Not My Best Test Memory

          Today in Western Civilization, to my surprise, we got to finish our tests from Monday if we didn't finish them. Although I was happy at first, I soon found out that part of the test was about memorizing something we mentioned earlier in a different class. This was bad for me especially since although I remembered Mr. Schick talking about the books written by Homer; I didn't actually know what their names were. So when I found out that the answers weren't in the textbook, you could say I was disappointed; and also a little upset. Mainly because after I turned in my test Mr. Schick showed me the right answer which was on the tip of my tongue the entire time. I still hope I did good though, even with a guaranteed minus five points off....

A Test...

            Today in Western Civilization class we had a test on Early Indo-European barbarians and the societies that followed them, including the Greeks. One of my favorite parts of the chapter we just had the test on was learning about the Mycenaeans and the Minoans, and how they ended and came to be. So far, we know that the Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans and had the entire Mediterranean Sea at their disposal for trading. Soon after this however we learned that the Mycenaeans were conquered by some group of people that we can only call the “sea people”. It was fun learning about this chapter and even though the test was open book and I didn’t feel all that comfortable with my answers, I’ll still look forward and hope for the best. Even if I get a bad grade, there is always next chapter to look forward to and more fun!  

Democracy in Action!

          Yesterday in Western Civilization class we got to do something similar to what the ancient Greeks did, but in our own society. Another difference is that we also respected the girls’ opinions, unlike the Greeks. During the entire class we all expressed our opinions and points of view on whether or not the Chinese exchange students should be able to use their translators during the test. Some of these points of view were that the Chinese students were here to learn in an English speaking environment and that they should have to use the textbook just like anyone else. Yet, there were other points of view including that their vocabulary isn’t as good as ours and they should be able to use their translators to at least know what a word means (in their language). Personally, I chose that they should use their translators and that idea won. Good job Greeks for helping to invent democracy!

Be Carried Back on Your Shield...

            Today in Western Civilization we continued to review over Mr. Schick’s outline which he made to help prepare us for the chapter test. Today we focused on the Greeks and the early Greek civilizations like the Mycenaeans and the Minoans, who lived on Crete, Greece’s largest island. Sadly though, all we know about how they were wiped out was by oral tradition and even then all we get from it, is that they were wiped out by the sea people…

            As class went on we also started to talk about the Greeks and their types of government. One of these was called a tyranny, which is when someone claims power from the current leader and rules with an iron fist. My favorite Greeks, the Spartans, however, had a different point of view, they had every male since they turned seven put into the military and were only released when they turned sixty. And these Spartans, since they had most of their men in the army and only the old men and all women stayed at home; were forced to make a oligarchy, where the elders made all the choices.

            Either way you think about it, the Greeks were some of the coolest people in history and I’m glad that they’re still around today; even if they’re not the same people they were back then…   

I Have to Know the Truth!

             Today in Western Civilization class we listened as Mr. Schick went over the entire chapter with us and even taught us some new information. As we went over the outline we only got through the Early European barbarians and the early Greek societies such as the Minoans and the Mycenaeans. We also heard from Mr. Schick that Camren Exter of one of his other classes found a way that was possible for the early barbarians to make Stonehenge. But by all the most intriguing thing Mr. Schick brought up today was what happened to the Mycenaeans? It’s like a mystery in my head that I just can’t stop thinking about. I want to know where the book got the information about the “sea people” and even more. Mr. Schick, if you’re reading this, I’ll try to find these things out and discover what really happened to the Mycenaeans…

A Sneak Peak

                Today in Western Civilization class we got to see two other groups’ projects, their notes, and their progress. When we saw the other team’s projects my group of Victoria, Timmy, Abby, and I also tried to volunteer, but sadly we were not picked. I guess that could have been a good thing since many of our slides were either out of place or out of order. Still, we learned about a lot of stuff that the other groups had written down in their slides that we didn’t, and I think we’re going to benefit from it. Not only because it will help us learn what to do on our project, but also because we get to use our project to help us on the next quiz. I just hope that next time when we actually do start to present our projects that it will be well prepared and ready to present.

Reviewing Da Test

Yesterday in Western Civilization class instead of working with our groups on our project; we went over the test on the first Learning Objective we had last week. The test was early civilizations and early human life. This included early societies like Egypt and Mesopotamia. This test focused on Egypt and more specifically how their life was affected by the Nile. As we reviewed the test we talked yet again how the Nile shaped the Egyptians everyday life. The essays were some of the better examples of this. In my essay I explained that the reason the Nile helped the Egyptians, was because the Nile helped the Egyptians with things like transportation, irrigation, and better soil for planting. Throughout Egypt’s time, its survival even as an early civilization was affected by the Nile. I just hope we get to us this test on our next one with our project!  

Another Day With the Team

          Today in Western Civilization class we continued to work on our project with our partners. Today we also did a lot better than yesterday and got more done. This is because today we knew what each of us were going to do and we all got started almost immediately. I mainly focused on the LO-2 section of the chapter, which focused on the Greeks and their way of life. I also explained the geography of Greece and how important it was in shaping how they moved and developed, such as the fact that the Greeks mainly used the seas as transportation, because most of the Greek Peninsula was a mountainous region. The Greeks also built great structures like the Parthenon in Athens. I think all together we’re doing a great job on our project and next time we will get even more done. I can’t wait for the next class to get this project finished! 

Project Class?....

