Site

      -In class today we got new seats and talked about specific sites. My new seat is the one in front of my old one, just a little bit closer to the front of the classroom. Ben sits in front of me, Frankie and Chase sit next to me and Kelsie sits behind me.

Notes on Site:

-Manhattan is twice as large as it used to be because people took old ships and sunk them plus dumped garbage on top of the ships.

-So many buildings that probably used to be farmland couldn't soak up the water so once the drains filled, they couldn't hold anymore water causing it to flood the place. Plus some places aren't prepared for big storms like hurricanes because they are very rare in certain areas. People don't think about these problems since it never happens but when it does, they are not prepared for it. Example: Drains might not be deep enough when a hurricane appears and like Texas, many other places will end up the same way.

-We also will most likely have a quiz on Site and Situation next week!

Pop Quiz

      Today in my favorite class we did multiple things. We met new shadows, Abbie and Maddie, had very interesting conversations about eating animals specifically crabs, and had a pop quiz on the maps we filled out a few days ago. The shadows seemed interested in the class and hopefully will come here. The pop quiz wasn't really that hard until I got to the second paper. I felt like I did well on it but you never know until the teacher grades it. I also enjoyed our fun conversation about eating animals. I still can't believe that Chinese people eats dogs:( and I could never eat crabs. I don't enjoy eating an animal if I have to rip it apart myself and eat it that way. But I have never been a fan of seafood anyway, more because of the texture of the creatures and still the look of them.      

Places: A Unique Location

Site:

- the physical character of a place
- Examples: climate, soil, water sources, latitude, etc.

- The combination of physical features gives each place a distinctive character
- In the eighteenth century, landfills were created by sinking old ships and dumping refuse on top of them.
- Humans have the ability to modify the characteristics of a site.

Situation:

- the location of a place relative to other places

- It's a valuable way to indicate location for two reasons: finding an unfamiliar place and understanding its importance.
- In the first situation, we identify certain buildings, streets, and other landmarks
- In the second situation, we find information about places to understand the importance of its location

       Where I live, I have many characteristics that make my home a unique site. There are houses up and down the street but not too close together, a small forest behind every house, and many earthly creatures. I live near other neighborhoods so it's more of a suburban environment. The grass is always a bright green in the summer, the trees are filled with leaves until they turn different colors in the fall, and there are many small streams in the woods filled with clear water. In the summer, the temperature can get in the high 90's and in the winter, it can go into the 30's. We have had many snow storms, thunderstorms, hurricanes, and sometimes tornados. Besides the storms, some parts of Maryland are really nice to live in.

Checking Blogs and Reviewing Worksheets

      Today in class we checked everyone's blogs and reviewed each other's answers on the map worksheets. Mr. Schick told me my blogs were good except one blog but that was because I just wrote, Class and then the date. While everyone else was being called up, I double-checked all my blogs and looked at the grades I got for them. After that, we got out our worksheets and started checking the maps. In the middle of checking, Mr. Schick noticed we forgot to say the prayer and then started talking about where his mind went to remember it. Once we finally said the prayer, we continued going over our maps. I got all of the correct answers on the first page but missed one or two on the second page. If the second paper had better options it probably would've been a lot easier to put the right parts in the right spaces.

Mental Maps and Activity Space

         In Honors Human Geography class, we learned abut why each point on Earth is unique and on the day I missed class, we learned about mental maps.

Tuesday 9/19/17

Mental Map- is a person's point-of-view perception of their area of interaction, most commonly called your activity space.

-No one has a totally accurate view of the world. Everyone has a subconscious view of the world.

Thursday 9/21/17

Why is each point on Earth unique?

Place: Unique Location of a Feature
Regions: Areas of Unique Characteristics
Spatial Association

-Each place on Earth is in some respects unique and in other ways similar to other places. The interplay between the uniqueness of each place and the similarities among places lies at the heart of geographic questioning about why things are found where they are. Two basic concepts help geographers to explain why every point on Earth is in some way unique - place and region. The difference between the two concepts is partly a matter of scale: a place is a point, whereas a region is an area.

