humanities8dana

What is Power? (Final Exam)

2009-05-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

There are many things that could define Power, but I think that the best definition, however, is the ability to rule and benefit other people. A person with power has to have the qualities of a good leader. Once a person is given the ability to rule, it doesn't make them more important than everyone else; though they will be a lot more respected if they can rule but still act like every other person.

An example for misuse of power is Animal farm; Napoleon and Snowball were given power, though they both misused it. Napoleon decided that because he was given so much power and authority, he was able to rule over everyone else. This is exactly the opposite of the definition of power. Power means that you can rule but still relate to everyone else that are 'beneath' you. It means that you can make sure everyone is 'equal' and gets equal shares in everything.

When Europe was colonizing Africa, they thought that since the Africans were very poor and did not know any better, they were somehow 'better' than them. They decided that since they were given power over them they could also treat them like animals. This is another example of the misuse of power. Not many people that are given the ability to rule can do it without it getting to their heads, and that's why many leaders are selfish and abuse their power.

An example of good use of power is from the book 'The Giver'. The Giver is very highly respected in Jonas's community. He was given the power to hold all the community's memories and advise the elders whenever they are faced with a situation they have never faced before. The Giver and Jonas have the power to change the community, but they don't use it to feel like they are more important than others. Jonas still goes out to play with his friends, still sits to eat dinner with his family. Even though he was given so much respect to receive the memories from the giver, he didn't abuse it and treated everyone around him like he always did.

In conclusion, the word power means to be given the ability to rule without misusing it. Most leaders think that because they were given power, they are more significant than everybody else. Though other leaders don’t abuse their power and treat everyone the same as he would like them to treat him.

Net effect of Globalization

2009-05-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

Over all, after all that we've learned in class, i think that the net effect of globalization is negative.

Through the videos we watched, I understood that due to globalization, the rich are become even richer still, and the poor are staying the same, if not getting even poorer (if its possible). I also learned through the video we watched from a show called '30 Days' that cultures are being destroyed. India is becoming more and more like America, more Indians celebrating Christmas and becoming christian, old customs being forgotten and jumbled up with new ones, everything is becoming the same. Through our class discussions I learned that more and more technology is being produced, which also causes E waste, and results in everyone depending on it. Humans nowadays cannot live without at least one computer in their home, and we're all becoming fat. Also, at the beginning of POP we had an activity where the teachers asked all the students that are holding a blue square to stand up. This indicated the percent of people that actually do own a computer. Only about 5 people stood up. This emphasizes the point I made earlier, of the poor becoming even poorer. As the rest of the world races ahead of them, they lag behind even further.

However, there are positive things about globalization.
For example, a person in China can now go to a McDonald's and buy a hamburger. A man in India can go into a store and buy a Nokia phone; and someone living in Egypt can buy Nike shoes. The world has become so flat, meaning that (according to Friedman) everyone is becoming the same, you can buy anything, anywhere, and at the best quality and cheapest cost possible. New companies from America are emerging everywhere in Asia, and adapting so that they can sell their products in the different culture. (Like McDonald's not selling beef in India). Countries are experiencing different cultures, ideas, and new ways of doing things.

Even though there are many good things coming out of it, I still stand strong that the over-all effect of Globalization is negative. That is because the negative results are more severe than others.

Feedback- POP!!!!

2009-05-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

The three most important things I learned in the population projects this year are:

1. MANAGE YOUR TIME!!! I wasn't one to do all my work the day before its due, but I also didn't research enough and finish it a week before. This is a skill that will help me with other projects and tests.

2. Another more general thing I learned is that a lot of girls in India are being mistreated because of their gender. Hindu families prefer to have boys because they continue the family line, they can help with farm work, they are more accepted in society, and they are the only ones in the family that can conduct the funerals for the parents. This leads to families not caring for their daughters and treating her like an object to be owned and then taken away.

3. Finally, I also learned that when researching don't put all your faith in one source. I got all my data from Indiastat and it didn't end up being so good. My graph was small and didn't prove my point very well since I didn't get all the data I needed. Also, the data I got might not have been correct.

cartoon feedback

2009-04-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

What are the main visual elements?

A family having dinner at their house and talking

What issue is this cartoon about?

Its about lazy, unsupportive parents who prefer to ask their kids about their day instead of using the computer to go on his blog :)

What is the cartoonist’s opinion on this issue?

Parents this days hardly ever talk to their kids because now everybody communicate through technology. This cartoon shows that the kid prefers to let his parents go on his blog and read about his day instead of just telling them and getting it over with.

What evidence in the cartoon supports your opinion on how the cartoonist feels?

The fact that the word TELL is underlined suggests that the cartoonist wanted to emphasize everything that i said above. Also, the look on the child's face shows us that he think his parents are right, which could mean that the cartoonist is actually the parents in the picture.

Why is this cartoon ironic?

The child in the picture looks really young, kids in his age would sit and eat dinner with his family and talk about his day; yet technology is taking control of the young minds and eating our brains, and now even the young kids know how to blog and spend their day on the computer.

How does this cartoon relate to our study of technology and the future?

In just a few years, technology would become so popular, that there would be no child above the age of three without at least two computers in their house. It would take complete control over our lives that we wouldn't even need to come out of our house and see people, we would just communicate through the computer. Then we'd be like the people in the movie Wallie

What other techniques could the cartoonist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive?

