2013/04/21

S: Sport and Science

*1. Sport

"Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all."


Australians are a nation of active people and they like to joke that they spend more on excercising than on education, but it doesn't mean that they are going to worship their sportsmen and sportswomen blindly. They always retain a healthy dose of irony and humour.

Asked about cricket, they would say something like that:

Cricket is a game that moves about as fast as a Jamaican on valium. It involves watching 11 men in white clothes stand around a field for a few hours, then break to have lunch, stand around, then break again to have a cup of tea, stand around, then go home. The same thing occurs for another 4 days, and then after all that effort, both teams call the whole thing a draw...

Remember, "Australian sport deserves quality piss taking or none at all." So true ;-)


Australians pride themselves on inventing football. That's correct. Football. (see the link under science). However "footy" may mean different games in different states. More on that here.

Some of you know already that I'm hopelessly in love with AFL





Talking about sport, we can't possibly forget about Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.















Sydney was the second Olympic Games organized by Aussies. The first one was in Melbourne in 1956.

That date also marks Aussies' love affair with swimming.

Still, whether you are a professional athlete or an amateur, the main point is to be able to have fun.

Have a listen to this commentary. Pay attention to how Polish audience react to Aussies scoring goals, and how the Australian commentators react to the goal scored by Poland (first two minutes). A bit eye-opening, eh?




2. Science and the inventive Australian mind.

Have a look at the long list of Aussie inventions.

Here is the history of one of them:



*

2013/04/20

Open Days

We have created two groups on Facebook, please join in.

DANGEROUS ANIMALS - this way.

DOT PAINTING - here.

Artists, please join both groups.

2013/04/15

Who's doing what



Please use the comments to let me know what you need in terms of statinery/equipment, and how the Artists can assist you.

GROUP A (Dot Painting):
1. Asia Młynarczyk
2. Paulina Bałuszyńska
3. Edyta Bodziony
4. Magda Waligóra
5. Małgosia Miśkowiec
6. Natalia Pych (cooking corner)
7. Anna Sędzik (cooking corner)

GROUP B (Animals):
1. Sylwia Kurkowska
2. Bartek Figiel
3. Ania Hajduga
4. Ania Moskała
5. Kamil Dunajewski
6. Natalia Owsianka
7. Karolina Kmak

GROUP C (Artists):
1. Paulina Mróz
2. Tomek Góra
3. Ewa Wiśniowska
4. Partycja Baran

For all the teachers here, a very interesting insight into First Nations' education - SEVEN SACRED TEACHINGS (opens as PDF).

I talked to Ms Stanisz today. She says there will be the standard Food Corner, as usual, but students who prepare presentations on Ireland will have their own mini "food table" in the classroom, so we can do the same and have our "cooking corner" separately.

2013/04/14

Battle Plan

As you remember (hopefully ;) ) tomorrow we take a break from our regular classes to plan the Open Days.

Please make sure that everybody is present because we will have to assign each of you a certain role to play, and I want to make sure we all know what to do in the coming week.

See ya in class :)

2013/04/09

Jandamarra - the doco

Promised links to the documentary about Jandamarra.





Also please add your name to the lists below (comments section):

A: ROOM 209 - DOT PAINTING (I need 8 people)

B: ROOM 210 - ANIMALS (Bartek + 4 + another 4?)

C: HELPERS - (arranging tables, making posters, putting stuff on walls, assisting other groups etc.)

2013/04/07

R: Jandamarra's Rebellion, Rocks & Rivers, Radio and Religion


Tomorrow I'd like to tell you the story of Jandamarra - a brave Bunuba warrior who stopped the whites in the Kimberley region. We'll most probably begin with Rocks and Rivers to get the background on geography and then I will take the stage to talk about the rebellion. If we have time we'll try to cover the remaining "R" topics:

1. Radio

We have already seen what the wireless was like at the beginning of 20th century, with its aspiration to become the "new BBC". Follow the link above to learn more.









I'm not that much interested in names, dates and details. Instead concentrate on the impact that radio has had on the community in a country where many citizens live in very remote areas.

2. Religion

3. The Rabbit Proof Fence (the history of introducing new species: sheep and rabbits)

4. rocks and mountains

5. rivers (Murray-Darling)

2013/03/24

P (part 2) & Q: Politics, Poetry & Queensland

We still have a couple "P" topics to finish, so be prepared to talk about POLITICAL SYSTEM, please.

1. poetry (I'll cover this one myself, no worries)

2. political system






















Our new topics will include:

3. The Queen of England (so as you see we are still staying in the realm of governing the country and the division of power)

***And a little tongue-in-cheek reason why Australians still love "their" Royal: Queen volunteered for James Bond skit at Olympics

*** PREFERENTIAL VOTING SYSTEM explained

and

4. Queensland
Have a look at this video. This is just the first random result I got from YouTube, I wasn't searching for it intentionally. And still it just makes you want to pack your things right away and head there ;-)



Queensland is sometimes referred to as the most beautiful state in Australia. And yet they feel the need to address advertisements to prospective tourists. In 2009 they launched the "Best Job in the World" action. Find out what it was all about.

Ben Southall wins the job:




We will also spend some time talking about Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise.

Get some ideas from this video :-)