Soar Valley Geography

Following your lesson on the advantages and disadvantages of the green revolution, you might be interested to read this post from the BBC.

You could always click this link to download the podcast that goes with the article.

Hello Y9! Please feel free to use the comment funtion below to add your initial reflections on the trade game we played during this weeks lesson. What was the game like from your perspective?

After our spectacularly disappointing lesson with the laptops… :( 

Click here for the worksheet you need to help you use Nation Master, Worldmapper and Gapminder to complete the most recent assessment task, good luck!

Following the advice from the legendary Mr Ship, if you would like to add music to your completed movie on the issues surrounding trade, you can obtain copyright free music from the following sites…

http://www.freeplaymusic.com/
http://www.mp34u.com/
http://www.muzic.com/
http://www.mpfree.com/registration_b.asp

Big thanks to Adam Lawson for suggesting these sites on the Geodocs project.

Hello Y9! Why are some countries rich and some poor? Massive question which we are exploring at the moment. We are starting to look at some of the issues surrounding global trade. In geography this week we have looked at the impact of US subsidies on African cotton farmers and the massive tariffs imposed on Bangladesh when they attempt to export their manufactured garments to the US. For many LEDC’s the current rules regulating trade are not helping them to improve the quality of life for their citizens.

So what can you do? A small step that you can take that would make a difference is to sign the petition organised by OXFAM which will be sent to world leaders. Your name on this list shows that you do care and that you can make a difference. Click the image to open a link to the site.

If you do sign the petition, please take a second to leave a comment which explains why you chose to do so. Your words may encourage someone else to sign up, you might make an even bigger difference!

Following on from our investigations into development indicators, we had a look last week at why averages like GNP per capita are not always the best way to investigate levels of development.

By calculating the differnce in wealth between richest and poorest 20% in selected countries and then drawing proportional maps, we realised that averages hide the difference between the rich and the poor. One of the more “unequal” countries we investigated was Brazil. This photograph taken in a Brazillian city is a great example of the difference between the rich and the poor that an average like GNP per capita would conceal. Click the photo to see a larger version of the image.

We have been looking at development indicators for the last few lessons. We began by thinking about what actually makes for a good quality of life and how you might go about measuring it. Must say, both Y9 groups did a cracking job on identifying what makes a good indicator, so well done!

We then moved onto a map interpretation where we compared the global pattern of development as shown by GNP per capita and HDI. We agreed that the pattern of development varies depending on the indicator you use.

Take a look at this website It is the business for looking at the relationship between development indicators!

For the next lesson I would like you to have a play around with this site and pick two indicators that seem to have a positive correlation with each other. You will need to install a flash update on your computer if you have trouble loading the website. Any problems, email me!