Root Culture & Diversity

We are currently in North India in a place called Dharamashala (the name means a place of rest for travellers). It is set on the edge of the Himalayan range. The nearest viewable mountain is called Triund

It is an area where solar hot water systems are used on many properties. They can be seen installed on the rooftops. This is because India has a huge amount of sunshine during the year

Further up the hill is a town called Mcleod Ganj.
It is where Tibetan refugees have settled over the past 50 years.
At this time of year there are many international visitors there, ranging from trekkers, students, volunteers, tourists, Buddhist and Hindu followers. Here are some of the daily scenes from this place.

Other sustainable methods of living are using reformed cow dung as fuel for stoves for cooking. The cow dung, drying in the sunshine next to the washing.

Questions:

1:- Can you think of other ways that cow dung can be used? Name two.....

2:- Can you find out the climate for Calcutta, in north India during a year?

3:- Can you collect data for rainfalls and sunshine and any other weather conditions?

4:- What is the capital of India?

5:- What sea is on the west coast of India?

6:- What grain is the staple diet of Indians?

A traditional plate of food, called a ‘thali’, consisting of dal, vegetables, rice, salad, curd and chapati.

Hello to the Wise Owls group!

Hope you are all well, and do finally receive this! Well after a long wait(on my side too, I have been waiting eagerly for some response to the emails,
and blogs I have set up and sent...) Anyway not to worry. I am currently sitting in an internet shop in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, North India. It is in a place called McLeod Ganj. From here you can see the first Himalayan range, with the snow capped mountain tops. It has been quite cold over the last few weeks and have had extreme types of weather, including, heavy rain, snow, wind, hail and a rainbow. Today we have some warm sunshine, so I think that spring is finally here.
The population here is a mixture of Indians and Tibetan people. The Tibetans are refugees that have settled here since the last 50 years.
Before arriving in the mountainous area, I had arrived in Chennai (Madras, then on to Pondicherry, South East India, Gaya and Varanasi, in North East India. I will tell you more about this when I get some pictures to upload for you all to see off my own computer.....of which I do not have on me right now.
This session is just to make sure that this is live and ready for you all to view.

RESEARCH:
So for the warm up session I would like you all to get hold of a map of India and explore the country, and particularly find the place names of where I am and where I have been on this journey.

-Draw a map of India and write the place names in large writing of one colour. Then draw some footprints or arrows or whatever symbol you decide to use to show the journey taken so far.

-What is the main language spoken in India?

-Can you write a list of 5 animals that are native to this country?

Bye for now and I will write more later.

Lillian (the Leopard)