Young Inventors

INSPIRING STORY
We always try to find solutions to problems but it is not often easy. We need to think and analyze in detail once and again. For that you don´t only need inspiration but also a strong will to keep on going even if you haven´t been successful al first. I want to show you the invention of this thirteen year old boy who belongs to the Masai community :


Do you usually find it hard to try solutions to problems?
How do you face them? What are the hardest problems we have now?
What possible solutions can you think of?

Tribute to Nelson Mandela

A GENIOUS FOR ETERNITY

NELSON MANDELA has been one of the most influential men in the twentieth century.  Considered one loyal follower of Mahatma Ghandi´s ideas, he was ready to give his life to fight against apartheid in South Africa. He was an extemely clever and humble man who I admire. Your memory will always be with us .

                 

I would like you to write a quote from him as tribute and good reminder, then comment.

Thanksgiving in the USA

Thanksgiving in the USA

ESL Video Quiz:

http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_intermediate.php?id=6657

Malala Yousufzai Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize

MALALA

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani school student and education activist. She is known for her education and women¨s rights activism in Pakistan where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. When Malala was 11 years old she wrote a blog for the BBC detailing her life under the Taliban rule. The following summer, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life and she began to rise in prominence, giving interviews in print and on TV. She has since been nominated for the International Children´s Peace Prize. A number of prominent individuals, including the Canadian Prime Minister, are supporting a petition to nominate Malala for the Nobel Peace Prize.

                    
A fairly surprising decision, the Nobel Committee awarded this year's peace prize to ..............................................................
Watch the video clicking on the link below and find out.
Write a comment on Malala´s personality and campaign. Does she deserve the Nobel Peace Prize in your opinion?

                                              http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?id=9283795

Schools in Great Britain.

                           

Answer the following questions.

1.  1..    Between what ages do all students go to primary school?

2.    2..  What exams do students take at the age of 16 in England?

3.   3--   What percentage of students continue school afterwards?

4.   4..   What percentage of people go onto other kinds of education and training (instead of university)?

5.  5--    What are some of the subjects that British students take?

          

         Talk about any of the differences between the Spanish educational system and the British one.

THE IRISH FAMINE IN 1845

The Great Famine and the coffin ships

 1845 was a year of starvation and great difficulty for most of the people in Ireland.
 Watch this video and answer to the following questions.

1-- What were the first consequences of the potato blight?
2--Why were some families evicted from their homes?
3--What were the most immediate solutions for families?
4--How long did the journey to America take?
5--Talk about the conditions on the ships.
6--Were the Irish welcomed to their new land. Why/ Why not?
7--Can we see any reminder today from this terrible time?' What is it? Where can we find it?

HAUNTED HOUSES

IMAGINATION is free and all of you have shown me all the scary and spooky adventures you can think of.

I want to show you the Haunted Houses my students in 1º F  ESO have created.

Here you have some pictures.

Jamie Thompson

Jamie is a new assistant we have known today. He was born in Scotland. He has one sister who is at university. He used to have dogs but he doesn't have pets any more. He has lived in Scotland for 10 years.

He loves football and playing the guitar.














He has visited Mexico, Spain, the USA... This is his 4th week in Spain. His first impression when he came was how beautiful Madrid is.  He likes the following food from Spain ( "paella", the Spanish omelette...) and some other things.


SCOTTISH ICONS:

• Capital: Edinburgh.
• Population: 5.2 millions of inhabitants.
• Patron Saint: St. Andrew.
• Haggis (typical food).
• National flower: The thistle

Written by: Raquel 2nd D

Brianna Smith,our new assistant

                          BRIANNA SMITH

Brianna is our new assistant for this year.She is 26 years old.Brianna is fron Chicago,in the USA.She has got a younger sister whose name is Ari and is 20 years old.She has also got an older brother called Nick,who is 29 years old.Brianna has got a dog called Guiness,too.



                                       This is Chicago


Brianna graduated from university in 2010.She studied music on Illinois University.She knows how to play the violin,the piano and the arp.When she grows up,she wants to be a teacher.

