Tracking Santa

Don't forget to follow Santa around the world on Christmas Eve.
Go to the NORAD website and see how they track his journey.
Happy Christmas everyone.

Thomas Cook celebrates 200 years since birth of its founder.

The impact and influence that Thomas Cook has brought to modern day tourism has undoubtedly shaped the way people holiday today.

year 11 revsion

Here are some online revision sites for geography GCSE

www.revisionworld.co.uk/gcse/geography
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/
www.s-cool.co.uk/topic_index.asp?subject_id=20&d=0
www.scalloway.org.uk/


The topics in the mocks will be
Population
Managing resources
Weather & Climate
Ecosystems

Can you locate all the states of the USA ?

Try this quiz.

Thomson & First Choice

Thomson & First Choi..
Watch the ad...

Waterfalls

The tallest waterfall in the world is the Angel Falls. It is 979 metres high. Year 8's next assessment involves studying waterfalls. Find out more here.

Find your house

Use microsoft local live to find an aerial view of your house.
Just put in your post code.
Click here.

USA prepares for Hurricane Ike

After travelling in the Caribbean Sea and causing damge and loss of life Ike is now appraoching the USA coastline.
Find out more from CNN

Learning the world map starts here.

See how quick you can complete the world jigsaw here.

Try the other quizes. 

Latest on Gustav

Hurricane Gustav: 11:00pm CST Update (Sunday) from Jeff McCord on Vimeo.

Hurricane Gustav

Hurricane Gustav is forecast to hit the Gulf coast of the USA tomorrow. The Mayor of New Orleans has ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city - including emergency services - in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Gustav, which he called "the storm of the century". He urged people to take the situation seriously, and warned them that if they did choose to be "stubborn" and ride out the storm, they would be on their own. Hurricane Gustav has already brought havoc to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba. More information can be found about evacuation of New Orleans here.

Britain from Above

Britain from Above is the latest geography programme from the BBC. The web site has lots of aerial views.

Beijing Olympics 8/8/08

Check out the Newsround Olympic site








Check out this interactive medal site from the NYT.

BSES Expeditions

Follow ECSC students on their British Schools Exploring Society travels this summer.
Click on Amazon 08, Svalbard 08 and Ladakh 08.

A Day in the Life of a Japanese Child

Find out more about japanese culture here.

Easy steps to a eco friendly home

Have a look at these ideas from Homebase.

Climate change in UK

This site is about our changing climate and how it affects our lives, from the buildings we live and work in, to the way we travel, the holidays we take and the food we buy in the shops.

Garden Design

Click on 'Changing Blooms' and build your own interactive city garden, meadow or pond. There are there games on this site.

Where is Matt dancing ?

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

How well do you know your world ?

Try this geography quiz.

Quake Mapping

Click here to see map of latest activity.

Click here to see the world distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes.

Search goes on after Japan quake

View some photos of the effects of the latest 7.2 earthquake to hit Japan.

Planet green game

China evacuates quake lake area.

Parts of China devastated by a deadly earthquake two weeks ago have been hit by powerful aftershocks that have destroyed more than 420,000 homes.
Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that happen after a main quake in the same area.
They hit the Sichuan region as up to 160,000 people were being moved from villages near a newly formed lake as its water level continues to rise.
Millions of people are thought to be at risk if the lake bursts its banks. The lake's water level is rising by more than one metre per day.

Read more here http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7420000/newsid_7422900/7422922.stm

Sichuan Earthquake response

More than 50,000 people are feared dead, missing or buried beneath rubble of buildings devastated by a 7.9 magnitude quake in central China’s Sichuan province on Monday.

Seismologists say the two minutes of horrific shaking that destroyed entire towns was caused by two distinct shifts of the Longmenshan Fault, which stretches southwest to northeast across Sichuan. A 60-mile-long and 18-mile-wide section of the fault initially dropped about 23 feet.
Then another section, about 90 miles long and 18 miles wide, to the northeast of the first section sheared about 13 feet a few seconds later.

Here are some details about the response made to help the people of Sichuan.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=566765&in_page_id=1811

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7397838.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1968206/China-earthquake-The-homeless.html

The Amazon - the latest

View the causes and extent of Amazon deforestation

Benidorm - new ecotourism destination

Benidorm has changed from the sleepy fishing village to a major Spanish resort.
Read more here from the BBC

Junky Styling

Year 9 think about restyling your clothes .

China V Burma

Two disasters, contrasting reactions.Two Asian countries reeling from the horror of tens of thousands of people probably dead and hundreds of thousands more made destitute and homeless. Find out more from CBBC.

Infusion comes to Blackpool

Infusion is the world’s first suspended, looping rollercoaster completely over water, giving riders a whole new experience.
Blackpool tourist information.
http://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/
http://www.blackpooltourism.com/

Hollywood stars on our doorstep.

A £300m film studio and education complex is planned for our home region.
It aims to make East Durham a location for national and international film-making and bring a significant level of investment to the area with huge employment benefits.

Thousands evacuated as Chile volcano spews ash

A volcano has erupted in southern Chile, scattering ash over the surrounding area and forcing more than 4,000 people to leave their homes.

