december 10

Today in class we took the test on Cultural Geography, Major religions, And slumdog millionaire. I thought it was relatively easy. There were a few questions that I had NO idea of the answer, but overall I got through it and I think that I passed and may have even got a good grade on it too. I think the test was fair and 33 Scranton questions is a good number. Another thing that was good was that there was no essays. pretty much everyone finished in 20 to 25 minutes. There were a few people that it took longer to finish but that's okay because they probably were just taking their time. It's not like they didn't know the answers or something.

december 9

Here are my notes for today:

Buddism

• 500 million adherants 
• Buddists in southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan 
• founder- Siddhartha Gautamia 
• Denominations
• Tibetan
• Zen
• Therauada
• Amidist
• Four Noble Truths
• The Eightfold Path

Judaism 

• 14-18 million adherants 
• Jews found in Israel
• Founder- Abraham- maybe
• Holy book- Talmud and Torah( first 5 books of the Old Testament)
• Beliefs 
• ethical monotheism
• God is one 
• He is concerned with the actions of human kind
• Ten Commandments
• 13 principles of Faith

On the Test 

• Slumdog Millionare 
• Religions
• Cultural Geography
• All Multiple choice 

My notes for today:

Spatial Divisions:

• Are how we divide the livable space fund on the earth by estblishing social, ecomonic, and political control 
• You can be a member of more than one spatial group
• Spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation 
• Examples of spatial Divisions 
• Countries 
• Economic Alliances 
• European Union (EU)
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

We Also listened to Mr. Schick and Mr. Schick's daughter's Slumdog milionare rap/song. IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

december 3

My notes for today:

Religion

• can be a unifying force 
• example: Christmas
• There are 5 major religions:
• Hinduism
• Buddism
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam
• They all have millions of followers all believing the same thing
• Hindus and Muslims fight in India and Pakistan
• There are conflicts beteen Catholics and Protestants - (2 forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland 
• Jews, Catholics, and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religions holy site. They are constantly fighting over the land

Well there they are^

december 2

My notes for today:

Cultural Geopgraphy

• chultuaral characterisics are a parts of a groups everyday life. they are the ideas and themes that they will TEACH to all members. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region. Examples: Language, religion, ethnic heritage
• Language
• Arabic unties the Arab world. 
• Spanish unties the Spanish world
• Brazil is the only South American nation that doesn't speak Spanish. They speak portugese groups 
• Canada is bilingual : speaks 2 languages thay are French and English 
• Switzerland has multiple ethnic group but little conflict
• english is considered the world language
• Ethnic Heritage
• in Yugoslavia ethnic group were made into one country
• when strong leadership died out the different groups fought a boody civil war and now they are have seperate countries
• Tutsis and Hutus hate eachother
• the US and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their country 
• Korea and Japan mainly have one
• 
  

november 22

Today was the last day of school before the Thanksgiving break. We were all excited to get out, but sadly this was the first class of the day so we couldn't get home. Instead, we settled for finishing  Slumdog Milionare. The ending of the movie was pretty good besides the older brother dying. Jamal and the girl ended up meeting together finally and at the very end of the movie, after they met and Jamal won 20 million, they preformed this weird dance to this weird music that got stuck in my head all day. Overall, I thought that the movie was good and it was also a good lesson too.

november 21

Today in class we continued watching Slumdog Millionare. I thought it was very interesting so far. Everything is still clearing up about his childhood. I can't speak for anyone else, but I think that you kind of have to like Jamal the best. Just the way he acts shows how cunning and creative and brave he is. I think watching this movie will give us a new understanding on the cultures of other nations and other peoples. I think everyone seemed to be pretty interested in the movie so far. I know that the few people who have seen the movie really liked it.

november 20

Today we started to watch Slumdog Millionare. As we were watching it I definatly realized how fortunate I am to have everything I do including my parents and brother. I really liked the story of it. I think it gives people a new view on life and a new respect for life too. I really liked some parts of it, but there were also some parts I didn't quite understand yet. I think as we continue to watch the movie those parts will be cleared up for me. I think this movie will lead to a pretty darn-good discussion in class.

november 19

Today in class we worked on our Spotify projects. Mr. Schick wasn't here today so that is why we were doing this. I used songs that stated why people might want to come or go from a country. One song I used was "I hate my job" by Cam'Ron. It is all about how this guy hates his job and boss and just wants to stop and get out. It is kind of a rap, so it has a few bad words but...... I also used "This is war" by thirty seconds to Mars. I think "rich girl" by Hall and Oats could also demonstrate a pull force bacuse people may want to go to a place with money. It may just be me, but I wouldn't like to live in a very poor country like Haiti or something. The US is preety wealthy which is why i am writing this right now on my $1000 laptop.

