Population Poster

     Today in class, Mr. Schick sang us the country song he wrote.  It was pretty good.  (Now Mr. Schick is not only a rapper, but he is also a country singer.)  

      We also talked about the Population Pyramid.  Here is stuff we learned:

• Almost all African countries has a high percentage of people that are younger.  
• A preindustrial (agrarian) society is a farming society
• 1,663,200 people increase a week
• 271 are born every minute, 106 people die every minute
• 3 factors that can alter the trend represented by a population pyramid include industrialization, natural disaster, and education of women.
• As a country slows in population growth, its pyramid shape will become more rectangular
• A Population Pyramid doesn't give you information about life expectancy.  It does give you information about birth rates, actual number of people, and death rates. 
• Africa is the continent with the fastest growth pyramid.  
• In an advanced stage of industrialization, a country will exhibit low birth and death rates,   stable population, good living conditions, and long life expectancy.

CIA Factbook

      In class, we talked about some facts that we learned in the CIA World Factbook.  The highest population growth rate is in Lebanon, with 9.37%.  Lebanon is right next to Syria, so we all thought that everyone from Syria was coming over to Lebanon.  Someone in class spotted the anti-Lebanon area in Syria, which is actually a mountain region in Asia.  
      Another fact is that Swaziland has the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate, being 26.5%.  
      Did you know in Timor-Leste, there are 45.3% children under the age of five underweight?  Well, that's another thing we learned.  That's almost half of the children!  Timor-Leste is near Indonesia.
      I started to research a little more, and I found out a few more facts:

• The place with the greatest mean life expectancy is Monaco, with 89.57 years.  The least is Chad with 49. 44 years.
• The place with the lowest population is the Pitcairn Islands, with a population of 48.
• In the U.S, there are 19.4% 0-14 year olds (male: 31,580,349/female: 30,221,106).  There are 13.7% 15-24 years (male: 22,436057/female: 21,321,861).  There are 39.9% 25-54 year olds (male: 63,452,792/female: 63,671,631).  There are 12.6% 55-64 year olds (male: 19,309,019/female: 20,720,284).  Finally, there are 14.5% 65 years or over (male: 20,304,644/female: 25,874,360).
• I know this is depressing, but the last fact I have is the fact that the largest death rate (in 1,000) is in South Africa, with 17.49 (remember in thousands).  I case you were wondering, the country with the lowest death rate is Qatar, with 1.53 (in 1,000).

More Test

     Before we started class, Cody and Mr. Schick had a little rap battle.  It was getting pretty intense, so intense, Mr. Schick put down his paper clip. After that was over, we basically took the whole class to go over the test (but mostly the essays) again because some were at retreat yesterday.  We still had one more DING to go through.  We also still had a lot more questions and confusion.  

     We mainly talked about Socrates and his trial and his death, because some people were still a little confused. Someone said that Socrates was killed for disrespecting the democracy, when, in fact, he was very supportive of the democracy.  He probably would've gone with his friends when they said they could get him out of him dying if he disrespected the democracy.  He was actually put to death by forced suicide of Hemlock poisoning for corrupting the youth of Athens and disrespecting the Gods.  He said that he should be rewarded instead of put to death for what he has done.

Late Blog

      On Wednesday we got our tests back.  Mr. Schick gave a DING to everyone who got an A.  I GOT ONE!  I got a 95% on the test.  I got the first question wrong and a point off for the last essay question.  We had the highest average score too (even though we get easily distracted according to Mr. Schick).  I forget the score, but it was pretty good, especially because not everyone got a ding (or an A, if you already forgot).  I like taking the whole class to go through a test.  It gives us a chance to ask a lot of questions if we were confused about something.

      Wednesday was a pretty funny class.  We were talking about the comments Mr. Schick gave us.  Some were very funny, and others, like mine, said, "Good detail!" or "Good job!", were a great feeling to receive.  It was a funny class!  

