Geogtastic Photo Competition!

A few more excellent entries for the Geogtastic Photo Competition have arrived in the past couple of days... If you haven't got yours in yet, you have until the end of school on Friday (2nd November) to email it or bring it to me in the Hums Block on a CD or memory stick...

Don't forget - the competition is open to all SHS students, staff and parents... No theme - anything Geogtastic goes! (Don't know if I really want ten versions of a scree slope in Lathkilldale though...)

Atlas Schmatlas!

Well, my intentions of doing lots of work have been thwarted yet again by the arrival of a parcel from Amazon containing Atlas Schmatlas... Only had a quick look so far, but it looks fantastic! I'm particularly liking the Climate Map of the World (we live in an "Umbrella now and again" zone) and the story of the was between the penguins and the polar bears...

Not very happy at all about the ridiculous amount of packaging it arrived with though...

UK population to hit 65,000,000 by 2016

Amongst the many geographical stories in the news today (more of which later...) was the estimate from the Office of National Statistics that the UK's population will reach 65 million by 2016 - an increase of 4.4 million - if current trends continue.


Have a look at this article from the BBC, and at the ONS website.

What are the causes of this increase? What will be the consequences? What will need to be done in order to cope?

Jurassic Coast Weekend...

A selection of my Jurassic Coast photos... And my first attempt at using Animoto...

Could you be a Climate Change Champion?

"Are you passionate about the environment? Could you spread the message about climate change and represent England?"

Then visit the Climate Change Champions 2008 website and find out more about what sounds like a fantastic opportunity!

Some ideas to get you started here... But you'll have to get your skates on - the closing date is 9th November!

Britain's greenest city is...?

This one, according to a news article that my sister's just sent me! Do you know where it is??

Study Geography

If you're considering studying Geography at university (or even if you're not...) have a look at this new website from the RGS.



There is lots of really useful information about the benefits of studying geography, different geography courses, writing your application, taking a gap year - and plenty of career profiles to debunk the myth that the only thing you can do with a geography degree is be a geography teacher (not that that's not a great career choice, obviously!!).

Fieldwork Photos...

All my pictures from Wednesday are now on Share, but here's a little selection for you...

Hard at work...



Sub-standard Sainsbury's satsumas...

Curbar... and blue sky!

Moments from disaster...

If you have any other good pictures that you'd care to share, email me them, or bring them in after half-term. And don't forget to enter any particularly good ones in the Geogtastic Photo Competition!!

Fieldwork...

Erm... an interesting day!! Frozen peas not doing much for my ankle... Photos will follow (not of my ankle!) when Yr11's Burbage drafts are marked...

However, in the meantime... The Peak District Education Service have some good factsheets on their website about various Peak District locations, geology, vegetation, etc.

Remember that we compared two valleys - Bar Brook, in the Dark Peak, and Lathkilldale in the White Peak. We talked about the landscapes of the two areas, the features and characteristics, the vegetation, the human activity, and how all of this links to the geology.

The rock type in the Dark Peak is millstone grit - a mineral sedimentary rock... And in the White Peak, limestone - an organic sedimentary rock (as we saw from the shells and fossils in the overhanging cliff near the beginning of our walk).

A virtual tour of Lathkill Dale (the SSSI!!) here... Might have been a better option for me!

Thank you again to all of you for fantastic behaviour/attitude and lots of hard work - and especially to Laura, Amy and Tom for looking after me!! See you on Friday (I hope!)

Last week...

On Wednesday, we had a look at the anagrams (which, as usual, were not mistake-free, but have now been corrected - I hope!).

We talked about the fact that rivers have ENERGY, and as a result of variations in energy, they can ERODE, TRANSPORT and DEPOSIT material.

Processes of erosion:
- attrition
- abrasion (corrasion)
- hydraulic power/action
- corrosion

We also mentioned VERTICAL, LATERAL and HEADWARD erosion.

Processes of transportation:
- solution
- suspension
- saltation
- traction

We then had a look at the Hjulstrom Curve - some nice bits about that here (don't forget to click Next Page and have a look at all the info on there).

Don't forget about COMPETENCE and CAPACITY as well, when you are thinking about a river's load.

And a nice game of Sink or Swim (thanks to Alan P of GeographyPages, GeographyJazz, Cultcha, etc. fame for the idea!)

