We are now into our fifth week of online learning and teaching. We are looking forward to the Matura Exams and are in full swing of preparing for them. This is a very special occasion and a milestone in our graduating students life. We are making all precautions to make sure that everyone can have a relaxed and safe environment to take the exams in the school.
We would like to invite you to keep sharing your online learning experiences, we would love to hear from you and also see some photos of our students which we can show on our Facebook page.
Hope you will enjoy reading our newsletter!
Until next week kind regards,
Ms. Gabriella Gidró Director
We invite you to follow us on Facebook and visit our website!
FEATURING - SUSTAINABILITY
For 50th years now the 22nd of April is the celebration of Earth Day. With this in mind we asked our students and teachers to create presentations which we would like to share with you. We love Earth and we would like it to be green and fruitful for many more generations to come so it is vital that we look after her. We are fortunate to have students who understand how important this is and they are the upcoming generation that care about the future of our blue planet.
We hope you enjoy reading these fascinating articles and take the information on board.
The Greenhouse Effect
Earth has the right composition of atmospheric gases to sustain life. It has the right balance between oxygen and nitrogen so that plants and animals can breathe, and just enough carbon dioxide and methane to keep the planet warm enough so that life can be sustained.
Water vapor, methane and carbon dioxide are gases which let through incoming visible light from the Sun. Infrared radiation is absorbed by the greenhouse gases and re-emitted in all directions. This increases the temperature of the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere, called the greenhouse effect.
Plants produce oxygen and re-circulate carbon dioxide on Earth. They believe that if life were to disappear from Earth, the atmosphere would become like Mars or Venus.
Since the industrial revolution humans have burned more fossil fuels than ever before. Human activities have resulted in the increase of carbon dioxide emissions over time. Carbon dioxide is therefore the main greenhouse gas.
Higher levels of CO2 means that the greenhouse effect will increase and temperatures on Earth will rise. If this continues over a long time, ice will melt, water levels will rise, coastlines will change, weather patterns will be influenced, crop production will be affected, and it could lead to the extinction of animal and plant species that are unable to adapt.
The simple experiment below proves the warming effect of CO2.
One of the bottles is filled with CO2 and the other with normal air. I put both to the sun. After an hour or so, I could see the difference of the temperatures. The temperature of the CO2 was higher by more than 5°C.
Natural disaster & how can we decrease the effect of them to save the earth
Natural disasters can be defined as significant adverse events resulting from the earth’s natural processes. They not only have dramatic effects on humans but they also destroy the habitat of many animals and plants which may lead to them become extinct. Based on research, natural disasters will become more common in the future, due to the global warming issue and since we will not be able to completely stop the occurrence of them, it is crucial for us, humankind, to be ready to deal with these adverse events.
This means that we have a few options to provide solutions for the natural disasters that may occur.
The first, and in my opinion the most important one, is to inform countries all over the world and share the newest findings and insights on how to protect people from the effects of natural disasters.
The second one goes hand-in-hand with the previous one. It is to educate people and help them understand how they contribute to natural disasters in their daily lives. For example, our consumption behavior leads to an increase in the speed of global warming which in turn leads to more disasters.
Technology is also an important part of the overall picture to deal with natural disasters. Although we will never be able to fully prevent all kinds of natural disasters, technology can help to lessen the adverse consequences of these events. For instance, improved warning systems can save many lives that would otherwise be lost due to natural disasters.
The next step we can take to decrease the effects of natural disasters is to make emergency plans on how to behave in case of catastrophes, have them prepared and improved by governments in the affected areas, such as Japan or Africa. Through these profound emergency plans, many people will be able to survive natural disasters. Governments have to make sure that these plans are up to date and also adjust them when they get new insights.
In conclusion, natural disasters are a great threat to humanity and we are likely contributing to an increase in these catastrophes through our behavior. Since we add to global warming through the emission of greenhouse gases, we also indirectly contribute to an increase in natural disasters. Unfortunately, we will not be able to fully stop the occurrences of natural disasters, however, we can all do a little something to at least prevent the damage that is caused by them. All countries should work together, everyone should pay attention to their consumption and damaging behaviors in order to ensure a livable future for future generations and save Our planet.
