A "B" Please?

            Yesterday in Human Geo class we finally got to finish reviewing for the exam we will have next week. I’m glad that we got to review at all, because if we didn’t I wouldn’t have a lot of the information I needed to study on. During we got to ask questions about the exam as well and Mr. Schick told us things like: how many questions there would be, which sections we worked on would be part of short answer questions, and just what we needed to review the most at home before the exam. Since the school week ended I have be studying my heart out on lots on exams that we will have next week, including my: English, Biology, Spanish, Math, Religion, and Human Geo exams. I hope to do the best I can and score at least a “B” in all my exam subjects, but until then I guess I still need to study.

There Will Be Exams

          Today in Human Geo class we reviewed for our exam! Although I am not looking forward to the exams next week, at least I know what to look for and where to find it thanks to Mr. Schick. Today he showed us what was going to be on our exam and where to find it on his blog under “Links That Don’t Stink” After he opened the tab where the notes on what we should study were found, we started to review what was on that list. We reviewed lots of things from A Message To Garcia, to Socrates. Although we didn’t get through everything, we left off on a great spot to start up on tomorrow, when we have an extra, long mod for Human Geo. I hope the test will be easy for me because so far I think I’ve done great in class and I wouldn’t want that to change now.  

Project Over

           Today in class we finally got to show our projects to the rest of the class. My group was assigned to talk about American made products, how they’re better, and then make an ad about an American made product. I think that most of the people in my group did a good amount of work, except one that decided they weren’t even going to get on the presentation. And even when they finally got on, on Monday they didn’t get anything done for the group. I still think we did a pretty good job, when we put together the final product. I feel like we could have done better, but there’s only so much your small group can do in terms of a project in less than a week. Next time I hope that everyone can do an equal amount of work so that we can get everything done that we need to.

Project Time.... Again

           Today in Human Geography class we got to continue working on our project about the types of products made in each country and we have to support what’s better about our certain product than the foreign maker. My group was picked to do our research on how American made products were better than foreign made products. Although my group and I got a head start on the project over the weekend, we didn’t get as much done during class than we did then. We forgot to do the review of our product compared to the competitors and so that was what we mainly focused on this class. For our product that was made in America, we selected Silly Putty, it was funny at first because it was just a joke, but then we found out that it was actually mainly manufactured in Easton, Pennsylvania. I guess you learn something new every day in Human-Geo.

Project Time

            In Mr. Schick’s Human-Geography class on Friday we were given a project to do with our group after we finished watching the last video about capitalism in China. For our project we got picked to talk about the United States and how its products were better than that of imported goods. The best thing my group and I thought was about American goods was their quality and durability.  We thought after the video that we had enough ideas about how American made objects were better. For one, after hearing what happened to people who drove in Chinese made cars in America, I don’t think I would drive in any car made in China unless it could pass every safety test. Many Americans don’t care about where their stuff was made in. I think they should care where everything is made and they shouldn’t just expect something made in another country to be better because it’s cheaper.

So Many Cars

            Today in Human Geography class we talked with Mr. Schick about car companies, jobs, and countries, and how all these things can affect us. Car companies in China and lower wages in China means people in America can get cars for cheaper prices. Although this can be seen in a good point of view, many Americans are losing their jobs to Chinese people who will work for about an eighth of the price for a day that the American workers made in an hour. Meanwhile China is also growing and expanding its amount of cars and highways. China will soon overtake the United States in the next ten years in the amount of cars and highways in the world. The only bad thing is, not many Chinese know how to drive, have a car, or even have the money for a car. Another factor is the amount of car crashes the Chinese deal with and how they settle it. Most car crashes end up with a direct payment from one side of the crash. Who knows what China will end up like with even more jobs and cars joining in.

Politics

Capitalism- Capitalism is an economic and political system that is centered on every person’s individual rights. It is a system that also focuses on the rule of law over the rule of man, meaning the law is to be followed. Capitalism is a social system based on the principle of individual rights. Politically, it is the system of laissez-faire (freedom). Legally it is a system of objective laws (rule of law as opposed to rule of man). Economically, when such freedom is applied to the sphere of production its’ result is the free-market.

 Communism- The political system where all land and objects are owned by everyone in a “classless” society.

Free enterprise- Free enterprise is the freedom to trade without government control over your trades. The doctrine or practice of giving companies the freedom to trade and make a profit without government control

Free market- An economic system in which businesses operate without government control in matters such as pricing and wage levels.

Inequity-  Unfair treatment or action.

Cars and Roads?

         Today in Human Geography class we talked about how China changed from being a country that mainly used bikes for transport, to one that is starting to become mainly dependent on cars. There are using cars so much in fact that their road systems may outgrow ours in the next ten years or even sooner. In China they also don’t have very good system for reviewing accidents. One company represents their client at the crash and the same for the owner of the other car. The final judgment is made by the traffic cop in China. Many people however still try to attempt at insurance fraud and they may also try to flee the scene of the crime to avoid getting billed by the person and the damage done to their car. I wonder what America would be like if we didn’t have such an evolved system of solving our car problems.