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day - the aim is to get bloggers all around the world posting about the same issue - THE ENVIRONMENT.



We hear stories about the environment every day in the news... melting sea ice, carbon footprints, renewable energy, extreme weather events, resources running out, deforestation, animals becoming extinct, food miles, packaging, the list goes on... Many of the posts on Geogtastic have been about environmental issues and we're increasingly being told that we should be recycling, composting, walking to work/school, buying British food, switching off lights, etc.

So... over to you... Leave a comment about the environmental issues YOU'RE concerned about... ARE you concerned about the environment? Which issue worries you most? What do you to to help the environment? What else could you do??

Population news stories...

Couple of articles from the BBC that might be of use/interest for your population work:

Migration http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7033663.stm

Refugees http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7037690.stm

Geogtastic Photo Competition!

If you are going away at half-term (or even if you're not), make sure that you have your camera with you and that you are taking plenty of geographical photos!

The third Geogtastic Photo Competition is open to all SHS students, parents and staff, and the closing date will be Friday 2nd November. Entries can be brought to me in the Hums Block on a CD or memory stick, or can be emailed to geogtastic@yahoo.co.uk (make sure your name - and form if you are student - is included).

There is no theme this time, so anything goes, as long as it is geographical... Happy snapping!!

Does New Zealand exist?

A Geography teacher friend of mine, Dan Raven-Ellison, has issued his Yr7 students with the challenge of proving that it does!!


Click on the picture above to link to the blog that Dan and his students have started, and look at the evidence that they've come up with... The comments also make for interesting reading...

And then, come back here and prove to me that New Zealand exists!!

Or how about making up your own country... What factors would you need to consider? If you were going to create a website for your country, what would it need to include...

And just as I was typing that....

Don't know where they were going or what they were doing... They didn't hang around long!

South Georgia

Not directly related to what we are doing at the moment, but the South Georgia webcam is well worth a visit...

South Georgia is an island in the South Atlantic, about 1400 km east of the Falkland Islands.

As South Georgia is in the Southern Hemisphere, summer is approaching, and it will not be long before the return of the penguins! At the moment, there is a seal on the beach....

Who will spot the first penguins?!

Friday...

As I said, I will not be with you on Friday afternoon as I am very lucky to be going off to do some fieldwork in Dorset.

On Saturday, I will be visiting a number of places that I've taught about lots of times, but never managed to see for myself... Prize for the first SHS person to leave a comment telling me the names of the landmarks shown in the pictures... Bonus points for explanations of their formation!

In my absence, I would like you to work out the following key terms, and find some definitions for them...

snorieo; snatprotantio; postideion; snabriao; tintrioat; cladruyih rwoep; nolustio; latsniota; nortiact; punsesnsnio; greeny

Don't forget, also that you need to make sure that your presentation on the flooding in Africa is ready for Tuesday p1!

Test! And infiltration rates....

At last!! Today was the day of the long-awaited test... Not had chance to have a look at them yet, but I have a feeling from your reactions that some of you were more confident than others!

I also gave you back your write-ups of the infiltration practical we did... On the whole, not bad. There were some good, clear graphs, and some well-written aims/hypotheses. All of you need to work on your explanations of your findings - lots of you used your Analysis section to describe your graphs, but very few people actually explained the patterns that their graphs showed. It is also important that investigations are written in the third person, and that key geographical terms are used - your writing will sound far more professional and sophisticated than "I collected the equipment that I needed and then I went and chose a site and stuck the drainpipe into the ground....." and you will sound far more as though you know what you are talking about!!

Exam Question...

Last Friday, you had a look at an exam question comparing two drainage basins, and looking at how the hydrographs of the drainage basins might differ...

River Regimes

On Wednesday last week, we talked about River Regimes...

A river regime basically shows variations in river discharge over time. We looked at the short-term, medium-term and long-term reasons why discharge might vary temporally (i.e. over time), for example, in the short term, glacial melt would cause an increase in river discharge.

We also thought about how river regimes might be expected to vary spatially (from one place to another), largely as a result of variations in climate. You compared 4 different river regimes - a river fed by a Canadian glacier, a river in Portugal, the River Thames, and the River Congo.

There's a very good set of notes on the Wycombe High School site about River Regimes... well worth you having a look!