Starting the Slideshows

We stared to present our slideshows, and we did the one about the Hinduism.  It wasn't my group; I did take some notes on it, because I was told that these religions would be on the exam.  My group didn't go today, but I think we will tomorrow.  We are now completely done with our Power Point, and I am pretty proud of that, because my group did pretty much nothing.

Religion Presentation

Today we started to do a PowerPoint on different religions, and we were in groups.  My group was me, and three others.  My group had the religion of Islam.  I was pretty much the only one doing any of the work, but two of the other people were helping me; a little.  we almost have our presentation finished, and I am proud of it.  We all did at least one slide, except for one.  He did none of the work; he wrote his name down.  We worked together to get the presentation done, and all we have to do is proof-read it, and then present it.  

America: is it the best?

We watched a movie about America, people debating weather or not it is the best country in the world or not.  Everyone in class was talking about it after the movie, and no one thought that America is the best.  Some of the reasons were:  all countries have problems and flaws; some countries are doing better than others in some subjects, and some are doing worse than others in other subjects.  We are not the best country in the world, but we are not the worst country in the world.  Some people are saying "my country is the best! We have the best..."  and that's not true, whatever they are saying their country is the best for; most of the time.  A country may have the best soccer team in the world, but that doesn't make their country the best at everything.

Cultural Geography- day 2

The notes that we took today were Religion cont., and they are:
-Jews believe they are decedents of Abraham-Abrahamic (also Christians and Muslims believe this).
-The break came of Islam, Muslims split into- Shiites and Sunnies.
- They have millions (or hundreds of millions!) of followers all believing the same thing.
-religion can also be a dividing force around the world.
-Hindus and Muslims fight in India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim).
-there are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (2 forms of Christians) in North Ireland.
-Jews, Christians, and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religious holy site.
-they are constantly fighting over the land
-Spatial Divisions-
-spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by establishing social, economic, and political control.
-you can be a member of more than one social group.
-spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation.
-examples of spatial divisions-
*countries
*economic alliances
^European Union (EU)
^ Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
^North American Free Trade Agreement  (NAFTA)
^Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
-Political Alliances
^North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
^Commonwealth of Nations
^Organization of American States (OAS)
^League of Arab States
^African Union (AU)
-Reasons for Spatial Division Conflicts-
*Cultural differences (language & religion)- Indonesia, Canada (Quebec), Ireland, Sudan.
*Nationalism- (the belief that your nation is superior to all others).

Cultural Geography

we started a new unit called Cultural Geography, and we already took many notes on it:
-parts of a group's everyday life
-the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members
-these same characteristics can also link or divide a region
*examples:
-language
-religion
-ethnic heritage
*language:
-Arabic unites the Arab world.
-Spanish unites the Hispanic world.
-Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. It speaks Portuguese.
-Is Brazil Hispanic or Latino?     It has its own identity.
-Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are its official languages.
-Switzerland has multiple languages but very little conflict between the groups.
-English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world (Lingua Franka)
*Ethnic Heritage:
-In Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Albanians)-When strong leadership dies out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and how they all have separate countries.
-In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, two ethnic groups are dominate, the Tutsis and the Hutus.
-The Tutsis are dominant in the other-- they persecute the Hutus.
-This had 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.
*Religion:
-Religion can be both a unifying and a disunifying force.
-There are five major religions in the world today--
^Hinduism
^Buddhism
^Judaism
^Christianity
^Islam

AP testing

Today we took the AP test, but it wasn't for a grade; it was to see what we know.  It was pretty hard, there were 75 questions on the test and I only got to question 32.  Thankfully the test wasn't for a grade, or I think I would've failed.  I know some of the material on that test, but most of it I didn't know.

cultural geography

We started a new unit, cultural geography.  We didn't take many notes on it because we had about five minutes of class left, because we were going over the test.  The notes we did take for the new unit are:
-cultural geography is : parts of a group's everyday life
-the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members
-these same characteristics can also link or divide a region.
---examples---
-language
-religion
-ethnic heritage

testing

We took a test, and we had two shadows along with the day.  They were both from the same school.  The test was on pretty much all the things we talked about in the beginning of the year.  Mostly it was about the vocab words, which were: life expectancy, crude death rate, developing nations, net migration rate(NMR), immigration, emigration, push forces, and pull forces.

