Thursday 24, 2013

To start off class today we got assigned seats. I like my seat, even though I'm in the front, again. But I know that will help me pay better attention and learn more. After we got our seats we watched a video about civilization. It pretty much summed up everything we learned about Jared Diamond and his theory on geographic luck. I enjoyed the video, I thought it was entertaining and it helped me better understand what we were learning.

Geographic Luck

I believe that Jared Diamond's theory on geographic luck is very accurate and understanding. Many other people believe that the answer to why some civilizations are stronger and more advanced than other can't be that simple, there must be more to the answer. Geographic luck is when a civilization has all the right climate and land to grow crops. The civilization is also lucky to have the right kinds of animals to help fertilize crops, make milk, clothing and food. These civilizations also need the right surroundings such as bodies of water. I do understand why many people don't believe his theory. I am still questioning why every other civilization could trade and spread their ideas with others when New Guinea has stayed almost the same for years. Animals from Africa were moved to America, why can't they get moved to New Guinea too? Crops from America we traded to Africa, why can't they be traded to New Guinea?

Taking Notes

Today in class we went over the "art" of taking notes in class out of books and during lectures. We talked about how you should always write down what is in bold, color, or in a different text. Things being repeated should be written also because it means that it is very important. Highlighting and underlining is also another quick and easy way to take notes because you don't have to write as much (you should still write side tips or notes next to the passage). In my notes I had the definition of prehistory, the basic features of a human existence, when the first civilization was established, and how long human civilization has been around.

First Day of West Civ.

Today in class we made our new blogs and went over having to blog every night. I had a hard time remembering to blog every night but in this class I am really going to try and remind myself to blog every night. We also went over what we needed to bring to class every day. Which is just our computer, composition book, and western civilization book. We also went over Mr.Schick's no tolerance for playing games in class. I thought it was funny because when he brought up detention I could see everyone who was playing games close all their windows.  I am really excited to see what I will learn in class.