Hi Everyone in C.I. class!
I was so happy to see everyone on our first class night last Thursday!
Last Thursday we practiced "brainstorming," so you'll be able to think up lots of exciting directions and ideas for your presentations. Starting from any broad theme, you can use brainstorming to find specific ideas for topics you might want to talk about.
I enjoyed the small groups' introductions of 8 regions of the world: Australia & Oceania, Europe, Antarctica, South America, North America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. :)
This semester, we'll take a tour of the earth, concentrating on the various regions in turn.
Please feel free to tell us something you already know about these places, or to research and learn something to share with us!
By organizing our class topics by region, I'm hoping that each of you will be able to find something to present that interests you!
Whatever interests you: science or history or literature or animals or ecology or current events or food or travel or politics or anything at all!.., I think you'll be able to find something that interests you to share with us for each region.
Our first stop will be Australia and Oceania, and we'll concentrate on this area for our next two classes. Some people just use the name Oceania to refer to this entire area.
Oceania is a fascinating region made up of one big "island" (and continent!), Australia, and many small islands. The region stretches from Hawaii in the northeast to Easter Island in the southeast, and from Palau and the Mariana Islands in the northwest to Australia in the southwest.
A useful introduction to this region can be found here:
History of Oceania (this page shows a map of cultures as well as some interesting geology!) http://www.essential-humanities.net/world-history/history-of-oceania/#.Uix4dMakzwg
Here's a map of Oceania which you can enlarge if you like:
And here's a list of world heritage sites in Oceania:
So on 9/12, please share something you know or have learned about some aspect of Australia/Oceania.
Presentations can be as short as one minute to as long as twelve minutes!
You can write on the board! Or tell us a story! Or share a recent news article with us! Or read us a poem! Or show us photos! Please feel free to present in whatever way you feel comfortable!
This time I'll just send you the above few general links to get you started thinking about Oceania, and I hope you'll brainstorm to find the topic that's just right for you to present.
If you'd still like more information about Oceania, read on below:
One site at
http://geography.about.com/od/lists/a/officiallist.htm
divides the region into 15 countries.
But some sites show Oceania as a much larger region.
The region of Oceania does contain a lot of islands which aren't actually countries; please consider the below list from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/world-regions/#/11/Oceania :
(I've used bold type for the countries also listed on the geography.com list of 15 Oceania countries):
Oceania
ENCOMPASSES PRESENT-DAY Australia, the Commonwealth of the northern Marianas, the Cook Islands, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawai'i, Independent Samoa, Indonesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Niue, Papua (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Republic of Belau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tokelau, Tonga, the Torres Strait Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam, and possessions, territories, and colonies of Chile, France, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the United States, Wallis and Futuna
I wonder how many of you will notice an interesting addition to the above list! :D
I can't wait to see you all again on Thursday, 9/12, for a discussion of Oceania (including Australia!).
Please write me if you've got any questions whatsoever!!
And please let me know what presentations you're planning to give in advance, by email at this address, or by phone to 09 63 663 900. Thanks a lot!
Sincerely, Abbie
PS Have you ever heard of Jellyfish Lake!?
There may be many surprises in store for us as we make our way to Oceania on 9/12! See you then!
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