They were sentenced to be hanged in 2009 for converting to Christianity in Iran. For 259 days they were held in the notorious prison EVIN where they were tortured and interrogated. Eventually the United Nations’ Amnesty International enabled their release. After gaining freedom they wrote** Captive in Iran** which detailed their experiences. Source Wikipedia

Letsie ll is the only Catholic sovereign of a non-European lineage anywhere in the world. He has been credited with having promoting the principles of the Catholic faith in Lesotho Source Wikipedia

For approximately 20 years he was an actor and broadcaster who specialized in theatrical story telling and performance poetry He wrote ’ The Street Bible’ . In 2004 it was the Book of the Year for the Christian Booksellers Convention Ltd (UK He takes you through the Bible in a very unconventional way. This fresh paraphrase- come-running commentary brings the text alive. Bible stories are retold as mini -blockbusters;psalms as song lyrics; epistles as emails. He unfortunately died of bladder cancer aged just 43 years of age Source Fly of the book

In 2013 Becky received a Knight Grant for Reporting On Religion and American Public Life. She was a senior contributing editor for The Wittenburg Door from 1994 to 2008. ‘The Door’ was a Christian satire and homour bimonthly magazine It was relaunched in 2021 with Becky serving on the Door’s Board of Directors Source Wikipedia

Aged 13 she survived a shark attack - she lost her left arm. Within a month she she was surfing again. In 2004 she wrote her autobiography ** Soul Surfer: A true story of Faith, Family and Fighting to Get Back on Board.** In 2011 it was turned into a film - Soul Surfer… As a result of the attack she has appeared as a guest on numerous television shows. She has written 8 other books

Robin is the best selling award winning Christian author of over 100 books. Her books include the Christy MIller and Sierra Jensen series for ten girls plus the Glenbrooke series and Sisterchicks series. In 2007 she received the Christy award for her novel* Sisterchicks in Gondolas.* Her Timelesss Stories are now available in Print, Audio, Ebook and Downloads.

Alisa Childers member of ZOEgirl U SA Hope Darst musician and songwriter USA Lauren Daigle singer and songwriter USA Maryanne Joshua George musician and songwriter USA Moriah Smallbone actress, singer & songwriter USA Normani singer, Fifth Harmony USA Tasha Layton singer, songwriter & author USA Terrian singer and song writer USA Tori Kelly singer-songwriter USA Moira Dela Torre singer-song-writer and occasional actress Philippines Onos Ariyo singer and songwriter Nigeria All 11 are talented Christian musicians

Moya is a member of a very successful Irish band called Clannad (See separate notes). In 2000 she published her autobiography called ’ The Other Side of the Rainbow’ where she re-evaluates her life. Moya in 2003 became Goodwill ambassador to Christian Blind Mission (CBM). Her first trip was to Congo-Kinshasa with 5 others. Called off due to civil unrest. In 2003 travelled to Rwanda. In 2005 returned to Congo In 2007 visited Brazil and then travelled to Belize. In 2008 travelled to Tanzania. Performed concerts with other CBM Goodwill Ambassadors from Europe. Moya performs various concerts in aid of charities and groups that work to rehabilitate those affected by drug addiction and alcohol dependency. She also practices her Christian faith with her family in Dun Laoghaire. The church reaches out to young people affected by drugs and alcohol abuse. Source Wikipedia

Clyde in 1999 released his debut album Pure Inspiration. In 2012 teamed up with Jason Barney to write and produce the Christmas album Brighter Days Ahead, In 2013 a second Christmas album Glenn Beck Presents Believe Again

Vertical farming is where crops are grown on top of each other than in traditional horizontal rows. This is happening both on the land ( indoors) and in the sea. Using less space the yield is higher. Read description and look at the two pictures. Greenwave have developed a sustainable agriculture technique called vertical underwater farming or regenerative ocean farming.The company is growing a range of seaweed types like kelp and shellfish, plus mussels and scallops on a rope scaffolding system under the sea. Kelp is one of the fastest growing organisms on the planet and can be repeatedly harvested for at least seven years. Source World Economic Forum

Climate change has resulted in AQUACULTURE being seriously considered. Man is seeking to grow crops under water especially SEAWEED This means the plants are grown without soil, in a nutrient-rich solution to deliver water and minerals to their roots, in a controlled environment. No pesticides are needed. The start up that believes seaweed can change the world. Source World Economic Forum

I have put together:- Full list if competitors and their events Time standards for Paris Short Phrase and Vocabulary list Poetry aid Swimming ‘comic’ strip 6 Profiles from Wikipedia 2 Word searches (answers provided) 12 clip art pictures There should be something useful to use.

Picture History Squad A word search Short phrases for attacking and defending Phrase and Vocabulary sheet Large Phrase and Vocabulary sheet

I have put together some information about Badminton Paralympics. There is a poster, phrase and vocabulary sheet, a poetry aid and two word searches. There is information about the three competitors - Rachel Choong, Daniel Bethell and John Shepherd

BladeBUG will do the maintenance on the wind turbines at sea. The vision of Chris Cieslak, BladeBUGs founder, is to keep all humans on shore. An autonomous vessel would leave port carrying the BladeBUG. A drone would be sent to make an initial inspection from the air. On its return to the boat it would collect a BladeBUG robot and ferry it to the work area. Source 39 ways to save the Planet