november 18

Today in class we did 2 slides and took notes and then Mr. Schick put in grades. Here are my notes for today:

Cultural Geography 

Cultural Characteristics 

• cultural characteristics are parts of a group's everyday life
• they re ideas and themes which the group will TEACH to all members
• these same characteristics can also link or divide a region 
• examples of cultural characteristics would be language, religion, and ethnic heritage

At the beginning of the Power Point before we started to take notes, there was a map that showed what the different counties of the United States called soda, as we say it. Here it is:

November 14

Mexico's National Anthem

• All about war
• The man that wrote the lyrics of the anthem, was forced to put an entry into the competition by his fiance. 
• He won the competition and the lyrics that he wrote then became the national anthem 

Chorus:^[3]

Mexicans, at the cry of war,
make ready the steel and the bridle,
and may the Earth tremble at its centers
at the resounding roar of the cannon.
and may the Earth tremble at its centers
at the resounding roar of the cannon!

First Stanza:

Let gird, oh Fatherland!, your brow with olive
by the divine archangel of peace,
for in heaven your eternal destiny
was written by the finger of God.
But if some enemy outlander should dare
to profane your ground with his sole,
think, oh beloved Fatherland!, that heaven
has given you a soldier in every son.

Stanza V:

War, war without quarter to any who dare
to tarnish the coats of arms of the country!
War, war! Let the national banners
be soaked in waves of blood.
War, war! In the mountain, in the valley,
let the cannons thunder in horrid unison
and may the sonorous echoes resound
with cries of Union! Liberty!

Stanza VI:

O, Fatherland, ere your children, defenseless
bend their neck beneath the yoke,
may your fields be watered with blood,
may their foot be printed in blood.
And may your temples, palaces and towers
collapse with horrid clamor,
and may their ruins continue on, saying:
Of one thousand heroes, here the Fatherland began.

Stanza X:

Fatherland! Fatherland! your children swear to you
to breathe their last for your sake,
if the bugle with its bellicose accent
calls them together to battle with courage.
For you, olive wreathes!
A memory for them of glory!
For you, a laurel of victory!
A tomb for them of honor!

november 13

Today in class, we took our test on government types and country leaders. Going into the room and getting ready to take the test I was nervous. I had studied hard for 2 nights and studied through my off mods and classes. I was late to class though, because I was with a teacher, but that just made me more nervous. Overall, I feel good about the test and the essay too. I hope I got a good grade on my test and i hope everyone else did too. And if we do the dings again, I think I'm gonna get one!

november 12

Mexico and Brazil presented today

Mexico

• government- federal republic
• president- Enrique Pena Nieto
• 5 year terms, he can only serve one term 

How to overthrow 

• Impeach 
• drug cartels take over
• assassination
• step down

Brazil 

• government- federal republic
• president- Dilma Rousseff 
• 4 year terms, she can run for unlimited terms but no more than 2 in a row

How to Overthrow

• impeach 
• assassination 
• step down

november 11

2 more classes presented today. Syria and Israel.

Syria 

• government- republic under an Authoritarian regime 
• been in a civil war since 2011(regime is harsh)
• president is Bashar al-ASSAD
• 7 year terms, supposed to be 2 terms, but he is on his third

How to Overthrow

• have soneone else run(not likely)
• if he dies 
• assasination(not likely)
• NO IMPEACHMENT!!!!!

Israel

• government- parliamentary democracy 
• prime minister- Binyamin Netanyahu (bebe)
• president- Shimon Peres
• 7 year terms for president - 1 term max.
• unlimited terms for prime minister 

How to Overthrow 

• elections 
• impeachment 
• assasination
• 
  

november 7

Today in class 2 more groups presented. Russia and China.

Russia

• government = federal semi-presidential constitutional republic
• Vladimir Putin May 7, 2012
• He has more power the prime minister
•  Prime Minister is Dmitry Medvedev

Putin

• was the prime minister 
• can run 1 more term
• Changed the constitution so he can have 6 year terms instead of 4 year terms 

Overthrow

• no one wants to overthrow him
• no impeachment history on Putin, but you can impeach if you want

Dirt on Putin

• suspected to be involved in the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines 
• Supports terrorist countries

China 

• government = communist state since 1949
• became official communist when agriculture, handicraft, and capitalist industry completed in 1956 (3 major transformation)
• President = Xi Jinping March 2013-2018: 2 terms 
• Prime Minister = Li Kequiang 2013-2018: 2 terms

Ways to change leadership

• NO IMPEACHMENT IN CHINA under a COMMUNIST state 

Hong Kong/Taiwan still have impeachment because they still are a capitalist government 

november 6

 Today in class two more groups presented. Germany and Japan.

