Saturday, December 15, 2012

Exam Review

 We have our final exam on Monday.  Today we reviewed for it. Mr.Schick told us everything that we will need to know. He has a paper on his website that tells us how many questions and the topics of the questions. We will also have short answers on the exam. Mr. Schick gave us hints to what some of the short answer questions will be. Our exam for human geo is the second exam on Monday  Mr. Schick told us that some teachers might let us study for our next exam after we finish our first exam. I am going to bring my human geo books just in case I can. We also talked about how the cafeteria will be very crowded so we should pack a lunch instead of trying to buy food.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Presentations

Today everyone presented their reports. I think everyone did a great job on persuading us to buy their item. Everyone had a lot of interesting facts on their projects. My group went second out of the five presentations. I think that we did well. we had a lot of facts to try and persuade our buyer. We also had a very creative poster and slogan. Everyone had alot of information in their projects and no one forgot to finish theirs. Mr. Schick said that our class did an overall good job with their projects. All of the presenters did a good job of explaining instead of just reading of their power point like Mr. Schick  said to do.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Poster

Today in class my group made our poster for the project. You could either make the poster on power point or make a poster board. We decided to make a poster board. Maria brought in markers for us to decorate and Doori printed pictures. On our poster we wrote USA in blue and red and drew a picture of a foot in blue and red. We also printed out some of the reasons to buy from America instead of China and put it on our poster. Then we glued on all of the pictures . The pictures were of shoes that are made in the USA. My group is totally complete our project and is ready to share it tomorrow  I think that we did a good job and that our presentation will go well.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Buy American Shoes

Today in class we started working on our projects. My group decided to try and convince people that United States shoes  are better then shoes from China. My group is Holly, Maria, Doori, and Grace. We all worked on getting information and completed the power point today. I researched  reasons not to buy shoes from China. There are many reasons but the main reason is the working conditions. The working conditions in China are very bad. Many of the workers get sick  and are paid very low for hard labor. The only thing my group has left to do is make a poster. Holly came up with a slogan today, so tomorrow we are bringing in  poster board and markers to decorate it.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Finished Movie

We finished watching the second part of the movie today. According to an American lawyer that was helping sue the Chinese car companies for not using safety rules, the Chinese companies put profit over safety.  The Chinese are expected to sell about nine million cars this year. The Chinese have been trying to prevent pollution a little by making taxi drivers use compressed natural gas. This makes it harder for the taxi drivers to earn a lot of money because they waste a lot of time waiting on a line to get the compressed natural gas pumped into there cars. After the movie was over we received a project that we are going to have to do. We have to get into groups and then argue either that people should purchase American goods or Chinese goods. In my group is Doori, Maria, Grace, and Holly.  We are arguing that people should purchase American made goods.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Definitions

Capitalism=an economic and political  system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital  goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market
- type of economy were the companies have private ownership for example apple is run by people that know about computer and the store two sisters is run by two woman
- the companies are not owned by the government
- America's government uses this system

Communism= 1. theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.2. a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by atotalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.3.  the principles and practices of the Communist party.
-classless- no upper, middle, or lower  class except for the main government because no one owns any companies the state owns everything/ state owned= means owned by the countries government
- type of economy where the government owns everything 
- thinks its immoral to have poor people if you have people that are very rich

Free Enterprise=freedom of private business to organize and operate for profit in a competitive system without interference by government beyond regulation necessary to protect public interest and keep the national economy in balance
- no state control 
-the companies decided how much they sell their products for 
Free Market=an economic market operating by free competition
-
 Works Cited:
http://www.merriam-webster.com

Today in class we discussed what each of these vocab words meant. we also talked about how in our economy some jobs get paid more then others. For example, a baseball player receives a lot more pay then a teacher. even though some argue that teaches are more important to the society. 

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Cars in China

Today we watched more of the Chinese movie. The main Chinese company that is making cars is called Lifan. China is putting about 9 million new cars on the road every year. Three fourths  of the cars in China come from the major car companies. The main companies all manufacturer their cars in America. Nine out of ten people in China  pay for their cars in cash. In China they do not use credit cards like we do. They mostly save up the money then purchase items with cash. In America we use credit cards to purchase things before we actually have money. China is the biggest producer and consumer of steel. It used to  be mostly made in the United States. That is why the Pittsburgh Steelers are called the Steelers.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Second movie

The first thing we did was we got back our essays that we had wrote. I received a 199 out of a 200, and I am very happy with this grade. The things I got wrong were grammatical errors and citing my sources. When I write research papers I need to reread my work over more carefully and make sure I get all of the grammatical errors fixed. After we got back our papers we finished the last five minutes of the China movie. Then we started part three of the China movie. The Chinese put about 25,000 new cars on the road everyday. having everyone own a car is a fairly new concept for the Chinese. Everyone use to bike everywhere. Because cars are so new there are a lot of accidents. The Chinese government have not figured out a system for them, so some accidents don't involve police or lawyers  The two people that were in the accident just pay each other cash on the spot.  To build new roads for these cars they use manual labor because it is so cheap. One man gets paid 14 dollars a day for 11 hours each day to set explosives in the tunnel to make new roads.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Chinese and Americans Interdependent

 Today we finished the video on how America and China's economies are interdependent with one another.  For example  to make one prat sofa the materials are shipped between China and America. The cotton is  picked in America then shipped to China to be made into the material. Then the material is shipped back to the United States to be stuffed into the sofa. The wooden frame of the sofa is made in China but then sent to America to be attached to the fabric part of the sofa. In China the labor works hard for less money. One man is a scientist, and he pays for one-fifth for ten times the amount of space for his lab in China. Because Chinese workers get paid less it is hard for some families to make a living. One Chinese family  makes around 575 dollars  a year for growing lotus. They choose to pay to send their daughter to a good school which cost about half of what they make a year. In China they like to buy from American companies because they like the quality.Walmart to Americans is a place where you get a deal and to Chinese it is an upscale store.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

