12/12/12

Today in class everyone presented their projects and presentations along with their group. I learned a lot about different specific projects, such as Levis, different shoes, Mercedes and many more. The overall picture, and big idea I took in was that anything manufactured in China, and sold to the US will be cheaper than if it was made in the US and sold here. I used to think that wasn't the case for somethings, but just about everyone's powerpoint they said something about hoe much more it would be to make it here in the US. Even though some were only a two dollar difference, people would still much rather buy things for as cheap as they come and for the best quality. The reason that manufacturing things in China is cheaper is because the workers dont expect to get paid as much. Since they have been paid so low in all other jobs throughout their entire generations, and so on.

12/11

Today in class we worked more on our projects. My group specifically created a poster today, we are also getting further on out power points. Tomorrow we are going to present them to the class and explain more in detail why it is better to buy foreign cars. My group chose three cars to specifically focus on and that is Volkswagen  BMW, and Mercedes. I am very excited to present what we did tomorrow.

10/12

Today in class we got into a group with our three other partners we are doing the project with. In that group, we put together either a project. We could've been doing one of three things, a powerpoint, poster, or research. I specifically did research. I researched how much money a particular car, such as BMW, Mercedes and Honda.

12/3

Today in class we watched part 3 of the entire video. This was about how the automobils are in China. They are very dangerous compared to America, and other countries. They also have the most fatal, and automobil accidents out of all the countries in the world. When someone is to get into an accident they just exchange information, and money right then and there, instead of going through a court date, and all the other extents we Americans go through. In the movie they compare the police officer to the judge and jury. He debates who is at fault, and how much money is being paid to one another. They do give information to each others insurance companies, but it isn't nearly as much as it is here. The Chinese people are very reckless drivers, and in past time bikes were their form of transportation.

11/28

Today in class we finished the movie about the China work life. I learned a little more that the reason we send out jobs, and large businesses to China is because they are able to work for less, and that gives more money to the American manager, or owner. It also is cheeper for a retail store, such as Wal Mart or Target. The reason is because they buy it for a cheeper price then they would if the product, or item were sold in America. Even though it is expensive for shipping, since the Chinese aren't getting paid more the $4 a day, it makes it cheeper for us to buy it.

11/26

Today in class we watched a video about the economics and different things about China, and it's working people. The video was honestly insane, and it showed me how much China and America need each other to get along in todays world. We do so much trade, and we have companies set up in each other's country. The people of China do not get paid much, if your lucky with a good construction job you get paid $3-$4 a day, but average for a female, or factory worker is $1-$2 dollars a day. The reason they are getting paid so low is because there is so many people in China, that it is overpopulated and since the population is more than its supposed to be there is to many people and not enough jobs. If you don't have a job, you will be willing to work for the lowest amount possible, therefore to save the owners money they prefer to pay the workers as little as possible.

11-13

United States

Declared independence on July 4, 1776

From the 1500s through the 1700s, they were settled and colonized by the Spanish, British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and other European nations.  The original thirteen colonies were held by Great Britain until the Revolutionary War, after which they became the first thirteen states.  There are now 50 states in the United States.  The United States is considered the last true superpower, with the world's largest military and the world's largest economy.

Israel

Israel became an independent state on May 14, 1948

Following World War Two, the newly-formed United Nations drafted a treaty dividing up some of Palestine's land.  They established an independent Arab state and an independent Jewish state.  Many Jews emigrated to the new nation of Israel post WWII.  Creation of this new Jewish state was not universally accepted by Arabs, even though Israel was officially admitted to the UN on May 11, 1949.  There is still controversy surrounding Israel's very existence in the Middle East.

China

China's official date of independence is October 1, 1949.

China is one of the world's oldest civilizations.  As long ago as 221 BC, China was unified as a nation during the Qin dynasty.  They formed a republic on January 1, 1912.  The current Communist government, officially called the People's Republic of China, was formed in 1949.  

