Today in class (day 32)

Today in class we took a test and had some assignments to do after we were done. What we are supposed to do is take a list of countries and elaborate on the type of government that they have. The countries are: Mexico, China, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel  Germany, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia.

Mexico
Constitution- Federal Republic
Leader- President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojose






China
Constitution- Communist State
Leader- President HU Jintao














India
Constitution- Federal Republic
Leader- President Pranab Mukherjee














Afghanistan
Constitution- Islamic Republic
Leader- President Hamid Karzai

Iran
Constitution- Theocratic Republic
Leader- Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini Khamenei




Israel
Constitution- Parliamentary democracy
Leader- President Shimon Peres











Germany
Constitution- Federal Republic
Leader- President Joachim Gauck
















United Kingdom
Constitution- constitutional monarchy
Leader- Queen Elizabeth the 2nd









France
Constitution- Republic
Leader- President Francois Hollande











Brazil
Constitution- Federal Republic
Leader- President Dilma Rouseff













Venezuela
Constitution- Federal Republic
Leader- President Hugo Chavez












Saudi Arabia
Constitution- Monarchy
Leader- King Abdullah

Today in class (day 30)

Today in class we came up with some questions that we could add to the quiz. They included "What 2 groups are Islams divided into?" The answer would be the Shia and the Shiites. "What are the 3 Arabic religions?" The answer would be Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. "What religion is the 8 fold path and the 4 noble truths related?" The answer is Buddhism. A few questions unrelated to religion were " Did the Europeans conquer America?" The answer is yes, they did. Back on the topic of religion, "Who discriminated the Christians until God came to him?" The answer is Paul or Saw. "What percentage of India practices Hinduism?" The answer is 80 percent of India practices India. "Where was the birthplace of Muhammad" The answer is Mecca. "How many people in the world practice no religion?" The answer is 1 billion people. Lastly, "What is Buddha's other name?" The answer is Siddhartha. On the test we also need to know about the vikings, Columbus, and the Native Americans. We also need to keep in mind about the geographical distribution of the religions.

Today in class (day 29)

Today in class we continued to learn about the 5 key religions. We learned that Hinduism does not have 1 key God. Their god takes many different forms, such as in trees and in nature..etc. 80% of India practices Hinduism, and it started in India. Buddhism practices the 8 noble truths, which is just a way that people who practice that religion should live their life. One of the most longest living religions is Judaism. it has 13 million people practicing it today, and it believes in one god. Judaism believes in the same God as Christianity and Muslims. It started in Jerusalem and so did Christianity. Judaism has been whipped out due to the Holocaust. It killed over 6 million Jews! In Buddhism, they do not believe in a heaven and they believe in Siddhartha. Instead of being the overly fat person that he is considered to be, he was actually really skinny due to his fasting for 40 days. In Hinduism, there is no true founder. It is great that we have this opportunity to learn about religion and widen our intellectual capacity.

Today in class (day 28)

Today in class we took more notes and expanded are learning. We learned that Muhammad changed the religion of Christianity. He took the basic ideas and said what most of the Christians were doing wrong. We also learned that some people who practice a religion, take it too far. They are considered "extremists". They take their religion to a whole different level. Instead of following their holy books rules and laws, they like to SHOVE IT down on other people. Such as the Muslims bombed the World Trade Center because America "ruined their culture". Another example of extremists is when Christians bombed an abortion center. In my opinion there is no point of doing such extreme actions because of YOUR certain religion. In another case, Gays are also discriminated because of OTHERS religions. People are backing up being against gay marriage because it is against THEIR religion. It is unfair and undignified to do this to other people. It is a persons DECISION to get an abortion, you should not shove your religion just to "prove a point". If someone LOVES someone they should be able to marry them. Not even be considered a married couple just because of another's RELIGION. This is unfair and inhumane. People have the right to do what they want, we should not limit that because of another's religion. It is very irritating to see all over the world that people are being discriminated just because of another's religion. I believe that people should be able to have a choice to do what they want. They are reasonable laws though, such as "shall not kill". WHICH IS REASONBLE
RANT OVER

Today in class (day 27)

