In 1882 on the Fox river, in the USA, hydroelectricity produced enough power to light two paper mills and a house.
Nowadays there are many hydro-electric power stations, providing around 20% of the world's electricity. The name comes from "hydro", the Greek word for water.
How it works
A dam is built to trap water, usually in a valley where there is an existing lake.
Water is allowed to flow through tunnels in the dam, to turn turbines and thus drive generators.
Notice that the dam is much thicker at the bottom than at the top, because the pressure of the water increases with depth.
Hydro-electric power stations can produce a great deal of power very cheaply
Advantages
Once the dam is built, the energy is virtually free.
No waste or pollution produced.
Much more reliable than wind, solar or wave power.
Water can be stored above the dam ready to cope with peaks in demand.
Hydro-electric power stations can increase to full power very quickly, unlike other power stations.
·Electricity can be generated constantly.
Disadvantages
The dams are very expensive to build.
However, many dams are also used for flood control or irrigation, so building costs can be shared.
Building a large dam will flood a very large area upstream, causing problems for animals that used to live there.
Finding a suitable site can be difficult - the impact on residents and the environment may be unacceptable.
·Water quality and quantity downstream can be affected, which can have an impact on plant life.
Is it renewable?
Hydro-electric power isrenewable.
The Sun provides the water by evaporation from the sea, and will keep on doing so.
/www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/hydro.htm
TEST 5 PACK
The tide moves a huge amount of water twice each day, and harnessing it could provide a great deal of energy - around 20% of Britain's needs.
Although the energy supply is reliable and plentiful, converting it into useful electrical power is not easy.
There are eight main sites around Britain where tidal power stations could usefully be built, including the Severn, Dee, Solway and Humber estuaries. Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations
How it works: Tidal Barrages
These work rather like a hydro-electric scheme, except that the dam is much bigger.
A huge dam (called a "barrage") is built across a river estuary. When the tide goes in and out, the water flows through tunnels in the dam.
The ebb and flow of the tides can be used to turn a turbine, or it can be used to push air through a pipe, which then turns a turbine.
Large lock gates, like the ones used on canals, allow ships to pass.
If one was built across the Severn Estuary, the tides at Weston-super-Mare would not go out nearly as far - there'd be water to play in for most of the time.
But the Severn Estuary carries sewage and other wastes from many places (e.g. Bristol & Gloucester) out to sea. A tidal barrage would mean that this stuff would hang around Weston-super-Mare an awful lot longer!
Also, if you're one of the 80,000+ birds that feeds on the exposed mud flats when the tide goes out, then you have a problem, because the tide won't be going out properly any more
Advantages
Once you've built it, tidal power is free.
It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste.
It needs no fuel.
It produces electricity reliably.
Not expensive to maintain.
Tides are totally predictable.
Offshore turbines and vertical-axis turbines are not ruinously expensive to build and do not have a large environmental impact.
Disadvantages
A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to build, and affects a very wide area - the environment is changed for many miles upstream and downstream. Many birds rely on the tide uncovering the mud flats so that they can feed.
There are few suitable sites for tidal barrages.
Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out.
Is it renewable?
Tidal energy isrenewable. The tides will continue to ebb and flow, and the energy is there for the taking.
www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal.htm
Here are some links to practice your English skills: speaking, listening and reading
Nuclear Power -
energy from splitting Uranium atoms
Nuclear power is generated using Uranium, which is a metal mined in various parts of the world.
The first large-scale nuclear power station opened at Calder Hall in Cumbria, England, in 1956.
Some military ships and submarines have nuclear power plants for engines.
Nuclear power produces around 11% of the world's energy needs, and produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel, without the pollution that you'd get from burning fossil fuels.
How it works:
Nuclear power stations work in pretty much the same way as fossil fuel-burning stations, except that a "chain reaction" inside a nuclear reactor makes the heat instead.
The reactor uses Uranium rods as fuel, and the heat is generated by nuclear fission: neutrons smash into the nucleus of the uranium atoms, which split roughly in half and release energy in the form of heat.
Carbon dioxide gas or water is pumped through the reactor to take the heat away, this then heats water to make steam.
The steam drives turbines which drive generators
Modern nuclear power stations use the same type of turbines and generators as conventional power stations.
In Britain, nuclear power stations are often built on the coast, and use sea water for cooling the steam ready to be pumped round again. This means that they don't have the huge "cooling towers" seen at other power stations.
The reactor is controlled with "control rods", made of boron, which absorb neutrons. When the rods are lowered into the reactor, they absorb more neutrons and the fission process slows down. To generate more power, the rods are raised and more neutrons can crash into uranium atoms.
Should I worry about nuclear power?
Nuclear power stations are not atomic bombs waiting to go off, and are not prone to "meltdowns".
There is a lot of U-238 in there slowing things down - you need a high concentration of U-235 to make a bomb.
If the reactor gets too hot, the control rods are lowered in and it cools down.
If that doesn't work, there are sets of emergency control rods that automatically drop in and shut the reactor down completely.
