Review

Today in human geo class we began reviewing for exams next week. Mr. Schick tried to cram everything that will be on it because we don't know if we will have school on Monday, and if we do it will be a shortened day. There is a study guide on his blog that I saved to a word document. There's going to be a bunch of multiple choice questions and one big essay on about everything we've learned this year. I'm super nervous for exams because I'm not a good tester so I have a lot of studying to do this weekend):

2 Hour Delay :)

Today at school we had a two hour delay because of snow which was awweessoommee. But this also meant we only had a 32 minutes class so we didn't have a lot of time to get a lot done. We started off the class with Devin attempting (and failing, once again) to make buckets. Caroline then told the most amazing story I ever heard. We also got to see the test we took on micro-finance. We already knew what our grades were, but today we got to see which question(s) we got wrong and go over them. After that was done, we talked about exams in general and the exam for this class. We're supposed to go over the tests we took to study for the exam. So yeah that's it, happy belated birthday, Mr. Schick!!!!!!! :)

Micro finance test- IT'S FINALLY OVER

Today in Human Geo we took a test on micro-fiance. It was all multiple choice and I thought it was pretty easy. Devin failed yet another attempt to make buckets. We had a shadow who looked like he was 22. After everyone was done with the test, Mr. Schick graded them and told us our grades and Grace made a scene because she wanted a better grade.......................... I GOT AN A OOOHHH YEEHHH.

More of the same

Today in Human Geo Mr. Schick went through a (not really finished) power point with all the terms we need to know for our test on Friday. He let us know that the power point will be updated (hopefully tonight, if not, tomorrow) and posted on his blog for us to study from. Here's some notes I took on the power point in class:
Mr. Schick's Definitions
Micro finance- a form of financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses lacking access to banking and other services
Micro loans- a small loan given to individuals who might not have access to typical banking services, usually to start or expand small, self sufficient businesses.
Kiva- provider of micro loans.

• they have distributed almost $500,000,000 in loans with about 1,000,000 lenders.
• About 600,000 loans have been funded through Kiva 
• Average loan is about $400
• Average Kiva loaner makes 10 loans
• It's repayment rate is 99% !! 

At the end of class we played a little trivia game thing.

Qatar. 

Test Q's

Today in Human Geo class we made test questions. Here they are:

1. What is microfinance? A term used to describe financial services to poor people without regular banking services available to them. 
2. What does microfinance do for people? Helps them with:

• investments 
• infrastructure
• education
• legal reforms 

     3. What are microloans? loans that help people kick start a business that they think will help their community. 

     4. Who are least likely to be helped by regular banks? Poor people 

     5. What problems can be solved with the help from microfinance? 

• malaria
• drought
• clean water

     6. Large cooperation's products cost (more/less) than small businesses because the big companies buy their stock in bulk. (less) 

     7. What do the Peace Corps. do? They go to developing areas and help solve major problems. 

     8. What animal carries the disease malaria? Mosquitoes

     9. What is the number one way to prevent becoming infected by malaria? Nets 

    10. What attracts mosquitoes? Large bodies of water.  

Slide Show Review

Today in human geo we went over the material on the slide show we made as a class. We will be tested on this stuff probably later in the week. Here are the notes I took on the slide show:

Microfinance- describes financial assistance to poor people or people without regular banking services.
Microloans- loans used to kick start a persons' business idea they think will help their small town/ business. They help with:

• Investments
• Infrastructure
• Education
• Legal reforms

Poor people are least likely to be helped by regular banks.

Microfinance Powerpoint

Today in human geo class we were to make a power point on the stuff we've been learning about microfinance. The only twist was, we had to make the power point as a class. This didn't really go as planned because there was constant bickering among class members and people were messing around on others' slides. Grace was trying to help everyone but it was coming off arrogant and rude and Devin, Matt, and Arri were being down right annoying. The power point ended up having a lot of definitions and stuff stated more than once because everyone pretty much refused to work together.

