Mobile phones: are they safe?

Ms Allen’s and Ms Liles-Wood’s Y9 classes are looking into whether mobile phones cause cancer.  Here are some links to help your research.  This is quite a contentious subject and some of these links may be writing from a particular viewpoint.  Think about who is writing each article and what their background may be, before reading what they have to say.

16 masts in Cancer Street
Sun article about a high incidence of cancer in one street which has lots of phone masts.
Click on ‘Next page: for and against’ at the bottom of the page to read two people’s arguments about whether mobile phones are safe or not.

Do mobile phones cause cancer? and Mobile phones and cancer
Two short articles from Cancer Research UK

Early mobiles brain tumour risk
BBC report about a Swedish investigation into mobile phones and brain tumours.

Electromagnetic fields and public health
Fact sheet from the World Health Organisation which outlines key recommendations and health concerns.

Hospitals to allow mobiles
Article from the Daily Mirror stating that patients in hospitals will be allowed to use mobile phones.

Jury still out on mobile health
BBC article outlining some key reports from the New Scientist magazine.

Kids Wi-Fi radiation warning
Article from the Daily Mirror about the potential danger of radiation from wireless internet access in schools.

Mobile cleared of cancer link
Report from the BBC about a Danish study about the link between moblie phones and cancer.

Mobile phone radiation and health
Article from Wikipedia.

Mobile phones and health
Information leaflet from the Department of Health.  Be patient, this website can take a few minutes to load.

Mobile phones, magnetic fields and cancer
Short summaries of key scientific studies into whether there is a link between mobile phones and cancer.

Mobiles slash your sperm count by 30%
Daily Mirror article about a Hungarian study.

No link for mobile phones and cancer
Short report from BBC Newsround.

Our mobile phones are safe (probably), but we can’t prove it, say experts
Article from the Daily Mirror outlining the problems.

Powerwatch
Website with lots of information about potential health risks from mobile phone masts, pylons and substations and mobile phones.

Should I worry about… mobile phones?
Article from the BBC’s series ‘Should I worry about…?’ with Richard Hammond.

Click on this link to find more articles on mobile phones and cancer from BBC

Climate change

Some UK cities held events to support World Environment Day on Thursday 5th June. Other towns and cities are also looking at how they can be more sustainable and combat climate change.  Click on the cities to find out more.

Birmingham  -  Cambridge  -  Leicester  -  London  -  Sheffield

Macbeth

Studying Macbeth
BBC bitesize – Lots of information to help you revise key extracts for your SATs.
Grade Saver – Includes a character list, plot summary, an analysis by each act and a test yourself section.
Macbeth – Adapted retelling to read/listen to. Click on the classroom version and the original text annotates the adaption.
Macbeth Plugged – Annotated script with glossary and a useful section explaining the key themes.
Shakespeare online – Includes a commentary, plot synopsis, FAQs, history of the play, soliloquies and much more.
Spark notes – Includes an overviewof the play, a character list, character analysis, a discussion of the key themes, motifs and symbols and explains the most famous quotations.
Themes in Macbeth a discussion of the key themes of ambition, the supernatural, appearances vs. reality and order/disorder in Macbeth.

History at the time of Macbeth
BBC history – Medieval Tymes – Timeline for 1000-1999 which gives an important insight to the historical setting of Macbeth. Here’s another useful Timeline too.

Lucky dip
Clans seen in Macbeth – Images of tartans for each of the families in Macbeth.
The curse of the play – An article explaining superstitions surrounding Macbeth and why actors only refer to it as ‘the Scottish play’.
The literature network – 99 quotes from Macbeth.
Macbeth inspired art – Images of 6 paintings imspired by Macbeth.

Games and quizzes
Hang Macbeth
Macbeth Soliloquy quiz
Macbeth quiz
Witches puzzle

Slavery

Your Y7 History challenges are looking at slavery. 

You can find lots of books that will help you with your research.  These will have a Dewey number of 326.  As there are so many of you working on this topic – you will only be able to borrow these books for 1 night.

Here are some websites that will help you too

Black peoples of America from the History on the net website has links to information about the slave system including where slaves came from, their journey to America, how they lived and their work on the plantations.

Freedom: a website from the National Maritime Museum explains Britain’s involvement in the slave trade.  You can find out information about the triangular trade and slave’s journey’s to America. 

The middle passage from the Juneteenth website uses words and pictures to illustrated the conditions that slaves were kept in on their journey to America.

Slavery in the United States from the Spartacus Educational website has lots of links to information about slave life including accounts from slaves.

The story of Africa: Slavery from the BBC World Service has information about the impact of slavery on Africa.  Use the hyperlinks on the right side of the page to find out more about the slave trade and the journey the slaves made to America.  You can also find out about the end of slavery.

