Third Culture Kids

The link below leads to an interesting article about third culture kids. Please read the article and make some appropriate comments below.

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Brochure - International Youth Festival at GIS - Da Seul

Having done the writing activity on brochures, I think you all realise that it's probably the trickiest of the longer writing tasks. So probably best to avoid unless absolutely necessary. Da Seul used her design skills to do a good brochure/flyer. Click on the image below to see it. The original question is in the IB Companion Book, pg 387.

Speech - Technology exceeding humanity - Natasha

Hello! Good morning everyone. Nowadays, technology is becoming more advanced. It has been used both for good and for bad. Einstein has stated that “technology has exceeded our humanity”. I truly agree with the statement.

People are trying to use technology to do good; however, somehow it may be used in a wrong way. Firstly, technology is now replacing people; when compared to the past, fewer workers are needed;. Nowadays technology is doing everything for us. Am I right? Which leads to lack of jobs and this even makes people lazy. Some people might argue this because in other perspective it’s a benefit because when using technology in the workplace, work is done quicker and more efficiently. Secondly, technology is currently destroying our environment as cars have been developed; therefore, pollution from them is destroying the environment and our health. I understand that this makes our lives easier but looking from a different perspective it is also very harmful. The most obvious reason is that we are addicted to technology, addicted to mobile phones, social media and this leads to bad issues. Furthermore, this especially occurs in the case of teenagers, which can accordingly lead to the effect of having bad eyesight or even time management problems; people are too addicted to technology so they can’t leave it behind.

On the other hand, technology have helped us in certain ways. Technology can benefit us in educational situations as it is a very useful and effective tool to use. It helps us to gather information that we don’t know and even helps us to translate words. Technology is currently spreading out on a wider area. Not just in school, also in workplace and other areas.

Finally, I’m coming to the end of my speech.I am not saying to abandon technology or not to use them, but just for all of us to use it carefully and the right way. Don’t let technology control us. Thank you for your attention.

Speech - Technology exceeding humanity - Da Seul

(Original question - IB Companion Pg 71)

Technology, which the world is depending on. Technology, which has changed our lifestyles so much ever since we acknowledged its existence. Technology, which is now destroying us all by taking over our lives so that we are no longer able to continue without it, damaging the society and slowly drowning the term ‘humanity’ under metal pieces that could kill us all but yet also has the power to save us all.

Technology today has improved our lives a lot. We no loner keep horses as a method of transportation, no longer eat raw meat or go out hunting for bears with green leaves around our waists. We even live longer! As soon as technology stepped in, everything was suddenly manageable and achievable with the tiniest bits of effort. Technology was like a ray of light shining from a dark space.

However, that ray of light has turned into the monstrous fire which is now scattered around everywhere, demanding to destroy us all. We have created stoves and microwaves to create us food but at the same time we have created bombs, guns and cigarettes. We created cars to not only provide us transportation, but we created something much more - car accidents are the most common cause of human death today, not to even mention the amount of pollution it causes. We created a miracle called the internet - a miracle which could verbally kill people and put them through hundreds and thousands of people’s judgements. Cyber bullying and ‘freedom of speech’ is getting out of hand.

What happened to humanity? Why aren’t we all friendly neighbours anymore? Why are we all busy taking photographs and videos when someone is dying right in front of us out of car crash? Why are we murdering each other while hiding behind anonymity?

This is unacceptable. Extremely unacceptable.

Technology is going to end us all in miserable forms if we do not gain control over it and let it gain control over us. Soon we will all be facing the terrible result which is caused by what we created. Do not forget that we created the miracle to make our lives better, not worse.

Remember, comrades. Remember.

Personal Response - Discrimination - Egor

Hello everyone. Today, I would like to talk about racial discrimination, try to explain why it takes place in our world and provide some historical facts and evidence.

First of all, I will talk about racial discrimination. So why does racial discrimination happen? Let’s look back back to history to get some examples. During the late 30s when Hitler came to power, he blamed all Germany’s problems on Jewish people and German people believed him because they needed someone to blame for their own failures. This example shows us that people always try to find an easiest way out of the problems or just make it someone else’s problem.

