10/30

Today in Human Geo we were finishing up our group project. Before that, Mr. Schick gave us the same pop quiz we took last week but it was blank. At first, my class thought he was giving us another pop quiz but we realized that we were just going to go over it so when we have a test, we can study it.  We were right, and towards the end of going over the quiz, Gabi was picked to read the question and answer it. Every time Mr. Schick picked someone to answer the question, he would ask them, "Answer the question or do a dance." Gabi picked to do a flip so she read the question and did a back handspring. After we finished going over the quiz, we started working on our project. I asked Mr. Schick if the slide I was working was good and he said yes with just a couple suggestions. I kept working on it. When I got stuck I had to ask him a question and he helped me. I will finish it over the weekend and then possibly present it Monday, depending on what order we go in.

10/29 Group Work

Today in Human Geo, I was less than 5 seconds late so Mr. Schick made me do one push up. I’m nor sure really why but I thought it was kind of funny. After my push up, we started doing our group projects. McKenna, my partner, started the first information slide on the government of Germany so I started on the leader of Germany and facts about her. The president is Joachim Gauk but the real leader is the chancellor, Angela Merkel. She has been named one of the most powerful women in the world. She was first elected in November of 2005 and is still the chancellor after winning the next two elections after that one. Some of the facts we are required to look up I had trouble with such as “How can the Leader be taken out of office by the people, if possible?” and “How long is each leader in office, how many terms are allowed, and when is the leader expected to be done their term, if known?”. I was going to ask Mr. Schick if I had enough for the slide but class was over. I will ask him tomorrow when I get a chance.

10/27 Group Projects

Today in Human Geo we picked out names and countries for a powerpoint we will be working on all week. I had to write out the name for each pair and their country. Of course, I was the one who had to pick first which is awful for me because I hate picking under pressure. I ended up picking McKenna and Germany. After the pressure was off, I wrote down the rest of the names and countries on the board. When I finished, there was some confusions about the groups so Mr. Schick took over and rearranged the names. My partner took out her computer and made the Google document for our slideshow. I had a couple questions at the end, but after I heard the answer to my questions and some other peoples questions, I understood. We are writing about the country's government, their leader and how he or she got into the position, how someone gets into that position, and if they can be taken out (as in impeachment), and lastly how long they are in office.

10/24 Pop Quiz

Today in Human Geo we took a pop quiz that was 15 questions and worth 30 points. I was very scared for this quiz because I haven't studied so all the information I know is what I remember from paying attention in class. I ended up passing so I'm happy about that but I wish I would have done better. I am pretty sure I got all of the matching of leaders and countries correct but I'm not sure about the multiple choice. Some I felt confident and some I just kind of took a guess because they looked some what familiar from . I'm pretty sure this quiz did not affect my grade too much and in my opinion, that is what matters most. The grade average for my class was 68.7, so I am glad I managed to get above that. Though this quiz was a "pop quiz", I think I should have expected one a little bit more considering we haven't had one yet and Mr. Schick has said to make sure we knew the facts.

10/23 Political Geography

Here are some notes I took in the beginning of the week.

Political Geography
A Nation
-a group of people with a shared identity
-think of a culture group

Nations are culturally homogeneous groups of people, larger than a single tribe or community, which share a common language, institutions, religion, and historical experience.

An Independent State
-has space or territory which has internationally recognized boundaries (boundary disputes are ok)
-has people who live there on an ongoing basis
-has economic activity and an organized economy, a country regulates foreign and domestic trade and issues money
-has the power of social engineering such as education
-has a transportation system for moving goods and people
-has a government which provides public services and police power
-has sovereignty, no other state should have power over foreign countries territory
-has external recognition, a country has been "voted into the club" by other countries

More Interesting Facts

Today in Human Geo, we went over the facts we found for each of the presidents. I was confused when I was doing the assignment of what type of facts I was supposed to look for. Though our facts were alright, Mr. Schick said that some of the facts we found weren't very interesting so I am going to add one more fact to some of them I feel were not interesting. I thought most of my facts were pretty interesting, but there but definitely some that were dull.

Angela Merkel, of Germany, was nick named "the girl" by then chancellor Helmut Kohl. Now, she is sometimes referred to as the "Iron Lady."

Benjamin Netanyahu, of Israel, spent his teenage years attending a high school in Philadelphia.

Francois Hollande, of , pursued a career of acting before politics. He has been nick named "Mr. Normal" and "the nice guy."

10/20 Biographical Facts for Leaders

Mexican Leader Enrique Pena Nieto
-In January of 2012, President Enrique Pena Nieto revealed that he fathered two children out of wedlock with two different women, while married to his first wife.
-Enrique is the fifth member from his extended family to become governor of the State of Mexico.
His second cousin actually preceded him as governor.

