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jbdrury

Scientists lay bare Irish potato famine blight * The Register - 0 views

www.theregister.co.uk/...blight_genome_sequenced

irish potato famine potato blight history science behind the blight irish

shared by jbdrury on 02 Oct 09 - Cached
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      As you can see in the title, The Register is a science and IT periodical based in the U.K.
  • Scientists lay bare Irish potato famine blight
  • Scientists have successfully sequenced the genome of Phytophthora infestans - the potato blight mould which in the 1840s devasted Irish potato crops, leading to the deaths of one million people.
  • ...6 more annotations...
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      There is an entire report provided on Nature.com's website, but it's a bit too in-depth to be used in the classroom. Maybe not for the more scientifically-inclined in this group.
  • Phytophthora infestans is a water mould
  • The mould still afflicts potatoes, tomatoes and related plants, and costs farmers around the world an estimated $6.7bn a year."
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      I don't know if anyone else tried to grow tomatoes this year, but mine were killed by the current blight that is going around. That these blights still exists provides modern relevance to the study of the famine.
  • The scientists believe the transposons - comprising a whopping 74 per cent of the genome - allow the mould to quickly evolve to defeat genetic countermeasures intended to stop it in its tracks
  • With all this knowledge about how the pathogen attacks the host on the biochemical level, I would hope that some clever plant pathologist would be able to genetically engineer resistance.
  • jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
     
    This is the most watered-down, non-scientific explanation of the genome sequencing project on the potato blight that caused the Irish Potato Famine. It's pretty interesting in-and-of-itself, and I think studying a subject like this provides a unique opportunity to coordinate curricula with the science department of your school.
jbdrury

The History Place - Irish Potato Famine - 0 views

www.historyplace.com/...coffin.htm

history irish history potato blight potato famine irish emigration

shared by jbdrury on 02 Oct 09 - Cached
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      As this is a privately-owned website, I thought it important to provide a little info on its managers. This is taken from the Home Page information: " The History Place contains many examples of man's inhumanity to man as well as notable examples of humans rising to the occasion to fight tyranny and preserve freedom, and overall, reaffirms, in the words of the American Declaration of Independence, that all human beings have "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      Although I don't doubt the veracity of much of the information on this site, I think it is important to keep in mind who is providing the information. Also from the home page: " The History Place is a private, independent, Internet-only publication based in the Boston area that is not affiliated with any political group or organization. The Web site presents a fact-based, common sense approach in the presentation of the history of humanity, with great care given to accuracy....The site was founded and is owned and published by Philip Gavin"
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      This account of the Potato Famine has multiple pages to flip through; I have started here as this is the page detailing the Irish flight to America.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Coffin Ships
  • The first coffin ships headed for Quebec, Canad
  • Up to half of the men that survived the journey to Canada walked across the border to begin their new lives in America. They had no desire to live under the Union Jack flag in sparsely populated British North America
  • They viewed the United States with its anti-British tradition and its bustling young cities as the true land of opportunity
  • American ships were held to higher standards than British ships by the U.S. Passenger Acts, a set of laws passed by Congress regulating the number of passengers ships coming to America could carry as well as their minimal accommodations. Congress reacted to the surge of Irish immigration by tightening the laws, reducing the number of passengers allowed per ship, thereby increasing fares. America, congressmen had complained, was becoming Europe's "poor house."
  • During the trans-Atlantic voyage, British ships were only required to supply 7 lbs. of food per week per passenger
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      Each page has a few of these contemporary images that could be used in the classroom.
  • Before boarding, they had been given the once-over by doctors on shore who usually rejected no one for the trip, even those seemingly on the verge of death
  • The poorest of the poor never made it to North Americ
  • Despite the dangers, the Irish knew that once they landed on Britain's shores they would not starve to death. Unlike Ireland, food handouts were freely available throughout the country
  • The cheap lodging houses were also used by scores of Irish waiting to embark on ships heading for North America. Three out of four Irish sailing for North America departed from the seaport at Liverpool. Normally they had to sleep over for a night or two until their ship was ready to sail. Many of these emigrants contracted typhus in the rundown, lice-infested lodging houses, then boarded ships, only to spend weeks suffering from burning fever out at sea.
  • jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
     
    The History Place is a privately-run website that provides content to educators on a wide variety of historical subject. I have included this section on the Irish Potato Famine, as it was one of the more compelling narratives I found on the internet.
jbdrury

The Great Famine in Ireland - 0 views

www.wesleyjohnston.com/...index.htm

ireland irish history irish potato famine potato blight history irish history of ireland blight

shared by jbdrury on 02 Oct 09 - Cached
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      This is another privately-run site. The chief qualification for the two men operating the site is that "both have lived in Ireland for their whole lives." This should be considered when using this site.
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      The demographic section is interesting; it has a map showing where most of the potato farming took place. I didn't realize it was concentrated chiefly in the western part of Ireland.
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      "The Potato" section provides a little bit of the science behind how the potato blight works - including a picture of a 'blighted' potato
  • ...2 more annotations...
    • jbdrury
      jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
       
      "Emigration" has a simplified chart showing the emigration patterns to different parts of the world (USA, Canada, Britain)
  • This section was written for The Ireland Story by Wesley Johnston.
  • jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
     
    One more interesting website with lots of resources on the history of Ireland and its people; this specific site I've tagged is yet again regarding the potato blight. It some more images that could be used in the classroom.
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