Peace Corps Challenge

Today in Human Geo class we had a substitute. We continued to work on the Peace Corps Challenge game but this time individually. I found this to work out better for me because there were less distractions and I could understand ad get through more of the game. I took notes every time I completed a challenge. Here are some of them:

• In most developing countries, most of the population is poor, but the poor people are least likely to be served by regular banks. 
• Microfinance addresses the needs of those in the population with little money.
• Peace Corps Volunteers working on business issues focus on:

1. increasing family income
2. improving the environment for business
3. educating young people
4. helping businesses find markets for traditional products

• Slash and burn agriculture is practiced by an estimated 240 million- 500 million people on nearly half the land area in the tropics. 
• Peace Corps Volunteers work with farmers to:

1. Improve soil quality 
2. conserve water
3. develop fisheries
4. keep bees and produce honey
5. raise organic vegetibles 
6. educate the community about nutrition  

Microfinance again

Today in human geography class we talked about the activity we did in class about microfinance. During the activity we played a game called the Peace Corps Challenge, where we went through obstacles and tried to help the small town of Wanzuzu get back on its feet (in our mind). In class, we talked about how we felt about doing activities like this rather than taking notes from a screen. The over-all opinion was almost evenly split. Grace and I agreed (woah) that it felt less structured and harder to learn when we were just off playing the game. (Not to say that it has to be boring and humorless in order for us to learn) I'm not saying it killed me inside that we played a game in class, I just think I learn better differently. Today we also went over the answers on the peach (or is it tan?) worksheet. Some questions on the worksheet were: What are the benefits of microfinance particularly to individuals living in poverty? [and] What role do small loans play in helping people improve their lives? At the end of class Daphne threw a temper tantrum because she didn't want class to be over.

World Leaders Test

Today in Human Geo class we got our test back that we took on world leaders. I thought I did well since it was open blog, but I failed to read some of the questions correctly. I got a B which is good but I thought I would have done better. There was one question towards the end that I got right that Mr. Schick marked wrong, but I emailed him and he said he would fix it on power school. Mr. Schick said that he was unhappy with these grades, and we should've all gotten A's and B's becaus eit was open blog, and we spent so uch time going over the right answers on our blog in class.

Microfinance

Today in human geo class we started a new unit. Today we mostly learned about microfinance and the Peace Corps Challenge. Microfinance is a financial service for poor people who don't have access to regular banking services. We looked at microfinance in more detail when we played a peace corps challenge game. In the game we go to a small town (in our imagination) called Wanzuzu. In Wanzuzu we were faced with different health and financial problems that we were supposed to fix (in our imagination).
We also watched a video that describes microfinance.  We had to answer a couple questions about the video on a worksheet.

Political Geography Test

Today in human geography class we took a test. On the test were fill-in-the-blank questions on the blog we have been reviewing for the last few days. The blog was on political geography/ world leaders. We had all class to take the test and we were allowed to use our blog to help us. Most of us finished our test with plenty of time to spare while others struggled. If we finished early we spent the last few minutes working on whatever (i.e homework, games etc.).

reviewing...again

Today in Human Geo class we continued going over our assignment on political leaders. We continued to edit our blog and make note of important details. It was important that we knew we had all the right answers on our blog because that is what we will use to study for the test on political geography tomorrow in class.

Review

Today in human geo class we went over the world's leaders assignment and furiously took notes on our blogs and made adjustments.

Grades and Stuff

So Friday in Human Geo class we went over the last test we took on religions. Quite a few people, including those from other sections who took the test twice, had a lot of problems regarding the test. It's probably a good idea to look over the answer sheet and really understand it for the final coming up in a few weeks. After we finished reviewing we started talking about our world leaders but we only got to Afghanistan. We'll probably finish this in class on Monday. That's all that really happened but have a nice weekend, and see you Monday! :)

World Leaders

Mexico- Enrique Pena Nieto came from a middle class family his father was an engineer and his mom , a school teacher. He fathered two children with someone who wasn't his wife. His previous wife died of sketchy circumstances. He's married to a soap opera actress.