Population Pyramids - day 2

We were talking about the different types of population pyramids, and the females are always on the right for any type of pyramid.  The females are on the right for the Christmas tree pyramid, the box pyramid, and the cup pyramid.  Every once in a while, the males will be on the right.  The box pyramid is not always almost a perfect rectangle, it usually bulges around the middle of the graph.  A Christmas tree pyramid is not always a perfect triangle, but can look a little morphed.  The cup pyramid does not always look like a cup, but it can look more like a vase.

Population Pyramids

Today we started a new unit, and it is called population pyramids.  We use more population pyramids to analyze growth (or decline) of fertility, mortality and migration in cities.  60+ are called oldies, they are old people, or the elderly.  The ages 20-59 are economically active, or adults.  the ages 0-19 are kiddos, kids, or children.  the basic shapes of any pyramid are a triangle (Christmas tree), a square/rectangle, (the box), and a trapezoid (the cup).  What do they all mean though?  the Christmas tree pyramid is a developing nation. The growth rates are slow, high birth rate, and have a short life expectancy.  Namibia and Bangladesh are some examples of the Christmas tree.  The box pyramid means that the nation is developed, and they have a low infant mortality, slow population growth, and long life expectancy.  Some examples of that pyramid are Sweden and the U.S.   The cup pyramid is a developed nation.  Low birth rate, shrinking population, but a long life expectancy.  Italy and Japan are some examples of this.

God Grew Tired of Us - final day

Panther works at a restaurant as a waiter, and John enrolls at the Syracuse community college.  Daniel gets involved in Job Corp., who is going to help him get en education and go to get a job.  John is doing pretty well; his mother and sisters are alive, and they are coming to America to be with him.  He is very excited, and is now working three jobs to support his family back in Kenya, and to bring his family to America.  One of the lost boys went missing on July 2, and was found a few days later.  The lost boy was arrested for certain behavior on a bus, then put in a mental hospital because he had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); he was mentally unstable.  The lost boys reunion was held in the Grand Rapids, Michigan.  South Sudan is the newest country in the world, it is now four years old.  Pittsburgh, 3 years:  Panther earned a high school diploma, and can now officially go to college.  Panther also has a girlfriend back in a refugee camp, and he wants to go to her.  John went to Phoenix, Arizona to go to a National Conference for the Lost Boys Foundation.  He was voted secretary for the foundation.  Daniel works at a grocery store called Whole Foods, and it has been 17 years since he has seen his family.  His mother got so happy, that she screamed and fell on the floor crying.  Panther is going to Africa, and he is very excited that he is going to see the girl he is going to marry. 

God Grew tired of Us - day 3

we were going on with the movie, and I learned that the tribe that John is from is called Dinka, and they are very tall.  This is why John was supposed to burry all the boys that died along the way to freedom.  In Sudan, the people would celebrate Christmas by singing and dancing all in around the town, which is different from America, because they didn't have a Christmas tree in Sudan.  John works in a factory for one of his jobs, and he grills burgers at McDonalds for his second job. 

God Grew Tired of Us - day 2

The three men went to America, and they have not yet adapted to the culture, but they will learn.  Panther and Daniel moved to Pittsburgh, PA and they are living with a few other men that moved with them.  Same with John, but he is now living in Syracuse, New York.  They eat food with their hands, but that's just because they want to keep their culture alive within them.  When John and the other lost boys were walking along the routes that they took to get away from Sudan, he was taller than the other boys; therefore, he was to stop and burry all the dead boys.  All the men that moved want to do their best in America, so they don't let down the ones they left behind.  In three months, all the men are to pay the government back for their air fair. 

God Grew Tired of Us - day 1

We learned that there wads a civil war in Sudan in about 1983 between North Sudan and Sudan.  There were about 27,000 "lost boys" that traveled from Sudan to Ethiopia.  "Lost boys" are males who run away, which is what they were called.  After about 3 years in Ethiopia, the government kicked the lost boys out, so they traveled back through Sudan and got to Kakuma, Kenya.  By this time, the war has been 5 years on-going.  By the time they got to Kenya, only 12,000 made it.  These boys were 5-10 years of age; for the boys that the terrorists let live.