Exam Review Day

December 14th, 2018

Today in class we had to turn in our essays and honestly I was very nervous to turn mime in because I don't think that it is very good. Good news is that everyone turned in their essay on time in my class today so nobody was going to lose points for it being turned in late. Then we reviewed the test and people were able to correct the answers that they got wrong and that is all that we really did in that class today since the class mods were only 40 minutes long. Today I had a very easy morning based on the classes I had and then a more difficult afternoon. We reviewed in all of my classes today some more then others but I am still really stressed about the exams. I feel that I will do very well on the social studies and German exams but other then that I feel no confidence about the others. Especially when my English teacher said that most people get a C on her exam. I am striving to get a B or higher  on each my exams so I will end up studying the whole entire weekend. I was also going to go to the basketball game tonight because my friends asked me to go but I thought that it would be a good idea to stay home and study so that I don't feel as stressed during the week. To be honest I am happy that we do exams before break because then I don't have to study over the break but also since we are close all I think is that I wish we didn't have to take exams. All in all I am super nervous for all of the exams but once they are over we will officially be on Christmas break so that is a bonus.

Peer Editing Day

December 13th, 2018

Today was technically our last day of class before Christmas break. I know we still have tomorrow but that is to review for our exams and then of course we have the exams next week, which means we are just that much closer to Christmas. So today we all well most of us brought in our essay's and had a classmate edit it for us. I am not very good at writing so of course my paper had tons of red marks all over it. I have a lot to fix on my essay which is due tomorrow. I know that I am not going to do well on this portion of the exam so I will have to make up for it on the question part of the exam. To be honest I am glad that we got to write our essay ahead of time because most of the other teachers are having us write them during the exam which is going to be really difficult for me to do. I am a person who usually takes a very long time to finish the exam so I will probably take the extra 15 minutes on every exam to either finish or check over each and every question. I have a problem where I will know what some answers are and then I will second guess myself causing me to change my answer and end up getting the wrong answer. I hope I won't end up doing it on the exams. Some people that I have talked to say that exams in general are not that bad and then some people have told me that they are horrible so I guess I will find out for myself next week. All in all I hope to turn in an good quality essay tomorrow and hope for the best grade that I can get on it.

Test Day

December 11th, 2018

Today in class we took a test which I was nervous about going into. Then when we got the test and I saw that it was only about 28 questions so my mind started going crazy because If I got one wrong that they could hurt my grade a lot based on how many points it is worth. When we got the test and saw that about half of the test was matching I felt pretty good about it. Unit I got to the push and pull factors because I always mix up what the difference is between push and pull. Then when I got on to the multiple choice questions I felt a little better about it. There was about 3 that I kinda knew but didn't remember at the same time so I just put the question that sounded best to me. All in all I think I did OK on the test and am hoping to get a high A on the test so I can keep my overall grade in this class high because it helps my GPA. I am always that one person who finishes last but it is fine because I didn't feel pressured to finish the test as fast as possible this time which was nice. I will be nervous waiting until the test grades get put in but I am done the test now so their is nothing I can do about it. I completed 2 tests today and have 2 more this week so yay. Honestly I am just ready to be done exams and go on Christmas break. Also I need to finish writing my essay for this class and to be honest I am not very good at writing so I am hoping for the best on this.

Test Tomorrow

December 10th, 2018

Today in class we talked more about the essays and that they are due on Friday, NO EXCEPTIONS. Then we finished taking notes on this unit and have a test on it to morrow so here are the notes below.

• Population growth in Europe is fueled by immigration from other regions of the world, a trend disliked by many Europeans
• Biggest fear is that the host country's culture will be lost, because immigrants adhere to different religions, speak different languages and practice different food and other cultural habitats
• Hostility to immigrants has become a central plank for some political parties in many European countries
• Immigrants blamed for crime, unemployment rates and high welfare costs
• Ravenstein noted that most long distance migrants are male
• Most long distance migrants are adult individuals rather then families with children
• Most long distance migrants are young adults seeking work rather than children or elderly people

This is all of the notes that we took today which finished up the unit in which we have a test on tomorrow. We also watched a video to wrap up this unit which was very short. All in all this blog is going to be super short because I don't know what to put in here. This test I am not feeling most confident about so I should probably study a little bit more. I also wish I was taking the test in the morning tomorrow so that I could get it done and out of the way but it is my last class of the day. I have been a little stressed lately because we have exams next week which I am trying to study for but I also have four tests this week which I need to study for as well. Hopefully I do pretty good on the test tomorrow as I am striving for an A on the test. The hardest part of the test for me will be remembering the podcast but other then that I think I will do fine. All in all class went pretty well today and I am hoping for a good outcome on the test tomorrow.

More notes and test coming up

December 8th, 2018

Today in class we took more notes and talked about how the essay questions should be posted this weekend and then we got a reminder that we have a unit test on Tuesday. So here are my notes below.

• Countries have adopted selective immigrants policies 
• Preference shown for specific employment placement and family reunification
• Passing off the Quota Act in 1921 and the National Origins Act in 1924 by the U.S congress marked the end of the unrestricted immigration for the US
• More seek admission to the US than is permitted by the quotas thus shown towards family reunification, skilled workers and diversity 
• Family reunification-about 3/4 of the immigrants
• Skilled workers-about 1/4 of the immigrants
• Diversity- few, sending country historically has sent very few immigrants
• Unauthorized immigrants-Those who enter a country without proper documents
• Duration of residency has increased for unauthorized immigrants
• in 2010, 35% of adults had been in the US for at least 15 years
• Approximately 8 million unauthorized immigrants are employed in the US
• Texas and California have the largest number of unauthorized immigrants
• Mexico borders with the US
• View from the US recognizes motives that compel unauthorized immigrants to enter illegally
• Employments opportunities
• Family reunification
• Better way of life
• View from Mexico is more complex
• Residents of Northern Mexico wish for compassion to be shown to unauthorized immigrants
• residents of Southern Mexico are less tolerant because of the number of unauthorized immigrants entering Mexico from Guatemala

All in all today's class went pretty well and I am going to start writing my essay this weekend so that I can take my time to make it really good. I am also going to study for the migration test that is coming up on Tuesday.

More Reading Packets

December 5th, 2018

Today in class we found out that we will have an essay for our exam which I was already aware of but had some questions which he answered. I was not sure if we would have to write our exam in one class period or if we would get to start before then. He cleared things up and turns out we will get about a week to work on it which is nice because I am not good at writing things in a short amount of time. It also makes me a little less stressed knowing I can take my time to make sure that I write a good essay that will help my grade and not hurt it. We also read out of a packet today so here are the notes below.