What Do We Do?!

          In class on Friday we had a discussion about how we could fix our job situation in the United States and keep business here and keep it from giving U.S. jobs to people in other countries. One way or another there seemed to be no solution to our job crisis. And even if we could get Americans to keep their jobs we would still be faced with inflation, which is where prices get so high people start demanding more money, which in turn causes the company to make more money and then the consumer can’t even afford the product so they need more money and so on. Today’s job crisis is just one big mess of things, where one good thing brings a bad one. I wish we could just solve all of our problems and stop having to think so hard over something we can’t understand. Maybe one day we can fix this mess.

Big Business and Economy

           Today in class we continued to watch the video we watched in previous classes and continued on our topic of capitalism. During the video we froze and each talked about what we thought about what just happened and what we can do. Like how we can get more business in America and keep businesses from leaving America to use cheap labor in countries like China. I had an idea of having everyone (who can afford it) pay the same tax, and for those in the lower class who can’t afford to pay the tax will have that tax lowered based on income. If we can do that then the upper classes will have to money to be able to make new businesses which will create new jobs for those unemployed and therefore we could possibly make the economy even out as well. If a government official does chose to go the way I had just explained I would like to see how it would play out in the end.

Big Companies

          Today in class we talked more about China and in general capitalism. We watched a video that talked about jobs and how the world relies on other people to make things. Not only that, but also how the United States is losing jobs to other people in different countries, because the people in those other countries will work for less and the companies can gain more money. In the video there were many examples of this happening including how a company moved its plant from Missouri to China and as a result over four-hundred workers were laid off. This also resulted in the fact that the Chinese workers were paid only up to ten percent of what the American workers were paid. This proved my point on how the companies were just greedy for money. There is change though in the price of items now that they can be made cheaper. Now we can all buy items that would normally be over one-hundred dollars for twenty.  

Those Countries

           Today in class we finally finished our lesson on different countries, their leaders, and their leader’s traits. We also got back our final test on this unit and many people did great on it including me. I got a perfect score and was really excited to score so well even though I didn’t think I studied my hardest, but it was great to see that studying at all can pay off. After we finished handing out the tests we spent just about five minutes reviewing and if anyone got anything wrong they were allowed to write the right answer on their paper. Then we started the next section in a way. We started by watching a video about capitalism and then as we went through the video we talked about what was going on in China and how the government tried to control parts of people’s lives and how jobs in China can affect us, here in the U.S. But since we didn’t get that far I guess I’ll just talk about that next time.

Essays and Tests

           Today in class we started out with handing in our papers that we did over the weekend. I talked about Iran, Israel, and the United States and their relationship to each other in the crises going on in the Gaza Strip. After we handed in our papers, Mr. Schick already started to read out the mistakes we made on our papers. I did see the rubric the day before our paper was due, but I guess I just thought that I had already done everything right. I think the only thing I did wrong was underlining the title.  

            After we handed in our paper we had to take our test. We even got to use our blog, but unlucky I, my internet was down. Although I was at a disadvantage, I found the test really easy and finished it before a lot of other people did. I’m sad there’s no Human Geography tomorrow.

First Paper Project

            In class after we finished talking about the countries and when they were declared independent, who they ruled by, and where they were located, we were assigned a paper to do by Monday. When we got this assignment I hoping me and my partner from our last assignment would be able to do the paper together, but that plan failed when they told me they were going to do the paper with someone else. I really did wish I could’ve had a partner for this assignment, but I guess I can do the best I can by myself anyway. I think for my paper I am going to write about Israel and Iran and their relationship with the U.S. and each other. Like the fact that right now they are currently launching rockets at each other daily. And then Israel is building up troops along the border and has assassinated one of Iran’s political leaders close to the border. But I guess I should wait until I say everything about my paper.

Countries And Reviewing

                   Today in class we continued to talk about countries as our topic and tried to finish talking about our facts. Although I don’t think we quite finished, we still did get a lot done. Especially for those people who didn’t quite have enough time to finish their research. I’m glad Erin and I got to finish ours though. We found a lot of information and checked each other’s facts to make sure that they were right.  After today I can say though that I learned a lot about what is and have gone on in these countries and how confusing or cruel the world can be. Mr. Schick even told us a story today about what happened to Iran when the Shaa was replaced by a man that changed Iran even now. When the Shaa was forced out of power Mr. Schick met a woman whose father was supposedly very highly ranked in the military of Iran before the Shaa was forced to leave. Even today she is waiting for the Shaa to regain power so she may return home.

