Final Day on Google Presentation

Today in human geo class we were given the class period to do our google presentation slides on the product in which we were either for America or for foreign products. My group was to be for America and to convince or persuade them to buy the American good. The item/product in which we are doing is chopstick. This is traditionally a Chinese product that America is starting to produce because of the demand it is having over seas since the Chinese and Japanese do not have enough wood to produce these. A couple facts about the American products is that they have more quality that the other foreign products and it is helping America with its economy because the chopstick is one of the most commonly used products in China and they are buying tons of them from us all from the little town of Americus,Georgia. My group had worked on it over the weekend and we had a lot of it already done, but we needed a little more information in which we got and until Wednesday my group and I will be putting the finishing touches on it!

PowerPoint

Today in human geo class we finished up the last few minutes of the video on capitalism in which we were watching. This final video was mostly about the car expansion and the booming business in which China is having because of more and more people driving vehicles, which also means more and more people working on building roads for the Chinese people. The people were getting paid very little money for what they were doing, while if they had the same jobs in America they would be getting paid a lot more then they were. We also had a shadow in class today and she was Julia's shadow. She liked to ride horses and was a competitor and won ribbons, like the speech and debate team does. Talking of which 8 of the 14 people we had entered had won a ribbon for the school. Then after we had finished the video we had been told to get into groups because we were doing a presentation on something in which we did not know at first. Then after we had gotten into our groups, mine being with Cole, Ellie, and Matt, we were told that it would be on us creating it on an American good that was made in America. However, my email for school was not working so it took my awhile to get started because then I had to receive an email to my gmail account, but I still had time to find the merchandise product in which we were going to present on, chopsticks. That was all I had time for in class and now we have to finish it together by Tuesday.

Definitions for Words

• Capitalism: An economic system based on a free market, open competition, profit motive and private ownership of the means of production. Capitalism encourages private investment and business, compared to a government-controlled economy. Investors in these private companies (i.e. shareholders) also own the firms and are known as capitalists. It is economic and political system. They are controlled by private owners. The means of production is the process and things needed to make the product, the government doesn't run the business, but they might have a few laws to make it safe.
• Communism is a political system that aims to establish a classless society based on communal ownership of property. It attempts to resolve many of the inequities and problems that arise from capitalism, as well as the lingering effects of colonialism. 
• Free enterprise: Business governed by the market forces of demand and supply, un-restrained by undue government interference through excessive controls and regulations. In general, a synonym for capitalism
• Free Market: A free market economy is an economy in which the allocation for resources is determined only by their supply and the demand for them. This is mainly a theoretical concept as every country, even capitalist ones, places some restrictions on the ownership and exchange of commodities.

Video part 2

In class today I figured out there was another part to the video we were watching about China. In class today we finished up the first part of the video and moved onto the second part which included more information on how China was developing  Today in class the video started talking about auto mobiles in China. In the 1950's there weren't people riding cars everywhere it was basically people riding their bikes to wherever they want because typically people would not go far beyond where they were born. It also talked about how it was helping the people and the bad in which came with the country developing cars. This you could say might be a plus for America because they are having their insurance company go out to China and make business there. This could be a very great investment for American insurance companies or it might be a financial disaster, but they have to understand that in China making an investment is over a long period of time not a couple of years. We also learned how it is dangerous to drive in China because most people are new drivers and they do not know what they are doing. Another fact in which we learned is the way they are building their roads by people that have no money and are willing to do the labor.

Finishing Video

In human geo class today we started off by watching the rest of the video which we have been watching the past couple of days. It showed a lady who was struggling in her relationship with her husband, but would have already separated if it were not for the daughter in which they had. The husband of her had a drinking problem and was a farmer, when the plants were ready to sell she would take a bus and carry 150 pounds of whatever vegetation she had to sell and go sell it to people. They only make $547 a year as a net profit and about half of that money goes to their daughters education. That is the hope China has in its children they are training them to make advancements in society and gain money no matter what background they came from.

Extension on video

Today in human geo class we just went on with the video we were watching the other day. Today we learned about the lady again on how she didn't think it was fair that her job was taken away, but she still went to walmart because stuff was cheaper there, however if people like hers jobs were never moved to China then there would not be that much cheap stuff in America. In class we also learned about interdependence. Interdependence is when every country, in this case, relies on each other or they wouldn't be able to operate the way they are use to operating. An example of this is how America depends upon China to have their workers work for next to nothing to keep the products we sell here in America a lot cheaper. While China is dependent upon America to first of all have the supplies to provide them with and also to have America buy all the products in which China makes to sell. Then we also have Mexican Migrant workers who come to the U.S. and are willing to do all the hard work for a long period of time that Americans are too lazy to do for that pay amount. They are hardworking people who buy cheap stuff and work hard in America to do the dirty work.

Briggs and Strat

In class we watched more of the video that we were watching on Monday. The part of the video we watched in class was about how the Chinese were connected to unemployed workers in America. There was a company called Briggs and Strats located in a small town which employed around 480 American workers. There was a lady in the video who had been working at the company for many years and a Chinese person asked her how to do her job, but she refused to show her because she knew what was coming next and that was her job was going to replaced by Chinese workers.  This video also showed why it was smart for the company to move to China event thought its original goal might have been to decrease the pricing so they could increase sales to Asians. This company saved around 10-11 million dollars just by replacing 480 some American workers with Chinese workers, just imagine how much bigger companies are saving by locating their plants in China.

China

Today in class we went over the test for the first part of class we went over the tests. The average of the class was a 93.1 which Cole had guessed correctly somehow, however that was the highest percentage out of all of the classes that Mr. Schick has this year in the freshman class. So far in this unit I have gotten a hundred on every test/quiz which has been nice. If we got a perfect score we would get two dings, but if you just got an A you only got one dig and if you didn't get an A you got nothing. My test was kept last and it was a hundred like usual. After we had gone through every answer on the test we also watched a video about how Mexican migrant workers, unemployed Americans, and Chinese had all in common. We also talked about how unfortunate it was in China to only be allowed to have one child in the city, but the people still followed the rule unlike Americans would disobey it. Also in class today there was a discussion about the guest speaker that we are going to have tomorrow who is Gerry Sanduscky the broadcaster not the pedophile. He is going to talk to us about how things have changed in his life because of another mans mistake in life.

Test

Today in human geography class we took a test on the world leaders and their countries. There were 13 countries that we had studied in various parts of the earth. You could say we studied 14 world leaders however because in the middle of our studies China had elected a new leader into their government by using their 7 men who decide who will be the leader of the country for the billions of Chinese people. The test I thought was pretty easy I finished it and checked all my answers and still was the first one done! I did not even have to look at my blog to figure out what the answers were I knew it all already! We also handed in our papers, I think I am going to get a very good grade on it because I fulfilled the requirements and worked hard upon it. I also went over the suggested word count I actually ended up doubling the word count. I learned in class that Mr. Schick really likes Indian food and one day this year I am going to bring in food for him my mom said that it was cool and she would make him food one day and I would bring it in to school for him to try and eat.

World Countries

Mexico:
Mexico's independence was declared on 16 September 1810 and the organized date of independence by Spain was 27 September 1821. Mexico gained its independence from Spain. The country of Mexico is officially called United Mexican States. It was colonized and conquered by Spain in the early 16th century. The period before they were conquered they saw the spread of distinct religious and symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes.

Germany:
Germany's official Independence Day is January 18, 1871. Germany was never conquered by anyone this independence day is because this is the official date of uni faction of Germany. Although after world war 2 they were divided into occupation into four different areas by four different countries that included UK, US, USSR, and France. They were told to dismantle their army and was divided up. Berlin was divided into two separate parts and families got separated  There was a wall set up and which ever side you ended up on you were stuck with it. All of Germany's neighbhoring countries were

Afghanistan:
Afghanistan gained its independence on August 19, 1919 from the control of the United Kingdom for control over foreign affairs. Ahmad Shah Durrani unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. They had a brief stint where they tried to have a democracy type government, but they ended up as a communist country. The silk road was a very important passage way. This country is the most difficult country to conquer. It is among one of the most difficult place to look in because of rocky terrain, mountains, and no place for war planes. A Taliban group that fights and conquers the country. We supply the Afghans with weapons and then they

India:
India celebrates its independence on August 15, 1947. They were free from the United Kingdom through repeated attempts from Muhatmand Ghandi.

Brazil:
Brazil was conquered by Portugal in the 1500s. They established themselves in the city of Rio and that become the official seat of the Portuguese empire. They have had their independence for around 200 years. They were colonized by a European nation


China
China's official date of independence is October 1, 1949.
China is one of the world's oldest civilizations.  As long ago as 221 BC, China was unified as a nation during the Qin dynasty.  They formed a republic on January 1, 1912.  The current Communist government, officially called the People's Republic of China, was formed in 1949. They have never ever been under the rule of someone. It is not a republic because they can't vote they are defiantly communist.

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a middle eastern country founded in 1932 and declared it's independence on September 23, 1932.  Saudi Arabia was not under control of any country before it declared independence. They were never colonized so their independence day was when their kingdom was created.

Iran
Iran is a middle eastern country founded in 1935 and became independent on April 1, 1979 when the ruling monarchy was overthrown and Shah Mohammad Reza PAHLAVI was forced into exile. Before Iran gained it's independence, it was know as Persia. They were ruled by the Shahs. They got rid of the Shahs they made an Islamic republic. The Iotoma was a holy man and got an army up and through the Shahs out of the country.

Venezuela:
July 15, 1811 is its independence day. They were the subject of Spain. For most of the first half of the 20th century they were ruled by benevolent military strongmen. They promoted the oil industry and allowed for some social reforms.

United Kingdom:
The United Kingdom was never subject to anyone else they have taken over coutnries although. The sun never set upon the British empire. They ruled America at once. They had on of the most powerful armys in the world. They were repeatedly fighting France to fight over colonies.

France
France has no official date of independence but, they celebrate a national holiday known as Fete de la Federation on July, 14.This holiday is to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy dating back to 1789. They had their independence because they won the French Revolution ending in 1789. They did not have anyone come and take them over. The oldest traces of human life in what is now France date back to 1,800,000 years ago.

Tests Back

Today in human geo class all we did was go over the test that we had taken on Friday. We had a shorten bell schedule because we had the honors assembly and I got honors! On the test that we had to take today I also got a 100 so you could say that it was a good day for me academically. I was confident that I had gotten a 100 on the test because I was well prepared and was paying attention in class, I also got a review in when I did my blogs at night. We went over the answers and some people were just incapable of saying the names correctly at first in class. Greg could not say Enrique Pena Neito for quite a while, but eventually he got it. We went around the class room everyone answering one question and giving the answer. We also learned that now in class China has its new leader! Hu Jinato is no longer the head of the nation the new leader elected was Xi Jimping. In class we talked about how they were communist and all. We also talked about how they picked their president and how no one knows who it's going to be or have any say in who it is going to be. Also we talked about the situation in the middle east especially between Iran and Israel. We talked about the options they could take on the nuclear energy that Iran is building on which they are almost positive it is for bombs. 

