Sorry for the lack of posts, I imagine your head feels like mine. It was lovely to see everyone.

I’ve now added a new tag, ‘Yr11‘ because I will soon be introducing the Year Ten to the blog, please though continue to express your opinions on all posts, following the Year Ten’s progress with be good revision.

We have marked your My Place work, it now needs moderating, which shouldn’t be a lengthy process this time.

For those of you still in sunny climates, this week we started our final piece of coursework, basically the end of Year Ten. Wanda Lust is back, she survived Antarctica, but is now worried about Cola-Cola. Should she boycott it or not?

Remember this is an informed piece of writing with an audience, the emphasis is on you producing a balanced argument, incorporating named case studies, by completing your own research. Finally, you will have to come to an informed decision, basically a personal conclusion. All your writing must be your own.

We will be in a computer room for the next two weeks, Mrs Marston has bagged the new Humanities computer room, though she is slightly distressed that is lacks the essential computers.

Nice to see that many of have taken your work away to begin research, at the weekend I will add a new support page to the blog, including the links we gave you. Please remember that you will need to include a bibliography in your work, so keep a list of all website you have used. I will post a little note on the convention for this later.

There is no need to incorporate images, diagrams or maps within this piece of work, but if you do, remember to annotate and refer to them within your writing. Pretty and enlightened, not pretty and dim. :) You must also include the source of the graphics used within your bibliography.

Remember you only have six lessons and a short period before the final deadline.

For teachers, we are indebted to Jane Girlow, we have adapted her assessment for our students.

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There is a set of informative videos about Fair Trade via Videojug, which some of you might be interested in viewing. Very comprehensive.

VideoJug: Understanding Fair Trade

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Check out Alan’s response to my cultural jamming post, including some great videos showing changes in Tesco’s advertising over time.

Ski yogurts 7and a half pence…

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Which lightbulbs? Greenpeace highlights the benefits of a good consumer choice, energy efficiency costs money in the short-term, but more is saved in the long-term; not bad for the environment either.

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 Well, we about stumbled to the end…

What’s a product web?

A product web is the term that Geographers use to describe the locations and processes involved in the production of a consumer product.

In terms of the pilot course we need to know

• an example of a consumer product
• the processes and locations involved in bringing the product to market.
• the impact on the people growing or manufacturing the product.
• the implications of us buying the product.

So what’s the issue with coffee?

(more…)

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Interesting news about Tesco’s definition of local with regards to its much advertised Local Choice Milk.  A little more that the 20 mile radius that we discussed as being ‘local‘.

Thanks to Alan for sending me a copy of the 2007 Pilot exam, if you’re interested in having a look, just ask.

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The third part of today.

After our discussion of consumer landscapes, we considered a number of images showing a shopping mall in Mumbai, India.

The first point that stuck you was that landscape of the shopping mall in India, reflected the same consumer wants in Nottingham or Derby. A couple of stereotypes were challenged by this, the idea that India is all poor… We could have took images from several major world cities and have found the same theme occurring…

But why has this happened?

(more…)

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Nice set of lesson today, really enjoyed it… :) We started with a revision of industrial sectors, which you will need knowledge of for your lesson on Monday and when we look at product webs.

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After a lesson that seemed to take hours to start , it must have been my migraine, we considered the ethical factors that might be considered when thinking about  purchasing organic or inorganic products, using apples as an example.

Remember you need to write up your answer to the essay question on the support sheet, this is good practice and will help you in your next piece of coursework.

I have placed a copy of the sheet under work set. Remember the deadline for submission is Monday 2nd of July 2007. Remember this is just a guide and I’m hoping for some independant flare as well!

Tomorrow we go on to look at consumer landscapes and hopefully begin to look at an example of a product web.

Just another bit of praise about the quality of your coursework and your meeting of deadlines. Well done to all.  You see, I can be nice sometimes. 

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Watched Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond, the film is set during  Sierra Leone’s civil war in 1999. The title refers to diamonds that are mined in war zones and then sold to fund conflicts; though the diamond trade is now strictly regulated, it is estimated that 1% of diamonds mined come from conflict zones. Once processed and fashioned into jewellery, the consumer has no knowledge of the diamond’s original location. The film reminded me of Noel Jenkins’ work on the subject, a great example of a product web and interdependence.

We also have historical links with Sierra Leone, it being an ex-colony, British forces are currently present in the country advising the government on the development of its armed forces.

The film has an adult rating, due to its disturbing scenes of civil conflict, so it’s one for parental permission, trailer below.

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