Last Blog for this class

January 18, 2019

Today in class we basically have a free class. Students who got below a 70% on the test yesterday were given the opportunity to retake the test and possibly get a 70%. So while they are taking their tests the rest of us are writing our blogs. This is my last blog for this class because I move teachers next semester. I really enjoyed this class and fell like I learned a lot. One thing I really did like this year in this class was that we had plenty of notes to take because when it came time fro the tests I was not clueless and had something to study off of. A lot of people said that they worst part of this class was the fact that we had to write blogs every time that we had this class. Sure sometimes I didn't want to write them but I did because it was easy points and helped me remember what we learned in class that day. One thing that I didn't care to much for in this class was that the only grades that we really had were blogs and and tests so even when I got an A on the tests it still brought my grade down about 2% which brought my GPA down. Other then that I really liked this class and feel like I learned a lot more in this social studies class then any class other social studies class that I had in both elementary and middle school. Some people also say that they can never think on 150 words to put on the blogs but I never have a problem with that because usually about each of my blogs are 300 words. I was really hoping that I would have this class again next Semester but that didn't happen. All in all I really enjoyed my time in this class and it is crazy how fast this class went by and now we are halfway done freshman year. So to close this out I fairly enjoyed writing the blogs and will my brain will probably think that I need to write blogs in the other class but I won't. I am glad I finished out both quarters with an A and the Semester with an A. This is the 62nd blog and the last one for this class so thank you and goodbye.

Test Day

January 17th, 2019

Today we took our last of the semester and of this class. I am glad that I check my email everyday because I was informed that the test was moved to today instead of tomorrow which some people didn't know. I thought that the test went OK but am kind of nervous for the results. Now we are waiting to here the results our test because our teacher asked us if we wanted to here our results now. There were mixed answers but he went and graded them anyway. Before we got our test be asked us what we thought our  class percentage was going to be and we came to the conclusion that it would be an 82%. But when the teacher walked back in and went up to the board and wrote 78% my heart started racing. Every name that was called my heart started racing faster and my test was the last on on the bottom. When he called my name and I got a ding I was truly shocked because I didn't expect to get an A. My goal this semester was to finish this class with a ding from the last test and I was able to do that. I thought that this was a pretty good class this semester and am kind of sad that I am moving teachers. I liked how we took very detailed notes and even though I didn't want to always do my blog I still didn't because they were easy points and they definitely helped me retain more of the information. All in all I am glad that we got the test done and over with today and we will see if we have school tomorrow. I kind of want a 2 hour delay but also would not mind having a day off school because then that would give me a 4 day weekend which would be a nice way to start the second semester.

Review for the last test of the Quarter

January 15th, 2019

Today in class was our review day and we were also informed that our test could possibly be moved to Thursday based on the snow that we are suppose to get towards the end of the week and weather or not that means that we will have school on Friday. Personally I rather have the test on Friday and hope that it doesn't snow this weekend because I already have things to do and I don't want them to be cancelled. So today we were able to read our paragraphs out loud that we wrote yesterday and Mr. Schick would kind of tell us weather it was on the test or not. I didn't want to read any of my paragraphs out loud but when only a few people volunteered I thought that I needed to. I fell like doing this in class today was kind of helpful but at the same Time confusing because we would say facts and then he would say no that is not on the test. Therefore their are about 8 questions on the test that we did not go over during our review. I believe that a lot of this is common sense so it should not be that hard. Also the test is only 25 multiple choice questions so if you get one wrong that is already bringing you down to a 96% when he makes the test out of 100. All in all I think that class went OK today and it is almost Wednesday which is a bonus. And to top it off I am already done 2 of my 7 tests this week.

Sub work to get ready for the test

January 14th, 2019

Today in class we were instructed to write a paragraph on each of the five religions that we have been studying. This is suppose to help us for the test so hopefully it does. Here are the five paragraphs below.

Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in every country of the Western Hemisphere and in most countries of Europe and Sub- Saharan Africa which has around 2.2 billion followers. Their geographic location typically consist of Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa. The founder of Christianity is Jesus Christ and the followers believe that Jesus is both human and divine- The son of God, he lead a virtuous life, he was crucified, died, buried and resurrected, he ascended into heaven where he reigns with God the father. Their denominations are the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, protestants, (Lutherans, Methodists, baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians). The holy book that is used is the Bible, especially the new testament and the gospels. The main figure of Christianity now is the pope and was Jesus Christ.

