Geography at BMS

Ok kids, slight hitch – the video file was too large to upload! So if you follow the link below you should find a page with some video links (it’s he sight of Millfield School). Scroll down the list to the Nairobi.wmv file, and watch the film.

Click here

When you have watched it answer these Q’s on paper and hand them in next Tuesday (16th Dec)

1. Why have so many people migrated to Nairobi from the countryside?
2. What impacts has this had on Nairobi?
3. What problems face migrants living in the squatter settlements?

Odaiba Island in Tokyo Bay is an example of reclaiming land. Land reclamation is a Japanese solution to their overcrowded cities, as we saw in the video. For your HW you need to take on the role of a Japanese city planner. Download the information sheet below and use this link, Odaiba, as resources to produce a poster encouraging people to move out of the mainland city onto a reclaimed island like Odaiba. Your poster needs to outline the advantages and attractions of living there, and the disadvantages and problems of living in the old city. This HW should be handed in: 4th Feb – 9a6, 5th Feb – 9a5, 6th Feb – 9b1.

Odaiba Information sheet

Some places have a high population, they are crowded. Other places have a very low population, very few people live there. The reason for these variations can be to do with  climate, relief, soil, transport, jobs, resources, and many other factors. Download the sheet below and study the 2 photo’s – can you suggest reasons why they have high or low populations?

where do people live?

Sorry for the delay, techno problems! What I would like you to do is investigate population structure. Visit the US Census Bureau’s International Database and find a population pyramid for the UK. Paste this into a word document. Then choose two other countries and paste their population pyramids onto the same document. Compare the three population pyramids. Write a few statements describing the similarities and differences. Can you suggest reasons?

This is due in your lesson next week (GF -22nd, KL – 23rd, MA and JN – 24th).

Year 7’s have been asked to look into the continuing growth of the Earths human population for homework. Is it sustainable? Can it be controlled? Are we doomed? Many current predictions for the world and the UK are worrying, with population numbers reaching levels that will lead to many problems. This article on the BBC News website: ‘UK population may double by 2081′ examines some predictions for the UK. This discussion piece, from the BBC’s Viewpoint: ‘Humanity is the greatest challenge’, sets out the opinions of Professor J Feeney, an American population academic. Read through these articles and use them as a starting point for your homework – what are the potential problems being created by our populations growth?

I have also added a link to the population counter we used in class: POPULATION COUNTER

I listened to an interesting discussion on the radio this afternoon based on newly released migration figures from the Office of National Statistics. These figures suggest that future UK population growth will be driven by net migration – that means the number of migrants into the country is greater than the number of migrants out of the country. The program hosted a discussion on this contentious subject based on the question: ‘are we full?’, and included several different points of view. Those represented included the Optimum Population Trust and the Local Government Association. You can listen to this interesting topical discussion on the BBC Radio Five website: Simon Mayo’s program, Tuesday 20th November - use the ‘Listen again’ option at the top of the page and fast forward through the program to 2hours 09minutes (02:09:00).