Bam earthquake 2003

Almost 30000 people died in the Bam earthquake in December 2003. Below are an number of links to help you with your newsletter piece of work.

Wikipedia reference

BBC background

BBC report

BBC problems with aid

BBC photos

Images from The Guardian

Interactive Special Report from The Guardian

Why was the death toll so high?

Hazard hotspots

You need to know about both the Philippines and California as examples of multiple hazard hotspots. Use the template provided to create case study sheets for these two areas.

There is a lot of information on the web to help you. A sample to start with is here:

Detail from the recent typhoon in the Philippines

Disaster information from the Philippines
An excellent map of the Philippines
Specifics on the natural hazards faced by California
A good summary of the issues facing California
More from USGS on California
Search here for the region you have chosen and you will get a list of hazards
Go here for excellent maps for ALL countries and the hazards which affect them

Have fun with population pyramids!

Yes... population pyramids can be fun! You just have to animate them, to appreciate what they show a little better.

Try this website, for instance: http://populationpyramid.net/.

Try looking at several different pyramids. Select the first letter of the country you are interested in, and then select the country from the list that appears. Try comparing the UK, Sweden, Italy with some from the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and Quatar?), with some from Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, Mali?). Can you explain why they look so different?

Pakistan floods 2010

Use the following links to help complete the worksheet on the Pakistan floods 2010

Guardian interactive

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

Cultural imperialism

Use these links to complete the worksheet on cultural imperialism.

Top 10 global brands

Highest grossing films

Best selling albums

TV events

Newscorp

Earthquakes and volcanoes

LVI - World At Risk

Earthquakes:

Use this interactive link to complete the worksheet on earthquakes. Use this one for the first section of the volcano questions and then this BBC link for the last section.

Population pyramids

Use this link from the US Census Bureau to complete the exercise on population pyramids.

Big boost for Bangladesh's economy

Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries, has seen a steady rise in the importance of one of its formerly most important export, earning the country much needed cash! Jute - a natural fibre that can be used to make sacks and other useful items - was superseded all over the world as plastic bags became the norm for packaging and carrying items, but now there has been a noticeable shift back to the organic and natural material, that bio-degrades rather than pollutes. Read about it here.