Ecological Footprint

Try this amazing quiz.

The quiz is based on national consumption averages and is meant to give you an idea of your Ecological Footprint relative to other people in the country you live in.

I was amazed to learn that, environmentally-conscious though I may be, if everybody lived like me we would need THREE planets!!! How appalling! I'll have to act.

I'll see what I can do to offset my household's carbon emissions.

Plant new trees?

Commemorations

What is the use of commemorations? What should be commemorated? Is there a "time limit" beyond which events ought not to be commemorated any longer?
That was the gist of the article we started studying in class on Tuesday, about the 9/11 commemorations this year.
For "comic" relief here is an amazing piece of sticky news to read : the Boston Molasses Disaster.

Preterit song

Learn grammar through songs: mouth-watering, isn't it???
Have fun.

Rugby sequel

Here is another truly fascinating site about Rugby, its history, the art it inspired etc...

Rugby World Cup

One of the most awesome aspects of rugby is Haka performed by the All Blacks, New Zealand's team. If you visit the All Blacks site you will get plenty of insight into the game. I enjoyed the videos.

New year in September!

For Airlines, Hands-On Air Traffic Control

Back to school!
An interesting site for all those who prefer movies to paper....
Cheer up guys, think of all the interesting discoveries we will make together!

We Have Moved to a New Home

We Have Moved to a New Home
Here is a fantastic site for you to try. Podcast it or listen to it with or without the script. It will help you to make real progress in oral comprehension during the holidays.

Comics writers: that's you, folks!

Want to do some amusing writing chore for a change? Go to this site and fill in the speech balloons... Have fun!

art quiz

Si vous voulez les solutions au quizz sur l'art en Europe il faut me les demander par courriel car je ne peux pas attacher de fichier.

Take the bull by the horns! Revisions for DS 4

*Grammaire:
Revoir les fiches de grammaire ainsi que les exercices portant sur tout ce qui a été vu jusqu'à maintenant, en insistant sur le preterit et le past perfect modal (après wish, 'd rather, if, it's high time), les subordonnant et les subordonnées relatives et circonstancielles, les comparatifs et superlatifs.

*Vocabulaire:

-Le vocabulaire des textes proposés par vos camarades: "Dutch Firm Pays Ivory Coast", "Malaria-resistant mosquito developed", "Distract and Disenfranchise ".
-Les fiches "Idioms"

Et aussi :

-Tout le thème de l'environnement, l'effet de serre, le changement climatique, les énergies renouvelables, les moyens de lutter contre la pollution, les décharges, les espèces en voie de disparition, etc...

Grammar for colle 13

"The sooner, the better" or "the more, the merrier," comparatives are always dazzlingly useful, aren't they?

Here are the "phrases de thème":

Tokyo is the largest city in Japan.
She is the most popular singer in our country.
He is taller than his brother.
They have more children than us/ than we have.
Mary is the younger sister (of the two).
He is twice as heavy as me.
She is as tall as her mother but not so/not as / tall as her sister.
It is the same film as last week.
It is getting hotter and hotter.
She is getting worse.
I can’t go any further.
I’d like further details.
Her elder son is married.
We use the latter more than the former.
He is the least mature of my students.
The more, the merrier.
The older this wine (is), the better it tastes.
The more money he earns, the more money he wastes.
The less you eat, the less energy you have.
The fewer students there are, the fewer the subsidies.
It is all the more amazing as English is his/her favourite subject.
The sooner, the better.


Have fun.

See you in May.

Panem and Circenses

The article Marouane will deal with is called "Distract and Disenfranchise" by Paul Kruger and can be found on the blog called 'Ecomomist's view'.

Auxerre, a Typical French Town for the New York Times

The New York Time published an article about Auxerre, which is said to epitomize the attitudes French people have about the upcoming presidential elections. Interesting, isn't it?

Malaria-resistant mosquito developed

Nafissatou will deal with this thought-provoking topic -malaria- tomorrow.
You'll find information about the disease in the site.


