5-28-15

Today, we literally wrote the entire class. we wrote our essay portion of the exam because Mr. Schick is going to Chicago and he said he isn't going to feel like grading the exam and the three essays we wrote.

5-27-15

Today we went over the test that we took the day before. Mr. Schick was grading Karson and rosemary's since they both were not here when we took the test.

5-26-15

Today it felt like it was a very short class. When  first walked in (after being late) I studied for like 2 seconds and then I began the test bon Rome. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. after we took the test, Mr. Schick went to go grade them, we found out our grades. Then we went to go get our Rome projects from his office.

5-23-15

Today we were supposed to have a test on Rome. Mr. Schick decided that he wanted to change the date because we haven't had enough time to review together. Through the entire class, all we did was go over this he PowerPoint, that he have already gone over, for the second time. And he also gave us cookie's

5-21-15

In WC, we saw our last 3 projects. Chesca, Jessica, and Alyssa did Roman pottery and they showed the class what the process was like for them through a PowerPoint. They also compared how they did it and how the Romans actually did it back then, and it was very similar. The next presentation was Dylan, Jerry, Parker, and Rory. They did theirs on gladiators and I think it was a very cool project. WE learned different facts like some of the gladiator fight would be boring, it had a weight class like boxing a d wrestling, and women  could be gladiators. They also had a model that Jerry did and it was a very detailed. The last presentation was Kendall, Karson, and Ellee. They made a bored came called "Are you smarter than a Gladiator". It was very creative in my eyes. They gave us the instructions in the beginning of class. 3 students got to play. The questions would be of the things we learned through our Roman Unit. I really liked theses projects a lot today. I was very entertained.

5-20-15

In WC I had to present my project that I have been working on for 3 weeks. I did okay I guess. I don't think I did as good as Alex and Arthur though. They made an entire Roman Temple out of Legos. To top it off, the had Lego men in the front, dressed as Roman soldiers. Kaitlin and Trish did well also. The 2 of them made diary's of a plebian girl and a patrician male. It turned out they the 2 of them ended up being neighbors.

5-19-15

We had people go for their Rome projects. Veronica and her group did a Roman "feast" and we ate pasta, salad, and some type of Roman cheesecake. After them went Adams group and they performed a song about Rome. The background music was from fancy by Iggy. After that wonderful performance, David P. did a slideshow on Coliseums.  

5-15-15

In WC we watched blues videos from BB King and Ko Ko Taylor. We also got to work on our project or any other homework that we needed to finish.

3-14-15

We learned that poet Juvenile said the people anxiously hope for two things whih are bread and circuses. The bread was free food they could eat, given from the state, and the circuses were for their entertainment. These 2 things were given to the people just so they can stay alive and keep quiet. We also learned about Julius Ceaser who was a very successful genera who conquered the huge territory of Gaul. He lived from100-45 BCE. He made friends with 2 important men in this time in history. Pompey was a general who conquered Syria and Palestine. The second man was Crassus who was the richest man in Rome, and the richest man in all history. These three men formed the very first Triumvirate ("rule of three me").

5-13-15

We took a pop quiz today and I did okay I guess. Then after we worked on our projects that are due next Monday.

5-12-15

We finished watching the movie we started on Thursday. It was about Tiberius and we watched how is friend Octavius lied and told his supporters that he wanted too be king, that was why he as helping tem get their land back. Octavius was turning Tiberius' followers against him. At the end it aalso showed how he was killed and thrown inn the Tiber River.

3-8-15

Today in Western iv, Mr. Schick wasn't here so we got to work on our projects.

5-6-15

There were 3 different wars against Rome and Carthage during the years of 264-146 BCE. These wars were called the Punic Wars. The very first Punic war started in 264 and ended 242 BCE. This war was for the control of the strategically located on the island of Sicily. Rome won this war. The second Punic war was from 218- 201 BCE. A 29-year-old Carthaginian general, Hannibal, almost does the impossible. He tries to take Rome. He first attacks the northern part of Rome after crossing Iberia (Spain) and the Alps. He could never make it to Rome. The third and final war from 149-146 BCE. Rome wanted to finally remove the threat from Carthage. Carthage said, if you give them one child from each important family, they would e brought as slaves, and they will not invade Rome. Rome gave Carthage what they wanted, but Carthage still ended up invading Rome.

