Thursday, May 6, 2010

Where We Come From -- EFA

Hey guys, here is the map that we made last week that shows our hometowns. Pretty cool, yeah?
I think so!

Click on all of the links on the left side to learn more about our cities. What kinds of cities are these? Keep in mind some of the vocabulary that we learned yesterday, such as coastal, mountain, port, etc. How would you categorize the city that you come from?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Chengdu

Chengdu is a big Plain In the west of China .It’s a capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu is a political Economical of central of Sichuan. Chengdu Plain covers total land area of 12,400 square kilometers, Chengdu has a jurisdiction of over 7 districts, 4 cities and 8 counties. By the end of 1999, the population of Chengdu had reached 10 million, Chengdu have a long history. About 2,500 years ago, Kaiming king of ancient (11th century 256BC) started to set up the capital in Chengdu. Chengdu gradually became one of the most important centers of politics, economy and culture in China.
Chengdu food is very popular in China. So Chengdu was also called the “Gourmet City”, Most of peoples of China like Chengdu food.
In the end, I want talk about Panda .This panda is not Restaurant “China Panda” . This is a animal. Chengdu is also the hometown of panda, you know, there are only about 1000 panda living in the world, all of them are in china, among them, 80% are in Chengdu.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Google Maps Directions

Hello everyone! So, for the past few days we have been learning about wonders of the world and exploring new cities. Remember how we listened to passages from the book about new cities and identified the defining and non-defining relative clauses? Well, today we are going to still be talking about cities, but ones that we know.

What do you think it would look like if we created a map that shows all the cities that we come from? Well, that's what we're going to do.

Today in the lab we are going to use our Google Accounts to explore Google Maps, a great tool for customizing and creating your own maps to show the world. You can make a map showing anything -- Restaurants in Bangkok, art exhibits in Tokyo or places to go hiking in Athens.

How to Create a New Map:

1. Go to Blogger.com and log into the account you use for the blog.
2. Click on "My Account" up at the top right corner, in light blue.
3. You should be at a white page that says Google Accounts.
4. Click on the link that says "My Maps".
5. Put this URL into the top of your browser.
6. Click the blue link that says "add to my maps".



How to Edit a New Location:

1. Make sure you are in the section called "My Maps." You should go to the map called English For All -- Where We Come From
2. Go to the button in the top right corner that says "Edit".
3. Search for a city in the bar across the top of the screen, and then hit the button that says "Search Maps."
4. When you find the location, on the left side, click the link that says "Save To" and then choose the English For All map.
5. Now, you should see the link to the location on the list. Click on the name of the city, and a new window will pop up. Make sure you select the link that says "Rich Text." Now you can add a description of the place as well as some pictures or a video.

Now, hit the button that says "Done" on the left side to save your work. You can do this every time you want to make a new place to map.



Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Feedback -- Please Comment

I just want to check up on our class to see how we are doing. If you have some time, please read these questions and reply in a comment. This will help us figure out what we need to work on.

Questions for Comment:

1. What is your favorite activity that we have done in EFA class so far? Why?

2. Which parts of the class do you find the hardest?

3. How do you feel about blogging so far? Are you having any technical problems? Feel free to ask any questions about trouble you are having with the blog.

Comments on First Blog Assignments

Well, I haven't looked at the blog for a few days, and I'm so happy to see that most of you have posted about natural & human wonders as well as your itineraries.

For those of you who did not post, do you need help? Feel free to leave a comment if you would like us to further explain something. We can help each other. Don't worry, this is a learning experience.

Overall this blog looks really great so far. Great job!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Nature and Man-made Wonders


Ayers Rock

Ayers Rock,in Central Australia, appreciated to be "the world's largest rock", rising 348 m (1,142 ft) over the desert plateau (its maximum height is of 863 m (2,831 ft)), with a circumference of 9.4 km (5.8 mi).







Komodo Island

One of the most famous places in Indonesia is the Komodo Island. It is one of the 28 New7Wonders of Nature finalists. In this

island we can

see The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), an endangered species, which can only be found in the Komodo National Park (KNP) in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Because of the unique and rare nature of this animal, its habitat – KNP - was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.



Delaware Tunnel

Delaware Aqueduct Tunnel is the world's longest continuous underground tunnel.The Delaware Aqueduct leaks up to 35 million gallons per day. 137 km (85 miles) long and 4.11 meters (13.5 ft) wide.







Malbork Castle (143,591 Square Metres)

Located in Poland, Malbork Castle is the world’s largest brick gothic castle. UNESCO listed the castle and its museum as World Heritage Sites in December 1997 as Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork.