Guns, Germs, and Steel

We started watching a video called Guns, Germs, and Steel on Friday and we were told to take some notes. Here's what I got so far. The scientist in this film is named Jerod Diamond and he loves to study birds and was a professor at UCLA. He travelled across the world to Papua, New Guinea to study a vast amount of birds in their wildlife. This country is so secluded from today's technology that they are basically living in the Neolithic Age. While Jerod was over there he kept running into the same question, what separates the haves from the have-nots? The have-nots are sometimes defined as countries that aren't as developed as other countries are. Some people this this is a disadvantage, some think this is better for the people. These people in New Guinea are so intelligent, how could they be defined as a lower class. Jerod was asked by a New Guinean, "Why you white man have so much cargo and we New Guinean's don't?" Jerod tried to think of a way to answer this question but the answer was obvious.  The New Guineans knew that "the white men" had more advanced lifestyles than them with more technology and everything. These "white men" knew it too and they took advantage of that when they come to the country years ago. They thought they were superior to them and they had to do everything for them. The video broke down 3 reasons some countries are more developed then others. Having advanced technology, a large population, and a well organized work force helps a country grow more rapidly. Then the video started to show ways people live and survive in New Guinea. No one seems unhappy in their country; they have huts that house their families and ways of getting food. They seem quite content with their lifestyle.

After(Test)shock

I just finished taking the first test on the prehistoric civilization in the fertile crescent. I think I got at least 3 wrong but I'm pretty sure I had a lot of spelling mistakes. The first section was fill in the blank and I only had trouble with like three of them. I think I did really well on the three short answers because I'm very good at explaining topics in my writings. Then we had to label a map of the fertile crescent and I think I got them all right but I just spelled Mediterranean wrong. The whole first part of the test was stuff right from the power point that Mr Schick made. I studied a lot for this last night but I still had a little bit of trouble remembering somethings that were on there. I made quizlet cards and everything so I think that's why I was really good at definitions. I hope I did okay on it because at the moment I have a 100% in this class and I'd like to keep it close to that. doing these blogs really paid off because we got to use our blogs for the test. Two of my blogs from this week were really helpful for the fill in the blank especially for spelling. I'm actually really glad we got to use our blogs because I thought we were just going to wing it. I wonder how the new students liked using their blogs for the test. I hope they write better blogs so they can use it for tests to their advantage. Fingers crossed for this one.

Test Preparation

Today we went over what will be on the test tomorrow on the history of civilization. Unlike our other tests, this one will be fill in the blank not multiple choice. I personally like multiple choice more but I guess I will just have to study a little harder for this test. Mr Schick said that we might have to know a couple specific dates which are hard for me to remember. I will make notes cards handwritten and on Quizlet because I feel like that website is really helpful for reviewing for a test. I think the hardest part for me will be to keep all the times straight of when things occurred. I feel like this lesson is going to take a while to study because it has a lot of information in that powerpoint that is very important. I feel like every single slide has important details which usually isn't the case for this class. Usually there is a lot more controversial subjects to discuss but there aren't many in this chapter. I never heard Mr Schick talk about an essay but there probably will be one so I will have to prepare for that as well. I really don't like that we don't have a word back either because I feel like I won't remember or I will spell something wrong. We mostly went over the slides today and talked a lot about each one just to cover everything. People were participating in the conversation so I think that helped people remember some topics in the powerpoint. It always helps me to hear a clear explanation from a student that understands a concept I don't because I get it from a different perspective than my own. Listening to Mr Schick give a simpler translation of the slides really helps me understand the topic deeper which helps me remember it. I have a feeling I'm going to be up very late tonight finishing my Earth Science project and studying for this test. I hope everything goes well tomorrow, wish me good luck!