Colonialism and Imperialism

For human geo class we had an hour late bell schedule because we came in an hour late. The first thing we did in class was take a little pop quiz, but it was posted on his blog we do not know when the next pop quiz would pop up. The first part of the quiz was a duplicate of the quiz we took earlier which was on matching up the correct world leader with the country they were the leader of. On the first quiz I had gotten a 100 and I expect that I got all of these correct also. On the back was the new part of the quiz it asked questions about the world leaders and events in their life that made them the leader they are. It also gave information on what kind of leader and qualities they would have. We were allowed to use our blogs with the quiz, but I felt confident that I knew the answers and was paying attention to them that I did not need to look at my blog to get a 100%. In the next part of class after we had finished our quiz we moved on and talked about imperialism and colonialism. There are some countries that think that we are imperialistic because we are taking away their culture because of things such as McDonalds and the things they eat. These countries sometimes are very annoyed and irritated by us, such as Venezuela. The other word that we had learned today in class was colonialism. Colonialism is controlling state invades another region for its resources or immigration. Colonialism is one of the ways a country may accomplish imperialism. The powerpoint that was presented to us was made by a college professor.

Location of World Leaders

Today in human geo we talked about the location of the world leaders of the world. For the test that we will have for the world leaders we should be able to locate where all the world leaders live and are the leaders of. In class we also talked about more and more facts about these people that lead their countries. Mr. Schick would call on people that volunteered or randomly that he wanted to. The point of this was to have the person that was chosen give a fact or a few facts on the person which they had chosen. After they would pick the world leader and give the facts about him they would have to locate the country of their origin on the globe. There was also 2 shadows that came to class today. The shadows were Camren and Erin. Camren wants to go to Calvert Hall, but I got to know him and tried my best to have him come to John Carroll and my main point for him coming to JC was the beautiful ladies we have here.

Information On the Leaders

Today in human geo class we basically just went over information on the leaders that we looked up and are researching. In the beginning of class we went over our quizzes and I received a 100% on mine! I personally believed it was easy knowing the leaders of the country by looking at their name because they sound like common names for their nationality. Then we went over facts about the political leaders. The idea was to find information on them that either made them benefit being a leader, showed leadership qualities, or not be a good leader. Such as the Brazilian leader right now she was arrested and put in jail for 2 years and was literally tortured in jail for those 2 years, but she did not say I am not going to help my country she continued and now she is a leader for her country. We learned about Hu Jintao and how he turned around China's economy by making the decision by being a powerhouse and creating products for countries all around. In the end of class we also talked about terrorist and how much it has changed the American views on things. Everything was changed after that one incident and now everyone who boards a plane is looked upon as a possible terrorist. We talked how one event changed everything and how that event before it we were not as strict on flights, but now we are. We got to this conversation because we talked about how on an Israeli plane there are 2 military men on flight and armed for the safety of the passengers.

Information On Presidents

  Enrique Peña Nieto

• Former governor of the State of Mexico
• He was interested in politics when elected class leader in elementary school
• Marches against him have consisted of thousands of people

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

• He was the son of the founder of Saudi Arabia 
• He was the mayor of Mecca as a young man
• Has had 13 wives and at least 35 kids

Angela Merkel

• Served as a deputy spokesperson in the wake of the revolution 
• She was also a member of the youth movement led by socialists
• 4th powerful most person in the world

Benjamin Netanyahu

• He became the team leader in the Sayeret Matkal special forces
• Was a member of main close border raids in the military even when only going back to Isreal for Yom Kippur
• 2 miltary men having someone on every flight
• First guy to be born in isreal to become their leader

 Hu Jintao

• He has established his country as a world power through growth of his countries economy
• He dissmissed many political leaders in 2003 just a year after him taking over
• He has had a plan to had less growth population

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• He is an engineer and teacher however he comes from a poor background
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also has joined the army for his country

 Hamad Karzai

• He became a popular and powerful leader after the taliban were removed from being the head of Afghanistan 
• After he has taken over the economy of Afghan has been booming
• His brother was a drug smuggler
• Many people planned to assasinate him at least 4 different attempts
• taliban was in charge before hamad

 François Hollande

• Francois was spotted as a great politician by a party leader immediately
• He is divorced
• He was a special advisor 

  Pranab Mukherjee

• He is an author
• He was a finance minister 

Hugo Chavez

• He had a career as a military leader
• He called George Bush to a fight
• He was in jail for 2 years

David Cameron

• He rose rapidly through politics and moved up through the ranks 
• He is a graduate from Oxford University
• He was once involved in a drug scandal at Etan College 

Dilma Rousseff

• As a youth she joined many groups fighting against military dictatorship
• Her friend from youth was a Nobel prize nominated 
• First women elected president of Brazil
• Captured in jail for trying to throw over the government and was tortured 
• Coup d'etat-try to take over country through revolutionary means 

Barack Obama

• He was the first black president 
• He used to smoke weed
• He went to the Harvard law School
• He went to work for civil rights
• 
  

Political Geography

Mexico:

• Federal Republic government
• President Felipe Calderón

China:

• Communist 
• Hu Jinato

India:

•  
• Pranab Muhkreejee 
• Federal Republic

Afghanistan:

• Presidential system, Islamic republic  
• Hamid Karzai

Iran:

• Islamic Republic
•  Mahmoud Ahmadinejand 

Isreal:

• Democracy
• Benjamin Netanyahu 

Germany:

• Federal Republic 
• Joachim Gauck 

United Kingdom:

