Post Long Overdue

Didn't realise it's been such a long time since the blog was updated with any new post. My sincere apologies to all, especially to those who have been following. Nonetheless, here I am to update you on new stuff! Just in case you haven't realised, the Straits Times dedicated the entire Saturday Report on alternative energy sources. Would have been good fodder for you assignment if they did it a week earlier.

Blog
I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of some posts from the various classes. It's amazing how some of you, with just a little reflection, were able to learn other things that weren't mentioned in the lesson. Two good posts on climographs were those by JH401 and JH403, do pop in to have a look whenever you are free. Kudos to both who noticed the 'U' and 'N' shaped profiles for temperatures in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. We'll find out more in the coming lessons.

Life?
What some of you might notice is that we are in a way, bleeding into hydrosphere with all this talk about precipitation. What has climate got to do with life? Don't forget, one of the things life depends on is warmth and water. And climate essentially is how warm and wet a place is. Of course, there's the nice definition which describes it as the atmospheric conditions of a particular area over a long period of time. That's just a definition, more importantly, do you know the idea behind it?

Lenticular Clouds
Clouds aren't really the focus of our learning but it is something I'm sure you people will love it. There's this unique phenomenon known as lenticular clouds. It's a phenomenon closely associated with mountains. Isn't earth amazing?


Photo courtesy of telafree

Australia's Brush Fires

Been reading through some of the answers you guys posted on your blogs. First of all, a big kudos to those who had to quickly think of the answer to the question posed within the same night! *applause*

Now the job for everyone else is to look at their answer and give a grade. Justify every mark that you give. You'll find that in doing so, you'll start to understand what I mean by focusing on the kind/type of points you make rather than how many. If you haven't downloaded the Intellectual Standards, do so already and read it before grading those answers! I can talk and write here for eternity and you still won't learn anything until you actually do it.

If you haven't seen, read or listened to the news lately, Australia is right now having brush fires in several spots around the country, especially at the Southeastern part. That's where Sydney and Melbourne are. Already, a 173 deaths have been reported at the time of me writing this post.

Does climate change have a part to play in this? Check out mywonderfulworld.org for more details. In the post, you'll see a picture of a dead horse that was burnt by the fire. I think it's important that we think about the lives that were lost. There are probably some people who've been burnt like the horse as well. It's not a pleasant thing to imagine but I guess it helps us in some way to appreciate the human cost at a personal level. Those 173 lives were family and friends to others.

Think again.

Concept Solutions

One of the things I get asked quite often is whether or not the solution must be in existence. Well, the answer is both a yes and no.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. If there is a good solution that is already out there that we should push for, why not? On the other hand, if you find that none of the solutions you've found meet the requirements, why not think of one of your own. Here is where it becomes tricky.

For example, one solution might be to ship everyone out of earth into another planet. While that is a new idea, it isn't so convincing because it isn't feasible. At least within the next 50 years - by which time we'd probably be dead. Whatever new 'concept' solution you recommend, you ought to explain why even though it is not in existence now, we might be able to expect it to materialise soon.



As promised, I leave with you this last video of William Mcdonough who will introduce Cradle to Cradle design. His approach is to design by looking at the entire system though it isn't quite explicit. Enjoy!

WorldChanging

If this is your first time this week here at this blog, quick read what's been posted cause you've been missing out plenty! There's much more stuff that I'd like to post but refrained from doing so to avoid information overload.

Anyway, here is this cool website called WorldChanging. It's a a treasure trove of ideas and articles that you can research on. Look out tomorrow as I'll bring you guys the final video for the climate change assignment.

Al Gore

Good papers require good research and thought. Good research and thought requires time. Time and tide wait for no man. In other words, if you haven't got started on any research or thinking about your paper, now is a good time to do so.


One of the guys you can take a look at is Al Gore. He has made a docu-movie, given thousands of slide shows and even renovated his entire home to reduce carbon emissions. It might be a good idea to round up some people, go to a video rental store and borrow The Inconvenient Truth. It's a good way to get a sense of what climate change is and it might be spark some ideas in your head too. Check out the poster below.


For those who have watched the movie or don't have the time to do so, here is a Youtube video of a slide show that Al Gore did. In this video, he gives several solutions to reduce carbon emissions to address climate change. When watching this video, don't be too obsessed about the 15 points he lists out. Try to read the subtext and listen carefully to what he says before and after the slide show. There are solutions in there as well although he doesn't directly spell it out.

Surviving Climate Change Assignment

Apparently a number of you have been requesting for the rubrics for the assignment. Well, the rubrics and front cover for the assignment have been merged into one. Download the document below and read it. When you've completed your assignment, type in the details, print it and attach it to the front of your essay.

Front Cover

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work resume career

If you want to do well, edit edit edit! You should edit it the first time, then pass it to a friend to help you edit, then after making the changes, edit it yourself the final round. Your might possibly jump a grade or two. The rubrics are available for you here, use it to grade yourself. If you or your friend are not willing to give your paper a Level 1, how much more do you think I would?

I've uploaded another document called the Intellectual Standards. This piece was first given to JH402 and JH404 for Lithosphere last year. I've included the document here for the rest of you to read as I think these standards help you differentiate between a good piece of work and a bad one. JH403 and JH404, you might find that this document is somewhat familiar because it is essentially the same as what was given to you for IH2103. If you guys wanna know more about Intellectual Standards and Critical Thinking, you can visit this website.

Intellectual Standards

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work

Finally, please do your research. Depending only on Wikipedia and PhysicalGeography.net is a sure way to give yourself a mediocre grade. Don't just depend on the web, use the library. The Internet may be a huge resource but it doesn't have everything. Finally, do take note that the deadline has been extended to 16 February, Monday.

What we've learned so far (i)

Don't know if you realise, but you have actually learned a lot during these past two weeks. A lot of facts and information, which, if I'd given you guys in point form, could probably fill up 2-3 pages.

I tried typing out all that we've learned so far. Halfway through, realised it was way too much and gave up. But if you are finding it hard to believe, just do a quick tour of all the class blogs and try to put it in point form. I won't be surprised if you gave up before you reached the second class - depending on which class you started off with of course.

If you did the readings and paid attention in class then try this. Say if I asked you now to write something about how the composition of the atmosphere is suited for life. Don't refer to anything! Stop digging for your notes or files and keep your fingers away from the keyboard and mouse NOW!

Just do it now, where you are. How many points can you come up with? Wouldn't be surprised if you could churn out enough points for a decent half-paged paragraph. And all that without mugging.