Learning centre

Plan is a child-centred community development organisation with no religious or political affiliations, enabling families and communities in the poorest countries to make lasting improvements to the lives of their children.

Because I am a Girl encourages students to explore and examine the role of girls in society and identify the differences between the experiences and expectations of girls and boys around the world. It accompanies the report ‘Because I am a Girl: The state of the world's girls 2007’ published by Plan.

Water in Kenya looks at the impact of water shortages in Kenya and the wider world. Students will begin to asses the impact that water shortages will have on them individually and the world as a whole.

Fair Trade in Pakistan begins to explore the idea of Fair Trade and the affect we can have in the developing world through Fair Trade. Students will develop an understanding about where products originate from and social responsibility.

Child Labour in India introduces the country of India to young people and examines the practice of child labour. It encourages young people to examine their own life and compare their experiences with those in India.

Make the link, break the chain examines the history of the transatlantic slave trade as well as the forms of slavery which still exist in the world today. It was developed from a project which linked schools in Brazil, Haiti, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the UK.

Togo: making choices has been designed to help UK children explore the ideas of needs, choices and fairness whilst learning about the lives of children in Togo.

Real life in Ghana explores similarities and differences between life in the UK and in Ghana. It draws on multimedia extracts of Ghanaian children, discovering everything from their daily routines through to the games that they play.

A global identity looks at the idea of our identity and how it can be used to distinguish and unite us all.

Speak out on Africa introduces the continent of Africa and encourages pupils to think about how their voice could facilitate change there. The work is an introduction to youth advocacy.

Visit a virtual village Experience a virtual visit to an African village. Nyalakot is a rural farming community of about 6,200 people where poverty is endemic and average income amounts to about £130 per person a year – less than 60 pence a day. Meet community members, children, students and adults.

Stop Disasters game Play this interactive game where you plan and construct an environment for a community affected by natural hazards.

Link to Learning centre

E Waste

Electronic waste in Guangdong, China As much as 4,000 tonnes of toxic e-waste are discarded every hour. Vast amounts are routinely and often illegally shipped as waste from Europe, USA and Japan to places where unprotected workers recover parts and materials.

This is a search on GREENPEACE. There are some excellent photographs here

Link to e waste | Search Results | Greenpeace International | 1

Tourism Threatens Antartica

More than anywhere else on Earth, the polar regions are most affected by global warming. Yet it is exactly this threat to their existence that is attracting more tourists to the region than before.

The World Tourism Organisation puts the number of annual visitors to the Arctic, including Alaska, at more than one million. Although far fewer tourists visit Antarctica, the rate of there growth is causing as much concern to environmentalists.

This year 33,000 people will visit the Antarctic region, up from about 7,400 a decade ago, according to the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), which promotes responsible tourism practices.

Link

Large Area of Antarctica Melted, Re-Froze in 2005

In contrast to the Antarctic Peninsula, where evidence of climate warming has been evident in rising temperatures, retreating glaciers, and collapsing ice shelves, the interior of Antarctica has generally appeared to be staying well below freezing. In May 2007, however, a team of researches from NASA and the University of Colorado found evidence of warming and melting as much as 900 kilometers (500 miles) inland. Just 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the South Pole, and more than 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) above sea level, portions of Antarctica’s interior experienced temperatures above freezing for about a week in January 2005.

The areas where snow melted and then refroze as ice over the winter were detected by NASA’s Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT). In this image, areas where QuikSCAT detected more ice are red, and places where it detected less ice are yellow. Small patches of yellow and red around the coastline of East Antarctica show that at least some melting took place there, but the most significant amounts of ice formed in West Antarctica. QuikSCAT detected significant amounts of melting along a stretch of the West Antarctic coastline more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) long. Additional evidence of melting appeared as a ring of icy patches surrounding the Ross Ice Shelf.

Link to EO Newsroom: New Images - Large Area of Antarctica Melted, Re-Froze in 2005

Hurricanes - Towers in the Tempest

'Towers in the Tempest' is a 4.5 minute narrated animation that explains recent scientific insights into how hurricanes intensify. This intensification can be caused by a phenomenon called a 'hot tower'. For the first time, research meteorologists have run complex simulations using a very fine temporal resolution of 3 minutes. Combining this simulation data with satellite observations enables detailed study of 'hot towers'. The science of 'hot towers' is described using: observed hurricane data from a satellite, descriptive illustrations, and volumetric visualizations of simulation data.

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Link to SVS Animation 3413 - Towers in the Tempest