                             This is Illinois University


In her free time,Brianna likes reading,playing the piano,practising sports and watching TV.She also loves travelling and her favourite countries are Ireland and Greece.

Written by:Irene 1ºF

Canberra

Canberra is a mysterious city. A lot of people don´t know about it.
So my friend Álvaro and me have prepared a website about Canberra, the unknown city.

You will learn about the population, the location, history, intersting facts and lot of more things about Canberra by just clicking in the following link! Don´t hesitate and visit our page!


www.canberraenglish.weebly.com

Our new assistant, Jamie Thompson

                        

The Scottish Flower

     
One of our new assistants is called Jamie. He's from Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. However, he's only lived there for about ten years due to his mother's job, which caused him and his family to travel to many places such as Costa Rica, Mexico, the USA, etc.                    

Scotland's map

He's told us some facts about Scotland. For instance, the population is around 5.2 million people. Its patron is Saint Andrew, and its national anthem is "The Flower of Scotland" (which, by the way, is a thistle). 

Scotland's flag

Scotland is famous for its castles (like the Sterling and the Edinburgh castles), the Loch Ness and the legendary monster that's supposed to live there, haggis (a traditional dish that consists of liver, oats and fat served in a sheep's stomach) and Robert "Rabbie" Burns, a famous poet who wrote the song "Auld Lang Syne". Famous celebrations include Hogmanay (on the 31st of December, Burns Night (on the 25th of January), the Highland Games (from May to September) and the Edinburgh Festival (in August).

                                        

A typical Scottish event

Jamie likes football and supports the Celtic Football club and the AVFC.

AVFC

 He likes to read and play the guitar. He has a younger sister, Sadie, who is currently studying at university. He's been in Spain for about a month now. He likes the warm weather and the food, and doesn't regret coming here!

About Dublin: the website

For an English project, my friend Marcos and I had to design a webpage about an interesting city. We chose Dublin, and this was the result. 
If you click on the image, you'll go directly to the website. It has interesting facts about history, geography, weather, curiosities and more. Check it out!

By Andrés and Marcos (2nd D)

AMSTERDAM

http://www.visitingamsterdam.webdone.com

by Marina an Julia in 2nd.D.

Jamie Thompson, a great assistant

It was half past eight of a single Monday at the high-school. We were waiting for an usual English class. I couldn´t imagine the surprise that was waiting behind the door!
I was taking my English things out from my school bag when, suddenly, a young boy entered with Manuela. Another assistant (some days before we met another assistant)!!- whispered  people in the class with boring faces. But when he told us about his life, I think every single person in the class changed his mind.

Jamie Thompson is a Scottish boy. He comes directly from the Scottish capital city, Edimburgh.

Scotland isn´t an independent country, it belongs to the United Kingdom. It is located in the North of England. Scotland is a very curious contry: for example, Scotland has two flags!!

 Their typical food is haggis: some lungs, liver and salad served in a sheep stomach... At first, it sounds disgusting, but Jamie says that it´s delicious!

Scotland has a population of 5,2 million people, its patron is St. Andrew and their national flower is the thistle.

It has monuments like the Edimburgh castle, emblematic places like Lake Ness and parties like Burns night.

Jamie, Although he was born in Scotland, has been living in Costa Rica, U.S.A., Mexico...
It is his 4th week here, in Spain. He likes Spain because of the weather and the food. He would like to have a pet here and  he has one sister.


Personally, I believe he´s going to be a great assistant and he is going to help us a lot in English!!!

♥♥♥ ONE DIRECTION ♥♥♥

♥ONE DIRECTION♥

One direction is one of the most popular  British-Irish bandsat the moment and it is composed by five members:

ZAYN MALIK:  He was born the 12th of January 1993, in Bradford in West Yorkshire (England). His mother is from England but his father is from Pakistan.

NIALL HORAN:  He was born the 13th of September 1993,in Mullingar (Irlanda).He  plays the guitar .

LOUIS TOMILSON:  He was born the 24th of December 1991,in Doncaster (England).He  would like to be an actor, but his dream was to be a singer.