Maybe add a bit more color to make the facial expressions clearer

POP 'calender'

2009-04-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

Monday:
-Finish research
-Start on note cards and works cited

Tuesday:
-Finish outline
-Start on intro to research paper

Wednesday:
-Finish first paragraph of paper
-Start and finish the second paragraph

Thursday:
-Start and finish third paragraph
-Start on fourth paragraph

Friday:
-Finish fourth paragraph
-Do conclusion

Technology

2009-03-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

What is technology?

Technology is what new machines developed to help make life for humans easier are called.

2.What are the 5 most and 5 least important technologies used today?

5 most:

Computers and Printers
T.Vs
Stove
Washing Machines
Refrigerator

5 least:

Rice maker
Vacuum cleaner
Walkie Talkies
PlayStation, Xbox, Wii
iPods

3. How do you feel about the amount and use of technology at AES?

I feel that AES, being the huge school that it is, uses its technology pretty well. Kids learn about recycling and reusing in their classes, learn to turn off the lights when they're not in the room, and learn that you don't HAVE to have the lights on when you're in it too. We have special days about two times a year or more when we turn out ALL the lights in the school. But even though AES teaches the students about not wasting electricity, it's still a school and we do need to use the computers and the projectors to help us learn. So, all in all, AES is a very good school when it comes to not wasting electricity, but we still need to use the avarage amount of it in order to learn.

Vonnegut and Technology

2009-03-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

“Do you know what a Luddite is? That’s a person who doesn’t like newfangled contraptions. Contraptions like nuclear submarines armed with Poseidon missiles that have H-bombs in their warheads, and like computers that cheat you out of becoming. Bill Gates says, “Wait till you can see what your computer can become.” But it’s you who should be doing the becoming. What you can become is the miracle you were born to work—not the damn fool computer.” -Kurt Vonnegut

Even though I love the damn fool computer, ( :] ) I agree with Vonnegut and think that we are better off without technology. Computers definitely make life easier by not wasting paper, sending emails easily without it taking a week to get to it's destination, and machines make everything happen a lot faster in factories. But if humans stay so dependent on technology (T.Vs, computers, cooking machines, and other household things...) we will all die eventually and the world will end. We'd become obis once they invent a robot that can do everything for you. We'd sit on a couch the whole day and watch T.V, eat, and watch more T.V. If we could just stay smart without using technology, life would be a lot funner to live. People would go out and play sports and stay fit, food would be healthier without a stove, and people would have less headaches if they're not starring at a screen the whole day (Even as I wrote this, I noticed that my face was inches from my laptop and leaned back in my chair). In the story The Euphio Question, Vonnegut explained quit clearly that technology would make people believe things they don't believe, and it makes us all 'fake happy'. We wouldn't really be happy, it would just be some other machine that now injects feelings into our body. By comparing this to my own life, I know that I'd rather sit and watch my favorite show on television than go and jump rope outside in the boiling heat of the summer. I know that life without computers is much, much, healthier, but I think that it would be extremely hard to get rid of my computer and try to live without it. Humans have developed a need to know everything that's going on, and to be connected with the rest of the world. Technology makes that happen. If we just had to stop using technology, we'd be able to do it, but it would be hard.

Quarter 4 Goals!!!

2009-03-16T00:19:00.000-07:00

my goals for quarter 3 were:
1. get an A
2. do my best on classwork and homework
3. Participate more and be a part of more class discussions
I think, that over all, i achieved most of my goals. I did do my best on all HW and worked on each for an average amount of time. I handed everything in when it was due and missed nothing except three blog posts. I also think that this quarter, especially, i did participate more. This quarter we learned things that I understood better than others and it was easier for me to learn and add my ideas into the discussion. As for my grade, I only got a B.

My new goals are:
1. Research for about 1-1.5 hours every week for POP,
2. Finish ALL blog posts and try to get a higher grade,
3. Improve my writing and sentence combining skills.

A Recipe for WW2 poem

2009-02-12T00:19:00.000-08:00

A Recipe for World War II

Take one failed Treaty of Versailles,
A rotten League of Nations,
3 cruel and selfish fascist leaders,
And one communist country,
Add a cup of appeasement to start the bubbling,
And a few million fuming Germans,
Now a pinch of power-hungry Japanese should do the trick,
So stir the dish and leave it out to dry for a few years on a brick.

Movie Critique- Animal Farm

2009-02-09T08:03:00.001-08:00

The book Animal farm and the Movie they made about it were both pretty good. They had close similarities but more differences in them. Some of the similarities between the two would include such things as the way that they made the animals. Like the fact that in both the book and the movie Boxer was a hard worker, Snowball, Napoleon, and the other pigs ruled over everyone else, Mr. Jones was the always-drunk farmer that the animals kicked out of his own house, and Napoleon's guard dogs followed him around everywhere. Other similarities would include the main story of both the book and the movie, because of-course the director had to keep the whole idea otherwise it would be a random film about animals living in a farm. Major events and other ideas that made up the story, such as 'The Battle of the Cowshed', the singing of 'Beasts of England', the Seven Commandments, the building of the windmill and its destruction, and basically most of the main points covered in the movie were taken from the book.
There are a few similarities between the book and the movie, but there are even more differences. For one, in the movie they never mentioned Clover, Boxer's close friend and companion throughout the whole book. Instead, the director wanted to make less characters which would make the film a little less complicated to understand, so he made Benjamin act as both himself and Clover. Also, at the end of the movie, the other animals broke into the farmhouse and killed all the pigs, but in the book they didn't do anything. They let Napoleon take over everything but had no power over what was happening. There was way too much killing in the movie, for example when they exiled Snowball in the book, they just threw him out of the farm, but they didn't harm him. In the movie they gave the impression that Napoleon's guard dogs tore him apart. Another difference was that they added two more characters to the movie that weren't in the book. The little duckling and the young sheep that appeared from time to time and had some of the funnier moments in the movie were not mentioned in the book. Overall, The movie had more differences that similarities, even if some points were missed in the paragraph above.