Here is a map of the regions of the globe affected by malaria.

Nafissatou's IHT article can be found there . A short video can be watched on the BBC News website where you can see the beautiful fluorescent green eyes of the "beast".

This hi-tech solution to the deadly disease has advantages and drawbacks. What do you think they are?

Biopiracy

A lot of information about biopiracy, which doesn't mention the claim of the "Indigenous Coalition Against Biopiracy "by the way.

Art in Europe : test your culture

On March 26th we will celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the treaty of Rome which laid the foundation of the E.U we live in today.



Here is a wonderful quiz about art in Europe.









http://www.ac-nancy-metz.fr/enseign/languesLP/anglais/arteuropeconcours.htm





Test your knowledge.

Dutch firm pays Ivory Coast to settle Toxic Waste

On Tuesday Mustapha will tell us about the unbearable consequences of dumping toxic waste. If you go the IHT site, you will be able to listen to the article, with an American accent, on top of reading it. Interesting, isn't it?

$100 computer

I found this interesting slide show about the $100 computer. Amazing isn't it?

Sismographe ou sismomètre? Who can help us decide?

We had an argument in class about the translation of 'seismometer'.
Can anybody help us?

Here is the article I have found in a Canadian dictionary when I got no answer for 'sismograph'.
The word 'sismomètre' is not to be found in my version of the Robert dictionary (in French).

Domaine(s) : - astronautique
- instrument


français
anglais

sismomètre lunaire n. m.
lunar seismometer


Définition :
Le sismomètre lunaire fait partie de l'équipement sélénographique d'Apollo. Il enregistre l'heure, la durée, l'amplitude et les principales caractéristiques des secousses sismiques lunaires ou « tremblements de lune ». Ces données fournissent des renseignements sur les propriétés physiques de l'écorce et de l'intérieur lunaires. Le sismomètre lunaire diffère peu des sismomètres terrestres, mais il est plus sensible et comporte un dispositif radio permettant l'envoi vers la Terre des données recueillies. Les secousses enregistrées après le départ du module lunaire d'Apollo 11 révèlent la présence d'un noyau central en fusion. D'autres secousses de faible amplitude seraient dues à des glissements de terrain provoqués par l'expansion des roches sous l'effet du rayonnement solaire. Les études fondées sur les signaux recueillis révèlent l'existence de plusieurs couches stratifiées et d'une écorce solide d'environ 12 milles d'épaisseur.

February 14th: Happy Valentine!

Wednesday 14th February : Valentine Day!!!!

Can you believe it? Shouldn't you all be wearing something red to celebrate that day? What do you think?
Here is a photo that I took last year in Curaçao on Valentine day to show you how popular this day is in lots of countries, the Caribbean Islands for instance, not to mention England.

More seriously, we will be having a half-term test which isn't going to be a bed of -red-roses as usual unfortunately .

Révisions:
*Grammaire: tout depuis le début de l'année jusqu'à la futurité et le futur dans les subordonnées de temps
*Les exposés des élèves: "Where the Tuna roam", "Plastic Paper", "Ship spilling oil and cargo off England" "mission to the moon", "radiation tests after spy death"
*Class themes: Food, the food pyramid, health and nutrition, the trans-fat and smoking cartoon,genetics, Gmos.

OGM en français

Here is the French article about GMOs if you find it the one in English too hard to understand.

Dilemma

Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TIME_cover_july_31_2000.jpg

What is your personal opinion on this issue?

Genetic Engineering

Want to understand how Genetic Engineering works? Here is a quick and easy way

Try listening to this!

Here you will find an article to listen to about the topic dealt with by Khalil on Tuesday January 30th 2007.

Ship spilling oil and cargo

Khalil's topic this week is the recent oil spill after the Napoli was towed near the coast of Devon. Looters, scavengers had a feast. Are they allowed to keep the goods they found on the beach, this huge BMW, for instance.