• Illegal Alien means a group of people that favor tougher restrictions and enforcement of immigration laws
• Unauthorized Immigrants are immigrants that enter without proper documents 
• 2 reasons that visas are granted are employment placement and family reunification
• Undocumented immigrants is a term used by some groups to advocate for more rights for these individuals
• Quotas are the maximum limits on the number of people who could immigrate to the United States in the span of one year
• Family reunification is the number of immigrants to reunify families like spouses, or unmarried children
• Chain migration is the migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there
• Migration policy disputes could be the border patrols, workplace, civil rights and or local initiates
• Alabama has a law that prohibited or restricted unauthorized immigrants from attending public schools and colleges
• Immigration is tightly controlled by most countries
• The United States has more than 11 million unauthorized immigrants mostly from Mexico
• Americans and Europeans are divided on attitudes towards migration
• Some key terms were Asylum seeker, Brain drain, Chain Migration, Circular migration, Circulation, Counterurbanization, Desertification, Emigration, Floodpain, Forced migration, Guest worker, Immigration, Internal Migration, Internally displaced person, International migration, Interregional migration, Intervening obstacle, Intraregional migration, Migration, Migration transition, Mobility, Net migration, Pull factor, Push factor, Quota, refugee, Remittance, Unauthorized immigrant, voluntary migration

All in all this is what the main points were about the text and today's class went pretty well.

Extra Blog because I wasn't sure if we should do one in addition to the Sub work

December 4th, 2018

Today in class our teacher was not there so we did not listen to the podcast. Instead we got out our packets on migration and took notes about page 84 and 85. I had already read through it before but read over it again to see if I had missed anything before. Then I took some notes in my notebook about what I learned or found interesting which I then transferred to my blog which is the one before this one. Class went pretty well today and the assignment was not that hard and took me about 40 minutes so then I had about the last 15 minutes to work on some German Vocab. I am getting more and more nervous for the exams and will be happy when all of them are over and we officially go on break. I found out that I now have 3 tests on Tuesday which is great on top of studying for the exams so yay. All in all I only wrote this blog to be on the safe side just in case we were suppose to write a blog in addition to the blog that we did regarding the classwork that we had today.

Sub work

December 4th, 2018

Today In class we were told to read page 84 and 85 of our packet and take notes. So here is our classwork.

• approximately 80 million people migrated to the United States between 1820 and 2015, which also includes the 42 million people of the 80 million that were still alive as of 2015
• There were three eras of immigration which included colonial settlement, mass European immigration and Asian and Latin American immigration
• The US population in 1790 was 3.9 million people
• The main places where people came from to the United States was Europe and Sub- Saharan Africa
• Around 1790 about 62% of the United States immigrants were from Europe
• Between 45 and 50% of the immigrants who came from Europe came from parts that are now known as the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland
• Most of the immigrants that came from Africa were forced to migrate because they were slaves
• 38% of the immigrants that were from Africa were shipped to America by the British
• To import slaves was made illegal in 1808
• Even though it was made illegal another 250,000 slaves were brought to the United States within the next 50 years
• The difference between the African immigrants and the European immigrants was that the African immigrants came over as slaves and the Europeans voluntarily came to the United States
• In Europe they had a rough time with economic time and their was religious persecution which could make it hard to distinguish the difference between forced and voluntary
• Between 1820 and 1920 32 million more people migrated to the United States 
• 90% of the immigrants were from Europe because the United States offered a great opportunity for economic success
• The annual immigration made a big jump starting at 20,000 people climbing to 200,000 people
• Emigration from Ireland and Germany resumed following a temporary decline during the US civil war
• The industrial revolution caused a rapid population increase in Scandinavia
• Immigration to the US dropped during the Great Depression and picked back up around 1950
• Because of the Immigration Reform and Control act, several hundred thousand people received visas who had entered the country without legal documents
• Europeans left their country when they were in stage 2 of the demographic transition
• The symbolic closing of the frontier coincided with the end of the peak period of emigration from Europe

All in all today's class went pretty good and we got to do our blog in class which is a bonus.

Listening to a Podcast

December 3rd, 2018

Today in class we listened to a podcast and took notes. I was looking on the the calendar on the side board and saw that we have a test next week about migration which is nice to know that a good amount of time before. The notes that I took are below.

• Trump is making it harder for people to get an asylum
• The people who had not applied properly to get into the US were not allowed in
• 900 jews in 1939 tried go to the US but got turned away and ended up being killed as result of the US's actions
• Non Reforma means not returning 
• That was discussed at a 1951 United Nations meeting
• Persecution is based on race, religion, nationality, political beliefs and social groups
• Domestic violence could be another reason for people to come to the United States (under Obama)
• gang violence, terrorism, being gay are reasons to ask for an asylum
• 50,000 people are asking for asylum which created a surge during the time when Obama was president

All in all today's class went ok. I rather take notes off the board with a powerpoint then listen to a podcast because I just learn better that way. But at least we are closer to Christmas which I will be happy about once we get past exams.

3% or 9%?????

November 29th, 2018

Today in class we spent a lot of time researching one question regarding the percent of the world's population that are migrants. The reason that we were researching this question was because the textbook said that the answer was 9% and the PowerPoint said that it was 3% so everyone wanted to know what the right answer was. We took a poll at the beginning of the class to see who thought that the right answer was 3% and who thought that the right answer was 9%. 19 people said that the right answer was 3% and 3 people thought that the answer was 9%. I said that it was 3% and after much research we concluded that the right answer was 3%. Then people had questions as to why did the book say one things and the PowerPoint say something different when the same publishing company wrote both. Our teacher thinks that the company just made a mistake so that is what we had to go with. Then we started talking about politics and about Trump which I don't like talking about at all. Reasons being because everyone has different opinions and in my opinion I don't like him. A lot of people in my class like him and think that making a wall at the border is OK as I feel that he handles problems like this wrong and thinks his solution will make things better but it actually makes things worse. All in all class was pretty good today and it was last mod which was nice also the hallways are starting to come together nicely with all of the Christmas decorations.

Something New!!!!

November 28th, 2018

Today in class we were given a packet of reading that was from the textbook rather then just taking notes from the board. To be honest I like taking notes from the board much more then reading from a textbook because I feel like I can understand when just the main point is on the board. We were given 15 minutes to read through the whole packet and highlight what we have learned. At first I was not looking forward to doing it but to be honest it was not that bad. Then once everyone was finished reading and highlighting we pulled up the PowerPoint on the board and compared it to the reading. It was interesting to see how even though the same company wrote both the PowerPoint and the textbook reading their was still differences. For example that in the PowerPoint 9% of the world's population are international migrants as the reading says that 3% of the world's population are international migrants. Other then that everything in the PowerPoint was very similar to the reading. Also the teacher was pretty shocked when I raised my hand and participated today because I never raise my hand and today I raised it twice, not once but twice. That is a new record. I realized that I need to start participating now because that will be our presentation credit for the semester. All in all I today's class went pretty good and now we are one day closer to exams which means one more day closer to Christmas. I am happy about Christmas but stressed about the exams.

Unit 4 Migration

November 27th, 2018

Today in class we got our quizzes back and I got a 100 which I was not shocked by because I saw it on Veracross over the break. Then we started a new unit called Migration. While we were writing the teacher went over the layout of the rest of the semester which if you really think about it, it is right around the corner. Here are some of the notes that we took in class today below.

