5.28.15

Today in west civ we took the writing part of our exam. I practiced them last night so I think I did ok. There was still one that I had trouble on but the other ones were harder. This was our last class ever, but Mr. Schick is being the teacher person for our exam. I will miss this class
bye :)

5.26.15

Today in west civ we had our big Rome test. I thought it was pretty hard, but I think I did alright. I mostly studied the powerpoint, but also some other things. I hope I did ok. Mr. Schick is grading them now..... I'm waiting.... He said our class average was 84 which is good.
 I got a 75%. :(

5.22.15

I was not in class today.

5.21.15

Today I was a little late to class but I got there on time to present our game. It went pretty well and I think Mr. Schick and the others enjoyed it. We called on some volunteers to display our game. They made us look kind of bad though because they were super confused and annoying about the game, but I think Mr. Schick knew that it was a good game. I'm glad that it's over with and really happy because our test is moved to tuesday. Thanks Mr. Schick! It'll be really helpful to have more time.

5.20.15

Today in west civ we continued watching the project presentations. Jayla showed us her pot which was really good and looked genuine. Then we listened to some diary entries about daily roman life for the patricians and the plebeians. Alex and Arthur showed us their colosseum they made out of legos. It was really good but the highlight of their presentation was the cat in the corner of one of the pictures. That was probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

5.19.15

Today in west civ people started presenting their projects. In the first one, they brought in Roman food for us to eat. It was pretty good, but there were some interesting flavors. The next project was a group that wrote a song to the tune of "Fancy." It was really good and funny and I think it was the best of the day. After that, we watched a powerpoint presentation about the Colosseum. Karson, Kendall, and I go last on Thursday because we got lucky. Im excited to present.

5.13.15

Today in west civ we had a pop quiz. It was 10 questions and it was kind of hard. I knew most of them but there were a few that I had no idea so I guessed and ended up getting a 90. I'm happy about that but our class got an average of 72 which is really bad because we are the smart class usually. After that, Mr. Schick let us work on our projects for the last time which was really helpful. We are almost done but we have a few more little things to finish up.

5.12.15

Today in west civ we watched the rest of the movie. I missed the first part of it, but I think I understand what was going on - kind of. I'm a little confused about the specific characters and whose side they were on. The "grab some land" part was really funny and Mr. Schick played it about a thousand times. It was an interesting movie and it really helped me understand what we are learning about. Our project is due next week and our group is close to finishing; I think we are doing well.

5.8.15

Today in west civ Mr. Schick was not here. He let us continue woking on our projects which was a big help because we haven't gotten too much done yet. I began our paper and got about half of it done. I hope we can have another day like this soon.

5.7.15

I was not in class today because I had a riding lesson.

5.5.15

Today in west civ Mr. Schick went over a lot of slides. We took a ton of notes and compared Roman government to today's US government. I'm not even going to write my notes down because there were so many of them. I hope we can have another day to continue our projects in class so we get get going.

5.1.15

Today in west civ Mr. Schick let us do homework. He's so nice and I'm glad we got to do that because I had a lot to get done.

4.30.15

Today in west civ it was grandparents day. Our class had a ton of grandparents come in for a while. We went over the Rome powerpoint. Here are some of my notes:

Greeks
-they had many colonies around the Meditterean Sea
-Roman borrowed ideas from them such as:
religious beliefs, alphabet, art, military
Latins were the first to settle there
-descendants of Indo-Europeans
-settled on the banks of the Tiber
-trading ships, commercial port
-built on 7 hills
Many streams flowed into the Tiber
Tarquin's grandfather built Cloadca Maxima (large ancient drain)
-seventh and final king of Rome

4.29.15

Today in west civ Mr. Schick allowed us to get into our groups and work out our projects. My group is Karson, Kendall, and me. Our board game is going to be called "are you smarter than a gladiator?"
We worked out how the game is going to be played and the pieces we need to create it. I'm excited to get started and I hope it will turn out well.