p.s- mr.coyle, because we started seeing the movie on Friday i forgot some of the things that happened in the beginning and my 'differences' paragraph is kinda short... :)

Animal Farm Character Reflection

2009-02-02T00:56:00.000-08:00

Out of all the animals in the book, I think that I'm most like Benjamin, the old donkey. For one, as an eighth grader, I don't have power over the government. Unless I get a group of people to start rebelling against something the government has done, I have no chance to change something they decided. Like Benjamin, who knew what would happen and knew that he wouldn't be able to stop or change it, I am the same. As a part of the people living in my country, I know what's right for me and what we should do, but have no power to actually do anything, which leads to my second reason. Another one of Benjamin's characteristics is that he just doesn't care. He understood that he had no power over the pigs or any of the other animals. Even though he was smart enough to understand that none of this was going to work, he decided to step aside and look at what was happening, always saying in his mind that it was all going the wrong way. Sometimes, when I hear of something that the government has decided to do, like go into a war with a different country, I disagree (or sometimes agree) that it would be the right thing to do, and sometimes I think that I could have better resolutions except fighting and violence. But seeing as I’m not the president, I can’t change anything. Lastly, I think I’m most like Benjamin because I don’t have power over the government and can’t change their decisions, also, since I don’t have power to change what the government thinks is right, I just stop caring and let them make their decisions.

Tyranny, Injutice, and Self-determination- Animal Farm

2009-01-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

Tyranny- Despotic abuse of authority
Injustice- violation of rights of others
Self-Determination- wanting to take over and determine the rules for yourself

One example of each of these words used in Animal farm is:
Mr. Jones was the animal's master, but they suddenly went mad and took over. They kicked Mr. Jones out of his own farm and his own house and now they are ruling by themselves, not allowing even their master to come inside his home. It was unjust of the pigs to take more food than the other animals and to trick them into believing that it was the right thing to do. It was also unjust of them to kick Mr. Jones out, because, frankly, we humans don't really understand that animals might have feelings too. We just take it for granted that they don't really understand anything, and that they don't really know anything about the life they could have if they were freed. It's like the people sitting in the cave their whole life, they don't know what they're missing out on because they don't know it exists. So Mr. Jones never even realized that it wasn't right to just not let them eat the whole day, or overwork them and then take their milk and eggs, because he never realized that they cared about it. Lastly, self-determination is practically the whole point of the first three chapters. The animals taking over the farm and making a 'government' and rules of their own is an example of self-determination. At first, there were all these 'races' of animals that lived together under the rule of humans. The animals got bored of being controlled and never given anything back, and they decided to take over the 'government' (Mr. Jones) and rule by themselves. At first, everything went OK, The animals worked well enough and produced more that what Mr. Jones and his man could do. But by the end of the third chapter, we see that the pigs are starting to take everything over and deciding the rules. They think that not they are the sort of Kings and Queens of the animals and should be getting more benefits than the rest of them. Like getting more food that others, or getting to decide all the rules. Overall, I think that Self-determination would be a kind of concluding word for the whole first three chapters.

Alone in the Trenches

2009-01-22T03:34:00.000-08:00

It seems there’s no hope,
With the despair they’ll have to cope,
Down in the trenches they’ll live for five years,
The rains will wash even the tiniest of tears,

And their feet will get soaked,
And their boots will get torn,
And with their families gone,
They’ll be all alone,

The battles will go on,
More lives will come to an end,
But they’ll stay in the trenches,
Living above the dead,

And with no clean water,
And with no nice clothes to wear,
For five years,
They’ll live in despair.

Sources:
http://www.army.mil.nz/nr/rdonlyres/5d0f436d-ad66-49bb-af53-b0bdbc6ae291/0/aw0608046.jpg

http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/trenches/turks-trench-anzac.jpg

http://www.firstworldwar.com/photos/graphics/cnp_us_trenches_01.jpg

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Army/Images/0377.jpg

http://www.bridgeboymusic.com/ad1918/gallery/images/imag1006.jpg

Feedback: Is military in your future??

2009-01-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

In Israel, you have to join the military after high school. Boys have to stay for about three years and girls for two. Since Israel is an extremely small country, if people weren't required to join the military, we would have a very small and weak army as well. I think its important to join the military in the case of Israel, to help defend our country and the people. My mom told me that we have a war there about once in ten years, which is a lot for only one country. I think that because of the conditions and location of Israel, its important to build a strong army, and we did. Though I heard that the food there is really bad and you hardly get any sleep, (having to wake up early every day and keep watch at night,) I don't really mind joining. Its kind of scary if you think about it, because if a war breaks out they gather the whole military up to fight. I don't like fighting or blood ( :-| ) so that's kind of a problem.. But I would join just to defend my country from invaders. Other people did it before me, and they survived. My cousin in there fighting now in the Gaza Strip, and she likes. In conclusion, I think that in the case of a small country like Israel, they made a right choice in making people join the military after high school.

Alliances Cartoon Reflection

2009-01-11T23:50:00.000-08:00

What are the main visual elements?

People standing around two kings and trading gold with each other. The people represent different countries. On the outside, there are two other 'countries'. One of them is crying, and the other really poor. They're not trading like the other countries but sitting outside.

