Nora's Western Civ Blog

Today in class we talked about grids and time zones. We learned yet another answer to the question "How do geographers describe where things are?" A map is a two-dimensional flat-scale model of the Earth's surface. We learned that absolute location is a position expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude and longitude. We also learned that relative location is the position of a place relative to the position of other places. Absolute and relative location are one purpose of maps. A second purpose is to convey the distribution of human activities of physical features. We talked about what degrees, minutes, and seconds are and talked about what that looks like on the actual Earth's surface. Lastly we learned about what latitude is. Latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Today was a good class and I learned a lot.

Today in class we followed up with the question "How do geographers describe where things are?" Yesterday we learned about the first answer to this question, site. Today we learned the second answer, situation. Situation is a valuable way to indicate location for two reasons. First, situation helps us to find an unfamiliar place by comparing its location with a familiar one. Second, situation helps us to understand the importance of a location. After we learned what situation is we discussed what it actually looks like. For example we talked about where Bel Air is in relation to Baltimore. Then, we got into a discussion about where things are made. We talked about the difference in payment of workers in the US and workers in foreign countries. This is the reason why many things are not made in America because we would have to pay the workers more, which therefore would cause the consumers to have to pay more. Overall I thought todays discussion was very interesting and I am e

Today in class we learned more about maps. We first discussed what a site was. A site is the actual location on a map. We also learned that humans can develop and change sites. We talked about the benefits of this and also about the downsides of doing this. As an example we talked about how in the city of Manhattan construction workers actually create sites where water is. We discussed how they plan to build new apartments there to house many people. One benefit that this would cause is that many more people would get jobs which businesses would like. But, the downside is that that means that there would need to be plumbing electricity, and internet for many more people. This is not even considering the environmental damages digging out part of the ocean would cause. Overall I thought that our discussion today was very interesting and I learned a lot of new things.

Today we worked on finding countries on maps. Here are my scores. South America Map Score North America Map Score

Today in class we got back our test's on excellence. I was excited to see that I got a 98. I think that I did really well and I am very proud of myself for getting an A on my first human geography test. The only thing I got wrong was the question about derivations of the word polis. When I was taking the test I just could not figure that one out. Turns out there were many different answers for that question like police, and metropolitan. I felt pretty dumb that I couldn't figure that out on the test but it's ok. I did make up two points though because I got the bonus question right so that made me happy. The test I thought was very fair which was good. I hope that my grade continues to stay at an A. Your class is very enjoyable.

Peter's Projection Map Meracator Map The two maps that we have learned about in the past two classes are the Meracator map and the Peter's Projection map. The first difference is that the Meracator map is the map generally used in school systems. In the same way the Meracator map is seen much more than a Peter's Projection map.  The main difference between the two is that the Peter's Projection map shows a more accurate representation of the world and the countries in it. The Peter's map shows the countries at a size that is not distorted like the countries on the Meracator map is. The Peter's map shows the continents  more like they would be in reality.  An example of this is on the Meracator map Africa and Greenland look about the sam size while in reality Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland. Another reason for the Peter's map is that it gives the countries on the bottom more dominance. In my opinion the Peter's Projection map is a more ac

Today in class we learned about maps. We looked at three different types of maps and took notes on the characteristics of each one. The first one was a map of the United States, the second was a Mercator map, and the third was a Peters Projection map. We watched a short video also that showed why the Peters Projection map is more accurate than the Mercator map that we generally use. I also learned what topography is, it is how the mountains are shown on a map. I took some new notes on different parts on the maps, like the colors separating the states. Overall it was an interesting lesson and I enjoyed learning some new things about maps. Human Geography is still my favorite class! You make it very enjoyable. Hopefully my grade continues to be good.

Today in Human Geo we took a test on what we have been learning about A Message to Garcia. I thought that it was a very fair test and covered a lot of things that we learned. I think that I got most of the multiple choice and short answer questions right except for one. The question about the words with the same origin as polis I simply just could not remember. My essays showed that I was paying attention and that I studied (hopefully you agree). Overall I feel pretty confident in what I showed on the test and I hope that my grade is a good one. But, even if I do not get a good grade I know I have learned a lot from this section and am excited to learn more in your class, because it is still my favorite class.

Today in class we reviewed for our test tomorrow. Some things that I think might be on the test are questions about Socrates and the disagreement around him. I also think that there will be questions about the various facts that we learned about Greek language and culture. There will probably be a bunch of other questions on the test that we reviewed but I can't remember at the moment. I am a little nervous for the test because I feel like I may not do well and also because I have a bible test tomorrow as well. But, I am going to study hard tonight and see how it goes. This is my absolute favorite class by the way!

The past two days we have been discussing the ancient Greek world. Today we focused in on Socrates who is a main character in ancient Greek history. Socrates is overall a pretty amazing guy. We learned about his outstanding character even in times of distress. As a young person Socrates worked as a stonemason, which is a difficult job to have. He also was a war hero, in the Peloponnesian War. Socrates experiences are what determined his beliefs. He taught young students with a very unique question answer method. But, some of the things he taught were against the traditional views of the Greeks. Socrates was charged with corruption of youth and impiety. He was sentenced to death and was killed with poison hemlock. The man's character and strong beliefs stood firm until his death. Socrates, in my opinion, is a great example and is someone each and every one of us high school students could learn from.

Today in class we learned about the ancient Greeks and you gave us some terms to define. Here they are: Agora: a public, open space used for assemblies and markets Polis: a city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes The importance of the year 508 BC to the ancient Greeks: first revolt against democracy Socrates: classical Greek philosopher, one of the founders of Western philosophy The death of Socrates: was charged for disrespecting the gods and corruption of youth, was killed in jail by poison The Socratic method: form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals What the ancient Greeks meant when they called you an idiot: said to people who did not contribute to politics and the community

Today in class we followed up with our discussion about Elbert Hubbard's essay called A Message to Garcia . We continued to talk about the point he was trying to make in his essay and how that can apply to us as high school students. The essay talks a lot about how people often do not know how to be good workers and rarely take initiative to get their work done. In my opinion this is true and often is relatable to high school students. I think this because I myself can relate to the fact of being lazy and not always wanting to do my work. It is very hard to be a good worker, so many people take the easy way out. Overall, I feel that this reading was really interesting and still is very relatable and is a wake up call for those that need to change their working habits. I am really enjoying this class!

High school is a lot to manage. Juggling classes, sports, and homework is very difficult. In my opinion the worst part about it is trying to manage your time. Even though it is only the second day I already have 4 homework assignments that are due by the end of the week. To me it is not even the actual school work that stresses me out it it managing that and sports, while also trying to make new friends and be social. Overall high school has been fun even though it is very challenging. Today in class we talked about Elbert Hubbard and his famous essay called "A Message to Garcia." This essay was written in 1899, but is still referred to today. From what we have read in the essay so far I know that the main theme in the essay is how people can be stupid and that being on top of your work and getting it done is very important. Hubbard talks about the importance of taking initiative and following through with the things you need to get done. I really enjoyed class today

Today was my first official day at John Carroll, and I really liked it. My least favorite part was that in classes we didn't really learn anything so it was kind of boring. The best part of my day was sitting next to my best friends Greg and Alex at lunch. I also enjoyed meeting new people in my classes and at lunch. I made a new friend named Tom who is from China and I really liked talking to him. I like my seat in Human Geo because I can see the board very well which will help me learn. I dislike my seat because I sit next to Laura and my name is Nora so that is going to be quite confusing. I really think I am going to have fun at JC this year and I am very excited to be in your class this year.