#007 - Haiti Earthquake

The 2010 Haitian earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake in Haiti.

The earthquake occurred on Tuesday, 12 January 2010, at a depth of 13 km.

The 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck at 6.03am ( 1103 GMT) on Wednesday, eight days after the Haitian Capital was levelled by a massive temblor(earthquake) in which at least 75,000 people were killed, and a million left homeless.

The International Red Cross estimated that about three million people were affected by the quake.

As many as 200,000 people died in the earthquake.

Rescuers have kept their grim search through the rubble, elated by the successes in finding

survivors who have defied the odds.

Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime said ‘We have already collected around 50,000 dead bodies. We anticipate there will be between 100,000 and 200,000 dead in total, although we will never know the exact number.’

Some 40,000 bodies had been buried in mass graves, and if the figures turn out to be accurate, the earthquake that Haiti on Tuesday would be one of the 10 deadliest earthquakes ever recorded.

More than 50,000 people were killed and 250,000 injured by the earthquake in Haiti, and left nearly 1.5 million homeless.

The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region.

Three-quarters of the capital, Port-au-Prince, will need to be rebuilt.

Many landmark buildings were damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail.

Amongst the killed were the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, Justice Minister Paul Denis and opposition leader Michel Gaillard.

President René Préval, who was in Presidential Palace at the time, had escaped injury.

The headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing many people, including the Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi.

Many countries helped for humanitarian aid, pledging funds, rescues, medical teams, engineers and support personnel.

Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake made the helpers confused over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights.

Port-au-Prince's morgues were quickly overwhelmed.

The Haitian government announced on 21 January that over 80,000 bodies had been buried in mass graves.

Amid a massive aid operation to help hundreds of thousands left destitute, the United States said it was pouring 4,000 more troops, who had been due to deploy to the Middle East and Europe, into the country.

#006 - Welcome Back!

Dear Sec 2s,

Welcome back from camp, it's great to see all of you again this week. Apologies for the long silence, I too have been busy with the Sec 3s in Tanjong Piai, a wonderful coastal town in Johore Bahru. I just thought I would like to share some of the sights and sounds with you.

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so I shall let them do the talking!

Tanjong Piai is located along the southern most tip of Southeast Asia. In fact, you can see the island of Singapore from where we are.

We were introduced to the chapter on vegetation last year, but the one we didn't cover, but is commonly found along the coasts of Tanjong Piai, is the mangrove. Mangroves are unique in the sense that they thrive where fresh water meets salt/sea water. The water found in this area is much more saline compared to those inland. The result is plants that have very unique characteristics, like mechanisms in their cells that remove salt, protruding roots that enable the plants to breathe even during high tides.

Most significant of all, mangroves are invaluable in the protection of coastal areas against natural events like storms and even tsunamis. They do so by breaking the impact of large waves before they more inland, thus reducing their damage to infrastructure and saving lives.

My class, 3E2 was engaged in some activities on the pier when I spotted a strange formation along the coast. Mdm Tami and I walked all the way to the edge of the campsite before we saw what it was: a breakwater.

Breakwaters are man-made structures constructed parallel to the coast to prevent strong waves from damaging the coastline. The sea fronting Tanjong Piai is the main pathway for large ships bearing cargo. These large ships often generate huge waves which erode the coasts quickly. This is especially threatening for infrastructure, such as the campsite.

The flora and fauna is very different from Singapore, where we live surrounded by excessive urban built-up. Animals are free to roam the campsite freely, as their natural habitat of tropical forests surround the area.

One of the things I never fail to look forward to is hiking. Observe carefully, and you can see large areas of soil erosion caused by human activities. It appears they are trying to construct houses at the foot of the hill we were hiking.

I've never actually seen a liana in my life. This is the first. Interesting!!!! They are really, really huge! I almost tripped over one.

There were many of such plants in the forest with large needles on their barks. It was quite terrifying because at one point, my instructor accidentally slammed his palm into one of them while he was going down a slippery patch and he ended up with 8 splinters in his hand.

Question for today: Why do you think the plant has large needle-like structures on its bark?

Do click on the comment link and leave your answers there.

I leave you with a picture of a beautiful rainbow I saw.

See you kids in school!

P.S. Up next, details for an exciting level-wide competition. Watch this space!

#005 - Guys, check these out!

I gave everyone the same assignment, all 240 of you across 6 classes, and some of you really managed to surprise me with amazing work. As your assignments continue to flow in, there are some I want to show you, to hopefully really INSPIRE you!

TAN KOK LEONG 2E4

SHERIL NATASHA 2E1

ANDREW YEO 2E1

Well done guys!!! My sister was just saying that these are so well done, they are even more impressive than her university professors' slides!

Keep it up!

Miss Lim

#004 - Watch these!!!

Dear Students, my bad. I typed the email address wrongly. Please resend, all of you to:

theenvironmentalchallengeskss@gmail.com

The videos are embedded below. You are encouraged to watch and re-watch!

Miss Lim

#003 - Your Alter Ego

The American Heritage Dictionary defines an Alter Ego as:

noun.
1. Another side of oneself; a second self.
2. An intimate friend or a constant companion.
[Latin : alter, other + ego, I, self.]

By the time most of you read this, you would have already received your ALTER EGO. You will stick with this name till the end of the year. Each of you will have a task (or many) to fulfil throughout the year.

Some famous Alter Egos.

Your First Assignment

You would have already been notified of your first task, which is to create one Powerpoint slide on your alter ego. These alter egos have been nomiated by TIME Magazine as the 100 Most Influential People.

As you have been briefed, please include something interesting in your slides about the person. Do not give me 'boring' information like birthdates or how many siblings this person has. Remember, they are INFLUENTIAL, which means that they must have done something to shape the world you and I live in!!!

I will be showcasing the top few entries of each class on this blog.

The deadline for submission is the 17th January 2010.

Please follow the details below.

Instruction for Submission:

Step 1: After you finish your slide, save it and include your FULL NAME and CLASS

Step 2: Email it to me at theenvironmentalchallengeskss.gmail.com

Please check back at the end of the week for further instructions on TASK 2!!!

Enjoy the rest of your week in school!!!

Miss Lim

#002: And so it begins...

Dear students,

And so it beings, our first steps into The Environmental Challenge.

Our tagline: Who will you be?

Your first task for the year, is to watch the following videos I have embedded in this post. Starting with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IBG2V98IBY

I hate to give away the surprise, but it is important you watch this before lessons begin proper.

Enjoy!

Miss Lim

#001: Prelude to The Environmental Challenge

Introduction

I have spent a great deal of time thinking about how I can show you the world beyond our classroom. Fortunately, there is a world that exists to connect us even if we're not physically together. It is known as cyberspace. We're going to use this space as best we can, to continue conversations we can't in the classroom, to watch movies, videos and discuss important issues beyond the school. As we begin tearing down the walls of our narrow minds, I invite you venture out into a world with your eyes and ears open, and your hands and feet ready to take you places, and I promise you a world unlike anything you've seen.

Miss J. Lim