• Parliament
• Queen Elizabeth 

France:

• Frrancas Hollander
•  Constitutional Republic

Brazil:

• Dilma Rouseff
• Federal Republic

Venezuela:

• Federal Republic
• Hugo Chavez 

Saudi Arabia:

• Monarchy
• Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud 

Not in class

I pulled a leg muscle so I was not able to participate in school

Discussions on Questions

Today was not a normal day for human geo class. We did not have class as long as we normally do because of the powder puff game. In class today it was really chill because the students were the ones talking most of time. It was us telling Mr. Schick the questions that we thought would be good to put on the test which is going to be Friday, however

Questions

• What religion is also a ethnic group? Judaism
• Which religion, in a few decades, will be the worlds largest religion? Islam
• What is the only non Spanish speaking country in South America? Brazil
• What is the worlds business language? English
• Who is the founder of Islam? Muhammad 

Hinduism and Islamic

Today in human geo class we reviewed religions. The religions we went over today were Islam and Hinduism. The information we learned was that Islam was founded by Muhammad. There are around 1.7 billion Muslims in the world and they will soon be the world’s most populous religion and overtake Christianity. The holy book for the Muslims is called the Qur’an. Also the religion is called Islam and the people who follow this religion are called Muslims. This religion was founded in Mecca and the devout Muslims are supposed to pray 5 times a day facing towards Mecca. Afterwards I gave a presentation on Hinduism. I shared the information I knew from learning and going to the Hindu temple and learning stuff about it from my mother. I explained how it was a monotheistic religion and that there was only one god that reincarnated many different times. Then afterwards I had to leave for my football game against Boys Latin and unfortunately we lost that game.

Today in class for human geo we talked about different ethnic groups and how some coexist and others do not. There are countries in the world who just are unable to live with each other and live peacefully. They have civil wars that are horrific and very harmful to the people. Then there are other countries that are entirely made up of different ethnic groups and religions and are very successful countries. We also talked about how different religions cause civil wars and arguments. Mr. Schick believes that religion causes the most wars in the world. They all believe in one God, but they just call him different names and that progresses into millions of deaths in this world. We talked about how countries such as Korea and Japan are very isolated and only allow their own ethnic group and religion to stay in their countries. They are very blocked off from each other. Then there are countries in Africa, such as Sudan we just learned about, that have civil wars and many killings about the religion issues. However there are other countries such as the United States that can coexist and are fine with multiple different ethnicities living together peacefully and forming one of the most successful countries in the world today. In the latter part of class we talked about the blog we had to do on the 5 religions. In class we only went over Christianity so far. The central figure was Jesus and a few dozen followers progressed into 2.2 million followers of Jesus. This happened because of the Pual/Saul story and evangelism. This also was possible because of social networking. 

Classwork on FIve Religions

In class on Friday I did not start the classwork because I was helping Isaac out and telling him what class was going to be like and helping him set up his blog.
1.Christianity:
      Christianity was first established in 30 A.D. in Jerusalem  Christianity is a monotheistic religion because the people believe that there is only one true God. Yes, Christians do have a holy book and their holy book is called the New Testament in the Bible.  The New Testament is a collection of sacred texts that have been put together into one book which is known as the word of God and how Christians today can talk to God. Christianity is the worlds largest religion and 2.1 billion people claim to be Christians. The figure of Christianity is Jesus Christ who is believed to be the Son of God and has been fully man and fully God at the same time also another leader in Christianity is the Pope.. After the death of Christ his followers spread his word. Also that he is God, that he is the same as God and they are one being. Christianity is mostly found in North America, Europe, and parts of Africa.
2. Islamic
     The religion known as Islam was founded around 630 AD, to be more specific most say it was around 632 AD. The religion was founded in a place called Mecca and its founder is Muhammad. This is also a monotheistic religion because its belief is to have one and only one god. The holy book for this religion is the Quran. This book is made up of different stories and parts of Islamic history. The main figure for Islam is called Allah which is the Arabic way of saying God. There are around 1.4 billion Islamic people in the world. Islamic people are generally located in the Middle East,Northern Africa,Central Asia, South Asia, Western Africa, Indian subcontinent, Malay Archipelago with large population centers existing in Eastern Africa,Balkan Peninsula, Russia and China. .
3. Buddhism
   Buddhism has been around for a long time and was started in about the 4 century BC. This religion was founded in the northern region of India although it is still not the most popular religion in India. The founder of Buddhism is not Buddha, although that can be a nickname for him his true name was Siddhartha. There are around 350 million Buddhist people in the world and it does have a sacred holy book. The name of this holy book is the Tipitika and it is written in an old Indian language called Pali. The main figure in the Buddhist religion is Buddha himself and it most of its followers are located in various parts of Asia.
4. Hinduism
    Hinduism was founded 1500 BC or earlier than that. It is one of the oldest religions in the world. A surprising fact to most is that Hinduism is a monotheistic religion. They believe in only one God, but the god has reincarnated into many different gods. The Hindus do not just have one holy book they have a few which are called Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita. There are about 900 million and some say up to 1.4 billion Hindus in the world. They rank 3rd in the world in number of Hindus. The main population of Hindus are in India, however they have moved and immgrated to many different areas such as the Americas, Australia, and Africa.
5. Judiasm
    It was founded around 2000 BC and Abraham is their founder. Judiasm also only believes in one god so it is monotheistic. The Torah is the holy book in Judiasm and is used as a rule or instruction book for the Jews. Statics show there are anywhere from 12-14 million Jews in the world and they are mostly located in Isreal, however there are small amounts in countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. The prominent figures of Judiasm are the prophets and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Notes on culture

