Video Day pt.4

Today in class, on January 28, we started the class by discussing the notes from the video we took the other class and some thoughts Diamond had.We discussed the New Guineans and how they are also at a disadvantage of developing in the culture because there were no native animals there. This means that there was no easy source of food accessible to them. We discussed that the New Guineans probably did not want to advance in their lifestyle. we also continued watching the guns, germs, and steel. This part of the video was about the different animals and were they were native. Then Mr. Schick tripped on my charger and I was scared it broke my computer but it was fine. My charger broke and the end of it completely bent so it won’t charge anymore. My computer died and now I am doing my blog on my phone and luckily it is working

Video Day pt. 3

Today in class, on January 24, we continued watching the video we watched the other classes about inequality and agriculture. I am excited for tomorrow because it is Friday and it is our last day of school before the weekend. We started to see that geographical location can be beneficial or hurt you in growing crops because some places in the world have worse crops than others. For example, New Guinea can grow sago trees, which don't provide much protein and cannot be stored for long. Some people in the Middle East started growing wheat and barley, which allowed them to move forward in industrializing. This led to domesticating animals which guaranteed a good source of food all year long right on the farm. 

Video Day pt. 2

Today in class, on January 23, we watched the same video we did the previous day and we had a pop quiz, unfortunately. The pop quiz was kind of specific and difficult and I had a hard time recalling the specific facts I had watched the previous day. I ended up doing pretty bad on the pop quiz. The video was on New Guineans and inequality relating to agriculture. People in New Guinea have been living there for 40,000 years, much longer than Northern or Southern Americans. The question a New Guinean asked was "Why do white men have so much more cargo and New Guineans have so little?" Cargo is material goods we obtain. The culture was they thought power was determined by race. Also, white people are believed to be genetically superior naturally.

First Day of Western Civ

Today in class, on January 22, we watched an hour-long video the whole class. This was also the first day of the new semester schedule, which I liked because I got to switch some classes and take Physical education instead of health. This was to keep us quiet from talking. I found the video pretty interesting because it was about inequality and the evolution of agriculture. We took notes on the video as well. The beginning of the video was about how the New Guineans felt inequality with white people. Those people from the middle east treated each other all equally as either a hunter or gatherer. This was an unproductive method of getting food so people started planting seeds around them evolving farming. Then, instead of hunting your food domestic animals became a part of life for many people so animals were more accessible.

Actual Last Day

This is official last day of Human Geography and we took a test on 5 religions. Before Christmas Break, I thought we would have the last class but it turns out there is a week or so before the semester ends. I thought the topics we covered in human geo were interesting. For example, I liked the unit were we learned about people and population pyramid. I liked that unit because we got to learn about where people live on the earth and the different patterns of people. I also thought the immigration unit was interesting. My favorite part of the class was when we had a debate on immigration. I had a lot of good ideas that it was nice to share and have people to agree with. It was also a fun way to learn a lot about immigration. I thought some classes were boring when we just took notes the whole time but overall it was good.

Rest Day

Today in class, on January 16, we had a lot of free time to do what we wanted. Mr. Schick had graded most of our essays but he still had to grade Belle and Colin's so we had time to do homework or relax. I finished homework I had in this time and listened to some music. I did my blog in class so I would not have to do it at home. I was glad I had the time to finish all my work so I did not have homework when I got home. I got my essay back and I got a 97. I did very well and I am proud of the grade and effort I put into the essay. The combined grade for my essay and the objective part of the exam was 89. I do not exactly remember what I got on the objective part of the exam but I think I got an 86. I am glad the essay part could bring my grade up close to an A.

Review Day

Today in class, on January 15, we discussed the blogs we wrote last class. We wrote 5 paragraphs on each religion we studied: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. Many people read their blogs and we tried to cover all the questions that would be on the test. We covered most of them but I am going to study more when I get home. I am going to review my notes and the packet that Mr. Schick gave us to highlight. In that packet, it has some statistics on the population of religions. For example, there are 2.2 billion people that follow Christianity, 1.5 billion Muslims, 1.1 billion people who follow Hinduism, 500 million- 1.5 billion Buddhists, and 14-18 million followers of Judaism. I will prepare a lot for this test because I need to maintain an A in this class and I am close to a B. Also, I do not know what I got on my essay I wrote for the exam. They are supposed to be graded by tonight so hopefully, I do well on that too. This is the last test for human geo.