Afghanistan

Declared independence in August 19th 1919

This country served as a buffer between Roman Empire and the British until they won independence in 1919. They were the subjects under the British and Roman Empire. This country can be found in the middle east.  

Israel

This country achieved independence in May 14, 1948. Before their independence was achieved they had a lot of conflicts dealing with races and other problems. There was a lot of war and issues that dealt with physical and verbal fighting. Israel was not specifically the subject of another country, however the middle east subjected other countries. This country can be found right above the Tropic of Cancer like, it is in Asia, and is a very small country and it is a border to the Atlantic Ocean.

India

India achieved their independence on August 15, 1947. India was ruled by the United Kingdom at one point. They became independent because of a non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. Now, India has the second largest population and home of many religions, the mains being Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

                                              Brazil

Brazil gained independence September 7th, 1822. Since their independence has been achieved, the slave count has decreased by a lot. Also, they also won three international wars. A lot of people migrated to Brazil because they struck gold. 

11/12

Today in class we got out quiz's back on the leaders of the countries. My score on it wasn't to good, it happened to be a D but a high D, even though I don't fully understand everything that's going on with the leaders, im doing my best to get better at it and understand more. We just went over the quiz and made corrections in class today.

11/12

In class on Friday we took a quiz. The quiz was on the leaders, also about where they were from and facts about them. We were able to use our blogs, so im hoping I did good. Even though I haven't been posting in my blog I still knew where the leader of the country ruled.

11-7

Today in class we went over more of the leaders and what are some interesting facts about them. I chose Angela Merkel who was the leader of Germany, and I thought it was interesting that she was a chemist. I think that is very cool to have a president/leader who majors in more than one thing, and such. We also got our quizes back on the countries leaders yesterday, I got three wrong, and each were worth 2 points so i got a 22/26 which isn't bad compared to previous quizes. I do wish that I were to get a better score, but I will try harder on upcoming tests.

2 Facts for each leader- 11-5

Enrique Peña Nieto- 46 years old, former governor of the state of Mexico.

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud- He was one of many sons, was the sixth king of Saudi Arabia.

Angela Merkel- First women to become the Chancellor of Germany, she's a physical chemist.

Bejamin Netanyahu- He is the first prime minister born in Israel, he was shot in the shoulder when taking part in a mission.

Hu Jintao- Was the first leader of the communist party, very low key and reserved in his leadership style.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad- He has been criticized for his economical decisions, was an engineer and a teacher.

Hamad Karzai- He won two terms, one 5 years, and one 2. He became a political leader.

François Hollande- Is the second socialist president, first president to be elected without having prior experience.

Pranab Mukherjee- He is the 13th president of India, became India's most trusted leaders.

Hugo Chavez- Was born into a working class family, became a career military officer.

David Cameron- Studied philosophy, politics and economics, wont conservative leader in 2005

Queen Elizabeth II- Was educated privately at home, during her reign she has seen many constitutional changes

Dilma Rousseff- Raised in an upper middle class household, was a socialist during her youth

Christianity

---------------------

When and where was this religion founded? 

-This religion was founded in first century in Palestine by the disciples.

Is it monotheistic or polytheistic? 

-Christianity is monotheistic, and they believe God is the only god.

If they have a book, what is it?

-The Christianity book is called “The Bible.”

How many followers does this religion claim?

-Christianity has over 2 billion followers.

Who is the central figure of this religion?

-The central figure of Christianity is “Jesus Christ,” who is known as the son of God.

Islam

----------

When and where was this religion founded?

-Islam was founded in Mecca by Muhammed.

Is this a monotheistic or polytheistic?

-Islam is monotheistic..

If they have a book, what is it?

-Their holy book is called a Qur'an!

How many followers does this religion claim?

-The religion Islam has about 2 billion followers.

Who is the central figure of this religion?

-The central figure is Allah, which is God.

Buddhism

---------------

When and where was this religion founded?

-It was founded in the fourth or fifth century B.C in northern India.