Missed Class

         In Honors Human Geography today, I only stayed for about ten minutes because I had to go to my soccer game. Hopefully whatever we learn in class, Jamie will give me the notes and catch me up on what happened. Right now I am on the bus and we're getting pumped up for our game by playing loud music. My friend is doing my hair for the game because we all need to wear braids for good luck and I a terrible at braiding my hair. I also brought a big bag filled with different kinds of snacks for the ride so we'll have energy. But I only have twenty bags out of like twenty-five players so hopefully five won't want any. I also think I aced my Intro to Bible test but whenever I think I aced something, I actually failed it....... but i'll see how I did on it tomorrow.

Class Today 9/18

        Today in class we learned nothing. We go to do our homework which I prefer to do in every class. I almost finished my math homework but it was so complicated and boring I had to stop. Now I am blogging for Human Geography homework so that I don't have to blog later. After blogging I will probably finish the math homework and then shop online or watch Netflix. The only other homework I have to do is study for Intro to Bible but I like to study for quizzes at home because I get too distracted at school. Besides that I have practice at 4:30 and have to stay at school until then and it ends at six. I also have a game tomorrow and i'm super excited about that!! We play NDP and it's an away game so I have to leave this class early tomorrow. Hopefully Jamie will fill me in on what we learned.

Map Discussion

    Map Throwdown!


       Today in our extremely hot and sweaty class, we focused on two different types of maps: the Mercator Map and the Peters Projection Map. We focused on some differences between them like how they are both different colors and the Peters Projection Map looks more spread out. Even though the Mercator Map isn't the most accurate map unlike the Peters Projection Map, people still mostly use the Mercator Map today. We also looked at why we couldn't have had the map turned upside down and there is no logical reason why we can't switch it, but everybody just learned it that way. I prefer the Mercator Map because I like how it looks better than the Peters Projection Map and the Mercator Map is a lot more colorful. I really want to see how the map looks upside down, with the words the same way as the others!

New Unit: Thinking Geographically

         Today we started a new unit along with completing worksheets and taking notes.


Key Questions:


- How do geographers describe where things are?
- Why is each point on earth unique?
- Why are different places smaller?
- Why are some actions unsustainable?

Agenda: map usage

Introduction

- Regions are a highly contested yet important concept in the study of human geography and can be studied as they relate to space, place, and location. Regions allow us to generalize about a common characteristic so we can better group them.

- A formal region is an area with a high level of consistency in a certain cultural or physical attribute. Formal regions are uniform or homogeneous areas where everyone in that region shares common attributes or traits like language, climate, and political system.
 

    We also worked on two worksheets where we had to list the regions of the world and the first worksheet was much easier than the second in my opinion. I just had a little bit of trouble on where regions are near Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. But I completed it and hopefully got all the answers right.

Test

     Today we had a test and it wasn't really hard at all. I think I got a good grade on it except I might have gotten a few points off for spelling some vocabulary wrong. I expected it to be extremely hard but I studied enough and felt really good after I took it. I just have to review more information before a test next time if the teacher tells us we are having one the day before. The only questions that were a little hard were two of the essay questions because I really didn't know how to fill the space. It was hard making a situation up when we would meet and discuss it because I don't know anything that happened in 399 Bc besides Socrates. I also hope I won't get a lot of credit off for misspelling vocabulary words. Besides that, everything else was really easy and I hopefully aced it!!

Test Reviewing

Test Tomorrow!


     For my test tomorrow I have to review all the notes we took in our composition book. I will definitely make sure everything on "A Message to Garcia", Socrates, and all the vocabulary words are glued into my head. Tonight I will study my notes, blogs, and some of the information I didn't write down from the PowerPoint slides. I hope the test isn't as hard as I believe it will be and I hopefully get a good grade on the test. :))

Socrates Notes

The Controversy

- Athens was a great city which attracted brilliant thinkers.
- Visitors shared knowledge: astronomy, medicine, meteorology, literature, philosophy, and all things scientific
- Back then people thought the sun was a God


The Trial

- Charged with two crimes:
1. Corruption of Athen's youth
2. Impiety (not believing in the Gods of the state)


How Did That Work for Ya?