All 4,000 inhabitants of Chaiten have been evacuated to nearby towns and cities, leaving only a skeleton crew of police, military and government officials to protect the abandoned properties.

A few locals have stubbornly refused to leave their city, which looks like a ghost town in television reports.

Angel and Wall in landmark victory

The Angel of the North is now the UK's most recognised landmark by Britons. Travelodge challenged 3,000 Britons to identify photographs of UK landmarks old and new. Just over 60% knew they were looking at the Roman Wall.

Bay of Bengal Cyclone Nargis Takes Aim on Myanmar

Winds of up to 190km an hour smashed into the southern Irrawaddy region, sinking ships, ripping down trees and destroying three out of four buildings.

Officials have declared five parts of the country, including Myanmar's main city Rangoon, as disaster areas. The Army and police are carrying out rescue operations. Find out more from CBBC .

Update

Sweatshop worker

You are invited to enter the world of the sweatshop and become a factory worker. Do you accept the challenge?

So what are biofuels?

From today petrol and diesel which is sold at UK pumps now has to include at least 2.5% biofuels.

Biofuels are renewable fuels, made from crops such as sugar cane, plam oil or maize, have been added to fuel sold around the country.

There are arguements against use of biofuels. Some people say they contribute more greenhouse gases than they save. Also it is said that current rise in food prices across the world is because some farmland is being used to produce biofuels instead of food crops.

What is the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, all about?

Read about Darfur on the CBBC site. Today a major campaign called Global Day for Darfur is being launched to highlight the problems being caused by the conflict for the children of Darfur.

Why is the cost of food rising around the world?

The first reason why prices are rising is growth in the world's population, which puts pressure on a range of resources, including land, water and oil, as well as food supply.
Secondly as countries such China and India gain economic growth they are generating consumers who buy more meat and food.
Thirdly all these extra people have put an environmental pressure onto the planet, as well as the impact of climate change. Desertification is accelerating in China and sub-Saharan Africa, while more frequent flooding and changing patterns of rainfall are already beginning to have a significant impact on agricultural production.
And global warming has played a significant role in another driver of rising prices because land is also being used to grow crops for biofuels instead of food. Find more details from the BBC here.

Fold Mountains

North York Moors

Year 10 are off to the North Yorks Moors this week. Have a look at what this national park has to offer visitors.

World population and me

Here is a link to the population site year 10 used today.

Play the free rice game.

FreeRice vocabulary game have already fed over 20,000 refugees from Myanmar who are sheltering in Bangladesh

Map of popular baby names.

Find out how popular your name is around the world. Some of us have rare names. This is a good example of GIS, adding data to a map.

Rwanda and DR Congo hit by earthquakes

A series of earthquakes has occured in Africa's Great Lakes region.
The two most powerful occurred hours apart in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Rwanda, with magnitudes of 6.0 and 5.0 respectively.
Whilst this area is prone to seismic activity, it has mostly escaped major quakes in recent years.

Jobs joy at Nissan

UP to 1,200 new jobs will be created in our home region as car giant Nissan responds to growing demand for its Qashqai model.

A third production shift is to be added at the Japanese firm’s plant in Washington, bringing 400 permanent and 400 temporary new jobs to the site.

Meanwhile, Nissan’s expansion is expected to create a further 400 jobs through the company’s North-East based supply chain.

Look at the link here to see Nissan's timeline at Washington.

Crime fieldwork

Year 8 have been out completing their crime surveys in the Village.
Here is a link to the Durham Police site for more information about house security. The Virtual House gives you tips and advice on protecting your home and property from burglars. Look around the house through the eyes of a PC and a Burglar, then take the Quiz to test your knowledge!
Click on virtual house.

Amazon deforestation is on the rise again.

Latest report on deforestation of the Amazon shows that area of rainforest cut down was 3235km2 from August-December 2007. This is alarming because previous reports had shown a decrease. One of the reasons is that land is being cleared to grow soya which commands a high price on world markets. It is exported to feed cattle and chickens for meat production.

Market Gardening in the Netherlands

Year 11 have been looking at an example of intensive arable farming in the EU.
Here is a link to Market gardening in the Netherlands. It is about the Action Pearl Growers who are a group of market gardeners. They have grouped together to share ideas, marketing, scientific advise and equipment. Some horticulturalists let visitors see around their massive greenhouses and their intensive methods.

The world's cheapest car goes on sale in India.

The vehicle, called the Tata Nano, will sell for 100,000 rupees or $2,500 (£1,277) This should make motoring affordable for more people in LEDCs. But green activists predict trouble ahead for countries that already have inadequate infrastructures and soaring CO2 emissions. Read more here.

Congo Jones and the loggers of doom

Here is another geography game. Try and help save the rainforest.

Where will you go in 2008 ?

Happy New Year !
Now is the time when many people start looking at the brochures and deciding where they might like to go on holiday later in the year. Some tourists are becoming more aware of sustainable tourism and the negative impacts of tourism. Here is a site where you can find out more about the effects of air travel and how to offset your carbon footprint.