4.28.15

Today in west civ we spent the entire class talking about the riots in Baltimore. We watched a few videos on the ridiculousness that was going on between the people. Mr. Schick also showed us a song from the 40s or 60s (I think) and it described what was going on perfectly. It was really funny because he typed in "baltimore mom" in google and a lady beating up her kid came up. I think all this is crazy stuff and I hope the rioters don't come and attack Harford County.

4.23.15

Today in west civ we took notes on a new power point that Mr. Schick made. He was in a really bad mood today and almost dropped a lot of people but we made it out of the class alive. The powerpoint was about the song that Mr. Schick wrote and had certain lines out of it. I think it's going to be really helpful for studying.

4.22.15

I was not in class today because I had a badminton match.

4.21.15

Today in west civ it started out as a normal spring day. We started learning about Rome. I understand that Rome was very influenced off of Greece and a lot of the things they do. After we did some learning, we got a phone call and Jayla answered. She said that Mr. Schick's guest was here. He left the room to get his "guest" and he came back with a Chi Cago hoodie on and sunglasses. It was really funny because he showed us a song that he rewrite in a karaoke version of Low by Flo Rida. He rapped the whole song and it was really good and probably the best class yet.

4.17.15

Today in west civ Mr. Schick allowed us to do anything really. I just did homework and talked. Mr. Schick also showed us a project that "one kid did a few years ago." I've seen the video of the chariot race before and it was crazy to find out that there were no green screens or special affects.

4.16.15

Today in west civ we talked about projects. Since Mr. Schick is nice and a good teacher, he's letting us expand and think of a creative project to do on Rome. We came up with some fun ideas. A few of them are:

make a game
commercial
movie/video
make Roman food
recreate gods/goddesses
have chariot races
jousting

:)

4.15.15

I was not in class today because I left early for a riding lesson.

4.14.15

Today in west civ we reviewed our tests and listened to Mr. Schick talk about some stuff like what else we are going to learn. I was surprised at some of the things people got wrong on the test because they were so easy. Our class still got an average of 80% which is not our best but it's still better than the other classes. I'm excited to learn about Rome and I hope it will be as fun and Greece.

4.1.15

Today in west civ we took the test. Mr. Schick is grading them now. I thought it was the hardest test we have taken in this class. I don't know if I did well on it but I studied pretty hard so I hope I can at least get a B. The dates on the last page were really hard and I had no idea what any of them were. Mr. Schick just entered the room. I got an 86% and I'm really happy about it yaya ya ayayaya

3.31.15

Today in west civ Mr. Schick was obviously not here again, but he will be back tomorrow for our tests and collecting our papers. We got a lot done in class today, and finally finished our paper. I think it's a well written paper and I think we will get a good grade.

3.27.15

Today in west civ, Mr. Schick wasn't here because he is in the Netherlands visiting his daughter. I like that we have the whole class to work on our papers. Kendall, Rory, and I are almost finished ours. It's coming along well so far, but it's hard to find enough information about each topic we're on. Looking at where we are now, I think we can finish strong and get a good grade. I'm really nervous about the Greece test, though. I'm sure it's going to be pretty hard because we covered so much on it the best few weeks.

3.25.15

Today in west civ we finished listening to other people's power points. We were sort of rushed today so we had to go through them quickly. The ones they presented today were Greek mythology and Governments in Ancient Greece. Here are the notes I took:

Greek Mythology

-monotheistic

-the twelve olympians

Zeus (god of sky and thunder)

-king of the gods

Poseidon (god of the sea)

Athena (goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts)

Aphrodite (goddess of love and beauty)

Hera (goddess of marriage and queen)

Demeter (goddess of agriculture)

Apollo (god of sun, the light, music)

Artemis (goddess of the hunt, forest, hills)

Ares (god of war)

Hermes (god of trade, messenger) 

Hephaestus (god of fire and metalworking)

Dionysus (god of fertility and wine)

Hades (god of wealth)

Governments in Ancient Greece

Aristocracy

form of gov

children inherited power

Solon changed this form

Tyranny

-big business and government

-people angered

Aristotle put a school together: Lyceum

(focused on cooperative research)

3.24.15

Today in west civ we continued presenting the power points. Our group got to go today, and I think we did well. Before we presented, Mr. Schick gave us an 88% which is okay but I thought we would do a little better. Maybe after presenting he will give us a few more points. There were a couple slow spots, but we pulled though and finished strong. Compared to other people, I think we did about the same job but maybe better. A lot of people just read their information right off the slide which is really boring. We attempted to explain stuff more.