• Mobility is most generalized term that relates to all types of movement 
• Short term and repetitive acts of mobility are referred to as circulation
• Ravensteins law is for the distance that migrants typically move
• Most migrants relocate a short distance that remains within the same country
• The is international migration which is the permanent move from one country to another(voluntary, forced)
• Internal migration is the permanent move within the same country
• approximately 9% of the world's population are international migrants
• Global pattern reflects migration tendencies from developing countries to developed countries
• The US has more foreign- born residents than any other country, approximately 43 million as of 2018 and grows by 1 million annually
• Colonial settlement, mass European immigration, Asian and Latin American integration
• A permanent move to a new location 
• Difference between the number of immigrants and number of emigrants is a place's net migration

The key ideas....

• Where are migrants distributed?
• Where do people migrate within a country?
• Why do people migrate?
• Why do migrants face obstacles?

All in all today's class went pretty well and we are only 28 days away from Christmas which is exciting after we finish our exams.

Quiz Day!!!!!

November 20th, 2018

Today in class we went over the worksheet that we completed yesterday when we were watching the video and the we passed them up to turn in which is when we were given a quiz. I saw on veracross that it was 20 points so I thought that their would be 20 questions but there were only 10 questions. Which means if you get one wrong then that is subtracting 2 points when can lower your grade by a whole letter grade. I feel that I did pretty good on this quiz. Overall it was pretty easy but I still made a quizlet and studied to be on the safe side. I liked how the questions were basically in order and I also study all of my notes from this unit just in case their were some questions that were not on the video that were on the test. I think that this quiz went pretty well and I am hoping I can get a A on it because since it is 20 points and most of the other assignments are not as much if you get a couple of them wrong they can really affect your grade. I am also excited that this is our last day before break which is pretty nice and it is a D day which means that we get out of school at 2:15. All in all I think class went pretty well today and Mr. Schick even let us write our blogs during class which is what I am doing right now.

Quiz Tomorrow

November 19th, 2018

Today we found out that we are going to have a quiz tomorrow. I am happy that we found out today rather then having a pop quiz because it gives me more of a chance to look over all of my notes. We watched a video today and answered 10 questions which will be on the quiz tomorrow. SO here they are below.

• 1)One of the videos we watched in class featured Hans Rosling, who teaches a college course. What is the name of this course?

Global Health

• Hans Rosling constructed a chart which has two separate lines of axis. What did the X axis measure?

Income per person

• What did the Y axis measure?

Life span

• What description did Hans Rosling give to the area that was in the lower, left hand side of the chart?

Poor and Sick

• What description did Hans Rosling give to the area that was in the upper, right hand side of the chart?

Rich and Healthy

• In the demographic transition chart, birth rate, death rate, and total population were given over time, in five stages. Give the stage where a country would be experiencing a high birth rate and a rapidly falling death rate?

Stage 2

• When did the United stages enter stage one?

In the early 1800's

• Name a country that is currently in stage five

Japan, Russia, Italy

• In this stage, a country would be experiencing a stable or slow RNI due to a high birth rate and a high death rate

Stage 1

• The industrial revolution began in the late 1700's in this nation

Great Britain

Europe=Brown

Asia=Red

Middle East=Green

Africa, south of the Sahara=Blue

America(North and South)=Yellow

In 1810 the life expectancy was under the age of 40

All in all today's class went pretty well today and I am hoping to do good on the quiz tomorrow.

Population Structure

November 16th, 2018

Today we had a 2 hour delay because of the snow that we received yesterday so I got to sleep in which was a bonus. We still had all of our classes today but they were shortened. In this class today we took a bunch of notes about population structure and here they are below.

• Sex ratio is defined as the number of males per 1000 females in the population 
• Demographic transition is a model consisting of our stages that help to explain the rising and falling of natural increase over time in a country
• Historically, no country has ever reverted back to a previous stage
• Thus, the model has a beginning, middle and end
• Stage 1- marked by very high birth and death rates and no long term natural increase
• Stage 2- marked by rapidly declining death rates and very high birth rates
• They have a high natural increase and consist of Europe and North America during the industrial revolution
• Stage 3- marked by rapid decline in birth rates and steady decline in death rates
• The natural increase is moderate
• Stage 4- marked by very low birth and death rates and no long term natural increase and possible a decrease
• Country reaches stage 4 when the population gains by CBR are diminished by losses because of CDR
• The condition is known as zero population growth (ZPG)
• Demographers more precisely define ZPG as the TFR that produces no population change 
• The population changes from immigration

All in all class went pretty well today and it all of my classes were only 40 minutes which was a bonus especially for a Friday.

NOTESSSSSSS

November 14th, 2018

Today in class we took notes and talked about world war two. The notes that we took are below.

• Natural increase-About 82 million people are added to the population of the world annually
• more then 95 percent of the natural increase is in developing countries
• Total fertility rate is TFR
• TFR for the world is 2.5
• Measure also used by geographers to measure number of births in a society 
• Defined as the average number of children a women will have throughout her childbearing years(15-49)
• Infant mortality rate is IMR
• Measure used by geographers to better understand death rates in a society
• Defined as the number of deaths of infants under one year of age, compared with total live births
• Usually expressed per 1,000 births rather then a percentage 
• IMR is 5 in developed countries and 80 in sub Saharan Africa
• Developed countries have lower rates of natural increase, crude birth, total fertility, infant mortality
• Developing countries have higher rates of crude birth, total fertility, infant mortality
• A special bar graph known as a population pyramid can visually display a country's distinctive population structure
• Dependency ratio is defined as the number of people who are to young or to old to work, compared to the number of people in their productive years

All in all class was pretty good today and I liked how all of the classes were only 45 minutes today. For some reason a 10 minute difference makes the classes feel like they are going by so much faster.

Reviewing Our Test Results

November 13th, 2018

Today in class we went over our unit 3 tests. I had already seen what I had gotten on veracross so it was not a surprise to me. I definitely did better on this test then the last one but the ones I got wrong were easy ones that I could have gotten right. I feel like one of the reasons I did better on this test then the last one is because I had time to look over my answers instead of feeling pressured to finish when being the last one done. I am overall pretty happy with this grade considering I was very stressed all week trying to study for all 8 of the tests that I had. Two of the questions that I got wrong were on the CIA world fact book and I think that I just overlooked the right answer because I was trying to get all of the questions finished. I also don't understand why even though I got an 94 my grade still dropped almost 6 percent. Is that because we don't really have any grades in yet for quarter 2. One thing that really put things into perspective is that Mrs.Gauthier told us that we only have 25 more classes of each class before the end of semester 1. Where has time gone? I have actually been enjoying school lately so time is flying so fast instead of going very slow. All in all I am pretty happy with my test grade and am looking to maintain a strong A in the class and keep getting high A's on the tests.

The Cultural Landscape

November 8th, 2018

Today in class we started a new PowerPoint about cultural landscape and took a bunch of notes including the key issues. Here are some notes that we took below.