With reactors in the UK, the computers will shut the reactor down automatically if things get out of hand (unless engineers intervene within a set time). At Chernobyl, in Ukraine, they did not have such a sophisticated system, indeed they over-rode the automatic systems they did have. When they got it wrong, the reactor overheated, melted and the excessive pressure blew out the containment system before they could stop it. Then, with the coolant gone, there was a serious fire. Many people lost their lives trying to sort out the mess. A quick web search will tell you more about this, including companies who operate tours of the site
If something does go wrong in a really big way, much of the world could be affected - some radioactive dust (called "fallout") from the Chernobyl accident landed in the UK. That's travelled a long way.
With AGR reactors (the most common type in Britain) there are additional safety systems, such as flooding the reactor with nitrogen and/or water to absorb all the neutrons - although the water option means that reactor can never be restarted.
So should I worry? I think the answer is "so long as things are being done properly, I don't need to worry too much. The bit that does worry me is the small amount of high-level nuclear waste from power stations. Although there's not much of it, it's very, very dangerous and we have no way to deal with it apart from bury it and wait for a few thousand years
Advantages
• Nuclear power costs about the same as coal, so it's not expensive to make.
• Does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide, so it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.
• Produces huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel.
• Produces small amounts of waste.
• Nuclear power is reliable.
Disadvantages
• Although not much waste is produced, it is very, very dangerous.
It must be sealed up and buried for many thousands of years to allow the radioactivity to die away.
For all that time it must be kept safe from earthquakes, flooding, terrorists and everything else. This is difficult.
• Nuclear power is reliable, but a lot of money has to be spent on safety - if it does go wrong, a nuclear accident can be a major disaster.
People are increasingly concerned about this - in the 1990's nuclear power was the fastest-growing source of power in much of the world. In 2005 it was the second slowest-growing.
Is it renewable?
Nuclear energy from Uranium is not renewable.
Once we've dug up all the Earth's uranium and used it,
there isn't any more
www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/nuclear.htm
Homework: Grammar, chapter 98,speaking about ecology and a composition about a book or a film review.
Geothermal - heat from underground
Introduction
The centre of the Earth is around 6000 degrees Celsius - easily hot enough to melt rock. Even a few kilometres down, the temperature can be over 250 degrees Celsius.
In general, the temperature rises one degree Celsius for every 36 metres you go down.
In volcanic areas, molten rock can be very close to the surface. Sometimes we can use that heat.
Geothermal energy has been used for thousands of years in some countries for cooking and heating.
The name "geothermal" comes from two Greek words: "geo" means "Earth" and "thermal" means "heat".
How it works
Hot rocks underground heat water to produce steam.
We drill holes down to the hot region, steam comes up, is purified and used to drive turbines, which drive electric generators.
There may be natural "groundwater" in the hot rocks anyway, or we may need to drill more holes and pump water down to them
The first geothermal power station was built at Landrello, in Italy, and the second was at Wairekei in New Zealand. Others are in Iceland, Japan, the Philippines and the United States.
In Iceland, geothermal heat is used to heat houses as well as for generating electricity.
If the rocks aren't hot enough to produce steam we can sometimes still use the energy - the Civic Centre in Southampton, England, is partly heated this way as part of a district heating scheme with thousands of customers..
Geothermal energy is an important resource in volcanically active places such as Iceland and New Zealand.
How useful it is depends on how hot the water gets. This depends on how hot the rocks were to start with, and how much water we pump down to them.
Water is pumped down an "injection well", filters through the cracks in the rocks in the hot region, and comes back up the "recovery well" under pressure. It "flashes" into steam when it reaches the surface.
The steam may be used to drive a turbogenerator, or passed through a heat exchanger to heat water to warm houses. A town in Iceland is heated this way.
The steam must be purified before it is used to drive a turbine, or the turbine blades will get "furred up" like your kettle and be ruined.
Advantages
Geothermal energy does not produce any pollution, and does not contribute to the greenhouse effect.
The power stations do not take up much room, so there is not much impact on the environment.
No fuel is needed.
Once you've built a geothermal power station, the energy is almost free. It may need a little energy to run a pump, but this can be taken from the energy being generated.
Disadvantages
The big problem is that there are not many places where you can build a geothermal power station. You need hot rocks of a suitable type, at a depth where we can drill down to them. The type of rock above is also important, it must be of a type that we can easily drill through.
Sometimes a geothermal site may "run out of steam", perhaps for decades.
Hazardous gases and minerals may come up from underground, and can be difficult to safely dispose of.
Is it renewable?
Geothermal energy isrenewable. The energy keeps on coming, as long as we don't pump too much cold water down and cool the rocks too much.
This link is about BIODIVERSITY. Please, read it and do the activities www.britishcouncil.org
Another topic for a composition news reports with the answers NI2A/C Homework: check exercises on contrat clauses. speaking for Certificación: interaction and photo description. Grammar: the passive voice special focus on the structures "he is said to be/it is thought". Exercises on the passive voice and the answers . Grammar: review of unit 6: ST.b.p. 99 Listening: A song "American Pie" by don McLean. Homework: some more exercises on the passive voice.Passive voice 2. With these exercises you have plenty to do.