3.19.15

Today in west civ we learned some more stuff about Greece. Mr. Schick also explained in more depth what was happening when he leaves for wherever he's going. If we have school tomorrow, I think we are supposed to present our power points. Rory, Kendall, and I worked well together and I hope we can get a good grade.

3.18.15

Today in west civ we actually learned some more on ancient Greece. We talked about he transformation of government. Here are my notes:

-6th and 7th centry BC artistocrats ran the show in Greece
had "political" meeting... drinking, dancing, acrobats
Artisocracy=very exclusive club
no women
no middle class/slaves
sometimes ostrasized certain artistocrats
tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polis
modern meaning: abusive/oppressive ruler
Greek meaning: someone who simply seized power (usually with hoplite help)
Hippias=tyrant ruled from 527-510 BC
-his brother was murdered, became harsh (killed everyone)
expelled from Athens

3.17.15

Today was our last day in west civ to work on the powerpoint. Kendall wasn't here, so Rory and I tried to make some progress. We finished 4-5 slides today and we have about 16 all together. Our information is really good so I think we'll get a good grade. Our topic (Pericles and the Golden Age) is kind of a challenge, but I'm enjoying it.

3.13.15

Today in west civ we continued working on the powerpoint with our group. We have about ten slides, but I don't know if we can make it to twenty. I think we have been working together very well. Our slide background is gold and it looks really neat.

3.12.15

Today in west civ I don't really remember what we did. I think we went over the notes maybe and Mr. Schick explained some stuff about the powerpoint and paper we have to do. After that, we got into our groups and worked on the project. I think Kendall, Rory, and I will make a good team. We started it and got about two slides done so I'm glad we got a start.

3.11.15

Today in west civ we reviewed our notes on Greece a little bit then we had a pop quiz. The quiz was pretty easy and I think I only got one wrong. After hissing at Alyssa, Mr. Schick told us that we were going to get into groups and do a powerpoint on something about Greece. My group is Kendall and Rory and we are doing #5 but I don't remember what that was. Mr. Schick also told us that after our. presentation we have to write a paper on it with our group. I think this is going to be challenging but fun.

3.10.15

ionian=sea to the south of Greece

     Greece's Culture

-sailors, shipbuilders, farmers, metalworkers, weavers, potter

-20% arable land

-diet consists of grains, grapes, olives

-temp - 40 to 80 degrees

-lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization

      Mycenaeans (2000 BC) 

-Mycenae is located on a rock ridge and protected by a 20 ft thick wall

-Myc. kings dominated Greece 1600-1200 BC

-controlled trade in the region

-1400 BC they invaded crete, absorbed Minoan culture/language

-1200 BC "sea people" invade Mycenae (burned stuff)

-Dorians moved in (less advanced)

WRITING DISAPPEARED FOR 400 YEARS

   they thought they had everything they needed

      Homer the Storyteller

-lived at the end of the dark ages

-The Iliad - the Trojan War

-The Odyssey - Odysseus attempt to return home, made Poseidon angry (God of the Sea) 

-Is Homer just mythical?

3.6.15

                                  Aristotle 

        Aristotle was a very famous Greek philosopher, writer, and teacher. He was born in 384 BC in the town of Stagira. Aristotle started his own school in Athens, which was called Lyceum. He walked around while he was teaching, and made his students follow him. He believed that interaction with objects was the best way to learn and this turned out to be a big part of his teaching. Aristotle was quite fascinated by marine biology, although it wasn't his best subject. 

One of his main philosophic ideas was his own concept of logic. He used his ideas about learning from material objects to come up with the reasoning that people are able to learn anything in the world. His process involved describing objects based on their characteristics, state of being, and actions. Aristotle has written about two hundred works, thirty one of which are still in circulation. His ideas and works continued strongly through the Renaissance, and are still active today. 

