Rachel's Human Geo Blog

Today in class we talked about lines of longitude. Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. Lines of longitude are measured by imaginary lines circling the Earth and running through the poles. The spot on the Earth starting lines of longitude at 0 is called the Prime Meridian. The Prime Meridian passes through Greenwich, England. Longitude runs in a North-South direction. All of the lines are equal in length and never touch. These lines are farthest from the equator. For the first time this year, we turned the lights in class. I didn't like the lights on and don't think that we should turn them on again.

Today in class we talked more about maps. We learned that the definition of geography is the study of where things are on Earth's surface and the reason for their location. Geographers use maps to answer two questions. Where are people and activities found on Earth? The second question is "Why are they found there?" A map is a two-dimensional or a flat scale model of the Earth's surface or a portion of it. Cartography is the art and science of mapmaking. Maps have two purposes, as a reference tool to identify an object's absolute and relative location and as a communication tool to convey the distribution of human activity or physical features. Absolute location is the position as expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude and longitude. Relative location is the regional position or situation of a place relative to the position of other places. We also learned about latitude and longitude lines. Latitude lines are a geographic coordinate of imaginary l

Today in class we learned about situation. Situation is the location of a place relative to other places. Situation also help people find unfamiliar places. Giving someone specific directions to a place that they are looking for is giving them the situation of that place. The situation can also be why something is important in the world. Many places are are important because they are accessible to other places. If a place is close to water, its situation will cause it to be a big place for importing goods. Singapore is an example of a place that is changed because of its situation. Singapore is near the Strait of Malacca so it has become a main place for trade and distributing goods. We also talked about why it is easier to design different objects such as computers or notebooks in the U.S. and sending the design to be developed and made in different parts of the world. This is because the people in different parts of the world have a lower wage than the people working in the United

Toady in class we learned about sites on maps. Site is the character of a place. Some examples are climate, water, vegetation, latitude and elevation. Some people choose to live at high or low elevations because of certain aspects of life that come with that elevation. Some people have chosen to live near water so that they can easily have communication with other people in different parts of the world. We also talked about how humans have the ability to change the characteristics of a site. People all over the world can change the way their state is. In New Orleans there are people that live 50 feet below sea level. This can be very dangerous, especially when they have hurricanes. The people just rebuild their houses and land until the next hurricane comes and then repeat the process every time they have a flood. Another example of people changing the sites is Manhattan, New York. There are a lot of big, manmade buildings. These buildings allow thousands of people to live there, mak

Central America and North America Screenshot South America Screenshot

Today in class, we got our tests back. I got a 90 percent, better than what I thought I would get. Most of the questions that I got wrong on the test I knew that I got wrong before I got the test back. I really liked the topics for the essay questions and thought that I could write a lot about them. The average test grade in our class was a 86.4 percent. We had an essay question on the test about Socrates' trial and if we would vote him guilty or not guilty. In our class of 21, 16 people said not guilty and 5 said guilty. I thought that it was interesting to see everyone's different opinions on his position in trial. One of my friends, Cici, got a 102 percent. During the test, I remembered most of the information but some of the information I couldn't remember at all. This told me that I need to read over my notes more before the test. I now know how to study for Mr. Schick's tests so that I retain the information and show up prepared on the test day.

Today in class we researched the difference between a Mercator map and a Peter's world map. A Mercator map is a map that is typically used for navigation charts because the lines on the map enables a navigator to plot a straight line course. It was introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. It was used since then and is in most classrooms today. A Peter's World Map is a map that maps all areas so that they have the correct sizes relative to each other, also called an equal- area projection. It distorts most shapes because of the distance accuracy, which is why a lot of the states or continents look as if they are stretched out. The map was introduced by James Gall and Arno Peters and named after the two men. A Peter's World Map is the more accurate than a Mercator map.

Today in class we learned about maps. We studied maps and wrote down everything that we could find about their details. I learned that some things on a map that we might not notice when we first look can be very useful and necessary when we are reading maps such as airports, different roads to take, or compasses. When reading a map it is necessary to know where North is. Without a compass this would be very difficult to accomplish. We studied different maps that were of different places in the world. We looked at world maps and maps of the United States. I don't really like maps. I don't understand how to read them. I also don't understand why we have paper maps when we can just use a GPS or our phone and look at google maps. I don't usually need to read maps except for when I am in school learning about them. I hope that I enjoy this section of Human Geography and learn a lot about the importance of maps and how to read them.