Today in class we took notes for the majority of the time. The lesson today was about culture and the different kinds. The first slide was showing a map of the United States of America and the different ways the people say a soft drink. In the area we live in here in Maryland most people call it soda, however if you look at somewhere such as Chicago they call it pop. Also in class we talked on the issue of being prejudice. Mr. Schick told us a story about how his wives friend was complaining on how verizon wireless has to have an option for having Spanish. The friend of his wives said they should learn English, but it should not really matter to him and if they speak Spanish then they should have an option for it. Many customers are Spanish speakers so it would be helpful to have that and also if an American moved to a different country and the main language was not English they would want to have an English option so they can better understand. Then he complained how customer service was always an Indian, but he doesn't realize they pay half the price to them then they would to an American worker. So the bill for his phone and stuff would go extremely high and he would then get ticked off on how expensive it is!

Presentation on Native Americans

Today during human geo class we were suppose to present our slide shows on either Columbus, the Vikings, or Native Americans. My group did the Native Americans and we were prepared and had all of our stuff ready to go! Unfortunately the other groups were not prepared and had to use someone elses powerpoint. We used google drive to do our presentations. I think my group did a pretty solid job in presenting and having good information besides the one small mistake we had. In my group Cole, Sean, and I were elected to go up and present the information our group had gathered on Native Americans. I had to answer questions 4&5 for my group and I also organized the power point. I learned about the Vikings and why they did not settle into the Americas. I also learned that Columbus was not a nice guy about it he just overpowered and killed the Native Americans because they could. The Native Americans were at a disadvantage because they had no guns while the Europeans did.

Native American Presentations

Today in Human Geo class we got our tests back. I was disappointed I did not get an A on this test just because I did not know there was an "h" in PittsburgH. That was the difference from me getting and 89 to a 90. The class average grade was an 82.7 which I was gladly above! There were 4 A's in our class and 2 F's while Hailey was the only one to get a 100 in all of Mr. Schick's classes. The volleyball girls got to leave early because they had a game today! After we were done with that and checking Alex kept on asking too many questions somehow she managed to ask seven questions in like five minutes! So Mr. Schick had to tell her to put her hand down and not speak anymore. Also we got our groups for Columbus Day. My group was suppose to do the Native Americans! I finished my slides on my questions and I hope the rest of my group also did theirs!

Discussion

In class this day we went over the websites which we researched and saw. We were supposed to discuss what we thought we could do and some of the favorite websites that which we would like to support! Mr. Schick told us that the other class had a really cool idea in my mind it was to have a dress down day. The idea is to pay to dress down into jeans and a shirt which the money would go toward the people who need the money (Lost Boys). I really liked that idea and also I liked the mayardit website because it is for exactly what we were learning and talking about! We also talked about the test that we are going to have tomorrow. It is all about what we learned in the God Grew Tired of Us film! I expect to do well on it because I have been paying attention in class and watching the video for details and such. Today in class we did not start off well because we did not have a lot of ideas, but however at the end I think we had a pretty good conversation and participation!

Website For Lost Boys

Today in class it was kind of laid back do it yourself. We were told to get into a small group if we chose to or just do it by ourselves and find out about charities to help the Lost Boys. We did this because we just got finished watching the movie God Grew Tired of Us. The group I chose to be with was Caroline and Sean. We found many websites and it was interesting to see what we could find and all the possibilities we have for helping these people that will take any help they can get. My group had found many websites that we could use, but personally I think that the website named mayardit was the best one because we know it was real since it was from one of the Lost Boys themselves! I also think it will be good because it is directly related to the Lost Boys which we are learning about!

The Ending!

Today in class we finished watching our movie on the Sudanese Lost Boys. We learned that John had been ruinited with his mother and sister, but we do not know however if they lived with him or were still in Africa. They came to America and he was reuntited with his mother of 17 years! He is supporting his family and is also a graduate of Syracuse University. Also John created his own foundation to help the Lost Boys and raise awareness. Daniel however was not as lucky as John and never found his parents or family as of the day the movie was produced. He was still in the job core program where he could learn and find a job as well. Panther is a graduate of Pitt University! He earns enough money to go back to Sudan and marry his girl friends and he is also continuing in his dream to create a school in Sudan so they can use all the rich resources they have and be rich! I think we should help the Lost Boys because it is an important thing in this world of issues that we are faced with. I think a good idea would be to create awareness of this event or by donating food/money to them because of the difficulties they have!

Other Countries

In class on Friday we talked about how we were going to have a test on what we have learned so far in class! In the beginning of class we went over the final presentation which was on the United States Of America! They had a good presentation and I enjoyed it because it gave me a perspective on how America was doing in the categories we had went over in class. The people who presented in that group were Caroline and Erin. IT was funny because their code to move on to the next slide was for Erin to cough. So about the test I am not looking forward to it, but I have been paying attention in class and getting my blogs done so hopefully I will do well! I am going to have to review a bit on Sunday, but I think I should be fine. We went over stuff that we should know such as the video and Socrates stuff.

My Presentation

Today in class I went over my presentation on the country of Nigeria! My group picked me to present the presentation we had created in my group of our country. It was fun doing the presentation. Also there were two other groups beside mine that went up and did their presentation! It was a chill class and while the person was presenting the other group members would have to be on the cia.gov website looking up facts that Mr. Schick would ask. We went over the simple facts that we learned in human geo about the world such as population and tfr. A point of the assignment was to get to know and be familiar with using the factbook where there is countless information on countries. The football player groups were suppose to go up first because we had to leave early for our game which we sadly had lost! Stoots and Gregs group were the other ones to go up they did it on the countries of Italy and Thialand!

