Today we just wrote our Essay it was pretty easy and I think I might get one hundred. I might have had some grammar errors. But my actual writing was good for me. One problem that I had is that I could've used six paragraphs because I made a mistake by using one whole paragraph on the background of each country, Like about their government. Also, I wrote a lot, a total of three pages. Overall i think i did really good on the Essay

Todays the day before writing our Essay. I've gotten a lot better at writing Essays. And we are allowed to use a notecard. On the not card I put certain facts that are very precise. Like niger Has a birth of 43.60. This should help my Essay because it will give it more detail. Also, I think it was a good idea to pick topic A and the countries I picked ( Japan, Niger, The United States of America) have lots of different problems I can talk about.

Semester Essay

                       The three different countries I selected were the United States, Japan, and Niger. I picked these different countries because of they a juristically different in almost every way. For example, they are all on different continents, they all have different governments, and they all have different problems.

Today in class we did our test. To me, it was pretty easy but I know I got at least 2 wrong. The first one was the first question I really knew the topic but I just made a dumb mistake by putting the answering the wrong space. The second question was the one about the video. To be fair I wasn't here when we watched the video but I stilled should've watched the video. One question I got right that some people got wrong was the question where the sentences were wrong and you had to add plus immigration. Overall I think I did pretty good and I think I got an A.

Today in class we reviewed again for our quiz on The demographic transition. Today Mr. Schick asked us a bunch of different questions like what are countries that are in stage five and some are. Japan, Germany, Russia, Greece, Portugal, and Italy. Another question was what was the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution started in England, basically, they made a lot of factories which gave them a lot of jobs, and gave them a lot of money. Then later on the U.S did the same thing and that's how we are a developed country now. I think I will do good on this quiz I just have to study.

Today In class we review for our upcoming quiz on the demographic transition. First, we started out by drawing a demographic transition graph. The graph starts off with the birth rate at 42 and then has the death rate a little below 40.  Then it shows us the curve of both rates which gives us the rate of natural increase. There is also a line that starts off in stage one very low called total population in all other stages it increases besides in the fifth one. This graph shows us the Demographic transition of the United States.

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Today I took the test on religion and did not do good. This was the lowest test score I've gotten since forever but I learned to study more. But in class besides that, we basically did nothing besides review the test and talk about football. I wished I studied more but it's my fault even though I missed the lesson on it, I shoved taught myself more about Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddism.

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Test day

Today we just took our test on the whole unit of population. I think I did pretty well may even have got a one hundred. At the beginning of class until 10:25 Mr. SChick let us study a bit more I looked at things like when the population hit 1,000,000,000 for the first time and there was a question on the test exactly like that. Near the middle towards the end of the test, there were population pyramid questions which at first I wasn't very sure about then I looked up and saw that the test had the population of each pyramid and that helped me out a lot. Overall I feel as if I was very prepared for this test and i think I got near 100 percent.

Today we basically did the same thing as yesterday, study for our up and coming test on Monday, November 18. The only thing we did different today is that we watched the video on population pyramids. Then Mr. Schick hinted to some more questions like if we are looking at a population pyramid of Niger do we think that the population is increasing or decreasing. Or like to remember that they always put males on the left and females on the right. And the last one is that usually in most countries females live longer than males, typically because males do more dangerous jobs in certain countries like going to war.

Today we were noticed that we will have a test on Monday about our whole unit. Even though we already took a test and had a group project on this unit. We were hinted at some of the questions that could be on the test. The test will cover things about population and how to read a population pyramid. Also certain facts like that you have to have a TFR (Total Fertility Rate) on 2.1 to keep your population the same. Or facts like what is the total population of the world which is 7.6 billion

Today is the day after our presentation. I think i did pretty good on our presentation. Our topic was on Germany. And my section was on not just a certain fact but overall on their economy and their economic problems. Their main problem is their debt. They have the fourth-highest debt in the world. They get most of their debt from their federal government. But there is a good side to their economy. They have a pretty low poverty line of 16.7. The poverty line is the percent of people in poverty. The only issue I had was that I was looking at the board and that I could've had a little more on my slide.