American Jobs

Today in class we talked about  what happened in the video. W etalked about how relocating a factory to China can affect people in the United States. Alot of companies manufactor their products from China becuase of the cheap labor, but that means that many Americans lost their jobs. i thought it was very ironic how a woman lost her job becuase of her company relocating and she was mad. She lost her job to a chinese worker, but she still was supporting them by going to places like walmart, which manufators almost all of its items from China. We talked about how you can choose what you want to suppor tor not. For example by going to Mcdonalds and buying food you are supporting their company. If you do not want to support it then do not go to McDonalds anymore.  For the last ten minutes of class we watched more of the video.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Assembly

Today we had our assembly were Gerry Sandusky came and talked to us. I thought it was a very great assembly. He was a very funny speaker and kept me interested the whole time. I liked the way that he overcame his situation in a good. He talked to us about how the other Jerry Sandusky changed his life. I thought it was interesting how before this all happened the good Gerry Sandusky and the bad Jerry Sandusky had done a news story on how they had the same name but where not related. At the end of his talk people got to ask questions and people asked alot of good questions. In class we watched more of the movie about China. We rewatched the part were a factory was relocated from the United States to China. Alot of Americans lost there jobs while Chinese people gained jobs. Companys do this becuase in China their is no miniumum wage and labor is cheap.

Monday, November 26, 2012

China

Tommrow we are going to have an assembally that was organized by Mr. Schick. Gerry Sandusky will be coming to talk to us tommorow. He is coming to talk about the other Jerry Sandusky, who is currently in jail, and how this has changed his life. Gerry Sandusky has recieved death threats and rude comments on social media sites becuase people think he is Jerry Sandusky. He is going to talk to us about how he has had to adapt to this kind of behavor on a normal day.We are going to learn how to deal with a difficult situation when you have done nothing wrong. Mr. Schick said that if we ask a good quality question tommorow at the assembly we can recieve ten extra credit points in human geo. Then after we talked about the assembly we watched a movie. The movie is callled The People's Rupublic of Capitalism. This movie is about China and there economy.Chongqing, a city in China, is called tje biggest city you have never heard of and is along a river and very industrial. Workers in China get paid very low becuase their population is so huge. There ar eabout 1.5 million people working in construction. We also learned that becuase of China's large population Chinese people are only suppose to have one child and if you have more they fine you and make it very hard economically on your family.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Free Rice

Today was our last class before Thanksgiving break. Mr. Schick did not want to start a new lesson becuase it was the last class. We played free rice for the whole class. Free rice is a website were you play games, and you earn rice that will be donated to the poor people. We had to play a geography game where you looked at a map then had to pick which country was highlighted. When we earned three hundred grains of rice Mr. Schick would grade our test that we took yesterday. I recieved a one  hundred on this test! I was very happy becuase it raised my overall grade up.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Test on World Leaders and Countries

When we came in to class today we handed in our 500 word essays on the two countires compared to the United States. Then we studied for our test for about five minutes. We were aloud to use our blogs for the test. The first part of the test was matching the leaders with their countries. The second part was matching the leaders with their descriptions. The last part of the test was matching pictures and maps with their leaders. When we were done our test we could do whatever we wanted. I choose to study for my math test that I have later. I think I did well on this test and hope I get it back soon, so I know what I recieved on this test.

Friday, November 16, 2012

on the brink of war

We  are going to have a  quiz on monday on the 13 leaders and their countries. To prepare for this quiz we should study our last quiz. On the quiz on monday the first part will be to match the leaders up with their country. There will be a small change in this becuase China has gotten a new leader. Hu Jintao is not the president anymore. The new President of China is Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping was the vice president of China before he became the president. Last year he came and toured the United States. Instead of staying in an embassy and meeting with the President of United States he stayed with a normal family in Iowa. The next part of the test is when we match the leaders with facts about them. The last part of the test will be something we have not done before. We need to be able to look at a map and point out where each of the countries are. We also talked about the  mini war between Isreal and Pakistan. Each of them had started firing bombs at each other and some people have been killed. If this does not stop Isreal will probally invade Pakistan.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

New Seats and New Assignment

We started off class by getting new seats. I now sit in the front of the room right by the door. We got to pick our seats by who had the highest grade in the class. The person with the highest got to go first then the person with the lowest grade picked last. Next we talked about the paper that we have to right by monday.We have to choose two countries and talk about how they relate to the United States. We were given the choice to work with a partner or by yourself. I choose to work by myself becuase I think it is easier to write in on your own then have to wait for your partner to give you their information. I also would not have time this weekend to meet up with my partner and work on it. This paper is either going to be worth one hundred point or two hundred points. Personally I would like it to be worth two hundred points so I can try and boost my grade before mid quaters.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Political Geogrpahy Research

United States

Declared independence on July 4, 1776

From the 1500s through the 1700s, they were settled and colonized by the Spanish, British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and other European nations. The original thirteen colonies were held by Great Britain until the Revolutionary War, after which they became the first thirteen states. There are now 50 states in the United States. The United States is considered the last true superpower, with the world's largest military and the world's largest economy.
 

Israel

Israel became an independent state on May 14, 1948

Following World War Two, the newly-formed United Nations drafted a treaty dividing up some of Palestine's land. They established an independent Arab state and an independent Jewish state. Many Jews emigrated to the new nation of Israel post WWII. Creation of this new Jewish state was not universally accepted by Arabs, even though Israel was officially admitted to the UN on May 11, 1949. There is still controversy surrounding Israel's very existence in the Middle East.
 

China

China's official date of independence is October 1, 1949.

China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. As long ago as 221 BC, China was unified as a nation during the Qin dynasty. They formed a republic on January 1, 1912. The current Communist government, officially called the People's Republic of China, was formed in 1949. 
 
 
 
 
Afghanistan  
 
Declared Independence  August 19,1919 from the United Kingdom.
 It was never officialy part of the British Empire. The Afganistan people fought three wars with the British before they won there independence called the  First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), the Second Anglo-Afghan War(1878–80) , and the Third Anglo- Afgan War(1919).




