9-30-14 Class

Population

Today in class we talked about increasing populations, and decreasing populations. We looked at Japan, Canada, Russia, and of course, Murica'. We learned about why America had such an odd looking age group pyramid. On America's pyramid, there was a sudden bulge right at about the 50 y/o age group. This was due to the baby boom right after WWII. Mr.Schick told us he was part of that age group which blew my mind. I would have thought Mr.Schick had just turned 40, not 50-something. We then talked about Japan and how it actually has a negative population growth due to better educated adults.

1. According to the Population Reference Bureau's "2013 World Population Data Sheet", 271 are born every minute, and 106 die every minute. That's a global net population increase of 165 per minute. This lesson was published on May 5th. What's the estimated global population increase exactly one week later (May 12th)?  A: over 10 million       B: 20,739      C: 1155    D: 1,663,200    
2. As a country slows in population growth, its pyramid shape will  A: become wider at the base and narrower at the top         B: be inverted          C: become more rectangular            D: bulge in the middle
3. What does a Population Pyramid NOT give you information about?    A: birth rates         B: actual number of people        C: life expectancy         D: death rates
4. Which continent would have the most fast-growth pyramids?   A: Africa         B:  Asia          C: North America         D: South America

9-25-14 Class

Review

Today in class we talked about the grades and alot more about globalization. Mr.Schick started out class laying down some bars and then we got right in to the review. Turns out I have the lowest grade in our class sadly. We talked about how globalization is interconnectedness like Mcdonalds going over to Japan and what-not and I brought up how the exchange students are examples of globalization. Mr.Schick then told us an awesome story about a Russian exchange student who jumped up on a tank and grabbed the barrel, while wearing a John Carroll sweatshirt.

9-19-14 Class

CIA Factbook

Friday in class we looked at the CIA Factbook and took some notes. We took notes about population rising and the difference between emigrating and immigrating. Emigration is when someone is leaving a country and immigrating is going to a country. We looked around the factbook and Mr.Schick told us how carried away he can get just by reading some of the facts. Mr.Schick had in his powerpoint that we are number 50 in the world for life expectancy. We have actually improved since 2013 and are now number 42. A fact I found on the CIA Factbook was that the country with the smallest population is the Pitcairn Islands with a population of 42 people. I looked around their island on google maps and couldn't help but show the class what their police station looked like. Their police station was literally a trailer.

9-18-14 Class

Population

Today in class we talked about how quickly the population is increasing. Every twelve years as of 1999, a billion new people are born. This means by 2023, the population will be 8 billion! China realized how quickly their population was rising and implemented the ZPG plan. ZPG stands for Zero Population Growth. This plan limits an urban family to 1 child. Families living in rural areas are allowed to have more than one in order to do work on farms and help out around the house. This has leveled out the population a ton. If other countries did this, I believe we would not have to worry about overpopulation.

9-16-14 Class

Study Time

Today in class we had a sub because Mr.Schick had prior obligations. The sub was very chill and signed a paper I need if I want to keep playing football. I registered a quizlet account, and to my surprise, it wasn't as boring as I expected. I discovered this "game" where you had to math words to their definitions in a certain amount of time. Paj found my high score in a game and beat me in it. I then plugged in my mouse and destroyed him with a time of 15.4. I listened to music for the whole class through my earphones which really helped me concentrate and eliminate distractions. All in all, today was a very productive day and I am confident I will do good on this test.

9-12-14 Class

Globalization

Today, we talked about globalization. Globalization is the interconnectedness of different countries. For example, Japan had a very healthy population and long life expectancy. When mcdonalds came to Japan, the life expectancy decreased. This is due to the bad things found in those foods such as grease and lots of sodium. Mcdonalds expanded to Japan to increase the amount of money they gained. Japan used to eat a healthy diet containing tea and rice and now they consider mcdonalds a normal thing in their life.

9-11-14 Class

Conspiracies

Today in class we talked about last nights homework which was write in our blog some facts that shocked us, and then got in to a discussion about conspiracies. We began talking about how technology is advancing so fast and got in to a discussion about how advanced technology will be 10 years from now. Some people thought we could possible have chips implanted in us that could act as an Iphone that you see through your retinas. Somehow, this discussion led to us talking about conspiracies. We talked about how the government is corrupt and how some of us thought cancer was a conspiracy considering it is a 95.5 billion dollar a year industry. Why would the government want to even find a cure for cancer if it brings in that much money? We then talked about how they possibly could be using it to kill off the population and keep the population below 8 billion.