Here´s a very good link about GLOBAL WARMING.Please,read it and do the activities. www.britishcouncil.org NI2A/C
Homework: Just three students has sent me the book review. I urgently need the others for next Monday
Grammar: Infinitives and gerunds. St.b.p. 84. Grammar Bank, St.B.p. 140, rules and exercises and a set of exercises with some explanations to do for homework.
Listening: St.b.p. 85. A radio programme called Crimebusters. answer questions, true-false statements and listen and fill with a specific word.
Vocabulary: Economical with the truth. St.b.p. 88. complete the statments with one word..Discuss the statements.e.g. "I haven´t told any lies but I have been very economical with the truth".
Speaking: In pairs discuss the questions in the blue box.
Phonetics: St.b.p. 90. words with the sound like in part, both,day, they.
SUPPLEMENTARY EXERCISES: INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS . Sorry, there´s a page which I scanned wrongly. the answers are in number 38
NB1A/B
Homework: wk.pp. 44,45. Review of irregular verbs.
Grammar and speaking : irregular verb formation. Review. Regular and irregular verbs. To have more practice ,go back to posts dated 11 and 13 of April
Unit 5C. " Girl´s night out".St.b.p. 56 . Vocabulary: have, get, go. St.B.p. 150. Match the expressions with the drawings and then test your partner.
Reading: St.B.p. 56. Three women going out in different countries. Match the questions to the passage. Read and complete the chart with questions about the reading.
Speaking: pair work. Ask questions and give short answers with the previous exercise. e.g. did Sabina wear a dress? No, she didn´t.
Grammar: complete the list with an irregular verb. Listen and repeat.
Listening: Listen to the third woman going out in Rio. Answer the questions in section C.
Homework: Grammar, unit 12 (13) did I?,I didn´t. Study the irregular verbs and the vocabulary on page 150 (have, get,go)
Recycling tips 3 Ideas for recycling other items: • Old or broken household goods such as toasters, transistor radios can be used by others for parts. Sell them cheaply at a garage sale. • Carry a supermarket bag with you when you go walking so that you can pick up glass, litter or other plastic bags. • Wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, and boxes can be used to wrap someone else's presents. • Recycle jars by using them for home preserves. • Ice cream containers can be reused around the home in a number of ways: o Storing food in the freezer o As a container for toys, crayons, clothes pegs o Biscuit container • An upside down bottle with small holes in the top can be used to provide water for your pets while you are on holiday. • Stronger plastic bottles can be used to hold tools and nails etc in the shed. Simply cut three sides and leave one side longer and nail to the wall in the shed. • Old furniture, clothes, kitchen gear, and bedding are always wanted by charities.
General tips for recycling and avoiding rubbish: • Buy a smaller rubbish container for the kitchen. This makes you to remember to recycle. • Make sure bottles and tins are clean before putting in the recycling bin. This prevents flies both at home and the recycling station. • Reorganise the kitchen so it has an efficient recycling area with good sized bins to help with sorting and holding. This will encourage other members of the household to contribute and help share the work instead of it being reliant on one person. • Cutting both the tops and the bottoms off tin cans (and placing them inside) and squashing them makes them smaller to fit into the recycling bin. • Spread the word. By telling other people and helping them to get started, we increase the savings that can be made. Also get your children involved – if we can educate them early, they will grow up and appreciate waste reduction and will be able to apply these skills in later life. www.reducerubbish.govt.nz NI2A/C
Writing: finish the set of exercises about descriptions of people.
Homework: A composition describing someone you know to be handed 9th March,Wednesday. Grammar, unit 41 (I wish)
NB1A/B
Homework: St.B.p. 38,39.
Grammar test, unit 3. It was checked and marked in class.
Reading: Unit 4A "I can´t dance". St.B.p. 40. Read the ad .Questions about it.
Listening: Listen to three people and write their names next to what they can/can´t do.
Speaking: Can you sing? Yes, I can/ no, I can´t.
Phonetics: St.B.p. 40 Strong and weak forms of can in affermatives (I can_ sing), in negatives (I can´t dance) and interrogatives (what_can you do?/ can you dance?)
Vocabulary: verb phrases. Vocabulary Bank, St.B.p. 149. Verb phrases like look for my keys, wait for my friends.. were matched with the pictures and pronounced. Test your partner. One covers the verbs and the other asks by saying the numbers.
