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.