Another example of racial discrimination is an organisation in the United States of America which is called National Knights of Ku Klux Klan, widely known as the KKK. Those people were lynching black people in the USA during the 60s just because they had different skin colour. Surprisingly, this organisation still exists today but it’s much less dangerous because now their ideology is that they just want to live separately from black people. This example shows that it is impossible to change people’s ways of thinking.

Overall, as I’ve said before, it is difficult to fight against racial discrimination but it is possible and it makes sense if we would think about what was happening a hundred years ago and how the world has changed over those years

I hope you’ve enjoyed my talk today.

Thank you for your attention.

Speech - Faces behind anonymity - Da Seul

“You’re so ugly, go kill yourself” - That’s not something you would like to hear from people around you, nor people in cyberspace that you have no idea who they are. The problem here is that most of you have had this kind of statement said directly towards you before and possibly have made this kind of statement to others while hiding behind anonymity. 

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…. the amount of social media has increased drastically that we can’t even list all of them without asking Google what they are. Why? Of course it’s because more and more people start suing them every single day and, most commonly, people like us - ‘Young and wild’ teenagers. Yes, we all want to show off our luxurious, cool lifestyles : Sneaking out at night to a party, drinking alcohol, smoking weed, driving motorbikes… Social media is truly the best way of showing others how awesome your life is, and the amount of likes and comments you get one those posts makes you feel popular. 

But how about stalkers? Perverts? Pedophiles? How about your future employer? Posting thus stuff online under your account is…. well, yeah - It’s your choice. But try being more considerate about what you post. You don’t want a random pedophile to come to find you at a bar after finding out your location from your check - in post on Facebook. You don’t want an unknown person to save your pictures and use them for whoever knows what. You could find a naked photo of yourself in your email account from an anonymous person, threatening to send it to your friends unless you give money or agree to have a sexual relationship. No, this shouldn’t happen to anyone. 

So you think you know this guy pretty well from Facebook? Feel like a celebrity whenever people share your post? Satisfied after checking into a nightclub at 2AM in the morning? Knock it off, it’s just pathetic. 

What do you even get by receiving likes on Social media? I’m not suggesting you to never post anything online. I’m suggesting you to make sure you share your ‘cool’ life only with people you want to share it with. That pervert who’s scrolling down your Facebook profile right now doesn’t need to be involved in your life. That anonymous comment saying ‘Fat as f***’ shouldn’t be there. 

Stop sharing every bit of your life with people you don’t know. Only accept friend requests from people you do know and change your settings so that only friends can view your profile. Just in case you are, stop leaving hateful comments behind anonymous accounts. Click ‘Report’ whenever a stalker or a pervert is detected. Easy, right? 

Sharing your life with others is good, but you do not need to share every bit of it with every single person in this world.

Personal Response - The need for advertisements

Many people are critical as to the enormous sums of money being spent on advertising, particularly those advertisements aimed at younger people. While there is no doubt that some advertising budgets are way over the top – for example, just look at some of the budgets of large companies like Coca Cola, McDonald's and Nestle – I believe that it is still important for advertisers to make people aware of their products.

There are a number of reasons for this. First of all, how can an advertiser attract new customers. Word-of-mouth might work in some cases; however, advertisements, be they print, on television or radio, or on the internet, are needed to reach potential new customers over a wider area. In addition, advertisements are needed to inform current customers of any improvements or additional services to their existing range of products. Without this, products will not be used to their full capacity. Furthermore, advertisers are always worried about losing market share to rivals. Well-delivered advertising campaigns can ensure that advertisers not only gain new customers but also keep their existing ones. Finally, like it or not, the advertising industry is a very important source of employment. Many people are employed in the area of market research, advertisement design and sales; without advertisements, many people would be without relatively well-paid jobs.

In conclusion, advertisers need advertisements to ensure that they attract new customers, keep existing ones and to keep their current sales and marketing employees in work. However, advertisers also need to justify how they spend each of their advertising dollars.

Personal Response - Stopping climate change and global warming

“There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we take strong action now.”

I personally agree with this statement very strongly, due to the fact that I am fully aware of the danger our world is facing and that something is needed to be done immediately before we all face the terrible result together.