            Today in Western Civilization class we got into groups and started making our project for the LO-2 in our textbook. In this part of the textbook the book talks about some early Greek civilizations specifically those located in the southern area of Greece. This area contained the Greek island Crete. This island was very beneficial to the early Greeks, because the Greek’s lives were mainly controlled by the sea, which was used for transportation. The reason the Greeks used the sea so much to get things around was because most of Greece consisted of mountainous terrain.

            Above it what I was taking notes on for my slide in my group’s project. When we picked our partners I was placed with Timmy, Abby, and Victoria. I think that together with our knowledge of being smart and how to make people laugh we should do pretty well on our project and maybe have some fun too!

New Chapter!

            As we read the new chapter in our textbook for homework I learned about several new things, including: barbarians, megaliths, tribes, and people from both the west and Indo-European areas. As I read the chapter I learned the importance of these terms and what they actually meant. There were also many examples for each of the terms that I found. As I continue on I will explain them.

            The first term is called barbarian; in my own words I described it as a human that lived around in early times and whose job it was to raid or sack other villages or civilizations. The Vikings could be thought as one of the groups of barbarians as they attacked all sorts of placed throughout their lifetime. The second term is called a megalith; these giant structures were often built for some form of religious practice or to show power. One example is Stone Hedge which was used by cultists long ago. The third term is known as a tribe; tribes were more often seen in older civilizations and were just small groups of people, which sometimes migrated like a nomad. Yet another term used in the reading was Indo-European, these people were the first to migrate to Europe from other places including modern day Russia. The final term I included from the reading was Western, this term in the book is used to describe a group of people who first got to Europe which was in a western direction from where they came.

            Through reading LO-1 of this new chapter I learned many new terms, places, and names that I’ve never heard before. I also learned that these discoveries and inventions were some of the most significant for their time and even now. I think it’d be cool to go back and see how they built these and maybe even meet Socrates….

 

Barbarians.... Like Vikings?

          Today in Western Civilization class we reviewed about what we read in the book or the LO-1. In the book we learned about barbarians and more specifically about giant ancient monuments. Like the ancient Greek monuments such as the Parthenon. As we continued to review we also learned about the barbarians and how before some of them moved to Europe that they built the monument known as the Stone Hedge. There are many theories about Stone Hedge and how the materials got there and how they were placed at an exact point and positioned perfectly. My personal theory is…… aliens! But if there are aliens, where are they and how did they come to us then but not now? There will be answers! But first we need to learn about the past and what we did, how we did it, and why we did it. Hit the books kids, it’s learning time. 

Mr. Schick Came! :D

            Yesterday in Western Civilization class we had a quiz about ancient civilizations and how those ancient civilizations started. During the quiz we could use our blog, and although I do keep up on my blogs, I don’t however put many notes on my blog. I like to put most of my notes in my copybook, so I ended up just using my memory to do the entire quiz. Although this was a lot harder than having the notes right in front of you; I still think I did a great job on the quiz.

            You could even say class continued over the weekend as Mr. Schick came to the robotics competition in Harve De Grace, Maryland. It was a shock to see Mr. Schick, but once I realized why he was actually there, I and the others were actually happy to see Mr. Schick. Although we didn’t win at least we can tell Mr. Schick and others that we came in the top ten….

Tomorrow There be a Quiz

            Today in Western Civilization class we watched another video featuring John Greene. He is a really awesome guy and is almost as cool and good at teaching as Mr. Schick. It’s fun to be able to learn by watching videos and hearing jokes along the way. Mr. Schick said that he also liked us learning this way, because we actually pay attention to the video and that John’s information official, who corrects everything that might be wrong, is his old History teacher.

            Mr. Schick also announced to us today that we would have a quiz on Ancient Civilizations, Mesopotamia, and Egypt and what they discovered or how they helped us evolve our civilization today. The most important civilization was Egypt in my opinion, because it introduced many things including: a social class system, religion, and many new architectural advancements. Some of these included the pyramids and the Sphinx, which had its nose shot off by the Turks in later times. Egypt is one of the coolest places around to learn about advancements in everything from technology, to civilization, and even to new beliefs.

More Games Please?

            Today in Western Civilization class we got to learn how to build a pyramid! We went on to the BBC history website to learn about both what is needed to make a pyramid and how to make one. The most necessary things for building a pyramid are types of building material, good workers, ample food supply, and being close to the river for easy transportation and being able to easily get water. The hardest part of the game was trying to finish the passage going up the river and actually having enough people and food to build the pyramid. After tons of tries with my partner, Timmy Yantz, we finally finished building the pyramids. It took many trial and error experiments though, but we had both completed our pyramids in less than 25 years, according to the game of course. I had a lot of fun playing this game with Timmy and I hope Mr. Schick teaches like this more often.

Egyptian Discoveries

            In Western Civilization class on Thursday we wrote down notes on the slideshow we watched about Egypt and how it was one of the most important parts of life between the early humans and now. Egypt brought several things into play, including a social class and great new architecture. Some of this architecture included things like the Sphinx and the pyramids. It’s hard to believe that these massive structures could be created by such primitive people and some of these things like the building of the pyramids still confuse us today. The fact of how they were built not by slaves, but by workers stuns me and also how the pyramids were literally designed, placed, and made perfectly. The Egyptians also brought religion into play. They believed that there was a god for everything including: war, children, the sun, the moon, and the after-life. How did they get to discover so much and create so much though?