Countries N' Stuff

Afghanistan- Afghanistan declared independence from the United Kingdom on August 19^th, 1919. Ahmad Shah Durrani found the tribes of early Afghanistan in 1747. Before they became Independent they were a commonwealth to the United Kingdom. Afghanistan is in an area called the Middle East and can also be found if you look Northwest of India on a map.

France- France was first thought to declare its independence in the year 1789 A.D. when it was freed by itself. Before France first was thought to declare independence it was ruled under a Kingship and heavily oppressed. Although France was under another rule, it wasn’t a country that ruled them. France is one of many countries that can found in Europe and is just east of Spain and west of Germany.

India- India succeeded from the United Kingdom on August 19, 1947 just after World War II. Before they became independent they ruled by the British and were part of the British Empire. It was once said the British Empire was so big that the sun couldn’t set on it. India is a country placed to the north of the Indian Ocean and Southeast of Afghanistan.

Mexico- Mexico declared independence from Spain on September 16, 1810. Before they declared independence Mexico was part of the Spanish rule and only declared independence after the United States stepped in and helped them in a revolution. Mexico is known as Central America in many cases because it is located between North America (U.S. and Canada) and South America (Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, etc.).

United Kingdom- Although the United Kingdom has had many revolts and has had many governments and royal families overthrown, they haven’t actually been ruled by another country. They are an island nation located Northeast of Europe, and have ruled many other countries, but they have never been ruled themselves.

Brazil- Brazil has been under Portuguese rule for over three centuries and gained its independence in September 7, 1822. When Brazil was subject to Portugal, there was constant fighting, rebelliousness, and slavery. Although Brazil has declared its independence, it is still a country that speaks mainly Portuguese. It is in Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and several other countries that have also gained their independence.

Germany-Germany declared independence on January 18, 1871. Germany was never subject to another country. European power struggles immersed Germany in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century. The wars left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. Germany is in Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark.

Iran-Iran gained their independence from a tyrant’s reign (Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavilran) on April 1, 1979. Iran is located in the Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea. Iran was known as Persia until 1935 and became an Islamic republic in 1979. The Shaa of Iran was overthrown and replaced by someone called the Iatola enforced strict religious law that was unfair to women and gave people less freedom.

Suadi Arabia-Saudi Arabia has never been colonized, so their independence day is actually the day when their kingdom was created. Their independence was declared on September 23, 1932, which is now called “Unification of the Kingdom”. Saudi Arabia is in the Middle East and it borders the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

Venezuela-Venezuela declared independence from Spain on July 5, 1811. It is located in Northern South America, borders the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, and is between Colombia and Guyana. Venezuela was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830. For most of the first half of the 20th century, Venezuela was ruled by generally benevolent military strongmen, who promoted the oil industry and allowed for some social reforms.

Mo' Quizzes

         Today in class we finally got back our quizzes on the leaders and or president of each country and what they accomplished.  I was so happy when I got a hundred on the quiz. Not only that but I think everyone was also happy for Damian and amazed he got perfect score as well. We were so happy when heard we were also the best class in terms of number of A’s and in percentage. Not only that but I think we might also be one of Mr. Schick’s favorite classes. After we finished getting our quizzes back from Mr. Schick, we went over the answers. When we were going over the answers, Alex said that her letter B was a Q and we were all like “It’s a B” and she was like “It’s a Q”. I guess we had a fun time today anyway even if we still have to remember all this stuff for another time. 

Fight Me Bro?

           Yesterday in class after we studied and gathered information about the leaders of several countries we had a quiz about the leaders of each country and the attributes that make them great or what defines them. I found the test really easy and I also think I did really well, because of the fact that we’ve been reviewing the information for about a week or two. After the quiz we started writing notes on the next part of the lesson. We were also reminded about how the president of Venezuela challenged George Bush to a fist fight and the reason he hates us so much. The reason is that he thinks of us as an imperialist country which is also one of our key words this lesson. When he talks about the U.S. as an imperialist country, he means that we try to control other countries through our products, military, and our culture. Although we do have a lot of impact on other countries culture, I just think he’s jealous that he can’t do the same with his country.   

It's a Globe!

        Today in class a few things happened. One of which was that we had shadows! There were two shadows in our class today. One was named Cameron and was with Ellie, and the other was named Erin and was with Erin. We also got to play a game in class as we learned about the leaders of different countries. The game worked like this.  Mr. would call on us and we would have to either pick a country or a leader, and tell everyone a fact or two about it. Then after we decided if the fact was “worthy” Mr. Schick would toss us a ball in the shape of a globe and tell us to find the country that leader represents on the globe. Mr. Schick made the game even more fun and funny when he would pretend to throw the ball at us and constantly fake us out and make us paranoid. I hope we have more fun games that we can enjoy while learning!  