German Leader Angela Merkel
-In November of 2005, Angela Merkel was sworn in as the first female chancellor of Germany, and was later elected two more times.
-She was one of the leading figures in the European Union and had the position of the Chairwomen of the Christian Democratic Union Party.
-Former Physicist

Syrian Leader Bashar Al-Assad
-After his brother was killed in a car accident, he decided to take the position to be the new heir for presidency.
-Bashar graduated medical school and moved to London to study opthalmology, before he even had any thoughts of being the President of Syria

Chinese Leader XI Jinping
-He has been been in the government office for a while before he was named China's president in 2013, such as being the Executive Vice Mayor for Xiamen, Fujian Province.
-His second and current wife, Peng Liyuan, is a famous celebrity folk singer.

United Kingdom Leader David Cameron
-In May of 2010, Queen Elizabeth II, invited him to be the prime minister, after Gordon Brown resigned.
- In December of 2005, he was the winner of the Leader of the Conservative Party Election.

Canadian Leader Stephen Joseph Harper
-In March of 2004, he won the leadership of the Conservative Party.\
-In February of 2006, he was sworn in as Canada's 22 Prime Minister

Indian's Leader Pranab Mukherjee
-He is the only finance mister to have presented budgets in the pre and post liberalization era.
-Before he was famous, he earned a degree in political science from the University of Calcutta.

France Leader Francois Hollande
-He was defeated for a French parliamentary seat in 1981, was a member of parliament for Correze during 1997 through 2002, and won French presidential nomination for the Socialist Party in October of 2011.
-He was inaugurated as president on May 15, 2012.

Japanese Leader Akihito
-Akihito is the world's only monarch with the title Emperor.
-Akihito is the first Japanese crown prince to marry a commoner.

Russian Leader Vladimir Vladimirovich
-He has an interest in working out and has a black belt in Judo.
-Vladimir grew up in a communal apartment shared by three other families.

Brazilian Leader Dilma Rousseff
-She was allegedly jailed and tortured for disagreeing with the government in the early 1970s.
-She was the first female leader to kick off the annual United Nations General Assembly debates.

Israeli Leader Shimon Perez
-He was the first Prime Minister of the new National Unity Government in 1984 to 1986.
-In 1996, he founded the Perez Center for Peace

10/17 Human Geography Countries

Mexico
President Enrique Pena Nieto
Federal Republic

Germany

Chancellor Angela Merkel

Federal Republic

Syria

President Bashar al-ASAD

Republic under an authoritarian regime

China

President XI Jinping

Communist State

United Kingdom
Prime Minister David Cameron
Constitutional Monarchy and Common Wealth

Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Joseph Harper
A Parliamentary Democracy, a Federation, and a Constitutional Monarchy

India
President Pranab Mukherjee
Federal Republic

France
President Francois Hollande
Republic

Japan
Emperor Akihito
A Parliamentary Government with a Constitutional

Russia
President Vladimir Vladimirovich
Federation

Brazil
President Dilma Rousseff
Federal Republic

Israel
President Shimon Peres
Parliamentary Democracy

10/16

Today in Human Geo, we received our tests. I was nervous for my grade even though I felt I did pretty well. When I got my test back, I was happy with my grade. Mr. Schick went over the test and taught us how simple it is to navigate around the CIA Fact book in ten minutes, specifically those who didn't finish that part of the test. One thing that I remember about the class was some of the... well, I'll just say interesting answers for the push and pull section and also answers that were given in different sections in different classes. One of the extra credit questions I felt like if I would have put more thought into it, I would have gotten it right. It was “What is the total net migration rate for the entire world?”. Obviously, no one is leaving the world, so the answer would be zero. The answer I put had no thought put into it, so I will try next time to think them through more clearly.

10/15

Today I was not in class, as was the rest of my class, due to PSAT testing.

10/10 Test

I did not think I was going to do as well as I did on the last test for sure. I wasn't all that confident, even though I did study. I felt like some of the definitions were confusing and I got really worried when I started looking at my notes. This is not anything new for me because I tend to study a good amount the night before and then the day of the test I feel like I forgot everything. I was also worried about only having ten minutes to answer, but once I started, I felt more confident and I knew I would fine. After the fact book questions were over, I answered the definitions which were easy. At the end I got confused but when I finished, I checked to see if I got them right and I think I did, so that gave me more confidence. I think I did well now that I finished and I hope I am right.

10/9

Today in Human Geo, we reviewed what would be on the test also. It will be all the terms and the Population Pyramid. I think I will do okay because I feel like I understand most of this information well. One thing I am concerned about is the CIA fact book because I tend to be a slow test taker and we have a limited amount of time to be on the website. Mr. Schick predicted I will get an A and I hope he is right! At the end of class we watched a video with what I think was a hamster? I am going to make sure I know the information so when I sit down tomorrow, I am confident with my knowledge of the information.

