HUMAN RIGHTS

Human rights are those rights you have for simply being a human being, so everyone has these rights and, theoretically, they have to be respected, despite their nationality, their  age or their gender.

Human rights are considered to be born in 539 BC, when Cyrus the Great, after conquering Babylon, set all the slaves free and he allowed them to follow any religion they wanted. This was written on a clay cylinder, known as the Cyrus Cylinder. This is considered the creation of the human rights. Along history, some of these rights have been both respected or violated, depending on the period of time and influenced by the different revolutions or historical events. After the II World War, in 1945, countries decided to unite forming the ONU, the first organization to establish which ones were the human rights that we now know. They wrote them down in the called Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that contains all the human rights, that make a total of 30 of rights. 

Among all the human rights, I've chosen the number #16, which is the right to family and marriage, which says that everyone (despite of their religion, race or nationality) has the right to marry and found a family, maintaining their rights during the marriage and in case it dissolves. It also says that marriage has to be allowed by both spouses and that the family is a natural group which is entitled to protection by society and the State.

I've chosen this one because I think that it isn't fair not to allow someone to form a family or to marry who they want. Normally the part that is violated is the marriage one, because in some countries, such as Egypt or India, homosexual couples are not allowed to get married, and sometimes also people from different nationalities or races. It is also violated in countries in which they allow forced marriage, even if one of the spouses doesn't agree with it, for example many countries in Africa and Asia. It is respected in countries like Spain and other occidental mentality, in which everyone has the right to get married and to form a family. Of course, I think it should be respected everywhere, because people should be always free to marry whoever they love and to love whoever they want, which is something that doesn't harm anyone. 

NEW WORDS:
· tremble: tremolar

LONDON TASK

For the London project Paula Caball and me decided to to the option of explaining a picture in the National Gallery. We chose the Arnolfini Portrait, because we had seen it in History of Art at school, and we already knew a little bit about it, apart from the fact that we think it's very well painted. Here's the video we recorded there.

"TOUCHSCREEN-TODDLERS"

This article talks about the impact mobile phones and similar devices have on little children, specially on their sleeping habits. It says that, everytime more, children get used to play with devices which include touchscreens and that there is not a concern about how may it impact on them. 

The research institution Birkbeck, University of London, has carried out a study which relates the hours children spent playing with mobile phones or tablets and their sleep patterns. They asked 715 parents about it, and the results showed that those toddlers who play with touchscreens, which are quite a lot, sleep less hours than those who don't. In general, they got to the conclusion that for every hour the toddler was using a touchscreen, he slept 15 minutes less. Dr Tim Smith, one of the researchers, admitted it is not a big amount of sleep if you sleep for ten or twelve hours, but he remembered that sleeping the necessary hours is important for the children's development.

However, they also got to the conclusion that playing with touchscreens is a good way to improve and develop faster the motor skills, also important for children. And that's when the question comes to our mind: should we let children play with touchscreens? Dr Smith says that we should be aware of its effects and limit it as parents normally do with the TV. He says that science still has to research a lor¡t about it, but for now, it's okay if we let our children play with touchscreens. But it's important to limit the time, to make sure what they are playing with and seeing it's apropriate for them and to try to avoid them using it before going to bed. This way, kids will still be able to move and develop their motor skills the way touchscreens allow them, but they won't alterate their sleeping habits.

PERSONAL OPINION:

I agree with the conclusions the researchers have got to, because I think touchscreens can have a good impact in children, such as the improvement of motor skills or the opportunities it can give them in the moment of learning. But it's important that children don't use them excessively, because it can lead to problems in sleeping and of other kinds. And we must bear in mind that activities that don't require touchscreens can also be useful for learning and beneficial for the children, so it's important not to forget them. 