The world is heating up. The North and South poles are melting, sea levels are getting higher, floods and earthquakes and god know what else are waiting to get us? And we are just going to give up on the Earth, saying that it is ‘too late’ to reverse what we’ve done to our once green and beautiful planet? If that’s what we’re going to say, we’re saying that we would stay lying on the ground after tripping over instead of getting up and being on our way. Because why get up and walk when you know you’re going to fall again at some point?

I'm afraid that we cannot reverse time, nor the damage we’ve done, but there are lots of things we can do other than sitting on our bums crying out ‘pointless!’ like little babies crying over their broken toys. We broke it, we’re responsible for it. Now let’s get up and start changing the world. One is the least number in the world, but hundreds and thousands and millions of ones can make a huge difference.

Da Seul, IB1

News Report - Solutions to Global Warming

Our planet is becoming increasingly affected by global warming, which is the gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans. While the earth has also been subject to fluctuating periods of hot and cold weather, current evidence strongly suggests that human activity is causing global warming and that if this activity persists, it will result in permanent, negative changes to the Earth’s climate. Scientists predict that the Earth’s temperature may rise anywhere between 2.5 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the question about what to do remains controversial.

One solution may be the use of geoengineering, also known as climate engineering. There are already a vast number of geoengineering projects, ranging in size from very small to enormous, taking place or planned all over the Earth. For example, researchers at Princeton University have suggested ‘stabilization wedges’ which will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a variety of sources using new technologies. While these wedges show promise, it may take some time for the underlying technologies to be successfully developed. ‘Carbon sequestration’ is another potential solution. In this process, carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels is captured and then stored underground. This is a relatively simple process as it involves using trees and plants to absorb, or ‘sequester’, the carbon naturally. However, it will involve increasing forest lands and making changes to the way we farm in order to increase the amount of carbon that we are storing. One leader in this type of geoengineering project is USAID, and they are actively promoting carbon sequestration in developing countries.

Even though geoengineering projects are becoming more widespread, there appears to be an apparent lack of understanding about them amongst non-scientists. A recent survey published in the Environmental Research Letters of the Institute indicated that the general public was uncertain as to what geoengineering actually involved; in fact, some respondents felt that the problem of global warming and climate change was being blown out of proportion. Therefore, there is a need for more public awareness of the problem and possible solutions to it. In 2011, the Washington-based Bipartisan published a major report calling countries to move forward on ‘climate remediation’. Without doing this, Professor John Shepherd, chair of the Royal Society’s Working of Geoengineering, believes that current GHG emission cuts and political will are not sufficient to stop global warming.

Personal Response - Are there solutions to climate change and global warming?

“There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we take strong action now.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we are being continually bombarded by news the negative consequences of climate change on the Earth. Some of these reports state that it is already too late to take action; however, like Sir Nicholas Stern, I believe that if we take strong action now, we can mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.

There are a number of possible solutions. First of all, it is vital that we significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, thereby allowing solar radiation to naturally enter and leave the atmosphere, leading to a cooler planet. Furthermore, we must greatly decrease the amount of waste, particularly plastics. The production of plastics also results in increased GHG emissions as well as taking thousands of years to bio-degrade. And where do we store all this rubbish? Moreover, rather than indiscriminately cutting down trees, which naturally store carbon in their roots and produce cleaner air, we need to encourage people to plant more trees to absorb harmful carbon deposits. But we must also protect the farmers and help them to farm using more environmentally-friendly techniques. Finally, while individually we have the power to help mitigate the worst effects of climate change, we need to persuade our governments, politicians and businessmen to consider climate change from a larger, global perspective.

To conclude my speech, I would like to say that we should not give up hope in the fight against global warming and climate change; however, we do need to work both individually and collectively to solve the problems. Thank you.

Cycle 14 - 11/01/17 to 19/01/17

Time	Place	Content
D3-P3	ELS2	IB Companion Pg 58-60
D4-P2	Library	Reading time HW - Finish IOC for D6
D6-P7	ELS2	IB Companion Pg 61-62 Reading time

Cycle 13 - 06/12/16 to 10/01/17

Time	Place	Content
D3-P3	ELS2	Exam 2nd drafts
D4-P2	Library	Reading
D6-P7	ELS2	IB Companion Pg 56-57