Geography

Lava from Pico do Fogo volcano in Cabo Verde which erupted from the 23 November 2014, destroyed two nearby towns and about 1,500 inhabitants were evacuated and continued to advance.

Pictures on the eruption http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30291041

More than 367 people died and nearly 2,000 were injured when a strong earthquake hit southwest China's mountainous Yunnan province on Sunday (August 3). Note the short term responses - setting up the relief team. Though the magnitude of the earthquake is only 6.1, it struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometres, many buildings collapsed resulting in more casualties. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/death-toll-from-southwest/1295220.html


What was the impacts of the earthquake?
What are the responses to the earthquake as shown in the video clip?

For my Geography students.. read the article from the link above and note the epicenter of the quake, the magnitude, the tsunamis, the aftershock, breakwater, evacuation and contaminated water... Revise on the cause, impacts and management of tectonic hazards

An eruption of Indonesia's Mount Sinabung on 4 February resulted in an ash plume of 3.6km. Based on dispersion model simulations by the Meteorological Service Singapore as well as Australia's Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, the volcanic ash is expected to move southeast, and be confined to the northern half of Sumatra for the next 48 hours. The NEA added that three other volcanoes - Mount Karangatang, Mount Lokon and Mount Paluwah are likely to erupt but pose little threats,

The impacts of ash from volcanic eruption on people:

• Health issues esp people with lung problems
• Reduction of outdoor activities
• Burns and even death from the hot ashes falling onto them

The impacts of ash from volcanic eruption on the environment:

• Air pollution
• Destruction of forest
• Destruction of farmland
• Contamination of water sources

Scientists projected average surface temperatures across the world will increase by at least 0.3°C – 1.7°C and at most between 2.6°C and 4.8°C, by the years 2081 to 2100, sad the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change report.Applied to the Southeast Asian region, this could translate to between 0.5 to 1°C, or 3 to 4°C, according to estimates from Singapore's Centre for Climate Research (CCRS). Taking the most severe scenario of 3°C, Singapore will see daily maximum temperatures of 34°C more often, and rainfall will increase by 25 per cent every 20 years. As it is, Singapore's temperatures have increased by more than double the rate of the rest of the world — 0.26°C over the past 60 years as compared to 0.12°C. Rainfall intensity has also increased to 107mm from 80mm per hour over the past 30 years, but not necessarily due to global warming, said the CCRS in a statement released by the National Environment Agency. Another key measurement scientists are watching is sea levels, which they project will also increase, depending on the level of greenhouse gas emissions the world produces.The report also cites the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which it predicts will take over a millennium at least to liquidate completely, but when it does, average global sea levels will rise by up to 7m.
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-to-get-warmer--wetter-over-next-century--report-030148990.html

Why was the Marriage and Parenthood package introduced?
Do you think it was effective?
What will be the impacts of declining fertility rate?

Singapore took a major step towards being self-sufficient in its water supply on 18 Sept 2013 with the opening of the Tuaspring Desalination Plant. It is Asia's largest seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plant and the second for Singapore.
The new plant adds 70 million gallons of desalinated water daily to Singapore's water supply, tripling the supply from the country's fourth "national tap". The other three "taps" are local water catchments, imported water and NEWater.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/tuaspring-opens-latest/817978.html

1. How does the desalination plant convert seawater to potable water?
2. What are the four national taps of Singapore?
3. Why is water supply important to Singapore?

Click on this link to download the Google Earth on Tectonic plates -Kmz file on Tectonic Plates - Please ensure you have already downloaded Google Earth.
Click and expand Places on the side menu on your left. You should see the placemarks 1 to 6 classified under the 3 types of plate boundaries. Double click on each placemark to find out more about the landforms formed at the respective plate boundaries.

Play this interactive game on identifying the crustal plates http://www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/plate2.html

Animation on labeling parts of a composite  volcano: - this will help you understand the parts of a composite volcano better.

 The worksheet for the lesson :You might want to also check out the following animations on how volcano and crater lake are formed. 
Volcano
Crater Lake

You can also access the following to better understand types of volcano and damage from earthquakes.