VOCABULARY:

· timely: oportú

· to lag: retardar-se

· overall: en general

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39588453 

"RIVER PIRACY" IN CANADA

The news talks about a river in Canada, the Slims River, who has changed its course. This fact is due to climate change, which has caused the melting of a glacier in the country, that, at the same time, caused this change in the river. 

This change consists in an aleration of its course, which used to flow out to the Bearing Sea and now it does it to another river, the Kaskawlush. Experts in the topic have said this phenomenon is known as "river piracy" and that for it to take place it requires centuries and that they had never seen something like this in modern times. It is surprising, because in this case it took place in only one spring.

Before this happened, researchers from different universities had planned to study the river during summer, a job they couldn't carry out because the course of the river had already been altered. They found out if was cut off when the water from one glacial lake started to pour through another lake. 

John Clage, from the University in British Columbia, had predicted this phenomenon because of the geological formation of the area, but he couldn't predict when it would happen or thta it would happen that fast. And when the researches went to the place to study it, they found a skinny lake instead of what it used to be. 

This change in the river's course will affect the environment, both the landscape and the wildlife, such as sheeps who graze in the surroundings, fishes or other aquatic animals. Dan Shugar, the leader of the investigation, reminded the effects of climate change and the surprises it can give in such a short period of time. 

PERSONAL OPINION:

As Shugar says, this is a perfect demonstration of the climate change effects and that it is more real than we thing. Sometimes we know it is a fact, but we are not aware of its effect because they take place in very long periods of time, which makes them be unnoticed. But in this case, it has happened in a very short period of time, and that's why it is more shocking. I think we should worry more about climate change, even if we can't always see its effects as clearly as we have seen it in the Slimes River. We have to bear in mind that climate change is something real that it's threatening our planet and try to lead our actions in helping it to stop. 

VOCABULARY:

· piracy: pirateria

· pour through: abocar

· stream: rierol

· graze: pasturar

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39634290

BRITISH MUSEUM TASK

On the second day of our trip to London we visited the British Museum. We had some free time in there, to look for some things on a list and take photos of them, as well as visit other parts and elements of the museum, which has a beautiful and illuminated central hall.

In this post I'm going to show and explain a little bit what we had to find in the museum.

The first thing on the list was the Rosetta Stone, which was in the room 4. This stone was found in 1799 and it contains three versions of a Ptolomy V's decree. One is written in greek, the other one in the Demotic Egyptian language and the other one in hieroglyphs. As greek was a known language, this stone allowed the experts to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs, which was a big achievement. 

We also had to find the Egyptian Mummies, in the rooms 62 and 63. And well, as it is known, mummies were a way to preserve bodies, using chemicals and being preserved in dry spaces. The most famous and popular mummies are the Egyptians ones, which were normally pharaohs and were preserved inside the pyramids. 

The next thing we had to find were the Assyrian lion hunt reliefs, in the room 10. This reliefs represent scenes of the Assyrian villages hunting lions. They are so realistic for the time they were done, and they are considered an ancient treasure. It is believed that the objective of these reliefs was to show the power of the Assyrian king and its warriors on the animal world, which was chaotic, and their aim to bring civilization into it. 

In room 18 we had to find the Parthenon sculptures. Those sculptures were in the pediments of the Greek Parthenon and they are considered some of the best examples of Greek sculpture. They represent different moments in Athenea's life, such as her birth or her competition against Poseidon. These sculptures submit to the triangular frame of Parthenon's pediments, that's why the author had to create the figures in different positions that could fit into the pediments. 

The last concrete thing we had to fins was the Cyrus Cylinder, which is considered the first world's declaration of the human rights. It was found in Babylonia in 1879 and it seems to be from the 6th century. The written thing on it is in the name of the king Cyrus and there he denounced the king Nabondius, for his opression of the population of Babylonia. 

We also had to look for something that wasn't ancient. We found an exposition called "Cradle to Grave" and it displays the number of pills a man and a woman took during their lifetime. There are about 14,000 pills, which is the average a British person takes during their life. 