Germany

• government = federal republic
• After WW2 Soviate Russia was in charge of Germany. Germany split into East and West. East was communist- Soviate Russia. West was run by US- free to roam
• Berlin Wall separated East and West
• President is Joachim Gauch
• His first term ends 2017- 5 year terms
• Chancellor Angela Merkel 
• third term ends 2017- can be reelected if everyone agrees 

How to overthrow (Germany)

• Impeachment- Same as US, UK, and France
• Assassination 
• Step down as a leader

Japan 

• government = constitutional monarchy 
• has 3 branches- like US
• Diet=Congress 
• oldest hereditary monarchy 
• founded by Jimmu in 660 BC
• Changed constitution after WW2
• Emperor is Akihito 
• he will stay in power until death
• Naruhito - crown prince of Japan- Heir to throne 
• Prime Minister - Shinzo Abe 
• He has no limit on #terms, 4 year terms
• He has the real power

Ways to Overthrow

• petition to overthrow
• His term ends 
• Assassination 

november 4

Today in class we were given one last day to work on our projects. I got to put a few last thing on my PowerPoint and got to ask any last minute questions about the project or content of the project. I still don't know how many slides I needed, but who cares. I think my project is going to be great and I have full confidence in Rosemary and I that we will present our project the best we can and it will blow Mr. Schick's socks off. I hope everyone else's projects will be great and we will again have the best average of all Mr.Schick's classes, that s if Mr. Schick figures that out for us. i wish the best of luck to everyone when they present!!

november 5

Today in class, two groups presented their projects. We had France and the UK go today.  

For France: 

• President is Francois Hollande
• Prime minister is Manuel Valls 
• The prime minister does not have a set length of term
• Hollande was born Catholic but is now atheist
• Valls did not support Hollande when Hollande was running 
• To overthrow the government, you can impeach the president
• Impeachment is the same in France as in the US

For UK:

• Queen Elizabeth I
• David Cameron does the real ruling of the country
• The queen has been in reign for 63 years
• The prime minister does not have a set length of term
• The queen is the only one in the UK that can drive without a license or plate
• To overthrow the government, you can impeach
• Impeachment is the same in the UK as it is in the US

Well that is what I learned today^!

october 30

Today in class we finished up our Power Points for our in class project. We added the finishing touches or for some people, maybe the finishing few slides. I think that Rosemary and I's project on Mexico will be very good. This project was fun and it will be a good way to get a deeper understanding of the governments and leaders of these powerful countries. It could also help us take over the government of a country, but I don't think that will happen any time soon. I think everyone seemed to like this project and is eager to present it to the class, for the most part. I know I have learned a lot about Mexico and its leader. I have also got see some other peoples perspectives about Mexico's government through reading opinion blogs and such. (none of the information I read on blogs and such went into my power point.)

october 29

Today we continued to work on our in class assignment. Rosemary was not there today do to cross country I think. It was okay because I got done like one and a half slides. I din't get too much done because I was trying to prove something that I found on the internet as a way to overthrow the government. It took me a while, but I think I finally got a website that will help me prove my point, that some drug cartels could overthrow Mexico' government and President, Enrique Pena Nieto. i hope it will help me and it will give me a point that no one else's country PowerPoint will have. I did a slide on Nieto's background and found out some important information, for example, he fathered 2 children with 2 women while he was married to his first wife. Wow!!!

october 28

Today in class we started to work on an in class assignment. We were paired up with someone else in the class. Mr. Schick paired us up. I got Rosemary. Then, we picked a number from the magic hat. Who ever got number 1 got to pick which country they wanted to do for their project. Rosemary and I got number 8, the second to last pick. We ended up picking Mexico. Russia would have been my first choice, but the number 1 group picked that one up first. We started up by making a Google slides document and shared it with Mr. Schick. we got 5 slides started and there are more to come. We started with giving some information about Mexico's government. The next slide gives background on Enrique Pena Nieto. The next talks about his reign as president. And the next is about the people that elected him; how many votes he got. I think it is going to be a good project and I feel that Rosemary and I will get a good grade on it.