Is this monotheistic or polytheistic?

-Buddhism is polytheistic and worships many gods.

If they have a holy book what is it?

-There holy book is called the Tipitaka.

How many followers does this religion claim?

-They have around 350 million followers.

Who is the central figure of this religion?

-Buddah is the central figure.

Hinduism

----------------

When and where was this religion founded?

-It was founded 1500-500 BCE in India.

Is this monotheistic or polytheistic?

-Hinduism are monotheistic, and they have it at the deepest form.

If they have a holy book what is it?

-They call there hoy book the Vedas, and it is written in Sanskrit.

How many followers does this religion claim?

-They have  950 million followers.

Who is the central figure of this religion?

-The central figure is a bull.

Judaism

----------------

When and where was this religion founded?

-It was founded in 2000 BC by Abraham.

Is this monotheistic or polytheistic?

-Judaism is monotheistic.

If they have a holy book what is it?

-The holy book is called the Torah.

How many followers does this religion claim?

-Judaism has 14 to 15 million followers.

Who is the central figure of this religion?

-The central figure of Judaism is Abraham.

10/23

Today in class we, as a class talked about the upcoming test on Friday. We all contributed into making questions for the test. Supposedly the test is entirely multiple choice. I think i will do somewhat good because lately i have been understanding what we have been doing lately in class.

10-5

In class on Friday we took a test on the movie about the three boys who were in the tribe/organization "The Lost Boys." Since I was so familiar with the movie, I am very confident that I did a somewhat of a good job on this test. There were two problems that I realized I had gotten wrong once I turned it in, and that was which sides each of the wars took place, and what their names or their groups were called, such as Sudan's and Muslims. I think and hope I did much better than my previous test, which I had gotten a 70% on.

10/2

Today in class each of us picked a group and/or partner, and we discussed organizations in which helped, or dealt with Sudan. Me and the rest of the members in my group chose the topic "creating wells in Sudan for water" I personally think that is a very good topic to take into consideration. I think this because if you have wells in a certain area that provides a lot of water, if different charities provide the cost of the well, you'll save a lot of lives because loss of water, and dehydration is a major death. Other than starvation, and other causes as well.

10/1

Today we finished watching the movie, in this past segment a lot of major events occurred, such as John getting to see his mother again in USA. I learned that the "Dinka" tribe was a tribe that was for the tall people in Sudan. John Buldaw was in this tribe. As the movie went on, John and his mother reconnected, not introduced to american customs, showing a sign of excitement she ran around screaming as they do in Africa. Panther decided that the American life wasn't from him, therefore he moved back to Sudan, got married, and is in the process of building a new school. That is very shocking to me considering the fact he hasn't been in American for a long time. John also wants to build something, and that is a medical clinic and he is attending Syracuse, getting his Bachelors degree. Since they come from another poor country and came this far, it shows we can do anything and we are very fortunate.


This is the organization i found to help Sudan :http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/sudan?source=79700&gclid=COnNp9GO4bICFUid4AodB0gAIA

It deals with the hungry, and starved in Sudan.

9-25

Today in class we got out test back, I didn't do as good as I has hoped, I got a 70. I made a goal, and that is to study for all of my tests in Human Geo, because I would really like to get a good grade on all of my tests. We also finished the video that we didn't fully get to watch. Even though it was 20 minutes of the video, nothing much has changed. They are still living in Sudan, discussing their travels, and getting ready to leave. I wonder what they are doing now, and if they found a job. I think that would be a very cool thing to find out!

9/24

Today in class we took a test that covered what we learned in unit one. I am very confident that I did good on it. We also watched a video on Nation Geographic. It was about three boys who were in a group called ''The Lost Boys of Sudan," and their actions, feelings, and struggles. It started with a war between the North and South in 1993, the muslims took over the Sudan territory because they didn't have the same beliefs. Everyone fled because there were so many people being killed. It started off with 27,000 people and ended with 12,000, which means 15,000 boys were killed. The United Nations set up a program to give the boys an education, food, water, clothing and other necessary supplies. Also, several hundred were chosen to go to the United States, they got to choose where they stayed. They also thought the states were countries, and they never knew what a shower looked like, or even what one was! This is so crazy to me, and shows how fortunate America truly is.

