Temporary diversion for s1

Categories: s1 and s2, Environmental Hazards

With exam leave, I haven't really been blogging much as I've been concentrating on lots of other things that needed catching up on. Remember to contact me here, on the wiki or, who knows, maybe even in school in person should you have anything on your mind regards the exam... My poor s1 class will have my sole and undivided attention until such times as you do ;-)

Speaking of s1, we started looking at Tropical Storms on Friday, if I'm honest, simply because it's topical and nothing to do with a progression in the course. The video clip posted previously along with the Gulf of Mexico resource certainly inspired a lot more discussion than I had anticipated, but I'm not complaining. I did pre-empt the usual question about jumping in a car and driving around in the eye to avoid a hurricane's effects!

I'd really like to give the class some research time tomorrow and Thursday after we finish the video to find out more about Cyclone Nargis, which continues to dominate news along with the Chinese earthquake of last week. I found some google earth files reading back through the Google Earth blog which could be used beforehand.

We have already completed a short homework, leaning on an idea I think I heard at a talk by Alan Parkinson about three years ago, where students have borrowed a quote related to the disaster to frame in a speech bubble. I'd like this to be spread over display work. I'm also toying with the idea of some of the groups displaying their work in a wiki, but this is dependent on which provider is unblocked this week! I've been experimenting with wetpaint tonight. Maybe it's just because I'm used to pbwiki and wikispaces, but it seems less functional than the other two and I think s1 would maybe find it a little inaccessible. Anyway, Thursday looms...