• Where is the world population distributed?
• Why is global population increasing?
• Why does population growth vary among regions?
• Why do some regions face health threats?

Population Concentrations-

• 2/3 of the world's inhabitants are clustered in four regions
• East Asia 
• South Asia
• Southeast Asia
• Europe
• Site and situation of population clutters
• Low lying areas with fertile soil and temperature climate
• Near an ocean or near a river with easy access to an ocean

Sparsely Populated Regions-

• Humans avoid clustering in certain physical environments
• Dry lands
• Wet lands
• Cold lands
• High lands
• Places considered to harsh for occupancy have diminished over time
• places of permanent human settlement are termed the ecumene

Population Density-

• Arithmetic density
• Physiological density
• Agricultural density

All in all today's class went pretty well and I like the new unit that we are in so far.

Unit 3 test

November 7th, 2018

Today in class we took our third unit test of the school year and to be honest I was a little nervous going into it. The first page of the test was pretty easy with the CIA website and I finished that with about 7 minutes left so I decided to go back while I still could and checked all of my answers. Then the second page of the test I thought some of the answers were quite easy but some made me think a little so I am not sure if I got all of them right and then the third page was pretty easy and the push and pull factors were to but I don't know if I explained them enough to get full credit. Then the fourth page seemed pretty easy because it was basically identifying what the question was asking on the different population pyramids. Something new with this test is that you can't turn in your test until the bell rings which has pros and cons to it. A pro is that I am always the last one done so that when we all turn them in at the end of the class I don't have to feel pressured to finish. But a con is that we can't work on any other class assignments because we still have the test out. Also on the last page their were two bonus questions and even though I didn't know the answer it is better to write something down rather then not writing anything at all. There was even a place to doodle which I thought was unique but I am not artistic and don't have an imagination therefore my drawings look terrible. All In all I am hoping that I did good and better on this test and am glad that I am done taking my four tests today.

Review for our test

November 6th, 2018

Today in class we were made aware that we have our unit test tomorrow. Last unit test I did not do as well as I expected so I am hoping to better on this test. We reviewed and learned that we will have 15 minutes to complete 15 of the problems which will be on the CIA website so if you know how to navigate through the website you should do just fine. I think I will do fine on the CIA questions but on the others I am not so sure. I like when we go over what possible test questions could be but all we went over is the possible questions that could be in the CIA fact book which I didn't really need to review. I guess I will just go home tonight and study all of the notes that we took this unit along with the population pyramids. After I study I should do pretty good as long as I do not second guess myself. I also have lacrosse training after school today which is exciting and I have soooooo many tests this week which I am thrilled about. I stress myself out way to much sometimes and overthink the questions so if I don't over think it then I should be fine. All in all I am starting fresh this quarter and working to get my A's higher so when we take the exams it will still give me a pretty solid grade. Also report cards came out today and I got second honors which I am pretty excited about but wish I could have gotten my math grade higher. I am happy with my English grade because I thought for sure I would get a B but I got an A. All in all for my first quarter switching from a public school to private school and transitioning with the work I am pretty happy with my grades.

TED talks

November 2nd, 2018

Today we went to the Basilica for our field trip and it went pretty good. We got back to school a little after mod 8 started so I only had two classes left for the day. When we went in to human geography today Mr. Schick had chocolate chip muffins for all of us and we reviewed the PowerPoint that we talked about regarding the population pyramids. After we reviewed about the population pyramids we watched a TED talk that was about population pyramids but explained it a little different. We were able to identify if the different places were a Christmas tree, cup or box. Then we had a little bit of time left in class we watched a video about a supermodel which was one of the TED talks that our teacher went to. It was crazy how in the video she walked in looking like a supermodel but about 10 seconds after that she decided to change the way she looked by putting on different clothes which changed the perspective of how people saw her. She talked about how she got away without getting a ticket because of her looks. But then the people of other races get interrogated just because of the way they look. All in all today's class went pretty well and I enjoyed watching the TED talks videos. The TED talks videos give me a different perspective of what we are learning and I feel like I understand what the different population pyramids mean and are able to identify the differences.

More population pyramids

November 1st, 2018

Today in class we finished the PowerPoint that we started yesterday that introduced us to population pyramids. Projected on the board today would be a population pyramid with a city and state and we would have to figure out why in a certain age category they had more people then everyone else. Then we got a little off topic and our teacher asked us if we had followed the news over the past few days and I knew exactly where he was going with this because we were talking about a prison. Mr. Schick wanted to knew if we knew anything related to prison and I knew that it was about an old guy who had been transferred to another prison and was murdered by other prisoners who beat him to death. Then people wanted to see what the population pyramid looked like for Bel Air Maryland and it was more or less what we thought that it would look like. We also looked at the predicted population will be for us in 2100 and it will consist of about 12 billion people which is a lot considering we had 7 billion people now. All in all today's class was pretty easy and even though we didn't write any notes down I still learned based on the examples on the board.

Population Pyramid

October 31st, 2018

Today in class we started talking about the population pyramid and also had a little laughter for Halloween. When the teacher asked us what we were doing for Halloween and everyone for the most part said that they were doing nothing he acted a little surprised. Then we went to the back of the room like he was turning off the lights and then he scared all of us. We also took notes about the population pyramid and here they are.

• We use the population pyramid to analyze growth or decline of fertility, mortality and migration in cities
• On the population pyramid males are always on the left and females are always on the right
• The population pyramid can be in three shapes including the Christmas tree, the box and the cup
• The Christmas tree means developing nation
• The box means developed nation, slow growth
• The cup means developed nation and negative growth

The Christmas tree means growth rates are slow, high birth rate, short life expectancy and some examples are Namibia and Bangladesh

The box means infant mortality, slow population growth, long life expectancy and some examples are Sweden and the USA

The cup means low birth rate, shrinking population, long life expectancy and some examples are Italy and Japan

All in all I think class went pretty good today and this was some valuable information to know for the test.

Approaching the end of the quarter

October 29th, 2018

Today in class we didn't learn anything new or take any notes. We started the class talking about if anyone was missing any assignments for that class and why some people were receiving points off of their blogs. It turned out that a good portion of the points taken off for the blogs was because people would upload their blogs on Sunday when the one from Friday is due on Saturday. Then a lot of people were confused as to why they only got a 5/10 on the CIA assignment and that is because all they did was list five facts instead of writing a paragraph for each fact. I went ahead and wrote a paragraph for each fact because I didn't want to risk getting points off. I am glad I decided to take that extra time to write the paragraphs because if I didn't that could have brought my grade down to a B. We found out that the CIA grade along with the blogs from last week were the last thing that would be put on quarter 1. I am glad I ended up with an A in that class and my goal for next quarter is to get a more solid A. Then after people fixed grades we had the rest of the class to ourselves and some people decided to play computer games and were caught. I felt bad that the person playing computer games got a detention because she is super nice but the teacher had to be fair since be had given another kid a detention for the same thing. Towards the end of class Mr. Schick came to the back of the room and asked some of us why we don't raise our hands and participate and the answer is because I don't want to get the answer wrong. I was made aware that next quarter I will need to participate because that could end up being a 100 point grade which is equal to a test. All in all today's class was pretty easy and i was able to do some more studying for my biology test.