Today we presented our project on Germany. Overall I thought we did ok as a group. We were missing one slide on accident. My slide wasn't just one stat it was multiple stats on Germany like their GDP per capita, debt, labor force, and the poverty line. When it was my turn to present I think I explained my topic pretty decant. Then when Mr. Schick started to ask me questions and in my opinion, I responded good to the questions. Overall I did pretty well, the one thing I could've had better was more items on my slide.

Today in class we started our group project. Our project is to be given a country and find interesting facts about it on the CIA world factbook. In my group, there is Jay, Rachel, Logan, Tori, and I. We were given the county Germany, its kind of funny that we got Germany because when my Uncle worked for the government he lived there for at least 5 years but I'm not sure. But anyways my part of the project was the economy of Germany. Did you even know that Germany had a financial crisis in 2008 and they are in over 5 billion dollars in debt? Also, their GDP per capita is 27th in the world at 50,800 dollars.

Today in class we were notified by an up and coming pop quiz. He asked us 37 questions that were about population but they were also on his final exam from a few years ago. I think on the next pop quiz I will do well because I knew most of the answers to the questions. One of the questions they asked was, was what countries have the highest growing population and the answer was a developing country. Another one was out of Japan, the United States, Niger, and Mexico who has the lowest birth rate. The answer was Japan, it makes sense because much of their population is past the age where they can reproduce.

Yesterday in class we got five facts about five different countries. My five facts were in China, the Central African Republic, Russia. South Sudan, and Japan. Fr5om these facts I learned that industrialization is a very key role in a countries success or not. I also realized that a countries population is important as well.

1. China = 1,384,688,986 India = 1,296,834,042
2. The total fertility rate of japan in 1.42 per thousand women.
3. The death rate of El Salvador is 5.8 deaths/1,000 population
4. The percentage of France that identify as no religion is 23-28% because the government does not collect that information anymore
5. 82.7 percent of Mexicans identify themselves as Roman catholic.
6. The United States GDP per capita (PPP) is 59,800
7. 

My first fact is about how China has an urban population of 60.3. This means they have 834,967,458 people that live in urban areas. what's interesting is that, that more than half of their population. Usually, in urban areas, there are more factories. Since they have more factories they have more industrialization. In the video we watched we noticed that the more industrialization there is usually the people there are more healthy and rich.

The second fact is how Central African Republics GDP per capita is only 700 dollars. This GDP is tied for the lowest in the world with Burundi. This relates to the research we were doing the other day because we noticed on the graph that the less money you have the worst your health probably is and that they are a South African nation.

My next fact on Russia population. Russias population is 142,122,776. This is surprising because Russia is a much bigger country than the U.S yet our population is more than double theirs. This relates to the video because Russia has a lot of land and they would be much better off if they had more industrialization.

My fourth fact is in South Sudan. Soth Sudan had the highest death rate in the world at 19.30 per 1000 people. This being another South African nation they are at a bad start already with civil war and a bad economy.

My last fact is on Japan and how 28.38 of their population is 65 or over. sense more than a quarter of their population is over 65 we can tell that they have good health. Since they have good health they are most likely wealthy because to have good health you need money. This high age population also lets us know that their population is going to go down a lot in the next up and coming years.

Today in class the other half of the class got to take the test on the maps. I did ok but I thought I could do better I got 81. While the other people were taking the test we were taking notes on the powerpoint Mr. Schick made about population. After we took notes we started discussing about population and growth of population. Then we started talking about how in China if you have a 2nd baby you have to pay taxes so they can live and thats why many people there only have one kid. Then Mr. Schick started to ask Tom about China and he said he was the only child.

Today in class we took our test on Mercator maps, Peters maps, old maps, site, situation, latitude, longitude, meridians, parallels, time zones, and more. Suprisingling Mr.Schick let us use our blogs. In the beginning half, the class left and they will take the test later. I thought the test was pretty easy. When we have to write blogs on test days its kind of hard because there's, not much to talk about.

