A New Level of Nerdyness

As the title suggests this blog will be about something "NERDY". Wrong this is about exams, I know, bleurghhh, EXAMS!!! Sorry I had to use an exciting(ish) title to draw you all in. I bet you're all thinking Nerds equals people like Game freaks or Computer know-it-alls or Geniuses (which I originally spelt with an O in it somewhere) about other electrical appliances that would probably confuse me if I tried to use them. Well, if you were thinking that then you would be partly right.

Nerd is a term that refers to a person who likes intellectual activities and/or pursues obscure interests, rather than engaging in more social or conventional activities. I refer to myself as a nerd as I would much rather learn stuff than go out and socialise.

Anyway on to exams, everyone has to take them at some point in their life, unless they are extremely lucky, whether they take them for educational purposes, to be able to drive legally, to achieve something in a sporting activity or dancing. This next statement will take me to the bottom of the school social status and maybe even to a new level of nerdyness but I will say it any way I like exams.

Yes, you read that right, I LIKE exams.

This is because exams test what I know (yes, friends, I know things) and if I can put that knowledge in to practise, without the teachers guidance. Also exams allow us to distinguish the gaps between knowledge of classmates and/or friendship groups. When I think of people that like exams, Hermoine, from Harry Potter always springs to mind. She is the one who always has to be right, get the best marks and know everything she can. I can relate to her, a lot.

The only thing I don't like about exams is the waiting for the results as I feel like I need to know who I have beaten or who has beaten me so I can try better the next time. Additionally I don't like the lead up to the exam, with all the teachers fussing and making us revise. My parents both make me revise at home when I have an exam, I don't need to revise in school as well I would much rather be learning more facts about that topic/subject.

Cross Country,WHY???????

There are two days in an academic year when PE teachers can be sadistic and force us to go outside in the cold and run. These two days are when we are ordered to take part in Cross- Country. Being year 11 students, we get taken out of school to run around the local countryside.

Firstly the teachers sat us down in the gym hall and told us where they wanted us to run. I was sitting with my group of friends and when I turned around they all had that expression of 'No way am I running that' I have to say I agreed with them. There was another of those moments, it was when the PE teachers told us we were to complete the track in less than 20 minutes and I'm glad to say I didn't make it with in that time and neither did any of my friends.

The running went without incident which for me is a very rare thing, but me and the two girls I was running with did nearly get run over by cars more than once. We had PE last lesson on a Friday so the route was really muddy from the previous runners and the rain from last night. Fortunately I had decided to change my plimsolls for some school trainers so my plimsolls didn't get muddy.

We have had the coldest weather this winter during these last few days and I stupidly thought that I would be alright in just my PE top and shorts, not a good idea. Luckily I was lent a jumper and found some football socks in my locker so I didn't get too cold.

This leads me to why do we have to do cross country in JANUARY (!!!) in the first weeks back from the Christmas holiday. We could at least wait a few weeks before we have to run or wait till it is warmer so we don't freeze. Also why TWO lessons of cross country? Do the PE teachers enjoy seeing us suffer? Isn't one lesson out in the cold enough? If we were doing a proper winter sport it would be alright, but just running (or walking) for 30 minutes is just stupid.

Some people like to run and do outdoor activities but within my friendship group, without offending any of them, we are not the most energetic, sporty or outdoorsy people, give us a book, canvas or music to listen to and we would complacently sit there without a care in the world so why should we have to take part in this atrocity called CROSS-COUNTRY!!!!!!

My Favourite Quote

Just remember beautiful pictures develop from the negatives in a dark room......... So if you see darkness in your life just be reassured that a beautiful picture is being prepared.

This is my favourite quote because whenever I'm unhappy or just sad, I read this quote and it reminds me there will be better times ahead no matter what. When it's time for exams and I'm getting stressed this helps me think that once all the exams are done I can relax and have a good time with my friends. So if you're in a dark place, sad, unhappy or stressed remember this quote and then maybe you won't feel as bad and be able to go on with out being held back by these things.

Climate Change - Rising CO2 Levels

It’s frequently in the news, Climate change. Droughts are happening in different parts of the world. Hurricanes, Typhoons, Cyclones, Floods and Wildfires are becoming more frequent and more dangerous. Is this due to the rising CO2 levels?

Did you know that the CO2 levels naturally rise and fall throughout the year?

During spring and summer time there is a low CO2 level as the leaves on trees are able to change the Carbon dioxide into oxygen but in autumn and winter when the leaves fall and die they release the Carbon in to the atmosphere which builds up the CO2 level resulting in a high CO2 level.
Everyone knows how the seasons work, the spring and summer are warmer as the northern hemisphere is closer to the sun and autumn and winter are colder due to the northern hemisphere being further away from the sun.

Rising and falling CO2 levels coincide with the way the earth is facing. The northern hemisphere has more land mass than the southern hemisphere resulting in more trees. More trees means less CO2 in the warmer months but more CO2 in the colder months. Although the southern hemisphere has some land mass, the majority of it is near to the equator which means there is less trees to convert the CO2 in the spring/summer resulting in a rise in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. There is a drop in CO2 when the northern hemisphere is closer to the sun as there are more trees to convert the gas and fewer trees to produce it (fallen leaves).

There have been at least five ice ages throughout the earth’s history and scientists have identified that before each one there was a low level of CO2 but after there was a high level as all the CO2 that was trapped in the ice was being released due to the ice melting. Scientist can record this by doing coring in the ice. They know about the correlation between the ice ages and CO2 levels as they can find out the concentration of carbon in the ice.

Due to our over-use of fossil fuel there has been a sharp increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. The high level of CO2 is three times the amount of previous highs and is predicted that it will be three times the size again by 2050 if we keep using the fossil fuels as we do.

When the sun’s rays come in contact with our atmosphere some of them bounce back in to space, some go through hit the earth and then bounce back into space and others hit the earth then the CO2 in the atmosphere then the earth again and so on. But as there CO2 levels are rising, the sun’s rays can’t escape so they bounce around the world resulting in an increase in temperature. This rise in temperature causes catastrophic disasters across the world and they will continue to get worse.

To slow this rising level of CO2 we could stop cutting down trees in rain forests, slow our use of fossil fuels down or get better alternatives.