Recycling tips 2 Ideas for recycling household waste in the garden: • Aluminium trays from pies and cakes make ideal 'drip saucers' to put under pot plants. • Old tyres can be used outside for plant pots - especially good for plants that like warm soils as they trap the heat. • The following waste items can be modified and used for planting seedlings: o Egg cartons o Tetra-pak cartons o Plastic bottles o Plastic containers for cherry tomatoes o Plastic icecream containers. • Broken crockery can be used as drainage at the bottom of pot plants. • Tin cans can be used as: o Water reservoirs for new plants and trees. • Old newspapers (including those gathered from your friends) can be used to mulch and weed control the garden. Wet newspaper and place thickly on the garden. Cover with bark or stones. • Plastic milk bottles can be used to hold snail bait and are pet proof. • Old stockings can be used to tie up plants in the garden. • Plastic icecream containers can be cut into strips for seed labels. Ideas for recycling organic/garden waste: • If you've done any trimming of trees and hedges, contact the local Zoo to see if they can use these for their animals, either as food or environment improvement. from:reducerubbish.govt.nz NI2A/C
Homework: Grammars: units 99,106 ,about adjectives.
Speaking: three students made their speeches based on photos.
Reading: test for Certificación. Checked and marked in class.
The listening wasn´t done because I had forgotten the memory stick at home and was unable to open the file from the PC. Sorry!!!
Writing: Describing people. Pages 2,3,4 from the "tocho" with the guidelines to follow.
Homework: Wk.p. 30,31,33,34,35. Check the answers at home and ask what you haven´t understood in class.
NB1A/B
Workbook: grammar, unit 103
Vocabulary: review of dates. Write and say them.
Reading: Fascinating Festivals. St.B.p. 34. Read and match . Answer the questions: where is it?, when si it?, what do they throw?
Phonetics: St.B.p. 34 :the sound of mother, and thanks and p. 33 the sound of hospital , house.
Reading: St.B.p.35. Times you Love. Read the article and complete Carla´s answers with some sentences.
Reading test.
Listening test.
Homework: St.B.p. 38,39. Remember to write a composition: describe your family and bring a photo.
Recycling tips 1 There are lots of innovative things you can do to help reduce your rubbish – check out some of the tips below to get started. Making use of your mountain of plastic bags: • Use them as bin liners. • Place them in the bottom of plant pots and hanging baskets - they act as great drainage systems. • Children can use them for carrying PE gear to school. • Scrunch them up to surround items when you're packaging as an alternative to bubble wrap. • Use them in the garden to hold your grass cuttings and hedge trimmings before transfer to a compost bin. • Use them when packing for a holiday to keep dirty/wet clothes and shoes away from dry clothing. • Use them as 'doggy doo bags' when out walking your dog! • Some supermarkets recycle plastic bags, so you can return plastic bags to them. • Re-use washed zip lock bags for sandwiches and snacks rather than using plastic wrap. Ideas for recycling paper: • After children's drawings and paintings have been displayed for a while they can be used to wrap presents - this also makes the present special. • Discarded A4-sized paper can be cut and stapled together to make notepads. Alternatively, if you save five reams, it will cost you about $5 to get a print company to convert this paper into 'proper' notepads. • 'Use the envelopes you receive in the mail a second time by placing a new address label over the last address. I call this the OMT System ("One more time system"). Old envelopes can also be used for scribbling down shopping lists, to-do lists, and notes.' • Resealable envelopes can be reused many times: 'My daughter takes one to school when she orders her lunch. The envelope has all details written in felt on the front and the money sealed inside. She brings the envelope home and we use it again until it gets too shabby.' • Old calendars, colourful pictures, etc. can be used to make your own envelopes. You can unstick a used envelope and use it as a template for making envelopes. • Old rolls of wallpaper can be used for childrens' drawings. • Junk mail can be used as scrap paper, or as bedding for pets. • Cardboard cartons can be used to collect paper for recycling, instead of plastic bags (even breakfast cereal cartons are good). • SPCA and pet shops appreciate old newspapers. • Toilet roll centres can be recycled - they're made of cardboard. • To fill in a rainy day get a paper recycling kit and get the kids to rip up old used paper to make recycled paper, it can be great fun. • Old magazines are appreciated by: o Doctor and dentists' surgeries o Motels o Friends from:www.reducerubbish.govt.nz NI2A/C
Grammar: Word order of adjectives. St.B.p. 53 , the exercise with mistakes to be corrected and St.B.p. 136 with the general rules and a couple of activities. the+comparative, the+comparative : the more, the better. Grammar, unit 106 with some more adjective structures: a bit more interesting, the town is growing faster and faster. Unit 99 about the order of adjectives.
Speaking: pair work. A: p.117/B.p.121. Describe your models and spot five differences for each model. St.B.p. 55. Choose a topic from a list a talk about it for two minutes.
Writing: How todescribe people. a set of activities,out of which a composition has to come out. We saw the basic rules.
Listening: Match the personal qualities to the children in the photos. Take notes to describe each of them.
Sea turtles play key roles in two ecosystem types that are critical to them as well as to humans—oceans and beaches/dunes. In the oceans, for example, sea turtles, especially green sea turtles, are one of very few creatures (manatees are another) that eat the sea grass that grows on the sea floor. Sea grass must be kept short to remain healthy, and beds of healthy sea grass are essential breeding and development areas for many species of fish and other marine life. A decline or loss of sea grass beds would damage these populations, triggering a chain reaction and negatively impacting marine and human life.