Germany- Angela Markel PhD in quantum chemistry
Chancellor since 2005
Earned the top spot on the FORBES list of Most Powerful Woman in the World for 8 of the past 10 years.

Venezuela-  Nicolas Maduro Moros started out as a bus driver became politically acive in the early 1990's. Met Hugo Chavez in 1992 in prision for trying to overthrow the goernment. Chaves went into power and chose Moros to take power when he died.
China- Xi Jinping
Son of revolutionary veteran Xi Zhongxun, one of the Communist Party's founding fathers.
His wife is a folk singer who holds rank as army general in 1987.
Hi daughter goes to Harvard

United Kingdom- David Cameron 
Went to Britian's top private school
His first child was disabled
He is the youngest prime minister in over 200 years

Queen Elizabeth came into power Feb. 6 1952 and was crowned June 2, 1953. Her reign lasted 60 years and counting 

Saudi Arabia- Abdullah He fathered 22 children the youngest when he was 79.
He is worth about 21 billion dollars.
He was commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard
He met with the Pope to try to converge religions
He granted women the right to vote

India- Pranab Mukherjee  Journalist before entering politics
Rated as one of the best finance ministers in the world
Ruled the best parliamentarian 
Started his own party- Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress
He had a conflict with Rajiv Gandhi who took over as prime minister from his mom after she was assassinated. 

France- Francois Hollande
Has no previous experience in a national government position. 
He was born in 1954 his father was an extreme right physician and his mother was a progressive social worker.

Iran- Khamenei supreme leader Took part in street protests against the US. He was exiled and imprisoned multiple times 
Hasan Fereidun Ruhani-Doesnt want to be like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-previous ruler
Hates the US
Hates Israel saying that Jews don't deserve their own country. says that the Holocaust didn't exist

Afghanistan- Hamid Karzai's father is a popular political figure. He can also speak many languages (Peshto, Persain, Hindi, French and English) which helps him make more of an influence on a world wide level. 
He emerged as a resistance leader under Taliban rule and worked to undermine regime. 
Several times in 2001 he warned the US that the Taliban was connected with al Qaeda and that an attack  (9/11) was planed against the US but his warnings were ignored. 

Brazil- Dilma Rousseff is Brazil's first woman to be president. 
She opposed Brazil's military dictatorship in 1960's/ 70's and served three years in prison where she was repetedly tortured. 
She has been divorced twice. She has a degree in economics and now rules the country with the eighth biggest economy in the world. 
She underwent chemotherapy for lymphoma in 2009 and is now in remission. 

Israel - Peres and Netanyahu 
Peres- Fled to Palestine to escape persecution of Jews
Was given the chief responsibility for securing military equipment for Israel from abroad
Organized Israels nuclear program and is regarded as the father of Israel's atomic bomb
Was in charge of negotiations during peace talks with the Palestines. 
Shared the nobel peace prize with his prime minister 
Netanyahu- Lived in the US as a child
After his brother died, he became devoted to fighting terrorism


Cites
Minster, Christopher. "Biography of Enrique Peña Nieto." About.com Latin American History. About.com, 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"Angela Merkel Home L Biography L References." Angela Merkel. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013
"Nicolás Maduro Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"Who Is Li Keqiang?" News Who Is Li Keqiang Comments. The Telegraph, 11 Jan. 2011. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"David Cameron Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz." King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz. N.p., 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh." Meet The PM :. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013
"Hassan Rouhani Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"Hamid Karzai Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013
Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"Benjamin Netanyahu Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2013

Political Geography Research

Mexico, also known as United Mexican States is a federal republic.
The leader is President Enrique PENA PIETO


Germany is a federal republic.
The leader is Chancellor Angela Markel


Venezuela, otherwise known as the Bolivariana Republic of Venezuela, is a federal republic.
The leader is President Nicolas Maduro Moros


China, otherwise known as people's Republic of China, is a Communist State.
The leader is President Xi Jinping


The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm.
The leader is Prime Minister David Cameron.