3.5.15

The Stadium is located in Olympia, Greece. It was made mostly out of packed mud, clay, and stone. This was where the ancient Greeks held their olympic games. The stadium and the games in it were all dedicated and done in honor of one of their gods, Zeus. Today, we follow most of the same guidelines for the olympics as the Greeks did. 

Caryatid is the name of a column which stands as a female figure. They support the porch of the Erechtheion on the Athenian acropolis. The Caryatid was built in forth century BC. 

This is the Temple of Apollo at Didyma. It was built in 300 BC. It was made to have two sets of columns surrounding the inside called a dipteral. Only three columns remain in tact today, but at one time there were as many as 122 sixty foot tall columns. 

3.4.15

Today in west civ we talked about the cyber assignment. Mr. Schick thinks we will be off tomorrow and maybe friday. He also explained how stupid cyber days are because each teacher is supposed to give at least 45 minutes of work. I also tried to explain that ghosts are real and even though you haven't seen them doesn't mean that they aren't real. So ghosts are real. I also had a shadow today and we stopped in to say hi and then we left and rory is annoying.

2.3.15

Today in west civ we went over our most recent test and reviewed the powerpoint. Mr. Schick did the dings again so that was fun. After that, we went over the powerpoint on ancient Greece. We talked about how rivers are very important for good civilizations. Greece is located on a peninsula and has about 1400 islands. It is a very mountainous area, and it's easier to sail from one side to another rather than crossing the land. Two main Greek cities are Athens and Sparta, which are basically enemies of each other.

2.27.15

Today in west civ we took a test on ancient Egypt. Mr. Schick is grading them right now. I don't think I failed but it was kind of hard. There were a lot more details on the Nile River then I thought there would be, but I knew some of them. I got a 92 on the test so I'm pretty happy about that. Yay

2.26.15

1. The Nile River floods every _________ and leaves behind rich soil in _________.

(July, October)

2. Which of the following did the Egyptians NOT grow?

       a) wheat

       b) barley

       c) squash

       d) lentils  

3. Pyramids were typically made out of mud bricks, granite, or __________. 

(limestone) 

4. Which of the following is true about the ancient Egyptian writing?

       a) they wrote in hieratic script and hieroglyphs

       b) they made the exact english alphabet we have today

       c) they created paper from sago trees

       d) they drew very detailed and three dimensional pictures

5. Describe the pharaohs and how people saw them.

       The Pharaoh was an all powerful god-king to the Egyptians. He/she was worshipped as a god and intimately connected to other major gods and goddesses. Pharaohs had multiple wives and all routes to financial and social success were through the palace. When there were women pharaohs, they were able to inherit money, land, and divorce their husbands, though only a few ever wielded real political power. 

2.25.15

Today in west civ we went over the powerpoint on ancient Egypt. We started learning about the government by a god-king known as the Pharaoh. Pharaohs are the highest power in Egypt. They had multiple wives, and all routes to financial success were through the palace. Egyptian believed in an afterlife where all the (higher powered) souls go and justify themselves at the point of death and be sent to an after-world paradise, where as others will be eaten by a monster. The earliest form of Egyptian writing was from 3100 BC. They used small pictures to show religious words, parts of a word, or maybe a sentence which were called hieroglyphs. Egyptians learned to make paper and form them into scrolls. The paper they used was called papyrus. The astronomers created a calendar with a full 365 days and they used the calendar to separate the seasons so they would know when the river was going to flood, the best time for planting, etc. The doctors knew all about human anatomy and they write down things about certain health issues, they created potions, and even made cures. Wooden sailboats were made to navigate the Nile River easier.

2.24.15

Today in west civ we built pyramids online with our partners. My partner was Chesca. It took really long to do the pyramids because to successfully build it you had to get every factor right. Those included building material, where you build it, workers, taking care of the workers, the angle, and many more. It was also a challenge to navigate through through the Nile because there were crocodiles, grass, and land masses that we ran into a lot. Chesca finally figured it out and won the game. We were the third to successfully complete the pyramid, so we got a B which I am pretty happy about. It was very stressful but in the end it was fun and I'm glad we got to do that.