Class Friday-Blog

In class on Friday, we discussed and viewed more presentations. We still have not finished, and we also have a test on Monday, and I do not know what to expect.

Today in class-9/19/12

Today in class we worked on out presentations a little more to finish up. There was only one full presentation, and a start of one. They were very confusing to me.

9/18/12-Daily Blog

Today in class we split up into four groups, my group discussed the questions about the USA. Daniel is doing the presentation, and the three others, including me are doing the research. Each of us split up the questions so we all equally got a chance to answer one. I learned that the USA is a developing nation, but not as bad as other nations.

Todays Post-9/17/12

Today we viewed a power point about the issues of the population. I learned two new words, and they were "developing nations" and "developed nations. Developing nations are nations that are still facing problems, and struggles they are going through. Developed nations are nations such as the United States who aren't in as bad situations as places like Chad, another developed nation is Monaco. Monaco also has the highest Life Expectancy Rate, considering once people grow old, and retire they decide to move there because it is relaxing, and a lot of gambling. Placed in Africa experience, a Crude Death Rate.

2 thoughts about the video

1:"The 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's is greater than the total population of the United States" that affected me in multiple ways. It made me a little upset knowing that America isn't as intelligent as these other countries. It also how small USA is, compared to India. Which means our population isn't as much as it used to be.

2:"If Facebook were a country it would be the third largest" that amazed me. Knowing how many people use this internet website in outstanding. They have more users, than America has people. It is also a little scary to that fact that everyone is using so much Facebook, that isn't always good.

9/11 post

As soon as we entered class Mr.Schick shared his experience of the very sad event 9/11. He told us where he was, and what was running through his mind when this happened. We discussed why this 9/11 occurred. If the United States or other countries solved situations with written contracts we wouldn't have as many physical, and social fighting. I learned a lot about 9/11. It was a difficult tragedy and I pray for the people who had to go through that.

Questions

-What is the population of the United States? 

-313,847,465

-What are the five largest countries in the world, by population? 

-1.China

-2.India

-3.United States

-4.Indonesia

-5.Brazil

-What is the population of Pakistan?

-190,291,129

-What kind of government does the United States have?

-The United States has a strong democracy.

-What is the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe?

-Rate: 95%

-What is the largest country in the world by area?

-Russia with 17,098,242 SQ KM

-What country has the third greatest number of airports?

-Mexico with 1,724

-What country has the greatest number of exports?

-China

-What country exports more oil than any other?

-Saudi Rabia

-What country imports more oil than any other?

-USA

-What country consumes more oil than any other?

-USA

-Can women serve in combat roles in China’s military?

-It doesnt state weather they can or cannot, you must be the ages of 16-49 as a female to run in any military force.

-What is GDP?

-GDP=gross domestic product which is the total amount of money spent per year.

-What country has the highest GDP per capita in the world, and how 

much is it?

-United States

-Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita?

-Yes

-Most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in what 

continent?

-Africa

-11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from 

HIV/AIDS can be found in which continent?

-What other country is in the top ten?

-Peru

-Where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths?

-18

-Is the US #1 in number of cellular phones?

-No, it is not

-What percentage of the US is Roman Catholic?

-23.9%

-What percentage of Mexico is Roman Catholic?

-76.6%

-What is Net Migration Rate?

-The number of people who come into the US.

-Does the US have the highest Net Migration Rate in the world?

-15,650,000,000,000

-What is the current population of the entire planet?

-7,021,836,029

I will e-mail you about the questions!

-"what kind of government does the united states have"

-I think that is one of two most important questions because we are able to understand that we have a free country, involving the government. We hold elections to debate who wins. That shows other countries what the United States is.

