Tag Archives: Africa

Ecology resources for students: Part 1

Good afternoon!

I’m back with another set of bookmarks for students and teachers. Because I’ve taught the IB Environmental systems and societies course for several years, this set of online resources is closest to my heart. Some of these links are here simply because I think they’re cool or fun. Many may also be applicable for studying biology and chemistry as well. Let’s get to it:

Happy learning!

Cheers,

Mr K

Thursday Science News Update

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted here, due in large part to a hectic work week as I still settle into the new school year. In words from my 12-year-old son describing the start of his year, “When you get hit by a train, it’s not the caboose that kills you.” I’m sure he got that from a book somewhere, but I don’t which one.

Today is just a quick update on some of the news stories I’ve been following this week, a few of which I’ve tweeted out @bradleymkremer.

“The history of life on Earth is a history of extinction.” These are the words that summarized Discovery’s article asking “How Advanced Are We Earthlings?” It examines the interaction of how civilizations need time to develop and evolve, much like living organisms.

We haven’t seen any Ebola here in Tanzania, but this is a story I’ve been following with some interest for the past few weeks. I’ve had a bad feeling for a while now that this outbreak seems to be bubbling and simmering long enough that it will elude containment efforts, and it seems that there are a number of public health officials who feel the same way. Here’s the story from National Geographic.

A paper was just published in Nature Communications (subscription required, or pay-per-read), outlining how some researchers have developed bacteria to synthesize propane, essentially creating the possibility of renewable petroleum product. It sounds like a paradox, but is worth investigating further.

So that’s my news summary of the day. I’ll try to get back with some more video resources in my next post.

Happy learning!

Western Black Rhino Officially Extinct – IUCN

A sad day for conservationists, as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature declares the Western Black Rhino officially extinct.

Western Black Rhino -R.I.P. (Image credit: www.skullappreciationsociety.com)

Western Black Rhino -R.I.P. (Image credit: www.skullappreciationsociety.com)

Link

The struggle to tame Africa’s beast of a megacity

At the bottom of the post I’ve linked to a really interesting article from Reuters about some of the difficulties and opportunities associated with population growth in Nigeria. Here’s a quick summary:

  • Lagos is already 21 million people
  • Lagos adds 4,000 new people every day
  • Nigeria’s population will be 400 million people within 30 years, making it the 4th largest country on Earth
Lagos, Nigeria.  Image: REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

Lagos, Nigeria.
Image: REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

According to several sources, including the United Nations, Dar es Salaam is one of the 10 fastest-growing cities on Earth, which means that many of these same issues in Nigeria are either already relevant here, or they will be soon.

Click here for the full article. The article serves as a great case study for the start of Topic 3 – Human Populations, Carrying Capacity, and Resource Use.