9-10-14 Class

The Video

Today in class we watched a video with different facts about how our lives are. Mr.Schick wants us to choose 3 facts and write about them.

Fact 1: If you are one in a million in China, there are 1,300 people just like you.

Initial Reaction: Initially I was a little bit upset because I've always considered myself a completely unique person. The thought that there could possibly be someone like me makes me mad.

My personal life: I don't really know how this has to do with my personal life, it just makes me feel not so unique.

Fact 2: The top 10 in demand jobs in 2010, did not exist in 2004.

Initial Reaction: Honestly, I wasn't so surprised when I heard this fact. Technology advances so quickly, jobs come and go. 

My personal life: Again, this doesn't really effect me because I do not wish to do anything that involves using extensive amounts of technology.

Fact 3: We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't exist yet using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve problems that we don't even know are problems yet.

Initial Reaction: I was not baffled by this, but in the same breath, I was intrigued by this fact.

My personal life: This makes me wonder if I should even pay attention in school because who knows if what I'm studying for will even become a problem at all.

Technology in my life: While technology does make everything easier and allows me to pass time, it does not really control my life. I can go for months without checking any social media things because I feel like most of the time it just contains drama. I am an outdoorsman, I like to hunt, fish, ride dirtbikes and fourwheelers, and have bonfires - none of which require technology. I believe technology will one day cease to exist and I will be one of the few who can survive without google.

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece Notes

Over this past week we focused on Greece. We spoke of how it was the first true democracy and how advanced it was. Greece allowed the citizens to vote on matters and ultimately decide what happens. During this time, people felt safer speaking their minds and so came Socrates. Socrates was a philosopher who was respected by many. He spoke about many different matters and invented some very wise quotes such as "The unexamined life is not worth living!". He said this because he truly believed it as do many. If you don't take risks and explore and go outside of your comfort zone your life will be boring. I couldn't tell you about those times I studied all night, but I sure can tell you about that time I partied until the sun came up. Socrates died for his teachings and showed how if you really believe in something you will put your life on the line for it.

9-4-14 Class

Better Definitions

Today in class we reviewed the definitions we had to do last night and found better ones for each. For the first twenty minutes we talked about how we imagined this guy who spoke at the Agora looked like. We found out that a better definition for Agora was a place to vote and discuss issues. We began talking about how women before were treated badly and how in Greece and Sparta they were given more rights. I asked why they did not just become lesbians which caused some giggles but it was a serious question. He explained that they didn't know any better because it was just common to not have a lot of rights back then as a woman. We then checked for better definitions and wrote them down in our marble books.

9-3-14 Class

Greece in all of its Glory

Today in class we talked about Greece and were given terms to define.

• The Agora - the chief marketplace of Athens, center of the city's civic life. 
• Arete - excellence of any kind. 
• Polis - Translated as "City-State".

 In 508 BC Athenian democracy was established in Athens under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Hippias.

• Socrates - a Greek philosopher who contributed to the field of ethics.
• Death of Socrates - Socrates was put on trial for criticizing democracy and was sentenced to death and was forced to drink a mixture containing poison hemlock.
• The Socratic Method - Perhaps one of Socrates greatest contributions to Western thought, this method applied to the examination of moral concepts such as the Good and Justice.
• Idiots meaning in ancient Greece - Someone concerned with private affairs rather than public affairs. Self-centered.

Citing : http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://www.wikipedia.org/

9-2-14 Class

A Message to Garcia

Today in class we took some notes by hand about "A Message to Garcia". We talked about what was so good about this message and how even way way way back in 1899, something went viral. By 1936 80 million copies of this letter Mr.Elbert Hubbard wrote in 1899 were in circulation and were used a motivation to many. This letter was so motivational that companies used it as pep-talk material and really made people re-think asking an idiotic question such as "But why?". We then watched Mr.Schick do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which I thought was quite funny.Mr.Schick then checked to make sure we had our blogs and told us why we should not have a black background on our blog.