THE EVOLUTION OF THE EYE

UPDATED WITH MORE LINKS!!!!
The WCS entry for the Geological Society Regional Schools' competition is entitled 

'The evolution of the eye in the fossil record'

A website with links: http://darwiniana.org/eyes.htm#Dawkins
Excellent website, thanks Doug:  http://waxingapocalyptic.com/2010/09/30/the-evolution-of-the-eye/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEKyqIJkuDQ (Old school!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS6Q-HaFCCc (Bang Goes the theory, v good!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00b9y4q (Bang goes the theory Compund Eye)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQnMWyZ-nzA (Christmas lecture, 1987)

DEATH OF THE DINOSAURS

KT Boundary at Gubbio

http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_ward_on_mass_extinctions.html

http://www.amnh.org/explore/science-topics/birds-are-dinosaurs

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/shortfilms/index.html

(Link to video: The Day the Mesozoic Died we watched it the lesson)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi06_mfXja4

(BBC Horizon Crater of Death, what caused the death of the dinosaurs?)

EARTH SCIENCE GUY RESOURCES

http://formontana.net/blog.html

A useful link to video resources. There are also other SciShow videos on YouTube. See Earth Science Guy blog in the right hand panel.

WONDERS OF LIFE

Wonders of Life is described by Professor Brian Cox as “a physicist’s take” on 

natural history and the story of life.

It will, like Cox's previous series, feature spectacular locations from around

the globe and Brian's luxuriant hair. It is a 5 part series I think.

Sunday 27th January BBC2 9.00pm

PTB MASS EXTINCTION

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngt1N7Ftvaw (from Baldrick 'Catastrophe' series')

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wn62AjIpWMw (BBC Horizon)

248 million years ago, 95% of life on Earth became extinct. 

Y13 Geology: please watch the two programmes on the  Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction.

You should have a worksheet which accompanies the BBC programme. Please make notes from p272 to go with it. Make sure you have a definition of a 'Mass Extinction'.

GEOLOGY VIDEOS

Lots of geology videos available in one location (BBC, Discovery channel, Iain, David & others etc)


http://www.infocobuild.com/education/learn-through-videos/earth-science/earth-science-index.html

You tube is pretty good though!

BATH GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY: HIMALAYA

Unravelling the mysteries on the Eastern Himalaya

Thursday 7th Feb
Depart at 1740 (+Schwartz Burger)
Depart at 1820 (- Schwartz Burger)
Return at 2130

Catherine Mottram, Department of Environment, Earth and Ecosystems, The Open University

The collision of India and Asia, which began around 50 Ma, resulted in the formation of some of the largest and most dramatic mountains in the world: the Himalayas. Geologists have long been drawn to the soaring heights of these mountains, in order to understand the processes of continental collision and mountain building. There are several structures in the Himalayas which have been fundamental in facilitating the deformation caused by the collision of the two continents. The Main Central Thrust (MCT) is one of these key tectonic structures which spans over 2500 km along the length of these majestic mountains.

Sign up next week if you are interested.

EARTH FROM SPACE

One of the very best ways to understand the changes taking place on Planet Earth is to make observations from space.

And to get a true sense of any trends, you really need those measurements to be long-term and unceasing.

Preferably, you use the same type of instrument to make the observations, and when, inevitably, you're required to replace aging equipment, you do so in such a way that the new system can be cross-calibrated with the old.

Few Earth observation programmes get as close to this gold standard as Landsat, the cooperative space mission run by US space agency (Nasa) and the US Geological Survey.

To read more & see more images click here: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21063401

MARS CURIOSITY ROVER TO START DRILLING

The Mars rover Curiosity is preparing to drill into a flat rock outcrop that is expected to yield fresh insight into the red planet's history.

The highly anticipated drilling has been billed as the most complex engineering task since the acrobatic landing inside a Martian crater last summer. Curiosity is on a quest to determine whether environmental conditions could have been favourable for microbes.

By boring into a rock and transferring the powder to the rover's onboard chemistry lab and other instruments, scientists should get a better handle on the region's mineral and chemical makeup.

Massive gold nugget

Australian amateur prospector finds massive gold nugget

The unidentified man, using a handheld metal detector, found the nugget on Wednesday, lying 60cm underground near the town of Ballarat.An amateur prospector in the Australian state of Victoria has astonished experts by unearthing a gold nugget weighing 5.5kg (177 ounces). Its value has been estimated at more than  £197,000.

Have a look at the video of the Y-shaped nugget on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cMTDgIKnwQ

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21055206

BBC RADIO GEOLOGY PROGRAMMES

There are some excellent geology programmes on Radio 4 from time to time.

• Material World 
• In our Time 
• Costing the Earth
• The Infinite Monkey Cage

Some can be found if you follow this 'listen again link' or can be found as podcasts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/programmes/topics/geology

ROCK TYPES AT GREAT HEIGHTS (BBC TV)

I missed this TV programme, but it is available for the next 7 days on iplayer.

Geologist and keen climber Dr Tom Challands challenges three pairs of young people each to climb a different rock face and see just what can be revealed from this unique vantage point, on the rock face rather than observing from the ground.

The climbs in Snowdonia and the Peak District are not only technically demanding but throw up different field study challenges for the teams to solve. The programme looks at volcanic activity, glaciation, how human activity shapes a landscape and formations created as a result of massive river deltas. Aimed at GCSE key stage 4 geography, geology and earth science students.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mx7h9

Interactive Plate Tectonics Animations and Maps

Have a look at the 'Earth Science Guy' blog (see panel on right) for excellent Tectonic animations and maps.

BE A LYNX SPACEMAN COMPETITION

https://www.lynxapollo.com/en_GB/

Lynx are offering the opportunity to go into space and to meet Buzz Aldrin. It is in the Daily Mail!
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2259776/Outer-space-Lynx-launches-competition-WIN-trip-galaxies-new--little-help-Buzz-Aldrin.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Thanks to Kim for sending the links/lynx.

MARTIAN GEOLOGY

Your help is needed to understand the geology of Mars. If you have been watching Stargazing Live on BBC2 (iplayer) you will know about this. 

Have a look at the Stargazing website http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019h4g8,
and go to Planet4.org website and follow their instructions to do REAL RESEARCH on the Red Planet.http://planetfour.org/

GEOLOGY GEOKES 2: CARTOONS

IT'S SNOW JOKE!

http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/
The phrase 'Sudden Stratospheric Warming' event is worth googling, particularly at the moment. A change in the Arctic upper atmosphere may mean that we are in for a cold snap. The Met office blog is worth a visit. This has been discussed on the internet for a while, but it seems as though it might be about to happen, however there is still some uncertainty!