This is Crazy

         Today in class, we got back to class after not having it Tuesday and started looking back over the facts we gathered about the presidents of our list of countries. It turns out that we learned just quite a few things from just researching the presidents of these countries and finding their background. An example is when Dilma Rousseff was in her early twenty’s she tried to overthrow the Brazilian government. Although she did not succeed at first and was imprisoned and tortured she later became Brazil’s president and is still president today. Not only that, but she is also Brazil’s first female president. We also learned about the king of Saudi Arabia and that he has over thirty children and thirteen wives! Mr. Schick told us that almost all of the king’s sons are in the military or some high place in ranking. Not only that, but he is watching them all carefully to see which son will be worthy of his throne after the king dies. I hope for the best for all these leaders in this crazy world!

Leaders and Achievements

David Cameron- The youngest elected Prime Minister of England. He also gave Middle Eastern countries weapons in hope to bring “peace”.

Hamid Karzai- He and his oldest brother were having a case put together against them, because of corruption. He was also part of a drug trade with his other brother Ahmed Wali Karzai. The Taliban ruled the country before him and now he is trying to stop the drug trade.

Enrique Pena Nieto- His wife died during his second term in office due to a seizure. Lots of people don’t like him because he killed two protesters when he called in for the state police.

Ju Hintao- He stabilized his country and its population, to make it a first class superpower. Meanwhile, he also closely controls the media to control what the public hears.

Pranab Mukherjee- He is an author of many different books including Beyond Survival and Off the Track. He is also one of the oldest presidents in India.

Mahmoud Ahmaddinejad- Vowed to destroy Israel at any cost. It is also claimed that he stormed an U.S. embassy in 1979.

Benjamin Netanyahu- He considers Iran the biggest threat to Israel and its people. He is not the only leader in Israel, his co-worker Shimon Perez is the president while Benjamin is the Prime Minister.

Joachim Gauck- He lived most of his life in East Germany in the time of the Soviet Union. Near the fall of the Berlin Wall Gauck frequently saw protesters including one peaceful protest in 1989.

Franquios  Hollande- Hollande grew up in northern Normandy, where the allies had first invaded France in WWII. Although he was raised Catholic as a child Hollande is now part of the agnostic belief. She was the first woman president to be elected into office.

Dilma Rousseff- Before she became president it was rumored that had handled weapons and organized operations. On January 16, 1970 she was arrested on suspicion and for possession of a firearm.

Hugo Chavez- He served in the army from 1976-1981 and was in the academy for four years. He later joined up with the Bolivarian Revolutionary Army and fought in many important operations.

Abdullah Al Suad- He secretly urged the United States to place tracking systems on released inmates from Guantanamo Bay and he also told the United States he would like them to destroy Iran and their nuclear program. He had thirty five children and thirteen wives. 

George Bush- He had a shoe thrown at him during one of his visits to Middle East. His father was also the president before him and both father and son served two terms. 

Being Busy

            In class on Friday, Mr. Schick finally came back to start class after two days with subs. Not only that, but I also got to where the birthday hat finally after waiting since Tuesday. Also in class we started to write our facts about the presidents and types of government’s countries had on index cards or just on paper. I think everyone in class got scared though, when Mr. Schick mentioned a pop quiz about our facts at the end of class. Luckily though that didn’t happen at all, and it turns out we’ll probably have our quiz sometime next school week.

Maybe if we didn’t have so many off days last week we would still have Monday off, but since that happened, we won’t have as much time to get ready. After so only having a two day school week I’m expecting to have a lot of homework and I guess I should get ready for the worst when it does come.

Testing Testing

          Today in class we had a substitute teacher since Mr. Schick wasn’t in today. Turns out we got Mr. Huber for a substitute and let Kishan and Cole go over our tests that we took on Friday. I did pretty well on my test, and didn’t think I needed to review much, but after hearing what happened I joined in. As Kishan and Cole went over the answers, where they actually let us answer the questions, it became a contest to see who got what right first. Turns out I must’ve known more on the day of the test than today, because I got nearly a third of what I called out wrong. Still, I found it pretty funny how people who didn’t do as well as others, manage to beat the people who did better at the review. I liked today’s class and hope we can review like this more often. Oh, and another thing that happened was I didn’t get to where the birthday hat. L

People and Places

Mexico

Federal Republic

Enrique Pena Nieto

China

Communist Type Government

Ju Jintao

 

India
Federal Republic

Pranab Mukherjee

Islamic Republic

Hamid Karzai

Afghanistan

Theocratic Republic

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iran

Parliamentary Democracy

Shimon Peres-President, Benjamin Metenyahu-Prime Minister

Israel

Federal Republic

Joachim Gauck-President, Angela Merkle-Prime Minister

Germany

 

Constitutional Monarchy and Commonwealth Realm

David Cameron-Prime Minister, Queen Elizibeth- Queen

United Kingdom

 

Francois Hollande

France

Federal Republic

Dilma Rousseff

Brazil

Federal Republic

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias

Venezuela
Monarchy

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Suad
Suadi Arabia
Monarchy

So Many Tests..