Solar power is now the cheapest source of electricity in history. Solar’s success has come from the plummeting cost of making the panels. The next task is to improve the efficiency of the solar cells. Henry Snaith, a physics and serial winner of scientific awards, and the company he has founded, are dedicated to improving the efficiency of the solar cells. His idea is to combine silicon with another material that can harness energy from the blue end of the spectrum so you get more clean , green electricity from each panel. Perovskite is a natural occurring mineral - calcium titanium oxide. It is a semiconductor, with a crystalline chemical structure, which can be made in the lab with much less energy than required to make panel grade silicon. The perovskite silicon sandwich has already achieved 29% efficiency, the theoretical maximum is 45%. Snaith is aware that making perovskite panels stable is critical. Durability also need to be proved. It can be made in very thin layers and used on flexible materials or even glass that still lets through the light. Solar energy is already projected to grow 14 fold and should deliver a 12% cut in our total carbon emissions using existing silicon cells by 2050. With perovskite it could rise to 18% or higher with greater efficiency. The future is bright Sources Wikipedia 39 Ways to save the Planet by Tom Heap

We have been accustomed to seeing roofs covered in solar panels( using the rays of the sun) to heat people’s homes. We have seen them built on large areas of land ( car park size). These are small scale compared with Floating Solar- solar panels on a body of water as large as a reservoir or lake. Across the world, especially in China, these have been developed. See the long lists of advantages:- 1.no land occupancy 2. water conservation and quality 3. increased panel efficiency 4. tracking 5. environmental control 6. using areas already exploited by human activity 7. using power plants Disadvantages anchorage maintenance new technology required significant increased corrosion resistance waves (open sea) (Read detail about each) This is one of the major ways forward to counter Climate Change Sources Wikipedia 39 Ways to Save the Planet by Tom Heap

Protecting the world’s forests is crucial for the climate. Forests absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide and can be a source of greenhouse gas emissions when destroyed or damaged. Logging in deforestation refers to the practice of cutting down trees for commercial purposes mainly the timber industry. The impact of deforestation, if not controlled, can be devastating. On average for every tonne of wood extracted 6 tonnes (1:6) are damaged or destroyed. It can rise to 1:20. There are a number of ways of stopping it being so devastating. a logger could make a more accurate assessment of tree’s quality -a’plunge cut’. A chainsaw is driven into the base of the trunk to reveal if it is hollow without killing it. n be dropped where it will do least damage to its neighbour. instead of a wide skidway leaving a trail of destruction it can be narrow and sensitive to other trees OR a ‘logfisher’ -an adapted crane with long cables could ‘fish’ the timber out with less skidding logging roads could be reduced to 15 metres instead of 30 metres Combine all these habits and more trees will be left standing to hold more carbon and potentially grow on to be of valuable to the logger (Chapter 11 - Good Logging- 39 Ways to save the Planet by Tom Heap)

Marina Siva and Chico Mendes ( murdered in 1988) are/were activists against the deforestation of the trees in the Amazon forest - Amazonia - the largest remaining rainforest in the world. Amazonia is often called the lungs of the planet- the trees absorb much of the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere -without them climate change would be much more severe. Through her friendship with Chico she saw how her development of region was damaging her beloved rainforest. After university she got a job working with Chico. They set up a rubber tapper’s union. They tried to create protected areas of forest for people made their living by extracting rubber, nuts and medicinal plants from the forest.it would allow development of the rainforest in a sustainable way. Marina and Chico would hold empates (stand offs) to prevent the building of ranches and to protect thousands of acres of rainforests. In 1988 she decided to stand as a local politician and was elected as a a city councilor in Rio Branco. In the same year Chico, aged 44, was murdered by the son of a cattle rancher, In 1991 first extractive reserve was created in the state of Acre. In 1994 elected as a senator to represent her state in the national government In 1996 won the Goldman award - the world’s top environment award. In 2003 she became Environment Minister for Brazil. Between 2004-7 she worked to crack down on illegal logging. She made powerful enemies but deforestation of the Amazon reduced to 60%. In 2007 she was chosen as a ’ Champion of the Earth’ by the United Nations Environment Programme. 2008 resigned post - felt her powers were gradually being taken away. g Since then she has been the most successful Green politician. Stood unsuccessfully to be president 3 times. ‘This courageous and principled woman has no intention of ever giving up.’ Lily Dyu & Amt Blackwell Sources Wikipedia Earth Heroes Lily Dyu & Amy Blackwell

The two sisters were inspired by a school lesson about people who changed the world- Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. They had already experienced swimming in a bay in Bali and seeing plastic bottles, bags and bits of plastic floating on the water. They went home and did some research. Their research revealed that many countries had banned plastic bags. Why not Bali? They would try to solve the plastic pollution problem on the island by persuading people to stop littering… With 6 friends they started a campaign to ban paper bags… They named it** Bye Bye Plastic Bags** The first thing they did was to set up an online petition asking the governor of the island to support the ban. On day one they had 6, 000 signatures. Over the next few months this rose to 77,000. They asked the airport manager to help and they gained another 10,000. By this time their village of Deso Perenon had reduced plastic bag usage by 60%. The governor had still not responded. They learned, after a visit to the National Gandhi Museum, he had called a strike to force change. They also decided to so something similar-publicly fast from sunrise to sunset - he finally responded. After meeting them he signed an agreement to work towards a plastic-bag free Bali. They now involved businesses -shops, hotels and restaurants. In June 2015 the government announced that by 2018 plastic bags would be band… In 2015 the sisters w ere invited yo give a TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk in London. By January 2018 Bali failed to reach target so the government declared a Garbage Emergency -officials 700 cleaners, with 35 trucks, to clear 100 tonnes of debris each day. In December the government announced single-use plastics would be banned from the island from July 2019. The sisters won many awards. Today Bye Bye Plastic Bags is a global youth movement in 45 countries. Sources Wikipedia Earth Heroes by Lily Dyu and Amy Blackwell