Guns, Germs, and Steel Part 4

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we continued to watch the movie, Guns, Germs and Steel. We are onto part four of the documentary movie. In part four of the movie we learned about Domestication. Domesticated means that the people grew it themselves then they could grow more than needed to store it. There are three characteristics of civilization. First, is a Large Population. Second, is a Division of Labor. Lastly, are Technological Advancements. In China, they grow rice. In the United  States we grow corn. In Africa, they grow yams, millet, and sorghum. Earlier in the movie, Jared Diamond was faced with a question from a native Papua New Guinean that at the time he could not come up with an answer; however, he finally came to conclusions that some people and countries are just simply have Geological Luck, which means some people are just lucky enough to be born in a place for farming. 

Facts About Papua New Guinea

Today in Mr. Schick Human Geography class, we continued to study the country of Papa New Guinea.  Yesterday, we finished the documentary based on the book written by Jared Diamond called Guns, Germs, and Steel. In this movie, Diamond went to Papua New Guinea to study the people, geography, and culture of the country. We extended our research today by looking up what’s going on in Papua New Guinea and what the country is like. We broke into small groups and then shared our facts as a huge class .Papua New Guinea is the 12th fastest growing economy. The GPD of Papa New Guinea is .9%. There are just now starting to cut down some of the forests unlike Brazil, who have been doing it for a while now rapidly.  There Net Migration Rate is 0. The number one religion in Papua New Guinea is Christianity. There are very few paved airports in Papua New Guinea. They have an army and even a air force. They have about three million soldiers that would fight in war. 30% of the population is below the poverty line. 13% of the population of Papua New Guinea is urban. 3,100 people are active in the military. The internet hosts is 5,006 and the cell phone users is 125,000 people. The unemployment rate is 1.9%. 57.3% of the people can read and write in Papua New Guinea. There are over 800 languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. 

Guns, Germs, and Steel Movie Part 2

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we continued to watch a movie based on the book written by Jared Diamond called Guns, Germs and Steel. Jared Diamond started his expedition in New Guinea. He was left with a question by one of the New Guineans that caught his interest. He was asked, “Why do you white men have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little.” Diamond knew it was a simple question but he could not come up with an answer at the time. Finally, he was able to come up with a reasonable response. This was that some societies have developed a civilization faster than others. Further into the movie, they mentioned some agriculture. They have granaries, which is a place to store the grain. They put the excess grain into the granaries. Up to this point this is how people lived; they hunted and gathered.  

Guns, Germs and Steel Movie Part 1

On Friday, in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we started to watch a movie, which was based off the book Guns, Germs and Steel written by Jared Diamond. We watched part one and part two of the movie. Jared Diamond has travelled the world to discover the countries power. His expedition began in the rain forest of Papa New Guinea. He still makes regular visits to New Guinea today. Diamond has a love and strong interest in birds. He was also very interested in the people of New Guinea. He got to know them better by studying their language. There have been people living in New Guinea for about forty thousand years. In his research he found that it is a very cultural diverse country. The people of New Guinea think of cargo as white men’s power. The white men, who showed up to help, viewed themselves as genetically superior.

Jared Diamond; Guns, Germs, and Steel

Jared Diamond is a scientist and author. Currently, he is a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles. He won a Pulitzer award for writing Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and went to college at Cambridge. Then, He went back to Harvard. His field experience led him to twenty two expeditions to New Guinea and many other countries neighboring Papua New Guinea. He went so he could study ecology and the evolution of birds. Also, he studies the rediscovery of Papua New Guinea. In addition, he also has many discoveries that are used today at colleges. He has a PhD in Philosophy and Geography. He wrote the book Guns, Germs and Steel.

Guns, Germs and Steel is a book that was written by Jared Diamond. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction and was a  multimillion seller. In this book, he puts forth an argument on the environmental differences in Papa New Guinea. This book was written in 1977. This book faces many arguments. For example it tries to explain the situation of why Eurasian civilization has survived and continued on to conquer other countries as well.

                                                        

Midterm Review

Recently, in class we have been reviewing for midterms. Our midterms is on Monday and is the second one of the day, Mr. Schick went over the study guide on what was going to be on the exam. We discussed all the  units that we studied and the specific things that would be on the test. The midterms is worth 20% of our grade so it is important to study hard so I can get a good grade all around. When we were reviewing, I remembered a lot about what we had learned in the past which is reassuring. I am pretty confident about ths exam and plan to keep studying and reviewing a lot.

Absent For Class

On Monday, I was absent for class.

Project Day

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we finished the final part of the video, The People’s Republic of Capitalism. After we finished the video, Mr. Schick introduced us to our next group project. This project was based off the video, which we have been watching for the past week. In our group are Mary, Damian, and Isaac. We got to pick a country out of Mr. Schick’s birthday hat and the country that we picked was the United States. Now we have to find a product that was made in the United States and make a power point promoting people to buy the product because it is manufactured in the United States, while another group is going to be representing another country and promoting people to buy the product because it was manufactured in that country. The product that our group is promoting is the Cadillac CTS car.