Presentation

Today in class we were doing our project on our country the entire time. We used google drive then presentation to do this and we have to finish it tonight for homework. The country which I have is Nigeria.

Rates and TEST:(

In today’s class we first of all figured out that we were going to have a test later this week. We mostly took notes today about rates. Some of the notes we took were about the birth rate and the death rate. We also talked about the world population and how it was continuing to grow and there are about 7 billion people in the world. Most of the world’s population is growing in developing countries such as the African countries. Also there was a chart on how rapidly the world was growing in billions it ended up it took about 12 years to have a billion more people in the world. Now however the world is not growing as rapidly because the world’s biggest population producing country has cut down on how many people it creates they are trying to have a ZPG(zero population growth). We learned about a TFR which is the total fraternity rate which means the average number of children per women. Also about crude death and birth rate. The CBR is the number of births for 1000 of the population. The CDR is the number of deaths for 1000 of population. Also learned about the NMR which is the number of people coming in subtracted from number of people leaving the country. 

Reviewing 3.0 Video

During this class we went over a video that was posted on youtube called "Did you know 3.0" In this class it was mostly about getting everyone involved and talking about the video. It was interesting to see what type of things our generation in America is like. Such as in Indian there are more honor students then there are students in America combined. There were many interesting facts that the video taught us. Another thing I found intriguing is that the ipod had over 50 million users in just the span of 3 years. Also that Apple was the leading technology seller however 72% of its sales are from the ipod and iphone which have only been around for 5 years which is astonishing. There are so many advancements that we have in the world and how fast things move in the internet such as how many people are on the internet posting. The world is advancing for the better or not, but it is happening at a rapidly fast pace just think how it will be in a decade or two from now!

3.0

I was surprised that 840 million people used facebook. This was a very surprising fact that so many people are on facebook. That is a lot of people connecting to it. Facebook has come almost addicting and like a drug to most people. It keeps some people from doing their homework like it does to me. Also that India has more honor students then America. This is surprising knowing that America had some of the best universities and education systems in the world. However it shows how much less emphasis we put in education unlike other countries who are starting to put more emphasis. Also how many more jobs a single person will have by the age of 38 years which is 10-14 which is an astonishing number compared to my parents time. Also how much people are on the internet on twitter, facebook, and search engines such as Google. China will have more English speaking people than America will is crazy in my mind that Chinese is still going to be the national language. Also that so many people are becoming millionaires off of music, but still over 600,000 songs were downloaded illegally in a four minute span. 

Reviewing Questions

Today in Human Geo class we were talking to about reviewing the questions we had to do in class while Mr. Schick was absent. The answers to the questions we had were suppose to come from the CIA fact book. While I was answering the questions I received knowledge however today in class with the conversations Mr. Schick started we learned so much more and thought about it diligently. After this class I came out with more of an understanding of the world and how America compares to the rest of the world. We think 8.1% unemployment rate is pretty bad(which for us is), however there are some countries in the world such as Zimbabwe who have 95% which is utterly disappointing.  America imports the most oil in the world which is no surprise at all however we could be using alternative ways of energy to support our life style. Also we need oil so badly we even buy oil from Venezuala who hates us and they are not secretive about it. They called our president the devil and yet we can do nothing because we need them for oil or the prices would go unbelievably higher. Also we talked about how we could be able to create our own products, but the cost would be considerably higher because in America we have a minimum wage however in other countries there is no such thing and there is so much poverty. In today's class it was fun like usual and it was also very informational and gave me a greater perspective on the world and America.

CIA Fact Book

What is the population of the United States? 313,847,465

What are the five largest countries in the world, by population? China, Indian, United States, Indonesia, and Brazil

What is the population of Pakistan? 190,291,129

What kind of government does the United States have? Constitution based, democratic strong, and federal republic

What is the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe? 95% as of 2009

What is the largest country in the world by area? Russia

What country has the third greatest number of airports? Mexico

What country has the greatest number of exports? China
What country exports more oil than any other? Saudi Arabia
What country imports more oil than any other? United States
What country consumes more oil than any other? United States
Can women serve in combat roles in China’s military? yes
What is GDP? The gross domestic product
What country has the highest GDP per capita in the world, and how much is it?Liechtenstein and $141,100
Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita? No, they are 11th
Most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in what continent? Africa
11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from HIV/AIDS can be found in which continent? Africa
What other country is in the top ten? India
Where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths? 18
Is the US #1 in number of cellular phones? No they are 3rd
What percentage of the US is Roman Catholic? 23.9%
What percentage of Mexico is Roman Catholic? 76.5%
What is Net Migration Rate? Difference between number of people leaving and entering the country yearly
Does the US have the highest Net Migration Rate in the world?no it is ranked 26
What is the current population of the entire planet? 7,021,836,029 people
The two most interesting facts I thought were that the U.S. was ranked 26th in net immigration rate. I thought they would be considerably higher. Also the number of Roman Catholics was higher in Mexico than in the U.S.