october 24

Today in class, we were surprised by a pop quiz. A Scranton that had 15 questions on the countries and leaders we had been talking about. It was worth 30 points. We again had the best class average. I got an 80% but the highest was, of coarse, a 100. If you used pen you automatically got a 0. Nobody used pen so that was good. Mr.Schick got Zach and Cody really good by ripping up one of the tests the shadows took and made them think it was one of their's. It was really funny. I learned some things from the test too. I learned that Francois Hollande is atheist, but used to be Christian. We did the dings again, sadly the bell didn't ring for me, but we did have a good number of them. There were the A's and the one 100%.

october 21 interesting facts

Mexico
Enrique Pena Nieto

• He Father 2 children out of wedlock with 2 different women, while married to his first wife.
• http://www.cnn.com/

China

XI Jinping

• He worked as an agricultural laborer  at the age of 16 to 22 when he was forced to leave the city
• www.cnn.com

India
Pranab Mukherjee

• He was famous for smoking his trademark DunHill pipe. He gave up smoking many years ago
• http://www.indiatimes.com/

Russia 

Vladimir Putin

• Grew up in a communal apartment shared by three families
• www.cnn.com

Germany

Joachim Gauck 

• He ran for president in 2010 and failed. He lost to Wulff.
• http://www.ibtimes.com/iik

Angela Merkel 

• Has a doctorate in Quantum Chemistry 
• Mr. Schick

United Kingdom

Queen Elizabeth II

• Speaks Fluent French. Does not need an interpreter and uses the language often when speaking to audiences.
• http://content.time.com/

David Cameron

• He is the youngest prime minister since 1812
• cnn.com

France

Fancios Hollande 

• Taught economics an an elite school in Paris
• http://www.cnn.com/

Brazil

Dilma Rousseff

• Is diagnosed with stage 1 lymphoma and begins treatment . By September, she is cancer free.
• http://www.cnn.com/

Syria 

bashar al-ASAD

• His brother was the true heir, but died in a car crash and the place was handed off to him.
• www.cnn.com

Canada

Queen Elizabeth II

• She collected clothing coupons for her wedding dress.
• http://content.time.com/

Japan 

Emperor Akihito

• He is a direct decent of Japan's first emperor Jimmu.
•  http://www.cnn.com/

Isreal 

Shimon Peres 

• He won the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1994
• http://www.cnn.com/

october 21

today in class we talked about our 60 point project that we did. Mr. Schick showed the people who did it wrong or didn't do it how to do it right. After we got everything cleared up about that, he told us of our new project on interesting facts. We are to find an interesting fact about each one of the people that we put into our previous blog. We started to find our facts, but sadly we did have a shortened class today. I found several facts on CNN.com. it is a reliable source with many interesting points and had a time line of many of the people that I found on their website. We also talked about how to fix our blogs if we had trouble with the words not being in the right spots after we put in our pictures. Captions are a good idea next time.

october 17 notes

Political Geography

Nation

• a group of people with a shared identity
• nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experiences

A independent state

• has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries
• has people who live there on an ongoing basis
• has economic activity and an organized economy. A country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money 
• has the power of social engineering, such as education
• has a transportation system for moving goods and people
• has a government which provides public services and public power
• had sovereignty. No other state should have power over the county's territory
• has external recognition. A country has been "voted into the club" by other countries 

october 17

Mexico

Federal Republic
Enrique Pena Nieto


China
Communist State
President XI Jinping


India
Federal Republic
President Pranab Mukherjee


Russia
Federation
President Vladimir Putin


Germany
Federal Republic
President Joachim Gauck
Merkel

United Kingdom
Constitutional Monarchy and Commonwealth Realm
Queen Elizabeth II
prime minister david cameron

France
Republic
President Francois Hollande


Brazil
Federal Republic
President Dilma Rousseff


Syria
Republic under an Authoritarian regime
President Bashar al-ASAD


Canada
A Parliamentary Democracy, a Federation, and a Constitutional Monarchy
Queen Elizabeth II


Japan
A Parliamentary Government with a Constitutional Monarchy
Emperor Akihito

Israel
Parliamentary Democracy
president Shimon Peres

october 17

Today in class we got our tests back. I got a 90% and a ding. we reviewed over them and I got one of the bonus questions right. I thought that the test was petty good. Again, our class had the best overall average out of all of his classes. Mr. Schick did half of the class review and Steven did the rest of the test. He was in charge of the class for maybe a half an hour while Mr. Schick worked on some stuff and over saw what Steven was doing. He called on us to say the answer to the question that was on the test and if we had any real questions we asked Mr. Schick. For example, on the question about the push and pull forces, we asked him about some things we were unsure about.