Saudi Arabia is a monarchy.
The leader is King and Prime Minister ABDALLAH 


India is a federal republic.
The leader is Pranab Mukherjee




France is a republic.
The leader is Francois Hollande
 

Iran is a theocratic republic.
The leader isAli Hoseini-Khamenei and president Hasan Fereidun Ruhani 


Afghanistan is an Islamic republican
The leader is President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid KARZAI.


Brazil is a federal republic.
The leader is President Dilma ROUSSEFF


Israel is a parliamentary democracy.
The leader is Peres/ Binyamin NETANYAHU.
 

Absent

Today I was sick and did not attend school. I had a headache, sore throat, stuffy nose, and a fever of 100.2 or something. I spent pretty much the entire day drinking hot tea and trying to sleep (and failing). SIDENOTE: I got my new phone today and I am SOOOO pumped. I'm starting to feel a little better now and will probably be in school tomorrow.

Religion test

            Today in human geo class we had a test on the four major religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism).  The biggest problem I think I had with that unit was mistaking Hinduism and Islam. I got a B which isn’t too bad but I could do better. Once everyone was done, we started a new unit on political geography. Here are some of my notes:

 

Political Geography

The world is organized under
Countries- an identifiable land area

Nations- a population with a common culture; shared identity; culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experience

 

Sates- a population under a single government; synonyms with country

Nation- States- has a single culture under a single government; has borders.

An Independent State has:

·         Recognized boundaries

·         People who live there

·         Organized economy

·         Education, transportation, government

·         Sovereignty – no other state has authority

·         External recognition

Next, we began watching a video clip of Mr. Schick’s hero.

 

 

Religion and stuff

So Friday we were scheduled to have a test on the things we covered in our power points we presented. Because not everyone got to present, Mr. Schick made a power point for us to go over, on all four major religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). We were going to just blow through his power point and use the remaining time in class to take the test, but because classes were shortened that day due to mass, we didn't have enough time to go through the power point AND take the test. So instead we will be taking it in class on Monday. Mr. Schick's blog said that the other classes' (who took the test already) grades sucked. So I'm guessing the test is super hard. So it's probably a pretty good idea to look over Mr. Schick's power point as a review this weekend. Happy November!

Presentation day 2

Today in Human Geo class we continued presenting our power points on religion. We finished up Grace's power point on Hinduism, and Caroline's group presented their presentation on Judaism. Here are the notes I took on hers.

Judaism

• Abrahamic religion
• Over 14 million followers
• Holy land is in Jerusalem
• Teachers known as Rabbis
• Holy book is the Torah (scroll form)
• Center of worship- temple
• Yahweh- God
• They believe in the 13 principles of faith
• the official language is Hebrew

Jewish version of confirmation:
Bar mitzvah- boys
Bat mitzvah- girls

Presentation Day

Today in Human Geo class, we presented the power point we made in groups of three yesterday. My group had Christianity. Before we started that though, we went over our quiz on cultural geography. On the quiz there were question on language, religion, and organizations like the EU (European union), NATO (north Atlantic treaty organization) and a bunch of others. After that, we started getting into our presentations. Grace's group went first but didn't quite get all the way through. Here are the notes I took on her group's slide show.

HINDUISM

Sacred texts:
Vedas- made up of over 1000 hymns and Hindu rituals
Bhagavad Gita- describes beliefs of afterlife

Their god is broken up into three parts Brahma(creator of cosmos) Vishnu (preserver of the cosmos) and Shiva (destroyer of the cosmos). This makes them Trinitarian.

Hindus believe in karma(every action has an equal reaction)
They believe in an omniscient being called Brahman.
Samsara is the Hindu process of reincarnation
Ahisma is the practice of non-injury to all creatures.
Hindu priests are called gurus.
Hinduism has an estimated 1 billion followers which is 14% of the world's population and the 3rd largest religion in the world.