Wasn't in class

I wasn't in class on Friday, so I didn't know if I needed to blog or not.  I decided to because I wanted to put the notes I wrote on Friday:

• over 7 billion people are on the planet right now
• it is increasing by 73 million people per year
• increasing by about 201,000 people per day
• increasing by 8,377 people per hour
• increasing by 140 people per minute
• increasing by 2.3 people per second
• 90% of the population growth takes place in the developing countries of Africa, South and East Asia, and Latin America
• Life expectancy: the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year
• High: Monaco (89.68 total: 80.57 men, 93.77 women)
• #50: U.S. (78.49 total: 76.05 men, 81.05 women)
• Low: Chad (48.69 total: 47.61 men, 49.82 women)

Population

    Today we talked about population and settlement.  There are over 7 billion people in this world.  It took 10,000 years to get to 1 billion people, and it happened in 1804.  Then, 123 years, in 1927, the world reached 2 billion.  In 1960, 33 years, we reached 3 billion people.  After 14 years, we reached four billion in 1974.  13 years later, in 1987, we reached five billion.   In 1999, we reached 6 billion.  Finally, in 2011, we reached seven billion.  
     As you can see, we started off slowly.  It seemed to get faster every year, and it could go even faster.  It could even double, to a whopping 14 billion people.
     There are about 2 people born every second, so the population can get bigger.  It probably will.  I wonder how big the population will be in the 22nd century.
    (I forgot to bring my notes, and since I don't have class tomorrow because of my retreat, I can put all my notes in that blog.)      

Tests

     I had five tests today!  My last test was Mr. Schick's.  It was pretty easy. (Probably because he let us use our blog.)  I actually knew most of it, though.  I thought we weren't going to be able to use our blogs, so I studied hard for it.  Yesterday, I made flash cards on Quizlet that I used to help me and I played most of the games to help me remember everything.  Quizlet really helped me.  (I also used it for my Vocabulary and Intro to Bible test.)
     The test, overall, was somewhat easy.  My hand started to hurt with the four essay questions, but I might have written a lot more than I could've.  (It could've been the four other tests before though. )  By the end of the day, I was exhausted.  Basically, my schedule was no test, test, test, test, off, test, no test, test.  Even though I was very tired, I still feel confident about the test and I think I did good.

Test Tomorrow

     Today in class, Mr. Meyrell as a substitute.  We went over the blog that Mr. Schick wrote first.  We got to work with a friend (but I didn't). 
     After we went through his blog post, we made flashcards on Quizlet and got ready for the test.  (Mr. Meyrell let us listen to music, so I did.  It helps me study better.)  I made flashcards for each action that we learned: A Message to Garcia, Ancient Greeks and Excellence, Did you Know 3.0, and globalization.  I put down everything that I thought was important.  I hope I didn't miss anything.
      I put down things about Elbert Hubbard and the story of Message to Garcia. I also put down important facts about the ancient Greeks.  For Did You Know 3.0, I wrote about the facts that interested me the most.  Finally, I wrote different notes about globalization.  The links are below.
       I studied really hard for the test tomorrow, so I hope I do well on it.


A Message to Garcia: http://quizlet.com/49086825/a-message-to-garcia-flash-cards/
Ancient Greeks and Excellence: http://quizlet.com/49089829/ancient-greeks-and-excellence-flash-cards/
Did You Know 3.0: http://quizlet.com/49093848/did-you-know-30-flash-cards/
Globalization: http://quizlet.com/49114507/globalization-flash-cards/