Beaches and dunes form a fragile ecosystem that depends on vegetation to protect against erosion. Eggs, hatched or unhatched, and hatchlings that fail to make it into the ocean are nutrient sources for dune vegetation[citation needed]. Every year, sea turtles lay countless eggs on beaches. Along one twenty-mile (32 km) stretch of beach in Florida alone, for example, more than 150,000 pounds of eggs are laid each year. From Wikipedia
NI2A/C
Homework: The exercises on conditionals . the anwers are in one of the latest posts.
Speaking: two students made their speech about different topics.
Reading: a reding for certificacion. Exercises, answers
Listening: a listening for certificacion. Exercises, script, audio.
All these activities were checked in class and doubts were solved.
Homework: St.B.p. 51 (don´t do exercise c) ,and wk. p. 27,28,30,31.
NB1A/B
Homework: Daily routines. some students read their compositions and mistakes were checked on the blackboard. The last page of a set of exercises about adjectives, singulars and plurals.
Listening: St.B.p. 31. Stressed people. Listen to Simon ,then listen to Professor Parker´s advice. Take notes on the pieces of advice he gives and retell what he says. Listen and read with the script on p. 116.
Speaking: What time do you....? St.B.p. 31. Interview your classmate.
Phonetics: the sounds for coffee, school, son, home.
Grammar: frequency adverbs. St.B.p. 32. The Mystery of Okinawa. Rank the frequency adverbs from the highest to lowest percentage . Grammar Bank. St.B.p. 126, rules and exercises, an extra photocopy with more exercises.
Reading: Read the passage and put a heading for each paragraph.
Vocabulary: check unkown words and pronunciation of some difficult words, e.g. vegetables, fruit, friends..
Speaking: describe a photograph. As usual, three students had their speech and mistakes were checked on the board. If you don´t do it, you won´t have any practice for the exam, it´s your responsibility to do it in the best possible way.
Listening. a Certificación listening, which I´ll post when my computer works properly with the server. It wasn´t as bad as the first one we did.
Grammar: conditionals. a review on the first two types and more emphasis on the third type and the structures with "I wish". This is in your grammars, unit 38,39,and 40. If you haven´t done the exercises yet, please do them at the weekend and check your answers in the answer key in the last pages of the book.
Speaking: a couple of activities with NI2A to practice the third conditional.
speaking: pair work activity . Ask and answer questions about you and about another person. Review of the auxiliary "do-does" in the simple present.
Vocabulary: Adjectives : I´m cold, I´m hungry with the verb to be (in Spanish tengo frio, tengo hambre). Say sentences and write them down. Some more adjectives such as near, far, ill...
Rhinomuraena quaesita. It´s one of the smallest and most beautiful morays in the Maldives. The ribbon eel is an elegant creature with a long, thin body and high dorsal fins. The ribbon eel can easily be recognised by its expanded anterior nostrils. Juveniles and sub-adults are jet black with a yellow dorsal fin, while females are yellow with a black anal fin with white margins on the fins. The adult males are blue with a yellow dorsal fin.
The ribbon eel grows to an overall length of approximately 100 cm (36 in), and has a life span of up to twenty years. The ribbon eel is the only moray eel that is not gonochoristic.
BehaviorLike many eels, the ribbon eel is sometimes thought to be angry or aggressive, because its mouth is often open, appearing ready to strike. In reality, the eel is simply breathing.
In the wild, the ribbon eel buries itself in sand or hides in rocks or reefs, dashing out to feed on shrimp and fish. From wikipedia
NI2A/C
Homework: Photo description , the same as in the exam. Mistakes checked on the board and marks, of course.
Grammar: linking words related to story telling. Useful connectors to express clearly the sequence of tenses.
CL: Reading: St.B.p. 40 "I will survive" , a reading about someby who breaks his leg while mountain climbing. Questions.
CO: A listening to see how the story ends . Answer questions and true-false statements.
Grammar. the third conditional. St.B.p. 41. Match the halves. Grammar Bank. St.B.p. 134.Rules and exercises.
Homework: A set of exercises with more connectors.
Nb1A/C
Homework: Workbook, p, 22. An e-mail to a friend. They were read and the most important mistakes were checked on the board, e,g.I like watching TV ( I like to watch TV) , I learn English to travel/ for my job/because I like it (I learn English for to travel), these among the most common mistakes.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 146.Review of adjectives. Test your partner. Modifiers: quite, a bit, very, not very...e.g. she´s quite tall. Say sentences with the adjectives on p. 146 and write them down.
Phonetics: St.B.p. 28. Listen and repeat the words, then classify them under the right symbol.e.g. tree, boot, bike, egg...
Listening: St.B.p.29. Listen to the sentences and write them down. I had to play the track several times because it was hard to understand , especially because of the linking.eg. she livesina flatin London. That´s why you find it difficult to follow.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 29. Listen to the adjectives and match them with the right picture: angry, sad, thirsty...