Christanity):

Today in Human Geo class we split into groups of three and made a power point on a religion we chose from a hat. My group picked Christianity, unfortunately. I think this sucks because it's like beating a dead horse how much we learn about Christianity, but oh well. Here are some notes on what was in our presentation.
 
How Big

• Largest Religion in the world today.
• About 2.6 billion christians of all ages around the world.
• 50.1% of christians in the world are catholics, 36% is protestant, 11% is orthodox, and the remaining 1% are other Christians.
• The number of Christians in America has majorly increased since 1910

 Where Did Christianity Originate?

• Jerusalem was the first center of the church
• Christianity was originally developed in the middle east.

Where is it Centered?

• Christianity is spread out all over our world, mostly in North and South America, almost all of Europe, and mostly Africa.
• These are not all of them, but these are the ones that have large portions of the population.
• It is also spreading rapidly in the east, like South Korea and China.
• China went from having about 5,000 Christians in the 1960’s to 100 million practicing it across the country.

• It is also being taught in South America and Africa.

Leadership

• There are three main branches of Christianity;

Eastern Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and Protestantism.

• Eastern Orthodox Leaders- Bishops which are organized into groups called synods.
• Catholicism Leaders- The Pope followed by Cardinals, and below them are Bishops and the final branch is Priests.
• Protestantism- Denyes the universal authority of the Pope, and has Pastors  

House of Worship

The Christian’s house of Worship is usually called:

• General Names Orthodox
• Roman Catholic
• Anglican Denominations
• Prominent churches or churches that contain a Bishop’s throne are often called Cathedrals
• Non-conformists use the word Chapel

Holidays

Christmas- Christians celebrate Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Easter- Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.

 

One lap down, three to go

Today in Human Geo class we had a shadow named Makayla. She was very fashionable and Mr. Schick made her take the stupid quiz. It was a multiple choice, 50 point quiz on the power point on cultural geography we've been taking notes on for the past few days. We also received a 50 point participation grade. They were intended to help raise our grades because today is the end of the first quarter. Before we started, we talked about what kind of questions to expect to see on the quiz. This helped me so much, like, I'm pretty sure I would've failed if we hadn't had that review. Also, Graces' Quizlets always help. Starting next week, we're going to finish taking notes on this unit and then we will have a 100 point unit test on that material like we usually do.

 

Nationalism

To start off Human Geography class today, we watched a short video clip from some TV show from HBO or CBS or something like that. (You should post a link to the video btw, Mr. Schick) In the video, it was like a talk show/Q&A. During this segment they were discussing why they thought America is the best country. One person said because we have freedom. When the main character (I'm assuming) was asked his thoughts on the topic, he attempted to dodge the question by giving a joke. He said "the New York Jets". Though he didn't get off the hook as easily as he had hoped. He kept getting prodded and pushes to give a serious answer, until finally he just exploded and went on a full on rant. He said he didn't think that America was the greatest country and gave multiple statistics to support his case. When the video was over, we had a similar debate in class. We discussed why or why not we thought America was the greatest country and also pondered if America wasn't the greatest country then which one was? I said that I thought Ireland was a great country, though I also don't believe any one country is fully superior than all others. Every country has it's flaws.

Religion Rant

Today in Human Geo class we Mr. Schick started his religion rant. Here are my notes:

Religion:

• It can be a unifying and dividing force
• There are five major religions in the world

1. Hindu
2. Buddhism
3. Judaism
4. Christianity
5. Islam

• Judaism, Islamic, and Christianity are Abrahamic religions.
• There are two major branches of Islamic: Shiites and Sunnis. They fight over what Muhammad taught when he was alive.
• Jews, Christians, and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their holy site. The are constantly fighting over this land
• Spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on earth by establishing social, economical, and political control.
• You can be a member of more than one spatial group
• Spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation

Example of spatial division- countries
Example of economic alliances- European Union, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Example of political alliance- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Reasons for spatial division conflicts: Cultural differences (religion, language)
Nationalism- the belief tat your nation is superior to all others.