Today in class we took more notes. We took notes that extended our learning about ethnic heritage. Last time we took notes we learned about Yugoslavia and how it could not be country because of its diverse ethnic heritage. The other heritages did not get along and finally ending to a bloody war. Today we learned that in the countries of Rwanda and Burundie in Africa, 2 ethnic groups the Hutu and Tutsi are rivals. The Hutus are dominate in one part and the Tutis are in the other. They persecute the Hutus. This has led led to almost constant war between the groups between the group. This could led to a bigger war that could consist of other countries getting involved. The United States and switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries. Both countries have wide variety of ethnic culture and there is no constant war between them. The United States is considered to be a "tossed salad" because of its large variety of ethnicities. In other countries however such as Korea and Japan, they have primarily one ethnic group. There is no migration and one main ethnic heritage. An example of cultural characteristics is mainly religion. Religion can be both a unifying and disunifying force. Other ethnic groups could be bounded by the same religion, or be disputed against difference between their religion. The main 5 religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We also extended upon the concept of Christianity. We learned that back when Christainity was being created, it was considered a crime. To preach it or even practice Christianity. Also, if it was not for Paul, Christianity would have slowly faded. Instead, Paul spread the word of God.

Today in class (day 26)

Today in class we looked up religions. Mr.Schick was not there and Mr. Perry was our substitute. Christianity was founded in 41 A.D in Jerusalem. It is a monotheistic and the holy book is the bible. It has over 2.1 billion followers and the main idol is Jesus Christ. The geographical concentration is North and South America, South Africa, Northern Asia, and Australia. In 632 A.D is when Islam was founded. It was also founded in Mecca and it is monotheistic. The holy book is the Koran and it has over 1.67 billion followers. The main idol is Allah, which is another word for God. The geographical concentration is Africa, and Middle East. In the 4 or 5 century B.C is when Buddhism was created. In North eastern Asia is where this religion was founded. It is polytheistic and the holy book is named the Tipitaka. It has over 360 million followrs and the main idol is the Buddah. The geographical concentration for this religion is China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Hinduism was created around 1500-500 B.C.E in Northern India. It is monotheistic and the holy book is called the Holemanom. It has 860 million followers and there are many religious "idols". Its geographical concentration is mostly India. The oldest know religion is called Judaism, dating back to 2000 B.C in Isarel. It is monotheistic and the holy book is named the Torah, or also known as the Old testament in the Christian bible. It has over 14,549,000 followers, and the main religious is God. The geographical concentration is made up of Africa,Asia, Europe, Latin America, Northern America, and Oceania. Those are the notes I took on religions. (:

Today in class (day 25)

Today in class we took notes and learned new terms. We learned about Canada, language, religion, and ethnic heritage. These are the notes I took! Cultural Characteristics consists the parts of a group's everyday life. It also includes the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members. This means that things people do everyday and the ideas and themes people are taught make up cultural characteristics. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region. Examples of these characteristics would be language, religion, and ethnic heritage. An example of language is how Arabic unites the Arab world. Also how Spanish unites the Hispanic world. A vocab word we learned today was bilingual. Bilingual means that a nation has 2 official languages. A country that is bilingual would be Canada. Their official languages would be French and English. Today we also learned about ethnic heritage. In Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into 1 country. When strong leadership died out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and now they all have separate countries. Some countries can not stand having different ethnic groups together as one. Such as Sudan. The Muslims and the Christians could not stand having to be together in the same country. They went to war which made all the boys leave their homes in southern Sudan. Other countries do not have different languages or ethnicity's in their country. A country like this would be North Korea. They do not let people in their country and do not let people out of their country. We learned many different vocab words today and learned more about our Culture unit! There are 82 days left of the year 2012! Oh my glob!

Today in class (day 24)

Today in class we shared other power points and got to learn more about the Native Americans and Christopher Columbus. My blog will be what I learned about Christopher Columbus. He came to America in 1492! "Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 14 hundred 92!" Christopher got to America by 3 ships, the Pinta, Santa Maria, Nina. When the 3 ships landed in America, there were already settlers in America. There were about 20 to 30 Native Americans. Nobody really knows exactly where Christopher Columbus first landed in America. They Europeans stayed in America forever really! They had to fight off the Native Americans for the land, to conquer America! The Europeans did not take very good care of the land. They cut down trees and other natural resources. They nearly destroyed the Native Americans. There were many disputes against the Europeans and the Native Americans. Christopher Columbus was originally looking for Indiana, but found America. He was not essentially sent to find America. Once he found it though, he told many of the people back home. He sent more ships to conquer America. On a side note, I looked up Leif Erickson day and found out it was TODAY! So HAPPY LEIF ERICKSON DAY!