Globalization

      Yesterday in class, we talked about Globalization.  Globalization is the connection of different parts of the world.  It results in expansion of international cultural, economic, and political activities.
       One thing that globalization is known for associating with "Americanization," or the exporting of American brands and consumer goods to other countries.  American fast-food restaurants like McDonalds and KFC are now common in other countries,such as China.
       Globalization has been around for as long as civilization.  "The Silk Road was a collection of trade routes connecting the markets of Asia and Arabia, the Mediterranean, and eastern Africa," according to National Geographic Education.  They were established as early as the first century BCE.  The Silk Road is still used today.
       A man in Kenya, a Maasai tribesman talks on his iPhone...  He needs electricity, money, and WiFi, to use the cell phone. The Maasai tribe uphold many of their old traditions, including raising cattle, but they are influenced by the entire world to farm and purchase consumer goods.     
       In Singapore, there are hundreds of brightly colored shipping containers on a dock.  These versatile metal boxes can be shipped from ship to train to truck for transport all over the world.  The shipping is done in mass quantities.  "Shipping containers are a product of increased globalization as huge quantities of goods are exported and important by countries around the world."
        These are just some of many examples about globalization.

9-11 and Technology

     Today in class, we talked a little bit about September 11, 2001 and what had happened.  We talked about how the planes crashed.  We talked about how the government might have set it up, which I don't think they did.  We talked about the importance of 9-11.  We talked about how many people died.  It was a very sad day, even though I don't remember it.
     I did ask my dad about it.  He said that when it happened, we were in Ocean City.  When it happened, he grabbed my one-year-old self and held me tight.  He said that it was on TV.  There was not a time when something wasn't happening.  He said that nothing was open because we had never been attacked like that before and everyone was worried that it might happen again.
     For the rest of the class, we talked about technology.   Mr. Schick told us about the first time he used a cell phone, which was about 2 pounds, I believe, and was called a brick.  We talked about how the cool way of listening to music was having records.  Then, they came out with the iPod, where you could hold 20,000 songs on a little device.  Then they started making iPhones, making iPods a thing of the past.  You could hold all of your music, go on the internet, play games, go on social media, and so much more.  Now, they're coming out with iWatches, where all the data you have on your phone can be on the watch plus more.  I wonder what technologies there will be in the future.

Did You Know?

            Today in class, we got assigned seats...  
     We also watched a video called "Did You Know 3.0".  It was pretty interesting.  The assignment for this blog is to pick three ideas from the video and answer the following questions:

What was your initial reaction to what you saw?

How are these changes manifesting themselves in your personal life?

How much of a role does technology play in your life?

     The first fact that I wanted to talk about is that if you are one in a million in China, there's 1,300 more of you.  At first when I heard this, I thought they were saying that 1,300 people act exactly like you do, but later realized that it is based on the population.  There are about 1, 300, 000, 000 people in China!  

      Something else that surprised me is the fact that 1 out of 8 married couples in the U.S. last year met online.  I mean, I'm not sad, I'm just a little surprised.  I feel like a real couple should have a real connection that isn't online. Anyway, there are a lot of creepy people on the internet.

      The last fact that surprised me is that 25% of India's population with the highest greatest IQs is greater than the total population of the United States.  That's basically saying that India has more honor students that America even has kids. That doesn't mean that the U.S. isn't smart though.  If smart people from the U.S. go against smart people in India, people in U.S. do have a chance of getting a job.

      I think technology has a huge role in my life.  I have an iPad, iPhone, and a computer. I text and call my family and friends, I go on social media, I use my computer for most of my classes, I use my computer to research for school, etc.  I definitely don't know how my life would be without technology because I've known it all my life basically.  As you can see, technology is big in my life, but I promise I don't use it all the time.

More Notes

     Today in Human Geography, we took more notes about Socrates, the Socratic method, and what the Greeks me ants when they called you an idiot.  Plus, I wrote extra notes that interested me that Mr. Schick talked about.  
     I put a note about Socrates that his friends made an escape plan and Socrates told them that he is not escaping.  He said to them that he is from Athens and he supports the democracy and if he is being punished for doing the right thing, he would except the consequences. 
     Some other facts I wrote, which are mainly about Socrates (but not all)were the following:

• the people of Athens thought the sun moving across the sky was Achilles pulling a fiery chariot across the sky.
• Socrates compared Athens to a big, sluggish, stupid horse and he compared himself to a horsefly buzzing around.
• Socrates said that what he did was the right thing and he should be rewarded.  He suggested that his penalty be free food for life.
• Socrates is considered one of the Greece's greatest heroes.