What issue is this political cartoon about?

Alliances between countries. How people trade and how some are left out.

What is the cartoonist’s opinion on this issue?

They think that the powerful countries like Germany have more connections and are able to trade more things and bring stuff into their country.

What evidence in the cartoon supports your opinion on how the cartoonist feels?

The two most powerful countries are standing in the middle, and they also have some kind of crown on their heads. The countries standing around them are connected buy little tickets that I think say gold on them. The two people on the outside have no connections and are either sad or very poor.

What other techniques could the cartoonist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive?

Show if some of the countries are in a war, or show some kind of conflict, except the people on the outside, going on.

How does this cartoon relate to the Great Powers Game?

In the game we had to make connections with people that would help us. During the game we defeated other people and took all their things, leaving them with nothing. There were mainly two powerful countries, Germany and Great Britain, that were sort of controlling everybody else. If either of them went to war against another country, they would surely win because of their many armies and connections to people who would help them. The cartoon shows exactly this.

Great Powers Game

2009-01-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

1. Which country were you? How did it feel to build your empire? Which countries had the advantage at the start of the game? Why? How did your empire compare to other empires?

1 A. We were Great Britain, and it was actually very fun building our empire. We kept buying a bunch of industries and doubling our money and then we bought like 300 armies. So we were rich and powerful. The countries with the advantages at the beginning were USA and us, Great Britain, because we both could buy four things at the beginning, and so we got bigger quicker. Except we killed USA later... I think we were pretty powerful. We had many industries and loads of armies so we could take on practically any other country. Except Germany, which we would have been able to defeat if Italy hadn't helped them. Some of the other empires were really weak, and depended on their allies to help them in case of a war.

2. In the long run was it more important to buy armies, navies, industries or colonies? Why?

2 A. It was most important to buy armies, but in order to do that you had to have many industries and colonies. You always had to be ready for a war because you never know when someone was going to attack you, so it was important to have armies.

3. What did you do well? What would you have done differently?

3 A. I think we did well in getting powerful. We planned what we were going to buy and when and ended up with many industries and armies. If I could change something, I would have never attacked Germany and then both of us would have been winners. Or I would have been allies with Italy so they would have helped us in the war against Germany.

4. How successful were your alliances? Did they help or hurt you? Could they be trusted?

4 A. Our alliances weren’t very successful. They depended on us to help them in case of a war. They didn’t help us because we didn’t need their help, except in the war with Germany when all of them joined in to give us armies. Our alliances, except USA, could be trusted. I wouldn’t tell them everything incase they were going to attack us and needed to know how many armies we had, but otherwise we trusted them not to go to the other side.

5. What are three specific things you learned about conflict from this simulation?

5 A. I learned that you can never trust anyone. Your closest friends will stab you in the back when they see that the other side is getting more powerful. I also learned that in order to be powerful, you need to have a lot of money to buy armies with.

Quarter 3 goals

2009-01-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

In quarter 2 my goals were: participate more in class, read more books and get AR grade up, stay on grade higher than B.
I met all my goals because I think I did participate more, i definitely read more books and finished the Twilight series, and my grade is B. (could be better...)

For this quarter, my goals are:
1. get an A
2. do my best on classwork and homework
3. Participate more and be a part of more class discussions

Net Affect of British in Africa

2008-12-01T00:59:00.000-08:00

Positive:

British brought the modern world to Africa
British provided education
British gave the Africans a variety of jobs to choose from
Helped countries in Africa become democratic
Made life easier, like finding ways to control the flooding in Madagascar
Resources were found and helped trade in Africa
Brought Africa to where it is today

Negative:

Slaves were tortured
Black people weren't paid the same amount as white
Africans were given the worst job conditions possible
British separated African families
Many minerals were stolen from Africa by the British.

reading summery- South Africa's govrnment

2008-11-23T19:28:00.000-08:00

The country of South Africa in probably one of the strongest in it's area, though it has suffered a lot before. South Africa wanted to control it's area, and it started by beginning to force other countries to do things. For example, South Africa used Sanctions, economic/political penalties imposed by a country on another a change in policy. South Africa became a democratic country. Nelson Mandela, it's most famous president, was elected in 1994. Later, South Africa began separation races through a process called 'Apartheid'. After they did that, many European countries banned trade with South Africa, and many other companies stopped investing in it. The sanctions isolated South Africa, but still, it still had it's good things in it. For example, the were groups in South Africa that protected rights of black Africans. Today, all races in South Africa have equal rights. South Africa still has an elected president, and a government that's trying to create better jobs and conditions for black workers and farmers. Though, some industries are still controlled by whites.
Lesotho and Swaziland were both extremely influenced by South Africa. Both countries are enclaves, a small territory surrounded by foreign territory. They are located IN South Africa. Swaziland shares it's border with Mozambique. Lesotho has very few resources or agricultural lands, though it has the highest literacy rate in Africa.

Swaziland, on the other hand, has a lot of resources, which helps trading with other foreign countries.

Namibia gained it's Independence from South Africa in 1990, not very long ago. It's capital, Windhoek, is located in the central highlands. Not many people live in the East and West of Namibia, because they are mostly deserts. Though these are the places with the richest mineral resources. Namibia gains most of it's money from mining for diamonds, copper, uranium, and zinc, and also fishing in the Atlantic Ocean.

Botswana has a lot of mineral resources and a stable government. It's main economic activities are cattle raising, and diamond mining. Many international companies build their factories there, and tourism increased. Botswana has the highest rate of economic growth since 1960.