10 Point CIA assignment

October 27th, 2018

Yesterday in class we talked about the CIA website and were given an assignment to research and find five facts that relate to our unit and write a paragraph talking about each fact.
  The first fact that I found that related to our unit is about the Bahamas. I chose this country because when I was in fourth grade I went on spring break here. The fact I learned about the Bahamas is that their population is 329,988 people and that two thirds of their population lives on the new providence island where Nassau is located. I found this fact interesting because when I went to the Bahamas I didn't think that their were that many people around besides the people stoping by on the cruise ships. I didn't know that where I was is where two thirds of their population lives. I also found their population interesting because they are ranked 179th out of 238 countries meaning they are very small compared to China and the US but in the grand scheme of thinks about 330,000 people is still a fairly large amount.
   The second fact I found that related to our unit is about the Pitcairn Islands. What I found interesting about this island/country is that their population is only 54 people which is crazy because that is less then the 2022 graduation class at our school. It is crazy that a population can be so small and still function as their own country. I was wondering how they can possibly operate with such small population of people but somehow they make it work. If their population is that small then everybody should know everybody. Of course they are ranked number 238 for their population and what I found cool is that their size compared to the rest of the world is significantly  less then every other country. The size of the Pitcairn Islands is about three tents of the size of Washington DC.
  The third fact I found that related to our unit is about Denmark. The reason I chose this country is because the company my Dad works for is a Danish company. The fact that I found interesting about Denmark is that the population of Males between the age of 0-24 is significantly higher then the population of females but the age of 25 and over the females population is much higher then males.
I guess I was kind of surprised at how many more males there were then females at the younger age but once it got in the mid twenties the roles reversed and the women outnumbered the men. I also found out that most of their population comes between the ages of 25-54 with both males and females having populations over 1 million people.
  The fourth fact I found that related to our unit is about Germany. The reason I chose this country is because I am German, I am taking German as a language and one day I would like to visit Germany. One fact that I found interesting about Germany is that their infant mortality rate is 3.4 deaths out of 1000 live births. Germany is ranked 205 in the world because their infant mortality rate is fairly low especially compared to Afghanistan which is 110.60 deaths for every 100 live births. Germany also only averages about one child per family as other countries such as Niger are averaging just about seven kids. All in all I found the infant mortality rate pretty low compared to many other countries.
   The fifth fact that I found that related to our unit is about the Maldives. I chose the Maldives because it is a beautiful place and it is a place that I would like to visit one day. One interesting fact that I found about the Maldives is that their population growth rate is in the negatives. The population growth rate is -0.06 and is ranked number 209th in the world. What I also found interesting is that about a third of the population lives In the capital city and the other two thirds is spread out over 200 islands which is classified as the Maldives.
   All in all I found that everything that I learned from doing this assignment was things that I never thought that I would learn and I enjoyed researching and learning about different places.

Last Slide of the Powerpoint

October 26th, 2018

Today in class we finished up the PowerPoint that we started a few days ago and started talking about the CIA. Here are some of the last notes I took from the PowerPoint.

• Total Fertility Rate(TFR)
• TFR: average number of children born per women
• For a population to remain the same, the TFR must be 2.1
• Higher then 2.1 the population rises
• lower then 2.1 the population falls
• World TFR: 2.42(it was 254 two years ago, 2.47 last year)
• US TFR: 2.01( it was 2.06 last year)
• Nigeria TFR: 6.89(developing nation)
• Japan TFR: 1.40 (developed nation, aging population)

One of the test questions is going to be, for a population to remain the same, the TFR must be 2.1. Then we started talking about the CIA and were shown what information we can gather from the website. We were given the homework to research and write 5 facts about what we found interesting that relates to our unit. We are suppose to write a paragraph explaining each fact and its correlation with our unit. I was not sure if we were suppose to do a blog in addition to the 10 point assignment or just add it to our blog so I typed up this blog just to be on the safe side. All in all today's class went pretty well and was interesting.

Push and Pull forces

October 25th, 2018

Today in class we talked about the net migration rate and push/pull factors that can drive people to come and leave countries. Here are some notes below.

• Net Migration Rate- The difference between the number of person's entering and leaving a country during a year
• An excess of persons entering the country in net immigration
• It is written as a positive number
• An example: Canada has 5.65 migrants per 1000 population, United States:2.45(it was 3.62 in 2016)
• An excess of people leaving the country is emigration
• It is written as a negative number
• Mexico has -1.68 migrants per 1000 population
• -3.61 two years ago, -3.11 last year

Why do People Migrate? Here are some push and pull factors

• Push forces
• Civil war
• environmental degradation
• unemployment or underemployment
• religious or ethnic persecution
• Pull forces
• Better economic opportunities
• better health services
• religious freedom
• political freedom

All in all today's class went really well and we also reviewed our tests which was good and turns out almost all of the ones I got wrong I originally had the right answer but second guessed myself and changed the answer.

Life Expectancy

October 23rd, 2018

Today in class we talked about life expectancy and that women usually tend to live longer then men and the reasoning behind it. We also went on a little rant about lacrosse today and how some people think it is a racket sport which is really funny. I enjoyed watching the teacher attempt to draw a lacrosse stick on the board. Also we took some notes in class today so here is what we talked about.

• life expectancy- the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year
• The highest life expectancy is in Monaco and for men the average life span is 85.63 years and for women it is 93.58 years
• The US is ranked 48 and the life expectancy for men is 77.32 and for women is 81.97
• The lowest life expectancy is in Chad and for men it is 48.64 years and for women it is 51.03 years
• Potable means safe for human consumption
• Crude birth rate- number of births per 1,000 of the population
• Crude death rate- number of deaths per 1,000 of the population
• Rate of natural increase(RNI)
• produced by subtracting the death rate from the birth rate
• This gives us the annual natural growth rate in percentage form for a country or region

All in all today's class went prep well and we covered a lot of new information.

Start of Unit 3

October 22nd, 2018

Today in class we started our new unit which is called Population and settlement. I remembered to write down the key notes and took notes about population in the United States compared to the rest of the world using a population clock. I also took some more notes so here they are below, starting off with the key issues.

• Where is the world's population distributed?
• Why is global population increasing?
• Why does population growth vary among regions?
• Why do some regions face health threats?

Then I took some notes about population, here they are below

• Over 7.5 billion people are on the planet right now
• Increasing by over 73 million people per year
• Increasing by approximately 200,000 a day
• Increasing by 8377 per hour
• Increasing by 149 per minute
• Increasing by 2.5 per second
• 90% of this population growth takes place in the developing countries of Africa, South and East Asia and Latin America
• In the United States every 8 seconds one baby is born, every 12 seconds one person dies, every 29 seconds an immigrant comes internationally and the net gain of one person is every 13 seconds

All in all today's class period was pretty good and I am excited to see what this unit is going to be all about.

