a short week

Today in west civ, we got both of our recent tests back. I got an A on one of them and a B on the other. I was pretty happy with the grades because It didn’t really push down my average for the quarter too much. This was a really short week this week because we had off Tuesday for Ice, and we don’t have school Friday because of Professional Day. Both of the the tests were really easy because I studied a lot for them. It was a little funny because some of the kids got three points deducted from their score because they didn’t follow the directions on the first page. I hope I can do even better the next test because then I can boost my average up a little more.

Lord today we have a test, help us please to do our best

Today in Western Civ class, we took a test. The test was pretty difficult, but for the most part, it wasn’t bad. I didn’t know some of it, but hopefully I got a pretty good grade. Mr. Schick let us study for 15 minutes before. The first couple questions were definitely the hardest. I knew most of the problems on the test. When everyone was done, Mr. Schick went into the answer room to get our results. Right before the bell rang, he told us our grades, and i got a 88%.

we presented

Today in Western Civ class, we presented our projects about the movie. Our group had the writing part of it. It was an easy project, and was fun. my project had many facts. The interesting one’s were Evolved around 5,000 years ago. Appeared in a region of the Fertile Crescent called Sumer. An elaborate system of symbols known as cuneiform was developed to permanently record official accounts on clay tablets. It didn't take long for cuneiform to be used for political and historical events as well. The technology was invented to write down events  and inform people. Also written down for social, and private actions in society.. Important events and stories were recorded using writing, like the first epic, “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. Writing was also used for political events. Whenever societies which were illiterate clashed with societies who were literate, the literate societies were the victors. Entire agricultural societies were transformed upon writing being introduced. Mr Schick said that our presentation will be on the test for sure because it was the most important.

One more day until we present

Today in Western Civ, we created a Powerpoint. To know which group had which topic, we drew out a number between one and ten, and then whoever had the lowest number got to pick sooner, and get better choices. Our group was one of the last groups to pick out of the hat, but we still had a good number. We chose how writing has come a long way. It was a pretty easy topic, and we got to use a website provided by the one and only, Mr. Schick. Writing evolved around 5,000 years ago, and appeared in a region of the Fertile Crescent called Sumer. After a little of time, it didn't take long for the style of writing, cuneiform to be used for political and historical events as well. The technology was invented to write down and inform the writings. There are many cool things about writing, and we present tomorrow!!

A delay happen

Today in Western Civ, we watched the rest of Guns, Germs, and Steel. Mr. Schick was getting a little upset because his computer would not function correctly. Whenever he tried to turn the volume up, it would have no sound. He couldn’t get this for about 15 minutes, so he was getting a little mad. While Mr. Schick was trying to figure all of this out, I was talking to Jerry about our middle school and funny things about it. We talked a lot and then he just got a kids computer, and solved the problem. When we watched the video, we went over some important parts of the video. I thought it was cool that they heat up lime stone, so that it melts, and then they use it for plaster. New Guinea hasn’t really gone anywhere in thousands of years. This is because they used sago trees for food a long time ago. A fact I already kind of knew was that us Americans consume 20 million tons of wheat per year. This is all cool to learn about.

the movie is almost done

Today in Western Civ, we watched more of the documentary. It’s pretty fun to watch because of how different people were back then, and how they survived. We talked about the animals, the food, and just how their lifestyle was. The documentary talked a lot about GEOGRAPHIC LUCK. Having barley and wheat are much better to have because you can store it and have a lot. The 1st settlement that people discovered was “Draa”. It was considered the birth of civilization. They had a little bit of technological advances like the Granary which they stored food in. Domestication is getting particular traits than other living things. This was useful for animals and plants. Rice emerged from China, corn, squash, and beans were from AMerica, and Sorghum, millet, and yams came from Africa. In Papua New Guinea, the best muscle is human muscle power. An animal that gives birth is more beneficial than one that gives birth at 15. When controlling the alpha of a pack, you can control the whole entire pack. the 14 successfully domesticated animals are goats, sheep, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, bactrian camels, arabian camels, water buffalo, llamas, reindeer, yack, mithans, and bali cattle. Llamas came from South America and the rest came from North Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Today in Western Civ, we watching a part of a documentary about Papua New Guinea. We are watching this documentary because the people there live like people did in Mesopotamia. It’s pretty interesting how they do this compared to what most countries do to live. We talked about some important concepts like what separates the “haves” and “have not’s” in terms of modern stuff. Why do white men have so many good and we, New Guineans have nothing. They are very smart people in their own way like how they survive. Us normal people probably could not function their way, but they wouldn’t know how to use technology. Another key concept is that why does our technology progress, but there's hasn't budged, and large populations are also very important. They have a food called, “Wild sego”, which they get from pulp on a tree, and then cook it. It has almost no protein, vitamins, or nutrients, but it’s a huge part of their diet. Its’ all very key.