october 14

Today in class I made up my test instead of doing it after school. While I and many other students made up the test the rest of the class had some free time to do homework or study or whatever. I feel that I did pretty well on the test, some of the population pyramid questions threw me off but other than that I feel good. The bonus questions were impossible but I guessed on the first one and put some question marks for the second one. I finished the timed part using the CIA Factbook early, so I got a head start on the rest of the test. I think that the test was fair, and I think it was a good amount of questions. I also think that the first 12 questions were a good idea, even though they made the test 10x more stressful.

october 10

I had freshman retreat today, so I was not in class for the test. I will take it on the 14th after school.

october 8

Today in class, I was only there for about 25 minutes, but while I was there we talked about life expectancy, crude birth rate CBR, crude death rate CDR, and rate of natural increase RNI. I wish I could have stayed fro the rest of the review, but sadly I had to leave for a soccer game. Hopefully I didn't miss much and we will continue reviewing tomorrow. I will look at Mr. Schick's blog.

october 7

Today in class, we went exploring through the CIA Factbook again to get more familiar with it because we will have to use it on our tests on Friday. While we were exploring, we were supposed to try and find some evidence to support why America is or isn't the best country in the world. There was one main point someone found that was so important that we had to write it down. This fact was about oil. The Factbook said that we were the 2nd country ranked who "makes" or drills the most oil, but we are also ranked 1st in the most oil imports. This is because the US uses SOOOOOO much oil. We fuel everything today and everything is made from oil. It seemed crazy at first, but the more we I thought about it, the more realistic it became. I think I am really getting to know this website and I am able to maneuver within it and find what I need.

october 4

Today's class was very "intense". We watched a video in which there were 3 people who were answering questions for college students. One question that was asked was, "why do you think that the United States is the best country in the world." Two people said freedom and the the other man didn't answer at first. he eventually told us that he thought the US is not the greatest country and he wasn't afraid to speak up about it. I for one, think that America is a great country. I don't think it is the best, but I don't think there is a BEST country. Obviously, some countries are more advanced than others and are all around "better", but i do believe that the US does have its fair share of problems. We have problems right within our country and government and we also have problems in other countries and continents that we have to deal with. In the video, there was a women holding a sign that said, "It's not, but it can be." this was her answer to the question that i stated earlier and I agree completely with that.

october 2

Today, we told the people who weren't in school yesterday about the music in education project with Spotify. Mr. Schick told the people that are in charge of this Spotify project to tell them that my code would not work. For the rest of class, we got back on track and talked more about population pyramids and we were given class time to look at the CIA Factbook. On this we were allowed to look at any country, mostly focusing on the big countries or African countries, and their population pyramid. It was interesting to see a country's pyramid and how it was shaped. For example, Qatar's pyramid was very strange. First, it has a lot more males than females. This is because they have a lot of oil there and it is a man's job to mine for oil. Second, they are not having a lot of babies there. Third, it looks like their life expectancy doesn't seem too high in Qatar. This was pretty cool to see because in comparison with, say, Afghanistan, their's is VERY different.

first day of October

Today in class we talked about a "special assignment" that Mr.Schick has given our class and our class only. We trying to find songs and music to go along with things that are happening in the world. He is part of a program that is trying to bring music in the educational world. We are using Spotify to find our music and Mr. Schick was given codes for free 1 year memberships to Spotify Premium. My code didn't work, so I am going to have to see Mr.Schick about that. Hopefully I will get a working code so I can get my free membership. I think this assignment is going to be really fun, especially when we get to share our playlists and music. This assignment is going to be fun and educational because we will be doing some current events. I am really looking forward to this project.

september 30

Today's class focus was on the population pyramid. We watched a powerpoint that gave us all the informatíon ever on the pyramid. We talked about what the population pyramid shows us. Some of these things are: birth rate, death rate, population, etc. One thing it does not show us is life expectancy. Mr. Schick showed us the population pyramid for a bunch of different countries including Japan. Japan's population pyramid is basically a rectangle. There are very few people having kids, so there are very few kids. He showed us the population pyramid for the US. We saw that the year Mr. Schick was born was a big "baby boom" year. He also showed us the pyramid from when we were born, the one right now, and the estimated one for the year of 2050. I thought it was really cool to get to "see into the future".