Brazil
 
 Independence Day is September 7,1822
The first European to explore  Brazil was sponcered by Portugal named Pedro Álvares Cabral. From the 16th to 19th centuries Brazil was a Colony of Portugal. It declared its independence on September 7, 1822 and became The Empire of Brazil.  Brazil was first a constitutional monarchy when they  first won their independence, but then in 1889 it became a republican goverment. Brazil has also been a dictatorship and  had military rule it for awhile.

France
There is no official date for their independence day but they celebrate it on the 14th of July. It is referred to as Bastille Day, the celebration actually commemorates the holiday held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille (on 14 July 1789) and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy.The anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation.





Germany
 The Indepence day  is the  18th of January, 1871. It was divided into four zones  (UK, US, USSR, and France) in 1945 after World War II.Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) annonced independence  on 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zone. The  German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed on 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone. West Germany and East Germany unified on 3 October 1990. Now  all four powers formally divided now united rights on 15 March 1991.  The National Holiday is celebrated on October 3, 1990.

India
The date of Independence is  August 15, 1947 from the United Kingdom. They celebrate this holiday called republic Day  on January 26th. India got its freedom following an independence movement noted for largely peaceful nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience led by the Indian National Congress.

Mexico

Mexico declared independence on September 16, 1810.

Mexico has been around for longer than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations like the Aztecs before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century. Since the Spanish Conquest, Mexico has fused its long-established native civilizations with European culture. It was taken over by Spain from 1519 - 1810 and was finally recognized as an independent nation by Spain in September 27, 1821. France also invaded Mexico in 1861 and set Maximilian I on the Mexican throne, which lasted until 1867.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Iran
Iran's official date of independence on April 1, 1979.

The Persian Empire proper begins in the Iron Age, following the influx of Iranian peoples which gave rise to the Median, Achaemenid, the Parthians, the Sassanid dynasties during classical antiquity. Once a major empire of superpower proportions, Persia, as it had long been called, has been overrun frequently and has had its territory altered throughout the centuries. Invaded and occupied by Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, and others, Persia has always reasserted its national identity and has developed as a distinct political and cultural entity. Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC. The Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC. The Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656) ended the Sassanid Empire and was a turning point in Iranian history. The achievements of the previous Persian civilizations were not lost, but were to a great extent absorbed by the new Islamic polity and civilization.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia unified their nation on September 23, 1932.
The modern state of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 with the union of the kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd. the region existed in relative obscurity and isolation, although from the 7th century the cities of Mecca and Medina had the highest spiritual significance for the Islamic world, Mecca being the destination for the Hajj annual pilgrimage. They were at a few points under the influence of Turkey and the British Empire, not many countries wanted to take over the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia.
 
 
 
 
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has always been an independent nation and has never needed to declare independence from another country.

This country has played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy. The British Empire in the 19th century spread over 1 out of 4 of the earth's surface. It declared independence in April 12th 1927. On that date the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Acts establishes current name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. They were never under anyone's rule, they instead took over other countries, including the United States.
Venezuela

Venezuela gained their independence on July 5, 1811.
In 1522, Spain began their colonization of Venezuela. But, on December 17, 1819 the Congress of Angostura declared Gran Colombia an independent country. After two more years of war, which killed half of Venezuela's White population, the country achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of its most famous son, Simón Bolívar. Venezuela, along with the present-day countries of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, formed part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1830, when Venezuela separated and became a sovereign country.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Nuclear Bombs

Today we got back our pop quizzes. I only got three questions wrong. The onesi got wrong are that Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has had 13 wives and at least 35 children. Francois Hollande is a soialist who defeated Nicolas Sarkozy this summer. Angela Merkel is the fourth most powerful person in the world, largely due to her country's economic strength in the European Union. Then we started talking about Cuba and how it use to be a large tourist place for people in the United States until it became a communist nation. Then we talked about nuclear bombs. In the middle east Isreal is supposedly building a nuclear bomb, and Iran wants bomb the place were they are building it before they finis making it. The United States is trying to tell Iran that we should just talk things out first before any bombs are dropped. The only nuclear bomb that has been dropped was by the United States on Japan. During the cold war we became very close to dropping more nuclear bombs. Russia and the United States kept building nuclear bombs at a very fast pase.  Then when Russia started setting up bombs in Cuba the United States said that if they set up anymore we would bomb Cuba and Russia. Russia then stopped putting up nuclear bombs in Cuba and no nuclear bombs were ever fired.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Pop Quiz

Today in class we had a pop quiz on the world leaders. We spent the whole class taking this quiz because classes were shortened today since we came in an hour late. Before the test we got about fifteen minutes to review. The beginning of the quiz was like the last pop quiz that we took. I think I got one hundred on that part of the quiz. The next part was harder becuase we had to match a description with the leader. I hope I did well on this quiz. Next time I don't have class on Thursday I will make sure to check his blog, so I could have been more prepared for this quiz.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Presidential Election

Today we finished talking about the leaders of the countries. Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, can speak fluent English.  Before he came into power the Taliban was running the country. In the United Kingdom David Cameron, the prime minister, runs the government. He graduated from Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.  Queen Elizabeth has been in power for 60 years, and she speaks fluent French. The President of China, Hu Jintao, has been active in politics since a young age and is head of the communist party.  He is expected to step down this year as President. In China they do not vote like we do. The leaders of the country get together for about a week with no media and discuss who they want to be the new President. We also talked about the Presidential Elections that happened yesterday. Mr. Schick explained how the president is picked by electoral votes instead of my majority of votes. Yesterday President Barack Obama won the election. This will be his second and final four year term as President of the United States. Before becoming involved in politics he was a civil-rights leader and a teacher. He graduated in 1983 from Columbia University with a political science degree. He is from Hawaii and is currently the 44th president of the United States.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Facts about World Leaders.