Today, in the begin of class we were looking at the question that everybody wrote on the blogs yesterday. People had some very good questions. Then! Mr.Schick gave us a pop quiz. Everyone was complaining that we had one because many people didn't get to study. At first, I didn't want to do it but then it got pretty easy. I think I got an 80 because im not sure if I got 2 or 1 wrong. Now im here writing my blog and im going to study after when I get home and on the weekend.

1. Which way does longitude run
     A. North
     B. East
     C. South
     D.West
     E. Both A and C
     F. Both B and D
2   How many time zones are there? and why?
     There are 24 different time zones because there are 24 hours in a day
3   What is the Art and Science of map-making?
     The art and science of map-making is called cartography
4. How many degrees is between each time zone
    A. 24
    B. 15
    C. 10
    D. 20
5 What does UTC stand for?
    Coordinate Universal Time
6. What is the definition of an absolute location?
    A position on a map
7. Who was the first map maker
    Eratosthenes
8. What is the physical characteristic of a place?
    Site
9. What is the main used map
    Mercator maps
10  Where is the equator
      0 degrees NS

Today in class we took our South America and Central America quiz. I think I did really well because I was studying a lot. I'm happy I checked over my answers because I had the United States spelled " United Stats " . After the quiz, we started talking about time zones, we learned that there are 24 of them because there are 24 hours in a day. Time zones usually aren't just straight lines on a map. In fact, they actually curve around countries like Greenland and China. We also learned that they are usually 15 degrees wide. At the end of class, we started to discuss if time zones were even important in my opinion I don't think their that important and I think we can have the same time around the world.

Today in class we started reviewing for our test on North America and South America. He told us that the quiz online would be different on paper and if we miss spell something we get points off. When I was in class I was using the website to help me because it could really help you learn where the countries are. Mr. Schick also said it would be out of 54 points so if I get 100% it would keep my grade pretty high. Then at the end of class, we noticed that tomorrow was national china day, which is the largest holiday celebrated there. The students there get 7 days off of school and can relax and celebrate.

Today in class we were talking about situation. At first, Mr. Schick asked us to describe where Bel Air was as if a random personing was asking us. Some people said Harford county and some people said different highways but he wanted us to say Maryland. Next, he asked us if a person that was new to our town asked where John Carroll was what we would say. This question was much harder because our school is a much smaller area than a whole town. After that, he told us how Baltimore was thinking about digging the harbor deeper so bigger ships could come in and the city would produce more money. But then he told us Baltimore couldn't do that because it would cost too much. Next Mr. Schick was telling us about a thing that a lot of massive ships have to go through called the Strait of Malacca. After ships go through there they can go to many other places. Finally at the end of class. He was telling us about one time when he was in the city really late at night and he saw people on a ship unload a giant pipe that had to be 25 feet in diameter.

Today in class we were talking about many different things but overall trying to solve the question of how do geographers describe where things are. At first, we were talking about how in the U.S we can't grow certain things and we have to get many different foods imported here such as bananas, avocados, and many different varieties of coffee beans. Mr. Schick told us that geographers use many different skills when they make a map. For example, they use a lot of topography, that is when they make certain parts of the map dark or lighter which indicates a change in height elevation. Another example is when they use longitude and latitude to arrange continents where they should be based on each other

Map score

Today in class we review our tests. I got a 98 which I am really proud of. The one question I got wrong and a lot of my classmates got wrong was number 13 where we were asked what word originated from the Greek word "Polis". There was also a bonus question I got wrong that was asking what the tallest mountain in North America was. After the test, I looked up what the mountain was called and it kind of made me mad because I felt like I knew the answer which was mountain Denali. After that Mr. Schick told us about the toad he found between his garbage cans.

Mercator Vs Peters

The Mercator map is a project presented by the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569. It became the standard map for navigation because of its unique property of representing any course of constant bearing as a straight segment. The Mercator map was every country labeled different colors so people can see the borders easier. The Peters map is a rectangular map where all areas have the correct sizes relative to each other. Like any equal-area projection, it achieves this goal by distorting most shapes. The peters map usually ha the continents in different colors. The main difference is that the Mercator map is used for navigators because the Mercator map had good straight lines which helped navigators. While the peters map is used in many schools because of its correct sizing of the different landmasses.

