12/15

Today in Human Geo, we talked more about the exam. We went over Mr. Schick’s blog, which tells us what we need to know for the exam and also has the essay questions. The essay questions are kind of confusing to me but I am going over them and I will think about what I’m going to say. The president part is the hardest for me to remember but everything else seems relatively easy to remember since I have already started studying. I think this exam is going to be some what hard but hopefully not too hard. My studying will hopefully pay off and I will not struggle when taking it. Tonight I will keep reviewing everything and especially watch the fact video called “Did You Know 3.0.” There will be 130 questions on the exam and we will pick two out of the three essays to answer. As long as I keep studying tonight, I think I will do fine, even though I’m nervous about it.

12/12

Today in Human Geo, we had our Christmas party. It was really fun because a lot of us brought in cookies and candy canes. I had my computer plugged in to the speaker playing Christmas music. We all got a picture together and there were many selfies taken. Grace, Sydney and I played hangman also. When we all sat down, we went over the other test on the twelve countries. I definitely need to study this chapter the most in Human Geo. I'm not sure how the exams will go but I have to study as much as possible and go in with a positive attitude even though I'm nervous. We also went over how much they are worth because I'm also really nervous about that. I've been studying this week and I will this weekend. This specific class was one of my favorites. Studying my notes and making quizlets are some of the best ways for me to study so that is what I'll make sure to do!

11/14

Today in Human Geo, we got back our tests. I already knew what I got but I'm glad we got them back and went over them because I really like to know what I got wrong so that I can correct it and hopefully get it correct on the exam. The ones I got wrong I definitely did not know the answer and I don't remember studying it. Then we got our other test back on the different countries and I didn't do as well on that one. I remember that test was really hard for me even though I studied a lot. Hopefully I will do good on the exams because I have been studying a lot and it would be really disappointing if my studying did not pay off. I study mostly my notes because when Mr. Schick goes through the power points I write everything down because I don't always know if it will be posted on his blog or not. I really hope the exams go well.

12/10 Test

Today in Human Geo we had our test. I first thought it might be open notes but I studied just as much as I would have without having an open note test, which worked in my favor because the test ended up not being open note. The test, in my opinion, ended up being pretty easy. I think I only had problems with the different abbreviations for different organizations and maybe a question about when a religion was founded. I made sure to go over everything at the end just so I didn't put an answer I didn't mean to. Overall I think I did well on the test and Mr. Schick actually is getting them graded right now so we can see how we did so I guess I will find out soon enough. I studied a lot last night and I quizzed myself multiple times and went over them many times. I just saw my grade and I'm happy with my grade and it was worth the studying.

12/8

Today in Human Geo, we review for the upcoming test on Tuesday. The test will cover both of the power points (Cultural Geography and Five Major Religions) plus the movie we watched in class called "Slumdog Millionaire." The main points and things we should focus on for the test were mentioned also. This was our last day to review the topics because we do not have class Tuesdays. Tonight I am going to probably make quizlet flash cards for the religions because I find that flashcards are usually very useful and helpful when studying for tests. I am nervous for this test but I think I will do fine as long as I study my notes and also study Mr. Schicks remake of "Billionaire" by Travie Mccoy to help me study and remember the movie. Christianity will definitely be easy to remember but since I am mostly unfamiliar with the other four religions, I will have to study extra hard.

Five Major Religions 12/5

Yesterday in Human Geo, we mostly took notes and here are the notes we took.

Countries
-Economic Alliances

• European Union (EU)
• Organization of Petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) - experts oil to the US
• (Supply and Demand with Gas)

-Political

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - European nations and USA alliance that help each other out if one of the countries gets attacked

Five Major Religions

Christianity

• Around 2.2 billion adherents (largest religion in the world)
• Call them: Christians
• Geographic locations: Europe, the Americas, Southern Africa
• Founder: Jesus Christ
• Holy Book: The Bible (mainly the New Testament)
• Beliefs: Jesus led a perfect life, died, came back to life, now reigns in Heaven with God (Jesus is Human and Divine)
• Clergy: Pope, Bishops, Priest
• Denominations: Catholic, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox

Islam

• 1.5 billion adherents (second largest religion in the world)
• Call them: Muslims
• Geographic locations: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa
• Denominations: Sunnis (75-90%) and Shiites (10-20%)
• Founder: Muhammed
• Holy Book: Qur'an
• Beliefs: Monotheistic - One God, Abrahamic Tradition, Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, donating money or almsgiving, fasting)
• Pilgrimage: Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Alah (God), and observing Islamic law