10/8

Today in Human Geo we started out by watching a video that was supposed to represent Kelsey and Sydney fighting which I thought was kind of funny. Then we started talking about what would be on the test by first having the terms we would need to know on the board. I took notes by writing them down and giving minimal definitions for them:
-Life Expectancy - how long you are expected to live (also categorized by the year you were born)
-Crude Birth Rate (CBR) - number of people per 1,000 born
-Crude Death Rate (CDR) - number of people per 1,000 died
-Developing nations - not doing so well (bad water, bad hygiene, high death rate...)
-Developed nations - infrastructure, doing well, a lot of technology
-Rate of Natural Increase (RNI) - found by subtracting CBR by CDR
-Net Migration Rate - (NMR)
-Immigration - entering a country
-Emigration - leaving a country
-Push Forces - reasons to leave a country such as war, unhealthy living situations, or genocide
-Pull Forces - reasons to enter a country such as religious freedom, better and cheaper health care, and job opportunity
The Replacement Rate is 2.1

Then we talked about the Population Pyramid:
-Divided by gender..... Right is Women, Left is Men
-set in age groups
-How many men or women in a certain age group are living right now in that country

10/6

Today in Human Geo, we looked up many surprising facts that show where we are in comparison to the rest of the world. We are further trying to prove or disprove the statement "The United States are is not the best country in the world. Here are some facts I found specifically surprising or were talked about in class.

-We are the second largest producer of oil.
-We are seventh for internet usage.
-China can shut down their citizen's social media access
-We are forty seventh in crude oil exporting
-We are number one in natural gas production
-We are first in crude oil importing
-We are the second biggest oil producer
-We are first in Airports
-Mexico has more airports than China
-We are second in electricity usage
-We are third in Area
-Russia is first
-Canada is second
-We are eighteenth in obesity
-33% of adults in America are obese

Though never mentioned in today's class, I feel that if we were asked if we thought The United States was the best country based on the facts and statistics found today, we would answer no. We do have many good things in and about this country but we are definitely not the best and do not have a lot of number one stats to be proud of. This country could possibly become the best, but not without a lot of help, and first improving on the small things.

10/3

Friday's class was interesting to say the least. First, we started with watching the JC news on youtube.  Then, after the news was over, we watched a video about three people giving there opinion on why America is the best country. The first two said diversity, opportunity, and freedom. when the third was asked, he agreed with them, but the more he thought about, he changed his answer. He said, "America is not the best country in the world." which took everyone back in shock. He made some very true and sensible point, like: "Yes, we do have a freedom, but so do many other countries." He also mention all these statistics that showed how we don't have the number one spot in many good things. We are only number one on things that don't matter or things that should not bring us pride. Most of our class agreed with most of what he said. We had a discussion about the topics and facts he brought up.. I personally know I agreed with most of all he said. I liked this class a lot because I was interested in in what we were talking about and I just felt open to speak my opinion, even though i didn't say much.

10/2 Human Geo.

Today in Human Geo, we found out that every one in the class would be getting a 3 months of Premium Spotify. I think this is really cool because I use Spotify anyway but I just use the free version so I don't get to use all the different features. So, Mr. Schick gave us each our own code to redeem. Mine did not work at first because so many other classmates were trying to redeem theirs too, but I think it works now. I found some songs that have to do with leaving your home and any may relate to what an immigrant may be going through or just about having to go to a whole new state/country, or even come home. These are not songs that I would necessarily listen to but they are relevant to the topics we discuss in class.
-(I Will Remember You)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSz16ngdsG0&list=PLD9FA085949EEC2B9&index=24
-(Leaving Home Ain't Easy)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vot3NUYv6lk
-(Home)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ytod23dBeI

10/1

Today in Human Geo we took notes but it was a pretty decent class because there was kids gone for the retreat. Since yesterday in our blogs we answered questions on the Population Pyramid, today we went over it and further explained it. Here are the notes I took.

Population Pyramid

-the population pyramid is divided by gender

Industrialization

-some countries in the world are in pre- industrialization (the country would not be doing well)

- those countries are most likely not very sanitary

-the water is bad

-high death rate

Post- Industrialization

-after a country does most of its industrializing

The U.S. creates things such as Facebook and apps which is not industrial, but intellectual…

-We, the U.S. are a post- industrial country

China makes most of our computers (industrial)

 Since we are now a post- Industrial country, we don’t make most things, we sell them

Now, in the U.S., it is common to have a small family such as only having one or two children, whereas years ago it was more common to have at least five children.

-Most women stopped their education after they had children so they could take care of their children and take care of them

-Now, many women want to go to college before they have children, so it is common to have kids at ages thirty-five to forty