                                                                  

The People's Republic of Capitalism Part 4 Video

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human geography class we continued to watch the video called The People’s Republic of Capitalism, which he have been watching since we started our unit on Capitalism. The movie is about how the production and buying of cars is rapidly increasing in the country of China. It was not that long ago where the Chinese relied mostly on riding bicycles from destination to destination where ever they need to go. However, over the past years, it began to change. Most people are buying there very first car at the age of forty or fifty. This is unlike the people in the United States because they usually are buying their first car in their teenage years. Many car companies moved their production over to China where they can make cars for a lot less money. They do not have to pay the Chinese workers as much because they will work for less. 

Definitions For Class

Capitalism is "based on the individual rights and it is politically the system of laissez-faire which means freedom. Capitalism is a social system. It is an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production distribution and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or cooperations."

Communism is "the idea that everyone in a given society receives equal share of benefits which came from labor. A political system that aims to develop a classless and stateless social order structured upon ownership of the means of production as well as a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of this social order."

Free Enterprise  is "an economic system where few restrictions are placed on business activities and ownership. In this system, governments generally have minimal ownership of enterprises in the market place. This system aims for limited restrictions on trade and minimal government intervention."

Free Market a "market economy based on supply and demand with little or no government control. A completely free market is an idealized form of a market economy where buyers and sellers are allowed to transact freely (i.e. buy/sell/trade) based on a mutual agreement on price without state intervention in the form of taxes, subsidies or regulation."

The People's Republic of China Part 3 Video

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we continued to watch the video on Capitalism in China. We finished the part one video and then skipped over part two and went one to part three of the video. With the growth of vehicles on the road in China, this calls for me accidents.  Because they used to travel mainly by bicycles, many people are just now learning how to drive, which causes many accidents as well. There are people who are in their forties and fifties who are just now learning how to drive and are purchasing their very first car. Soon China will pass the United States with the number of cars on the roads.  They are also building many new roads by hand. This saves them a whole lot of money when they do not have to pay the workers a large sum of money, which they do in the United States. 

The People' s Republic of Capitalism Continued

Recently, I missed one of Mr. Schick’s Human Geography classes because I had an orthodontist appointment. I hate going to the orthodontist but this time I went I got my braces off so it was not as bad this time as it usually is. Anyway, I was back in class today and we continued to watch movie or documentary on Capitalism. The video is called the People’s Republic of Capitalism. As the movie went on, the term of interdependence came up during the video. American workers were being laid off because companies decided that they needed to save money so they moved their production over to a growing, manufacturing city in China called Chongqing where the Chinese would work as hard as American workers but they would also do it for a smaller amount of money than the American workers. Of course, this made many Americans jobless and angry. One spoke out about it however the odd thing about this was that she admits to still shopping at this store, which was Walmart.

Absent for Class

Today I was absent from class today.

The People's Republic of Capitalism Video Part 1

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class we got our tests back that we took before the Thanksgiving break. The test was fairly easy and I think I got a B on it. Our class was the class that had the highest grade average. After we got the tests back, we corrected them and went over them. Then, we started our next unit by watched a Youtube video after Capitalism in China. China wants to make the city of Chongqing, China into a major manufacturing city. China had an over-population problem so couple of years ago the government made a strict one child rule. Each family in China could only have one child. If they had two or more children, then they would have to pay for schooling and many other necessities. Because of the harsh Earthquake, many families were left childless. In this case, the government allowed these families to try again to have another child as long as they had proof of their child’s death. 

Mexico declared independence in the early 19^th century. Before they were an independent nation, they were conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16^th century. Also, Mexico is a site of advanced Amerindian civilizations. Some of the groups within the nation include the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec. They were a part of Spain for three centuries.

Germany declared independence in 1777. Julius Caesar used to be control of Germany when they founded it. But the Battle of Teautoburg Forest prevented the annexation by the Roman Empire. Germnay was divided into two sections in 800-900. The Holy Roman Empire was formed and clashed in the Thirty Years’ War. This war drew an end to the Holy Roman Empire and a beginning of the modern nation-state system.

Israel declared independence o May 14, 1948. After World War II, many Arabs and Jewish people went to this area. Also, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area. When all the people began to come in, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. Before they declared independence, The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) occupied Israel.

France declared independence in 1789. People began living in France about 1.57 million years ago. Three three main entho-linguistic groups in France were the Gauls, Aquitani, and the Belgae. Then many years later, France was ruled under the House of Capet, founded by Hugh Capet in 987. In the late 18^th century, the monarchy and associated institutions were overthrown in the French Revolution.  

Brazil declared its independence on September 7, 1822. Brazil starts with Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. The first European to explore Brazil was Pedro Alvares Cabral on April 22, 1500. From the 16^th to the 19^th centuries, Brazil was a colony of Portugal. Then they decided to be an independent nation. 

Afghanistan declared independence on August 19, 1919. It has been a popular focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. It is the hardest country in the world to live in. A man from The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was killed in 1978. Members of this party began to fear that the government was going to be dismantled because many were being arrested. Afghanistan is located near South Asia, Central Asia, and part of Western Asia. 