Hinduism

• 1.1 billion adherents (third largest)
• Geographic locations: India, Nepal
• Holy book: The Vedas - eternal truths to stages written in verses which were in song and easily memorized
• Founder: no founder - It is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs
• Beliefs: Reincarnation of a soul to go to a new and younger person

Buddhism

• 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)
• 1.2 million in the USA
• Call them: Buddhists
• Geographic locations: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan
• Denominations: Tibetan, Zen Theravada, Amidst
• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• You can be a Christian and a Buddhist
• Beliefs: Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold paths

Judaism

• 14-18 million adherents (ninth largest)
• Call them: Jews
• Geographical locations: Israel (80% in Israel are Jews)
• Founder: Abraham (?)
• Holy Book: Talmud and the Torah (The first five books of the Old Testament)
• Beliefs: Ethical Monotheism - God is one and concerned with the actions of human kind
• The Ten commandments and the 13 Principles of Faiths

12/4

Today in Human Geo, we had to do an evacuation drill. I was supposed to go to lot 10 but I guess we were switched to 9. When we got back to the room, Mr. Schick played the guitar to his daughters "cover" of "Billionaire" by Travie Mccoy. The reason I put quotations on cover, was because they rewrote the lyrics to fit the movie "Slum dog Millionaire." Mr. Schick also played the guitar as the track played. Then we started to take notes. Here are the notes we took.

Religion can be a unifying force

• There are five major religions in the world today -- Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam
• They have million followers all believing in the same thing (more or less)

Religion can also be a dividing force around the world

• Hindus and Muslims fight in India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslims)
• There are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland

12/3

Today in Human Geo, it took a little while to get started. When we did get started, we took notes. Here are the notes that I took today which are the second part to ones from before the movie.

Language

• Arabic unites the Arab world
• Spanish unites the Hispanic world 
• Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. (They speak Portuguese) 
• Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official. Canada has provinces instead of states.
• The US has no official languages
• Switzerland has multiple languages but very little conflict between groups
• English is now (some what) considered the world language... (I didn't finish this part)

Ethnic Heritage

• In Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Bosnians....)

• When strong leaders died out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and now they all have separate countries
• In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, two ethnic groups dominate, the Tutsis and Hutus
• The Hutus are dominant in one and they persecute the Tutsis, and the Tutsis are dominant in the other and they persecute the Hutus. It has led to almost constant war between the groups
• The United States and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries  
• Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group
• On the island of Cuprus, the Greeks and Turks try to gain control

12/1

Today in Human Geo, we finished “Slumdog Millionaire.”  Jamal goes to see Latika at her owner’s house but is unable to see her. In one of the next scenes, we see a Latika and many other girls watching “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” with Salim and his boss. The boss changes the channel to a dancing show so the girls get up and dance. Latika sneaks out to watch it in another room.  Salim comes into the room and gives Latika keys and his cellphone and tells her to leave and go see Jamal. She drives to where the show is being filmed in hopes to see find him. When she arrives she doesn’t find him so she goes to someone’s home to watch it. When the show starts, the host gives the question and asks him if he wants to keep his money or continue and risk it all. He admits to not knowing the answer but wants to keep going. He asks to use his “phone a friend.” He dials his brothers number which is the only number he knows.  When Latika sees that he is calling his brother, she realizes she has the phone but it is in her car that she borrowed. She runs as fast as she can and just gets to it and answers it in time. She didn’t know the answer but that didn’t bother either of them. They were just happy to hear from each other. Once the phone is hung up he guesses and chooses A, which was the correct answer. His brother, Salim, knew when he gave Latika the phone and the keys, that it would cost him his life so he locked himself in a room, laid in a bathtub full of all his boss’ money and held a gun to the door. He shot when the door opened but it was no match for all the men flooding in and shooting, so that money was literally blood money. In one of the last scenes, he is sitting at a curb next to the train station. When he looks over, he sees Latika and he runs to see her. When the finally meet in the middle walkway, he kisses her wound and says,  “This is our destiny.” At the very end of the movie, a dance number breaks out with many people, but Jamal and Latika in the front. The younger actors who played Jamal and Latika are seen dancing together also. Overall I really enjoyed this movie though some of it was hard to understand.