Rachel's Human Geo Blog

Today we took our test for Guns, Germs, and Steel. I don't think that I did well. I think that I got maybe an eighty-five or a ninety percent. I think that the test was worded weirdly and I didn't really know what they meant. Hopefully this doesn't pull my grade down or I will only have one B.

Today we finished the video. Tomorrow we have a test. I am not prepared for this. I have written everything that we have written in our notes back into my blog so hopefully he will let us use them. I think that I will be fine even if he doesn't let us use our blogs. I just need to study my notes for a while tonight. Hopefully this test will bring up my grade to an A. I only have a B in Human Geo and Health and both are a 89%.

Today in class we watched more of the video about Guns, Germs and Steel. Some of the notes I took are: animal domestication - humans controlling the animals moving, feeding and breeding - goats and sheep were the first animals to be domesticated - before the industrial revolution, animals were the closest things to machines - there are 14 breeds that have been successfully domesticated: 1. goats 2. sheep 3. pigs 4. cows 5. horses 6. donkeys 7. back train camels 8. arabian camels 9. water buffalo 10. llamas 11. reindeer 12. yaks 13. mithans 14. bali cattle - none are from Papua New Guinea, Australia, North America or Africa - all from Asia, Africa and Europe Fertile Crescent - area near Tigris River and Euphrates River We have a test on Wednesday about Guns Germs and Steel. I think that this is too soon to be tested on it because we haven't even finished the video yet. I am hoping that this test brings my grade to a 90. Right now I have an 89.

Today in class, we watched more of the video about Guns, Germs and Steel. Some of the notes I took are: - in the Middle East, growing wild is wheat and barley - Draa is believed to be the oldest community/ society ever - a granary is where wheat/barley is dried out - plant domestication is farming/ manipulating plants for food Places that learned to farm early: 1. China - rice 2. the Americas - corn, squash, and beans 3. Africa - sorghum, millet, and yams - civilization followed learning to farm - New Guineans sometimes eat giant spiders to get protein - people who had the most productive crops had the most productive farm - geographic luck is being lucky enough to live somewhere with good crops

Today in class we watched a video about Guns, Germs and Steel. We talked about what all great civilizations have in common. These three things are advanced technology, large population, and a well organized work force. We also learned the definition of pre history. Pre history is 13,000 years ago when civilization relied on hunting and gathering. Papua New Guinea is one of the only places that you can go to and still find people hunting and gathering. In Papua New Guinea, they used a specific tree to get food. Inside of this tree is sago. This is the food that New Guineans get from the tree. It is often turned into a dough and eaten.

Today in class we started to talk about the book "Guns, Germs and Steel". This is written by Jared Diamond. Jared Diamond is a professor at UCLA. He teaches biology and human physiology. Jared Diamond also likes to bird watch. His favorite place to bird watch is Papua New Guinea. Jared first traveled here when he was 20 for birdwatching and this is also where he started to research for his book. He thought to write the book when he heard this come from someone who lived in Papua New Guinea while he was on a trip. "Why you white men have so much cargo and we New Guinean's have so little?" The history of his book goes all the way back to the 1920's when the British first came to Papua New Guinea. With them, the British brought materialistic things. The New Guinean's began to worship these items almost religiously. The British thought that they were genetically superior than people of color.