Hammurabi's Code

Today we decided to take the first portion of the class talking about the test this week. There was talk of having it either tomorrow or Thursday but we didn't full decide. I just emailed Mr Schick asking which day so I know when to study for it because I need to. I'm not really great at remembering facts, I'm better at remembering concepts we talked about in class. This lesson is kind of hard for me to pick up which is why I really need to know when this test is. I really hope it's on Thursday because I'm taking up most of my night studying for an Earth Science quiz. I really need to study for Earth Science because I haven't read any of the assignments assigned so far. Anyway, we started to talk more about Hammurabi's Code today and what they really mean. Most of them are quite harsh and strange but probably made sense to the people back then. They had a very different government and environment back then so that's also contributing to these laws. Women and peasants didn't play a big role in society so when it came to their rights, there were barely any. If something happened to a rich person, their consequences or awards would be much different than a lower class man or woman. It really bothers me how low they thought of women back then and some of the laws were very degrading to them. These laws basically outlined the saying of an eye for an eye. It's weird how some of these laws can relate to the Ten Commandments of the Catholic religion. We talked about that told because they actually mention an eye for an eye in the bible. I remember writing a paper on it in my Intro to Bible class last semester. Mr Schick said he would move our test to Thursday if we had a great discussion on the Code and I think we did a pretty good job. Everyone participated and gave their opinions on the laws and we all got down to the real meaning of the laws. I really really hope Mr Schick is moving our test to Thursday so I have more time to study and prepare.

Early Civilization

While I was gone the other day, the class was introduced to the new lesson about Prehistory to Civilization today. I'll start off with saying that the earliest prehistoric age is the Paleolithic age and the Neolithic was when people started to invent tools and start farming. Humans originally emerged from southwestern Africa and travelled in groups hunting and gathering plants. The Neolithic age also evolved into permanent settlements and moved around to Southwestern Asia. At this time inventions were increasing as the status of women was decreasing because they were only good for house duties apparently. then we got into the subject of Mesopotamia. a district called Sumer took up the land in between the rivers of Tigris and Euphrates and inhabited 40,000 people. Governments were formed for the very first time like the concept of the city-state and the first writings called cuneiforms were formed. Gods and Goddesses of nature were formed along with tall tales of epics like "Epic of Gilgamesh" which talked about a huge flood that wiped out man kind. Sumerians were some of the first people to develop time and calendars according to the moon cycles. They also built high temples to praise their gods and goddesses and a pretty famous one is called the Ziggurat. The nomad people drove animals with them in their travels like in the south of Sumer of Arabia. Then King Hammurabi of Babylon created one of the first real set of rules called Hammurabi's code for people in different settlements. Basically they all circled around the saying of you back what you dish out like an eye for an eye. Mesopotamia was increasingly expanding across the land of Europe and Asia in tribes such as the Indo-Europeans who ventured to Russia's steppe and introduced the domestic horse. Our first test is Wednesday on this material and I really hope we review for it.

Back Appointment

I was not in class today because I had a very important doctor's appointment at the hospital. I have a back condition that has been affecting me for the last year or so. Today I had a check up to see if I need major surgery on it or just go back to physical therapy for a second time. My back condition has gotten worse over time since my last appointment but luckily I don't need surgery. I have checked a couple of people's blogs but I'm still not sure what we did in class today. I can email Mr Schick or just talk to someone tomorrow to know what we did in class. I'll be back tomorrow to find out what I missed and make up any missed work.

First Day of West Civ

Today was my first day in my new class  of Western Civilization! It has most of the people from my old class from last semester of Human Geo except Cody, Zack, and Jon. We are keeping Cody's seat empty as a memorial for him being such a great classmate. I like my new class but I don't think my old class could ever be topped off. We started today with going through attendance and learning the new kid's names. We heard a story about how Jayla's mom always makes her late to school which was pretty entertaining and got us to know her better. I already knew Jayla along with some other new students but I think they all really like Mr Schick. Mr Schick is really good at explaining what his class is all about and I love that about his classes. I know what my responsibilities are right at the start and that really prepares me for everything. We said goodbye to our old blogs and said hello to these brand new ones! Actually only a few of us said hello to these blogs in class, a few of us had some trouble getting on blogger in school. I just now made this account and this is my very first post but I'm no stranger to these blogs. I'm actually pretty good at keeping up with these blogs and my classwork because I have such a great teacher. These new kids are lucky because Mr Schick is honestly the best teacher I've ever had in all my years of Social Studies. While everyone was setting up their blogs, Mr Schick was talking some of my friends and I and we decided on bringing cookies to class tomorrow to welcome everyone. I have a dermatology appointment tomorrow so I'll only be there until 2:15 but I will still be blogging on whatever we do in class. I'm not leaving before I get the cookies I requested.