Evaluating Websites

1. This is a real website and you are able to use it as a trusted site. It is also a government website so it can be trusted. It can be used as a general research website too because the facts are easy to find.
2. This is also a website that can be used for research and trusted because it is set up by a foundation that is set to help others for stuff like research and learning. This can also be used for general context stuff.
3. That was a fake website it talked about something that I know is not true. Its a whole bunch of baloney stuff someone made up to see what would happen. This is not a website you should use for research.
4. This is a real website and also a government website, but it should not be used for research because it is for young kids interested about things related to nasa.
5. The website is real, but it is used by a news company which means you probably will not use it for a research paper. This website is good for looking up things for your own information on things such as politics.
6. The website number 6 is real, but it is again only used to find general information about what is going on not a good website to use for a research paper.
7. This website is good for general usage and is not fake, but it should not be used as a main website for research.
8. This website from wiki should not be used as a main website for research, but it can be a start off point for something. You can use it for information, but you should back that information up with another website they have for you to use.
9. The final website is real, but no research should be done on it. It is a blog so you shouldn't look things up with it. The website is not made for the general public it is made for individuals that are part of the classes Mr. Schick teaches.
In class today I spent it doing this project. There was nothing else that really happened in class besides this.

Wiki

Today in class we mostly talked about wikipedia and if it was a good site or if it was not. It is openly aloud to be changed by people if they choose, but it is not as bad as some people make it seem. The website is constantly being checked and if there is a mistake a reader could catch it and contact wiki to fix the problem.  Also it is updated all the time so therefor it is a more reliable resource than any other encyclopedia because it is updated. Back when Mr. Schick was in high school(could not have been too long ago) the only thing changed in the book would be the current events everything else would be the same. Wiki is also the biggest in the world and has anything you could imagine inside of its website. Also things that are really important can be blocked off by wiki. An example of that is President Obama's page right now can not be edited because it is election time and someone could write false information that would impact the election. In class we also discussed on how we wanted Sean to stay in our class. I hope he sent Mr. Schick that email! Hopefully he will be aloud to not drop our class and still do STEM. If he is not in our class I will miss him!

Essays

In class we learned about the essays we were all going to have to do. In the beginning of class however we had to wait for Damian because he could not send a simple email so I had to do it for him. Then when we finally got going we were apparently ahead of all the other classes. We went over the definitions we had to do. Some of them were review and others we never went over. This was a chill class. We talked about our essays that we had to do over the weekend which was pretty simple. Also what the grades were going to be like. The first blog I ever did, which was the one of orientation, is worth 1o points then all the others are worth 2. Then the essays we are doing are worth 25 points each. We watched a youtube clip because we had done everything that needed to be done. The clip showed people doing a show where it looked very difficult and took a lot of preparation. Then in the final minuets we had we talked about the football game against Bo Manor. We talked about our expectations and how that this was going to be an easy game for us. Also if I scored I would point out Mr. Schick.

Essay #3

           In my four years at John Carroll I hope to become a respectful and also respected student athlete. I want to be successful and to be successful is not going to be easy it will take hard work. I will approach these years of high school with the thriving to be excellent in anything and everything I try to do. I hope in high school I will be known as a well liked kid for who I really am and learn to be a leader through my athletic career at JC.
          To be a respectful and respected student athlete will not be an easy task. There are two parts to do this I have to be respected as a student and also an athlete. In order to be respected as a student I have to be a good classmate. In order to be respected by my teachers I have to not be a disturbance in the classroom, try my best, and be a participating student. As an athlete I have to be successful on the field and be a good example. I have to always be working hard and giving it my all and come through for my team. I have to also help my teammates on and off the field. Make sure they do not do anything they are not suppose to and they are paying attention in school.
             At John Carroll I want to be successful. To be successful there are many things that factor into that. I have to get great grades and be accepted into a great college. To get there I have to study hard and ask questions if I do not understand anything. I have to pay attention in class and be prepared for every test I have. There will be many challenges as a student in school. There will always be drama in any school you go to and I have to learn not to be involved in any of it. I can't get distracted easily in school and outside of school while I am doing homework. All of these things are going to be necessary to be successful in school.
            Another way I want to approach high school is to be excellent. This maybe one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish. In my mind to achieve this I have to have the mentally that everything I do I could do better. If I am satisfied that means that will be my best. I have to have that thirst to be excellent and be the best. It is like the way I have been approaching high school football. If I ever got satisfied it would only hold me back from being excellent. "The only hinderence of being great is being satisfied with being good." I am already doing that in my athletics, but now I also have to do it academically. This will not be easy, but if I keep on working on it it will be accomplish able.
                Enjoy life and have fun is an important way to approach high school in my mind. These next four years are suppose to have some of the best memories of life. I have to be willing to let lose sometimes and have a great time. I have to balance school with fun still it can't be all fun, but then again I also have to do what makes me happy which is really important to me.
           The last way I will talk about approaching high school is to live it with no regrets. This is probably my motto for high school. I want to be friends and be friendly. I do not want to look back at my high school years and say I wish I got to know you better. I want to participate in everything I thought was interesting and I would like. There are many clubs to participate in for high school which I would like to explore. I have to take advantage of every opportunity I can get.
          This is how I want to approach high school. I am hoping that I will achieve in all of these ways. When I am graduating as a senior my dreams will come true and I will be prepared for my next years of college. That journey will be tougher than this one in high school. I want to be well prepared for college through high school which is an objective of JC. I hope to live life with no regrets.

Essay #2

If Elbert Hubbard and Socrates showed up and time traveled to the present they would be utterly shocked. Elbert would have been glad and ecstatic with the way people were back then in his time and age. I also think he was kind of expecting the people in the future to be like this. Most people procrastinating and not doing what they are suppose to when they are supposed to. He would write a book with such anger and frustration that it would have been far greater then the one he wrote about A Message To Garcia. Socrates would be disappointed some, but also happy with some of the few leaders that are not afraid to step up. Socrates would not like how some kids do not use their brain at all and do not even try. How in his life time most kids were eager to learn and become wise and in the present age there would be only a few. Also no parents would let there kids come and walk with a random ugly fat guy that believed he was one of the wisest men to ever live. He would also be proud to see all the advancements that the people that went the extra mile, eager to learn kids have come up with. The medical advancements that we have and how much more the average person knows compared to back in his day. Both would also be happy and proud of themselves that they are still being talked about today and the wonders they have done for the children of the world today in their teachings and lessons.