Today we went over the facts about the leaders of the countries. I learned that Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Suad does not give religious freedom to his country. He also has fourteen wives and thrity five children. Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, currently has colen cancer. When he was younger he tried to coup d'etat and was thrown in jail for two years for it. Coup d'etat is when you try to overthrough the goverment from within with force. Pranab Mukherjee, presiden tof India was named the best financial leader of Asia in 2010. Dilma Rousseff, president of Brazil, believes in abortion for rape and if the mother is in danger by having the child. She was also tortured why she was in jail by being hung upside down like a bird and electricuted. The President of China, Hu Jintao, made China have the largest economy in the world. The PResident of Isreal, Shimon Perez won the noble peace prize in 1994. Everytime someone shared the fact that they had Mr.Schick would throw a inflated ball  of the world, and we would have to locate the place were the fact about their leader was from.

Monday, November 5, 2012

World Leaders

President-Elect Enrique Peña Nieto= 46 year old former governer of the state of Mexico, whish is the richest of the states in Mexico, and he is the leader memeber the PRI which was kicke dout of power in 2000 but will return this year becuase he is now president.
Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud=Is 88 years old and is currently in frail health. He is also the defense minister
Angela Merkel=She is the chancellor of Germany and is the first woman to be the chancellor. She is a physical chemist by proffession.
President Shimon Peres= He served diplomatically and militarily in  Isreal's War of Idependence. He has served  two terms as a prime minister.
Hu Jintao= longest serving leader of any nation but he is excpected to step down from office november 2012. He is said to have a photographic memorey.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad= He was an engineer and a teacher and came from a poor background. He is the sixth president of his country. He is already in his second term and is not elgible to run again after August 3rd, 2013.
Hamad Karzai= Hasa master's degree from India. He has damage to his facial nerves from surving a bombing attack.
François Hollande= He was the secratory of the french socialist party from 1997 to 2012. Hollande was raised Catholic but is now agnostic.
Pranab Mukherjee=His political career has been going on for six decades. He was Union France Minister from 2009 to 2012.
Hugo Chavez= He is formaly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 till 2007. He was born into a middle class family and became a career military officer.
David Cameron=the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. He lost the first time he ran for prime minister in 1997.
Dilma Rousseff= The first woman to ever be elected in Brazil. She was also the  first woman to become Cheif of Staff to the Predisent of Brazil in 2005. She was a socialist during her youth and from 1970 to 1972 she was in jail and supposedly tortured.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Five Major Religions Quiz

Today in class we got back our test on the five major religions. I recieved an 81 on that texts. We got back the quiz and went over the questions we got woring. We need to know the answers for the final in December.The first question I got wrong was the Serbs,Croats,Bosnians, and Albanians coexisted in the country of Yugoslavia. I put Switerland instead of Yugoslavia. The next question I got wrong was the two major religions sects of their religion are called Sunnis and Shiites, and the answer was Islam. I also got their writings are called Vedas, and I answered Islam instead of Hinduism. I also got wrong that Islam is the second largest religion right now; and within a few decades it may be the largest. I also got worng that Judiasm is the oldest surving monotheistic religion. The next questions I got wrong was five times a day, devout Muslims bow and pray in the direction of the city Mecca. I also got wrong that Medina is the birth place if Muhammad. Then we went over our homework.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Political Geography

Mexico
Federal Republic Government
President Felipe De Jesus Calderon Hindojosa








China
Communist State Government
President Hu Jintao








India
Federal Republic Government
President Pranab Mukherjee








Afghanistan
Islamic Republic Government
President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzi








Iran
Theocratic Republic Government
Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-Khamener








Isreal
Parliamentary Democracy Government
President Shimon Peres















Germany
Federal Republic Government
President Joachim Gauck







United Kingdom
Constitutional Monarchy and Common Wealth Realm Government
Queen Elizabeth 2














France
Republic Government
President Francois Hollande









Brazil
Federal Republic Governemt
President Dilma Rousseff















Venezuela
Federal Republic Government
President Hugo Chavez















Saudi Arabia
Monarchy Government
King and Prime Minister Abdallah Bin Abd Al-Aziz Al Saud


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Questions for Test

 Today in class we talked about some questions that we think should be on our test on Friday. Some of the questions are Who is the enlighted one? The answer to that is Siddhartha Gautama also known as Buddha. We also suggested that we write the religions in chronological order by the year the religions were founded. Hinduism is older then Judaism. On suggestion that we had was to write a short answer on the story of Abraham, but we decided not to do that  for the test. Another question was what two groups are the Muslims divided into? Are there more then is million Jews in the world? The answer to that question is false. Who is the central figure of Judaism? The answer to that question is kind of tricky becuase there is no central figure. We also need to know what the three Abrahamic religions are, and they are Christianity,Judaism, and Islam. We need to know that the eight fold path and the four noble truths are associated with the religion Buddhism. We need to know about the Vikings, Native Americans, and Colombus. The Europeans did conquer America ,but they were not the founders of the Americas.  The roman who liked to persecute Christians until God cam to him was Sual, who later changed his name to Paul. My class also suggested that we could match the religions to the gods that they follow. We also need to know the difference between polythestic and monothestic. Buddhism is neither polythestic or monothestic. We need to know what percent of people practice hinduism in India, and the answer is 80% of their population. We need to know the geographical places of each religion. Hinduism is manly in India, Christianity is mosltly in America and europe, Judiasm is mostly in America and Jerusalum, and Buddhism is in China. What percent of the world is Christian? They answer to that question is one third of the world. We need to know what two tribes persecute each other. We also need to know that 5.2 billion people follow the five religions that we researched. Their are one billion people in the world that clam to not follow any religion. We also need to understand what nirvana means becuase there will probally be a question about it on the test. Mr. Schick said that most likely all of the questions will be multiple choice questions or matching questions.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Major Religions

 In the religion Buddhism there is no heaven. Their main person, Siddhartha, was really skiny becuase he believed in fasting. In the statues they portray him as a heavy person.
 Hinduism is the oldest religion. Their sacred texts are known as Vedas and Bhagavad- Gita.
Their is no founder. Their are over one billion Hindus in the world. 80% of people in India are Hindus, about 960 million. Judaism is the oldest surving monotheistic religion. It started over 3000 years ago when the convent between God and his people, from Abraham to Moses.  Its an ethnoreligion groups and their beliefs and laws are very much the same. Their sacred books and codes of law include the Talmud and the Torah. Their are 13.4 million Jews, 42% of whom live in Israel, with 42% percent living in America and Canada, the rest live in Europe. The Abrahamic God is the central figure of Judaism, the same God worshipped by the Christians and Muslims Isreal has been around since 1940's.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Islam and Buddhism/ Late

