Thursday, May 29, 2008

Climate Change Visualizations in Google Earth

If you don't have Google Earth installed on your computer you should! Not only will you spend hours finding your home and other places you've been, but you will open a world of technological tools that helps visualize all kinds of things. Everything from the journeys of Odysseus to oil consumption graphs of every country super-imposed on the globe.

If you need to install it, click here.

Once you are a Google Earth user, keep up with new features and layers at this Google Earth blog. It's awesome.

In fact, from them, the Green Panthers would like to share with you a couple great visualizations of Climate Change using Google Earth. Here's their original post.


Download and run the two Google Earth files - one from the UK's Met Office and the other from the British Antartic Survey. You'll be impressed. Open the menus and you get specific stories about parts of the world and what they are going through as a result of climate change.

An example:


Over the next few decades cereal production in China is expected to hold up well, with a longer growing season in northern areas and the fertilising effect of elevated levels of CO2.But without improvements in agricultural technology, cereal production is predicted to decline over the second half of this century.


Here's just a screenshot of our side of the world and temperature change.


Monday, April 7, 2008

ISB Students unveil Eco-mmercials

ISB students in preparation for Earth Week coming up have made Eco-mmercials.

Check them out:











Monday, March 24, 2008

ISB ECO CHALLENGE

K-12 ECO CHALLENGE!!

Starting April 1st and going on until the end of Earth Week (April 25th) is the K-12 ECO CHALLENGE.
Each grade is competing within their school ( i.e. - 6, 7, & 8 competing in MS).
There are points for participating (P4P) and points for winning events.
Grade level with the most points will win the challenge and prizes (yet to be determined).
Individual with most points for the whole school will also win a prize (yet to be determined).
For more info on this go to isb-green-panthers.blogspot.com
First 4 challenges start April 1st. Beware of deadlines!

Prizes!


Prizes keep coming in but here's what we have so far:

• 2 free nights at an eco-tourism resort in Thailand
• A gift voucher worth 10000 baht
• Biodegradable eco bags
• Pencils made from recycled newspapers
• Eco stickers
• More to come…

EVENTS

April 1 - 9 Veggie recipes

P4P = 5
Winners = 25

Students enter veggie recipes before Earth Week.
Box placed in cafeteria to put in the recipes or email to kerryd@isb.ac.th
The 10 chosen entries earn 25 points each and free lunch for that student when we have “VEGGIE DAY” on Tuesday April 22.
Winners announced on Tuesday, April 22.
Deadline for entering recipes is April 9.

April 1 - 23 Eco survey
P4P = 5

Online Eco survey for you and your family to do.
isb-green-panthers.blogspot.com
Each legitimate entry is 5 points for you and your grade level.
Participation is the best way to get the most points. The more people you can get to participate the better you will do.

Click here to complete the survey.



April 1 - 23 Create a special day

P4P = 5
Winners = 25

Students can design their own special day. Think of a cause you believe in and design your special day around it. You have to state:
The name of the day
What it represents
What would we have to do on that day
Why are we doing it and how does it help?

Examples
Buy Nothing Day – reminds us of how we consume too much and ask us to go one day without buying anything.
No meat day – To show the impact eating meat has on the environment, our health, and animal rights. For one day we have only veggies on the menu.
Earth hour - reminds us to conserve energy by everyone turning off the lights for 1 hour at the same time.

You get the picture. Be creative and make up your own special day
Winners will have their Special Day put into next year’s ISB school calendar!!

April 21-25 Nokia Recycling Contest
P4P = 5
Winner = 25
Nokia has a mobile phone recycling program so they can collect all the nasty stuff inside a phone and do the right thing with it.
They also make eco phones!
Bring in your old phone (any brand) you no longer use to be recycled for 5 points.
If you have the oldest phone in the contest you will win a brand new Nokia Eco phone!

Monday, April 21 Motor-less Monday

P4P = 5
Students coming to school without a motor will get a sticker and 5 points
"Burn calories; not fossils. Ride your bike!"

Tuesday, April 22 Veggie Tuesday

P4P = 5
Winners = 25
Students entered veggie recipes before Earth Week.
Each entry is 5 points.
The 10 chosen entries earn 25 points each and free lunch for that student.

Tuesday, April 22 Race to Recycle


P4P = 1/item
Bring in as much stuff as you can to recycle. You get 1 point per item.
Items can only be:
cans (crushed please),
plastic bottles,
batteries,
plastic bags,
newspapers,
printer cartridges

Wednesday, April 23 Water Bottle Wednesday

P4P = 5
Students coming to school with ‘real’ reusable water bottle will get a sticker and 5 points for grade.
Also get 5 baht off any drink in main cafeteria!
‘Re-Think, Re-fill, Re-Drink, I will!’

Wednesday, April 23 Wall of Commitment


P4P = 5
Students have to honestly commit to 3 things they will do for the next month to help the environment. Cut out paper hand and write 3 things on it and stick it on the wall.


Thursday, April 24 Keen to be GREEN

P4P = 5
Winners = 25
How green you can be?
Wear a GP shirt, or go all out with a green get up.
Water bottle and eco bag are good accessories.
Make a dress out of recycled materials, or dress to send an eco message.
We will pick 3 best dressed.

Thursday, April 24 Concert 4 Climate Change

P4P = 100/class
P4P = 5 / person
Any class/group can participate by making a display, skit, poem, video, art work, dance, song, or use some other creative idea to get the eco message across.
It can be about any eco topic (an animal, global warming, saving water, organic food, turning off the power, etc)

Friday, April 25 Earth Fair

Guest speakers:
1. Bill Clinton Foundation
2. Tesco Lotus
3. Elephant Sanctuary

30 companies and NGO’s will participate to show what they are doing for the earth. There will be a lot of eco products such as solar water heaters, hybrid cars, reflective cooling paint, school supplies made from recycled newspapers, and more.

NGO’s will show what their program is all about and encourage kids to join!

We will have hands on activities for everyone to enjoy.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Most Terrifying Video You Will Ever See

Well, it might not be the most terrifying but it certainly does a good job explaining the climate change issues we all face.

Check out this video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ.

An alternative link is:http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/244/high-school-teacher-spreads-the-word-on-climate-change.html.

What may be the scariest thing about the youtube post is the comments. For anyone who thinks that 'consensus' on climate change has been achieved, there is obviously a lot of education left to be done.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

ISB EARTH AWARD

The time is approaching for the ISB Earth Award. The award is intended to raise awareness for the environmental issues we face as a society and to inspire students to fight for change. Students from all grade levels are invited to participate. Projects can be individual or collaborative. Past successful projects have incorporated research, action, surveys, or all of the above.

Three prizes in each section (high school, middle school and elementary) will be awarded. First prize recipients receive 5000 baht, second place 2000 and third place 1000. Everyone is encouraged to participate.

For information, please visit: http://www.isb.ac.th/Earth_Award. There you will find registration forms, ideas for projects and resources for making your project successful.

Tree Planting

The Green Panther community has been raising money recently to purchase trees for planting and a nursery. The joint fundraising efforts of the elementary and middle school green panthers have raised enough money to plant several dozen trees here at ISB. The nursery will allow the Green Panthers to have a ready stock of seedlings for future plantings here and around Bangkok.

Trees have already been planted in the ISB parking lot and near the track. Tree planting will continue as a collaborative project between older and younger students as well as faculty and parents.

Collaboration is a beautiful thing, especially when it is so green.