be exploring tropical rainforests next...

Svalbard calling...

Two Year 9 groups got the chance to talk to Svalbard earlier today, when we hooked up via Skype with Jamie Buchanan Dunlop of Digital Explorer.

Junior school pupils will remember Jamie from his visit to the school for the Big Outdoors Day.
I've done quite a few projects with Jamie over the years, and his latest trip is up to Svalbard to support work on the oceans, and the impact of acidification....

This links with our work on Endangered Biomes which will feature on the Year 9 exam.

You can follow Jamie's trip via the Facebook page, and also Twitter feed @de_updates

Endangered Biomes - Year 9

Over the next few months, Year 9s will be exploring a range of biomes which face threats.
A biome is an environmental area which has a characteristic climate, and therefore vegetation and wildlife. They include tundra (in the Arctic), desert and tropical rainforest.
We will also be exploring the Oceans as an area of the planet which is facing increasing threats, particularly from plastics, which concentrate in certain areas of the ocean, but are also found as microbeads which can come from lots of everyday products.

Get yourself in the mood for studying tropical rainforests by listening to these soundscapes.

Rhino competition...

A new education project from the splendid folks at Digital Explorer.

It focuses on the issue of wildlife conservation and Rhino poaching....

I'm grateful to Jamie for sending me some of the excellent double sided posters that have been produced for educational use - you can download a PDF of these posters along with a range of other materials.
Register with Digital Explorer and you can download all the accompanying resources free of charge too.
Encourage your students to enter the competition for a chance to win a trip to South Africa in August 2014. They will need to create a 2 minute video. Guidance is given on how to do this.

Entrants must be between 16 and 19 years of age

The focus for the resources are rhino conservation, and preventing the poaching which is reducing their numbers to frighteningly low levels. Would be useful for a unit such as our Endangered Biomes one, or as an extension activity for 'A' level students...

Species in the Rainforest

This is one of my favourite starter images for lessons on rainforests as endangered biomes.

It's time to reboot some familiar topics perhaps. There are only so many times that you can show that video where they pull the girl's hair out...
I've been teaching about them for