Today in class we reviewed for the last time for our last test of the quarter. I only didn’t know a few and things and learned what from what we talked about. I guess other people didn’t know I was unsure when I said an answer to one of the questions, because when I was wrong they thought I was serious. I’m sure I’m going to be tired tonight too. Not just because of how much I don’t understand, but also because four of my other teachers decided to give tests tomorrow as well; like in math, art, Spanish, and biology. I really hope the notes I took can help me on this test, if not then I guess I’ve already failed. Until then I guess I’m studying for everything by now and I guess it will probably take a while before I finish studying. Next time I hope to be able to study for everything and know I’ll do well. 

Test Review

        Today in class we continued talking and reviewing about our quiz. Mr. Schick let us give our input on what kind of questions would be on the test. I wrote down a few things like there are one billion people that are not claimed by any religion. There are 2.2 billion Christians in the world and are currently the biggest religion in the world. There is one religion growing fast and coming close in numbers to Christianity though and its name is Islam, the fasting growing major religion in the world. The oldest living monotheistic religion is Judaism and the oldest living religion is Hinduism. Buddhism is not polytheistic or a monotheistic religion. The Christians and Jews were discriminated the most by the Romans in the early years after Christ. I hope that with studying and taking these notes I can do great on the last test of the quarter and finish strong.

Testng 1,2,3...

        Yesterday in class we finished talking about the religions we were assigned. After that we learned via Mr. Schick that we were ahead of just about every other class. When I first heard that I was happy, because I thought that meant no homework, but then I realized that we always have to blog like now. Although I wasn’t completely wrong, it meant we didn’t have class work to do for the time being. Then Mr. Schick told us that we were going to make the test we had on Wednesday ourselves! We had to make up five questions each and he would pick out some of them from each blog and put them on the test. This is good and bad. One good thing is that some people might make really easy questions; the bad thing is some people’s notes are different from the others so I’ll have to study even more. I just hope this won’t be the worst test.

Religion Questions

What are three monotheistic religions?
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

What is a monotheistic religion?
A monotheistic religion is a religion where there is only one god or main person being worshiped.

What is a polytheistic religion?
A polytheistic religion is a religion where there is one or more gods being worshiped.

What is one way we can communicate better with people in different countries?
By speaking the same language.

Where did the vikings land in North America?
The vikings landed in a place called Newfoundland which is in modern day Canada. 

What are some of the Native Americans weapons?
Tomahawks and bows.

When did Columbus land in the new world?
Columbus landed in the Caribbean on October 12, 1492.

Religion 101

         Today in class we went over the religions we researched last week and what they were really about. Like whether the religions were about worshiping one God or many gods. We found that most of the religions we researched were monotheistic meaning they believed in one god. Although they was still one or two religions that were a polytheistic which means they believed in more than one or many gods. Kishan also explained to us today about the religion known as Hinduism which is where there is one god, but it confuses some people because they think there is more than one god in this religion. I know as a fact and because I am a Catholic that we are a monotheistic religion, because we believe there is only one and true God. In Intro To Bible class we are also learning about why we believe in only one God even though there is Jesus and the Trinity, but that’ll have to wait for next time.

War of Religion

        Today in class we talked about some of the religions that we researched for homework last weekend. We also talked about more ethnic groups and how almost every war known to man was started as a result of religions. This is the simple idea that one group of people doesn’t like the other just because of how they worship their “god”. Personally it doesn’t feel right that millions of people should die just because one or both feel they need to show that they are better than the other. What my real question is “WHY?”. Why does it matter who you worship or why does it matter why you worship that person and not the other religion’s god? I guess most people are just fueled by hate and just can’t accept the fact that they’re not the best. To me it sounds like a fight between two six year olds whenever a country fights itself over religion. Maybe we should just rethink what we’re really doing…

Religions

Christianity
        Christianity started in modern day Israel. It is a monotheistic religion, meaning they believe that there is only one true and all-knowing God. The Christian Holy Book is called the Bible and is very important in the faith. There are approximately 2.1 billion Christians worldwide. The central figure of this religion is known as God and or Jesus (Jesus died somewhere from 30 A.D.- 36 A.D.). He is also called Lord, Father, Yahweh, and Our Savior. Christianity is mainly practiced in the Americas, but it is also very popular in places like Europe, Asia, and even Australia.

Islam
        The Islamic religion was founded about 622 C.E. in the city of Mecca. Islam is another religion that believes in monotheism, where there is only one true God. The Islamic holy book is called the Quran also spelled Koran, Koraan and Qura’n. About one third of the world’s population is Islamic. This religion is centered on the prophet Mohammad and the Islamic god. This religion is highly practiced in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Libya.

