4º British Webquest: Child labor during the Industrial Revolution

You are a member of the British Parliament at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution (around 1840). You have been asked by one of the recently formed social welfare groups to investigate the issue of child labor in the mines of northern England.  These mines are an important part of Britain's industrial progress and provides wealth for the nation, however the conditions in these mines are often dangerous and unhealthy.  

You have a two part task:

First, your job is to objectively evaluate the conditions of the mines, the social benefits and costs of child labor in general, and to write a report on if the government should take action to change the labor laws to add more protections for children in the work place.  Make sure that you justify your position with evidence. Remember, come to your decision based on facts, not emotion. Your responsibility is to prepare a report that tells the government what is best for Britain and why. Your report should be at least two pages long.

Second, you also need to also prepare a list of 5 witnesses who will testify to the Parliament on the nature of working conditions in the mines and their affect on children.  Make sure to have a name, age, occupation, and short description of their point of view on their list.

You have to send the complete document to blogeducativo08@gmail.com. This work is mandatory and will be part of the score at the end of the term. If you fail to finish it, do it out of date, or just copy from a webpage, the mark will be a 0 for this work.

Resources you can use:

Victorian Web:  Life of an industrial worker

Victorian Web:  testimonies

Economist’s View: Child Labor

Industrial Revolution Child (Speeches, testimonies and Acts)

Photos (Child Labor in USA)

BBC – 7 wonders of Industrial Revolution

Photo: Graffitti from Banksy

Adapted from: Travlyn A. Russell (Irvington High School)

4º British: Unit 10 Industrial Revolution

Here you have the links for the new theoretical unit: The Industrial Revolution, and its Glossary. As the Industrial Revolution is a main topic for the IGSCE, you should prepare some optional extra work.

Firstly, watch the Modern Times, by Chaplin (1936) to understand, humorously, the mechanization of production and the assembly-line process in a factory. It is only the first part of the movie (about 20 minutes).

Secondly, visit the BBC Radio to hear an interesting and very complete audio about Industrial Rev. (Radio-recorder from 23 December 2010). Lasting about 43 minutes.

In addition, you can search more info and also videos and photos from History Channel website

But not everything is studying... you can play this “industrial games” from BBC:

Who wants to be a cotton millionaire?

Wellcome to Muck and Brass

Enjoy!

3º British: natural environment II (weather and climate)

Here you have the link of the second part about natural environment: a full review of weather and climate. And also the weekly work for this part (remember the deadline: it must be delivered on Tuesday 19, February... the same day you have the exam of Europe's map).

Talking about weather, we have more natural hazards: hurricanes! They are created because of extreme low-pressure weather conditions. If you want more details, watch this video. 

In addition to the weekly work and the case studies, I have prepared a small webquest  about population on extreme weather conditions...  that we can do if the computers will work properly. Cross your fingers! :-)

3º British: Training Case Studies

Choose ONE of the following Case Studies and write a full report. Remember that you should include all the stages (see the full class explanation):

Fact (Identification of the main problem)

Causes and consequences

Possible solution

The case studies are:

1. Volcanic eruption: Mount St. Helens (USA)
2. Coastal flooding in Bangladesh (LEDC)
3. Air Pollution (Beijing)

When you finish, send the complete document to blogeducativo08@gmail.com. As it is your first activity of this kind, there will be no mark this time, just try to do your best and learn for future questions. I will give you the correction by email.

Good luck! J

2º ESO Webquest: Los castillos medievales

Ahora que ya sois expertos en la Edad Media y el Feudalismo, vamos a profundizar en un tema que seguro os atrae: los castillos y los caballeros.

Todos habéis visto alguna película ambientada en la Edad Media en la que aparecen castillos, caballeros con armaduras, juglares, bufones y torneos en los que se lucha con lanza y espada... Pues este trabajo va precisamente de todo eso!

Imaginaos que un famoso director de cine norteamericano está buscando información para realizar una película ambientada en la historia medieval europea, así que decide contrataros a vosotros, expertos en el tema, para que le asesoréis y busquéis información y escenarios.

Cada grupo deberá elaborar un PowerPoint (unas 20-30 diapositivas) que incluya los siguientes puntos. Y por supuesto, podéis incluir todas las fotos o dibujos que consideréis oportunos:

• ¿Por qué se desarrollaron los castillos en la Edad Media? ¿Qué funciones tenían los castillos? ¿Qué partes se podían distinguir en un castillo?
• ¿Quiénes vivían en los castillos? ¿Quién dirigía la vida en el castillo? ¿Qué tareas y actividades profesionales se realizaban en él?
• ¿Cómo se divertían? ¿Qué eran los juglares y trovadores?
• ¿Quiénes eran los caballeros? ¿Cómo se llegaba a ser caballero? ¿Qué era la ceremonia del homenaje? ¿Cuáles eran las obligaciones y que recibía a cambio el caballero? ¿Cómo eran las armaduras y armas de un caballero? ¿Cómo era un torneo medieval?

Podéis empezar consultando los siguientes enlaces (en este caso pertenecen a España, pero podéis escoger castillos de otras partes de Europa): 

1. Arteguías
2. Castillos.net (ordenado por provincias)
3. Fortalezas medievales
4. Castillos de España
5. Asociación de Amigos de los Castillos (enlaces que ellos recomiendan)

Recordad que el trabajo debe ser original, NO se admiten simples plagios de internet!. Una vez terminado y firmado, enviadlo como archivo adjunto a blogeducativo08@gmail.com

Comenzamos... Buena suerte!

3º and 4º British: IGCSE Exams

Cambridge IGCSE is the world’s most popular international curriculum for 14-16 year olds. Cambridge IGCSE is taken in over 100 countries worldwide and are widely accepted by higher education institutions and employers around the world as evidence of academic ability.

Cambridge IGCSE develops learners’ skills in creative thinking, enquiry and problem solving, and even introducing cross-curricular perspectives, giving learners excellent preparation for the next stage in their education.

The students will take examinations in May/June 2013. If you are thinking about them, you can visit the following sites:

• Cambridge’s official website (GEOGRAPHY): you can read carefully the 2013 syllabus and even past papers and examiner reports. You can also prepare a small review of the topics using the BBC page.

• Cambridge’s website (HISTORY): again, you can read carefully the syllabus for this year’ exam, and even past papers and examiner reports. You can also prepare a small review of the topics using the BBC page.

Think carefully about them and... Good luck!

4º British: UK and Spain in the 19th century

New year, new issues! ;-) Here you have the links of the first topics of this term:

• Unit 8: Britain under Queen Victoria
• Unit 9: Spain in the 19th century

Unit 9 has also a Glossary. You can print it or not, but remember that in the exam it will be a question of vocabulary... And finally, the Weekly Work (both units together).