If you want pictures for your project try this website, The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: a visual record from the University of Virginia.  Click on ‘explore the collection’ and then choose one of the headings or use the search box.

Metals

Are you trying to compile a factsheet for your chosen metal? 

There are books available to help you in the library. 
     *Once you know which metal you are researching you can use the encyclopedias
     *You can also look for science books in the reference section
     *Or you can look for books in the non-fiction section.  Look for books in the ‘Chemistry section’ with a Dewey number of 546.3.

 Here are some websites to get you started.

Aluminium
Facts about aluminum - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on alumium

Copper
Facts about copper - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on copper

Gold
Facts about gold - Web elements article  (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on gold

Iron
Facts about iron - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on iron

Lead
Facts about lead - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on lead

Magnesium
Facts about magnesium - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on magnesium

Mercury 
Facts about mercury - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on mercury

Nickel 
Facts about nickel – Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on nickel

Platinum
Facts about platinum - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on platinum

Silver
Facts about silver - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on silver

Tin 
Facts about tin - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on tin

Tungsten
Facts about tungsten - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on tungsten

Uranium
Facts about uranium – Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on uranium

Zinc
Facts about zinc - Web elements article (use the hyperlinks on the left side) – Wikipedia article on zinc

World War One Poetry

Mr Borman’s class are researching poets and poetry from the First World War. 

Mr Borman has already taken some books out to help you, but if you want to look for some more you may find some on the non fiction shelves with a Dewey number of 821.

Here are some websites that may help you too:

Looking for a poem? 
Try this page, World War One Poetry to find poems by Sassoon, Owen and others. 
Or Sonnets of World War I.  Scroll down to find the poems.
Or 120 War Poems. Scroll down the the World War One section.

Looking for information about your chosen poet? 
Try this page.  Lives of War Poets of the First World War.

Looking for some information to help you put your chosen poem into context – this extract from a book called Minds at War explains What the war poets knew and did not know about the First World War.

For more general information, try these sites

First World War Poetry - this webpage from the BBC is part of a wider collection of information on war called ‘Remembrance’.  You can find brief information about some of the war poets (John McCrae, Laurence Binyon, Charlotte Mew and the more well known Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon) and links to their poems.

Prose and Poetry – this webpage from First World War.com.  Scroll down to find names of writers.  Click on them to find more information.  Be careful though as some of the people listed may have written letters or accounts of war, rather than poems.

Travel Activities

Year 9 are researching different activities for when you are travelling somewhere in technology.  Here are a few sites that I hope won’t be blocked.

Amazon – Hamleys – Woolworths - Toyday

Technology – clocks

How clocks work
Clock – this useful article from Wikipedia outlines the history and different types of clocks and clock mechanisms.  Scroll to the bottom of the article to find links to specific types of clocks.

How clocks work from the ’How stuff works’ website has some interesting articles to help you understand how different types of clocks work including pendulum clocks, quartz watches, digital clocks, atomic clocks and wind up radio clocks.  There is also a link to an article about time which may be useful.

Klockit – this website sells clock parts and mechanisms.  It is useful to get pictures from.  Use the links on the left side of the screen.

Design ideas
Katherine Lady Berkeley’s School and Chigwell School  both have examples of clocks that have been made by their students for DT projects.  House of clocks has images of over 1000 clocks, whereas Good directions has images of outside clocks.

The Tempest

Do you need to know the story of the Tempest? 

• Have a look at this summary of the Tempest from BBC Bitesize.
• Or this news-style article from the BBC’s 60 second Shakespeare.
• This summary from Absolute Shakespeare outlines the main events in each act of the play.
• This map from Shakespeare 4 kids has links to the story and some background information.

Do you need to know the main characters in the Tempest? 

• Have a look at this character list from Spark Notes No Fear Shakespeare.
• Or this webpage on the Tempest Characters from Absolute Shakespeare.

Are you looking for information about the themes of the Tempest?

• Themes, motifs and symbols from Sparknotes outlines the key themes of the play.
• This extract from the Wikipedia entry on the Tempest outlines some of the key themes.

Remember that the library has lots of books on Shakespeare.  You will find them in the non-fiction section with a Dewey number (on the side of the book) of 822 SHA.  Books can be borrowed for 1 week.

Selective breeding

Mrs Smith’s Y9 class are researching selective breeding. 

Here are some websites to help you get started.

Selective breeding from BBC Bitesize

Selective breeding, genetic engineering and other genetic technologies are described in this article from Regents Prep School 

What are genetically modified foods? explains how selective breeding has led the way in developing new food options and suggest how genetic modification is different.

When selective breeding goes too far – an article from Practical Fishkeeping that questions whether taking selective breeding is a form of animal cruelty.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to get some more opinions on selective breeding too.