5-5-15

We learned about the government in ancient Rome. The rules of the kings were replaced by the rule of the consul. The consuls were elected officials and only were there for one year. And unlike other government officials, who can run again right after, they had to wait 10 years before they can run again. The consuls were always aristocrats who were patricians. The consuls we supposed to deal with justice, make laws, and commanding the army. In the fifth century, patricians dominance of the government was challenged by the plebeians, who were everyday, middle class, people who were 98% of the population. Ways that the patricians controlled them were that, the plebeians had to serve in the army, but could not hold office, they were threatened with debt slavery, and they had no legal rights. The plebeians were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials. Rome had actual laws but they were unwritten custom, and patricians could use this to their own advantage. To stop the mistreatment, the plebeians decided that they would refuse to serve in the military until laws were written out (the laws of the 12 tables) and the laws were posted in public, and tribunes (tribal leaders) were elected.  

5-1-15

We had the chance to start working on our project, and I started on my pot.

4-30-15

It was grandparent day and we looked at a PowerPoint that Mr. Schick put together.  We learned that Latin's, Greeks, and Etruscans were the first people top settle in Rome. Etruscans came from the north-central part of the peninsula. They consisted of metalworkers, artists, and architects. The Greeks had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea. Romans borrowed ideas from them like religious beliefs, alphabet, much of their art, and military techniques and weaponry. The Latin's were descendants of Indo-European and settled on the banks of the Tiber. They situated so trading ships - not for war fleets- could navigate as far as Rome.

4-29-15

 started on our projects we are doing for our Rome unit. I was looking up different types of pottery that I want to do for the project.

4-28-15

Today was a very calm day today in Western Civ. We talked about the riots that happened in Baltimore. We talked about how certain things could have been avoided, and what might happen throughout the week.

4-24-15

In western civ, we were talking about different projects that we might want to do in our Rome unit. Mr. Schick gave us different options that we can do. He gave us the rest of class to see different options, and I am choosing to do pottery for the project.

4-23-15

We really didn't do anything in Western Civ. today. Mr. Schick made a PowerPoint for the lyrics of his song, and we looked at that. Then he was having problems with his computer, like always. And Veronica brought in doughnuts and I ate like 4 of them.

4-22-15

Today in Western Civilization, Mr. Schick had to finish grading some of the papers that we wrote when we were in the Greece unit. While he was grading papers, he let the class start any homework that they wanted to get done. After he finished grading the papers we went over them. He told us about things that we could improve on, and things that we did correct. After that I fell asleep while he was still talking, and I don't know what he said after that.

3-21-15

Today we started talking about Rome. In the 9th century, Etruscans, Greek, and Latin's moved into Italy. Indo-European tribes moved into the Italian peninsula and some settled along the Tiber river, which created the city-state known as Rome. Etruscans were originally from the east. The settled in the north od Italy and were an early influence on the Romans. The Roman Republic had a senate of the people. At first, Rome was a monarchy on the Etruscan model with a council of elders called the "senate". in 500 B.C., the Romans overthrew their monarchy and established a "Republic". Since the senate was populated only by patricians (Aristocratic men) the Plebeians (ordinary citizens) fought for a vote in Rome's government, and each year, the senate would elect 2 rulers, who would rule for one year. After we took our note, We got a phone, and it was a "guest for Mr. Schick. It was Chi cago, who rapped for us and told us all about Rome.

4-15-15

We watched a video in western civ today and it really tied into what we were  talking about this chapter. We found out in the video, that the main character was more like Socrates . Socrates was a very opened minded man, and he tried to teach people by asking them questions, and seeing if what they believe in is what they really believe in. he was put to death because he was trying to get into the minds of people and show them things for what they really are. We also tied that with social media and everything else on TV. We sit there in front of the TV believing everything people are telling us, because they said that's how that particular object or situation is ,and because since the object is all fancy and pretty we should get it. Basically showing off the good and hiding the bad.  Also showing us that bad things are bad things and we cant do anything about it, that's just how it is. But if we look at things for what they really are, we will see that we were blinded by what the media is telling us, and not looking into more detail for certain things.

4-14-15

Today in western civ, all we did was go over the test we took before break. Class was short because we had an assembly right after.

4-1-15

Today we took a test and Dylan and Parker made me play monkey in the middle to get my pencil back while Mr. Schick was grading the quizzes.

3-31-15

today was boring. We just worked on our papers/watched the video.

We just worked on our papers today and some of the students watched the video me schick wanted us to watch.

3-26-15

Today we had a sub because Mr. Schick is gone because he went to visit his daughter. All we did today was work on our project. My group is almost done, we just have one more part to do. But today was just a really calm day today.