Buddhism
Buddhism was founded at about 460 B.C. by a prince named Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism is not monotheistic meaning it must be polytheistic. This means they believe in more than one god or idol. The Buddhist holy book is called the Tipitaka. There are an estimated 350 million people in the world who are Buddhist or roughly three percent of Earth’s population. There is no central figure in the Buddhist faith. The majority of Buddhists live in Japan and parts of Asia, although they are scattered all over the world.

Hinduism
Hinduism is thought to have started in India in some time during what’s called the stone ages. There is no way of knowing exactly when Hinduism was discovered. Hinduism has many gods it worships, and although it does this it does focus on one main god. Personally I would consider it a polytheistic religion. The Hindu holy book is called the Vedas. Hinduism also claims about 900 million followers. There are many central figures in Hinduism known as deities. Most people who are Hindu live in places in and around India.

Judaism
Judaism is one of few religions that we don’t know when exactly was discovered. Judaism is a monotheistic religion because they believe in one God. The Jewish holy book is called the Tanakh. There are also about 1.4 million followers of this religion and about 40% live in Israel. This religion worships God, which is their central figure. Most Jewish people live in Israel in the Middle East.

People Are the Same

         Today in class we talked about how different people act in different places. Many countries have people in them that speak many different languages. These people are also exceptional at getting news out to each other. Some of them speak Arabic, some might even speak Spanish, or Swedish. We also learned about how people in some places can interpret just one word. Such as how people can interpret the word soda. People will call it pop, soda, coke, and cola. There was a survey we looked to see what people called these words in different parts of America called counties. There was no part of America that called these words the exact same things. Sometimes I could agree with people that we should all speak one universal language, but it would still be good to speak a different language in some instances, that way you’ll know what people are saying if they choose to speak a different language.

Who was really here first?

          Today in class we showed our presentations about the people who really founded America first. The first people to come to the Americas were of the Native Americans. Not only is it in their name, but it has been proven by fact. They crossed over the Ice Bridge over 10,000 years ago while they were following a herd of mammoth. When they followed these mammoth across the bridge they wandered into modern day Alaska. After they crossed the bridge into their new home the “hunters and gatherers” spread out and repopulated each area they moved to. This process continued and when they were discovered by the Europeans in 1492 there were nearly 50 million of them! It is amazing to think that so many people lived in the Americas before Columbus came and yet he got all the recognition for rediscovering America. It just goes to show not everything you learn is real. 

America

           Today in class we were assigned into three groups which were Native American, Viking, and Columbus. When we got these groups we assumed it had something to do with Columbus, since today it was in fact Columbus Day today. I, since I am part Native American chose to be the Indians. After our groups were chosen and I argued that tomahawks are better weapons than muskets; we got together and answered some questions about what our groups were and how they discovered America. Not only that, but what they were also trying to find when they stumbled across America.

            In my group we found that the Native Americans actually found America by accident just like Columbus. They were simply tracking mammoth, which was their main source of food at the time, when they followed the herd a bit too far; eventually crossing an ice bridge from Russia to modern day Alaska. They soon gathered together and crossed into America, multiplying and spreading throughout the region.

Blog Test!

          Today in class we took our test on a film about three people that are part of a group called, “The Lost Boys.” During the test we were actually allowed to use our blogs to help us with the test. Although I did take a lot of notes in my copybook and on paper; I did not mention many facts on my blog about the movie. I’m still glad I’d managed to study my notes the night before, otherwise I’d probably of failed the test. I do know however that I might of gotten a few things wrong anyway. I’m not the best at studying or taking notes, but I think I can still do a very good job. Hopefully next time we watch a movie or read a story in class I’ll put the notes I take on my blog just in case. But until then, better keep studying my hardest.

Charity

          Today in class we discussed organizations that we gathered last time. We also talked about which organizations would be best to sponsor and or if other people used them which would be best. We found that some organizations had deep dedication to their work while others seemed to claim things, but not change much at all. I liked to see that some of these organizations even let you sponsor a child. It was also nice to see some charities setting up schools and health clinics for those in need of them. We also heard about John’s foundation for the movie “God Grew Tired of Us.” Last time we heard from him he was getting funds for his health clinic. We also got an e-mail from John saying that he would come speak to our school if we could provide $6000 and travel and a hotel. I just hope to see what these charities can really do. 

Help For The Suffering

            Today in class we researched many organizations that claim that they help people in need. In my group we found many organizations that claimed they helped the people of suffering countries. The organizations also claimed they helped these people and their countries by providing them with good medical care and better living conditions. The money would also go to transport and to helping the people get a better education if needed. It would be nice to see these organizations actually people like on the news. Such as showing they hand out clean water and fresh food. It would be a good feeling to see your money actually go somewhere and actually make a difference.         

            I guess that’s why John from the documentary “God Grew Tired of Us” started his own organization. Since he is the only person I know that actually truly knows what these people need I trust him the most.