Fox Truck

To open our Human Geo class today, Mr. Schick told us a story about his weekend when he went to visit his daughter at collage.
Him and his wife stayed in an apartment and they could hear the Red Sox game from there. e told us of the adventure he had when he came across the Fox truck and took a peek inside.
After that, we continued taking notes on our new unit on Cultural Geography. Here are the notes I took:
Cultural characteristics- ethnic heritage, language, and religion
 
Language:

• Arabic unites the Arab world
• Spanish unites the Hispanic world
• Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. They speak Portuguese.
• Canada is bilingual. French and English are its official languages.
• Switzerland has multiple languages but very little conflict between the groups.
• English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world. (Lingua Franca)

Ethnic Heritage:

• In Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into one country
• When strong leadership died out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war,and now they all have separate countries.
• In Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, two ethnic groups are dominate the Tutsis and the Hutus
• The Hutus are dominate and they persecute the Tutsis and vice versa.
• This has led to constant war between the groups
• The U.S and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries
• Korea and Japan have mostly one ethnic group

We just barely started religion but didn't have much time left in class and Mr. Schick decided to hold off on his rant for tomorrow.

Cultural Characteristics

            Today in Human Geo class we went over the right answers for the quiz we took on population.  On the quiz there were matching problems with terms and their definition. We also had to right out the acronyms TFR and RNI. We had to List push and pull forces and identify three population pyramids. There were 25 questions. Once we finished that, we started a new unit on culture. Here are some of my notes:

 

Cultural Characteristics

·         Parts of a group in everyday life

·         The ideas and themes the groups will teach to all members

·         These characteristics can also link or divide a region

 

QUIZZZ

Today in Human Geo class we had two shadows and they were both from St. Paul's. One's name was Chris and the other had a cool last name. We also took a quiz on population and migration. The questions asked what population pyramids were, what TFR and RNI was. There were no short response questions (thank God), they were mainly matching and one word answers. On the back of the last page we had to answer questions about three different population pyramids ((questions like which pyramid (a, b, or c) had the highest TFR)). Over-all, the quiz wasn't terribly difficult but I was super tired so the quiz made me sad.):

Here are some notes I took to prepare me for the quiz:

·        Life expectancy- the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year.

·        Total fertility rate- Average number of children born per woman.

·        For a population to remain the same the TFR must be 2.1

 

Population Pyramid

            Today in Human Geo class we went over the answers to the test we took on the documentary we watched called “God Grew Tired of Us”. When we finished going over the right answers, we continued our new unit on population pyramids that we started yesterday. Some notes I took on this subject is that on the graph, the women are always on the right and the men on the left. I also wrote that more people live in cities for the first time in history. We also discussed why some population pyramids look unusual. Like, some graphs had an unusual amount of people around the age of 20. This indicates that where they are probably has a really good collage that a lot of kids want to go to. This also means that there won’t be a lot of very young children because the age group that usually is having children is focusing more on their education.

God Grew Tired of Us Assessment 10/8/13

Today in Human Geo class, we took a test on the documentary we spent the last few days in class watching called "God Grew Tired of Us". During the test we were allowed to use our blogs as our only resource. We were expected to transfer our notes into our blog before, and if we did so, this was a sort of reward. Before we took our test though, we all ate cupcakes in honor of Erica's birthday. :)

Once everyone finished the test, we started to take notes on a new unit on population pyramids. Population pyramids are what we use to analyze the growth or decline of fertility, mortality, and migration in cities. The three basic shapes are;

1.      The Christmas tree-

·         Developing nations

·         Growth rates are slow

·         High birth rate

·         Short life expectancy

                                    Examples; Namibia, Bangladesh

2.      The box-

·         Developed nation

·         Slow growth

·         Low infant mortality

·         Slow population growth

·         Long life expectancy

Examples; Sweden, USA

3.      The cup-

·         Developed nation

·         Negative growth

·         Low birth rate

·         Shrinking population

·         Long life expectancy

Examples; Italy, Japan