Islam is the most widely practiced religion in nearly every country of Southwest Asia and North Africa along with Central Asia which consists of 1.5 billion followers. They are called Muslims and the geographic location is typically Indonesia, Middle East and North Africa. Islam is broken up into two parts which is their denominations. The two types are Sunnis and Shiltes, Sunnis has 75-90% of the followers of Islam and Shiltes has 10-20% of the followers. The founder of Islam is Muhammad who lived from 570-632 and the holy book that they use is the Qur'an or Koran. The belief is that Islam is monotheistic Abrahamic. The use the five pillars which are Testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting and pilgriming. Muslims see that their purpose in life is through serving and submitting to Allah(God) and observing Islamic law. The word Islam means submission to the will of God and a Muslims means one who surrenders to God. Sunni means people following the tradition of Muhammad and Shite means party or support group.

Hinduism has 1.1 billion followers and their geographic location is India and Nepal. 97% of Hindus are concentrated in just one country which is kinda. 2% of Hindus are living in Nepal and 1% of Hindus are living in Bangladesh. Hinduism takes up 80% of the population of India and Nepal and 9% of Bangladesh. They are called Hindus and their geographic location is India and Nepal. The holy book that the Hindus use is called the Vedas which is the eternal truths revealed to the ancient sages, composed in verse form( meant to be sung and easily memorized). The founder of Hinduism is not identified so it is a series of intelleduced or philosophical points of view, rater then a rigid strict set of beliefs, probably the oldest extant religion although Hinduism is less a religion and more of a way of life or a faith.

Buddhism is clustered primarily in East Asia and Southeast Asia. An accurate count of Buddhists is especially difficult because only a few people participate in Buddhist institutions. Between 500 million to 1.5 billion people follow this religion and we call them Buddhists. Their geographic location is Southeast Asia, China, Nepal and Japan. There are 1.2 million Buddhists in the United States. The founder is Siddhartha Gautama and the denominations are Tibetan, Zen, Theravada and Amindist. The four noble truths are There is suffering, Attachment to desire is the origin of suffering, there is a cessation of suffering. The eightfold path will lead to the cessation of suffering. The eightfold path is right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and the right dedication.

Judaism has between 14 and 18 million people who follow this religion and about 2/5 of the Jews live in the United States. Judaism is the first recorded religion to espouse monotheism, the belief that there is only one God. We call them Jews and the Geographic location is Israel and the United States. The number of Jews in Israel which is 6.4 million or 75.4%, and the US is 5.3-7 million, 7-2.6%. The founder is Abraham and the holy book that they use is the Torah( the first five books of the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The fundamental of Judaism is the belief in one all powerful God. Judaism offered a sharp contrast to the polytheism practiced by neighboring people.

All in all today's class went pretty good and I think I will do fairly well on this test.

Class Game

January 11th, 2019

Today in class we played a class game. What we had to do was reading a quote from the board and decide if it was from the Bible or the Koran. The twist was that we wouldn't finish playing the game until we received a 90% on it. There were a few times that we had to start over because we got more then 2 wrong before the end of the game. I actually thought that the game was a clever idea and gave us something to learn because we thought that several passages would be from the Bible but ended up being the Koran. Then we highlighted more notes in our packet so here they are below.

• In Europe Muslims are 5% of the population
• France has the largest Muslim population which is 4 million
• Germany has about 3 million Muslims 
• Between 1 and 5 million Muslims living in north America
• Buddhism is clustered primarily in East Asia and Southeast Asia
• An accurate account of Buddhists is especially difficult because only a few people participate in Buddhist institutions
• Someone can be a Buddhist and a believer in other Eastern religions
• 97% of Hindus are concentrated in India
• 2% of Hindus live in Nepal
• 1% of Hindus live in Bangladesh
• about 2/5 of Jews live in the United States
• about 2/5 of the Jews live in Israel
• Judaism is the first recorded religion to expose monotheism

All in all today's class went pretty good and we only have one more week of this class. It is kind of crazy how fast time is going and hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the school year.