Iran declared its independence in October of 1977.It is home of the world's largest civilizations. Iran has had many different leaders . In January of 1978, the Iranian Revolution occurred. This was against the first major demonstration against the Shah. It is located in Western Asia.

Saudi Arabia declared its independence on May 20, 1947. The new kingdom was on a reliant on limited agriculture and pilgrimage revenues and therefore was a very poor country. The Kingdom is called "Unification Kingdom." There was never an empire as the rulers. Saudi Arabia is located is Western Asia. 

India declared independence on August 15, 1947. The main leader that helped India gain its independence from Great Britain was Mahatma Gandhi. Europeans set up colonies in India. Luckily, India did not have to go through any war to gain independence from the United Kingdom. India is located in South Asia. 

The United Kingdom was never owned by any country so therefore they did not have to gain independence from any country. The United Kingdom controlled many countries. The United Kingdom is located off the north-west coast of Europe. 

Venezuela declared independence on July 5, 1811. They got it from France. The military strong men running the country main promotion was oil. Venezuela was one of the three countries that were involved in the collapse of Gran Columbia in 1830. Venezuela is located on the Northern coast of South America. 

Test Back and Drug Cartel

Today in Human Geography class, we got our test back that we took on Friday. I did well on the first part of the test but not so good on the back. It probably would have better if I had known about the test so I could have studied. Because I forgot to check Mr. Schick’s Blog, I did not know about the test and so I did not do very well. Luckily, he let us use our blogs for the test which actually helped me a lot. Well we just went over the test and corrected them for most of class. Towards the end of class, we moved our conversation over to the drug cartel. A drug cartel is “an illicit cartel formed to control the production and distribution of narcotic drugs.” We discussed how the drug cartel has majorly affected Mexico. The class then ended during our discussion so I expect to continue our discussion on Wednesday.

Colonialism

On Friday in Human Geography we started our next unit on Colonialism after we finished the test one the political leaders . Colonialism is the most developed form of imperialism whereby the controlling state invades another state or region so as to exploit its resources and/or the purpose of large scale immigration. Imperialism is the process through which a state attempts to control the economic and/or political and cultural make-up of another state. It is in sense an extension of political control and it is a policy of extending control over foreign entities to acquire and/or maintain empires. We discussed how that the number one export in the United States is movies. Colonialism is in a sense an extension or territorial control and through either settler colonies administrative dependencies are indigenous population and (in) directly ruled or displaced. Also, it is one way of achieving a more general goal of imperialism. 

Political Leader Facts

Today in Mr. Schick’s Human Geography class, we continued to talk about political leaders from around the world. For most of the class we shared two interesting facts about the leaders and then took the blow up globe and Mr. Schick would throw it at us and we would have to find what on the globe where the country was that we shared our fact about with the leader. Some facts that I learned were that Benjamin Netanyahu was the first man that was born in Israel to become a leader of the country, Hu Jintao dismissed a lot of political leaders and also he established his country of China into the best economy, many people tried to assassinate Hamid Karzai and the Taliban was in office before him, and Francois Hollande was a special advisor for the president at that time before he took office. Tomorrow we are having a quiz on these leaders.

Facts About Obama

Barrack Obama

• ended the war in Iraq
• first black president 

Facts About Presidents

Enrique Pena Nieto

• lived with the president at that time during his presidency,and had friends and relatives who were involved in politics
• went to Law School, became a lawyer, and got his Master's Degree

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

• developed a government scholarship program 
• was rated the second worst dictator in the world 

Angela Merkel

• had a goal to strengthen transatlantic economic relations 
• was awarded the Vision for Europe Award

                                               Benjamin Netanyahu

• brother was killed in Israeli Special Force
• delivered a peace address ("Bar-llan Speech")
• first man that was born in Israel to become leader
• 
  

Hu Jintao

• has a low-key leadership style
• firm believer in consensus-based rule
• established his country into the best economy
• dissmissed a lot of political leaders 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• has been criticized for attacking private "plunderers" and "corrupt officials"
• accused for indecency after he kissed the hand of his former school teacher

Hamid Karzai

• brother was at the center of the drug trade
• his family became wealthy by murky means
• many people planned to assassinate him
• the Taliban was in office before Hamid Karzai

Francois Hollande 

• on his first trip to a foreign country his airplane was struck by lightning 
•  first President to be elected without having prior experience as a Minister and / or Junior Minister since Paul Deschanel in 1920
• special advisor for the president of France before he took office

Pranab Mukherjee

• became one of Indira Gandhi's most trusted lieutenants
• accused of committing gross excesses 

Hugo Chavez

• homicide rates have more than doubled 
• suffering from cancer

David Cameron

• stated that the United Kingdom Independence Party are "fruitcakes, loonies, and closet racist, mostly"
• thinks of himself as a "modern compassionate conservative"

Dilma Rousseff

• first female president elected in Brazil
• she was arrested and tortured for trying to over-throw the government (punching, electric shock, and ferule)

coup detat- when you try and over throw the government