Zimbabwe suffered from poor economy in the past years. The country was hurt by high inflantation, debts, and wars. There's a lot of inequality in Zimbabwe, where the white residents own most of the farmlands and ranches. In 2000, Zimbabwe began a new program to take land from the white residents, and give it to the black ones. This action proved not to work so well, because it caused the white people to leave the country which led to food shortages.

Mozambique is the world's poorest country. It's economy was badly damaged during and after the civil war. Mozambique grows cashews, cotton, and sugar for exports. It ships many products from the interior of Africa to the rest of the world. Mozambique's economy relies on foreign land.

Madagascar and the Comoros were ruled for more than 20 years by socialist dictation. Madagascar's president is working to improve the struggling economy in his country. Madagascar exports coffee, vanilla, sugar, and cloves for sale in foreign countries. Many tourists go there to see all the fantastic animals and plants.

The Comoros are made of 4 tiny islands. There are no resources and a lot of political instability. The Comoros want to promote education and tourism.

The area of South Africa suffers from a lot of poverty and draughts that destroy the crops or land. enviormental distractions, like floods destroying places, and rain are very common too, like in Madagascar. There are many unemployed people who live in the area, and many spreading diseases such as HIV and AIDS. Living In South Africa can sometimes be very troublesome, but people get through it and see the fuller half of the cup. Like the beautiful sceneries and the amazing people.

Africa news #3

2008-11-18T05:34:00.000-08:00

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811140530.html

Namibia: Piracy Stifles Local Music Industry

Illegal digital copying, downloading or cloning is termed stealing and this is considered a crime.
This hi-tech crime is ethically wrong as illegally copying some one's music is just as good as stealing a compact disc (CD) from a record shop, and Namibian laws are firm on piracy. John Max, the chief executive officer of Nascam, the Society of Composers and Authors of Music, believes that the problem is with lax law enforcement. He thinks that if the government would be a little more strict, people wouldn't be doing this. Customs should prevent pirated music productions from being smuggled into the country while police officers are expected to ensure these goods are not sold once they have been smuggled into Namibia. This also applies to pirated goods produced locally. Piracy is a big problem in Namibia, and John Max is working is hardest to try to prevent it from continuing.

This is news because people living in Namibia, (and in the world,) need to know that piracy is bad, and that if people keep doing it, the artist is not going to earn any money and not get as recognized as now. It also made the newspaper because the police are trying to lower the number of people doing this, so they sent a message in the paper, which everybody reads, to make sure they got it.

imperialism cartoon

2008-11-18T05:25:00.000-08:00

The main visual elements in the cartoon is a black map of Africa with a big footprint in the middle of it.

The cartoon is about all the people/countries who moved to Africa and took control of it. The continent is still suffereing from the mess that the European's left behind.

I think that the cartoonis who drew the picture thought the same, since he drew it. The cartoon seems to say that Africa was no longer Africa, after all those people moved there and ruined it. That's where the big foot comes in. Foreigners practicaly changed Africa forever.

The Scramble for Africa

2008-11-18T05:05:00.000-08:00

In Friday's game, we were playing as Great Britain, which at first we thought was an advantage because Great Britain was a really powerful country back then, and our only real competition was France. But when we started playing we were completely torn to pieces by the Netherlands. We got the advantage (or disadvantage) of starting first. One of the things we needed was to get the Suez canal and to find Iron, Petroleum, and Zinc. We started by first getting the Suez canal and marked some dots there. But by the second round the Netherlands wanted to negotiate and tricked us by getting some of our squares in exchange for theirs. Later they went to a 'war' with us and got their parts back, and after that they just kept attacking. But before that, we also checked our text books and found places where our resources were. We found iron, petroleum, but we didn't know were to find zinc. Still, we got most of our resources until the Netherlands came and crushed us.

I think that either France or the Netherlands won the game. They both got a lot of land and all of the resources that they needed. They conquered other countries and defeated European ones. They both had the most squares.

The teams that lost were Great Britain, (us : ) and Spain. Obviously Britain lost because we didn't get all of our resources and no access to the Suez canal. Spain lost because they didn't get ANY of the resources that they needed and also they were surrounded by all the other countries that could attack at any time they wanted.

Africa news #2

2008-11-18T04:37:00.000-08:00

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811171365.html

Madagascar: Bracing for Storm Season

When winter hits Africa, Madagascar suffers the most. In Madagascar it's not a matter of if, but when. There, disasters are predictable: floods and cyclones happen every year. Cyclone season usually kicks off in December and runs through April, when storms hit some of the poorest regions of Indian Ocean Island. Around 70 percent of Madagascar's population lives on less than a dollar a day. Floods are also common and cause displacement of thousands of people every year throughout the island. Earlier in 2008 over 100 people died when Madagascar was hit by cyclones. The powerful winds, heavy rains and flooding affected over 340,000 people, of whom 190,000 lost their homes. 2007 was the worst year recorded for cyclones. While extreme weather events have always been part of Madagascar's history, the disaster management community is starting to take a new approach to them. Realizing the huge impact that natural hazards have had on development programmers, the focus has shifted from being reactive and limited to response and recovery after an event, to a more comprehensive approach centered on preparedness. Madagascar is starting to prepare for the hazards in big cities where a lot of people live.
This is news material because they want to tell people about the problems in Madagascar and also tell them of the country’s progress of trying to protect itself from the storms.

