may 28

Today in class was the essay potion of the exam. I wrote my 3 essays with 15 minutes to spare. I feel really good about them. Mr. Schick gave me a thumbs up sooo cool.

may 27

Today in class we went of the test that i got an 85% on. We reviewed for the exam and asked any questions about the essay portion. How long? was a major question.

may 26

Today in class we took the test on Rome. It was 40 multiple choice questions. Very fair. I felt pretty good after the test. I knew that I had gotten a couple wrong but not a lot. I think it did very good. I hope i get an A. I need to boost my grade in this class. I have an 88 right now and i want an A. I am not sure if he put the grade in for the project but he may have, I don't know.

May 20

Today in class we heard another 3 groups present including: Jayla and the pot, Arthur and Alex with architecture, and Trish and Caitlyn with the Roman diaries. They all did fantastic! Especially Arthur and Alex. Applause to them. Their presentation was great and the visual aid of the temple was amazing. There had to be 1000 pieces in that thing. Had to of taken them forever!

may 19

Today 3 groups presented. We had pasta, salad, and cheescake that were kinda like rocks. We heard an iggy remixed roman song. We learned all abou the coloseum, circus maximus. I was a great Tuesday morning.!!!!!!!!!!!!

may 13

Today in class We took a pop quiz. I failed. Oops! I got to do my Spanish homework. The we tryed to fix our powerpoint and paper. It didn't go well. We were arguing and stuff. Why are we so dysfunctional? I don't know. This one page paper should be easy not the end of us. UGH!

may 12

Today in class we finished the video. it was actually really good. We had a discussion on whether or not Tiberius was realy with the peple or was thinking about himself. We also talked about how this is actually a good source of what happened. I like the video. Mr. Schick said there are like 6 more episodes but we will not be watching all of them.

may 8

Mr. Schick wasnt here so we worked on our pot agian. We are pretty much finished but we have to bake it then smooth it out and maybe even glaze it but i dont really want to glaze it. We started a powerpoint and we have to do our paper thing. We should be done by the due date.

may 7

Today we watched a video on Rome. Mr. Schick talked about it then he started talking about this academic thing. The class said that Chesca, Karson, and Kendall should do it. They all declined but who knows they may end up doing it anyway.

may 6

Today in class we took sooooooooooooooo many notes. It was tiring and truthfully I didnt want to be there because I hate taking notes. I got through it and I think it was worth it eventhough i could just look at the powerpoint on Mr. Schick's blog.

may 5

Today in class we took a lot of notes. My hand was really tired. Mr. Schick said that we should use our other hand. When he said that, he thought of a funny memory/story. He then HAD to tell us. I don't feel like typing out the story so Im not going to. We left class 2 minutes early becasue bells werent working.

Grandparents Day!

Today was grandparents day! All three of my grandparents were here today. In class we contined going over the Rome, Rome, Rome, Rome rap. All of the grandparents, including mine seemed to enjoy Mr.Schick's lesson today.  He made it fun and enjoyable.  Jayla's grandmother was participating in the discussion. We had tons of people 'grandparents there.  It was great to see everyone enjoying their day with the complain of their grandparents.

april 29

Today in class we were given another class time to officially pick our group and our project. I am officially making a pot or bowl or something of that sit with Alyssa and Chesca. i typed up a little thing on the decorations on the ARS pottery. I am going to try to find something that would make a good pattern for our bowl. We are all ready. And Mr. G is going to help us out too.

april 28

Today in class we had a class discussion about the riots in Baltimore. Our class had a good discussion with different people expressing their opinions. We discussed the possible rioting opinion coming into Harford county and Bel Air. I wasn't really too excited to be talking about the riots because I had watched hours of the people broadcasting the riots on TV last night. In some ways I just don't want to hear anything about it, but in other ways i want to talk about it because it is important to know what is happening in our city. I think it is good that we are discussing it in school because it is something that everyone should be informed about and they should have a good knowledge of what is going on and hat has all ready happened.

april 22

Today in class we were able to do our homework or talk about our projects while Mr. Schick was finishing grading our papers. Alyssa, Chesca, and I got a .......... 99%.  Yay us. I am so happy about our grade. We did so well. We worked great together and got a really good result for our work. We were so close to a 100, but im not complaining.

april 21

Today in class we started our Rome unit. We took notes on some powerpoint that Mr. Schick had on the board. Mr. Schick had a guest who came in to talk to us about Rome. This guest was one of Mr. Schick's friends. He is rapper. He rapped all about Rome and the people and dates and such. It was hilarious. Everyone was video taping it. It was great. I think this song will make everyone ace the test. We just need to hear it like right before we take it and we will do great.

