Guns, Germs, and Steel Part 4

Today in class, the students watched more of the video on Jared Diamond and his adventure. The school had a two-hour delay, so the class was cut short, which meant we didn't do much. I took some notes on the video, but not much. Americans consume 20 million tons of wheat every year. New Guianas are getting/receiving useful resources and tools from the outside world. Before the video begun, Mr. Schick discussed why we shouldn't have had the two snow days off, but of course, the students disagreed with him. Then, the teacher passed out pieces of whole wheat bread to the students because it had to do with what we were discussing and learning in class. As this class goes on, I realize how much better I enjoy it than Human Geography, I feel like it appeals to me in an interesting way. I hope that this feeling continues and lasts until the class is over. 

Guns, Germs, and Steel Part 3

Today in Western Civilization, we continued to watch and record notes on the video about Jared Diamond. You can domesticate plants, as well as domesticate animals. Goats and sheep were the first animals to be domesticated in the world. The bigger animals can be used as beasts of burden, but sometimes they are native. The only muscle power in Papua New Guiana was from humans. 14 animals that have been domesticated: Goats, Sheep, Pigs, Cows, Horses, Donkeys, Bactrian Camels, Arabian Camels, Water Buffalos, Llamas, Reindeer, Yaks, Mithans, Bali Cattle. None of these animals came from New Guiana, neither did Austria or Sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa's native animal was the Llama. Africa, South America, and Europe have the rest of the 13 animals. The big four animals: Pigs, Goats, Cows, and Sheep. You have to have a very productive system, so everyone is not wasting time figuring out what to eat. That is all we did in class today. 

Guns, Germs, and Steel Part 2

Today in class, we watched a little more of the video on Jared Diamond. We also took key notes on the video as well. An important food in Papua New Guinea Sago, which is found in trees. Sago takes three or four days to process, and it also cannot be stored for a long time. Barley and wheat occur naturally in the Middle East. Ian Kuijits is a Canadian biologist, that discovered Draa, which is a place located in the Middle East as well. Draa was one of the first and oldest examples of people living together in a community or village, with forty or fifty people living together. A granary is a place that stores grain. Plant domestication took years to unfold. China is one of the greatest civilizations of all time, their advance in civilization is rice. The Americas' advance in civilization was corn, squash, and beans. Africa's civilizational advance was sour gum, millet, and yams. "Geographic luck" is when some regions were just more geographically lucky than other regions. That is all the notes that I recorded in class, the most the class did was watch and discuss the movie. The class also discussed blogs and how to set them up, if you haven't already. 

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Today in class, the students watched part of a video and took notes along with it. Jared Diamond believes that the world is divided into have's and have not's, meaning that some people have things, while some people may not have things. Papua New Guiana is a remote part of the world. Diamond is a professor at UCLA, a biologist by training, birdwatcher, and a specialist in Human Psiology. The video we watched in class about Diamond, is based on a book he wrote. People have been living in Papua New Guinea for 40,00 years. Yali (one of the men in the video) asked this question: "why do you white men have so much cargo, but we Knew Guianas have so little"? New Guianas call materials that people use in their everyday lives’ "cargo". Power is determined by race. The white men in the video made the New Guianas carry them across the river. 3 characteristics of advanced civilization are: advanced technology, a large population, and a well-organized workforce. Pre-history is before things started to be written down. 13,00 years ago, Middle-East, hunter-gatherers. That is all that the class did today. 

Beginning of Western Civilization

Today was the first day of my Western Civilization class. The class teacher was Mr. Schick, who I was already familiar with because he was also the teacher of Human Geography. However, most of the students in the class now, are different than they were in my past class. When I walked into the classroom, Mr. Schick told us that we could sit wherever we wanted to, which I was surprised at first. Then, moments later the teacher instructed us to our assigned seats. After this, Mr. Schick went over the procedures and information for the class. Since I was already in his class, I had already known most or all of the information that I needed to know for the class and expectations. One thing that I thought was funny was, how all the new students were confused about the blogs and setting them up, just as I was when I had Human Geography. But for the overall part, I hope that I receive good grades in this class and have a good time as well! I am pretty excited for the kick of my new learning experience on a brand new topic! 