Song: Pretty woman.
Homework: workbook, p, 23. and study the new adjectives on P.29 and 146.
NOTE: I have problems with the server, that´s why I haven´t been able to link exercises lately.
Maldives waters are home to wide variety of ecosystems, but it is most noted for their variety of colorful coral reefs, home to 300 species of fish. Seven species have been described as new to science, several more await description. Over 400 have been identified and catalogued and many are now held in the reference collection, including 5 species of turtles, 51 species of echinoderms, 5 species of sea grasses and 285 species of alga & sponges, crustaceans, and tunicates. The total number of coral species recorded from the Maldives to date is about 200, representing over 60 genera, 5 species of turtles, 51 species of echinoderms, 5 species of sea grasses and 285 species of alga & sponges, crustaceans, and tunicates. In the Uthuru Province, Baa Atoll, Maldives you can find Moray Eels, Puffer Fish, Fusiliers, Jackfish and Lionfish. In the Kaafu Atoll, Maldives you can find Sweetlips, Sharks, Groupers, Eels and Snappers. In the North Ari Atoll, Medhu-Uthuru Province, Maldives you can find Groupers, Rays, Moray Eels, Banner Fish, Bat Fish, Hump head Wrasse and Stingrays. In the Medhu-Uthuru Province, Ari Atoll you can find Eagle Rays, Spotted Rays, Scorpion Fish, Puffer Fish, Reef Fish, Lobsters and Groupers. In the West of the Hinnavaru Island you can find Moray Eels, Nudibranches, Groupers, Turtles, Rays, Angelfish, Butterfly Fish and Scorpion Fish. In the South of Filitheyo, North Nilandhe Atoll you can find Squirrel Fish, Soldier Fish, Banner Fish, Glass Fish, Fusiliers and Unicorn Fish. In the Outer West of the North Male Atoll you can find Napoleon Wrasses, Tuna, Barracudas, Surgeonfish, Snappers, Gray Reef Sharks, White and Silver Tip Reef Sharks and Eagle Rays.] These coral reefs are home to a variety of marine ecosystems that vary from planktonic organisms to sharks, crustaceans and sponges. Sponges have gained a special interest as five species have already being identified as having anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties In 1998, warming due to El Nino phenomenon killed 2/3 of the Maldives coral reefs due to bleaching. Coral reef bleaching is a “term suggested in place of "coral bleaching" because this condition is seldom limited to corals and most affected photo symbiotic hosts reside on coral reefs”. Bleaching is the loss of photo symbiotic microorganisms (dinoflagellates, red and green algae, or cyanobacteria), or the pigments of these photosymbionts, or some of both, from tissues of host cnidarians, sponges, molluscs or other photosymbiotic host animals. The name comes from the whitening of many hosts which possess few pigments of their own. Due to the bleaching that occurred in 1998 from the El-Nino effect, much of the coral life was reduced. The marine water had been raised as much as 5 degrees, but several scientists came together to create electrified cones. Each cone was placed anywhere from 20–60 feet below the water. The electrified cone create an attraction for the larva to attach itself. In 2004 scientists witnessed corals regenerating. Corals began to eject pink-orange eggs and sperm. The growth of these corals are surprisingly five times faster than ordinary corals. One of the scientists named Azeez Hakim witnessed this extraordinary event. “Before 1998, we never thought that this reef would die. We had always taken for granted that these animals would be there, that this reef would be there forever. El Nino gave us a wake-up call that these things are not going to be there forever.” Hakim said. This is great news because without their recovery it would be difficult to maintain the balance of the environment. “They help by removing and recycling the carbon-dioxide which in excess amounts can lead to global warming. Not only this, they also act as a natural barrier against the tropical storms, floods and tsunamis. Seaweeds grow on the skeletons of dead coral”. The corals reefs are like the rainforest for marine life. From wikipedia
NI2A/C
Homework: Workbook.p. 24,25,26. An exercise about story telling: complete with the most suitable tense.
EO: Make a speech with a list of questions that will help you not to lose your train of thought. Mistakes were checked on the board.
Vocabulary: Revision, parts of a car.
Writing: How to write a story. A set of exercises leading students to master the right story telling techniques.
CO: A song. Stand by me. Fill in the blanks with the correct word.
Writing: A game: write a story by bits not knowing what goes before and after. Once done, the paper is unfolded and the result is hilarious.
Writing: St.B.p. 25. How to write an informal e-mail/letter.
Vocabulary: Vocabulary Bank, St.B,p,146. Some more new adjectives and their opposites. Liten to the pronunciation, repeat them, make sentences and write them down.
Homework: Write an e-mail bout you following the instructions on St.B.p. 25, for Thursday, January 10. Workbook, p, 22 and write sentences with the new adjectives.
Maldives are formed by a number of natural atolls plus atolls in the form of a few islands and isolated reefs today which form a pattern stretching from 7 degrees 10' North to 0 degrees 45' South.
