Today we are going to concentrate in our online module, Approaches to Learning, so we won't be doing a lot of work here.1. Olga didn't believe me when I said that in Australia water goes down the drain in the opposite direction to other countries in the northern hemisphere. When I read the newspaper on Friday, I found this in Column 8 (The Sydney Morning Herald (Friday 2nd September, 2005):
Jenny Rollo, of Putney, wants some advice on traffic rules. "I was watching the skaters at Macquarie icerink yesterday," she writes, "and it occurred to me that they always take a counter-clockwise route. What is the direction in other rinks, in Australia and the world? One would have thought that the natural direction here would be clockwise, because of our driving on the left-hand side of the road. Or does this have something to do with the direction of the water going down a drain according to the hemisphere you are in?"
Nevertheless, when I tried to look for further information, I found this quote in Earth Quest, a scientific site that seems to be reliable:There is a strong urban myth that water drains through plugholes in an anticlockwise/clockwise direction in the northern and southern hemisphere due to the Coriolis force. This is untrue, even when ‘demonstrated’ by tourist operators who step on either side of the equator with a pan of water. They’re simply using tricks of the hand and eye. Water drains from a sink in a pattern based on the shape of the sink and how the water starts moving.
You can also check the abc forum with Dr Carl, where he also dismisses the myth. This reminds us of the fact that it is important to distinguish between facts & opinion (or in this case urban myths). Be critical when you read or hear something!
Do you know any other urban myths? If you do, write about them in your blog. We can try and find out if they are facts or just popular belief...
After reading page 5, write down the advice the give you on some things you should or shouldn't do.
After completing page 6, write down in point form the extra pices of advice given..
3. Today we will do our weekly forum in our online module Approaches to Learning.
Labels: ESL, ESOL, multiculturalism, p2p, web 2.0
posted by rosa ochoa @ 4:17 PM
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