Today in class we talked more about the five major religions. We learned that the Islam people travel to Mecca(the birth place of Muhammad) and Medina which are both in Saudi Arabia. These two places are the holyest places in their religion. The main figure in Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama who lived from 563 BC to 483 BC. He was seen as an enlightment teacher who sought to end suffering among sentient beings, and to help eliminate ignorance and craving, thus achieving nirvana( the highest happiness). He is know as Buddha which means "the enlighted one." Buddhism is niether monotheistic nor polytheistic becuase nirvana is achieved form within. They have no holy book but adherents believe in the Four Noble Truths. The four noble truths are suffering is an ingrained part of existance; the origin of sufferring is craving for sensuality, acquistition of identity, and annihilation; suffering can be ended; the was to end suffering is by following the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path  is rightview, right intention, right speech, right action, right livihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. Their are 376 million Buddhist in the world. The mostly live in China, Japan, Mongolia, and South Western Asian Countries.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Ethnic Culture

Today we learned more about Ethnic culture some more. We learned that in the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, two ethnic groups are dominate the Tutsis and Hutus. Hutus are dominant in one part of Africa and they perscute the Tutis. In another part of Africa the Tutis dominate and persecute the Hutus. This has lead to almost constant war between the groups. The United States and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries. Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group. Religion can be both a unifying and disunifying force. There are five major religions in the world today Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Christianity started in 40 AD. Jesus is the central figure in the religion.Paul was another person that helped spread Christianity. Before he was called Paul his name was Saul. Saul was known for persectuting Christians. One day Sual was riding on a horse and was stroke by a light cuasing him to go blind. He was blind for three days until he heard a voice from God telling him to act better. He stopped persecuting  and got his eyesight back. He became a devote Christian and changed his name to Paul. Islam has 1.6-1.7 billion followers and the cental figure is Muhammad, their God.He lived from 570- 632 AD and he did not intend to start a new religion, but to restore the teachings of Adam, Abraham,Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. The Mulims are mostly found in Indonesia, PAkistan, Bahgladesh, and the middle east.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

5 Religions

Mr. Schick was not here today for class so Mr. Perry was are sub. It was my first time having Mr. Perry as a teacher. We got an assignment to work on for the whole class about religions. W had to research the religions Chritianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. Christianity  started about 2000 years ago in Judea(present day Israel). Christianity is also a monotheistic religion, which means they only worship one God. The holy book of Christianity is the Bible. Christianity is the largest religion in the world with 2.2 billion followers. The central figure of Christianity is Jesus Christ. Most of its followers live in the United States. Islam was found in Mecca in 630 AD. It is a monotheistic religion. The Holy book is called Quran, written in Arbic, and was revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad. It is the second largest religion in the world with 1.57 billion followers. The central figure of their religion is Allah, which is their god. The center place in Indonesia. Buddhism was founded in 460 BC by an Indian monk named Siddhartha Gautama,Buddha. Buddhism is polytheists, which means they worship several gods. Their is no holy book. It is the fourth largest religion in the world with 250-500 million followers. The central figure is Buddha and the central geographical location is the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism was found in 1500-500 BC in India. Their holy book is called the Veda. It is a polytheistic religion. It is the  third largest religion in the world with 900 million followers. The Hindu gods are the central figures of the relgion.The central geograpical place is South Asia. Judaism was found in Isreal in 2000 BC by Abraham. It is a monotheistic religion. It has a couple of holy books. They are called Torah, Nev'im, and Ketuvim. Judaism has 14 million followers. The central figures are Abraham,Isaac, amd Jacob. The central location is Isreal. This is all that I learned about theses very interesting religions.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Cultral Geography

Today we learned about culture characteristics. Curtral characteristics are parts of a groups everyday life, and the ides and themes which the group will teach all memebers. These charcteristics can link or divide a region. Three examples of culture characteristics are language,religion, and ethnic heritage. An example of language is spanish unties the hispanic and Arabic intites the Arab world. Brazil is the only South American nation in which does not speak Spanish, it speaks Portuguese. This makes us wonder if Brazil is Hispanic or Latin. Another example of Language is Canada. Canada is a bilingual nation, which means it has two official langueses. The two official languages are French and English. This has been a problem becuase Quebec  wanted to become their own county. They wanted to do this becuase they are the French speaking part of Canada and the rest of Canada was trying to force them to be for English speaking, and they did not want to. One of the places that has multiple languages but very little conflict between the groups is Switzerland.  The English language is now considered the world language and is used for most buisness transactions around the world. English is the Lingua Franca which means the language people speak locally.  An example of ethnic heratige is in Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into one country( Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Albanians). When the strong leadership in Yugoslavia died out the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and now they each have their own seperate countries. We also dissuced how in 1984 the United states boycoted th Olympics in Moscow due to their hate to Russia by not attending the Olympics.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Native Americans,Vikings,Columbus and Soft Drinks

