domingo, 2 de junio de 2013

Which is the correct definition of Multiculturalism?


Many definitions of multiculturalism have emerged from the British society on the last year.

According to Mr. Cameron (Prime Minister) and Trevol Phillips, Multiculturalism is today out of date because it suggests separateness.

Some of these definitions were told  by some important people in the British culture as the journalist Madeleine Bunting of “The Guardian”, Antony Lesman or Tariq Modood.

The main problem that appeared is the lack of agreement between these opinion leaders. While some of these people are wasting their time trying to find a definition, politics are undertaking initiatives to promote equal opportunities something which is fundamental for educational purposes.

                                          (Image also available at: tel212.wikispaces.com)

(You can also see the new on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12381027).

martes, 21 de mayo de 2013

Healthy Diet



                                                You can also find this image on www.scotland.gov.uk



We must raise the awareness of a healthy diet because it is essential to our health. To acquire a good eating habits the best stage is childhood. For these reasons, we must teach our children or students the importance of good nutrition and how to do it.

Recent studies show that children have very bad eating habits. This is mainly reflected in the fact that the number of overweight children is increasing exponentially. This is an aspect that significantly impact in the children´s health.

To avoid such problems, many national and international organizations such as governments, schools or sports associations are carrying out several initiatives trying to avoid this social problem.

lunes, 20 de mayo de 2013

How to Reduce Stress

According with recent studies,the generation of our children are the most stressed generation of history.
There are many techniques and approaches to reduce the stress. Consequently, today I will introduce short stories as are an easy and quite effective resource for children.

Here you can find two of those stories:





You can also find these videos on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCirAu07TC8
                                                    www.stressfreekids.com

domingo, 19 de mayo de 2013

DO YOU WANT TO PRACTICE YOUR READING SKILLS?



a) Pre-reading activity:

Fill in the following animal´s and insect´s feeding classification chart putting if it is possible and X if it is not possible.

What do animals, insects & plants eat?

Plants
Insects
Birds
Butterflies
Plants




Young birds




Birds




Butterflies




Caterpillars






Once you have completed the chart, answer the next questions:

- Which animals eat plants?



- Which insects eat plants?





b) Text 



GREEN INVADERS


Green invaders are taking over America. Nope, not invaders from space. Plants. You might not think of plants as dangerous, but in this case they are threatening nature's delicate food web.

The invaders are plants from other countries brought here to make gardens and yards look pretty.  Ever since people started to arrive on America's shores, they've carried along trees, flowers, and vegetables from other places.

Now there are so many of those plants, they are crowding out the native plants that have lived here since before human settlers arrived.

And that's a problem, says Dr. Doug Tallamy. He's an entomologist (an insect expert) at the University of Delaware. He explains that almost all the plant-eating insects in the United States—90% of them—are specialized. That means they eat only certain plants.

Monarch butterfly caterpillars, for example, dine on milkweed. If people cut down milkweed and replace it with another plant, the butterflies will not have the food source that they need to survive.

But the trouble doesn't stop there; it goes right across the food web. When insects can't get the right plants to eat and they die off, then the birds don't have enough bugs for their meals. Tallamy points out that almost all migrating birds depend on insects to feed their young.
"We cannot let the plants and animals around us disappear," says Tallamy. "The way to preserve them is to give them food to eat. But when we plant non-native plants, we are clobbering the food web, because then we don't have the insects the birds need to live."

Fewer of the right plants mean fewer bugs, and fewer bugs mean fewer birds. And that's bad for the Earth, because we need a variety of living things to keep the planet healthy and beautiful.

The good news is, gardeners everywhere are working hard to protect native plants and get rid of the invaders. Many local garden centers sell native plants. "Just Google 'native plants' and your location, and you can find out which plants really belong where you live," says Tallamy.

Planting the right things makes a real difference, and fast. He describes planting milkweed in a tiny city courtyard about the size of a living room one spring. By summertime, that milkweed patch had produced 50 new monarch butterflies!

Tallamy encourages kids to go out and plant native plants. "Adopt a bird species in trouble and see if you can't plant some things that will attract the insects they need," he suggests. "It will happen—insects move around a lot, and they will find the plants you put out there for them!"



 c) Post- reading activity

Read the questions below and choose the right answer, maybe there are more than one correct answer.

1.     Where can we find this the problem with the plants?
a)    Europe
b)    Africa
c)    America

2.     Why these “invaders” plants are located in America?
a)    Because they want to make their gardens pretty.
b)    Because some foreigners bring in the plants.
c)    Because they are much cheaper than the American´s ones.

3.     Which is the real problem?
a)    It is not easy to adapt new species.
b)    American people do not want to buy species from other countries.
c)    It is not easy to buy some kinds of plants.

4.     They want you to know...
a)    The plants that belong to where you live.
b)    How to manage a garden.
c)    Which are the best plants to plant.

5.     How did Tellamy encourage kids to plant new plants?
a)    Focusing on the leaves.
b)    Focusing on how the plant grows.
c)    Focusing on the insects.

6.     What happens when the insects cannot eat the right plants?
a)    They go to another place looking for them.
b)    They eat another kind of plant.
c)    They die.




viernes, 17 de mayo de 2013

Do you want to know more about little plants?



Comprehension


·        Match the meaning of each word from the poem. If you aren’t sure, read the text and try to guess.

Meanings

1. Buried:
a. move slowly
2. Lay:
b. moved from a lower position to a higher position
3. Creep:
c. put deep into the ground
4. Bright:
d. was lying in a flat position
5. Rose:

e. shining



·        Write T (True) or F (False) in the boxes.

 

1. A tiny plant lay fast asleep in the grass.                                                                                          
2. A seed needs sunshine and rain to grow.
3. The raindrops are shining.
4. The little plant rose to see the clouds in the sky.
5. The little plant heard the words of the wonderful world.



Vocabulary


·        Find the past form of the following verbs in the poem. Then write them in Column B.

Column A                           Column B

1. rise                                   ______________
2. bury                                 ______________
3. say                                    ______________
4. hear                                 ______________
5. lie                                     ______________
6. may                                   ______________

martes, 29 de enero de 2013

Quotations

"Start now building what you are going to be" - San Jerónimo

"To succeed you may have to turn away from the line and walk to the beat that makes your own drum" - Keith DeGreen

"¿How much talent is wasted due to lack of courage?" - Tom Rusk and Randy Read

"The big difference between those who "want" and who "does" is motivation" - Charles Jones


Quotes from "200 citas que me sirvieron para crecer" - Raimon Gaja - ISEP Science (2012)
MOTIVATION

You can´t seem to find the strength to get back up?
There are some times in life when you fall down
You will try one hundred times to get up and if you fail one hundred times... If you fail and give up, do you think i am ever gonna get up? NO!!
But if I fail I will try it again and again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdL1M7bR6CA