2.21.15

3500 years ago, Egypt broke out in wealth and power. The main cause of this was because of the architecture that they improved upon with the help of gold and gold mines. Digging for gold was a very important discovery. Gold gave the Egyptians wealth, power, and money which they could do just about anything with.

Having been along the Nile River, Egyptians had a huge advantage. They used the annual flooding to help grow crops. The second best technological advance was when they started to build dykes to control the water flow to where it would help farming. It continued farming and agriculture in Egyptian life.

Writing is the third most important development. It allowed education to expand and was the main cause job development. Egyptians wrote mainly in hieroglyphics and hieratic. It also made communication possible and it set the hierarchy.

Medicine and the discovery of human anatomy is the fourth most important technological development. Much of it was based on spiritual means along with myth and legend. They were the first to have actual physicians and doctors compared to medicine men that only used remedies based on belief.

Finally, astronomy. The Egyptians knew the years, months, and days all around and they were very aware of time in general. They used the patterns of the stars and the sun to figure out time. This continued over many years and led us to where we are today. The times of day also influenced how they built buildings in certain directions (towards or away from the sun).

2.19.15

Today in west civ we took notes on the prezi which we already took notes on cyberday. I'm not going to write them again because they're on my blog already. I have nothing else to say because that's all we did and I have all the notes.

2.18.15

I don't know if we have to blog today but I am. We would usually have class today because it's wednesday, but we went by a monday schedule.

2.17.15

Ancient Egypt

geography

-life is centered around the Nile River

- water for drinking, irrigating, bathing, transportation

- floods every july

- every october it leaves rich soil

- delta is a broad, marshy triangular area of fertile soil

- managing rover required technological breakthroughs in irrigation

Pyramids

- Great Sphinx of Giza (built 2555-2532 BC)

- a recumbent lion with human head

- oldest monumental statue in the world

 Daily Life

1. Pharaoh

2. gov officials, nobles, priests

3. soldiers (weapons, bow/arrow, ride chariots)

4. scribes (keep records, stories, poetry, described anatomy/medical stuff, wrote in hieroglyphs/hieratic) 

5. merchants

6. artisans

7. farmers

8. slaves/servants

- people raised wheat, barley, lentils onions

- artisans carve statues showing battles/scenes from afterlife

- money/barter system was used (trade grain, coins, etc)

one upper class=White Kilt Class (priests, physisians, engineers)

Pharaohs

- political/religious leader of Egytipan people

- owned all land, made laws, controlled taxes

Hatshepsut=woman pharaoh

Cleopatra VII= woman pharaoh (51-30 BC)

Gods/Goddesses

- over 2000 of them 

- "controlled" human lives 

2.12.15

Today in west civ we didn't do much. We went over our grades again and reviewed our two most recent tests. I got As on both of those so I was really happy about that. Mr. Schick also told us a cool trick for writing our test answers down and being able to study them. Instead of circling the letter, he told us to put the letter on the edge of the paper so we can cover them up and figure out the answer. It was a good class and I'm excited to learn new things.

2.11.15

Today in west civ we took a test. It was harder than I thought it would be, but I didn't fail. Mr. Schick graded them before we left and I got a 92% which I was really happy about. We didn't go over them, though.  I don't know what wasn't a hobby of Jared Dimond. I said nature photographer but I could be wrong. Since I got an A, I know I only got a few wrong so I'm happy with my grade.

2.6.15

Today in west civ we presented our power points on each of our subjects. Each group had one of animals, crops, germs, technology, and geography. Mr. Schick said the test was mostly on Guns, Germs, and Steel, so I didn't take notes on the power points even though each related to some things in the movie. It was a fun thing to do and I'm glad Mr. Schick had us do that. I learned a lot about each presentation and I think it will help us on the test. I think this test will be a little harder because even though we have good notes, we don't have a power point to study from. Speaking of tests, we finally got our early age people test back. I got a 91% and I was pretty happy because I think that's my best test grade since human geo.

