Geography Blog Post 4. ! !

Shawn Machel Johnson was born on January 19th 1992. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A. It is situated along the River Des Moines.

She is an American gymnast. She was 2008 gold medalist on balance beam, and floor-exercise silver medalist. She was the 2007 and 2008 world champion.

She was enrolled in gymnastics at the age of three when her parents noticed her jumping off cabinets.

In 2004 Shaun competed in the junior-olympics. She finished fourth overall first on beam and second on floor. Both these pieces are considered to be her high points. Her talent shone through and soon after being spotted by a member of national staff she was invited to national team training camps.

Shawn qualified for Junior International Elite on her first attempt and attracted lots of attention in the 2005 U.S Championships. Shawn became a senior in 2007 and continued to show news skill such as a double-twisting double layout dismount on bars

At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Shawn Johnson completed in all four events: bars, floor, balance beam and vault. She competed alongside her childhood friend Nastia Liukan. This year was the first time America won both gold and silver in the individual all around apparatus competition. Through 2008 Shawn maintained a more balanced diet than typical elite gymnasts. She limited her training to 25 hours a week, as opposed to 40 hours a week. Unlke her peers she attended private school where she could be educated as well as training

In January 2010 Shawn tore her ACL while skiing. She had to have knee surgery to train again. Shawn is planning to make her comeback in the summer of 2011. She is hopeful to make the 2011 World Champioships.

Sports Day 2011 ! !

We had our annual school sports day last Wednesday. It was an amazing day :) Although the weather did not perform to its best. There were many activities such as high jump, long jump , relays and the slow bicycle race. The bicylce race was anew activity added to the sports day activities. Its aim was for a greener world. The 6th years dressed up and really got into the mood of the day. They made it more enjoyable for the schhol. The music played was relatively recent and we danced along to it to. I won the rlay with Karen, Orlaigh and Niamh O. Overall it was an amazing day and the rounders with the teachers at the end really finished off the day nicely :) !

Geography Blog Links ! !

Post 1:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6349084528608750395&postID=1976711627222247761


Post 2:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6349084528608750395&postID=8736741220888568860


Post 3:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6349084528608750395&postID=6148132433115091001


Post 4 :

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6349084528608750395&postID=6834914257762172919

Post 5 :

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6349084528608750395&postID=8675967074259346580

Geography Blog Post 5. ! !

I discovered that Russia is located in the nothern lattitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Russia is closer to the North Pole than the Equater. It is 17.1 million kilometers squares. Russia is over 1/8 of the worlds inhabited area. The European half of Russia is home to it's agricultural and industrial area. It is said that between the Dnieper River and the Ural mountains is where the Russian Empire began.

Russia contains all the vegetation zones apart from the tropical rain forest. About 11% of Russia is Tundra. The Tundra is a treeless, marshy plain. It stretches from the Finnish border in the west to the Bering Strait in the east. The Tundra is known for its white nights in the summer and its cold, dark winter. The harsh winters only allow lichens, mosses and dwarf willows to grow. Frost weathering is the main weathering process in Russia. It was severly affected by glaciation in the last ice age. Less than 1% lives in the Tundra zone.

Russia has both a continental climate and also a cold, harsh climate. The average temperature in Russia is below freezing point. The winter has a major impact on Russian life. It affects how people live and work, what crops are grown and where. It also has a major effect on gymnasts. Gymnasts that train in cold temperatures tend to be excellent, but if they go to a hotter climate for a competitions they do not tend to perform as well. This is the same for gymnasts that train in hot climates. They tend not to perform as high in hot countries. To escape this problem, before any major competitions, gymnasts travel to hotter places to improve their skills. In Russia the temperature changes durastically in certain areas. In the space of three months the temperature could change from a snowy, cold ,harsh climate to a warm, humid dry climate. Therefore gymnastic clubs tend to be situated in these areas. This is for both two reasons :