Today in class we had a test. I think that I did pretty well on it. Some of the questions I didn't know the answer to but I just took my best guess and moved on. I am hoping that I got at least a B. I know that one of the questions that I was confused on was what Socrates was charged for. I knew that he was charged for "corruption of the youth" but I couldn't remember what the word for "not recognizing the gods that the state recognized" was. Other than that I thought that the test was pretty easy. I think that I did really well on the essay that we had to write about Socrates' trial and death. The other essay, where we had to write about whether we would vote Socrates as guilty or not guilty, could have been written better. I hope that I did well on my first test for Human Geography. I think that I could have done better on this test but now I know that I need to study more for the tests so that I know the information perfectly when I have to take it.

Today in class we learned about Socrates and his life. As a young man, Socrates worked as a stone man. After that, he fought in the Peloponnesian War. People think that his working class status and war experience shaped his character. After the war, he met with his students outside of Agora. The Socrates method, the way that he got people to really think for themselves, is asking a series of questions to see what you believe. This later led to the scientific method. After his teachings were spread throughout Athens, he was put on trial for impiety and corruption of the youth. Socrates agreed that he was guilty but insisted that instead of being put to death, he should be rewarded with free dinners for life. The jury found him guilty as well. The vote was 279 to 221. They put him to death by forcing him to drink poison hemlock. He had multiple chances to escape prison before his death but refused because he wanted to show his loyalty to the Athenian democracy. One of Socrates' most

Today in class we learned some new words that relate to the ancient Greeks. agora~  is a public open space used for assemblies and markets. polis~  is a city state in Ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes. importance of the year 508 BC~ In 508 BC democracy is introduced in Athens. It was the first time in history that regular people rose up against their leaders and overthrew them. Socrates~  was a Classical 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. Socrates death~  Socrates was poisoned in 399 BC. He was accused of "refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state" and of "corrupting the youth". the Socratic method~  a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and draw out ideas and underlying

Today in class we continued our talk about A Message to Garcia . We learned more about the publication. A Message to Garcia  was published in March of 1899. It was made into a book and sold over forty million copies. It was also made into a movie twice. The first movie was in 1916 and the second was in 1936. It was also translated into thirty seven languages. We also learned that "take a message to Garcia" became popular slang for taking initiative. Another thing that we learned was the the tallest mountain in North America was named after President McKinley, the president that was trying to find Garcia. In 2015 the name of the mountain was changed to Danali. We also learned some of the vocabulary that is used in A Message to Garcia . Some of the words aren't used anymore. One of the words that I learned was perihelion. This is the point when a planet is closest to the sun and is at its brightest. Another word that we learned was slipshod. Slipshod means carelessness, s

On Wednesday in class, we talked about how difficult high school can be. There are many things that I have never experienced before that come with high school. Higher expectations, new people, different rules and harder time management are just some examples of difficult experiences that I will have to go through. Time management is a big part of high school. You need to learn how to make your larger homework load fit into your schedule with sports, after school clubs, and special events you might want to attend. This can be difficult for some people but if you stay determined you can fit it all into your schedule. Another big change in high school is higher expectations. You may have the pressure of teachers, parents or even yourself to get good grades while also enjoying high school. This also includes time management. If you can master some of these changes and expectations, your time in high school should be great.

Today in class we read A Message to Garcia  by Elbert Hubbard. It was an essay that had a great influence in the 1900s. It still has a great influence on people today. The message of the story is to go out and do whatever you need to without any unnecessary questions, no matter how difficult. Elbert Hubbard tells a story of a man named Roman who was sent to find a man named Garcia. Garcia was hiding in the jungle during the Spanish-American War and needed to receive a message from the president. Roman was chosen to deliver the message alone. Without question, he went out and searched for Garcia for three weeks just to deliver the message. During all of this time, Roman didn't complain or ask why he was searching in the jungle because he knew that he needed to do it. Elbert Hubbard goes on in the essay to tell us that many people in this world are very lazy and incompetent. He tells us that if we want something done, we should go out and do it ourselves without any questioning or co

Today was my first day at John Carroll! I was very nervous at first but it ended up being a great day! My favorite part of the day was meeting new people in all of my classes. I have never had classes where you have a new group of people in every class so this was very different. I enjoyed this because I didn't know a lot of people in my grade and now I met some of them. My least favorite part of the day was lunch. I had trouble opening my locker which resulted in me being late to lunch. When I got to the cafeteria, there was a very long line to get food. By the time I got my food, I didn't have much time to eat. Other than that I had a great day at John Carroll! I like the seat I was given in Human Geography because I am in the center of the classroom so I don't have to worry about not being able to see the board. I think that I have a great seat in the class! I am very excited for the new school year!