Unit 2 Test

October 19th, 2018

Today we took our second test for this class of the school year. When we came in and I saw it was a scan tron test I was kinda happy because that meant there were multiple choice for every question. I was a bit nervous for the test because I thought we were going to have to do a written response which I had no clue what it would be on. I felt like I did pretty good on the test for the most part but definitely got a few wrong. I was focused on studying certain things for the test that I forgot about some of the other things on the test. One thing I really don't like about when we take tests is that there are always people that are done the test about five minutes after we get it and I am always the last one finished so I feel like everyone is always waiting for me to finish.I liked that we were able to use our maps on the test because that helped me answer quite a few questions. I don't think I did as well on this test as I did on the last one. Then our tests got graded and I did not do that well as I wanted so that made me a little disappointed. I am hoping that with this test grade I will still have an A I this class because I did pretty good on the last test. All in all I am hoping that I will do a better job on the next test.

IMPORTANT INFO FOR THE TEST!!!!!!!!!

October 17th, 2018

Today in class we spent the day talking about what to expect for the test. As we were going over the potential test questions I was making sure I wrote all of them down so I knew some specific things to study. A lot of what we were reviewing I already knew but some of them I had forgotten so it was good to refresh my mind. Another thing we learned about the test is that it is going to be an open map test where we can use all of the maps that we have worked on from the unit. I think that it was very beneficial to label all of the maps when we got them even though I didn't want to when we got them because it can really help on the test especially with the time zone questions. All in all I am fairly confident about this test and the things I am not so confident in I will study a little more for. I am ready for the test on Friday and believe I will do just fine.

Culture

October 16th, 2018

Today in class we talked about different parts of our culture and how they affect our society. For example after 9/11 occurred homeland security came around making airports, sports games, concerts and large crowds safer with the technology of metal detectors and lots of security. We also listened to Jason talk about his life in China and how a lot of people in China don't practice a religion. Then we talked about cremation and how when you are catholic you are not suppose to be cremated and are suppose to be buried which some people had different opinions about. Some people don't think it is wrong to be cremated and that they can still go to heaven when others believe that they need to be buried to go to heaven. We got a little off topic talking about murder and manslaughter but got back on track talking about our society and culture. All in all the examples we went over in class today helped me better understand the culture that are society follows along with the tradition.

Blog about the sub work

October 15th, 2018

I was not sure if we were suppose to write a blog along with the classwork that we did today in class, So if we were suppose to write a blog as well here is my blog and if we weren't that is fine but I wanted to be on the safe side. Today in class we did sub work which I didn't think was bad, it was pretty easy it was just very time consuming. I learned quite a bit with the classwork we did today learning that Eratosthenes did more then what I thought and even invented an easier method for finding out prime numbers. I also learned what an Antipodes is which is pretty cool because when I was looking up some of the locations then opposite point was in the water. For example one of the points in the water was my house and it seemed strange but pretty cool to think about at the same time. All in all the classwork was pretty easy and I enjoyed the class period today.

Sub Classwork

October 15th, 2018

Today in class we had a sub so we worked on answering a series of questions in our blog. This blog is worth ten points and this is the information they were suppose to cover today.

                                                         Ancient Cartography

1. Eratosthenes is known for inventing an easier method to find prime numbers which is called Sieve of Eratosthenes. 
2. Eratosthenes was the first person to be able to explain why the River Nile flooded every year.
3. Eratosthenes invented armillary sphere which was the most important instrument in astronomy for 1800 years.                                                          

                                                                 Time Zones

1. If it is 10am in Bel Air Maryland it would be 7am in Portland Oregon.
2. If it is 10am in Bel Air Maryland it would be 3pm in Greenwich England.
3. If it is 10am in Bel Air Maryland it would be 10am in Toronto Ontario.
4. If it is 10am in Bel Air Maryland it would be 4am in the South Pole.

                                                      Location and place names

1. Five physical toponyms are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Champlain, Grand Canyon and the Rocky Mountains
2. Five toponyms named after Native American places are Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, Boston and Santa Fe New Mexico.
3. Five toponyms named after a person of prominence are Bolivia, Cambodia, Columbia, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.
4. Five toponyms named after a religious affiliation are Christchurch, Calvin College, Martin Luther King Building, Anderson House and Westin St.Francis.

                                                      Latitude and Longitude

1. The latitude and longitude of Baltimore Maryland is 39.2904, 76.6122
2. The latitude and Longitude of Quito Ecuador is 0.1807, 78.4678
3. The latitude and Longitude of Taveuni an island in Fiji is 16.8414, 179.9813
4. The latitude and Longitude of Christchurch New Zealand is 43.5321, 172.6362
5. The latitude and Longitude of Juneau Alaska is 58.3019, 134.4197

                                                             Antipodes

1. An antipode is two points on the earths surface that are directly opposite from each other
2. The antipode for Beiging China is Departamento Conesa, RN, Argentina
3. The antipode for Bermuda is that there is only water around it
4. The antipode for my house is that there is only water around it as well

                                                          

Review,Review,Review

October 11th, 2018

Today in class we found out that the unit test would be next Friday which is good because it gives me time to study. I am partially ready for the test based on multiple things we have talked about. I like that even though I didn't do so good on the pop quiz those same questions will be on the test which is worth more points that I now know the right answer to. When we were reviewing in class today I understood what we were talking and reviewing about for the most part and if I didn't remember something I went back in my notebook and rewrote it to make sure that it was a key idea. I feel like I am pretty prepared for this test and feel I have the potential to do pretty will. My goal is to get above a 90% so we will see. Even when I study a lot sometimes I get to the test and completely forget or start to second guess myself which I need to work on going with my gut instinct more. All in all I felt that the review in class today was very beneficial and helped prepare me for what will be on the test and what I should spend a little more time studying on.

Dog talk and notes

October 9th, 2018

Today in class we started off talking about dogs and about how your dog was not feeling good but all of the tests came back showing that she was OK! Then we talked about how your wife found the dog on the side of the road after being hit by a truck which reminded me of one of my dogs that I used to have. My Mom and Dad found him on the side of the road when he was one and you could see his ribs and only weighed about 18 pounds. Were ended up keeping him where we lived a happy and healthy 15 years with us. Then we took notes about regions of cultures and this is what it was about.

• Culture is the body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that together constitute the distinct tradition of a group of people
• Origin of the word, culture, is the Latin cultus, which means "to care for"
• Two meanings which are 1)to care about 2)to care for
• Geographers study both definitions of culture 
• Culture is what people care about 
• Geographers study why the customary ideas, beliefs and values of a person produces a distinctive culture in a particular place.

All in all class was pretty good today and It made me happy to hear that your dog is doing better.