Highlighting Packet

January 9th, 2019

Today in class we highlighted notes from our packet that we received and talked a little about the Powwow. Here are the things that we highlighted below.

• Islam is the predominant religion of Central Asia and of Southwest Asia and North Africa
• Buddhism is in East Asia and Southeast Asia
• Islam means submission to the will of God
• Muslim means one who surrenders to God
• Most Muslims are in Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
• The three types of Christianity are Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox
• More then 90% of Latin Americans and 75% of Europeans and North Americans identify as adhering to Christianity
• Muslims are 90% of Central Asia, Southwest Asia and North Africa
• In South Asia 2/3 of population is Hindus and 1/3 are Muslim
• India is 80% Hindu
• Bangladesh and Pakistan are more then 90% Muslim 
• Judaism is the most widely practiced religion in the State of Israel
• Most migrants learn a new language which is what they speak in the new location but retain their religion 
• Reliable statistics on the number of adherents is difficult to obtain

All in all today's class was pretty good and it was the last class of the day which was a bonus. For some reason I kept thinking that today was Friday but sadly it is not and we still have 2 more days of school this week but I guess it is not that bad because we have already gone to school 3 days this week. The first couple of weeks back from Christmas break always feel so slow and take forever. We also had an assembly today about the Pow Wow. I found out that I actually don't have sports on Saturday and they are Sunday so my Grandparents and I are going to go to the Pow Wow on Saturday. All in all today was good and I have this class first Mod on Friday.

Answering Questions

Tuesday January 8th, 2019

Today in class we had to answer 3 questions on our blog which means that I won't have to write it when I get home so that is a bonus. We did some research that way we can answer the questions and here are my answers below.

There are four basic Vedic texts in use by Hindus. Give a brief description of each, including how many hymns are in each.

1. Rig-veda: The Rig-veda is known for the knowledge of the hymns of praise for recitation. The rig-veda is most important of the four because it is the oldest. It is composed of 1,028 hymns. Rig-veda hymns are asking the Gods for for help and benefits like health, wealth and longlong life. It also comes from the foundation of yoga and many of the teachings are still taught and used in yoga today.
2. Sama-veda: The Sama-veda is known for the knowledge of the melodies which is used  for chanting. The Sama-Veda is an ancient scriptures and is basically the same as the previous one but they put the words to music. Almost all of the verses from the previous veda are put in their veda and are all sung. Sama- Veda represents the mind and heaven. It is composed of 1,549 hymns.
3. Yajur-veda: The Yajur veda is known for the knowledge of the sacrificial formulas and was used for liturgy. This scripture is devoted to the worship of the gods and the word yajus comes for the meaning of worship to sacrifice. This veda is divided into two parts which is the white part and that consists of prayers and specific instructions for devotional sacrifices and the black part deals with instructions for sacrificial rituals. It is composed of 730 hymns.
4. Atharva-veda: The Artharva-veda is known for the knowledge of the magic formulas and is named group of priests. This one involves issues like the healing of illnesses, prolonging life, black magic and the rituals for removing maladies and anxieties. It is not concerned with the sacred rituals but addresses the daily problems of verdict people. They seek cure from herbs, hailing a lover or partner or world peace and the nature of good and evil. This is composed of 730 hymns.

Why do you think Martin Luther objected to indulgences?

• Indulgence is the way to reduce the amount of punishment that one person has to undergo based on sins. It can reduce the temporal punishment for sin after death, in the process called purification. The pope and church began asking for money and the people sins would be forgotten. Martin Luther was against indulgence because people should not have to go through the punishment and that the pope didn't have the right to pardon with God. Martin Luther ended up breaking away from Catholic Church, creating protestant detonation of the Luthern teachings and creating his own teachings.

Describe the details of the Hajj, and include a photo or video of a Hajj in your blog.

• Muslims make the trip to the Mecca at the end of the year and all muslims are expected to make at least one trip there in their life. It is in Saudi Arabia and about 1 million muslims make the trip in a year. It is the second largest gathering of muslims around the world and hajj means to attend a journey.All adult muslims are expected to make the trip once in their lifetime unless they are physically or financially unstable. Hajj packages from the US cost more then $5,000. All in all this is what I have for the assignment in class today.

All in all today's class went pretty good and we just worked on this during the whole class which was pretty nice.