Fastest Car of the World

The Shelby supercar is the fastest known car in the world. The Shelby supercar is an American automobile manufactured near Washington and was founded in 1999 by the owner Jerold Shelby. They build the SSC Aero which has 1400hp which makes it the fastest production car in the world beating the Bugatti Veyron with 1001hp. The Car is also standing in the Guinness book of world records at 439km.
wikipedia.org

Ripstik & Wave board history

26/2/2009
You may believe the Wave board is the original, but it was actually just the first brand that sold in the US. The original inventor of this two-wheeled skateboard was a Korean man who sold it in Korea by another name. Two American asked for the rights of the board and offered to pay money in order to build and sell it. The men however only paid the inventor 10% of what they promised, so the inventor took the idea to the Razor scooter company where they named the board the Ripstik.
source: wikipedia,me

Blackjack

The history of Blackjack is unclear. Some people believe that Blackjack started in French casinos in the early 1700s where it was known as "vingt-et-un" The game became known as Blackjack because if a player held a Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades as the 1st two cards, the player was the winner. So the Jack was the most important card and Spades are black, the game was called “Blackjack”. The goal of the game is to get a higher number than the other players, but the tricky thing is that you are not allowed to get more than 21 points. At the beginning you get 2 cards. But you can get more cards but you have to pay with chips one chip for a open card (not so good because every body can see what you got) or 2 chips for a closed card ( so only you can see). You can put money in the pot so at the end more money is in the “bank”.

Basketball

Passing, dunking, dribbling, blocking, shooting, rebounding, positioning and also fouling is part of the game we all love named basketball?

Basketball was founded in early December 1891 in Springfield Massachusetts by a Physical Education teacher from Canada, named Dr. James Naismith. He came from McGill University in Montréal. He was an instructor at the YMC Training School, now named Springfield College. To keep his students occupied, and on a high standard of fitness level through the long New England winter, he imagined this new game that we call basketball. After rejecting most of his ideas he wrote down the basic rules and nailed a peach basket over the door of the gym at 3.05m high. Today the official height of the basket is still 3.05 meters, but the rules take up over 10 pages today. The main aim of this game is to invade the opposing side and score by shooting the ball into the basket. The professional NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Tony Parker, etc… and until 2002, the all-star Michael Jordan earn millions and millions in one season of basketball!
I really like the game because it combines running, throwing, jumping and many more kinds of activities I like!!

Swine flu

Swine flu, also known as Mexico flu, has spread over the whole world mostly by passengers of airplanes leaving Mexico City. The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alert level to 5, the second highest. Some countries have already started to distribute their emergency medical reserves. There are over ten countries affected by swine flu already:

Countries hit:
• Australia
• Austria
• Canada
• China
• Costa Rica
• Germany
• India
• Mexico
• USA
• United Kingdom
• Spain
• Israel
• New Zealand
• Russia







The first case of Mexico flu that affected human population was in 1938. The symptoms that occur when you are hit are: fever, runny nose, sore throat, diarrhoea , lack of appetite, vomiting and coughing. There is no vaccine against it but you can try to prevent it by washing your hands often, avoid big events, avoid staying in small rooms with many people and stop kissing. When you get infected you can fight the flu with medications like Tamiflu, an antibiotic that you normally take when you get common flu.
Everyday there are more people infected with the virus and in Mexico more then 100 people have already died. In Mexico, where the Flu originated, all the schools are now closed, no one is on the streets anymore and when people wear masks in front of their mouths and noses they cannot breathe in the virus. People all over the world are scared of a global epidemic.

wikipedia.org

Rugby

Rugby started in the year 1823 when the football player William Webb Ellis took the ball and ran with it into the goal. Although some people are not sure if the story is true, it is said to be the beginning of rugby and the trophy of the world championship is named after William Webb Ellis. In modern rugby, two teams with 15players on each side try to get more points than the opponents. Therefore they have to bring the ball behind the touch-line.
At the beginning they had no kits that protected them. Later the game got faster and more violent and the kits became more protective. But the rules haven´t changed that much.
The best national rugby team at the moment is from New Zealand. The best team in New Zealand is the All Blacks, and for the kiwi people they are the most popular team.

Swine flu: A new and even more dangerous virus

Swine flu is the next big virus after chicken flu. It is equally dangerous, but harder to heal. It is newer, so at the moment, there are just two medicines for it. This new epidemic has already infected over 1000 people and killed about 65. It is very strong and spreads very fast. In the next few weeks it could be able to infect over 3000 people. This epidemic is the new no 1 world epidemic.
People handle it in many different ways: In some countries, the government gives out protectors ( facemasks)that the virus can’t spread out. In Mexico-city, all schools, kindergartens and universities are closed. Some people are even so scared, that they don’t leave their houses.
This epidemic also brings many costs with it. Who suffer the most, are tourist companies: they have to cancel every flight to or from Mexico-city. The only people who can really take advantage, are the pharmacy companies: they sell 5 times more medicine than normal.
The airports also have to prepare for the virus: The pilots and stewardesses need to look at every person for symptoms of swine flu: flying is a big problem: by flying a sickness can spread twice as fast as normal.
The two medicines we have for it are very expensive and don’t work so well. This makes the healing so hard.
It really is a bad sickness, but we will survive it!