september 26

Today in class I had a shadow. Her name was Rachel. We disussed the facts we had found on the CIA Factbook website that we thought were interesting. I did the same one Karson did. We talked about how the Pitcairn Islands had no defense, so the UK was responsible for protecting them. Someone else talked about Syria and how soooo many people are leaving the country because of the bombing and Isis. By talking about Syria we found the Lebanon has the most people coming into their country than any other. This is because Lebanon is located right next to Syria. The people leaving Syria have to go somewhere, and Lebanon just so happens to be the closest place to go that is somewhat safe. Someone else talked about Timor-Leste and how over 60% of their entire population does not have clean drinking water. Mr.Schick told us that about 95% of the US has clean water, but there are still some places that do not.

september 25

Today in class we went over our tests again. We did this to help the people who had retreat yesterday correct the ones they got wrong on their own tests. We went a little bit further into discussion about the essay questions today. We talked a lot about Socrates's trial and the crimes he committed today. In that we talked about how much Socrates was into democracy and that is why he choose to stay in Athens and receive his punishment instead of escaping to another city-state to avoid dying a horrible death. We also talked about globalization and how Ryan, John, and Alex are an example of interconnectedness. Mr. Schick told us that one of the teachers here at JC was one of the first people to do foreign exchange. He took students to Russia and brought some back to JC. He also said that this teacher, whose name I can not remember, saw one of the Russian students protesting on top of a tank holding a John Carroll sweatshirt on the news. I and everyone else thought this was VERY  surprising.

september 24

Today in class we got our tests back. I GOT A DING!!! I got a 94% on my test and I am very happy. I like that we read over all the questions on the test, that way we could learn from our mistakes and take notes on our tests to help with our essay questions as well. Our class had the highest average of all the other class averages that Mr. Schick is the teacher in. Our average was a 86.9%. I think that is pretty good average for an entire class considering that not all of the students are going to be straight A students. I really liked how we took an entire class to discuss our tests because it gives us time to have a short Q and A and also allows students to really take in what they have learned. I also like how we went around the room to answer all of the question on the test, this way everyone was able or forced to participate.

september 19

Today in class we talked about measuring population. Here are my notes:

crude birth rate- number of births per 1000 of the population
crude death rate: number of dearhs per 1000 of the population

rate of natural increase

•       prodiced by subtracting the death rate from the nirth rate
•       this gives us the annual natural growth rate- in percentage form- for a country or region

net migration rate: the difference between the numberof persons entering and leaving a country

IMMigration-entering a country

EMMigration-leaving a country

We also explored the CIA factbook. 

Mr. Schick's powerpoint said that in 2013 the US had 3.62 migrants. I found that in 2014 the US had 2.45 migrants. (in net migration rate)

Mr. Schick's powerpoint said that in 2013 Mexico had -3.11 migrants. I found that in 2014 Mexico had -2.99 migrants. (in net migration rate)

What I found interesting on the CIA factbook was that the smallest country in the world according to population is the Pitcairn Islands. The population there is 48 people. The industries there are postage stamps, handicrafts, bee-keeping, and honey. They do not have a military, their defense is the responsibility of the UK. I think we should go on a field trip there.

september 18

Today in class we talked a little about the test and how Mr. Schick would not have them graded until Monday. Rosemary and Megan still needed to take their tests anyway. The rest of the class we started a new chapter and kicked in off by talking about population. We said how right now the Earth has about 7 billion people on it and how the population is going to keep increasing by about 73 million people a year. There were a few points about breaking down that number into per day, per hour, per minute, and per second that aren't really needed in my blog today. We also talked about the places these people are coming from: 90% of population growth takes place in developing countries of Africa, South and East Asia, Latin America. Another topic e hit was life expectancy. Life Expectancy is the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born the same year. We concluded that women tend to have a longer life expectancy than men because men have the more deadly jobs like, coal mining, navy, army, lumber jacking. Yes, there are some woman in these fields, but we can all agree that most of these jobs are done by the men.

test day 1

Today in class we took our first test of the semester. I think I did good. I feel good about most of the problems and I feel that I answered the essay questions really good. The globalization one tripped me up a bit, but other than that I feel overall good about the test. I think the questions were very straight forward and that it was extremely generous of Mr. Schick to let us use our blogs. I think is was basically impossible to fail if you have been putting all your effort into your blog everyday. It would have been easy because all of the answers on the test would be right o your blog. The vocab, short answer, essay, are right there in front of you.

september 16

Today we had  a substitute. We took the class time to study for our test tomorrow by using Quizlet. Our test will be on A Message to Garcia, Ancient Greece, Globalization, and the Did You Know? video. I made a Quizlet using our vocabulary words and terms. Also using details about a message to Garcia like:  I also talked about the silk road and how a lot of countries like to trade with China because of their silk. I said a few things mentioning shipping from China too. Quizlet is a great site. Here is the link to my site if you want to see my work:

A message to Garcia

Written by Elbert Hubbard. During the Spanish-American war. McKinley was president.