1. To help the gymasts get immune to both climates.
2. So the club spends less expenses on travelling costs.


Amongst this country in a small town called Belgord. This town is situated on the European side of Russia. Svetana was born on the 19th of January in 1979. She is seven time Olympic medalist. She was the most successful gymnast of her era. She was the first gymnast o win 3 all-around titles in the World Champion ships. She was able to keep competing and winning medals for over a decade. In her career she won a total of 47 medals. Khorkana was 5'6''. She was considered relatively tall for a gymnast. As a result she found certain gymnastics modules hard. Eventually she created her own moves to suit these modules. She has 8 skills named after her. Two of the most famous moves are round-off 1/2 on pike curvo and round-off tucked. Her most successful piece was the apparatus bars.

Today Khorkana is a member of the political party of Russia. She is a member of Duma's Youth Affair Committee. She was elected deputy chairperson of Duma's Yoth Affair Committee in 2007. She was offered the position of governer 3 years later. She turned down this offer because she felt she didn't have enough expereince in politics. Since 2009 Svetana has been studying for her second degree in public service.

Today Svetana is a role model, not only for gymnasts, but also for anyone with a dream. She was considered too tall for her height, so she created new moves. She was vey successful in her career and today is a member of public service in Russia. She was an ordinary average girl with a dream. She aimed high and reached for her goal. She is one of the most successful gymnasts of the era. Today gymnasts all over the world look up to Svetana. She showed us that no matter what you do, once you try your best you can achieve your goal. It might not be today or tomorrow but you will achieve it one day.

Geography Blog Post 4. ! !

Shawn Machel Johnson was born on January 19th 1992. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A. It is situated along the River

She is an American gymnast. She was 2008 gold medalist on balance beam, and floor-exercise siLver medalist. She was the 2007 and 2008 world champion.

She was enrolled in gymnastics at the age of three when her parents noticed her jumping off cabinets.

In 2004 Shaun competed in the junior-olympics. She finished fourth overall first on beam and second on floor. Both these pieces are considered to be her high points. Her talent shone through and soon after being spotted by a member of national staff she was invited to national team training camps.

Shawn qualified for Junior International Elite on her first attempt and attracted lots of attention in the 2005 U.S Championships. Shawn became a senior in 2007 and continued to show news skill such as a double-twisting double layout dismount on bars

At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Shawn Johnson completed in all four events: bars, floor, balance beam and vault. She competed alongside her childhood friend Nastia Liukan. This year was the first time America won both gold and silver in the individual all around apparatus competition. Through 2008 Shawn maintained a more balanced diet than typical elite gymnasts. She limited her training to 25 hours a week, as opposed to 40 hours a week. Unlke her peers she attended private school where she could be educated as well as training

In January 2010 Shawn tore her ACL while skiing. She had to have knee surgery to train again. Shawn is planning to make her comeback in the summer of 2011. She is hopeful to make the 2011 World Champioships.

Geography Blog Post 3. ! !

The most recent Olympic Games were held in Beijing in China in 2008. The great wall of China stretches across the northern part of Beijing. It is believed to have been used to defend the town against nomadic inscursins from the stepes. Mount Dongling which is within the Xishan Ranges is the cities highest point. Two major rivers that flow through the area are the River Yongding and the River Chabaoi, They flow in a southerly direction. Beijing is also the main terminous of the Grand Canal of China. It was built across the northern China plain.

Miyun River is built on the upper coarse of the Chabaoi, it is Beijings largest water supply and crucial to its water supply.

The urban area of Beijing is situated on the south-cenral plain. The plains are spead out in ring roads.

The cities climate is a monsoon-influenced continental climate. It has hot humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon. The Siberian monsoon brings a cold, windy winter. January averages at -3.7 degrees celcius and July averages at 26.2 degrees celcius. The annual precipitation averages at 570mm. The majority of this rainfall falls in the summer months.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics these were the final results :

1. Shawn Johnson - U.S.A - 63. 325
2. Nastia Liukan - U.S.A - 62.725
3. Yang Yilan - China - 62.650

These were the top three scorers at the competition.
Overall team U.S.A came second with a total of 11 medals. China came first with a total of 18 medals. They now climbed to number one spot. Trailing them were the U.S.A and Russia.