Gerda Szilágyi - 11N student
Water scarcity around the world
Introduction
Water scarcity is defined as the lack of freshwater resources to meet water demand. It affects every continent and was listed in 2019 as one of the largest global risks in terms of potential impact over the next decade. Even though water covers 70% of our planet, - which could make us think that it will always be plentiful - only 3% of the world’s water is considered fresh water, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use. Therefore, approximately 4 billion people out of the global population live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least 1 month of the year and half of the world's largest cities experience concrete water shortage.
There are several aspects and reasons regarding this matter, which we must take into consideration in order to gain a deeper insight into the complexity of its inevitable problems and to search for possible alternatives, if there are any.
The human population has successfully exploited many of the world’s natural waterways, such as building dams, water wells, vast irrigation systems and other structures that have allowed civilizations to develop and thrive. On the other hand, water systems are increasingly stressed, and some rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up, which drag numerous countries, such as the vast majority of Africa or some parts of South America into a quite vulnerable situation.
As also seen on the map above, water shortage can result from two fundamental mechanisms:
1.Physical WatPhysical and Economic Water Scarcityer Scarcity
Physical water scarcity results from inadequate natural water resources to supply a region's demand. About one-fifth of the world's population currently live in regions affected by physical water scarcity, where there are scanty water resources to meet a country's or regional demand.
2.Economic Water Scarcity
Economic water scarcity results from poor management of the sufficient available water resources. This includes a lack of infrastructure, leaving the people no other choice than to travel long distances to fetch water, which is often contaminated from rivers for domestic and agricultural uses. For instance, large parts of Africa suffer from economic water scarcity.
Possible Solutions by the World Wildlife Fund
When water supplies are limited and poorly managed, both ecosystems and people suffer. Efficient and effective water management is necessary. WWF works with partners to advance the science of water conservation. They also work with governments, businesses and local communities to ensure that there are sufficient in-stream flows for people and other freshwater species, and promote methods for sustainable water use.
1. Protection of Wetlands
There are more than 2,000 wetlands designated as Wetlands of International Importance, which means that the country where the wetland is located has committed itself to protecting the site from development, pollution, and drainage. About 75% of the sites added to the list since 1999 were included as a result of work by WWF.
2. Adaptation to Climate Change
WWF works to address institutional challenges to managing water resources and protecting habitats before the worst impacts of climate change occur. This work mainly includes promoting climate change adaptation in international conventions and supporting the preservation and restoration of wetlands.
Judit Nyalka - 11N student
Air an light pollution
Pollution I will talk about how it is affecting our everyday life and our precious Earth. Landfills, which is also a main problem for our everyday life, will be discussed as well. What are landfills: it is the process of getting rid of large amount of rubbish by burying it or it is a place where rubbish is stored. These seem to be necessary evils a plague upon humanity for which we have no treatment, immunization, and answers for. We can certainly do against it if we put in the effort. There are several ways for it, for example when shopping, bringing own bags. Bringing own containers should be a trend, when going to the marketplace, therefore we can eliminate the single usage packages. As well there are other options to help, for example by recycling, which is a really easy way for reducing trash. To stop air pollution, which creates lots of concerning health risks we as people must choose a cleaner commute, meaning share a ride to work or an even better idea is to use public transportation and bicycle or walking. Also try to avoid machines using gasoline powered equipment, rather prefer electronic. At last what is light pollution and what exactly can we do against it. First of let’s be clear about its meaning: light pollution is the excessive or inappropriate use of outdoor artificial light which is affecting human health, wildlife behavior and the ability to observe stars. An interesting stat about it is that 80% of the world’s population lives under sky glow and in the US and Europe 99% of the public cannot experience a natural light. The problem with light pollution is that we do not realize how much of a problem it is. Speaking of it, knowing the fact that much outdoor lighting used at night is very inefficient, overly bright and poorly targeted. The ways to solve it are: Obviously, only use when and where it is needed. Another possibility is to use motion detector lights and timers. By following some of these easy steps we can save the Earth together.
Levente Gottwald - 11N student
PRESCHOOL CORNER
After a long Easter break we eased our way back into school work with a short 3 day week of Dinosaurs. Ordinarily if we were back at school we would have visited the natural history museum or Budakeszi Dinó Park to see what dinosaurs looked like. That was not an option in our current circumstances so we thought of a way to bring the dinosaurs into all of our homes.