LIAM PAYNE:  He was born the 29th of August 1993,in Wolverhampton (England).When he was a child he had to go  to  hospital very often as he had a very important kidney problem  .

HARRY STYLES:  He was born the 1st of February 1994 in Holmes Chapel (England).He is very fan of "The Beatles" ,"Coldplay"  and " Elvis Presley".

This band was created the 23 of July of 2011,in the english TV contest "The X factor" .At first they participated  separately.But later,after been expelled ,Nicole Scherzinger decided to join them and to form a group, ONE DIRECTION ,as he thought that all together would be a great band. When Nicole joined them,  they did not know each other .In the end ,One direction didnt´t win the contest. They got the 3rd place,but Simon Coweel gave them a opportinity by signing a contract with Sony Musi , so that way Simon Cowell became his Second and they performed their first album " Up all night" and One direction was formed.

Here is Simon Cowell with the boys ~

During the contest one drection stayed in the house of "The X factor",and every week they published a video where we can see them joking and doing funny things.

CLICK ON HERE: The best moments of one direction in the house of the X factor

Apart form his album "Up all night" One direction has another album called "Take me home".

Both of them include very beautiful and very good songs.I couldn´t choose only one song from these albums therefore I would show you a couple of them from each album.

This is the song from the album "Up all night"  ~makes you beautiful.

This is the song from the album "Take me home " ~little things.

For me One direction is the best group of boys in the world, because I like the way they sing and also their personalities. They are  very supportive  helping the poor children in Africa.  If you want to see the video click on here  .  

I love them and they arethe best boy band in the world.

By:Marta Caudet 2ºD

Develop culture for a better society

Culture is being undervalued and each day we forget more about it. Moreover, culture is an ineludible feature in everyone's lives. Arts have been introduced in the early days of humanity with the rural paintings and this shows we can't evolve without them.
However, currently, with the harsh economical situation we are going through, culture is being mistreated and  forgotten. Society can't go on and develop new perspectives for the future if society can't transmit its deepest feelings and the only path to achieve this is art and so the culture of each nation.
I reckon that government should be more concious of the negative effect of cuts in culture and education over society and therefore it should begin fostering this important and productive field in our lives.

MAD SCIENCE?¿

Vaccines within a banana? It may sound as science fiction. Eggs which help to cure cancer? It's been done. Evgen plants that reduce the amount of air pollution have been invented.

These new genetically modified organisms exist thanks to an alternation in the DNA when being combined with another one. Many of these could bring important advanteges in our every-deay life. Here I show you some of the weirdest outcomes of genetic enginnering.

Pollution fighting plants:

Scientists at the University of Washington areengineering poplar trees taht can clean up contamination sites by absorbing groundwater pollutants through their roots. The plants then break the pollutants down into harmless byproducts that are incorporated into their roots, stems and leaves or released into the air.

In laboratory tests, the transgenic plants are able to remove as much as 91 percent of trichloroethylene — the most common groundwater contaminant at U.S. Superfund sites — out of a liquid solution. Regular poplar plants removed just 3 percent of the contaminant.

Web-spinning goats:

Strong, flexible spider silk is one of the most valuable materials in nature, and it could be used to make an array of products — from artificial ligaments to parachute cords — if we could just produce it on a commercial scale. In 2000, Nexia Biotechnologies announced it had the answer: a goat that produced spiders’ web protein in its milk.

Researchers inserted a spiders’ dragline silk gene into the goats’ DNA in such a way that the goats would make the silk protein only in their milk. This “silk milk” could then be used to manufacture a web-like material called Biosteel.

Banana vaccines:

People may soon be getting vaccinated for diseases like hepatitis B and cholera by simply taking a bite of banana. Researchers have successfully engineered bananas, potatoes, lettuce, carrots and tobacco to produce vaccines, but they say bananas are the ideal production and delivery vehicle.

When an altered form of a virus is injected into a banana sapling, the virus’ genetic material quickly becomes a permanent part of the plant’s cells. As the plant grows, its cells produce the virus proteins — but not the infectious part of the virus. When people eat a bite of a genetically engineered banana, which is full of virus proteins, their immune systems build up antibodies to fight the disease — just like a traditional vaccine.