Essay #1

The definition of arete that I have come up with in the past few days is making up of good character, being a good citizen, and excellence. The ancient Greeks and Socrates set a great example for us to follow. Socrates was always around young children teaching them with their own brains. He was unlocking their brains of all the knowledge they did not know they had. This is an example of being a good person because  he is helping the future generation. He is making them wiser and unleashing the knowledge some people never knew they even had. Also he taught by example that you should always believe in what the consequence was. He proved this because when he was told to apologize he did not against the biggest consequence, being sentenced to death. This is one of the best examples of being a good character because he taught to always stand up for what you think is right. The ancient Greeks also show'd  being a good citizen by making democracy. They developed this type of government which is being used by America today, which is now considered one of the best nations and a world power by most. They let the people vote and pick in what they thought it was right which was making up of great character. Unlike the rest of the nations around them they decided to make a change and be a leader.

Critical Thinking, Philosophy, and Excellence

Today was another class full of information and new things I learned. In this class it made you think, you had to actually use your brain and have thoughts about it. We learned about Socrates who was not an attractive human being at all, but one of the wisest men to live in his time. He seemed like a pretty chill and funny guy too. He stood up for what he believed was right. He did not think he did anything wrong so he would not apologize even when his life was about to be taken. Also in class we learned about critical thinking. Critical thinking is when you really have to use your brain. The Socrates Method was also a topic we discussed in class today. We learned that it was based upon asking and answering questions. The teacher would ask the student a question and that is how the student would learn. We had an example of that in class today. Also in class we talked about excellence. A word the ancient Greek used for excellence was "arete." The topic of democracy was also discussed in class today. During this time the first democracy was made. This is where the every individual has a say. Everyone voted for anything as simple as the price of olive oil to something serious such as war. A government where the people ruled themselves not someone telling them what to do. This was the first time ever that something of that nature was created EVER. It was a big step in history so that we still use it in the U.S.A. today.

A Message to Garcia

Today's class was more serious than usual. We talked about the world of college and beyond it might look far away to me today as I think I just started my freshman year of high school the decisions and habits I decide to make now will guide me on my path to college. If I am goofing off in class, not doing what I'm suppose to on my tablet, or not paying attention to my teachers. We learned that we should always do our job and to not be lazy or find excuses. Like Rowan he was told to deliver the message to General Garcia and did it without asking any questions. He did not ask someone else to accompany him he just did as he was told. It is important for us to not ask questions and just do the object at hand. Rowan didn't even ask where Garcia was he just traveled to Cuba and in 4 days he exited the other side of the country with the message delivered. Most people are not like Rowan and ask a whole bunch of questions while doing one simple task, but there are still some that are not lazy and do what they are told. It is my personal responsibility to do what I am told no one is going to force me in college I will have to be responsible enough to do it on my own. This story was a pep talk to start high school with some energy and the right track so I will continue on this track throughout my life. To be that kid that does what is right and the way it was meant to be done. 
arete- as valor and virtue, making up good character
polis- an ancient Greek city or state
Socrates-  Athenian philosopher
The Socratic method- A method used by Socrates which was to teach by questions and answers
death of Socrates- Socrates was considered to be nonreligious and there was a vote to see his punishment. They ultimately voted for him to have the death penalty.
the date 508 B.C.- Zeus died
Agora- It was the center of Athens
what the Ancient Greeks meant if they called you an idiot- having bad judgement in public and political matters, not participating in votes, and being self centered 

The Beginning of High School

Today in our class we learned about the syllabus. It was an interesting class because we have some interesting kids in the class. It was fun with the mixture of Mr. Schicks comedy, but we also had some serious moments in class. We talked about how it was important to pay attention in class and not get distracted by the tablet we have even though we might be bored. It is important because John Carroll is suppose to prepare us for college which is my goal to accomplish after high school. If I am not responsible now with my teachers caring and setting discipline in these areas I will not pay attention in college when I have that choice to do what I please in class. We also had some fun with any nick names we wanted like mine would be Special K! In the class we learned why we write down our notes instead of using the tablets. This class was like an informational class to know the rules, how things happened, and why things happened the way they do. I am really looking forward to this class hoping it will be as fun as it has been so far!

My First Day of School

My first day of school was amazing and filled with new experiences.  I had high expectations for my first day at John Carroll and those expectations were met my first day! I was a little nervous going into the day, but I met the kids that I knew from my old school and also my brothers from the John Carroll Football team. It was not as hard because I was with those guys my entire summer vacation preparing for a successful season and now we will be together in school! First everyone was in the auditorium together where there was a presentation and a series of prayers for the class of 2016. After that we headed toward our advisories and to our lockers. There was also a fire drill there and afterwards we had a little snack. Included in the day were our groups we went around in to check out the school and were given information about what the school was like and opportunities we have to participate in the school for such as clubs. We had lunch and then a sample of our classes which was nice to meet the teachers and see where the classes were located. I was also told what was expected of me from my teachers and the basic rules of school. I met new people that I will be spending the next four years of my life with and the teachers that will help prepare me for life as an adult. I learned that there is nothing else like high school and I have to look back at it with no regrets!