Geography: Africa video

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1. Where in the world is Africa?

Africa is located in South of Europe and in Southwest of Asia.

2. How many times is Africa larger than The United States?

Africa is three times larger than The United States.

3. How is the savanna defined in the video? Which animals can be found in the savanna biome?

The savanna is the wide open grassland of Africa. It’s a grassy plain which covers the half of Africa, characterized by scattered trees among a landscape of grasses and shrubs. You can find giraffes, elephants… commonly associated to Africa.

4. Where is located the chaparral biome in Africa?

It’s located at the Northern coast of Africa along the Mediterranean and also there are some in the South of Africa.

5. Which are the most famous deserts in Africa?

The Sahara Desert, the Namib Desert and the Kalahari Desert.

6. The main natural resources mentioned in the video are ...

The main natural resources mentioned in the video are rubber trees, gold mines and oil.

FIND THE MISSING WORDS

1. Africa runs 5 000 miles from the Mediterranean sea all the way down to the Cape Good Hope on South Africa and 4 600 miles from Cape Verde all the way over Somalia.

2. Biomes are climate zones and throughout that area, throughout that region, you can see the same average temperature and average precipitation what that means is that you also see very similar plants and animals living in that region.

3. The most famous desert in Africa is, of course, the Sahara desert. Now, some parts of the Sahara desert are sandy, like you can see here. Other parts of the Sahara desert are rocky but in either case, the fact that it is very dry is going to make it a very difficult barrier to cross.

4. It is not the rain itself that’s particularly important, it’s also the biodiversity. There are many different plants and animals species that can be found in the rain forest  and that’s one of the thing that makes the rain forest for so valuable not just in Africa but throughout the Earth.

5. The Nile is the most famous river in Africa, because is the longest river in the world. But there is also the Congo River which is the ninth longest river in the world.

6. Africa actually has its own version of the great lakes with famous lakes like Lake Malawi, Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika.

7. All the Africa is a plateau. Meaning that Africa itself is an elevated land. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find any mountains in Africa. You can find mountain ranges like, for example, the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa.

8. Africa also has some interesting mountains like Kilimanjaro here the highest peak in Africa which seems to just rise on it own out of the ground.

9. The Great Rift Valley refers to a region of Africa that is literally, being split apart. There are some tectonic plates that are located within or near Africa, that are, actually, moving away from each other, and what’s doing is creating not just some of the highest elevation in Africa, but also lakes like Lake Tanganyika that is among the deepest in the world.

Geography: Vocabulary Unit 3. Population

Word	Meaning
birth rate	The ratio of total of births to total population in a  community or area over a period of time. Also called natality.
death rate:	The ratio of total deaths to total population in a community or area over a period of time.
natural increase	How much a country is growing.
infant mortality rate	The death rate of infants during the first year of life.
life expectancy	The number of years that an individual is expected to live
birth control	Voluntary prevention of conception by a man or a woman
dependent population
dependency ratio:	It´s an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the dependent part) and those  in the labor force (the productive part).
family planning	The planning of when to have children.
replacement rate	The percentage of a worker's retirement income that is paid out by a pension program.
fertility rate	The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime.
ageing population	When the median age of a country or region increases.
more economically developed country (MEDC)	Rich countries
less economically developed country (LEDC)	Poor countries
overpopulation	When the population exceeds the capacity of a country o continent.
Underpopulation	Having a population lower than is normal or desirable.

Links to Teresa´s blog:

1. Population density
2. Population pyramids
3. How to read a population pyramid
4. Demographic Transitio Model
5. The World Population Growth
6. Natural movements of population

First Term: Self Assessment

In general, English class is amusing and amazing. Our teacher has a fantastic pronunciation and her way of teaching is spectacular. In this term what I liked most was the video with my classmates and the song by Justin Timberlake because we had to work in groups, although it was difficult to organize everybody.

I think my strength is listening, perhaps because I´m used to listening to music or watching films on TV. And I think my weaknesses are writing and sometimes some spelling.

What did I do well in this term? I think I paid good attention in classes, I enjoyed them, I took part in the edition of the video and the invention of stories in class.

I think I didn´t  make enough effort because I thought that I knew more English and perhaps  I trusted myself too much. In the future I must do more effort, especially in translation and writing. We also need to improve speaking. I think that we can do projects and present them to the class. That´s the way to speak in class for more time.

In culture I learnt about Australian aborigines (I wouldn´t be a young aborigine there; it´s too hard), and about blockbusters and cinema. Outside the class I did my projects and homework, and I listened  to English music. 

Next term has to be better.

Valladolid: Concert, Castle and Wine.

Last 2nd of November was a different day.  We broke the school routine.

