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Showing posts from April, 2013

Mission:Explore Summer Camp

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At Mission:Explore, we're planning a range of activities through the summer, and the webpage for our SUMMER CAMP has just gone live. The Mission:Explore online Summer Camp is going to be 100 days of warped adventures, wild activities and daring challenges. Join the Summer Camp community and from June 1st you will be sent daily missions to explore the great outdoors, no matter where in the world you are. Carefully crafted by our camp challengers, you will be sent missions to attempt by National Geographic, National Parks, the RSPB, Scouts, John Muir and other exploration experts. Complete the daring missions outdoors and you will develop your expertise in Mission:Exploring and discover new things about yourself and the world around you. You'll have some random fun and be able to pick up some rewards too. Visit the page, and see our awesome countdown clock, and check out the Summer Camp challengers that have been confirmed so far... It's going to be a summe

New Google Earth sea and atmosphere options...

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I was excited to read about a few new features which have been added to Google Earth 7.1 You need to download / update your version of Google Earth to the latest one first. You will then be able to do several things: 1. Add, or view the SUN - use the SUN icon on the top toolbar, or go to VIEW and tick SUN 2. While you're on the VIEW bar, put a tick next to WATER SURFACE 3. Go to OPTIONS (or view Preferences if you're on a Mac) and tick the new option: PHOTOREALISTIC ATMOSPHERE RENDERING. This is a BETA option and may not work perfectly for you.... You can now bring the sun down over the water, and with a little tinkering can bring it so that it sets over the water... Here's a quick go I just had: the sun setting over Loch Slapin, with the Cuillins of the Isle of Skye in the distance... What can you come up with ? Here's the Google Earth blog post where I read about the technique first...

Live near an ocean ?

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Do you live near a sea or ocean ?  This is your chance to be part of an exhibition to take place in 2014 Instructions and details here. Thanks to Derek Robertson for the tipoff...

GA Silver Award

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Thanks to Jamie from Digital Explorer for forwarding the certificate for the Frozen Oceans pack , which won a Silver Award at the recent GA Conference, presented by Dame Ellen MacArthur. If you'd like to download a copy of the resources from the Digital Explorer go HERE - you'll need to register (for free) first... Check out the other excellent resources, including others I've written such as the Sustainable Fishing pack. Thanks to Jamie for involving me in the project... If you'd like to work with me on a project, please get in touch :)

John Muir Trust missions

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I mentioned this last week, and our latest booklet with John Muir Trust is now available. Thanks to Juliet Robertson for providing more information here. A partnership between the John Muir Trust and Mission:Explore, a group of teachers, artists, activists and adventurers, has created  Mission:Explore - John Muir , a free e-book featuring 20 activities that reflect the adventures and ethos of the Victorian Scot. It's just great for any class project on John Muir and brings alive his character and personality. Supported by Scottish Natural Heritage, it encourages individuals, groups and families of all ages to look, feel, walk, explore, draw, think and even dance in wild nature wherever they find it. Watch how a frog swims, get windswept, create a mini-National Park, and stare at the stars. Missions are illustrated by Tom Morgan Jones and populated with Muir quotes. It ties in perfectly with Year of Natural Scotland 2013 and the theme of celebrating John Muir. There’s

Dan Raven Ellison's TEDx Talk

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Dan Raven Ellison , my friend and Geography Collective / Mission:Explore / Explorer HQ colleague was in Switzerland last month doing a TEDx talk on the theme of exploring... This is well worth watching... Several ideas to use straight away.... particularly the idea of 'polar exploration'.

GA Conference 2013

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Over on the Living Geography blog are what will eventually be 18 posts summing up the experience from my perspective. This was an excellent conference, and I am already looking forward to next year. Image copyright: Bryan Ledgard / The Geographical Association - all rights reserved - used with permission

Augusta - a sense of PLACE

We are coming up to one of my favourite sporting events of the year, the Masters Golf at Augusta. What makes this a very special event is the venue itself... and the way that it comes across on the TV for someone who has never visited... it's the sense of PLACE that is embodied by the sounds of the birds, the scent of the flowering plants, the manicured fairways and greens, and the forest that encloses the holes. There are the lakes, and the bridges and the streams, and the galleries sitting in their shorts and socks on camp stools which have been placed there as early as possible to guarantee a good vantage point to see the world's finest golfers. When I was younger, I was privileged to be at the Open when Seve Ballasteros won at Lytham St. Annes and see players like Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player and Tom Watson up close. I've played quite a bit of golf over the years - never very well, but always enjoyed it. I'd love to go to Augusta one year to see t