Family Reunion

            Today in class we finished the video God Grew Tired of Us. At the end of the video there was a great thing that happened. John had finally saved enough money to bring his mother and sister to America! When they met there was even a story in the paper about him reuniting with his family. Not only that, but he was followed by a local news station and interviewed about how he felt about seeing them again for the first time in seventeen years. Then Daniel also went to Sudan to find his wife and bring her back to America as well as his brother and mother. All in all it was a very touching reunion. Although last time we saw Panther he was jumping from job to job and had not gotten word of his family I’m it won’t be long before he is reunited as well. I’m happy for the Lost Boys and how far they have come.

The Lost Boys

           Today in Human-Geo class we finished watching the movie about The Lost Boys. In this movie the Lost Boys got a chance of having a better life in America. They got help from organizations like the UN to get them to America. When they finally got there they had three months to get jobs and repay the government for the plane tickets and for supporting them for three months. John was placed in Syracuse, New York and Panther and Daniel were placed in Pittsburg. Two of these three boys went to get a college education along the way to get better jobs. When they finally finished college John became the secretary for the Lost Boys. This meant he would have to give motivational speaking and help spread the word of the suffering in Sudan. I am glad to see how far these boys have come from being starved little boys in Sudan to business class men in America spreading the word of their fellow brothers. 

A Better World

Today in class we learned about the Lost Boys in a video called God Grew Tired of Us. In this video we learned about the hardships of three of the lost boys. Their names were Panther, Daniel, and John. They were forced to flee their country in the 80’s to evade the Sudan Civil War. They don’t know where their families since they’ve been separated for so long. I thought it was very sad what happened to them. Although I was happy to see that in their refugee camp they at least had some food and got an education. We later watched them leave their country and camp for the US. They were finally going to see how life was like outside of Africa. None of them had even used electricity or even used a fork. So I thought that it was a great thing to give them a better life in America.

First Quiz

            Today during Human Geography class we got back our tests we took last time we were there. When I heard he had already graded our first test I was very nervous. I didn’t know how well I did. I was glad when I saw my grade, because I was thinking of everything I could’ve gotten wrong. When we all the tests had finally been handed out I realized how incredibly lucky I had gotten on some parts of the test. On many parts of it I had to take a guess, because I hadn’t known all the facts about the individual countries. If I learned anything about my first test is to study hard and go over anything you learned. I just hope next time I can be more prepared for any tests or quizzes. At least this time I did a great job at my first quiz!

 

Sudan Civil War

            The second Sudanese Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2005, or about 22 years! When the war escalated over two million people died by famine and disease as a result. Some of these diseases were malaria and other such diseases carried in water and in insects. Meanwhile the famine was caused by the slaughtering of animals and killing of many other civilians. When there wasn’t enough food to feed the growing armies of both sides the civilians were left to starve. Most of their food was stolen from them and they died themselves. Another affect of the war was that over four million people were forced to flee their native country and birthplace, Sudan. More civilians died in this war than in any other war except WWII. This civil war left many displaced and even more scared for life with the losses and endurances hey went through. This was a horrible thing to happen and yet countries have wars like this almost every decade.

Get It Done

           In class on Friday we finally got to present our project to the class. My group and I worked on collecting facts about the United States of America. When we presented we also had to answer questions Mr. Schick gave us on the spot. I believe since we had one more day than the rest of the class we had the advantage of time. We had more of a chance to prepare our project and see what was going to happen when we presented our project. I think we did a great job on our project. When it was our turn, there were very few things we missed about our country. Mr. Schick did allow us however to use the CIA Factbook during our presentation, so that when he asked a question to us we could answer it correctly and quickly. I think this project was a good idea; it both helped us prepare for our test and helped us learn a little bit more about different countries.

Presentation Day

            Today in class we finished our country projects and presented them to Mr. Schick and the rest of the class. We watched three other groups present their projects today. One was Indonesia, another was Italy, and the last was a country in Africa. We learned many facts about each country, including their population, type of government, and even the emigration to immigration rate. I found the death rate over the birth rate interesting for most of the countries. Although my group had our presentation ready, we did not have time in class to do our presentation. So instead of doing ours today we got to watch everyone else’s. I hope we do a great job on our presentation since we did technically have a day longer to do it than the other groups. I just hope I we have all the information we need about our country, if not, we’re in trouble…

Country Presentation

      Today in class we formed groups and started a PowerPoint presentation. We started this after we did our unit about facts from the CIA Factbook. This is where we learned all sorts of information about countries all over the globe. For my groups project we were assigned the United States of America and each of us found different facts about it. In our groups we each assigned each other a topic for our country. There was communication, government, population, and even economy. My group assigned me to research the government portion of our presentation. Using the CIA Factbook I listed all sorts of facts about our government. Like our nation’s symbol, which is the Bald Eagle or when The Declaration of Independence was signed, which was in 1776.  By using the CIA Factbook we learned a lot about our countries and how they were doing in today/’s environment, but then again there’s still a lot to learn.