Test day!

Today in class, the students took the last and final test for Human Geography this quarter. Before the test begun, Mr. Shick allowed the class to study for five minutes. During these five minutes, I took the opportunity to use the Quizlet one of my classmates gave me yesterday. As I was playing the Quizlet games, I answered every question correctly and received an A+ on the practice test. The class had a shadow present today, and she took the test as well (as a joke). When the tests were handed out, I couldn't have been more prepared for a test like this in my life. As I was answering the questions, I knew every single one of them, except like two, but I gave it my best guess. I really hope to do well on that test, I am trying hard to bring my grade up. I also hope that this test brings my grade up to the letter grade I want it to. 

Review Day

Today in class, Mr. Schick reviewed the upcoming test with the students. But the teacher reviewed it in a unique and unusual way. Mr. Schick instructed the students to open up their computers/laptops and read from their blogs to see if we are on the right track, in studying for the test. Some of the students volunteered to read from their blogs, while others took notes. During that class time, one of my classmates created a Quizlet, and emailed it to me as well. This Quizlet had a total of 34 terms, with decent information. I think that if I study the Quizlet and the packet, I will do well on the test. After all, or most of the students answered, or pointed out all the questions on the test, there were a couple more questions that we didn't know. Unfortunately, Mr. Schick never announced the questions on the test that we didn't know. Overall, I really hope that I do well on the test, because I need a good grade on it, to boost my letter grade up. 

Five Major Religions: Classwork

  

          Christianity began in the 1st century A.D as a Jewish sect in Judea, but quickly spread throughout the Roman Empire. Despite early persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire, it later became the state of the religion. Christians believe that Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity and hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Most scholars assume the date of birth of Jesus’ between 6 and 4 B.C. Christianity is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on life and teachings of Nazareth. Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents. This religion was mostly practiced in the United States. Lastly, the holy book for this religion is the Bible.

The second largest religion in the world is Islam, with 1.8 billion adherents. Most historians believe that the Islamic religion began in the 7th century, they also believe that it originated in Mecca and Medina. Islam is also an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which teaches that there is only one God (Allah), and that Muhammed is the messenger of God. The followers of this religion are known as Muslims. Muhammed was supposedly born on April 22nd, 571 A.D. He died on June 8th, 632 A.D. The holy book for the religion of Islam is, the Qur’an. Lastly, around 62% of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region (from Turkey to Indonesia), with over 1 billion adherents. The largest Muslim population in a country is Indonesia, a nation home to 12.7% of the world's Muslims, followed by Pakistan (11.0%), and India (10.9%). 

Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, according to many scholars, with roots and customs dating back more than 4,000 years. Most Hindus have a personal gods or goddesses such as Shiva, Krishna, or Lakshmi to whom they pray regularly. The three most important Hindu gods (forms of Brahman) are: Brahma- known as the Creator. Saraswathi is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music and all the creative arts. Hinduism has over 1.1 billion adherents, most of the followers are located in India and Nepal. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. The holy book for this religion is the Vedas.  The Vedas is the most ancient sacred texts of the Hindu religion are written in Sanskrit. Hinduism does not just have one sacred book but several scriptures. The Vedas scriptures guide Hindus in their daily life. They also help to preserve the religious dimensions of family and society. 

Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists. Buddhists seek to reach the state of nirvana, following the path of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who went on a quest for Enlightment around the sixth century B.C. There is no belief in a personal god. Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent and that change is always possible. The core beliefs in Buddhism in practice are: The Four Noble Truths, The Noble Eightfold Path and the Five Precepts. There are three different types of Buddhism, the Theravada Buddhism: The School Of The Elders. Theravada is the oldest school of Buddhism. The second type of Buddhism is. Mahayana Buddhism: The Great Vehicle. This type of Buddhism is the most popular branch of Buddhism today. The last and third Buddhism is, Vajrayana Buddhism: The Way of The Diamond. 

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. It is ancient, monotheistic, Abrahamic religion with the Torah as its holy book or foundational text. This holy book is the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the Pentateuch. The Torah has a range of meanings. It can most specifically mean the first five books of the 24 books of the Tanakh. The belief of Judaism is that Jesus is God, the Son of God, or a person of the Trinity, is incompatible with Jewish theology. Jews did not believe Jesus of Nazareth did not fulfill messianic prophecies that establish the criteria for the coming of the messiah. Judaism has 14.4 million adherents, making it the fifth largest religion in the world.