The IB - Special

The IB offers all three stages of education – Primary years, Middle years and Diploma years. They are very famous for their pre-university diploma.
IB-schools have very high standards:

• They have been providing high-quality education for over 35 years: their curriculum is set from the world’s leading universities.
• They try to encourage the students to be independent and global thinkers. They have to be able to work with others and still be independent.
• They try to make the students think well about school. The students should feel at home in school. Therefore they try to create a nice learning environment.

This program is accessible in almost the whole world. There are IB – world schools 134 countries. Not all of these schools are private schools: over 50% of the students are in state funded schools. With this worldwide network, the IB is the biggest school-network in world.

What is swine flu and what should I do?

Like people, pigs can get flu, but swine flu viruses aren’t the same as human flu viruses.
Swine flu doesn’t infect people often but there were rare cases of infected humans but all had close contact with pigs. But the current swine flu is different. It is caused by a new kind of swine flu and it is passed from person to person. The symptoms are the same as normal flu.
If you have the swine flu stay at home and if you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth. After that wash or disinfect your hands, this can help stop your flu from spreading. If you got flu symptoms and you have been in a risky area like Mexico, call a doctor immediately. Or if you where not in a risky country and you are still sick call a doctor just to be sure.

IS THIS THE APOCALYPSE???

The world lives in fear because of the newest pandemic: swine flu …This flu gets transmitted from swine to swine, from swine to human and from human to human. In 2 weeks already over 1000 people have been infected and up to now around 8 people have died because of it.

In Mexico, pandemic level 5 (of 6) has already started. This means that almost every 10th person is infected and that’s why schools and other public places are closed. Events have been cancelled.

The symptoms of swine flu are:

a runny nose,
sore throat,
diarrhoea,
vomitting,
nausea,
coughing,
lethargy,
lack of appetite,
and fever

If you have most of the above symptoms over a short period of time, call a doctor. There is no medicine that can fight the virus completely. There are just 2 medicines that can block or weaken the virus. The low rate of death shows that you can survive the flu and develop anti- bodies against it.

source: Wikipedia, Morning news SAT1

Over 60 affected in just one week!

Swine flu is caused by the pig´s respiratory system and this flu has spread in Mexico, Spain and even in Germany! Now the rate has gone higher. Over 100 people have died because of the Swine Flu. And 2 in Bayern (Germany) were shown to be Positive. Swine flu virus dies at a temperature of 70°C.

More than 60 people died because of swine flu in Mexico the first week of the epidemic. Now 3 people have the disease in Germany. And three others with the symptoms of swine flu. The symptoms are fever, muscle pain, dry cough, dry throat, and vomiting.

The flu spreads by coughing, kissing or even shaking hands! The flu can not get spread by food. To help protect yourself from this disease, here is a little list of ideas!
Source BBC

• Wash your Hands often with Soap and Water. (especially small kids)
• Disinfect Hands.
• Avoid touching the Mouth, Nose or Eyes.
• Cover Mouth and Nose and avoid Sneezing and Coughing from others that may have symptoms.

This disease is affecting the human population especially in Mexico. About 100 people now have a scary life in Mexico. You can get vaccinated but it will not help as much. Every second person in Germany has lost the habit of washing his hands, especially small Kids in Primary school. So be careful.
Source:BBC

About the IB

The IB offers three programs of international education for students between 3 and 19 years. The programs begin with Kindergarten to Primary Years and end with the Pre-university Diploma years. The IB World Schools have high quality education. This program is available in 2607 IB World Schools in 134 countries.

You can also support the IB

I can support the IB work with making IB programmes available in developing countries and to financially-disadvantaged students. If you find time and you have experience to offer, then read our information for volunteers to find out how volunteers make a big change to our work.

IB schools are different: the teachers share all their knowledge and experience with the students whatever the question is, plus these teachers are committed to the professional development of their knowledge.
Source: Sanjay

The IB student Programme

There are 3 programmes / phases for students in the IB. These programmes are called:

• Primary Years Programme (PYP) : Grade 1 to 5
• Middle Years Programme (MYP) : Grade 6 to 10
• Diploma Programme (DP) : Grades 11 and 12.
  

More services and information are on the official website of the IBO

Visit the website here:
http://www.ibo.org/programmes/
source IBO.org

Where is the IB around the World?

The IB works together with private and state-funded schools in over 130 countries. The headquarters are in Geneva and there are representative offices in Bath, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Cardiff, Mumbai, New York, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Vancouver. The largest office is the assessment centre in Cardiff in the UK was also the house for departments for finance, human resources, Information Technology (IT) and strategic planning. The research base is located at the University of Bath, also in the UK.

