Watch the Monarch Butterfly on Google Earth

This is a story about the migration of the eastern population of monarch butterflies in North America, and the people that help them out along the way.

From the mountain tops of Mexico the butterflies take a grand round trip all the way to Canada and back.

Many people get involved trying to make up for the loss of their natural habitat, the milkweed plant.

Words for good, nice and like

Have you ever been stuck for positive expressions in a conversation? Well, here is a list of words you will find useful.

Remember, that English expressions are very enthusiastic. In fact, you can't overdo. Positive statements help to reinforce the impression you make and validate you as a person. While you may be moderate about yourself, always use great expressions when describing other people or events.

Old cell phones and what happens to them

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Cell phones and other devices and gadgets are short-lived. Actually, they don't break but they are replaced by newer models with better operating systems.
But how valuable old gadgets really are, is something we learn from this Deutsche Welle video clip. The most valuable component is copper, a material that is needed for our industries. Some new companies have sprung up, collecting discarded gadgets and devices. Perhaps you have an old phone you can sell?
I'm posting the English and the German version side-by-side, so you can watch alternately and check out both.

get this vocabulary onto your phone

(Check your app store for 'QR' and you'll get a number of apps that can read this code)

Small talk

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'One hundred little Reasons' is the name of a two-man ukulele band. They love the old grammophone sound. Here they used the everyday small talk that people do when they meet, and made a song. It is a very good reminder of some nice lines to say when you meet a friend, a visitor or even a customer:
(The cardboard houses are the city, it seems)

Hello, come on in, take your coat off. Would you like a cup of tea? With milk and sugar? How have you been? I've been good. It's so nice to be here with you. You look so well. How long has it been since we met up? I don't know.

It feels like years since the old days. How's your lady, how's your little one? Are they all well? I can't believe that she's grown so big. Nor can I. Sorry to say that I must be going. We really must try to do this more often. Have you got my number? Send my love to everyone. Good bye.

In this link you'll find a document to print out that will give you ideas for doing small talk with people you have just met. 

It is, for example, quite normal to talk about your family or your hobbies. 

Hydrogen Powered Vehicle off the Assembly Line

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Today, Hyundai celebrates its first hydrogen powered vehicle produced on an assembly line.

Hyundai became the world’s first car manufacturer to begin assembly-line production of zero-emissions, hydrogen-powered vehicles for fleet use.

Copenhagen, Denmark and Skane, Sweden will run fleets of rental cars. After 2015, Hyundai hopes to expand its production to the private market, after the European Union has established a hydrogen road map and initiated construction of hydrogen fuelling stations.
Read more in this article.

The Isle of Wight, an island located on the southern shore of England, wants to be eco-sustainable by 2020, not only running their cars on hydrogen, but also lighting and heating their 60 000 homes. Recently they held the first ecoisland summit, for island communities checking out the feasibility of sustainable energy projects.

Check out the YouTube video below. (and note that the car they used was brought over from Germany.) Quentin Willson, the presenter in this video, is a British TV presenter and motoring expert, perhaps most widely known as a presenter of the motoring programmes 'Britain's Worst Driver, Fifth Gear', and the original version of 'Top Gear.'

About ITM, the Wikipedia says:

In July 2012, ITM Power, along with four other companies, was selected  to develop ways of using clean energy on transport systems. ITM's assigned project was to build an electrolysis based hydrogen refueller to be used as transport fuel on the Isle of Wight. The plan is to make the Isle of Wight carbon neutral, by having residents create fuel at their home. The company is part of the Ecoisland Partnership CIC.

assembly line - Fließband | fleet - Fuhrpark | run - betreiben | expand - ausdehnen | initiate - in die Wege leiten | sustainable - nachhaltig | shore - Küste | summit - Gipfel | feasibility - Umsetzbarkeit | assigned - zugewiesen 

Learn the vocabulary on your phone.
(Check your app store for any QR app and it will be able to read this code)

After discussion in class, I researched some more and put together the background information to this technology in a document. Read more here.
Enjoy, all ye techies, enjoy.

What to say when you don't know the answer

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Buying time -  is an English expression for gaining time in a difficult situation. Well, for a beginner even a simple request can be difficult enough to want to buy some time. Here is Shane Peterson, an English teacher in South Korea, giving you some hints.



WordPower:
gain - gewinnen | request - Frage, Bitte | hints - Tipps, HInweise 

Paul Nicklen meets a Leopard Seal

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Paul Nicklen was born in Saskatchewan Province but grew up in an Inuit community on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in marine biology and studied species such as lynx, grizzly bears, bison, caribou and polar bears. Since 1995, Nicklen has worked as a full time photojournalist specializing in the Arctic and Antarctica with an emphasis on wildlife and climate change.

WordPower:
threat display - Drohgebärde | disgusted - verächtlich | predator - Raubtier | vicious - bösartig | nurture - pflegen |

Paul Nicklen and the Leopard Seal » create tests