-"what country has the greatest number of exports"

-I also think this question is important because we are able to tell where we get our goods, and see how many other countries get from there. You can ask other questions about being the country with the greatest number of exports. Such as, why it is, and how many things do they export.

9-5-12

Today we talked about taking notes. We read a lecture about Illonois and how flat the land is. We were required to take four notes, based on a one minute speech. We did that to help us through the high school years, to be more skilled in the note taking area.

Essay 3

In my four years overall I hope to maintain good grades, and participate in a lot. Even though it will be hard to adapt to a new school, and go from middle to high. I hope to take the change in a good way. Going to a private school, after going to a public school for five years is an amazing opportunity for the fact the academics are overall more challenging, I hope to stay out of trouble since the chance to go to John Carroll doesn’t come to many people.

For freshman year, I hope to turn in everything on time, and get involved in one or two outside school activities to keep me doing something. In sophomore year I hope to maintain and 80 or higher. I want to get a 90 on every test, therefore I will have a chance to be in AP classes.

Junior year I heard is the hardest years because they are making sure you are ready to be a senior. I want to dedicate all my time studying and doing as well as I can on whatever assignment I am given. Senior year I want to pay attention, but mainly focus on where I’m going to go before the year ends. Overall, I hope to have a successful year in my four years at John Carroll.

Essay 1 - Letter To Garcia

Arète to me is to live up to an expectation. As well as being great. One of many who gave an example of “Arète” was the Greeks.

They created a government called a democracy. We still use that today, if that wasn’t created, we would not vote, nor have an opinion in the government. Not only is a democracy used in just America, it is used all over the world. A democracy allows people to have an opinion who should host as the president, or any other role is the government.

The Greeks changed history and made a democracy a main part today. Socrates life was on the line when he stated his opinion about government, he chose to defend for what he said about having a say in government. Even if it resulted in his death, he created us a say in what goes on.

Essay 2 - Letter to Garcia

     If Elbert Hubbard and Socrates were able to time travel to present time they would be very amazed, and a little angry. They will be amazed on how fast information and how communication is all over the world. They would also want to try out technology.

The American life has changed thousands of ways since A Letter to Garcia was written. For example, we have electronics and new inventions now. Back then, half of the things we have today weren’t even thought about. Therefore their reactions may slightly be confused.

Their anger would be because it was so difficult for Socrates to get a letter to Garcia. If that task was assigned now there wouldn’t be any doubt if it could be done or not. Therefore a lot of emotions and reactions would have occurred over something that has changed over hundreds of years.

Human Geo

Today in class we were told that we had four new people joining. To have everyone set up in the class with the internet connection, blogger and also the patriot email we put all of our class period time into helping them.

Today in class we read an essay called “A message to Garcia.” The essay was written in 1899, but took place in 1898. The essay was very hard to understand because the words used weren’t words that we could choose today. The essay was about a two males named Garcia, and Rohan. Garcia was on an island in Cuba which was isolated and had no connection, by telegraph or any. The hardworking Rohan was put on a task to get a letter to Garcia. While every other worker has tried this task, and had failed. Rohan had achieved it with no complaints, or questions. The essay was supposed to portray a theme, or message. I got out of it that the theme was, the less you complain the more respect you with get from others. Everyone who had complained failed the task, with no complaints or unnecessary comments Rohan achieved his task leaving him with accomplishment, and glory from others. 

My first day of school

Today, my first day of school at John Carroll was not at all what i expected. I had thought it was going to be challenging to find my classes, or to find a place to sit at lunch. A lot of the people i sat with at lunch were in one or more of my classes! All of the teachers, and upper class-men students were very welcoming and very glad to have me there. When the sophomore, and some juniors that were there to share there experience it made me more comfortable to be there. When i hear things from a student, it relates to me more than hearing from an adult. Some tasks were difficult, such as opening my locker, and simple things like that. But overall my experience was very enjoyable. I look forward to spending the rest of my high school years there at The John Carroll School.