Rowan

Person who personally took the Message to Garcia in Cuba from McKinley.

 I also talked about the silk road and how a lot of countries like to trade with China because of their silk. I said a few things mentioning shipping from China too. Quizlet is a great site. Here is the link to my site if you want to see my work:  

http://quizlet.com/49088411/human-geography-flash-cards/

   

september 12

In Friday's class we talked about globalization. here is what I took notes on:

globalization- is the connection of different parts of the world.

• it results in the expansion of international cultural, economic, and political activities.
• "interconnectedness"

Life expectancy

• has incresed in the US since 50s and 60s
• high in japan
• is decreasing in Japan beacuase people want a quick easy meal so the eat fast food

Silk Road

• people want to trade with China 
• people had to go all the way or trade half way with people who could get them stuff from China
• How much olive oil will it take to get how much silk?

What would it take for a man in Kenya to make a cell phone call?

1. money (to buy the phone and pay bills)
2. cellular connection (for the phine to work)
3. electricity (for the phone to charge)

Multi Languages

You call Verison because of a phone problem.

• auto message "Hello this is Verison..."
• auto message "Press 1 for ENGLISH. Press 2 for SPANISH......"
• WHATTT!!!

Shipping 

• China sends shoes to US in shipping container
• Shipped by boat to US
• Container gets on train or trailer truck or 18 wheeler
• Go to store
• Send empty container back to China

9/11

Today in class we talked about the did you know video. We got a little of track and started to talk about the government and how someone in particular thought that the government created cancer and AIDS. Then we talked about how in a few years we would have the option to get a chip implanted in our necks that will let us talk to each other "telepathically". Then more into that about if we had those, the future excuse for not being in class on time or not having your homework would be, "someone hacked me". This was pretty funny because we cannot even picture that happening. The funny thing is, part of the reason how this whole conversation got started was that someone brought up Apple's new product the iWatch or Apple Watch.

Did you know?

Fact #1
1 in 8 couples in the US the maried last year met online.

When I saw this I was very surprised because I didn't think that dating sites were that popular. Right now I am not planning on going on a dating site so this paticular fact does not apply to me, but as I get older I may decide to join one. Who knows?

Fact #2
Today, the number of text messages sent and recieved everyday exceeds the total population of the planet.

When that fact popped up I was not as surprised as I was for some others because texting is done all the time. Kids the age of 7 have cell phones and are texting all day long. some kids take texting to another level by doing it in class or in church. I do text, but never in school or in church.

Fact #3
Digital music sales in 2011 out stripped physical sales for the first time ever.

This paticular fact surprised me the most. Never in a million years would I think iTunes would sell more than physical sales. Some may not havebeen surprised but I was. I listen to iTunes probaly everyday or almost everyday. I would bet that the average person listens to 50 songs a day or more.

Technology is growing fast. As it keeps growing we, the people, will have to adapt. If you don't adapt the world will "eat" you. Soon the world will be based on pure technology. Everything will run on power through Internet or whatever. If you don't adapt you will be lost.

september 10

I was not in class today because I had a soccer game at Spaulding. We won 1-0!!

september 5

Today in class we learned all about Socrates. We said that he was one of the four greatest thinkers and a teacher of another one of those four greatest thinkers. We also learned about Socrates death. As people started to learn more about the planets and the universe, Socrates made some theories. he said that, for example, the sun may be a ball of gas instead of a god riding a flaming chariot through space. This offended the ancient Greeks. They had a ruling and found Socrates guilty. His punishment was forced suicide by hemlock poisoning. A few of Socrates friends and the jail guards arranged Socrates's escape, but Socrates said that he did not want to leave. He drank the cup and died a horrible death in front of many of his friends. Another thing we talked about was Socrates's appearance. he was very ugly, but he said that he was beautiful. His eyes were bulging out of his head: he could see better. His nostrils flared immensely: he could smell far more than anyone else. Socrates was beautiful in his own " special" way.

september 4

Today in class, we went over some of our vocab words or terms. Here are some good definitions of the ones we went over.