- A jury of 500 male citizens found him guilty (279-221?)
- Sentenced to death by drinking poison hemlock
- He had the opportunity to escape but refused, proving his loyalty to Athenian democracy


"You Idiot!"

- An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private- as opposed to public- affairs

- In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education

Excellence Notes Cont.

Excellence Notes Cont.



In-Class Mini-Research Work

1. agora- a public open space used for assemblies and markets. (Center of athletics artistic, spiritual, political center of city state. Especially Athens)

2. polis- a city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purpose. (Ruled by own citizens)

3. 508 B.C.- Democracy was introduced in Athens by Cleisthenes. (establishes a constitution)- a huge contribution
- the first time in recorded history a people had revolted against their rulers! Ever!!

4. Socrates- was a successful Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. (died in 399 BC "from suicide")
- as a young man he worked as a strong stonemason
- he fought - heroically - in the Peloponnesian War
- met with young students in workshops outside the agora

5. The Death of Socrates is an oil on canvas painted by French painter Jacques-Louis David in 1787.

6. The Socratic method is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presumptions.

Notes on Excellence

Excellence Notes: A Message to Garcia



The Publication

- An inspirational essay in 1899 by Elbert Hubbard
- Printed as a book and pamphlet because of popularity
- Sold over 40 million copies
- Translated in 37 different languages


The Phenomenon

- Made into a movie twice (once in 1916 and the second time in 1936)
- A popular slang expression: "take a message to Garcia"


The Backstory

- Setting: the Spanish-American War
- Garcia: A revolutionary seeking Cuban independence from Spain
- Rowan: An Army officer (West Point, class of 1881)
- Mckinley: President William Mckinley, 25th president assassinated six months into his second term (1897-1901)


The Odd Vocabulary

- perihelion: the point when a planet (like Mars) is closest to the son, and therefore is at its brightest.
- slipshod: careless, lackadaisical, slapdash, remiss
- imbecility: incapability, feebleness, stupidity
- stenographer: a person who takes in shorthand
- missive: a letter, especially a long or official one


The Message

"The world bestows its big prizes, both in money and honors, but for one thing. And that is Initiative."
- initiative: doing the right thing without being told.

ARETÉ

- excellence of any kind
- moral virtue
- fulfillment of purpose or function
- but mostly.... the act of living up to one's full potential
- involves all the abilities and potentialities available to humans

A Message to Garcia Interpretation

         The story talks about how some people complain about what they're asked to do when other people will just do the job with no questions at all. The author is very strict about why there are few people who will just do the job like Rowan and so many people who will be the assistant. If Rowan was like the assistant who asked all the questions and complained, it would've taken longer to get Garcia the message and the President needed to secure Garcia's co-operation immediately. The world would be a whole new and different place if there were more people like Rowan. But I don't fully agree with what Hubbard is saying. If people don't ask questions about their task then how are they supposed to know exactly what to do and have it be done the way their boss likes. How are they supposed to know where to go or what time to be back without questioning? I agree with Hubbard when he said that people shouldn't complain about orders because they are getting paid to take orders and accomplish them, otherwise you are getting paid for complaining and should therefore be fired. Elbert Hubbard might have some anger issues but he has a really good point. People need to start realizing that they are lucky to be alive and that they should be putting hard work into their job everyday is they want to succeed and have a wonderful life.

Five point action plan:

-One of my plans to be more successful in high school is to start memorizing information every night that might be on a quiz or test in the future. I will take an hour or two to go over what we learned in class just be ready whenever the tests or quizzes.

-My second plan is to be completely organized so that I know where everything is and I won't be rushing in class to look for my homework or assignments.

-Another plan I will start doing is going to bed at a certain time every night so I get enough sleep for class the next day and I won't be dozing off in class because I might miss important information.

-For my fourth plan I will eat a healthy breakfast in the morning to help my brain and to be more active in class. A healthy breakfast will give me more energy for the day.

-My fifth and final plan is to start having a more pleasing attitude to show teachers that I am ready to learn and I really care about what I do everyday in their class.