An amazing TED talk about the Basking shark. Just watch and be fascinated.
Triple A Learning IB Blogs
February 18, 2012
October 21, 2011
Saving Species: Topic 4 Conservation
It is not often that I direct my students to a series of audio podcasts or radio shows, the world of Youtube being what it is. But lately I have started to get them to listen to episodes from the BBC Radio 4 Programme – Saving species. Now in its second series each week an individual topic or example is covered. I tend to listen to the shows on an ipad using an app called tunein radio which allows me to record them as well but they are also available on the bbc website through the iplayer service or as podcasts from inside itunes (though not all of them are available). Lots of very useful stuff possibly to much so be selective.
Natural capital with a weird face: Topic 3.2 natural capital and Topic 4 Conservation of biodiversity
It is often to easy to fall back on the same case studies and examples when providing background to students. especially when the questions around Natural capital or conservation come up. It is easy to talk about over fishing in the North Sea or the problems faced by the orangutang. There is plenty written about both in many widely available textbooks. However sometimes the cases that really capture student imagination and bring deep understanding are those a little off the beaten track. Fr me teaching in a semi desert locality anything to do with the inuit and arctic ecosystems are so alien to my students that they really take the ideas onboard.
Australian Geographic – A female pig-nosed turtle, native to the Top End of Australia and Papua New Guinea. (Credit Ricardo França Silva)
October 3, 2011
Invasive species and conservation
Two stories grabbed my attention this week in the news relating to the Ecology and Conservation option unit G.
One was the possible hunting of Canada geese (Branta canadenis) in France due to unexpected climbing numbers. Perhaps it caught my eye as I live in Canada. As the largest goose found in europe it was introduced into Britain in the 17th century; they are prolific breeders. At the end of the 1990′s there were only several hundred in France, now there are believed to be over 5000.
February 4, 2011
4.3 Conservation of biodiversity – All wrong about Panda’s
A very interesting article in the Biological letters of the Royal Society, suggest that the world and his dog have been getting the conservation strategy wrong for Giant Panda’s. While we all know about bamboo and the Giant Panda it now appears that Old Growth Forest may be equally as important a habitat for the Giant Panda
It seems scientists may have been concentrating their research to narrowly.
April 3, 2010
Demise of the Bluefin Tuna
The plight of fish can be a hard one, especially if they taste nice. They also suffer from not being as cute or as cuddly as a panda and therefore do not grab as much attention in the media and the wider public’s consciousness as other species heading for extinction. The plight of the bluefin tuna is a case in point.
It is hard to be positive about the future of our planet when politics and economic interests collide with the cold reality of an ever dwindling population that by its reduced numbers becomes ever more valuable to catch.