The first group to present their powerpoint today was the group that researched Native Americans. Native Ameircans came here during the ice age, 12,000-17,000 years ago, usint the "Bering Strait" or land bridge. They arrived in Alaska but then migrated to other parts of America. Their was no culture here before the Native Americans, which means the Native americans did not have to fight anyone to conquer America.They were not sent by anyone to find America. They had a strong spiritual connection with the land and took care of where they lived. Today Native Americans live on resurvations and have to follow federal law. The next group that went was my group, the Vikings. The Vikings arrived in America in 1000 AD and supposedly the first Viking to arrive was Leif Eriksson. The Vikings cam to America by ships. Their warships were longships and they had three types of longships, Snekke, Drekkar, and Skeid. The ships were long and narrow with enough room for about eighteen men to row, but they also had sails. The Vikings were not the first people to come to America. There were about 20-30 million Native Americans already here when the Vikings came. The Vikings did not really land in the United States. They landed in Greenland but left becuase of the bharsh climate.They also landed in Vinland and Canada. The Vikings did not fight to conquer america.They set up a colony in North America for a short time, but they abondoned it becuase of conflict with the Native Americans. The Vikings too very good care of the land. They lived of the land by hunting animals and farming their land. They had grape orchards, used many nature resources to build their homes, and grew wheat, barley, and rye. The Vikings were not sent by anyone to conquer America. The third and final group presented Columbus. Columbus arrived on October 12,1492 in the present day Bahamas. The came in three ships, Nina, Santa Maria, and Pinta.
The Native Amricans were already their when Columbus arrived, but Columbus conquered the Americas anyway. They did not respect the land or the people. After all of our power points were finished we looked at a powerpoint of a map. This map showed the Generic names of soft drinks by county in America. 120,464 people were interviewed for this map. The things that people call soft drinks in America are pop,soda,coke,and other. We looked at this map becuase Mr. Schick wants us to learn how to read maps properly.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Columbus Day

We got our test back on God Grew Tired of Us.  Our class average was about a  82 which is not that bad. We went over the answers to all of the questions becuase the questions might be on the final. The one question I got wrong was what was the name of the group that they organized themselves into for entertainment and discussion. I now know that this group was called parliament or white house. I also lost points on my test for spelling the words, Pittsburgh,Ethiopia,and Syracuse wrong. Then we talked about our blogs and how we need to make sure we put alot of information in them. Today is Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus  came to America in 1492. He did not mean to find it. He was looking for India but stubbled across America. He was not the first peope to find it though. The Vikings came to America in 1000 AD.In class we divided up into three different groups. The three groups then each researched a different topic. My group did the Vikings. We made a powerpoint on the Vikings and wil present it tommorow in class.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Test on God Grew Tired of Us

Our test on God Grew Tired of Us was today. It was an all fill in the blank test, and we got to use our blogs. I liked that we could use our blogs becuase it helped me with some of the answers. I only did not know one answer on the test, but I will make sure to right down the correct answer when we get our tests back so I know that answer for the final. When we use our blogs for tests spelling counts. I did not know that before, so I was not always checking my spelling on my blogs. From now on I will make sure everything is spelled properly in my blogs. After the test Mr. schick said that by this weekend he will decide which charity we are going to support. I am excited to find out which one becuase they are all good charities. I hope that our class can help the people of Sudan in some way.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Panther's Charity

 Their are many great charities that can help the poeple of Sudan. We want to try and pick one that we could try and help. We talked about one charity that helps build wells. In Sudan the poeple do not have clean water and drink out of dirty rivers. Their is also one called outreach Africa where they send children to a school. They feed them once a day, give them a uniform, and give them a proper education. I think the best chairty to help is Panther's charity. He is trying to 95,000 dollars to build a catholic school in his hometown. I think this is a good idea becuase if the children in Sudan get a good education it will help them later on in life. If Panther is not very expensice like John Bul then maybe he could come and talk to our school. He has such an inspiring stroy that I would love to hear about how he made it in America.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Charities

Our class has decided that it is a good idea to try and help out Sudan. We are not sure what we want to do to help. We talked about some of the charities that would be good to donate money too. Some of them are The Red Cross, The Mercy Corps, Panthers's organization, and John Bul's Organization. Their is also this charity that the school did in the past were we donate money to help people in undeveloped countries recieve laptops. We got into groups and tried to find more charties or organizations that we think would be good to try and donate to. Their was this open blog that everyone could write their ideas on. At first this was not working to well becuase people kept messing with other people's ideas. Some people would even delete a person's charity that they listed on the page. Te second time we tried it some poeple were still messing with it, but the majority of the people were doing their work correctly. One of our ideas was to have John Bul come and talk to our class. It is very expensive, between 6,000- 10,000 dolars, for him to come and talk to us. If we had the school pay for some of it, and it was a school wide activity then maybe we could have this happen. i htink this would be an amazing thing if he came and talked to us. he could share with us his experiences and how he made it in America. I would be very excited if he came and talked to our school!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Helping out Sudan

Mr. Schick told us that our blogs are going to be a study tool for the final, and that we need to include our notes from class in them. He talked about this for excatly five minutes. Then we finshed watching the movie God Grew Tired of Us. We started of at the part where the boys were celbrating The Fourth of July.  It must have been hard for the lost boys to listen to the fireworks going off becuase it probally reminds them of the bombs in Sudan and all there loved ones killed by them. Their is a reunion for the lost boys in Michigian. There all the boys get together and talk about their futures and how they can help the people of Sudan. When they are their John Bul gets a little angry and frustrated with the boys who are losing their culture and becoming fully American. He wants the lost boys to get to know the American custumes but not to forget where they came from and that their are people in Sudan that need help. John Bul comes from the Dinka tribe. The Dinka tribe is a very tall race of poeple. Their is even a 7 foot 6 inch basketball player in the NBA who was from the Dinka tribe. During the movie John Bul found his mother then talked to her on the phone. After a little while she came to America and saw her son for the first time in seventeen years. It was a very happy poin tin the story and both, John Bul and his mother, were overcome with emotion. John Bul  got his Bachlors degree at Syrcacuse University and wants to open his pown medical clinic in his hometown, Buk, Sudan. Panther got his high school diploma,associates degree, and is working towards his bachlor degree. Panther returns to Africa to see his homeland and to marry his girlfriend. He was reunited with his brother and sister. He eventually wanst to open a school in Sudan. Daniel is still living with the job corps. and learning. He has sadly not been reunited with any of his family memebers yet. This is the sad part of the lost boys becuase so many of them have not seen there family member since they were young boys. Most of them do not even know if any of their family is still alive. Sudan has now been divided into two countries, Sudan and South Sudan. Their is less violence then their was before, but the two countries still fight near the border of the two countries. People in United States can  help the people in Sudan by donating money to get better refugee camps, try and get the United States Government involved, and donate money to charities that help Sudan.  I think it would be a great thing for our freshman class to help out Sudan. Our class could try and get in touch with John Bul and see if his organization needs help. We could also donate to the red cross who has people working in Sudan. Their are mnay ways we could try and raise money to donate to any charity that helps out Sudan. We could try and raise money by having a bakesale or somthing like that.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Today in class..