april 17

Today in class I completely embarrassed myself. I split an entire water bottle on myself. It was a horrible day in class. I was soaking wet and freezing cold so that didn't help and also the picking of our project went bad. we thought about ding pottery. It looks like its going to be hard, but we have some ideas. If we can get access to a pottery wheel then we should be able to do it, but we should have a backup plan too. Just in case.

april 16

Toady in class we started to think of project ideas. I liked how we could pick basically any type of project on just about anything that had to do with ancient roman and Romans. We were given the opportunity to pick our groups too. I have NO idea what to do.

april 15

Today in class we watched a video on the allegory of the cave. It was really weird. I was really confused on the video. It didn't make any sense until mr. schick explained to us that it could have been refering to Socrates and th unexamined life and other teaching of his. After, we discussed the video. We all seemed to understand wat mr. Schick was getting at with the whole Socrates thing.

April 14

Today in Class, we went over the test. I got a 92%!!!!!!!! I was surprised at some of the questions that people got wrong. I guess to me they seemed easy, but to others they may have been hard. It was probably hard to those who chose to not study. I feel very good about my grade. Now ive got to get my paper back.

March 31

Today is the last day of March and the last day to work on our projects. We finished up today with a few grammatical errors and spelling errors and usage and wording errors. I think all together our paper is going to be great and we will hopefully receive an awesome grade too. Now I need to prepare for this big Greece test. I think everyone will be pretty nervous for that tomorrow because it is going to be a HUGE test. I think it will be the longest and biggest one yet all year. I really need to study because I didnt really study all that much last week.

march 27

Today was the second day Mr.Schick was gone. It was a little crazy today. We got very little done in class but we told each other that we would all do our parts over the weekend and on Monday. Hopefully we will get it done by Monday and be able to put finishing touches and print it. We each finished about one or two of our paragraphs in class but we still have a lot to do. At the end of class we had a little over 500 words.

march 26

Today was the first day that Mr. Schick was gone. Alyssa, Chesca and I started working on our paper. Today we mostly did research and we also did the topic paragraph. We didnt get much done but it was a start. We also discussed some ideas for our essay. We are looking to get a great grade, but we need to learn each other's writing styles before we can get a perfect grade.

March 25

Today in class 2 more groups presented. 1 was on mythology and the other was on tyranny/government. I took notes. AND mr schick presented his PowerPoint. I learned a lot about the 12 main gods and goddesses. Adam and vrons PowerPoint was Roy good I think. that presented a lot that wasn't on the board. I think they did a great job.The other group did well also but didn't explain too much. it was more just reading and mumbling.

March 25

Today in class 3 or 4 groups presented including Alyssa chesca and I. I get nervous when talking infrontof other people so I myself didn't do as well as I would have liked. Alyssa and Chesca did great. The grade that is in Q3 for the PowerPoint is a 94%. I am extremely happy with that grade. my group and I worked very hard on that PowerPoint and we deserved that grade. That grade actually bright Chesca DOWN. It brought me up like 2 measly point, but something is better than nothing.

march 19

Today in class we discussed plans for our presentations, what to do when Mr. Schick is in the Netherlands, more on Greece, and maybe a few other things. WE FINISHED OUR PROJECT!!!!! Ready to present tomorrow. We are going to do great. Hopefully we will have off tomorrow because I don't really feel like getting up early. Cross your fingers!

march 18

Today in class we talked about Tyrants and Hippias and Aristocracy. I will put my notes in tomorrow because I left my notebook in my locker :( Progress on Google Slides- We have to add 2 pictures and then we are DONE!!! Mr. Schick threw water everywhere today and it was pretty funny. I was like crying I was laughing so hard so I guess it was funny. We have to present our project on Friday so maybe I shoild practice a little to "perfect our act". I really need a good grade on this so we have to be perfect!

march 17

Today in class we worked on our Google Slides project. I think that Alyssa, Chesca and I are pretty much finished. We have a few more little things to do. We need to add a couple more picture and maybe do a spelling and grammar check. I think we will be able to present it well and get a good grade on it too. I could use a boost in my West Civ grade because of that test. EEK!