Africa news #1

2008-11-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811130951.html

Africare Honors President George W. Bush at 2008 Africare Award Dinner

Every fall, more than 2,000 international, government and corporate leaders gather in Washington, DC, for what has become the largest annual event for Africa in the United States. Africare is a company that helps people who are suffering in Africa. They gather every year for a dinner where they award one person with Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award. On November 12 at the Hilton Washington Hotel, U.S president George W. Bush was awarded this year for creating partnerships with African governments, businesses and civil society organizations to promote economic growth. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has committed over 60 billion dollars to fight global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and more. The theme of the 2008 Bishop Walker Dinner was "Clean Water--Life's Lifeline." With 340 million Africans lacking access to safe drinking water and more than 497 million having no access to proper sanitation, the dinner highlighted the need for clean, safe water on the African continent and Africare's commitment to delivering safe water and improving sanitation conditions.

This is news material because, first, it refers to someone 'famous'. Well, obviously, the president of the U.S. is pretty famous. :]. And then it also refers to some great achievement that he made, and its also something that's happeneing right now, not two years ago..

Summery on Reading

2008-11-17T01:35:00.000-08:00

Reading Summery

South Africa’s ancient history and later European settlement greatly influenced the region’s culture. One of the Bantu groups in the early history of South Africa called the Shona build an empire that was located in what is now most of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The Shona farmed, raised sheep and cows, and traded gold with different groups on the coast. When Great Zimbabwe was found in the late 1000s, it was a small trading and herding centre. Later, the population grew and farming and gold mining became more significant. With all those resources, it became the centre of a large trading network. In the 1400s the Portuguese explored parts of Africa on their way to trading with India. Other European’s arrived in later times. Dutch, French, and Germen settlers and their descendants in South Africa were called Afrikaners. Over time, a new language called Afrikaans evolved in Cape Colony. In the 1800s, Great Britain took over the area of the Cape. People called Boers, or Afrikaner farmers who spread out across the area of the Cape colony, resisted the British. People in Africa have hundreds of different tribes and ethnic groups, some of them really large, others extremely small. Because of the great variety of different groups, South Africans speak many other languages. In addition to the many languages, Africans also brought many religions.

South Africa Summary

2008-11-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

Summary of South Africa

If you look out your window in South Africa, you will see truly amazing things. You can see whole, huge areas of grass, swamps, rivers, mountains, and plateaus. Most of South Africa sits on high plateaus. Parts of it reach more than 4,000 feet above the sea. An escarpment is the steep face at the edge of a plateau or other raised area. South Africa also has long, monstrous rivers. One river, called the Okavango, flows from Angola into a huge basin in Botswana. The river’s water never reaches the ocean. Africa also has different types of climates in each of its countries. The wettest place is Madagascar, while the driest is more to the western part of South Africa, close to the deserts. South Africa has many deserts, the most famous one being the Sahara. Another desert, called the Kalahari, takes up most of Botswana’s space. Although the desert gets enough rain in the North, it’s mostly just dry sand there. Old trails of ancient rivers have drained into low, flat areas, or pans. The minerals are left behind when the water evaporates from the pans. South Africa has so many resources. South Africa is full with huge forests that provide timber, while the region’s rivers supply the hydroelectricity and water for irrigation. Where it rains a lot, farmers can grow crops. But the region’s most valuable resources, however, are minerals. Mines in South Africa produce most of the World’s gold. In addition, South African, Botswana, and Namibia have productive diamond mines. Other mineral resources in South Africa are platinum, copper, uranium, coal, and iron ore.

TBAS [To be a Slave] can we trust?

2008-11-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

Can we trust what Julius Lester says in his book, ‘To be a Slave’?

I think so. Julius used real resources. He talked to African Americans who used to be slaves and read letters from the library of congress. I think that that’s pretty reliable. I’m also sure that he travelled and got a lot of his info from the places he saw. The information he has in his book is accurate and reliable, as long as the people he spoke to and read their letters didn’t lie or exaggerated. When he wrote the book and talked to the ‘ex-slaves’ they talked to him about their experiences as slaves and he used some examples in his book. He actually wrote the whole book based on what they said, most of it is covered in letters and speeches.

5 Themes of Geography

2008-11-07T00:08:00.000-08:00

The 5 themes of Geography are:

Movement
Region
Human Environment interaction
Location
Place

In this picture-

Movement- In the picture you can obviously see the cars moving, and also maybe they were imported from some other country.Region- You can see that it’s in a developed country because of the really tall buildings. Then, if you look well enough, you will see that the ground is curved and looks like a bunch of little hills.
Human Environment Interaction- The roads are obviously an interaction because maybe they had to cut down trees or straighten the hill a little better to make it. And the buildings have the same reasons.
Location- Absolute, you can’t be sure, but relative; you can guess that it is in some street in San Francisco.
There are very tall buildings, it’s very sunny, the roads are curved and bumpy, there are many houses and in front of about every house there is a tree.

http://www.plan4preschool.org/documents/san-francisco-county.jpg

Violence leads to more violence

2008-11-02T19:33:00.000-08:00

Violence leads to more violence

I agree with that sentence. I think that once you fight with one person and win, his friends would come back and fight you, and the cycle will go on forever, or at least for some time. Once some country starts a war with another country, the countries that are friends with one of the two countries will help them. And that, too, will continue forever. The examples in JC (Julius Caesar) for this statement are also the same. Caesar went and killed Pompey, and Pompey’s ‘friends’ (A.K.A Cassius, Casca, Cinna, etc’) are now planning how to get back at Caesar and in the end they actually kill him. I think that there is a moral here. Never get violent if you can’t afford the consequences. Caesar got violent and now he is dead. Brutus and Cassius stabbed Caesar and then killed themselves. Once you start a war, you have to be ready for whatever is going to come next.