Today in class Mr. Schick was not here. He went on a feild trip with one of his other classes. My advisory teacher, Mrs. Stathes, was are substitute. I like Mrs. stathes becuase she is very nice and kind. In the begining of class she had us explain what was going on in the movie. Then she asked me to go to Mr. Schick's office and see if he was there to find the movie. He was not there when I got there, so she asked me to go to her mailbox and see if he dropped th e movie in there. The movie was not there. When I got back my class was taking notes on refugee camps. Mrs. Stathes then went to Mr. Schicks office in search for the movie. She found it in his office somewhere, and we got to watch it the rest of class. In the movie the boys are finding jobs, and I am excited to see what happens next!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

From Sudan to America

Today in class we continued watching God Grew Tired of Us. We started at the part were some of the boys were selected to come to America. The boys were very new to most of the things that they saw in America. They did not know how electricity worked, and they thought it was very cool.On the airplane ride over some of the boys did not know how to eat the food that was givin to them. This one boy ate just plain butter becuase he did not know what it was. When they got to America they were given apartments to live in  and showed how to work things. They were showed how a fridge works, and how to wash dishes and their hands. Throughout this time for them many of them are happy but sad. They are happy they have been given this oppurtunity but sad that not all of their friends and family could go with them. Alot of them want to work hard, so they can be successful in America and then go and help out in Sudan.I enjoy watching this movie and hope that all of the boys will find jobs and be succesful in America.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Reviewed Test

Today we got our first test back. This test will be in our first midquarter grade. When we got back the test we went around the room and said the answers to all the problems. We did this so that everyone knew the answers to the problems they got wrong. Mr. Schick said that some of these questions might be on the final, so we need to save this paper. If we lose this paper we might not be able to study all the information that we need to know for the final. We also got chocolate chip cookies that were very yummy. After we disscussed our test we only had about five minutes of class left. We used this time to watch more of the movie, God Grew Tired of Us. We are at the part were some of the boys are leaving to go to America. This is a great oppurtunity for them becuase it offers them a better life. They can get jobs and be succesful in America.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Test/ God Grew Tired of Us

Today we came in and took our first test in Human Geo.I tried to prepare myself for this,so I think I did well on it.We had a two mod class today, so we used the ifrst mod to take the test andthe second mod to watch a movie. The move was called God Grew Tired of Us.  This movie was about the civial war of Sudan that started in 1983. In the movie it expolained that Sudan there was tension between the Muslims and Christians. The Muslims ruled the goverment and the north of sudan. They decided to take over all of sudan and kick out the Christians. The goverment of Sudan annonced that that all men in the south were to be killed. About 27,000 young men between the ages of ten and five fled SUdan. They are known as the lost boys. The lost boys faced many hardships to finally reach a settlement camp that they live din for about ten years. The United States took some of the refuges and gave them homes in America. Not everyone was so lucky and some of them are still at the settlement camps.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Presenting Projects

We were suppose to have a test today, but it was postponed until monday. It was postponed becuase we had not finished our presentations yet. Today in class India finished sharing their presentation.  I learned that India is a very populated country. Then Indonesia shared presented their project. One interesting thing I learned about that country is that there flag is just red and white. Red on a flag usally means blood, which means that a country fought war to win their independence. White on a flag usally means purity. We only had about five minutes left of class, but my group still presented our project before the bell rang. We did the USA, which was fun becuase I learned facts about were I lived. It  was more interesting to learn about were I live instead of another country that I do not know.  I think it is important to know about the goverment and economy of the place that you live.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Class Projects

Our class projects are going very well so far. Two groups presented in class today, Italy and Nigeria. they both did really well at presenting facts to the class. I like how Nigeria's presentation was colorful and used a picture of the flag as the background. We learned that Italy is a developed country, which means it can take care of its population. Nigeria is a developing country, which means it can still not take care of all of its population.   The people presenting India started to share some information about there topic, but then the bell rang and they did not get to finish. They will probally finish sharing there  presentation on friday.On Friday my group will share our presentation of the USA. I think that we have alot of good information that will help show the class that the USA is a develpoed country.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Class Groups

 Today in class we were divided into groups. There where five groups with four people in each group. I was in group one with Nick,Daniel, and Maddie. All of the groups were assigned a country to research.  My group is doing the United States of America.We had to research the information that we learned yesterday about the countries. Yesterday we learned the vocab words that we used for todays class. For each group there is one person who is in charge of setting up the powerpoint for our coutry. In my group it is Daniel. The rest of us research the information that we need to put on the powerpoint and emial it to Daniel.I think my group's powerpoint will turn out well.

Monday, September 17, 2012

PowerPoint

We discussed population and settlement today by using a powerpoint. Each powerpoint slide had many facts that we need to know for the test.  The first slide talked about the population in general, like the total population of the planet. The second slide showed us a chart of how the population has gone from one billion to seven billion people. The third slide talked to us about life expectancy, which is the aveage number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year. The fourth slide was about measuring population. On that slide we learned the following words that we need to know for the test,crude birth rate, crude death rate, and the rate of natural increase. Net migration rate was on the fifth slide, this is the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during a year.  If a country has an excess persons entering the country it is net immigration, and if a country has an excess persons leaving the country it is net emigration. People migrate becuase of push and pull forces. The last slide  was about the total  fertility rate is the average nember of children born per woman. If the population is 2.1 per woman then the population stays the same. I think the powerpoint notes will help me be more prepared for the test.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Today in Class..


In the event of an emergency our school needs to know what we should do. We talked about how we cannot panic and, we would need to stay calm.  We have a practice evaluation today at 12:15, so we learned that we should go with our class to the closest section.  If you have a free mod then you would go to the section closest to you or follow the class that you see. If you are in the cafeteria you would go the teacher’s parking lot. The three sections to go to are the teacher’s parking lot  ,stadium, and the girls varsity field. Some people's blogs are not working, so we talked about how blogger.com is working on fixing the problem. We also talked about the video that we watched the day before. Mr.Shick wanted to let the students talk more today in class and let us lead the discussion. We disscused which facts were our favorite.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Did you Know?