3-25-15

Today we finished the last of the presentations. Then at the end of class, Mr. Schick did one of his power point's that we need to study from. We learned that Socrates was charged with serious crimes. One was impiety, which means he disrespected the Gods and corrupting the youth of Athens. At the trial he described himself as a horse fly and Athens as a lazy horse. He did not deny what he did at all. Plato was one of his students who wrote out Socrates' teachings and described his trial in Apology. Aristotle, one of Plato's students, Helped foster the idea of Athens as a n intellectual destination. He also built a school called The Lyceum.

3-24-15

Today, My group and I presented our presentation. We also saw other Presentations. What I learned was that Pericles passed laws that allowed poor to attend plays and performances, and he also had costly strategies for seaborne attacks. During this time, the plague hit and wiped out some of the population. He died in 429 BCE and this ended the Golden Age, which was the time of culture, literature, art, and government. Some of the plays were written in 430 BCE and they were mainly tragedies and comedies.

3-19-15

Today, we just continued our notes from yesterday. While Hippias was ostracized Isogoras and Cleisthenes engaged into a power struggle. Isogoras had support from fellow aristocrats and Sparta, while Cleisthenes had support from the majority of Athens. In the end Cleisthenes ended up winning. he was a member of the elite, he was very rich insulator from the "hoi plloi" and was a very crafty politician.

3-18-15

During the 7th and 6th century BCE, Aristocrats ran the show in most of Greek. They held more influence in society and more governmental power. Aristocracy was ran by aristocrats and aristocrats attended symposiums, which were meetings where the elite men would enjoy talking with others talking about poetry, wine etc., and being entertained by women. This was mostly a club for men and no women, slaves or middle class were allowed to enter. certain aristocrats were excluded, and then they would form alliances with hoplites and set up an alternative form of government called a tyranny.

3-13-15

Today in western civ, all we did was continue on working on our projects that are due. I was all by myself today doing it because Zaire wasn't there, and Karson is still sick :(.

3-12-15

Today in Western Civ we just started our projects that are projects that are due next Friday, We also Got to facetime Mr. Schick's daughter because today was her birthday. I also asked Mr. Schick if I could get some food because I was starving I barely go to be on my off mods today.

3-11-15

Today we took this quiz that involved us answering 10 questions and each of them in 10 seconds. After that we were talking about upcoming dates and we have this PowerPoint due and we had to pick partners. My partners are Zaire, and Karson. I forgot what we were doing but it has something to do with warfare.

3-10-15

The Ionian Sea is south of the Adriatic Sea. Greece is a mountainous peninsula, and mountains covered 3/4 of Greece. Greece also had many good many skilled sailors and shipbuilders. Greece also had many fertile valley's. Even though they covers one quarter of the peninsula only 20% is suitable for farming. The Greek diet consist of grains, grapes, and olives. if there was a lack of resources it let to Greek colonization. The weather there was also beautiful. During the winter it was mid 40s and in the summer it was in the low 80s. There was also this story teller who lived during the "Greek Dark ages" . He composed stories and he would memorize them , even though he was blind, and would tell them to people. Some think that homer was a mythical creature.

Socrates

Socrates (469-399 B.C.E) was a philosopher who paved the way for Western Philosophy. He created the Socratic iron and the Socratic Method. He is recognized for inventing the teaching practice of pedagogy. he also had a great influence on western philosophy with his student who were Plato and Aristotle. Socrates was a strong believer that a person should focus on themselves more than material things. He also thought that everyone should love each other. Socrates was a very intelligent man who's virtues were very strong.

Greek agriculture

One terrific greek buildings are the theatres. they are some of the oldest theatres that go all the way back to the 6th century B.C.E. They were rectangular shapes and they were from Thorikos in Attica. This would mean that it was used during festivals where dramas were presented.

Another was the Stadium. The stadiums were often named after the foot races that they hosted. It was made of rows made out of stone and marble steps. And to drain out access rainfall the conduits ran around the track to drain it out.

Lastly we had Housing. They were constructed with mud brick and had earth floors. It was constructed for people to access water easily and socialize. The better houses in the 5th were built in stone, and had a plastered interior. And a regular house was usually one or two stories high.

March 4

Today in Western Civ. we just talked about blog options for the next 2 days. We also talked about shoveling snow, and Adam shared very interesting story. We also talked about plagiarism, and Dylan was just making me upset like always, saying the dumbest things -_-.

