Sunday, November 3, 2013

Agriculture

Agriculture is a primary activity in which farmers cultivate crops or rear animals to produce food and other products. There are many different types of agriculture: subsistence and commercial, intensive and extensive, pastoral, mixed, arable, plantation. Here are some resources that might help you revise the topic:
The S-cool revision site on agriculture.
i-Study on farming.
BBC Bitesize.
Revision World.

You can also check out this pupil video on plantation farming to help you revise.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Extreme weather

Weather - the changes in climate, temperature, rainfall and wind - can bring many advantages for mankind, but it can also be incredibly destructive. Take, for example, tropical storms which can become hurricanes (also known as typhoons or cyclones depending on which part of the world they effect). They can cause catastrophic damage when they hit land. Similarly we have seen severe damage as a result of other examples of extreme weather such as the tornados in Oklahoma and the floods in the Czech Republic.
Take a look at this animation to see how hurricanes can be formed and this one to see how tornadoes occur.
S-Cool has a clear and simple page on how weather can affect human activity. There are also good revision summaries on this webpage and on this one. You can also look at this video on Hurricane Katrina.


For footage of the recent tornados that his Oklahoma in the United States, have a look at the video
below:


In Europe, flooding has been the latest weather threat with flooding hitting Central Europe and the Czech Republic in particular:


Monday, June 3, 2013

Coasts

Coasts are amongst the most fascinating and beautiful of geographical features. Here are a number of resources which should help you understand how they are formed and how they change over time.
Have a look at the Cool Geography site for some useful revision tips on the topic. S-cool also has a nice section on coasts. This wiki has some great material too and of course you can always try some of the revision exercises and test on the BBC Bitesize site. Slideshare has a handy revision presentation on coastal features.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Fold Mountains

Fold Mountains are usually formed from sedimentary rocks when two tectonic plates move together on a convergent boundary. The Himalayas and the Alps are two examples of fold mountains. Here is the Bitesize revision section on fold mountains, but also check out the excellent S-Cool revision site too. Have a look at the videos below too. I especially liked the song version done by a group of pupils to the tune of Bryan Adams' "Heaven".



Earthquakes

Earthquakes are a sudden release of energy from movement within the earth's crust. They are most common at plate boundaries. There are thousands of earthquakes across the globe every day but most are too small to be detected without special equipment, although big ones can cause massive destruction. Have a look at the resources mentioned here to help you understand the causes and effects of this natural disaster.
A good place to start is the BBC website which has a great selection of resources on earthquakes. Still with the BBC, Bitesize has a good revision section on earthquakes, as does S-Cool and Cool Geography. If you want to find out more about measuring earthquakes then have a look at the Geography Site.
Have a look at this video too to help you understand the phenomena.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Mumbai and the Dharavi slum

Made famous by the box office hit Slumdog Millionaire, Asia's largest slum area Dharavi is to be found within the sprawling Indian city of Mumbai, the country's thriving financial capital (click here for a travel guide to the Mumbai). Home to over a million people, thousands of small businesses are crammed in amongst its cluttered streets and ramshackle dwellings. The Indian state government has plans to redevelop the area and turn it into a modern township. But what effect will the scheme have on Dharavi and its residents?

Find out the answer by taking a look at the following resources.
A good place to start is the interactive video produced by National Geographic. You can also have a look at the You Tube video below which walks you through Dharavi and a news report on the plans to redevelop the area.



There is some interesting information on the Geography Resources Online site and also at Cool Geography. There are a host of good articles about Dharavu on the web too, for example The New York Times, the Economist and this one on urban development in LEDCs. It was the the box office hit Slumdog Millionaire that brought the area to the attention of many, but it wasn't a fairytale ending for all those who featured in the film.


Finally here is a short film about another of India's slums, this time in the Bihar area.