Pop Quiz

October 5th, 2018

Today in class we walked in and surprise there was a pop quiz on the board. To be honest pop quizzes are not that bad so I didn't think I would do that bad. I started off on the quiz very confident but then my confidence drifted away. I liked how once the pop quiz was finished we went over the correct answers because now I know which ones I got wrong, plus some of those questions could be on the unit test. After taking the Pop quiz it made me realize that I should probably look over my notes more besides just writing a blog because I might retain more of the information. I am not overly disappointed with my first Pop Quiz grade in this class but I do know it could be better. Then we took notes in class and this is what we talked about.

• Region a unique area
• Geographers identify three types of regions
• Functional region(Nodal region)
• An area organized around a focal point
• The characteristics chosen to define a functional region dominates at a central focus and diminishes in the importance outward
• Vernacular region(Perceptual Region)
• An area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity

All in all class was pretty good today and I learned that I should look over my notes more because I never know when their will be a pop quiz.

Today's Notes

October 3rd, 2018

Today in class we were surprised by getting new seats which to be honest my seat is ok. I liked where I was sitting before better but I am not complaining about my seat now because I could be worse.
We also took some notes today which are down below.

• location can be identified in three ways
• A Toponym is the name given to a place on earth
• Names derived from people of prominence, religious affiliation, physical features, or origins of it's settlers
• Site is the physical character of a place
• Characteristics include climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude, and elevation
• Situation is the location of a place relative to other places
• Region is a unique area
• An area of earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics is a region
• Most ofter applied at two scales
• 1) spanning political states
• 2) Constrained within one political state
• A region derives it's unified character through the cultural landscape- a combination of cultural, religious and physical features

All in all I am pretty happy with my seat and today's class was pretty interesting.

Review of the first test of the school year

October 2nd, 2018

Today is class we went over our tests from the first unit. I really liked how we went around the room sharing the correct answers because then I was able to correct the ones I got wrong how in other classes we get our tests back and then I never know the right answer to the ones that I got wrong.
I was pretty happy with my grade on this test and most importantly happy with my essay grade because I am not very good at writing so I thought I was going to lose a lot of points on that. I also learned that I had the right answer for the bonus but didn't spell it right and that is why I didn't get the points which is fine because now I know that spelling matters. I am aware that we should keep the test because when December rolls around we are going to have exams and the test will be a good thing to study off of. All in all I am happy with my first unit test in this class and like that we went over the answers to the incorrect ones so that I don't study the wrong answer.

Rant about Alexa

October 1st, 2018

Today in class we wrote notes about the global positioning system and covered some key questions that we were prompted with at the beginning of the unit.

• GPS stands for Global Positioning System
• It is a system that accurately determines the precise position of something on earth
• The GPS includes three elements which are listed below
• Satelites are placed in predetermined orbits
• Tracking stations to monitor and control satellites 
• Receiver can locate at least 4 satelites, figure out the distance from each and figure out the precise location
• The applications are turn by turn directions in vehicles
• Navigational aid to pilots and ship captains 
• provide location for social media and medical applications in a smart phone

We also filled out a few more maps and just marked about 10 places on the Mao that had a bunch of timezones. You might be wondering why the title says Rant about Alexa and that is because we were having a group discussion in class today about Alexa. We were wondering if even though you don't directly speak to here is she listening to all of your conversations even when you least expect it. All in all class was pretty good today and I enjoyed talking about the whole Alexa conversation.

Finishing Maps

Thursday September 27th, 2018

Today in class we were able to finish up our maps which I had already finished so I had some free time. When we came into class today we had three shadows which consisted of one girl and two boys. Since I had free time today I decided to get a jump start on my homework so I decided to write this early while I was sitting in class. Once I was done my blog I helped my friend finish up her maps and then I started my math homework. Also just found out I have a test in English on Tuesday which is not going to go very well because I am not that good at English so that is just great. Plus kinda not happy about having soccer today because it is pretty chilly and I didn't bring a sweatshirt. All in all today was just a calm and relaxing way to end the day in this class and now I get to go to soccer practice yay!

Labeling Maps

Wednesday September 26th, 2018

Today in class we talked a little bit about the three types of maps and even labeled the three maps. The things we had to label on the maps are listed below.

• The Equator
• Prime Meridian
• Nation of my origin
• Seven continents 
• Five oceans 
• International Date Line
• Tropic of Capricorn
• tropic of Cancer
• John Carroll School

When we were labeling the maps I color coded each of the different tasks that we had to cover so that I could easily point it out/locate it if I needed to. Most of the maps stuff like the continents, oceans, equator were all review. I also liked being able to do an activity like that rather then just writing down notes even though I like doing that as well. So far I am really enjoying this class along with the unit that we are covering right now. All in all I liked the style of today's class because it was a little bit of a change and now I have visualizations for the maps that we are covering this unit.

Longitude and Latitude

Tuesday September 25th, 2018

Today we picked up on where we left off about maps and even reviewed longitude and latitude. Below are some of the topics that we covered in class today

• Projection is the scientific method of transferring locations on Earth's surface to a flat map which is called projection
• Earth's spherical shape causes distortion when drawing it on a flat piece of paper

There are four types of distortion which is

• Shape of an area can be distorted
• Distance between points may become increased or decreased
• Relative size of different areas can be altered
• Direction between points can be distorted

We also covered things such as the Geographic Grid which is explained below

• Geographic grid is the system of imaginary arcs drawn in a grid pattern on Earth's surface
• Meridians are arcs drawn between the North and the South plus and each is numbered according to a system called Longitude
• The values range from zero (prime Meridian) to 180 east or west Longitude
• The parallels are arcs drawn parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians
• Each is numbered according to the system as latitude which values from the equator to 90 degrees north or south
• The earth is a sphere and is divided into 360 degrees of longitude 
• You divide 360/24 time zones (one for each hour of the day) and get the answer of 15
• GMT means Greenwich Mean Time

All in all we reviewed more about maps today and went over latitude/ Longitude

Maps...Maps...and more Maps!!!

Thursday September 20, 2018

Today we watched some parts from the TV show West Wing where these people were trying to change the maps that kids use it school. Apparently the maps have been misleading this whole time and so many people had no idea. The map in which I am talking about is called the Mercator map and the information that it provides is wrong in some aspects. On the Mercator map Greenland is shown about half the size of Africa where in real life Africa is about fourteen time the size of Greenland. I believe that the map should be updated and the newer versions should be used in school because they are more accurate and outline what our geography really looks like. One thing that I found very interesting was when we were watching the clip and the Map was just flipped upside down switching the hemispheres. All in all I have learned things about maps that I never even knew which is catching my attention and making me more and more interested each and everyday.

Start of a new unit

 Wednesday September 19, 2018

Today we started a new unit about maps and covered quite a few sections. We went over some key issues that will be in this unit including the following below.

• How do Geographers describe where things are?
• Why is each point of the earth unique?
• Why are different places similar?
• Why are some human actions not sustainable?