The World Moves Fast

            Today in class we talked about population and how fast the world moves and its population. Like the fact that today there are seven billion people alive and that number is still climbing. We also talked about the average life expectancy for people in our country and others. It seems the lowest life expectancy for people is in countries around Africa like Chad. We also discussed crude birth rate which is the number of births per one thousand of the population, and crude death rate which is the number of deaths per one thousand of the population. Near the end of class we also talked about push and pull factors of different countries. The push forces for someone to want to leave their country are: civil war, environmental degradation, unemployment, and religious or ethnic persecution. And some of the pull forces to bring people to the USA and Canada are: better economic opportunity, better health services, religious freedom, and political freedom. These are just a few things that can affect our world greatly today.

Back Into Blogging

            Today in class I found that some our blogs came back up after yesterday’s drama. Luckily I was one of those people that got their blog back. Although some people in both classes situation hadn’t changed. Their blogs were still down today. I only realized that my blog was back up, when early in the class I checked just out of curiosity. That’s when I posted the blog I made yesterday. We also went over the video we watched for homework. This was a video called “Did You Know?”. This video showed a list of facts about the world. It also explains how fast our world moves and changes. Mr. Schick also told us about how back in his time he used one of the earliest versions of a cell phone. He also said he never knew it could get any better than how it already was. Right now I don’t see how much better technology can get, but then again I can’t see the future.

Website Down!

           Today in class I found that my blogs were removed from blogger. I also found that I wasn’t the only one to lose my blog. Just about half of the whole had the same problem as me. So today I had to sit next to one of my classmates whose blog wasn’t taken down so we could listen to the questions and answers for last night’s homework. We also went into deeper detail about the questions and our answers. Such as going back onto the CIA Factbook and finding more information on countries. I am very surprised though why our blogs would be down in the first place. Could it just be a coincidence that just before it was taken down for “spam” we used the CIA Factbook to get information for our homework? I will have my suspicions from now on, but I’m still really upset this all happened.

Overview

            Today in class we went over the homework we had yesterday. That homework was twenty-five questions about the world while using the CIA Factbook. We went over who was the leading exporter, importer, and so on. We also talked about how we were running out of fuel and other important supplies quickly. I learned that we were also hated by some countries because we choose not to buy oil from them. I also learned about GDP and percentages of people who are out of work. The USA is also the main importer in the world. As well as importing I learned we do other things. We are the third in the world for cell phone usage just behind China for one, or how we consume the most oil and how we have the most airports in the world. I discovered many things from the CIA Factbook. I’m sure it’ll make a great research engine.

The CIA Factbook

1. What is the population of the United States?

The population of the USA today is 313,847,465.

2.            What are the five largest countries in the world, by population?

The five largest countries based on population are China, India, United States, Indonesia, and then Brazil.

3.            What is the population of Pakistan?

Pakistan has a population of 190,291,129.

4.            What kind of government does the United States have?

The United States has a strongly democratic government..

5.            What is the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe has an unemployment rate of 95%.

6.            What is the largest country in the world by area?

The largest country in the world based on area is Russia.

7.            What country has the third greatest number of airports?

Mexico has third largest amount of airports in the world.

8.            What country has the greatest number of exports?

China has the greatest amount of exports, which is $1,904,000,000,000.

9. What country exports more oil than any other?

Saudi Arabia exports the most oil of any country.

10. What country imports more oil than any other?

The United States imports the most oil of any country.

11. What country consumes more oil than any other?

The United States also consumes more oil than any other country.

12. Can women serve in combat roles in China’s military?

Woman can serve in the Chinese military if they are between the ages 16-49.

13. What is GDP?

GDP means gross domestic product.

14. What country has the highest GDP per capita in the world, and how much is it?

Liechtenstein has the highest GDP per capita at $141,100.

15. Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita?

The US is just outside the top ten for GDP per capita at number eleven.

16. Most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in what continent?

The countries with the highest birth rates can be found in Africa.

17. 11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from HIV/AIDS can be found in which continent?

The 11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from HV/AIDS can be found in Africa.

18. What other country is in the top ten?

India.

19. Where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths?

The US ranks number eighteen on the list.

20. Is the US #1 in number of cellular phones?

The US is not #1 in number of cell phones. We’re third the first is China.

21. What percentage of the US is Roman Catholic?

23.9% of the US is Roman Catholic.

22. What percentage of Mexico is Roman Catholic?

76.5% of the Mexican population is Roman Catholic.

23. What is Net Migration Rate?

Net Migration Rate is the difference between immigration and emigration in a certain area during a specific time frame

24. Does the US have the highest Net Migration Rate in the world?

The US does not have the highest Net Migration Rate.

25. What is the current population of the entire planet?

The world has a population of 7,021,836,029.