Web quest for 201 (27 August 2010)

Dear 201 students,

Please kindly take the 1 hour lesson time to construct the following glossary for your own use, together with suitable pictures and answer the following questions which will need to be handed in at the end of the lesson.

TASK A: Make your own weathering glossary

Prepare a glossary of weathering terms based on information from physicalgeography.net. Include pictures where applicable. Definitions should be phrased in a paragraph and be sequential in its explanation. This can be a group effort. Submit the soft copies to Mrs Lim at nhsczm@nus.edu.sg. Make sure your names are at the back of the glossary you made.

1. Weathering
2. Denudation
3. Scree
4. Talus
5. Physical weathering
6. Chemical weathering
7. Biological weathering
8. Frost shattering
9. Insolation weathering
10. Exfoliation
11. Sheeting
12. Solution
13. Carbonation
14. Hydrolysis
15. Oxidation
16. Reduction
17. Regolith

TASK B: Individual work

Answer the following questions on writing paper. Remember to indicate your name and mentor group.

1. Contrast and compare frost shattering and insolation weathering. (9m)

2. Explain how carbonation occurs and suggest 3 conditions that will lead to formation of limestone landforms. (8m)

Submit TASK B at the end of the lesson. The Geog Rep (Jason) should collect everyone's TASK B and submit to a teacher in charge or to Mrs Lim's pigeon-hole (no. 86).

Online resources:

http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/chapter10.html

http://www.limestone-pavements.org.uk/geology.html

Mount Saint Helen

Here's some background and updated information on Mount Saint Helen.

First, background and update until 2007.

An a recent video uploaded to argue for more funding to continue monitoring Saint Helen. When people are asking for money, their videos are slightly more clear. :)

If Singapore had kept Christmas Island...

M10203 was looking at the map of South-east Asia and remembering the territories of ASEAN countries and was also briefly discussing what happens at boundaries. When we were talking very briefly about what would happen to Singapore territories if we had kept Christmas Island.

Well, then Indonesia would have this funny sea space (as illustrated by the red line) cutting through their sea space, and Singaporean sea space passing dangerously close to Jakarta area! The Indonesian fishermen from the Sumatra island will also find themselves suddenly cut off from the full access of the Java Sea and Singapore will suddenly own a part of the Java Sea!

Well, it is all my imagination. The yellow line is another ridiculous thought of MORE sea space if Indonesia allows this to happen. Wahaha. Well, this is in my own imagination.

Using the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea however, it will look more like this below, where Singapore will be made up of 2 red dots! well, at least it is one more red dot.

IH2101 E-learning Week (Week starting 8 March 2010)

To all IH2101 students,

We are starting on a new topic in E-learning Week. Please follow the instructions in this post to fulfil the learning required in this week. This assignment will lead to examining governance in transnational companies (TNCs) and their impact in governance in their host or home countries.

Normal catching up with the last topic like the Dr Tan activity or civil societies reading discussion/activity will still take place on Monday or the following week after the March holidays.

Our Essential Questions in this new topic:

1. What are the roles and contributions of SMEs and TNCs to the growth and progress of the nation?

2. How does government encourage and support SMEs and TNCs?

SME = Small, medium enterprises that are privately owned by individuals. It usually refer to companies started up by Singaporeans in the local context. This term has also been used to describe private firms from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

TNC = Transnational company that have operations in more than one country other than its country of origin. Companies like Nike, Nestle, Shell and Ikea are all TNCs.

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- E-learning Activity - Singapore's One North - Reflection Entry and Short Essay -

This activity should be done in 1-2 hours. It should not take more than 2 hours.

Section A: Each response in Section A should have a word count of 50 to 100 words (max).

Source A: Read the special report on One-North at http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jun2009/id2009061_019963.htm.
You should also watch the video interview.

Answer the following questions.

1. How does the creation of One-North support the development of science-related industries?

2. Why do you think Singapore wants to attract science-related industries to Singapore?

3. How do you think the presence of big science-related companies will benefit the development of SMEs in Singapore?

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Section B: Read Source B below and write a short essay (word count 400 to 500 max). Bear in mind that you need an introduction, main body and conclusion. You can draw on keys ideas from Section A.

Source B: Ensuring the Transfer of Skills and Technology and Maintaining a Competitive Edge

"The transfer of skills and technology between people is known as the transfer of tacit knowledge. Many governments around the world are now aware that the intangible interactions between talents are the key activity that ensures value creation. This transfer of skills, technology and knowledge is thus the key differentiation between science parks that work, and those that will not. How governments can create the best environment for such interactions is thus a great challenge."

1. Evaluate One-North as Singapore's strategy in attracting science-related industries. Explain your answer.

Submit your reflection and essay to your respective IH teachers' pigeonholes on 12 March 2010 when you return to school for House Carnival. The IH representatives or Mentor Representatives will assist in collating the assignments as a class and submit together by 12pm on 12 March 2010.

An example of when a union fight back

In this class journal, you need to watch this video and answer questions in Section A and B.

Section A: Short response questions:

1. What was the main reason why writers of television shows and dramas were paid lowly in the 1980s?
2. How has technology change for the US television industry? How has it benefit them?

Section B: Structured response questions (longer responses in 2-3 paragraphs, each paragraph about 80 to 120 words)

1. To what extent do you agree that the writers have a 'right' to have a strike?
2. Based on this writers' strike example, how useful is a trade union?

*a strike means they do not work and demand conditions that the bargain for to be accepted before they go back to work.

Watch the video below and answer the questions in Section C.

Section C: Structured response questions (longer responses in 2-3 paragraphs, each paragraph about 80 to 120 words)

1. What is the advertisement trying to say about union bosses?

2. Compare the messages in the 2 videos. Explain 1 advantages and 1 disadvantage associated with unions.

You will be given class time to watch the videos one time in class. You should watch these two videos again when completing your assignment at home.