P3 became scientists for 3 days learning all about the daily life of dinosaurs and the letter Dd
P2 got their hands dirty and were paleontologists digging for dinosaur bones and discovering all the different features and behaviors of dinosaurs.
In English we learnt about the different types of dinosaurs, what they ate and ways to protect ourselves from a meat eating dinosaur like a T-Rex.
LITERATURE CORNER
One of the integral parts of all IB Literature courses is Works in Translation. This month we have had the pleasure of being introduced to a prolific Japanese author, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, and transported to uncharted territory in his novella “A Cat, A Man and Two Women”. The plot is simple: a fierce battle over who gets the cat in a less than amicable divorce.
Emily LeBlanc - IB teacher
Thanks to the 11IB English Lit students, Lily, the voiceless feline force of the story is finally given a voice:
Fukuko,
I couldn’t help but notice your apparent disapproval of me. And mackerels. I don’t understand you humans; how can you act so silly as the species on top of the food chain? In any case, that’s pretty much how long my interest in your stupidity lasted. Now onto more important matters. Please stop behaving so ridiculously during dinner. It really bothers my whole process, and I hate having to stop mid-meal to go outside into the garden, just to escape your irritating voice. Haven’t you ever heard of cats having a heightened sense of hearing? Well, imagine the most painfully annoying sound that you could possibly think of, and then multiply it by ten. That’s what I feel like every time I hear you screaming as I’m peacefully trying to eat the mackerels. I’m not asking for too much, am I? Let’s be reasonable Fukuko: you’re being hysterical over me eating tiny fish. Isn’t that the most absurd little thing to throw a fit over?
Your most humble cat,
Lily
Anna Zsofia Nagy - 11IB student
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A note to my beloved however forbidden owner Shozo
All these years I’ve sincerely loved you but what you did just made me sadder and sadder. Forever and ever you will stay my one and only owner but I can not love you anymore. I have found my real owner who resembles me, who is also hurt by you. And now it is time for me to stand next to her to teach you some lessons. It seems that all those paws and scratches were misunderstood by you. Or even my deep and sorrowful looks but what can I say, you are a human after all and you can not understand everything! My dear fellow and I have started a life and it is so much better than my life at your house which was filled cowardice of yours, but still, I miss you even though my pride will not let me get back to you again.
I just wanted to let you know that sand from that construction site is not gonna do. I’ve been trying to tell you for a while now but you don’t seem to care. I’m writing this so that maybe you will realize your mistake and make it up to me with a few mackerels. Where is the other guy? The one I’ve gotten used to, the one whose face I’ve been staring at for the past decade? He used to feed me real delicacies. But whatever, I have grown annoyed of him over so much time. The only thing I liked was the house. Never mind, I’m over that now. So where is my fish human?
Minka Nagy - 11IB student
Legutóbb azt kértem a 12.N tanulóitól, hogy értelmezzék újra, formálják saját képükre Dragomán György, „Nem éltél igazán, amíg…” kezdetű versét. Arra kértem őket, mutassák meg magukat, érzéseiket, gondolataikat, lelkük rejtett, titkos kis világát, engedjenek egy pillanatnyi betekintést abba, hogy számukra mik azok a sokszor apró, finom kis dolgok, melyek fontosak, mit jelent számukra az élet. Köszönöm nekik a három nagyon szép, nagyon őszinte verset, köszönöm, hogy megosztották velem gondolataikat, érzéseiket, s hogy ezt még publikálni is engedik. Boldog vagyok, hogy három ilyen végzős tanulóm van, s szerintem ha valaki elolvassa, amit írtak, nem tehet mást, mint hogy irigykedik. Minden tanár hálás lehet azért, ha diákjainak ilyen szép és friss a lelke, ha ilyen szabadon és őszintén gondolkodnak, éreznek és élnek. Nagy ajándék, hogy ilyen diákokkal dolgozhatom immáron lassan három éve.