The Maldives is a long and narrow country formed by 26 natural atolls. Some atolls are in the form of a number of islands by time and in the form of isolated reefs, which could be classified as smaller atoll formations. All land above the surface in the Maldives is of coralline origin. The atolls of the Maldives form a quite regular chain and, especially in the northern and central atolls, an arrayed structure is apparent. There are broad and deep channels in between some atolls.
Owing to the many beautiful diving grounds of the numerous atolls of the Maldives, this country has been marketed as a prime destination for scuba divers worldwide. Hence, during the last couple of decades many guides and maps of the best diving spots have been published and some of them are very accurate and give a wide array of useful hints.
From Wikipedia
NI2A/C I had a funeral to attend ,so I agreed with the students to have on Wednesday the hour I lost on Monday. Next wednesday will be from 16 to 18,30.
Homework: chapters 5,6,15,16.
EO: Description of a photo. Mistakes were checked on the board.
Phonetics: St.B.p. 38. Regular past tenses pronunciation. rules, examples and the exercise in the book. Irregular past tenses: classify a list of verbs.
CO. St.B.p. 38. Story telling. Listen to Andy telling Liz a story. Note down the main events of the action, then the objects. Listen to the story for several times and retell the story. Listen to Liz and write the expressions she says in the chart( surprise agreeing...)
Grammar and CL: A story to complete with the correct past tenses: simple past, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous.
Homework: another story to complete with the appropriate tenses and workbook, p, 24,25,26.
NB1A/B
Grammar and vocabulary test. Unit 2
Listening test. Unit 2.
Vocabulary: a power point about adjetcives ,focussing on its position. Listen, repeat say sentences with adjectives and write them. St.B.p. 28. USA quiz .e.g. The White House, fast food, yellow taxis.
Grammar Bank. St.B.p. 126. rules and exercises about adjectives. Grammar, unit 85 (86) the first two sections.
Homework: Study and write sentences with the adjectives.
The Maldives consists of approximately 1,190 coralislands grouped in a double chain of 26 atolls. The atolls are composed of live coral reefs and sand bars, situated atop a submarine ridge 960 kilometres long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs from north to south.
The Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 2.3 metres with the average being only 1.5 metres above sea level, although in areas where construction exists, this has been increased to several metres. More than 80 per cent of the country's land, composed of coral islands scattered over an area about 850 km across the equator, is less than one metre above sea level
The reef is composed of coral debris and living coral. This acts as a natural barrier against the sea, forming lagoons. The barrier reefs of the islands protect them from the storms and high waves of the Indian Ocean
A layer of humus15 centimetres thick forms the top layer of soil on the islands. Below the humus layer are 60 centimetres of sandstone, followed by sand and then fresh water. In the interior of the island, more vegetation such as mangrove and banyan grow. Coconut palms, the national tree, are able to grow almost everywhere on the islands and are integral to the lifestyle of the population
The limited vegetation and land wildlife is supplemented by the abundance of marine life. The waters around the Maldives are abundant in rare species of biological and commercial value, with tuna fisheries being traditionally one of the main commercial resources of the country. The Maldives have an amazing diversity of sea life, with corals and over 2,000 species of fish, ranging from reef fish to reef sharks, moray eels, and a wide variety of rays: Manta rays; Stingray; and Eagle ray. The Maldivian waters are also home for the whale shark
Climate
The Indian Ocean has a great effect on the climate of the country by acting as a heat buffer, absorbing, storing, and slowly releasing the tropical heat. The temperature of Maldives ranges between 24 °C and 33 °C throughout the year. Two seasons dominate Maldives' weather: the dry season associated with the winter northeastern monsoon and the rainy season, from the end of April to the end of October, which brings strong winds and storms. The shift from the moist southwest monsoon to the dry northeast monsoon occurs during October and November
Environmental Issues
Over the last century, sea levels have risen about 20 centimetres further rises of the ocean could threaten the existence of Maldives, being the lowest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 2.3 metres, with the average being only 1.5 metres above sea .In November 2008, President Mohamed Nasheed announced plans to look into purchasing new land in India, Sri Lanka, and Australia because of his concerns about global warming and the possibility of much of the islands being inundated with water from rising sea levels. The purchase of land will be made from a fund generated by tourism. The President has explained his intentions:
"We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades".A tsunami in the Indian Ocean caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake caused serious damage to the socioeconomic infrastructure, which left many people homeless, and irreversible damage to the environment. After the disaster, cartographers are planning to redraw the maps of the islands due to alterations caused by the tsunami
On 22 April 2008, then Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom pleaded for a cut in global greenhouse gas emissions, warning that rising sea levels could submerge the island nation of Maldives.
From Wikipedia
NI2A/C
I was rather cross because only two students came to class. You should be more responsible and do your homework,make the tests and come to class. It´s you who have to sit the Certificación exam ,not me.
Homework: Only Pablo and Sergio´s compositions were collected
Grammar: Test unit 2.