     Finally, we talked about an amazing quote from Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living."  I find this a really inspirational quote.  I think Socrates was saying that we are unable to grow and understand your life unless you reflect upon it.

Extra Notes

     Today we added more notes to the notes we had already taken about the ancient Greeks and excellence.
     The first note I added was about Agora.  I added that an agora is a voting area in town to meet and discuss ideas or decisions about the town.  I also added that ancient Greece had the world's first democracy.
     The next note I added was about Arete.  I added that, along with it meaning excellence of any kind, it is the act of living up to someone's potential.
     I then added notes about Polis.  The only thing I put for that was ideal because that's what I was told to put about polis.
    The next note I put was about the year 508 BC.  I put down that the Athenians overthrew the old government with a tyrant.  The tyrant's name was Tarchet (I think that's how you spell it).  It was also the very first time in recorded history that common people had a revolution against their leaders.
     I also put a note about Socrates and his death.  Socrates was the teacher of Plato.  He also made a point of how ugly he was in his life.  He was forced to drink a cup of Hemlock poison because he was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and disrespecting the Gods.  In his trial, he was voted guilty.  In jail, his friends told him that they talked and they're going to turn their back so he can escape and Socrates refused.  He drank the Hemlock poison and died right in front of his friends.
      We weren't able to get notes for everything because we took up around half the class talking about Agora. 

The Ancient Greeks, and Excellence

     Today in class, we talked about the ancient Greeks and we did a little "research" project.  

     I learned that the agora is the central spot in ancient Greece.  
     I also learned that "arete" means excellence.  
     Polis is an ancient Greece city-state.  Did you know that polis, or plural poleis, means city or citizenship?
     In the year 508 B.C, Cleisthenes granted full rights to all free men of Athens.
     Socrates was a classic Greek philosopher who is credited with laying the fundamentals of modern Western philosophy.  He made the Socratic method, which is the clarified concepts of Good and Justice.  Basically, the Socratic method says that if you have a problem, break it down to a series of questions and you find your required answer in those responses.  Socrates died of a forced suicide of Hemlock poisoning.  
     Did you know that when ancient Greeks called you an idiot, they meant that you were a private person or someone who was not interested in politics.

     We also looked at Mr. Schick's blog to read a little bit about Elbert Hubbard and how he died.  If you were wondering, he died on a cruise ship that was attacked by German torpedoes.

     Our class was basically filled with the research about ancient Greece.

A Message to Garcia

     Today, we mainly talked about A Message to Garcia, which was written by Elbert Hubbard in the March 1899 issue of the Philistine  It went "viral" and everyone wanted to read it who heard about it, so they started printing out pamphlets with the story inside.  There were 40 million copies by 1913 and 80 million copies by 1936.
     
      A Message to Garcia is set during the Spanish-American War.  Garcia was in Cuba fighting off the insurgents.  William McKinley, who was president at the time, wanted to get a letter to Garcia, so he asked a messenger named Rowan.  Rowan was given the task to get the letter to Garcia, and he did it with no questions asked, which was different.  Most people ask questions or are too lazy to do the task.  

     ''On your life he will not.  He will look at you out of a fishy eye and ask one or more of the following questions:
Who was he?
Which encyclopedia?
Where is the encyclopedia?
Was I hired for that?
Don't you mean Bismarck?
What's the matter with Charlie doing it?
Is he dead?
Is there any hurry?
Shall I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?
What do you want to know for?
I wasn't hired for that anyway!"

     Basically, Hubbard was ranting about the laziness of some people and he's saying that there needs to be more Rowan's in the world.