And finally, we had to to find the most surprising or curious object we could. In my case, I found very curious these dresses used during Carnival in ancient civilizations. It was curious and I thought the dresses were well done.

LONDON DIARY

Last week we spend four days in London, visiting the main attractions and spending some time enjoying ourselves in the city. One of the tasks we could choose was to do a video trip diary, explaining what we were doing everyday. This was not the task I chose, but I wanted to explain a little bit what we did there, so I'm going to explain it day by day in this post, with some photos I took to illustrate it. 

DAY 1

The first day started very early, to be accurate, we had to be in front of the high school at 2:20 a.m., so most of us barely slept that night. The bus left at 2:30 from the high school and we headed to the Barcelona airport, which was a journey of about two hours. Once in the airport, we went through all the controls and then we waited for the airplane. The flight was also about two hours long, and when we arrived to the British airport, we took a bus to get to our hostel, which was about one our and a half away. When we got to the Safestay Elephant and Castle hostel, we left our suitcases and we took the tube to go to the centre of London. We got off in Trafalgar Square and we walked a little bit around the city, until we got to Covent Garden. There, we had some free time to eat our lunches and to have a walk around the place. In the afternoon, we were taken on a guided tour around the city. Angus, our guide, showed us several palaces, such as the Buckingham Palace, while he explained different facts about the places we visited. The tour ended in the Big Ben and from there, we went to Picadilly Circus. We had a walk around there and then we went to the restaurant where we had dinner. After that, we went to the hostel and finally arrived to our rooms to rest. 

DAY 2

The second day was maybe one of my favourites. In the morning, we visited the British Museum, and there we did our task of finding some important objects. After that, we took the bus and went to Camden Town. There we had lunch in the food stands and had some hours of free time to have a look to the different shops and stands. I had a really good time in Camden Town, and I really liked getting lost inside all the stands, which where like a labyrinth. There we found the things were quite cheap (depending on what, of course), so we took advantadge to buy some souvenirs. In the afternoon, we took a little boat from Camden with which we were taken on a tour through the canals, which was very relaxing. When the tour finished, we went to Picadilly to get something fast to eat, and then we took the tube to meet with Álvaro, our Spanish guide who took us on a Jack the Ripper night tour. The tour was interesting, and we were able to see a different part of London that is not the typical one. After the tour, we went back to the hostel. 

DAY 3

The third thay started in the National Gallery. We spend part of the morning there, seeing the paintings, and in my case, I did there my task which costsisted of explaining a painting in there. Paula Caball and me chose the Arnolfini Portrait, and we explained there (even though we were interrumpted by the guard). When we got out the musem, we had our free time. My friends and I decided to go to Oxford Street, so we caught the bus to get there. We looked for a restaurant there to have lunch and after that we went shopping. When we were tired, we took the tube to get to the Natural History Museum, which was the meeting point. We got there earlier so we sat on the grass and relaxed a little bit. We made a quick visit to the museum and then we went to visit Harrods. We didn't spend a lot of time there, and then we went to a British pub to have dinner. Once we had had dinner, we went to Picadilly to see the lights and the atmposphere there, and then we went to the hostel. 

DAY 4

This was our last day in London. In the morning, we had a walk around London and we saw the Saint Paul's Cathedral, and visited and some of us went up The Monument, where we could see amazing views. We also crossed the Tower Bridge and we had lunch in the Borough Market. After it, we visited the Shakespeare Globe Theather. When we finished the visit, we went up the Tate building, were the views were also amazing. Then, we took the tube to go back to the hostel, we grabbed our suitcases and we went to the airport with the bus. We had dinner in the airport after we had went thorugh the controls, and then we took the plane. We arrived to Barcelona's airport and then we went back to Castelló, where we arrived at about 4:00 a.m. 

And that was the end of our trip to London. I enjoyed it a lot, I really liked the city, we visited interesting places and I had a great time with all the classmates.