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.