Julios Caesar- What I would have done

2008-10-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

"Yet I love him well. But wherefore do you hold me here so long? What is it that you would impart to me? If it is be aught toward the general good, set honor in one eye and death i' the other, And I will look on both indifferently; For let the gods so speed me as I love the name of honor more than I fear death" (1:2:90) Brutus says this to Cassius while they were talking about Caesar. If I'd been Brutus at that very crucial moment, I would have been confused too. For one, Caesar is Brutus's very best friend, and if he helped to kill him it would stay on his conscious for the rest of his life. He would think about it every morning when he wakes up, and every night before he goes to sleep. And i bet he wouldn't live the same life ever again knowing that he has killed his friend.

But, on the other hand, if he killed Caesar then the life in Rome would be a lot happier without him around. Killing Caesar would help more people's life than if he didn't kill him. Killing Caesar would only take away one soul, but leaving him alive would kill so many others. And that's why I would pick Good of Rome.

If Brutus joined the conspiracy and helped Cassius kill Caesar, He would help his own country, and fulfill his dreams of becoming ruler. As Brutus said "I do fear people choosing Caesar for their king". (1:2:87) With, or without Caesar. Killing Caesar would mean helping so many innocent Romans. And its better this way because if you kill Caesar you would only take one life, but leaving him alive would mean putting a lot of other people in danger.

Leader habits :D

2008-10-13T02:08:00.000-07:00

To be a good leader, you must know how to take control. You must know how to do things and how to teach people to do it. You must be patient in order to be a leader and wait for the whole team to get on the same ‘page’. A good leader isn’t afraid to speak up for his/her self, and they are the ones that always get the most involved with things. It’s not like they get into all the conversations, but because they are not afraid to speak up, they get more involved with things. A good leader should be mostly nice to all people, and not ‘rebel’ against other people.

I think that Aysha and Natasha are some of our 8^th grade leaders. They always say what’s on their mind and don’t mind speaking up in the middle of class. That’s an example of why Aysha is in SLAMS, and why they have so many friends.

What is imperialism??

2008-10-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

Imperialism and it’s affects
when the bigger, stronger Europeans countries invaded the weaker ones, they usually followed similar methods. They would invade by either starting a war or signing agreements with the ruler of the country. The reasons were very common. The invading countries wanted power, land, and glory. They also wanted the resources, (such as oil, cotton, gold, silver, etc’,) that the country had to offer. They changes that were brought upon the country were very powerful in most cases. It changed the whole way that the country was run. Usually, Britain, Russia, and France fought over the countries and most of the time Britain won. After the invading countries left, the invaded ones would have a different religion, different language, and a different way of living.

Meeting my goals-- again

2008-10-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

As I've said before, my goals for the quarter were:

Hand in all my HW on time,
And get a grade thats higher than a B.

My grade did end up being higher than a B. And I'm proud of the scores i got on most of the things we did in class, especially our IR museum display and things associated with that.
I did hand in my HW on time, except one piece that I couldn't print and handed it at the end of the day instead of in class, but that was it.

So.. Now I have to write new goals for the second quarter:

Try to participate more in class and say my opinion about things,
Read more books and get my AR grade up,
Stay on a grade that's higher than B (:D)

So I hope that I can keep my grade for the next quarter and maybe even get a higher one..

analysing capitalism cartoon

2008-09-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

In the picture you can see a fat man with a banner that says 'capitalism' on it, and he is shaking a smaller man to get his money. The smaller man has a small tag that says 'labor'. I think that when the artist drew this picture he meant that capitalism is bad, and workers will eventually loose money if they follow capitalism. The only people who will get good things from capitalism are the rich guys who have so much money and keep getting more from stealing' from their workers. The evidence to that is that the fat guy is fat and looks nicely dressed but the Worker is a lot smaller than him and is loosing his money because 'Mr. Capitalism' is shaking him and stealing it.

image from- http://mrcoyle.edublogs.org/

2008-09-14T20:45:00.001-07:00

For example, people needed to move from one place to another using something that's faster than walking, so they invented the wheel, and later on cars.

People wanted to be warm when it was cold out, so they invented a way to get fire. In this case, it also helped them cook food.

Humans felt that they needed a way to communicate with people far away without sending fire messages, so they invented the telephone.

When we feel that we have a need for something, someone comes up and invents it. And then we use it.

http://www.chrismadden.co.uk/yah/invention-of-wheel.gif

Necessity is the mother of invention

2008-09-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

I think that the phrase necessity is the mother of invention means that without the need for things people wouldn't invent anything. That's why when you need something, you use it, (or invent it) and that's why necessity is the 'mother' of invention.
for example, people needed to move from one place to another using something that's faster than walking, so they invented the wheel.
people wanted to be warm when it was cold out, so they invented a way to get fire. In this case, it also helped them cook food.

Meeting my goals :)

2008-09-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

If you forgot, my two goals for the year were,

Hand in all my HW complete in time. and,
get a grade thats higher than B.

So far, I've handed all of my HW in on time completed except for one blog post I still need to do. I think I did pretty good on the 2nd goal because my grade IS higher than B. I got good grades on all the tests and quizs that Mr. Coyle gave us and I think that me and Rachael did really well on our Outsiders final project. So, this far in the quarter I think I've been meeting my goals really well. and I hope I keep doing so until the end of the year.

Dont Put all your eggs in one basket!!!