March 13

Today In class we worked on our Google slides projects again. Sadly I didn't have my computer because I left it at home plugged into the wall. Mr. Schick told me to look on the bright side though, it would be fully charged! Very funny Mr. Schick. Chesca got a lot of work done on Plato though. I told her I would work on it at home to make up for not being able to help in class. We will get in done, we just need to put in some work at home!

march 12

Today in class we started our PowerPoint projects. Alyssa, Chesca and I got 6 slides done. That's like a third of the project done. I think we actually got a good topic and will be able to do a lot with it. I think that I am actually going to have to present it and talk to the class. I hope we get to do more work on it tomorrow. My group and I plan to try to get it done early so we can relax a bit and watch this video that Mr. Schick keeps telling us about,

march 11

I am in a group with Alyssa and Chesca.
We have #6:
Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates

march 10

Today in class we talked more about Greece. We talked a great deal about Homer, the blind storyteller. Mr. Schick did an impression of Homer with props. He put on sunglasses to look blind and read a part of the Odyssey to us "from memory". It was pretty funny when he flipped out on Adam and ran into the desks and bumped into everything/everyone. I actually learned something though from his little "performance". I thought it was a fun and informative class.  

cyber day 5

Socrates

Socrates was born somewhere between 470-469 BC in Athens. He died somewhere during 399. He died because he was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning. He had to die because he was accused of 2 crimes: disrespecting the gods and corrupting the minds and morals of the youth. Socrates taught Plato another one of the great philosophers. 

cyber day 4

Acropolis 

• a number of temples built on a hill overlooking Athens 
• built between 447-438 BC
• one building in the Acropolis is Parthenon

Parthenon 

• biggest building in the Acropolis 
• named after Athena Parthenos, the patron goddess of the city 
• it has 8 columns in the front and 17 on the sides 

Olympus

• birthplace of the olympic games 
• sacred place to Zeus 
• first recorded games took place in 776 BC
• there was one event: a foot race of 180 meters 

march 3

Today we started a chapter on Greece. Here are my notes:

GREAT CIVILIZATION	RIVER
Mesopotamia	Tigris/Euphrates
Egypt	Nile
India	Indus
China	Huang He

Greece 

• 1400 islands off of Greece
• Mediterranean Sea means "Middle of the Earth 
• Greece is way mountainous 
• It is a peninsula 
  

february 27

Today in clawe took our test. I thought I was going to do good but..... I didn't. Anyway, I am going to have to study more because obviously whatever I did for this test it didnt work. I am pretty disappointed in my grade so I am going to have to bring it up somehow.

cyber day 3

Questions for Schick’s test:

1.     Name ONE form of writing the Egyptians used.

a.      Hieroglyphs

b.     Hieratic Script

2.     Which of the following was considered a god:

a.      Slave

b.     Priest

c.      Artisan

d.     Pharaoh

3.     Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe, which they called ________:

a.      “maat”

4.     Which way does the Nile River flow

a.       North to South

b.     East to West

c.      South to North

d.     West to East

5.     Which of the following statements about the Nile River is FALSE:

a.      It floods ever July

b.     It floods every June

c.      It leaves behind rich soil every October

d.     Egyptian life is centered around the Nile

february 25

Government by a God-King

• Pharaoh was all powerful 
• worshiped as a  god
• connected to the other major Egyptian gods and goddesses 
• ****Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe, which they called "maat"****
• Pharaohs had multiple wives and all routes to financial and social success were through the palace
• Women could inherit money and land and divorce their husbands, through only a tiny few ever wielded real political power

Gods, Humans, and Everlasting Life

• Gods were often portrayed with animal heads or bodies 
• Egyptians believed in an afterlife and mummified bodies to preserve them for this post-death journey 
• All souls would need to justify themselves at the point of death and be either sent to an after-world paradise, or the jaws of a monster 

The Writing of the Words of God

• Earliest Egyprian writing formed about 3100BC and were small pictures known as hieroglyphs 
• Hieratic script was a shorthand developed by scribes and priests 
• was usually written in ink on papyrus, which was made from mashed  Nile reeds 
• Papyrus, the precursor to paper, was stored in scrolls and these scrolls were the books of ancient Egypt 

Calenders and Sailboats 

• Egyptian astronomers created a calender with 12 months and 365 days to make bettersense of the seasonal cycles 
• Due to their excellent knowledge of human anatomy, Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures for a number of common ailments 
• Wooden sailboats were constructed to increase transport ability on the Nile 

Pyramids and Temples

• the pyramids were massive stone tombs, originally covered in marble but the marble was later stripped off during the Muslim conquest
• Stone sculptures and interior painting depicted humans and gods in a series of regulated poses, often in profile and wthout persective, but were highly effective

cyber day 2

5 important inventions:

1.)  MEDICINE - Obviously this is a VERY important invention becasue it saved many people. The Egyptians used some strange things to make medicines but they cured tons of diseases. 

2.)  WRITING - This allowed the Egyptians to keep records so later generations could see and know what happened. 

3.)  SHIPBUILDING - This invention is a great one. It gave the Egyptians a way of transportation and it has helped the rest of the ages too.

4.)  PAPYRUS - Thsi is the paper that the Egyptians invented. It was used as important documents and religious texts. The Egyptians kept the making process a secret so they could sell it.

5.) TOOTHPASTE- Yes, the Egyptians invented toothpaste. Their bread was very gritty and had a lot of sand in it, so in order to keep their teeth healthy, they invented toothpaste and toothbrush. This obviously is a great invention because I'm sure we Americans are glad to have clean and healthy teeth.

THANKS EGYPTIANS FOR YOUR GREAT INVENTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!

february 19

Today in class we went over the Prezi that we took notes on during our cyber day

Important Facts:

Delta is triangular 

• Nile river flows SOUTH TO NORTH
• Nile river has 5 cataracts- which are kinda like waterfalls or rapids
• July it floods 
• October leaves be hind rich soil
• rich soil is delta

Pyramids:

• Sphinx 
• 4570 years ago they started building it 

Daily Life:

cyber day

Notes:

• geography 
• egyptian life is centered around the nile river
• water for drinking, irrigating, bathing, transportation
• every July it floods
• every October it leaves behind rich soil
• the delta is a broad, marshy triangukar area of fertile silt
• managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation
• pyramids 
• the Great Sphinx of Giza
• built 2555-2532 BC
• lion with humans head
• oldest monumental statue in the world
• daily life
• slaves/servants helped the wealthy with household and childraising duties 
• raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions - benefitted from irrigation of the Nile
• artisans would carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the afterlife
• money/barter system was used- merchants might accept bags of grain for payment- later, coinage came about
• scribes kept records, told stories, wrote poetry, described anatomy and medical treatments
• they wrote in hieroglyphs and in hieratic
• soldiers used woboden weapons (bows&arrows, spears) w/ bronze tips and might ride chariots
• upper class, known as the "white kilt class"- priests, physicians, engineers
• religious and political leader
• pharaohs 
• the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: 'Lord of the Lands' and 'High Priest of Every Temple'
• as the 'Lord of the Two Lands' the pharaoh was that ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all the land, made laws, collected taxes, defended Egypt against foreigners
• Hatshepsut was a woman that served the pharaoh
• Cleopatra VII also served as pharaoh, but much later(51-30BC)
• Goddesses & Gods
•  over 2000 gods and goddesses 
• they "controlled" the lives of humans

february 12

Today in class we review the purple test the I did bad on....I got an 84%:(

Now that we went over it I have all the right answers. Then in the second half of class we went over the test we took yesterday that I got a 100% on. We didn't finish going over the test but we were close. Next class we will finish the test. Im gonna have an awesome weekend. Oh! also in class, Mr. Schick scared Jerry.

february 11

Today was our test. I am really happy now too, because I got an........... %100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its sooooooo exciting. Anyway, I thought the test was fair. I personally like the Scantron tests best. I really hope we have more Scantron tests than any other type of tests.

february 6

Today in class we taught the new kids about the dings. I didn't get one and that was pretty depressing but I'll get over it. An 84% is good. After everyone got their tests back we presented our project things. When we presented ours, Chesca just yelled at for the spelling/grammar errors. Besides that, i think our project was good and I think that i am gonna do VERY well on this upcoming test on tuesday.

february 5

Today in class we worked in groups to do a mini project. We had the topic of smallpox. Chesca is controlling. We made a PowerPoint. It was challenging to do this task in such little time! We still haven't got our tests back yet, eek! I tried to put a attachment on my blog to my PowerPoint, but I couldn't figure it out!!!?

february 4

We finished the video. There are the last set of notes on the video: In Jordan, people start making plaster from limestone. The plaster would seal up cracks to help control the temperature in the home. This was a big advancement in understanding and control fire. This would eventually lead to steal. Because of the geography, New Guineans could not produce a surplus of food which caused no technological advancement. They spent there time looking for food and had no time to do anything else.

Fertile Crescent:
-became dry from all the farming, so people left
- traveled east and west because there were similar climates and vegetation  (knew skills and how to survive in certain climates)
- this movement spread farming and trade of skills, goods, animals, and crops (if this didn't happen America would not be at all what it is like today)
- Americans eat 21 million tons of wheat per year

The answer to the Cargo Question:
Geographical luck. If you guys had what my people started out with, then you would be the ones with all the cargo.

I liked this movie and hope we watch more.

february 4

Today I was not in class today because I had to leave school early for an orthodontist appointment.

february 3

Today in class we continued watching the film gins, germs, and steel. Here are my notes:

• Whats separates the haves and the havenots?
• Why do white men have so much cargo and we in New Guinea have so little?
• white men came in and took advantage of them
• showed them new things
• thought they were less "evolved" 
• they are intellegent in their own way 
• Why have so many sociaties advanced?
• 1. advanced technologies
• 2. large populations
• 3. well organized work force
• Sago
• starchy 
• no protein
• cant store for along time
• Barley and Wheat
• in middle east 
• can be stored
• Draa 
• place near Dead Sea
• prob first place and oldest permanant settlement that archeologists have found
• 11500 years ago
• prob first granary- place to store grain 
• How would they fill a granary in the drought?
• people GREW their OWN food
• planted fields of wheat and barley 
• first farmers 
• domestication- changing the way plants would behave in the wild to how it could help humans survive
• what places grew
• China- rice
• Americas- corn, squash, beans
• Africa- sorghum, millet, yams
• New Guinea had farmers for prob 10,000 years, but they DONT have wheat
• GEOGRAPHIC LUCK!!
• those who had grain/wheat/barley were lucky to have it grow in their region 
• New Guineans were not lucky 
• ANIMAL DOMESTICATION 
• clothes 
• meat
• fertilizer
• pull plow
• milk
• hides
• control the "alpha animal" and you can control the whole herd
• 14 species of animals that have been successfully domesticated :
• goats
• sheep
• pigs
• cows
• horses
• donkeys
• Bactrian camels 
• Arabian camels 
• water buffalo
• llamas
• reindeer
• yaks
• mithans
• vali cattle 
• South America had 1: llama 
• Asia, Europe, North Africa had the other 13
• Cows, sheep, pig, goat: Middle East

january 29

Today we took our test. We were allowed to use our blogs which was great. I wish i would of had he answers to the questions that i didnt know. I didnt know the multigods one and the calender one and the flood one. Other than those I feel pretty good. I think i got a good grade. The test was fair and i think that the format was ok. I prefer multiple choice with no essay or short answers, but that's in a perfect world. I guess Mr. Schick thought that would be too easy for us but whatever!

january 28

I was not in class today because I had a basketball game.  Studying for my test tomorrow.

january 27

Today in class we continued to talk about Hammarabi's code. Mr. Schick said if we had a good discussion on the code, we could take the test Thursday instead of tomorrow. These were some of the ones I shared and thought were interesting:

• 196. If a man has knocked out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be knocked out.
  
  
• 197. If he has broken the limb of a patrician, his limb shall be broken.
  
  
• 198. If he has knocked out the eye of a plebeian or has broken the limb of a plebeian, he shall pay one mina of silver.
  
  
• 199. If he has knocked out the eye of a patrician's servant, or broken the limb of a patrician's servant, he shall pay half his value.
  
  
• 200. If a patrician has knocked out the tooth of a man that is his equal, his tooth shall be knocked out.
  
  
• 201. If he has knocked out the tooth of a plebeian, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver. 

january 22

Here are the definitions :

Prehistory- the period of time before written records

Paleolithic Age- second part of the Stone Age beginning about 750,00 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age about 8,500 years BC

Neolithic Age- latest part of the Stone Age beginning about 10,000 BC in the Middle East (but later elsewhere)

Agricultural Revolution- or agrarian revolution is a period of transition from the pre-agricultural period characterized by a Paleolithic diet, into an agricultural period characterized by a diet of cultivated foods; or a further transition from a living form of agriculture into a more advanced and more productive form of agriculture, resulting in further social changes, and some argue worse individual living conditions

Cuneiform- denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets.

Ziggurat- (in ancient Mesopotamia) a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium BC and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel 

Indo-Europeans- of or relating to the family of languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia as far as northern India.

january 20

Today was my first day of western civ and it was kind weird not having all the same people in my class anymore. We lost Cody, Zach, and Jon which was pretty sad but we still have many of the other people from my human geo class. I'm happy that I still have my same seat. The class is also bigger. I think it is gonna be a good semester. In class today, we set up our new blogs and sent our web addresses to Mr. Schick. The new kids seemed pretty "off balance" when they heard about the blogs, but other than that I think they were petty excited for the class. I am excited too though. I hope it will be fun and I will get to learn as much as I did in human geo.