We discussed the questions that we did not finish yesterday in class.  We talked about how in other parts of the world people do not live like we do. Other people in different parts of the world do not think like we do, this is not a bad things but some people are not as educated as us. Mr. Schick also told us a story about when he first used a cell phone. It was very funny how big cell phones use to be. Everyone use to get excited over having or using a cell phone but now no one gets excited becuase everyone owns a cell phone. Did you Know is a very interesting video that we watched in class today. This was my favorite part of the whole class becuase I loved all the interesting facts. My favorite fact that I learned is that by 2013 a computer will be built that is smarter then the human brain. This fact amazes me becuase that is only next year. Since today I heard about a story were someone used a cell phone for the first time it amazes me how much technology has changed in such a short time.  The fact that China will one day become the number one english speaking counrty seems kind of weird to me. That all of those poeple living in China will learn English. Maybe alot of Americans will emigrate to China and that is why  there will be so much use of the english language their. I loved learning all those interseting facts.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

9/11

Nine Eleven is a very sad day for our country. We talked about this day for a little while in class.  It was brought up becuase we were disscussing our questions from homework last night.  The day the twin towers went down was very sad. I was only in pre-school, so I did not know what was going on. Everyone around me was very sad for the loss of people's lives. My uncle worked in those building, so my mother was trying to call into New York to see if he was okay. Thankfully, he was fine. This summer my family went to new york city and went to see the nine eleven memorial site. It was very pretty, and it had the two waterfalls were the towers use to stand. Around the waterfalls their are names ingraved into it of everyone who died. Today in class we also went over our questions we had to do for homeowork last night. I like last nights homework becuase  I learned alot of intersesting information that I did not know before. Using the CIA World Factbook is a very useful thing. I am happy we learned how to use it yesterday. we also got smarties today!  Smarties are one of my favorite candies.

Monday, September 10, 2012

CIA Factbook

Questions:
1.Population of the United States:313,847,465
2.Five largest countries in the world by population: China,India,United States,Indonesia, and Brazil
3.Population of Pakistan:190,291,129
4.Kind of government that the United States has:Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
5.unemployment rate in Zimbabwe: 95%
6.largest country in the world by area: Russia
7.Country with the third greatest number of airports: Mexico
8.Country with the greatest number of exports: China
9.Country that exports more oil than any other country: Suadi Araba
10.Country that imports more oil than any other: United States
11. Country that consumes more oil then any other: United States
12. Can woman serve combat roles in China's military: Yes
13.GDP= value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year.
14. country with the highest GDp per capoita in the world and how much is it:Liechtenstien and 141,00
15.  Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita: no
16. most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in what continent: Africa
17.11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from HIV/ AIDS can be found in which continent: Africa
18. what other country is in the top ten: India
19. where does the US rank in HIV/ AIDS deaths: 18
20. Is the US #1 in the number of cell phones:no
21. What percentage of the US is roman catholic: 23.9%
22. percentage of mexico that is roman catholic:76.5%
23. Net Migration rate: the figure for the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during the year per 1,000 persons
24. does the US have the highest net migration rate in the world: no
25. what is the current population of the entire planet:7,021,836,029

The two most important questions in my opinion are the current population of the entire world and what kind of government the United States has. I think that knowing the population of the world is a good thing becuase we should know that our planet is very big and has alot of people. I think knowing the type of government the United States has is important for us to know. Knowing what kind of system is running where you live is an important thing. You should know who is making the rules and decisions that you live with everyday.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Note Taking

Taking notes is a very good skill to have and will help you later on in life. We learned that note taking can help you get better grades in classes. In college the classes have many more students then we do. Sometimes they can have up to four hundred kids in the class. The teacher sometimes never stops, and you can never asks questions. You just have to sit their in your seat the whole class and make sure you get all of the information becuase you might need it for a test or quiz. When Mr. Schick went to college he said you could buy notes off of other people. I think that would be very fun to do becuase then you could focus on learning the information and not just worrying about getting all of the notes down. When you are taking notes you need to write in fragments and not in complete sentences. If you write in complete sentences then it will take you to long to write down the information, and you could miss something that the teacher says next. I hope I can impove in my note taking skills over the course of my highschool career.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Websites

Today In class we talked about which websites are good to get information off of and which ones are not. Wikipedia can be a good source but also a bad source. Some teachers do not like it when students use it, but Mr. Schick does not mind it. He explained to us that yes people can change it but that it gets checked, and it is very hard for someone to write something totally false and it to go undetected. I also learned that at the bottom of a Wikipedia page their are websites of where the author got their information from. When I need to write a research paper I know that I can not use Wikipidia, but I could use the sources listed at the bottom to help me obtain more information. When I am doing research I need to be careful of where I am getting my information. If I am not sure if the website I am on has real information I could look up the author of the website and see if that person actually knows the things they are writing about. I need to always make sure I am using a reliable source when I am researching information for any of my classes.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Essay #3

I think excellency is a great goal to strive for at John Carroll. To achieve this goal I need to have a plan that I will use everyday at school.  My  first step in my plan is my homework. I need to make sure all of my assignments are turned in on time. They also all have to be done to the best of my ability. The second step is my bed time. This may sound like a not very important thing, but it is. I need to make sure I have  enough sleep so I have enough energy to stay focused all day. The third step to my plan is to take good notes in class and pay attention. If I learn most of my information in class by paying attention I will have less studying to do when the test on that information is annuonced.  The fourth step is to not put things off until the last minute like studying for big tests. I sometimes only study the night before, and I need to learn to start preparing for big texts like a week before I have to take them. The last step in my plan is to have fun and be involved in extra activities. i am already a part of the soccer team, which is so much fun! Once soccer is over I would like to see what other activies this school offers  and hopefully join some of them. I hope by doing all of these things my highschool years will be fun, and hopefully I will learn alot of new things.