mercredi 9 décembre 2009

Feeding the World

"We can see a box which is filled with a lot of tomatoes. On the box, we notice a sticker with the expiry date on it : 2037. According to the cartoonist, when these tomatoes will be eaten, they will become "wild" and so dangerous for our health. He makes us understand that we eat genetically modified products while we don't know the consequences." (Alice, Valentine).
"To my mind, the aim of the cartoon is to show us that we have to be careful with G.M.O.s because even if they have longer life, they may have a dangerous impact on the environnment." (Manon, Chloé).

"We can make out some strange animals which are genetically modified. Indeed, there are flying pigs, chickens with six wings, cows with a giraffe neck, round shaped sheeps with antlers, fishes which are walking and also an enormous turkey cock. Scientists have modified all the animals as chimeras" (Manon, Laura, Mathieu).
"The author wants to explain us that it's dangerous to put the nature in jeopardy because today we feed animals with G.M.O.s but we don't know the consequences for our health since we eat them." (Chloé, Manon).

"In this advert, we can see a boy with blood on his cheek. This genetically modified apple has bitten the boy. The "frankenfood" apple poisoned him back." (Olivier, Kelly)
"In this cartoon, there is a boy who laughs and winks. He handles an apple which also laughs. It's a genetically modified apple created by Monsanto, the biggest producer of G.M.O.s." (Samuel, Marine)

"On the drawing, there are two men. The first one looks sad and the second one is angry. There are three vegetables which seem proud of themselves and smarter than the scientists who have taken the genetic engineering too far." (Lesly, Emily)

"We can guess that there is a butcher according to his apron. It's written "Meat indutry" on it. He says that it's an outbreak of "smart cow disease", a play upon word with "mad cow disease." The cows demonstrate for organic food behind a gate. They want that people become vegetarian so they won't eat them." (Albane, Vicky).
"We can see several cows which are on strike. They are asking us to eat less beef and not feed them with genetically modified cereals." (Christopher, Quentin).
"If people eat organic beef, the meat industry will file for bankruptcy." (Mathilde, Emeline).

"The document is a cartoon made of four pictures. In the top left corner, we can see a herd of cows. In the top right corner, we can notice a lot of fishes. In the bottom left corner, there is a chicken flock. In the bottom right corner, we can make out vegetarians." (Julie, Lien)
"They became vegetarians because they were afraid of being ill or as toxic as salmons" (Brenda, Johnny)

lundi 23 novembre 2009

The Yes Men

The Yes Men are activists who pose as top executives of global companies in order to organise fake press conferences or television interviews.

Capitalism : a Love Story

In 1989, Michael Moore directed a documentary (Roger & Me) about the closure of General Motors' plant at Flint, Michigan that caused the lay-offs of 30 000 workers. Twenty years after, he asks : "What's the price that America pays for its love for Capitalism ?".

dimanche 8 novembre 2009

EUROSCOLA 2010

25 "European" students from Lycée Racan will be involved in the EUROSCOLA project next January in Strasbourg. More information (in french) below (click to enlarge pictures) :

jeudi 5 novembre 2009

Marbles reunited ?

"It's important to see the Elgin Marbles among other world-wide achievements displayed at the British Museum." (Valentine)

"The Elgin Marbles won't return to Athens because there are many tourists visiting the British Museum so they can learn greek history there." (Brenda)

"To my mind, the Elgin Marbles must stay in London because the British Museum is free and it's more convenient and cheaper for French people to go there." (Megan)

"I'm torn. The British Museum is still an attractive museum but the new Acropolis Museum could be the perfect place for the Marbles." (Manon)



"The fragments of the Elgin Marbles should return to Greece." (Alice)

"Greeks would like to reunite the Elgin Marbles in their new Acropolis Museum. Nowadays, Athens is a modern city with a new subway system or pedestrian zones. It's an attractive city for tourists." (Samuel)

"The Elgin Marbles are a part of the world cultural heritage and the greek history." (Julie)

"In my opinion, the Elgin Marbles must return to Greece because I think it will be more interesting to visit the new Acropolis Museum." (Derya)


samedi 31 octobre 2009

Brazil : a new eldorado...

..... of Genetically Modified Crops ?

lundi 26 octobre 2009

Global Companies

How do they connect some of the world's poorest countries
with some of the wealthiest ?


Globalisation

Three different articles which deal with globalisation (chosen by the students) :

Cadbury fights Kraft takeover (Harold)

American dramas steal the show (Camille)

World divided on globalisation (Simon)

mercredi 7 octobre 2009

Newspapers

You want to find information about Globalisation
or about the Lisbon Treaty ?

Some interesting links below :

The Daily Telegraph (the highest selling British paper)

The Times (daily national newspaper published in the U.K.)

The Guardian (British daily newspaper)

The B.B.C. (British Broadcasting Corporation)

The Economist (weekly newsmagazine)

Reuters (UK-based news service)

The Christian Science Monitor (international daily newspaper and not a religious one)

Newsweek (American weekly newsmagazine)

Time (American weekly newsmagazine)

Seconde : Elgin Marbles

The Elgin Marbles is a popular term that may refer to the collection of stone objects acquired by Lord Elgin during his time as ambassador to the Ottoman Court of the Sultan of Istanbul. The collection includes sculptures from the Parthenon. You can explore all the scenes here.

The following photos were taken in the British Museum.


Horsemen

Sacrificial Animals

The Peplos

samedi 3 octobre 2009

Première : The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood

The Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of painters, poets and critics founded in 1848.
They rejected the conventions of industrialized England.
Millais painted Christ in the House of his Parents in 1850. It is a realistic portrayal of a working class Holy Family labouring in a carpentry workshop.
The Arts and Crafts movement urged a return to craftsmanship too.

Terminale : Cuban Missile Crisis



You can find a timeline of the Crisis here

Seconde : International Migrations

Hatier 2005

dimanche 20 septembre 2009

Seconde : GINI Coefficient

The GINI coefficient is used to indicate income inequality in a society.

Terminale : Truman Doctrine

You can watch below an extract of Truman's speech before a joint session of Congress, March 12, 1947.

Première : Ellis Island

Golden Door is an Italian movie that shows the arrival of European migrants in New York. They have to pass the examinations to be admitted to the United States.
What were their expectations ?
What was their first feeling about the host country ?

Première : Art and Industry

How did Turner represent industrialisation ?

Première : There Will Be Blood

This movie is a masterpiece to learn about the improvement of oil extraction and the rise of a self made-man.
www.imdb.com

Seconde : Crossing the Border

"Enayat and Jamal are Afghan refugees who live in a camp in Peshawar and try to escape to Great Britain with the help of people smugglers. Their dangerous journey leads them along the "silk road" through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey towards London."

Seconde : Worldometers.info

World statistics updated in real time here.
What are the items which increase most ?
Do these numbers reveal inequalities ?

Seconde : Incivilities ?

These photos were taken in London (Elephant and Castle) last summer. Art or incivility ?
I need your opinion.

Seconde : Twitter and the Iran Revolution

" Share and discover what's happening right now, anywhere in the world." We can read this sentence on Twitter. Even if the most frequent tweet is "I'm eating a sandwich", people can share information across the globe thanks to this micro-blogging service.
Take a look at the following picture which is an extract from Persepolis 2.0. The authors of this graphic novel found inspiration in the work of Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) to speak about the events which happened after the presidential election in Iran last June.