Today in class (day 23)

Today in class we went over the test and did a project. We went over the problems on the test and asked questions that we had. After we finished that, we did a project. We got in a groups of 6 or 7 and we had to choose between vikings, native Americans, or Christopher Columbus. My group did Vikings! THEY ARE AWESOME. We had several questions which we had to answer. The vikings arrived in America in 1000 A.D. The first viking to go to America was Leif Erickson. They got to America by ship, they were "Long ships". There were 3 types of long ships: Snekke,Drekkar, and Skeid. The ships were long and narrow, and they had room for about 18 men to row, they also had sails. When the vikings arrived to America, the Native Americans already lived on the land. The vikings did not really land in America, they landed in Greenland. They left though because the climate became harsh. When they arrived though, it was rich and full of crops. The vikings also landed in Canada. The vikings did not fight and conquer the Americas, although they established a colony in North America. It did not last a very long time, they abandoned it because of conflict with the natives. The vikings took very good care of the land, and they grew grape orchids. They lived off the land by hunting animals and farmed their land. The vikings also used many natural resources to build their homes. The items they used were turf and some used wood, they grew wheat barley and rye. Lastly the vikings were not sent by anyone to find America. Happy Monday and LEIF ERICKSON DAY.

Today in class (day 22)

Today in class we took a test on the movie "God Grew Tired Of Us". Before we took the test we had time to check over our notes. I did for a few minutes, then I got distracted and talk to people. I seriously get so distracted its crazy. I'm pretty sure that is a disorder or something. I do not even know. The test was not very hard at all. Except the fact that we had to spell words right. I am horrible at spelling. I seriously have no life. The test though was very easy. After I was done I had to be quiet until everyone finished the test. Once every one was done we talked about the test. It was really funny because Damon asked if we had to capitalize and answer to the test. We were not supposed to talk about the answers. We still did though. :) Class is always fun, and I am sitting here on a Saturday night doing nothing. I am watching Jersey Shore. Watching people on TV have fun while you're doing homework. Oh. Well I am still cool I guess.

Today in class (day 21)

Today in class we came up with ways to help sub-Saharan nations. One way we came up with was to walk up on the side of the road. We would wear t-shirts and hold up signs. Our main goal is to get awareness that there is a problem. One issue that nations in trouble face is that many other developed nations do not know about their issues. Such as the United States did not know that Sudan was having an out breaking war. It lead to many deaths, such as being eaten, starving to death, and not being able to go on any more. Many women that stayed in Sudan were raped. This is a very big issue, even though we face issues such as these in the United States, it is a bigger issue in Sudan and many other African nations. Another way to get the word out is to go to other schools and attempt to raise money. We can help kids get out of refugee camps and go to school by an organization. If we go to other schools and get them to raise money and help us, maybe we could help more Sudan and other African countries. We could visit high schools near by, such as Harford Tech, C Milton, Bel-Air. Also we could go to near by middle schools such as Southampton, St. Margret. Maybe even elementary schools such as Hickory, and St. Margret. The more ways we get our word out, the closer we will be to helping Sudan.

Today in class (day 20)

Today in class we added links to websites where we could possibly help Sudan. We go into groups and came up with a website that would help. My group came up with Mercy Corps. In the beginning though we had trouble with the open document. Many people wrote unrelated things and kept deleting things. I thought it was funny though, because everyone was getting angry. Other groups came up with many great websites though. Such as one group came up with Red Cross. Red cross is an organization where they help people with war, natural disaster, and poverty. This would help Sudan and it's aftermath because of the wars. Another group came up with lostboysus.org This organization gives people an opportunity to sponsor children so that they may leave a refugee camp and go to a boarding school in Kenya. Lastly another group came up with an organization called Women for Women. Which is about giving food and water for the women stuck in Sudan. All of these organizations could possibly help Sudan. Another way we could help is by getting the word out about Sudan. The more people we tell, the more others are award of what is happening.

Today in class (day 19)

Today in class we finished the movie "God grew tired of us." In my opinion I think that the movie was very heart breaking but touching. It showed a dangerous journey of lost boys who were kicked out of their country because of war. They spent 10 years at a refugee camp and after those 10 years some were chosen to go to the United States. You get to see 3 of the boy's journey to making a difference in their life and in the home the left. Towards the end you get to see the life that they made for themselves. Panther went back to Africa and got married to his girlfriends. John Bull was re united with his mom and continues to send money to Sudan. Mr. Schick asked us what we should do as a Freshman class to help Sudan. My idea is to go to a refugee camp and give them entertainment, food, water, etc. It would take them away from their boredom and hunger and suffering. We could change some one's day. During the movie they said that many men thought of killing themselves. If we could change some one's day and mood for just one day, maybe we could change their life. I believe that we could make their day more positive and happier. I think that we should really visit a refugee camp. :)(: