Preparation for Test

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we went over some of the questions that are on the test, which was scheduled for today but now moved to Friday. Mr. Schick gave us the opportunity to give our input by asking us for some questions that he might use on the test. This gave us a general idea of what the questions would be like for the test on Friday. Schools in the Harford County area experienced a bomb threat today. We had to evacuate the school and g outside the school just to be safe. Because of this we had shortened mod schedule today. Also, it was Powder Puff Day for the seniors and juniors. The game started at 2:00 PM. This was another reason for the shortened mod schedule. The seniors ended up winning the game as expected. The juniors put up a strong fight but couldn’t hold off the powerful seniors.

Test Questions

1.  How did the Native Americans get to America? came by the ice bridge
2. What were the names of the ships on which the Vikings adventured to America? Snekke, Drekkar, and Skeid 
3. Why did the Vikings leave Greenland? harsh climate
4. What is the biggest religion? Christianity
5. What religion is also an ethnic group? Judaism

Religion Discussion

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we discussed some religions including Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Christianity is the biggest in terms of followers of all the religions. Islam follows Christianity being the second largest. All these religions tend to be very different; however, they can be surprisingly similar. For example, most of these religions have a god who they worship and devote their life to this god. Whether it is one god who is a Trinity or many gods, they show their respect in many ways. With these different religions, come different cultures that originated from the countries that founded the religion. Each religion has its traditions and beliefs that have been adopted and become an everyday lifestyle. No two religions are the same. With that being said, we must have respect for the other religions just as we would like and expect to have respect for our own religion.

Religion Questions

Christianity 

              Christianity was founded around the time of 30 A.D. in the city of Israel. Christianity is a form of monotheism, which is the belief in one God. Christians have a holy book called the Bible. There are about 2.2 billion people who claim to be following Christianity, which is nearly one-third of the population. Jesus Christ is the central figure of Christianity as the Son of God. The geographical concentration of Christianity is mostly practiced in the Western World, being North America, Europe and Oceania. It is practiced all over the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity

Islam 

                 

                Islam was founded in 622 CE in the city of Mecca. Islam is monotheistic. They believe in one, indivisible God. The Quran is the holy book for the Islamic religion. About 1.5 million people follow Islam. The central figure of Islam is Allah which is a Arabic word meaning "One True God." Islam is practiced in many countries. The geographical concentration of Islam is mostly in the countries of Morocco, Pakistan, India, Iran, Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Turkey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam

Buddhism                

                Buddhism was founded in the 6th century BCE in India. Buddhism is neither monotheistic nor polytheistic. They do not believe in God.  The Buddhist's sacred holy book is called the Tipitaka. The amount of people that follow Buddhism is around 376 million people. Buddah is the central figure of Buddhism. There are two branches of Buddhism, which are Theravada and Mahayana. The geographical concentration od Theravada is in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. The geographical concentration of Mahayana is in East Asia. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

Hinduism

                 Hinduism was founded around the time of 3500 B.C. in the area of the Indus Valley, which is in India. Hinduism in a monotheistic religion. It has a holy book and they call it the Vedas. Being the third largest religion for the amount of followers, Hinduism has anywhere from 860 million to 1.4 billion people claiming to follow this religion. Their central figure is Krishna. The geographical concetration of Hinduism is in Northern India. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism

Judaism 

                 Judaism was founded in Israel around the time of 2000 B.C. Judaism is a monotheistic religion. The holy book for this religion is the Tanakh, which contains the most holy book being the Torah. This religion has about two million followers. The patriarchs, who include Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are the central figures of Judaism. The geographical concentration of Judaism is mainly in Israel but also takes place in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism
                

Cultural Geography

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we took notes on a power point that Mr. Schick presented on cultural geography. We discussed the characteristics of cultural geography which were language, religion, and ethnic heritage. These are parts of people’s everyday life. They are the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members and they can also link or divide a region. For example, in the power point, there was a picture of the United States which had many different colors. It was a map of all the counties and what they called soft drinks. Most of the north central and west part of America called it pop. Most of the south central and east calls it coke. Whether they are referring to Sprite or actually coke, they call it all coke. New England and south west area calls it soda. There are many where they call it something else or the counties all around them call it one thing, but they have adopted another.

Presentation Day

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we presented our power point presentations that we worked on during the previous class on Monday. The first group presented on the Native Americans. The Native Americans arrived nearly 10,000 years ago and migrated to America. They came by the Ice Bridge. At this time, there were no other cultures in the Americas. They were not sent by anyone to find the land, but discovered it on their own. The Native Americans have been in America for about 15,000 years. The next group presented on the topic of the Vikings. The Viking arrived in America in 1000 A.D. the first Viking to arrive was a man named Leif Ericson. They came on three ships named the Snekke, Drekkar, and Skeid. They landed in Greenland, but left due to the harsh climate and their crops failed. Also, they landed in Vinland and Canada. There were 20-30 million Native Americans already in America at this time. They were not sent by anyone to discover the unknown land and they didn’t have to fight for the land because they abandoned it. The final group presented on Christopher Columbus, who found America on October 12, 1492.  They arrived in present-day Bahamas and they sailed to America with three ships called the Pinta, Nina, and the Santa Maria. He fought to conquer the Native Americans and their land. He outwitted and outgunned them. 

Christopher Columbus Day

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we got our tests back. We took the test on Friday. They were based off the movie God Grew Tired Of Us, which we watched in class the previous week. After we got the test back, we went over them and made where we got the answer wrong, we have to fill in the correct answer. Then, Mr. Schick gave us some information about the history of Christopher Columbus Day. Next, we broke up into three groups. These groups were the Vikings, Native Americans, and Christopher Columbus. I was in the Christopher Columbus group along with Greg, John, Ryan, Damian, Haley, and Caroline who both had to leave early to for volleyball. We worked on making a power point by answering the questions that were posted on Mr. Schick’s Human Geography blog. For the remainder of class and for homework, we have to answer the questions. 

On Friday in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we began the class by reviewing for the upcoming test on the movie called God Grew Tired Of Us. Mr. Schick gave us fifteen minutes to review our notes for the test. Then, we took the test, which took about twenty to twenty-five minutes. During the test Mr. Schick allowed us to use our blogs, which we post daily and contains helpful notes that we took during class. Until everyone finished the test, we had to sit quietly. Then, he explained to us about how we were starting a new unit about Cultural Geography. For the rest of the class mod, we had to look up unusual cultures all from around the world. Overall, there are some very strange cultures and customs performed by countries around the world. This shows how diverse the entire world is and no country is the same. 

Test Tomorrow

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography, we continued to talk about some of the foundations that we found yesterday. We shared details about the foundations and if they sounded like they were a good, reliable foundation that really focused on helping those in need in Africa. We also extended our thoughts and ideas of ways that we good help them as well. If we get a lot of people to give something little, it could turn out to be something huge for those in need. We could get the entire school involved in helping them. There are so many ways we can give our support. Tomorrow we are having a test on the movie we watched called God Grew Tired Of Us. The men in this movie have accomplished so much from coming from a life of suffering to giving back to their people back in Sudan. They are doing so much to help their people back in their homeland.

Finding Foundations

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class today we started class by talking about any ideas that any of us had about helping the Lost Boys of Sudan. To further our research on helping them, we broke up into small groups or we could work independently on trying to find a foundation to help contribute to them. My group found several foundations. In my group were Ellie, Greg, and John. Mr. Schick also told us that he had e-mailed John Bul about possibly coming to John Carroll to speak.  He replied that he was willing to come and speak to our school but there would be cost. He also told Mr. Schick some of the topics he could talk about if he did end up coming to speak to our school. We would have to pay for his flight coming here and back, a hotel for him to stay in, and a few other things. All the money would end up going to his foundation.

God Grew Tired Of us Finished Movie

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we the finished the movie that we have been watching for the past couple of days called God Grew Tired of Us. This movie is about the Lost Boys of Sudan.  One of the men that came to America was Panther. Panther recently got married and was able to reunite with his mother and brother. He got his Bachelor’s Degree and wants to open a school back in Sudan. John Bul Dau, is getting his Bachelor’s Degree, supporting his family back in Sudan, and he wants to set up a medical clinic back in Sudan. Daniel Bol is working in the job corp. and has not found any of his family yet. To help the boys that are still in Africa, we can send money to provide them with food and water. With the shortage of fresh water sources, it is very important to provide water for them. Also, we can send medical supplies over to help those who need the medical attention.