(Vereckei Réka – magyartanár)
Dragomán György
Nem éltél igazán, amíg...
akit szerettél, vissza nem csókolt
nem köpködtél cseresznyemagokat sorozatban ki az ablakon
annyira nem sírtál egy könyvön, hogy nem is értetted, mi van veled
nem aludt el a kisfiad a karodban
nem nyertél megérzésre megtett tippre lóversenyen
nem mentél ki hajnalban mezítláb a kertbe
nem úsztál meztelenül a tengerben, éjszaka amikor azt se tudtad, hogy hol ér véget a víz, hol kezdődik az ég
nem raktál tüzet
nem láttál hullócsillagot
nem ittál frissen taposott mustot
nem ugrottál egy hajó fedélzetén lévő szaunából a jéghideg tóba
nem ettél osztrigát
nem melegített át egy pont rád illő tweed-zakó
nem ettél frissensült gesztenyét, nagy hidegben, séta közben egy olyan városban ahol soha nem jártál azelőtt
nem bukkant ki veled a felvonó a felhők fölé, a hegycsúcson, ahol a lenti taknyos rosszidő ellenére igenis ragyogott a nap
nem érezted az igazi friss vanília illatát
nem nézted végig az alkonyatot elejétől végig valahol, ahol izgalmas a kilátás
nem láttál táncost úgy mozogni, hogy ott helyben tudtad, ezt soha el nem felejted
nem tettél valakivel titokban jót, úgy, hogy aztán soha nem is mondtad el neki
nem tanultál meg valami olyat, amiről azt hitted, sose leszel rá képes
nem segítettél valakin, aki igazán fontos volt neked
egy könyv elolvasása után nem érezted, hogy lebegsz
nem sírtál rendesen
nem ugrottál le egy szikláról felhevült testtel, egyenesen a tengerbe
nem vágtáztál szőrén és nem érezted a szabadság ízét
nem gördeszkáztál mezítláb
nem piknikeztél a lenyugvó nap társaságában
nem álltál vízesés alatt egy számodra teljesen idegen városban
nem bíztad magad a helyiekre
s adtad át magad az élménynek
a halál képzete megrémiszt
nem úsztál meztelenül egy olyan forró nyári éjjelen, amikor még az orrodig sem
láttál el
okoztál örömöt másnak
valóra nem váltottad egy álmod, mely kivitelezhetetlennek tűnt
nem vitorláztál
nem voltál olyan magasan, hogy érezted a torkodba a szíved, szédültél és
levegőt is alig kaptál
nem érezted, hogy őrülten élsz
OUR SEK / IES PEERS AROUND THE WORLD
Far from being an impediment
It has been around 4 weeks since SEK Chile closed its doors in order to face this health crisis. Weeks which, for most of us, have been a difficult period of adaptation in which the spaces of emotional containment and learning are more important than ever. This is why as a Scout Group (Meli Witran Mapu) of SEK Chile, in April, we started our activities together with our beneficiaries, mainly, through the Zoom platform. We hope to enjoy and make the most of every virtual meeting and that the fact of not being able to go out of our homes is not an impediment to continue developing leadership, personal growth, and teamwork.
Cristóbal Montero
Head of Meli Witran Mapu Scout Group
Colegio Internacional SEK Chile SANTIAGO DE CHILE
From the ICT Desk
Mr. Risjardt van Vliet, our Head of IT at Helderberg International School has this to share with you.
"Ever hear of a tardigrade?" Asks the Teacher. "No." Promptly answers the student. "Well, they are micro-animals that can live up to 10 days in the vacuum of space." Says the Teacher. Eyes widened, the student answers: "That's unreal!"
Much like the scenario above, will be the reactions of future generations when informing them of the predicament, we as humans, found ourselves in in the year 2020. We will teach them that even in an age of unprecedented technological advancements, much of the world as we know it can come to a standstill in adherence to the force we call, mother nature. We find ourselves humbled by the remarkable power that she possesses, forced to bend the knee and put a lockdown on our modern capitalistic world.
With this being said, we as teachers have two options:
First option: We admit defeat, sit back and wait for it all to blow over.
Second option: We marginally bend the knee by remaining indoors and adhering to lockdown protocols, yet continue to deliver what is expected of us as teachers.
Which option do we choose, you ask?
The second. And so we will choose over and over, again and again ad infinitum as we are duty bound to provide education to our students with the best of our abilities.
Technology we will master.
In the face of an adversary (albeit biological), we will prevail.
And all this will be done with a humble dose of bravado.
Due to the simple fact that we, as teachers, as a team, will overcome whatever obstacle is put in front of us and ensure quality education for our students.
Helderberg International School SOUTH AFRICA
Contact
SEK Budapest International School
1021 Budapest, Hűvösvölgyi út 131.
phone: +36 1 394 29 68