The day before I didn´t sleep very well. I was thinking about the trip the next day: Valladolid. I met my classmates at 8.30, took the bus, said good morning to our teachers (Teresa, Geography; Gema, Music; and Luis Clavero, Biology) and was ready to start the trip. The journey lasted one hour, more or less. Valladolid is 112 km away from Salamanca but there is a dual carriageway and driving is easy.

When we got to Valladolid, we went for a short walk in the city. The bus left us near Campogrande and then we tried to explore the centre of the city until we went to Cultural Centre Miguel Delibes.

The city of Valladolid The province of Valladolid is located in the interior of Spain, in the centre of the Castile-León region. Its capital is the city of Valladolid. The province of Valladolid is also famous for being a land of castles. There are over 30 in total, including the castles of Peñafiel, Íscar and Medina del Campo.Valladolid is also an outstanding wine-producing area: as well as the famous Ribera del Duero wines, there are four other wines with the local Designation of Origin. The gastronomic specialities include a range of stewed pulses, sweet confectionery and wild mushroom dishes. The historic centre of Valladolid conserves an important monumental and architectural heritage, particularly comprising noble houses and religious buildings. As the city has undergone significant urban growth in recent decades, Valladolid today offers a wide range of leisure and cultural options, with cinemas, theatres and museums, such as the National Sculpture Museum in the College of San Gregorio. This splendid building in the Flemish Gothic style, one of the most outstanding constructions in Valladolid, with carved figures by artists like Alonso Berruguete and Gregorio Fernández. The Museum of Spanish Contemporary Art in the Patio Herreriano –a cloister in the old Monastery of San Benito– contains over 800 20th-century paintings and sculptures.                                                                                             Adapted from http://www.spain.info/

At midday, we were at Miguel Delibes Centre, a modern cultural centre with auditorium, theatre and rooms for exhibitons. We went to enjoy the concert Vox Ballenae. Al first we talked a lot so our teacher told us to keep quiet. I enjoyed the play a lot. I love music and concerts drive me crazy. The more concerts I go to, the more I enjoy. In this play the author mixed music, theatre, dance and video.

After the play, we had free time for lunch. Some of us had our sandwich and drinks near the cultural centre. But other classmates crossed the road and went to Carrefour´s restaurant and had a spectacular lunch with eggs, steak and fish. Good idea! Next time I will try it!

After lunch, we took the bus and went to Peñafiel, a village where most people work with wine. However this village is famous because it has a beautiful castle at the top of the city. You can see it in the photo.

Peñafiel The town is full of deep excavated underground caves which were traditionally used to store the wine because of the constant temperature they kept all year around. These caves have chimney vents for ventilation and to evacuate the gases generated by the fermentation of the wine. These chimney vents dot the landscape in and around the town and the castle. Peñafiel was a very important centre in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the fact that it had up to 19 churches.

We went up to the Castle, at the top of the city. The castle can be seen from kilometers away. We had a guided visit and we could go up to the highest tower and enjoyed the wiew.

Then I visited the Wine Museum of Valladolid. The castle hosts this Museum. There we learnt about the history and culture of the well-known wine called Ribera de Duero. We learnt the winemaking process. Adults usually taste the wine here, but not children like us.

When I finished the visit to the Museum, we came back to Salamanca. Some of us were tired. In the bus we tried to have a rest with the music of our mobiles, but it was quite difficult.

I think the best parts of the journey was the concert, the Castle and … my classmates.

Teachers, thanks. Where are we going next time?

English Vocabulary: Unit 2

Word	Meaning			Example
Though	Conj. Although, however.	Though it was dark out, they went for a walk.
Profitable	Adj. You win money with it.	This is a profitable company, making millions of pounds every year.
Income	Personal earnings, profit.	We had $3000 income after expenses.
To release	To make public a movie.	They released the movie with a party in Los Angeles.
To come out	To be published.	His new novel comes out this autumn.
Well-known	Famous.	He is known for his street protests.
Plot	Story of a novel, film, etc.	The plot of this film is predictable.
Blockbuster	Popular movie or novel.	Titanic and Avatar were blockbusters.
To sink	To fall a ship.		The ship sank after hitting an iceberg.
Box ofiice
Box office sales
Screen

What do you think about the film?

Dramatic	Dull
Entertaining	Hilarious
Predictable	Realistic
Terrifying	Disappointing
Enjoyable	Spectacular

Careful!
Something is successful	Adj. The film was successful
Something is a success	N. The project was a success
You succeed in…	V. Be successful, triumph, turn out well.
The more… the more…	The more I study, the more I will improve my English.
	The more traffic there is, the more difficult driving is.