March 3rd

Today we checked our test that we took about a week ago. We also took notes on Ancient Greece. We also learned the different,important, rivers in different regions. Like Mesopotamia has the Tigris and Euphrates, Egypt has the Nile River, India has the Indus River, and China has the Huang He River. Greece is surrounded by water which makes it easier to trade and fishing for food. It is also surrounded by 1400 islands. Mediterranean, means middle of the earth. The Adriatic Sea is west of the Mediterranean, and Aegean Sea is east. The island of Crete is surrounded by 90%  of water, and connected to the mainland by one little strip.

Today we didn't really do anything. We study for our test for 15 minutes and then we took the test. Everyone took it in like 10 minutes. Then Mr. Schick Left to grade the test and we were listening to music.

Test Quetions

What were the pyramids covered with, but stripped of during the Muslim conquest?
Pharaohs were considered more like what?
What are some of the things Egyptian women could do than other women?
What were the characteristics of the Egyptian Gods?
What were the styles of writing the Egyptians used?

Egyptian

Today we learned about pharaohs, writing, temples, and women during this time period. Pharaohs were the all powerful, and they were worshipped as a god. Egyptians replied on a harmony and balance of the universe which they called "Maat". They had multiple wives, all routes to financial and social success were through the peace. Women could inherit money and land and divorce their husbands though only a tiny few ever wielded real political power. Egyptians also believed in an after life, and they mummified bodies to preserve them for a post-death journey. All of the 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 earliest Egyptian witting that was formed was hieroglyphs. represented religious words and most commonly adorned temples. Hieratic script was a shorthand developed by scribes and priests. The pyramids were made out of stone covered in marbles but stripped off during Muslim conquest. stone pictures and interior painted depicted humans and gods in a series of regulated poses, of ten in profile and without perspective, but were highly effective.

building pyramids

Today Mr. Schick thought it would be fun to do this little pyramid building thing. So you had to choose how many workers, officials, and farmers you wanted, what you would pay them, and what you would feed them.  The computer would see if everything you picked would cooperate with each other. My partner and I did this 15 different times each. We finally got it and finished it and got a C. We got a C because it took us too long to finish and other people took the slots to get As and Bs. As long as I didn't fail I am okay. So we basically learned what the Egyptians had to go through to build the pyramids.

Chariots were first introduced as a weapon in Egypt by the Hyksos in the 16th century B.C.. It was an early vehicle that was mounted on disks or cross-bar wheels and was pulled by a horse. In the desserts of Nubia, gold mines gave Egyptians wealth that formed the real power. The same gold saw the start of the golden age for Egyptian art and agriculture. Pharaohs built magnificent tombs and temples for their families and themselves. Also, Egyptians did not just use magicians and medicine men. They had Physicians. The medical knowledge comes from papyrus documents which were well preserved. if there was no cure for a disease, it was thought of as a spiritual being. Hieroglyphics were also invented during this time. they were called the word of god and used mainly by priests. They were written on the wall and helped conduct day to day business. Lastly, the stone circle. It shows that they were accomplished at making calendars, and time. It can be assumed predicting of the coming of the floods. 

We studied for a good 15 minutes when we came into class and we took a test. After the test we just chilled and did whatever the rest of the class.

Presetations

Some of the groups did their presentations. We learned the different animals that helped on the farms thousands of years ago, what jobs they did, and where they are domesticated from. We also learned about the diseases, one major one was smallpox, an that came about during fur trading. Lastly we learned about the style of writing, and how writing helped soldiers win wars because they had plans.

Mini Project

We did a little mini project today and we had to research different things that tied in with the movie. My group had to research different foods that were listed. I chose to research sorghum. another name for sorghum is millet and it is a tall grass that grows wild throughout tropical Africa. It was also the staple cereal for the African agricultural communities. It grows up to 15 ft and is valued in hot arid regions. The grains are usually mashed into a pulp, boiled, and then eaten. The tough stalks can be used to make brushes and brooms. sorghum is also high in carbohydrates and low in proteins, less than rice, maize, or wheat. the communities that usually eat this suffer nutritionally. nearly 7000 years ago in modern day Ethiopia, sorghum was adopted by the migrating farmers of the tropical Niger-Congo and Sahel regions. Tolerant of both drought and flood, it became adapted to poor soils and can produce grain where many other crops will fail. This one crop is probably responsible for a large amount of success of the African Agricultural revolution.