Bible V.S Quran!

Today in class, Mr. Schick instructed us to play a game online. The game was about the Quran and the Bible. The website was a quiz on the two religious books, the game asked whether the following text was from the Quran or the Bible. The objective of the game was to get all 20 of the questions correct in the allotted time, which was only 4 minutes. One passage was "Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers". Another passage was "Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant". By the end of the time Mr. Schick let us play the game, ended in the result 19/20. The website is called sporicle.com, the link is located here. Honestly, I had a great time playing this game with my friends and teacher, it was pretty hectic. Besides what we did today in class, our next and final test in this class is on January 17th. I really hope that I do well on it, and improve my overall grade! 

Reviewing packet, part 2!

Today in class, Mr. Schick discussed highlighting more key contexts in the packet we had received. In Europe, Muslims account for percent of the population, about 4 million, a legacy of immigration from predominantly Muslim former colonies in North Africa. Germany has about 3 million Muslims. Estimates of the number of Muslims in North America vary widely, from 1 million to 5 million. Approximately one-third of U.S Muslims trace their ancestry to Pakistan and other South Asian countries and one-fourth to Arab countries of Southwest Asia and North Africa. Buddhism is clustered primarily in East Asia and Southeast Asia. 97 percent of Hindus are concentrated in just one  country (India), 2 percent are in Nepal, 1 percent are in Bangladesh, and small numbers are elsewhere. Roughly two-fifths of the world's 14 million Jews live in the United States and another two-fifths in Israel. Judaism is the first recorded religion to espouse monotheism, belief that there is only one God. The four Gospels of the Christian Bible are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Document miracles and extradentary deeds that the writers believed Jesus performed. He was referred to as Christ. That is some of the notes that I had underlined in the packet today. 

Reviewing packet and Pow Wow discussion!

Today in class, Mr. Schick talked about the Pow Wow assembly for awhile. Asking the students what our opinions were, and if we were going to the actual Pow Wow on Saturday. Mr. Schick also discussed that we would get ten extra credit points if any student would take a picture at the Pow Wow event. We can do this by taking a selfie near the drums, at a vendor, with Mr. Scholl, or somewhere else that proves we were there. The Pow Wow takes place at John Carroll, in the upper gym of the building. It starts at 10am, but Mr. Schick recommends us (if we are going) to be there at 1pm for the Grand Entry. To receive the extra credit points, the student would have to email the teacher of that class the photo by midnight Sunday night, January 13th. For me, I am most likely going to go to the Pow Wow, to get the extra credit points, and maybe see what it has in store for John Carroll! After discussing the Pow Wow, Mr. Schick told us to get out our packets on religions that he had handed out earlier. The teacher instructed us to highlight some of important context in the packet, that will be good to know for the test. Although most migrants learn the language of the new location, they typically retain their religion. Judaism, Sikhism, and Spiritism have between 14 and 23 million adherents each. In all but a handful of countries, the religion with the largest number of adherents is either Christianity or Islam. Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in every country of the Western Hemisphere. Islam is the most widely practiced religion in nearly every country of Southwest Asia and North Africa, as well as in Central Asia. In several countries, including China, the largest number of people are unaffiliated with any religion. Judaism is the most widely practiced religion in the State of Israel. More than 90 percent of Latin Americans and more than 75 percent of Europeans and North Americans identify themselves as adhering to Christianity. India is 80 percent Hindu. Islam is the predominant religion of Central Asia and of Southwest Asia and North Africa. An adherent of the religion of Islam is known as a Muslim, which in Arabic means "one who surrenders to God." The word Shitte (sometimes spelled Shia) comes from the Arabic word for "party" or "support group." That is only some of my notes that I had highlighted in the packet. 