2.5.15

Today in west civ we got into groups and gathered some facts about a specific topic. Our group got animals. Mr. Schick had us use a specific website to get information, and our animals were llamas, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, cattle, and zebra. I don't think I'm forgetting any..? It was fun because we made a really good powerpoint and had funny pictures. It was a fun day.

2.4.15

Today in west civ we finished watching the movie. We talked about how people came about building their houses and how the houses evolved over many years. The people learned that if they heated limestone to a thousand degrees, it would melt into a pasty liquid that they could use as plaster for their houses. This was very useful to keep their homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter. One thing Jared Diamond noticed about the New Guineans was that almost all of the things they did to make a living today were the same things they did thousands of years ago. It shows how little they have progressed in their way of life. Their living isn't a bad thing, it's just that they don't know how much easier life could be with some of the new modern technology. The US started growing wheat a long time ago and it wasn't even fertile to anywhere in the US, but now today americans eat about 20 million tons of wheat in one year. At the end of the video, Diamond answered Yalee's question with "Geography." There are some other factors as for why some areas are more advanced from others, but  it really matter where you are.

2.3.15

Today in west civ we continued watching the video on New Guinea and other people. We learned how in different areas advanced because they had animals, good resources, and were geographically lucky. We talked about how the New Guineans happened to be in an area where there is not much to use for survival, but they were still able to thrive. Eventually, they got barley and wheat because it's a lot better to store and they can grow a lot of it. Later on, animals were domesticated by humans, but there were only fourteen large animals that they were actually able to domesticate and use as farm animals to plow and use for their milk and hyde of clothing.

1.30.15

Today in west civ we started a movie. It was called Guns, Germs, and Steel. From what I understand so far it that it's about a guy named Jared Diamond. He was a scientists who traveled all over the world. His focus was on the island of Papua, New Guinea which is near Australia. He found that people there had a still very undeveloped, hunter/gatherer lifestyle. He talked about how he separates the "haves" from the "have nots." There was a man who asked, "why do white men have so much cargo and we, New Guineans, have so little?" This was a hard hitting question for Jared, for he did not know the answer. Jared thought about about why societies progress and he had three reasons for that. Advanced technology, large populations, and well organized work forms were the key things in having a progressed society. Since the people had little to eat on the island, they had to eat sago, a starchy like dough that they had to make over days found in sago trees. It is yet another example of how they have so little. This one food was something they depended on, even considering the low calories and protein.

1.29.15

Today in west civ we had our first test. Mr. Schick let us use the blog. I had pretty good information on it so that was helpful, but there were a few I didn't have and could not remember at all. THE WORD IS CUNEIFORM. Somehow I remembered the cunei part and not the rest. I put cuneigraph.
 -___- I'm so angry. I also couldn't remember what the flood story was called. Besides those few things,  think I did well but I wish I didn't forget the stupid little things. I studied pretty hard, too so I should do just fine.

1.27.15

Today in western civ we didn't take notes but we reviewed for the test which is now thursday. (Thank you Mr. Schick!) Veronica gave us cookies first thing in the morning so my day was started off right. After that, we talked about Hammurabi's Code. My computer was dead so I couldn't look up stuff, but I tried to contribute with what the other people said. The laws are so interesting ad very cruel, it's amazing how times have changed from 1500-2015. Mr. Schick also helped me fix my blog which is being really weird lately. I'm kind of a problem, but hopefully this one will actually post.

1.22.15

Today west civ we finally started actually learning things. We started with learning about Prehistory and Civilization. It was really interesting to learn about the first people and how they evolved. At first, people had to hunt and gather their food because they had nothing close to the technology we have today. The earliest prehistoric age was the Stone Age. After that came the New Stone Age when they starting to develop things to help people live like knives out of rocks and they also started agriculture by growing their own food. This continued over thousands of years. Population then started to increase because the women were at home more taking care of the children. The invention of the plow and the wheel were big advances, too. The main area people were at this time was called the Fertile Cresent, which is now Iraq and Syria.