We also went over some of the lessons that we will be covering in this unit including

• 1.1.1- Explain differences between early maps and contemporary maps
• 1.1.2- Describe the role of map scale and projections and making maps
• 1.1.3- Explain how latitude and longitude are used to locate point's on the earth's surface

The definition of geography is the study of where things are found on Earth's surface and the reasons for the locations
Two of the simple questions were,

• Where are people and activities found on earth?
• Why are they found there?

A map is a two dimensional or flat scale model of earth's surface, or a portion of it

All in all today was a pretty good start to our new unit involving maps!

Human Geography Test Day

Tuesday September 18, 2018

Today in Human geography we took a unit test about everything we have learned so far in class. I felt pretty good about the test and thought that studying really helped me. When I study I like to look over my notes and try to re site them in my head. When I answer questions on the test it helps me because I can remember the question and track it to the answer. I really liked the format of the test because there were some multiple choice questions, short answers and a written response. I feel that I did really good on the written response because I was able to explain the situation that Socrates had to go through and the crimes that he committed. Overall for the first unit test of the school year I felt that I did pretty good and think I even got the bonus question right and felt that studying/ writing blogs helped me remember the answers to all of the questions.

Review for the test

Saturday September 15th, 2018


Today in class we finished up the PowerPoint on Socrates and talked about how we are going to have a test next Tuesday. At the end of the PowerPoint one important part was that the unexamined life is not worth living was something that we should focus on for our essay. The class talked about how there would be multiple choice questions, Short answers that required a few sentences and then the essay. The test is going to be 100 points and we are going to take one about once every eight day cycle. One important thing to remember for the test is 508 BCE The Birth Of Democracy. Then we talked about how some of the vocabulary words that were in the PowerPoint would be on the test and that if we talk about the Greeks and arete` in the essay we should cover the whole question. All in all in class today we talked about the outline of the test, figured out specific things to study when looking over our notes and how to answer the essay question.

Socrates

Thursday September 13th, 2018

Today in class we continued talking about Socrates and had a vote on weather we thought he was guilty or not guilty of his crimes. When we added up the votes not guilty had 11 votes and guilty had 10 votes but in real life he ended up getting the death sentence because more people thought he was guilty then not guilty. Below are some more notes about what we talked about in class.

• Athens was a great city which attracted brilliant thinkers
• Visitors from all over the world shared their knowledge of astronomy, medicine, meteorology, literature, philosophy and all things that had to do with science
• this was often at odds with traditional teachings which centered around the Greek gods, which got young people thinking and questioning
• Socrates was charged with two crimes including corruption of Athens youth and impiety( not believing in the Gods of the state)
• Socrates defense was "it's my job to be a gadfly to the lazy, sluggish horse that is Athens."
• "I should actually be rewarded with free dinners for life."
• A jury of 500 male citizens had to vote guilty or not guilty and they found him guilty with 279 votes and the vote for not guilty was 221
• They sentenced him to death by drinking a poison hemlock
• Socrates had the opportunity to escape but refused because he wanted to prove his loyalty to Athenian Democracy
• An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centerness and concerned almost exclusively with private as opposed to public affairs
• In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education
• Declining to take public life, democratic government of Polis was dishonorable

Excellence Part 2

September 12th, 2018

Today in class we finished the slide show on excellence and these are some of the things that I learned. I learned that the word Arete` means the act of living up to one's full potential. Below are some other notes that I learned today in class.

• Arete` involves all of the abilities and potentialities available to humans 
• The highest human potential is knowledge -all other human knowledge is knowledge about knowledge itself 
• Agora- gathering place, assembly, marketplace, the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life in the city/state (esp. Athens)
• Polis- Political entitles ruled by their bodies of citizens origin of the words politics, metropolitan and poll
• 508 BCE the birth of democracy- The first time in recorded history a people had revolted against their rulers
• Socrates the early years- As a young man he worked as a stone mason, he fought heroically in the Peloponnesian war, was working class background and the battle field experiences shaped the way he viewed life
• Socrates the teacher- Socrates met with young students in workshops just outside the agora, his method was to ask a series of questions to determine the underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. That lead to the scientific method, in which you start with a hypothesis, then set out to prove or disprove your theory through experimentation.

Excellence, A Message to Garcia

Monday September 10th, 2018

A Message to Garcia covered many topics including the publication, the back story and some tough but important vocabulary here are some examples. A Message To Garcia was published in March 1899 as an inspirational essay and was later turned into both a book and pamphlet. A Message to Garcia sold over 40 million copies in 37 different languages and was made into a movie twice with included 1916 and 1936. "Take a message to Garcia" was a popular slang expression for taking initiative. Some back story about A Message to Garcia was it took place during the Spanish-American war as well as Garcia being the revolutionary seeking Cuban independence from Spain. Rowan was one of the army officers as McKinley was the president who served (1897-1901) and then was assassinated six months into his second term by a anarchist. One interesting fact was that the tallest mountain in North America was named Mount McKinley in tribute of him but in 2015 they changed it back to Denali. Some important key vocabulary words were Perihelion, Slipshod, Imbecility, Stenographer and Missive.

Perihelion- Point when planet is closest to sun and is the brightest

Slipshod- Careless, Lackadaisical, Slapdash and Remiss

Imbecility- Incapability, Feebleness, Stupidity

Stenographer- A person who takes dictation in shorthand

Missive- A letter, especially a long or official one
In conclusion, I learned that it is important to have a strong work ethic and give 100% all of the time. 

A Message To Garcia

Saturday September 8th, 2018

A Message to Garcia to me was talking about how when someone would ask for a favor to be done people would do it without complaining and go the extra steps to fulfill the task that they were given. No matter how hard it was there were always people that would try there hardest 100% of the time even when their boss was not there. Now a days people have become lazy and when they are asked to do a task that they think is to hard for them they try to pawn it off on someone else. Also even if they do the task a lot of people don't put a huge amount of effort into it and just try to get it done as fast as they can. I believe this relates to high school because the students have to realize that not everything is going to come easy in life and obstacles are going to be thrown in the way. Us as students have to embrace and take responsibility in what is being asked of us rather then trying to take the easy was out of it. All in all I believe that A Message To Garcia should be an eye opener to our generation and make us realize that sometimes we have to work harder then what we think to fulfill a certain request rather then being lazy and barely putting any effort in to it.

First Week Of School

Thursday September 6th, 2018

  The first week of school at John Carroll has been smooth so far, as I have been able to find all of my classes on time and made some new friends. I was scared to go to one of my classes which was German because I have no background in German but turns out it was not that bad and I have already 

learned some words that I didn't know before. Going in to school on the first day I was very nervous about timing everything between classes so I could go to my locker and grab the books for my next class as I have now figured out a schedule that works for me. One part that I like is having free mod almost everyday because I am able to get some homework done before soccer practice. Lastly I enjoy working on an eight day rotation where the classes move down a block everyday because it gives me something to look forward to and keeps me involved with what is going on. All in all my first week of high school has been going pretty good and I am excited for what this school year brings.