What are IB world schools?

IB world schools can offer three individual programs. These programs are classified into three parts. These parts are called Primary years, Middle years and Diploma year programs.

The IB has been known for its high quality education for over 35 years. The IB curriculum represents the best from many countries. The challenging Diploma is recognized by the world’s leading universities. The IB maintains high standards by actively training and supporting teachers.

The IB encourages international-mindedness in IB students. To do this, they believe that the students must first develop an understanding of their own cultural and national identity.

The IB ensures that the programs they have are accessible to students in an variety of schools - national schools, international, private and public schools in 134 countries. The IB schools form a worldwide community. More than 50% of IB students are in state funded schools.

Source Sanjay

IB: Between 10% and 20% increase per year.

Over the past ten years the rate of IB students has increased between 10% and 20% each year.
The IBO has 2,777 schools in 134 different countries.
In April 2004 there were only 1,709 schools whereas in April 2009 the number has increased to 3,164.
In 2009 the number of schools almost doubled.
Source BBC

Tennis

Tennis is a ball sport, which comes from a French sport, called “Jeu de Paume”, which means “play with hand”. They batted the ball against a wall, which was on one side, so it flew over the net. On the other side, the audience sat and observed. This game, mostly was played in abbeys. The actual name “tennis” came from the old word “tennes”, which means hold.



The tennis field is 22m long and 11m wide: In the middle, there is a net.



In general, you need to try, not to let the ball touch the ground. If it does, the other person or team gets a point. The points are counted in a difficult way. If you have 5 points and the others are with two points behind, you get an “ultimate point”. It is counted like this: 5 - 10 – 15 - 30 - 40 – 1 point. Normally you play until 5 points are reached. If the ball hits the outside, the team, which didn’t get it out, gets a point.
Then there are two types of games: Single and double. In a single game the players just use the internal field.
In a double, the whole field is used. After every point, which go made the players change their positions.




I really like the game: I even play it. It is interesting and fast, which makes it really much fun.

Sources: All pictures are downloaded from Wikipedia.

POKER: POKING YOUR BRAINS AND WALLETS

Poker is a five-card game which uses normal cards and money represented by tokens. It is different from other card games where, instead of playing all the cards out, the players bet as to who holds the best card combinations until:
1. A showdown where the person with the best cards wins.
2. All but one player have dropped out of the game.
Each player gets two cards and three cards are laid down and are counted as the last three cards for each player. The best combinations of cards from highest to lowest include:
1. Straight flush- AKQJ10 or 5432A.
2. Four of a kind- K-K-K-K.
3. Full house- Q-Q-Q-4-4.
4. Flush- J- 9- 8- 7- 3.
5. Straight- 10- 9- 8- 7- 6.
6. Three of a kind, threes, triplets and trips- 7-7-7-x-y.
7. Two pair- Q-Q-9-9-x.
8. One pair- 3-3-x-y-z.
9. High card- no combination; the highest card wins.
The history of Poker is thought to have evolved over more than ten centuries from various games, all involving the basic principals of ranked card or domino combinations and the use of ‘bluffing’ to deceive opponents. One popular belief is that a game similar to poker was first invented by the Chinese sometime before 969 A.D, when The Emperor Mu-tsung is reported to have played "domino cards" with his wife on New Years Eve.

Checkers: a History

Checkers is a popular board game played in both America and England. The game is played on an 8x8 checkered board. Hence the name, Checkers. It is also called Draughts in England. The players begin by arranging 24 flat, wooden, cylindrical disks into piles of red and black. The players then arrange them on the checker board into the starting position seen here:













The row closest to the player is referred to as the “king’s row”. The darker color (contrary to chess) moves first. There are 2 ways to move: a simple diagonal move to an adjacent square or a jump, which is a move directly adjacent to an opponent’s square. Then the player would then “jump over” the opponent’s checker in a diagonal move to an empty square opposite to the opponent’s square. The square’s checker is then captured and added to the capture bin. When a piece moves to the opponent’s side, it is “kinged” and it is then known as a “king” which can move backwards. You win when you have captured the entire opponent’s checkers.

The History of Checkers dates back to the Mesopotamian cultures of 3000 BC. However this early form of Checkers used a different board with a different number of checkers and no one is sure of the rules. The next development in checkers was “Alquerque“an ancient Egyptian game which dates back to 1500 BC which used a 5x5 board. This variation was played in Europe for several hundred years. Around 1100 AD, a Frenchman had the idea of putting 12 pieces on an 8x8 board, called "Fierges" or "Ferses" it was soon brought to England and then later, America.

In my opinion, this game is unbelievably simple, which is why I prefer Chess over checkers because you need a brain to think strategically rather than simple guess work. However, this is still a viable way of passing time.