2008-09-05T00:17:00.000-07:00

Don’t put all of Your Eggs in One Basket

This ‘tip’ fits what I did the most because, frankly, I didn’t put all of my eggs in one basket. I was counting on John Deer to give me some money because it hardly ever went down by a lot, but I didn’t buy too many of that as well. I also only bought two of the tobacco companies, and I had two of the silver mines before it went down by thirty and then I sold them. Throughout the game I had invested in about four or five different companies and I never paid more than thirty dollars for any of the cards. I spread my ‘eggs’ out across many ‘baskets’ so that I had some of each, and that’s what helped me in the end. Because if one of the companies I had invested in went down in the stock market and another went up I hardly lost ANY money at all. Still, I didn’t win the game and was supposed to get a C-. Good thing this wasn’t for a grade. I guess I should have invested more in the companies I saw were making a lot of money instead of having only two cards. For instance, at the end of the game, I earned $50 from one of the companies. If I had invested more in that particular company instead of wasting my money in the silver mine, I would have gotten $100 or maybe $150, and maybe won the game.

Feedback- Feelings on the IR- August 25-29

2008-09-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

The good and bad of the IR--

Good-

People created machines that help us even today,
the IR got us to where we are today (technologically speaking..)
There were more choices of jobs for people to choose from
Machines could produce products that were almost identical to one another and then parts could be replaced

Bad-

factory owners overworked their workers for only a small amount of money.
The fact that people had to suffer (and even die) to make us clothes, cotton, and new machines
People lost their jobs because the machines were doing the work for them

Feedback- Feeings on the IR- August 25-29

2008-09-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Comparing factory games :P

2008-08-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

The factory game we played on Friday was a lot different than the game we played on Thurs. !

Similarities:

We had to create some sort of gift for our little sibling,
We could only use crayons, markers, scissors, and glue,
We had to use ALL the pieces that were on the paper in SOME way.We only had about class time to do it.

Differences:

We worked as a group and not by ourselves,
We had a manager who could fire us from doing the job,
We had to make more than one copy of the toy and it had to look almost exactly the same,
Each one of us had a different job,
we worked as if we were in a real factory,
We were competing against other humanities classes.

So overall, the similarities I wrote are only basic things. The differences were major in the two games. The game on Thurs. was calmer, we didn't move as much and didn't make as much of a mess. Friday's game involved more shouting and we had to work really fast but still make the toy good quality. The two games were completely different!

Factory Game!!

2008-08-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

The Factory game we played today was pretty fun. We got a paper with a whole bunch of different shapes like ovals, circles, and other stuff and had to make a toy for our 'younger sibling'. The rule was that we had to use ALL of the shapes for SOMETHING and that we could only use the materials that we were given, (Crayons, glue, and scissors,) because they probably didn't have much in the 'dark ages'. When I first looked at the shapes I didn't think that there were so many options, especially when I saw that one of the shapes was a bell that looked kind of like a cow bell. I thought that everyone in the class were going to make something like that. But I was wrong, because a few minutes later I saw that kids were making rabbits, lady bugs, wedding cakes, and other different things. I went on making my cow which I think is looking pretty good and it really fits our topic because they probably had cows before the industrial revolution... So that is it-- I hope I win!!

Messy Room

2008-08-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

As you walk down the hall, your foot steps echoing loudly and your heart beating as though playing together in an orchestra. You reach the closed door and take one last, long breath before opening it and dooming your life forever. Your hands begin to sweat and shake as you reach for the round, golden handle. You look around to make sure that no one is going to jump up on you and pull your hand and stop you from opening the door. No one is there, you sigh and twist the handle. The creaky door opens slowly and you take a peak inside. A scream from some sort of scary movie rings in your ears, 'Haaaaa!'. Ohh, the terror. Old socks that have lost their matching pairs forever are lying around everywhere. You can almost taste the egg and cheese sandwich that you had last week when you take a look at it from the corner of your eye. Half opened candy rappers under your bed, and next to it, a trail of marching ants as though soldiers looking for a fight. You take a step inside and look over at the pile of clothes on your T.V. that's been getting taller and taller since last month. You're about to sit on your computer chair when you notice coke spilled all over it, and when you try to stand up, you almost step on a small spider web. On it, two little spiders working fast trying to make a living. You move around and stand up, grab your vacuum cleaner and your protective goggles and start cleaning your messy room.

Q & A!!

2008-08-13T05:53:00.000-07:00

What were two highlights from the first week of school?

Seeing my schedule and meeting the teachers!
Im in the same spanish class as my best friend :P

What was your first impression of Humanities?

I knew that I was going to have to work hard and do my best to succeed. No more fooling around.. (Not like I did fool around...)

What are two goals you have for this quarter in Humanities? (Remember a goal needs to be specific, realistic, and measurable)

Hand in all the homeworks complete on time
Get a grade thats higher than B.

My gang :)

2008-08-12T00:50:00.000-07:00

One of the most important people in my life are my best friends from Israel, Sapir and Moran. I met them both when I moved to India and they helped me get used to the new school and new home. They are both younger than me in one year but that doesn't really matter to us. We used to have sleepovers almost every Saturday and we can talk about anything. Both of them make me laugh all the time even about stuff that are not funny.
My other good friend is the same age as me. She lives here in India and with her and Sapir around, its non stop laughing! We joke around in the cafeteria about anything, really.
Its never quite when me and my best friend, Sapir, are together. We are sort of the leaders of our gang and we can make all the littler Israeli kids do whatever we want them to do. Its really fun because we all like the same things and goof around a lot.