Agora- a voting area to meet and discuss

Arete- excellence at any time; the act of living up to one's potential

Polis- a city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes

508 BC- overthrew the government; the people threw out Tarken and brought in Cleisthenes who shared his power with the people

Socrates- was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy; teacher of Plato and many more

Death of Socrates- died of forced suicide/hemlock poisoning ---- disrespected gods and corrupted the minds and morals of the youth of that time

Those were the terms we got to today. Three people were late today. We also talked about how the people in Greece voted. They either put a black or white rock in a vase. White and Black stood for Yes and No.

september 3

Agora- a public open space used for assemblies and market

From <https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=agora%20definition>

Arete-  the aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character

From <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arete>

Polis- a city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes

From <https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=polis>

508 BC- Cleisthens grants full rights to all free men of Athens

From <http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/greeks.html>

Socrates- was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy

From <https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=socrates>

Death of Socrates- Socrates died of forced suicide, Hemlock poisoning

From <https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=how+did+socrates+die>

Socratic Method- is a form of inquiry and discussion between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate

From <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method>

What did it mean when the ancient Greeks called you an idiot- It meant “person lacking professional skill” or “mentally deficient person incapable of ordinary reasoning”

From <http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/03/the-words-moron-imbecile-and-idiot-mean-different-things/> 

september 2

Today in class, we took attendance.  Then Mr. Schick walked around to see if everyone had their indestructible  composition notebooks. I believe everyone but one person had their's.  After that, we talked about A Message to Garcia.  we talked about who wrote it and what was happening at the time  when it was written. It was written during the time of the  Spanish-American War. McKinley  was president at the time. we also said when it was written: March of 1899 and when it was published  as a pamphlet: 1914.  Very biretta, we lathed about who brought the message to Garcia. This person  was caned Rowan.  He was the bravest. He did what he was told without any arguments. That ended our actual Learning session for today. Neat we could  talk or chat or start homework for the next 5 to 10 minutes of  class.

august 30

6 ways to be successful at John Carroll:

1. Get organized. Buy a planner, and specific folders for each class. COLOR COORDINATE!
2. Listen in class. If you pay attention you will most likely remember what he or she said.
3. Do your homework. Don't try to rush through it. Take your time and you will remember the information for upcoming tests.
4. Study. Put in time and effort to study and it will pay off.
5. Get involved. Join a club or team. Participate. Go team!
6. Make friends. Talk to people. Most likely if you meet one person you will meet many more. The people you meet in high school will be your lifetime friends.

august 28

Today in class we didn't do much. We showed Mr. Schick our blogs and he said mine was great. He looked at everyone else's and helped the new student Rosemary work her Blogger. For the rest of the class period we socialized with each other and did something on our computers. Mr. Schick told us to make sure that we had an "indestructible" composition notebook. He threw one at us the other day to show us how the binding won't break and the pages won't fall out. He also said it can help in your other classes too because it won't rip apart the other books in your locker if the composition does not have a spiral wire. Mr. Schick wanted to keep us from getting ahead because we were one class ahead of all the other Human Geography classes that he teaches. i believe that is why we did not do much today in class.

august 27

Today we discovered how to properly use Blogger.com. We helped people who couldn't get on and send Mr.Schick their URL. After everyone was able to send their URL to him, we learned how to bring up the syllabus. We talked about the different rules for using your computer: no going on inappropriate websites, not laying games, and of coarse having you battery charged every day. Mr. Schick stressed very much that he doesn't give extra credit. He also told us about his grading method, what he grades and how he grades them. He also told us about the calender. It showed the entire calender for the semester. He also told us the materials that we would need. They are: a personal computer with Internet access, a composition notebook, pens or pencils, an open mind, and a willingness to learn how to read, write, and think. Today was a great day to start off the year by learning how to work the programs and learn the rules.

My first day at John Carroll

Today was my first day at John Carroll. I got to meet many new people, both students and teachers. I also got to experience a bunch of new classes. I had Biology, Algebra 2, Into to Bible, and of coarse Human Geography. I got to eat lunch in a cafeteria, which was new for me because my old school did not have one. The free mods were new to me as well. It is a great privilege to have those, they are a great time to start homework, study, eat lunch, or talk with friends.  Maybe it was a little bit of a struggle to open my locker, but  over all, my day at John Carroll was great.  As I was walking up and down the halls, it finally feels real to me.  I feel like just another student here, instead of a visitor.  I know the friends that I have made today will be with me throughout  my four years here at John Carroll.