Even more maps

Today we talked about our quiz that we are going to have tomorrow. It's going to be on South America and central America. Tonight I need to study where the countries are and make sure I know where I need tot label the countries. Today we also took notes on a powerpoint about maps. Such as, longitude, latitude, and the equator. We learned that maps serve two purposes. They are used for a reference tool to identify and objects absolute location and relative location. They're also used as a communications tool to convey the distribution of human activities or physical features. We also talked about how there are electoral maps which means, a map can be colored red or blue based upon what each individual state has voted. Republican or Democrat. We learned that some states change colors based on a change of ideas since maybe the running candidate would campaign at that state. Hopefully when we take this quiz tomorrow I will do good so I can boost my grade up to a high B.

Situation

Today in class we talked about situation, which is the location of a place relative to other places. We talked about how it helps us with unfimiliar locations by comparing its location with a similar one and it helps us understand the importance of location. We also talked about robots and how they could be controlling our world when we are older and in my opinion, its not a good idea because many people would lose their jobs and lose money since they have no income. Robots would be able to take over jobs such as taxi drivers and be able to put other corporations out of business. Lastly, we talked about how if you were to tell someone you liven america, you could say that you live in Maryland, near Baltimore city. Then people would be able to predict where you are close to and where you might live.

Site and situation

Today in class we talked about how geographers describe where things are located. We talked about the site, which is the physical character of a place. The characteristics are climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude, and elevation. We also talked about how New York City's, Manhattan is twice as large today as it was in 1626. Now Manhattan is heavily populated and taken over by stores and such. My home is a unique site because, my house is my own. Nobody else's is like it. My house has a garden, a pool, and a front porch swing. Also, what make it unique is the trees that surround it. Ou house is shaded and very bright on the inside. We also have a water source in the back of our has. There is a river that runs through our neighborhood.

Quizzes

The Mercator vs. Peters Projection Map

In class we talked about the differences in the Mercator map and the Peters map.
Mercator

• Greenland appears the same size as Africa
• Africa is the same size as South America
• Madagascar and the United Kingdom are the same size
• Russia appears to be 4 times the size of the U.S.
• Antartica appears to be extremely large

Peters projection

• Distorted sizes 
• published in 1983
• stretched
• stretches some places near the poles horizontally

Both maps are different because they both have a different perspective on how the shapes and sizes of the countries are. With the Mercator, many of the countries aren't accurate and it seems that most of the countries have enlarged view on some countries and with the Peters projection its not as distorted.     The map was made later than the mercator map.

Today in class

Today we talked more about the maps of the earth. We also got our tests back. I didn't get a terrible grade, but not the best grade. After talking about the test, I understand why some of my answers were wrong and why I got the points taken off. Next test I will study more so I can be more enthused about the grade I got. We also got into a thorough debate about the maps once again. We didn't talk about anything different except for agreeing and disagreeing with the method of the map. Also, Mr. Schick told us there was a toad in his classroom this morning when he got into work today. Lastly, we had a shadow in our classes today. Hopefully they come to John Carroll next year.

Maps

Today in class we learned about the map of America and we learned about the different maps. We learned that there are many maps that have a bunch of different sizes and shapes but most are in the same range of where the countries are. Today we second guessed if the maps we have today are the right way to read a map. We saw that some people think the map should be turned upside down and that is how it should be read since Australia doesn't normally get recognition since its in the bottom of the maps and America is the first country you see. A globe is the most valid way of a map because the earth is round and a globe has all the features that earth has.

The test

Today we took a test and now I'm feeling regret. I studied but not hard enough. I knew most of the answers but I just couldn't think of the words or the right answers. Some questions I wasn't sure about and I now realize what I got wrong. I completely misunderstood someone for another person. The unit was confusing because it had a lot of new things you had to think of such as the greeks and arete.  The test didn't seem too hard but next time I will study longer than an hour and I will make sure my notes a clean and neat so I can visualize what the answers are. I liked the layout of the test. I thought it was simple and stress free to do. The test was simple in a way but hard because of how much information we have covered over the last week.

Preparing for a test

Today, we learned more about ancient greeks and took more notes to prepare for our test tomorrow. In our notes we talked about Socrates and how he was a Stonesman and he met with students in a workshop. His method was to ask questions, which led to the scientific method. Then we learned about how he was accused of two crimes named corruption of Athens' youth and impiety. Men voted whether he should be alive or not and was eventually sentenced to death. The votes were about 279-221. He had a chance to escape but turned down the offer because he was loyal tot he community. They made him drink poison called  hemlock which locks up all of your organs and leads to a slow death. Lastly, we learned about an "idiot" which is someone who forbids to take part in any public life such as democratic government of the city state. It was considered dishonorable to the community if you didn't participate in the activities.

Research

Agora- A public open space used for assemblies or markets. center of athletic, artistic, spiritual, and political life in the city/state.
Polis- A city state in Ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes. political entities ruled by their bodies of citizens.
508 BC- Democracy is introduced in Athens by Cleisthenes. He establishes a constitution and is often called the "Father of Athenian Democracy. First time in history people have revolted against their rulers
United States
france
china
russia
iran
Egypt
Socrates- A classic greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of western civilization
The death of Socrates- Condemned to death in 399 BC after being found guilty of impiety and of corrupting the youth of Athens
The Socratic Method- A form of cooperative, argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking
Ancient greeks "idiot"- Those who do not contribute to politics or the community

Blog 4

Today we learned about arete. Arete is the greeks way of excellence. We learned that its the act of living up to ones full potential and it involves the abilities available to humans. The highest human knowledge is knowledge about knowledge itself. We talked about how humans are very intelligent and are one of the most complex living beings in the world. Compared to dogs, we can do many things that are incredible but also scary just like a phone being able to track where you are. We also finished our notes from a message to Garcia. We talked about what some of the definitions were since they use high level grammar that is hard to understand. Some words even sound as if they are made up or very unknown.

Day 3

Today we talked about A Message to Garcia. In the essay, it was about how only one person could get a message to Garcia. It taught about how you shouldn't hesitate doing a simple task. You should always perform he task the day its given no matter what. Rowan was the only person that could carry the message. He was the most trustworthy and everyone said that they needed someone like Rowan to work for them because of how hardworking and intelligent he is. At the end of the essay, he was announced as "the man who can carry a message to Garcia." What that really means is that he can be the one that you trust and the one that will show you what's its like to be a hard worker each and every minute of their life.

A message to Garcia.

Based on the essay and the discussion of high school today I believe that some similarities are that communication is difficult. Many times you are faced with new people and it may be hard at first to communicate and talk. Another similarity is that you should do your work when you asked. You need to complete your task and have no question whether you should do it or not. Also, putting in effort just like Garcia did is a major similarity. You should always put in effort whether you need to or not.

John Carroll

1. Today has been very challenging as its a whole new community of people and environment. The best thing about today was my off mod. It was cool to have freedom like that and it felt nice to be able to have time to be by yourself or with a group of friends during the day. The worst part of my day was lunch. Right now I'm still trying to find a good group of friends to hang out with and it can be hard at lunch when you don't have a certain group of friends to hang out with.
2. I like my seat because it is close to the front of the room but not too close. I can see the board easily and my seat is comfortable. The only reason I don't like my seat is that it creaks whenever you make one small move. In general I have a good seat and a good class for the semester.