I used Wikipedia to help with my research.



                             Peters Map                                                                      Mercator Map

Today in class we went over three different maps. The first map was a map of the United States, it had five different colors. The different colors represent different states and shows us the borders. The map showed us topography, it also showed us many different highways and airports. The second map was a world map. This map had the countries in different colors, it also labeled the rivers and also had topography. The last map had the continents labeled in different colors. Also in this map, the class had an argument about if this map was inaccurate or not. Then at the end of class we started to talk about how globes were the most accurate form of the earth.

TESSTTTT!

Today in class we took our test. I think I did pretty good but there were a few questions that kind of messed me up. The first one was words based on the Greek word polis, I know I got one of them but the other I'm not so sure about. The second question was the bonus question about the mountain. after I was done my test I looked up what it was called and I got a little heated because I knew it I just couldn't remember. On my essay, I think I did a very good job, I was pretty detailed and answer the question welland I liked the questions that were on the test (Mostly).

Today in class we were getting prepared for our test on Socrates and A Message to Garcia. We also learned the Socratic method of teaching that Socrate used. What he would do was he would ask questions to overall see what you believe in. He wasn't on any "side" he was most of the time neutral. One day in 399 BC Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth and impiety (Not believing in the gods of the state). From both of these charges, he could be put to death. Socrates responded in a brave way saying "I should actually be rewarded with free dinners for life" he said this because he was telling people to think for their selves and maybe look into other beliefs that Athens did not like but he thought he was doing the right thing. 279 people of the jury out of 500 agreed he should be put to death but many people like him so they wanted to sneak Socrates out but he refused. Then he drank the poison which ended him. After that Mr. Schick told us what he remembered about 9/11.

Agora to the Greeks was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. Polis means Greek city and people went to buy and sell things. Democracy was established and it was the first time ever too happen. Socrates was a Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought. In 399 B.C Socrates committed suicide. He was charged with refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state and corrupting the youth and was found guilty and it was charged with the death penalty and they made drink poison. The Socratic method, also known as the method of Elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate, is a form of a cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. in Ancient Greek, Those who did not contribute to politics and the community were known as “Idiotes”.

Today in class we took notes on " A Message to Garcia" By Elbert. The article sold over 40 million copies and was made in 37 languages. People turned it into a book, movie, and a pamphlet. The movie was made in 1916 then again in 1936. The setting was the Spanish American war and fighting over Cuba. Garcia was a revolutionary seeking Cuba independence from Spain and Rowan was a war general that came out of west point in 1881. The president at the time was William Mckinly and he was president from 1891 to 1901. Later getting assassinated in the 6 month of his second term and got the tallest mountain in North America name after him but was changed back in 2015. We also took notes on some of the words because this was written a long time ago in 1899 so their phrases were different. Perihelion is the point when a planet (like Mars) is closest to the sun and at its brightest. A stenographer is a person who takes dictation in shorthand. Then last we took a look at a quote by Elbert Hubbard that said " What is initiative? I'll tell you it is doing the right thing without being told.

In todays class I and the class read "A Message to Garcia." written by Elbert Hubbard The story is about a lost war general U.S needs to find him while Spain and the U,S was fighting over Cuba and the. The president of the U.S is told that he should tell Rowan to take the latter. When Rowan takes the letter he didn't ask for any help or make any excuses. Rowan was in the Cuban jungle for 3 weeks and found Garcia. Many bosses back in the 1800s should their workers this article because they were so lazy and always made excuses but the boss just wanted them to work. Overall Elbert Hubbard believes many people aren't good at doing their job and come up with excuses too much.

Today in class we helped other classmates set up their blog because many people were having issues with theirs. Shortly after everyone had their blog setup Mr. Schick asked if we had any questions about highschool. Then he told us some of the challenges we would face and said it would be a pretty hard 4 years of our life and we would change a lot as people. At the end of class, we left when the bell rang and some people including me asked if we had a blog today.

I like my seat because I'm in the middle of the classroom. The best part of the day is when i had my free mod and the worst was when i started to get a headache near the end of the day.