These days many children participate in gymnstics as they grow up. Shawn Johnson her teammate Nastia Liukan and Mary Lou Retton along with many other gymnasts have helped gain support for womens competitve gymnastics. Today it is one of the most watched Olympic events. Excellent gymnasts can be found on every Continent. Go to blog 5 and I will dscuss how weather, climate and temperature effect different gymnasts while training

Back to School ! !

We have just returned to school after the Easter break and we have a lot ahead of us ! A lot ! Over the past two days we have been completing last minute projects, preparing for upcoming exams and getting ideas for the end of year Ty Graduation :) We can't wait ! Here are some of the events we have planed for the night :

1. Everyone in the class has been assigned to a subject. They then have to prepare a stand with a variety of work produced during the year. My subject is Pastoral Care myself andNiamh have decided to display some of our meditation equipment, nail care displays, and also some sheets on the main topic of relationships.

2. There have been Mc's and tech girls assigned in areas so that thing will run more smoothly on the night.

3. In Irish we will be doing ouer Sean Nós dancing, we will be doing a third performance of our Engish Dramas and in Music we are doing our African Dancing.

Overall we have put an awful lot of work into this night and we hope it runs to plan... We might even have more surprises on the night :)

Geography Blog Post 2. ! !

Two thousand years ago the world was ruled by Italy, under the rule of the Roman Empire. At this time Rome was Emperor. 1 in 4 people in the world lived and died under the Roman law.

The Roman Empire was mixed with sophistication, brutality and greed. Conquering a country was an enormous achievement to them.

Rome stands near the Tibur River in central Italy. A series of hills and mountains run along the right of Italy. The coastal regions tend to be flatter and make better farmland, therefore the soil tends to be more flatter. The cental highlands can be snowy and cold in winter, while the coastal lowlands have a milder mediterranean climate.

If you peel away the layers formed over 2,000 years ago, it can be seen that the physical structure consists of hills, plateaux, valleys and slopes. These formings were made in past ice ages and heatwaves. During these periods ice, frost, warm and cold climatic changes have affected the land in various ways. The Avon Valley is one of the most dominiant features in the area and has acted as a gateways for the movement of people for over 5oo,ooo years. I discovered while researching this topic that climate change only began 2,000 years ago when the Romans came to power. Some scientists say that their findings date back to ancient Rome.

The Empire controlled much of Western and central Europe, along eith a great part of the Middle East and most of the Northern cost of Africa. Among one of the conquered countries was a small country called Greece.


When the Roman Empire ascended and after the Roman conquer of Greece the Romans adopted gymnastics as their own. Greek gymnastics was made compulsory for Roman Soldiers as part of military training. The training during Roman times was very intense. If one could not complete the exercises they were not considered good enough to be a soldier. They were often put in an arena to fight as they were no longer any use to the army.

The Romans had an ambition to conquer and they thought gymnastics could make their fighting forces stronger. They used it to improve strength, flexibility and balance of their soldiers.

The Olympic Games were abolished by Roman Emperor Theodosious in 392 AD. Financial corruption was the main reason that led to its banning in 393 AD. Gymnastics as a competitive sport did not reappear in the arena till the late 16th Century. For centuries it was forgotten.

Gymnastics today was never part of the ancient Olympic Games. It was considered as training for other sports such as discus throwing, running and wrestling. These were three of the main events in the ancient Olympic Games. Of the apparatus considered to be gymnastics today, only tumbling and vault were practised back in the ancient world.

In 1881 the International Gymnastics Federation also known as the (FIG) was formed. It was later renamed as the 'Bureau Of The European Gymnastics Federation'. This organisation was the beginning of the first international competitions.