End of video

We finished the video after waiting 15 minutes for the computer to work. In the video, we learned that to make plaster to seal the inside of the homes, they used limestone. They would put the limestone in this pit and would burn them. It would take days for it to actually become paste. And they would burn them up to 1000 degrees. We then learned that the fertile crescent was no long the center of the universe any more because at one point the water was exploited, natural resources were all used up, and the people who lived there were abandoned. with this , the animals spread to different places along the same line of latitude. The towns of New Guiney are developing more and more, but they still have a ways to go.   

Guns, Germs, and Steel pt 2

Today we continued to watch the documentary of Guns, Germs, and Steel. In the video they talked about how barley and wheat are more plentiful that sagi and it can be stored longer too. In Also, am man went to this village named Draa, and it was considered to be the very first, oldest settlement. Also there was a mention of plant cultivation, and that is when you get a certain trait out of a certain plant. Not long after the middle east, grew china, and china grew rice, and the Americas grew corn, squash and beans. We also learned about this thing called geographical luck.. farmers who had the best crops advanced more. New Guineans got the short end of the stick. Animal domestication was mentioned in the film too. animals and plants are a good combination for advancing. The animals would eat the food and their poop is good fertilizer for the crop. out of all the animals in the world, 14 animals over 100 lbs are domesticated

Guns,Germs, and Steel

We watched Guns Germs and Steel in class and in the movie we say how the New Guineans were a lot different in their way of living than we are. Years ago when the whites came over, they filled their heads up with saying the white people are a lot better because it was something in their jeans. This was no where near true. No one is better than anyone else. But the New Guineans could survive a lot better in the wilderness than anyone else because they know what they need to do in order to eat, and they cam also build their own homes. We also learned about this tree called a Saigo tree. This tree is the source of food for the new Guineans. They break the tree open and take a substance outside of the tree and they make dough out of it. This isn't healthy at all for the New Guineans because it is a lot of starch in it and has no source of proteins. 

Very first Chapter test

Today in west civ, we took our very first chapter test. I was nowhere near ready for this. It was okay because Mr.Schick  let us use our blog that we kept our notes in. We finished kind of early, and he is letting us work on our blogs. I think the test was okay. I knew some of the answers without having to use the blog. Do I think I got a good grade? Nope. but I have to study a lot more.

Today in Western Civ, we went over our notes for the chapter 1 test tomorrow. While we were doing that, we also looked up what the people looked like during that time. I really didn't do anything in class today because I had to leave early for a basketball game.

I wasn't in school because I was in bed sick again -_-

Mesopotamia

Today we continued our conversation from yesterday. We learned today, that in Mesopotamia, cities and towns were founded with as many as 40,000 inhabitants. There was better food storage, which allowed for diversity in professions. During this time, kings emerged so id family dynasties. Sumerians invented the earliest form of writing, known as cuneiform. A pantheon of Sumerian god and goddess emerged with many of the deities representing the natural elements of the world. We also learned that Sumerians first divided the hour into sixty minutes and the minutes into sixty seconds. The ziggurat was a Sumerian temple on top of a "mountain" of earth. In the civilization of Mesopotamia, Wandering nomads drove herbs of domesticated animals in many areas, especially to the south of Sumer in Arabia. And King Hammurabi of Babylon created a series of laws that included "an eye for an eye" and regulations of marriage, divorce and punishments. At the end of class we google different laws for Hammurabi and told the strangest ones we found in front of the class.

Prehistoric Times

Today in class, we talked about the different era's of prehistory. In the prehistoric era 200,000 years ago, human species emerged in southwestern Africa, 14,000 years ago world wide human race existed , and the earliest prehistoric age was the Paleolithic age. The Agricultural revolution aka the Neolithic  revolution was a shift from itinerant hunting/ gathering more permanent settlements centered on agriculture. The populations rose to increased ability to care for young children. Hierarches appeared in village life: the status of women was lowered as they were confined more to domestic duties, just like today. Also the invention of the wheel and plow made it possible to produce enough food storage. And the villagers were polytheists, which means they worshiped more than one god, animal or human.

I wasn't in school today because I was in bed sick:(

first day of class

Today was our first day of our western Civ class. I was late to class like usual. In the beginning Mr. Schick took role and I told him the story of why I was late. After that we started to create our blogs. Half of the class could not make theirs for some strange reason. Today was a short class because we had extended advisory, but other than that, my first day in Western Civ. was fun and I got to see who was in my class. Some of the kids, I did not even know existed. Mr. Schick is a very funny person, and I can’t wait to see what this semester is going to be like.