5 religions

    Christianity is a religion that believes that Jesus is both human and the divine Son of God. He led a virtuous life and was crucified and died for our sins. After he died he was buried but resurrected. There are 2.2 billion people that follow Christianity, which is the largest religion in the world. The different denominations of Christianity are the Catholic Church, which is the main one, orthodox, and Protestants. The founder of this religion is Jesus Christ and they follow the Bible. The clergy are the Pope, which is the head of the Catholic Chruch, and priests who are local authorities.
     The next religion is Islam, which has 1.5 billion adherents, the second largest religion. People who follow this religion are called Muslims. Muslims are mainly located in Indonesia, the Middle East, and North America. There are different denominations in Islam including Sunnis, which accounts for 75-90% of the people, and Shiites with the remaining 1O-2O%. The founder of Islam is Muhammad born around 570 until 632. The holy book Muslims follow is the Koran, also known as the Qur'an. The beliefs they follow are monotheistic, meaning they believe in one God and the Abrahamic 5 pillars. The 5 pillars are testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, and pilgrimage. Their purpose in life is serving God and observing the Islamic Law.
     Next is Hinduism, which has 1.1 billion people following the religion. The people who follow Hinduism are called Hindus and are located in India and Nepal mainly. The holy book they follow are the Vedas, including the eternal truths. There is no distinct founder of the religion but is mostly made from a collection of points of views instead of set beliefs. An example of something Hindus believe in is incarnation.
     Buddhism has a wide range of adherents from 500 million to 1.5 billion. The people who follow Buddhism are called Buddhists. Mainly Buddhists are located in Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, and Japan. The founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism is split into denominations including Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, and Amidist. They follow the 4 noble truths in life which are:

1. There is suffering 
2. Attachment to desire is the origin of suffering
3. Cessation of suffering 
4. The eightfold path leads to cessation of suffering
• The eightfold says to live with the right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and dedication. 

     Lastly, Judaism has 14-18 million followers, also called Jews. They are mainly located in Israel and the United States. The founder of Judaism is Abraham and they follow the holy book, Toran, which is 5 books from the Old Testament. They believe in ethical monotheism, 10 commandments, and the 13 principles of faith. 

   

January 9

Today in class, on January 9, we discussed our blogs and the church. We had a dress down day because it was a fundraiser for the Indian pow-wows. It cost 3 dollars so we could raise money and prepare for the pow-wow on Saturday. Also, at the beginning of the class, Mr. Schick shared a story about the babies he saw at the hospital last night. I learned that he helped the babies at the Upper Chesapeake Hospital which is very close to my house. Also, I felt like I had felt an earthquake this morning but apparently there wasn't. We discussed what we wrote and researched yesterday and Martin Luther. We talked about indulgences and a few people read their blogs out loud. We also talked about the Hajj, Lutheran education vs Catholic education, and different religions expressing Jesus on the crucifix.

Vedic Texts

Today in class, on January 8, we are researching Vedic texts. The four different kinds of Vedic texts are vedas:

• atharva-veda  
• rig-veda
• sama-veda
• yajur-veda

     The Atharva-Veda has 730 hymns and is named after a group of priests that are known for magical formulas. The Rig-Veda 1,028 hymns and is "The Knowledge of the Hymns of Praise" for recitation. The Sama-Veda has 1,549 hymns and is for chanting the melodies. The Yajur-Veda is for the liturgy of the sacrificial formulas. 

     An indulgence is a payment given to the Catholic Church to become exempt from punishment because of sin. Martin Luther believed that is was not ethical to pay the church to be free of a sin you committed. He also felt that the pope didn't have the right to act on God's behalf by granting a pardon from God. This research led me to believe that Martin Luther was correct in thinking that money cannot pay and free your soul from sin. For example, if someone sinned and planned on paying out of it God would not accept that.
     The Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. It is a religious task that all Muslims should accomplish in their lives if they are physically able to. It is both an understanding and personal experience. The Hajj has many steps and begins on the 12th month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj

Religion

Today in class, on January 4th, we started out the class by doing a website that showed quotes from either the Quran or the Bible. That took a long time because we had to get less than 4 wrong. The five major religions in the world are Christian, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and Buddhism. The CIA Worldfact Book states the percentage of the population of that religion: Christians 31.4%, Islamic (Muslim) 23.2%, Hindu 15%, Buddhist 7.1% and Judaism (Jewish) is 0.2%. The numbers are fairly close to the percentages on the website adherents.com when they are compared. On this website, Christians are 33%, Islamic 21%, Hindu 14%, Buddhist 6%, and Jewish 0.22%. All of these numbers slightly differ from one another but none of them have a huge gap in numbers. The biggest difference is a 1.8% decline between Muslims which isn't a drastic change.  The numbers will continue to change like they have been for many years. For example, the number of Jews have changed largely from before the Holocaust.

First Day Back

Today on January 2nd it was the first school day of the new year, 2019. We still have 9 days of human geography before the seminar ends. This gives us time to bring our grades up after exams and the first half of the second quarter. Mr. Schick explained that the school used to give exams after the break but he always was against that idea because it is hard to recall all the information we have to know after a long break. I like the way the school does exams now and I don't think they should change it, especially because my brother has exams after the break and he has to stress and study for them during. We are gonna have one more unit and then we are going to have Western Civilization instead of Human Geography. The last unit we're doing is about the five major religions. The religions we lightly touched on today were Christianity, Muslim, and Hinduism.