Three Questions: Answered

The four basic Vedic texts used by Hindus is a collection of hymns and other ancient religious texts written in India between about 1500 and 1000 BCE. It includes elements such as liturgical material as well as well as mythological accounts, poems, prayers, and formulas considered to be sacred by the Vedic religion. These Vedic texts are called, the Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and the Athrava-Veda. The Rig-Veda is "Knowledge of the Hymns of Praise", for recitation. The Sama-Veda is "knowledge of the Melodies", for chanting. The Yajur-Veda is "Knowledge of Sacrificial Formulas", for liturgy. The last text is the Athrava-Veda, which is the "Knowledge of Magical Formulas", named after a kind of group of priests. The Rig-Veda has 1,017 hymns, the Sama-Veda has 1,549 hymns, the Yajur-Veda has 1,017 hymns, and the Athrava-Veda has 730 hymns. An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain defined conditions through the Church's help. People named Indulgence Hawkers would carry around indulgences in a box and sell them to late Catholics. Martin Luther was a German monk who questioned the leadership and theology of the Catholic Church in 1517. The Catholic Church sold indulgences in the late medieval period, and their sale motivated Martin Luther to present his "95 Theses". Hajj is a pilgrimage made to Kaaba, the 'House of God', in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th. 

Five Major Religions part 2

Today in class, Mr. Schick presented more of the slide presentation on the five major religions. In my last blog and in the last class, we discussed the two major religions, Islam and Christianity. The religion and or topic that we are currently discussing now is, Hinduism. The number of adherents Hinduism has is 1.1 billion, making it the third largest religion in the world. The name that we call the followers of this religion is Hindus, and the geographic location is India and Nepal. The holy book is called the Vedas- eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized). There is no distinct founder for Hinduism, it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a ridged, strict set of beliefs- probably the oldest extant religion, although Hinduism is less a religion than a way of life, or a faith. An example of this is, "as a person puts on new clothes and discards old and torn clothes similarly an embodied soul enters new material bodies, leaving the old bodies". In other words, recarnation. The next topic and or section we talked about was the religion of Buddhism. They have about 500 million to 1.5 billion adherents, and we call the followers Buddhists. The geographic location of Buddhism is southeast Asia, China, Nepal, and Japan. There are 1.2 million Buddhists in the United States. The founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama, and the denominations are Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, and Amidst. The Four Noble Truths are that there is suffering, attachment to desire is the origin of suffering, there is a cessation of suffering, and the Eightfold Path will lead to cessation of suffering. The Eightfold Path is the right view, the right intention, the right speech, the right action, the right livelihood, the right effort, the right mindfulness, and the right dedication. The fifth and final major religion is Judaism. This religion has about 14-18 million adherents, making it the ninth largest religion in the world. We call the followers of this religion Jews. The geographic location for this religion is Israel, with 6.4 million Jews, and the U.S with 5.3-7 million Jews, and the founder is Abraham. The holy book of Judaism is the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The beliefs of this religion are ethical monotheism- God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind, with the Ten Commandments and the 13 Principles of Faith. That is mostly all we discussed today in class. 

Five Major Religions

Today in class, Mr. Schick presented the slide presentation to the students. The power point was based on the five major religions in the world. Unfortunately, we weren't able to learn about all of them today. The first religion we discussed was Christianity. The number of adherents this religion has is around 2.2 billion people, making it the largest religion in the world. We call the people of this religion, Christians. The geographic locations for Christianity are, Europe, the Americas, and southern Africa. Denominations are: The Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Protestants (Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and many more). The founder of Christianity is Jesus Christ, (Christianity is Abrahamic for origin). The holy book is, the Bible, especially the New Testament (gospels). The beliefs of Christianity are that Jesus is both human and divine, and the son of God. Jesus led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, and resurrected. He also ascended into Heaven where he reigns with God the Father. The clergy is the Pope which is the head of the Catholic Church, priests are local authorities. The next and last religion that we talked about today was Islam. This religion holds second place with the largest number of adherents with 1.5 billion people. People call them Muslims. Some geographic locations are: Indonesia, middle East, and north Africa. Denominators are: Sunni (75-90%), Shiites (10-20%). The founder of this religion is Muhammed (570-632), and the holy book is the Qur'an (Koran). Beliefs are monotheistic and Abrahamic. Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, and pilgrimages. Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God) and observing Islamic Law. That is all we discussed today in class.