EO: Talk about a topic following some questions to help.Mistakes were checked.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 36. Talk about the parts of a car you know. Vocabulary Bank, St.B.p. 149. Parts of a car and verbs related. Check meanings and test your partner.
CL: St.B.p.36. A reading about two stories related to cars. The stories were all mixed up and they had to separate them.
Grammar: uses of the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuou in story telling. Classify the verbs. Grammar Bank, St.B.p. 134. Rules and exercises of narrative tenses.
Homework: grammar, units, 5,6,15,16. Describe a set of photographs.
NB1A/B
I´m sorry I came to class one hour late because the roads were blocked and I was stranded.
Homework: exercises about the possessive ´s, workbook p.20,21.
EO: a pair work activity with a family tree. Ask questions to complete your family tree and their jobs :who´s Rita?, what does she do?. Write down two questions and two answers.
CO: a video where people are interviewed about their brothers , sisters and their ages. Ask the classmates in your group the same questions and write a paragraph. The other group, NB1B, had time to work another video about jobs and the times they start and finish.
EO: Daily routines using the simple present.
Homework: Study unit 2 : grammar, vocabulary ,expressions, phonetics...because next tuesday we´ll have a test about it and also a listening test.
The Manatees are mammals with a long life and a low reproduction rate.In spite of their large size, the Manatees are shy and can disappear silently or move at high speed when frightened.There are currently three species of Manatees in the world: the Caribbean or West Indian Manatee which we find in Central America, the Amazonian Manatee and the African Manatee.Due to this last characteristic, thousand-year-old myths of the inhabitants of the region have related them to the sirens, reason why specialists place the manatees in the mammal group of sirenians.Nowadays, in almost all countries where they can be found, the Manatee is an endangered species. From: www.linguee.com
WHAT HAPPENS WITH MY RECYCLING?
The paper, plastic, glass and cans you put in the recycling bins is sorted before being sent for recycling or reuse. Paper that is contaminated with food or chemicals can not be recycled. It is sorted from the recyclable material and thrown away.
Glass
Empty glass bottles and jars can be recycled to make things like decorative paving and aggregate for asphalt or swimming pool filters, as well as new glass jars and bottles.
Some glass, such as mirror glass and crystal, cannot be recycled because of high lead content.
Paper
Corrugated paper and cardboard can be used to make new paperboard and corrugated boxes.
Newspapers can be recycled into paperboard, new newsprint, insulation and animal bedding products.
Office paper can be recycled into writing paper, tissue and towel products.
Telephone books can be recycled into egg cartons and wine boxes.
Food and drink cans
Empty aluminium drink cans are sent overseas for recycling and can be recycled again and again. Recycled aluminium cans are sorted, crushed and baled into "bricks" for transporting. These bricks are fed into a hot furnace where the aluminium melts and the melted aluminium is then cast into smaller ingots which are processed into new aluminium cans.
Steel cans that have contained anything from baked beans to fruit cocktail, pet food or soup can be recycled to make new cars and bridges.
Plastic
25 plastic soft drink bottles can be recycled to make an ecofleece top.
A styrofoam vending cup can be made into a pencil or a pen.
Plastic bags and containers can be recycled into garden furniture, decking and fencing.
Milk bottles can be recycled into buckets, composting bins or the recycling bins many councils use for kerbside recycling.
from:www.reducerubbish.govt.nz
NI2
Homework: Grammar unit 100, 101 about adverbs.
Grammar : frequency adverbs shown in a handout with a few examples and grammar chapter 110.
EO: How often do you? with a board, dice and counters. Talk as much as you can about the topic.
A joke of the kind "Waiter,waiter.."Read , match the punch line and explain why it is funny and the double meanings of words e.g. ground, funny .
CE: St.B.p.16. A brochure a bout a language school . True-false statements and your support for your answers , that is, say why you have chosen that answer, where in the passage you have found the key word or sentence.
Vocabulary: Based on the previuoas exercise. For given definitions, find the word.
CO: St.B.p.16. Meeting people with formal and informal registers. St.B.p. 17. A talk of the Director of Studies of the Language School: some information you have to relate and explain.. Ways of saying goodbye.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 17. common expressions like cheers, bless you, help yourself..
Homework: chapters 110, 111 ,for NI2A, and St.b.p.19, the exercises which are a review of the unit. The two photocopies about time adverbs for NI2C.
NB1
Homework: Two photocopies : a summary of unit 1 and a review of the verb to be.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 142. Common object using the questions: what´s this?/what are these? . I asked you and then you asked your partner.
Phonetics: St.B.p. 10. Circle the word with a different sound.e.g.horse, wall,glasses, door. Listen and repeat.
Grammar: St.B.p. 11. a/an, the,this/that/these/those. complete the sentences. Grammar bank, St.B.p. 122 . We saw the rules and did the exercises to make sure you undrestood.
CO: a video in which people were interviewed about their names and origing. e.g. what´s your name?, how do you spell it?, where are you from?. you had to write the spelling and the town or country.
How it works