Medical eggs:

British scientists have created a breed of genetically modified hens that produce cancer-fighting medicines in their eggs. The animals have had human genes added to their DNA so that human proteins are secreted into the whites of their eggs, along with complex medicinal proteins similar to drugs used to treat skin cancer and other diseases.

What exactly do these disease-fighting eggs contain? The hens lay eggs that have miR24, a molecule with potential for treating malignant melanoma and arthritis, and human interferon b-1a, an antiviral drug that resembles      modern treatments for multiple sclerosis.

All this breakthroughs in bioenginnering may sound incredibly delightful, however there are some risks that could be followed by an unexpected realise into society. Have you thought about this before???

                  

              MY LAST CONCERT: COLDPLAY

Dear editor:

I´m writing to you about  Coldplay concert on 20th of June in the Vicente Calderon´s Stadium. I´m interesting in this concert because yesterday i watched it on " You Tube" and I remerbered all the songs. Once you entered into the stadium, the audience received a bracelet that incorporated a light system, this was part of the show.

It all started when the night fell.Suddenly, the "Hurts like heaven" song rang, then a firework exploded in the night. After that, Christ, the singer, songwriter, pianist and the group leader dedicated in Spanish this concert to all his fans. Later Jonh Buckland, the lead guitarist, and Will Chapion , the drummer, started to improve; then Christ and Guy Berrynian, the electrict bassist, joined.

Jon Buckland

After that, they  played "In my place". All the audience sang its lyrics  while the bracelets were shining in a blue light forming different figures.

Blue bracelet.

Then, the turn of "The prince of Chine" came, with Rihanna singing on a digital screen. When they played " Viva la Vida" and "Paradise", everyone danced to the rhythm of the music. I also started singing them in my bedroom.

However, the organization was a disaster and part of this problem was caused by putting up 3.000 duplicate tickets. The concert started at 22:00 and it was supposed to begin at 21:30.

The tickets cost too much money.

The concert finished with three songs " Clock", "Speed of sound" and "Every Teardrop is a waterfall". Later some fireworks exploded again. It would be nice if they came and played again  in Madrid.

Thanks for reading. From:

JAIME MORENO

RIHANNA'S CONCERT. By: Celia Escribano 2ºD.

Dear Editor,

I'm writing to you about the concert in Madrid last Saturday with Rihanna. There was an audience of 350 people.
Rihanna started late because she had some problems with the sound system. However, once she got going it was fantastic. While Rihanna was singing, there were two guitarrists and a drummer playing at the back.
Although she was a bit nervous at first, Rihanna was doing well and got the audience going. The crowd was very excited, shouting  all the time, and singing most of the songs. The most succesful song was "Where Have You Been".

In general, everything was good, but there were some problems with the sound and the acoustics were not very good. Also, because Rihanna arrived late, and she ended the concert early, so it was not a total success. She arrived late because it was a difficult place to go, it is not very well communicated.
Why can't we have concerts in the sport hall? It is better communicated and it is bigger, so we wouldn't have to be so squashed together! And also the sound system and acoustics conditions would be better in there, and in the sport hall there are lightning effects, so it would be nice. 

Yours faithfully.
Celia.

ONE DIRECTION´S CONCERT

Sofía García  2ºD

ONE DIRECTION´S CONCERT

I´m writing to you about the concert I saw last month of One Direction in the
sports hall. The place was full of people, there were an
audience of 500 people.

One Direction is composed of five handsone boys: Niall, Zayn , Harry ,
Liam and Louis. They sang pop music and they had a lead guitarist,
a bass guitarist and a drummer.

The audience was all the time singing, although they sang the new songs of
their album: Take me home. The audience went wild when they came out and started
to sing.It was amazing!

All the concert was great, however, lights were very poor and the sound system was
not very good.

Why One Direction can´t come to Alcorcon?
I think it will be a great idea and that they will have a big audience.

Your faithfully ,
                               Sofía García.