Shanga

Tanga Region, Tanzania, is an area of persistent rural poverty with a long history of drought, floods, food shortages, famine, and social and economic disruption. Though farmers have been cultivating the land there for hundreds of years, they have consistently been unable to supply adequate food for the region's inhabitants. In Challenging Nature, Philip Porter examines eighteen farming communities to understand what the farmers there know about their environment and which historical and economic factors play into the lack of food security. Porter first began work on this project in 1972, asking 250 farmers in the region about life history, environmental and agricultural changes, types of crops grown and methods of planting, environmental assessments, agricultural practices, food and water supplies, training and education, and attitudes toward nature. Twenty years later, he returned and reinterviewed as many farmers as could be found from the first survey. The result contextualizes the environmental history of the region while informing current and future agricultural development.

Table of contents

"As an introduction to how the history of an African society can be reconstructed from largely nonliterate sources, and to the Swahili in particular, . . . a model work."—International Journal of African Historical Studies

For the price of one, you get three Lando Calrissian novels: LANDO CALRISSSIAN AND THE MINDHARP OF SHARU, LANDO CLARISSIAN AND THE FLAMEWIND OF OSEON, and LANDO CALRISSIAN AND THE STARCAVE OF THONBOKA. You know him as a gambler, rogue, and con-artist; Lando's always on the frontier scanning his sensors for easy credits and looking for action in galaxies near and far.

The Really Useful Drama Book offers busy primary school teachers a collection of step-by-step drama sessions, inspired by high-quality picturebooks, that will engage children and promote enjoyable learning across the curriculum. Lively and thoughtful, the interactive drama sessions are structured around a wide range of texts, including wordless picturebooks, postmodern picturebooks, short stories, well-known texts by recognisable authors and some you may not have come across before, all chosen for their power to foster curiosity. The step-by-step sessions can also be adapted to incorporate your own ideas and passions, allowing you to structure them for the topics you’re exploring with your class. Each session is structured around two texts and offers a guide to the drama strategies used, teaching objectives, ideas for writing opportunities, problems, emotions and challenges to explore, and a clear guide to exploring each text. Ten key themes are explored: Suspense Prejudice Friendship Rhyme and rhythm War and conflict Nature Overcoming fear Possessions and obsessions Dreams Short stories With a focus on the crucial role of imagination in the classroom, The Really Useful Drama Book helps reclaim a purposeful, passionate pedagogy and shows teachers how drama can place children right at the heart of a story, encouraging their desire to ask questions, solve problems and search out new information.