Human Geography Blog: January 2011

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Dailies week 1

1. Does history progress? Is an elephant really "better" than a mammoth?

History does not always progress. Sometimes things are better the way they were in the past then the way they are now in the future. A mammoth is a lot more productive than an elephant. A mammoth has all the characteristics of an elephant but can survive in much colder weather than an elephant. However mammoths are extinct and elephants are not. This must show that elephants are doing something right that mammoths are not. This is not true. Mammoths died due to a force outside their cause which would of also devastated the elephants. Just because something has happened in the past which has caused it to not be present nowadays, It does not mean that it is insufficient enough o live in the future. However some cultures that had been killed such as the Aztecs still would have prospered in today’s times. Sometimes history does progress though. After the great depression our economy bounced right back up and was stronger than ever. After the holocaust the world rebuilt itself and our future seemed brighter than ever. Humankind has progressed greatly since the start of time. If you believe in the course of evolution then you must agree that our species has achieved much more then primates. WE have cities and medicine. The health of our citizens goes up every year and people are living longer. History does not always progress. When it does however things are very bright and I believe human kind has a bright future.

Friday, January 21, 2011

exam post 11

Sam and Brian

1. Research countries that do not have the same opportunities as us.

2. Create a gap minder to help other people understand the information.

3. Present the gap minder to the whole school at an assembly.

4. Create a search engine website and every time someone searches it donates a dollar to our country.

5. We start a foreign exchange program to get student to come here.

6. We send our student there to experience there life.

7. Start a donation to raise money to fight poverty our country.

8. Start a text a text to “our country” where whenever someone texts a numer Verizon donates a dollar.

9. We can fund their technology programs in schools.

10. We can donate laptops.

Exam Post 12

This shows that sometimes the more money you spend on healthcare dosent nescessly mean that your country will be the most healthy. The United States spends the most money on health care but is one of the most unhealthy countries.

Exam Post 11

Exam Post 10

Energy Security and Climate Change

This is a important topic becuase climate change is a major issue.http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming.html

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=climate%20change&st=cse
Strengthening Support for the Most Vulnerable

I picked this reason because it interested me and someone may want to know who some of the most vulnerable countries are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/world/europe/17russia.html?scp=1&sq=aouth%20africa%20aids&st=cse

Putting Quality Jobs at the Heart of the Recovery

Creating jobs for our citizens is a very important cause.

http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/econrep1103.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12242663

Exam Post 9

The French position on terrorism is very against terrorism and they have made a lot of sacrifices in order to prevent terrorism. The French And the USA are good allies.

Exam post 8

Exam Post 7

A regional food hub is a centuraly located facility with a buisness management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and marketing of local/regionally produced food products. These are essential because without them food distribution would be very unorganized and structured. The best place to find USDA approved organic poultry, beef, and vegetables closest to John Carroll would be at the bel air farmers market on Saturday and Tuesday.
Dear JC cafateria,
I feel that we should have a JC sustainable food day where we could aquire organic foods. We could use these foods to help educate our student body on the importance of susstainable agriculture by showig them what would happen if we didnt use sustatianable food what the worl dwould eventually become and how we would have no food.
sincerallly,
sam foard

Exam Post 6

Climate change is caused from the greenhouse effect and our rapidly increasing CO2 levels. Human activity is contributing to climate change. Yes, the climate is warming .74 degrease Celsius since the 19th century. We got hit with massive blizzards because of the precipitation change so when it did snow there was a lot more water so it snowed more because of all the ecess water from the melting ice caps.

Exam Post 5

Blog Post 4.

There are so many generic names for soda pop in New Mexico because There are so many diffrent cultures that have moved and settled in New Mexico.

Exam Post 2

The color of the car is blue. It is 2:45. The name of the chapel is St Paul's Chruch yard.

Exam Post 1.

The reason for the dip on this graph was due to the terrorist attacks during 9-11. After 9-11 airport security went way up and it made it much harder for people in the middle east to arrive in the USA. These statistics can help educate people to understand the significance of any major historical event. You can see during a gap minder presentation for instense, how a war can greatly effect the population of a country.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Student Interview

Sam Foard

1/9/2011

Interview

For my interview I interviewed Andrew Tran. He is a freshman and is Vietnamese. Both of his parents are Vietnamese. I first met him in my gym class. When I first met him I could tell her was not American but I had no idea English was not his first language. He is very fluent in that language. I asked him to speak Vietnamese and he did. It sounds a lot different from English. I could not imagine having to learn a different language. Here is the interview of me and him below.

1. What was the first language you learned how to speak?

The first language I learned how to speak was Vietnamese.

2. In what ways have you benefited from learning the language?

I am able to communicate with my fellow Americans now.

3. Which side of your family is from that country?

Both my mom and my dad are from Vietnam.

4. How hard was it to learn English?

It wasn't really that hard because i grew up in the United States.

5. What was the most difficult part of the English language?

The most difficult part of learning the language was the grammar part of it.

6. Do you ever accidently start talking in your original language?

No, I speak English where i am supposed to.

7. What are the some of the hardest things when learning English as a second language?

One of the hardest things was learning how to keep a balance between the two different languages. Sometimes ill mix up words but rarely.

8. At your house do you speak English or your other language? Why / Why not?

When I am at home i mostly speak Vietnamese with my parents because they aren't really good at speaking English.

9. Do you have friends that you talk to who speak that language?

I do, I have cousins that live in New Jersey who can fluently speak Vietnamese but they are also very fluent in English like me

10. What caused your family to move to the United States?

One of the biggest reasons my parents moved to the United States was because they wanted a better life for their family because Vietnam is a very poor country.

11. What are some of the main differences between America and your home country?

One of the biggest differences is the life styles the food they eat, how everything looks and how it is more of a country looking place over there.

12. My parents feel like people are always judging them yeah call them paranoid but thats how they feel can't change that about them

13. What is the main religion in your home country?

The main religion in Vietnam is Buddhism

14. Are you that religion?

No, I am Christian.

15. What are some of the differences between an American school and a school in your home country?

In America a lot of schools provide transportation or your parents drive you to school while in Vietnam my mom would have to walk about 5 miles to and from school every day because not everyone had cars other than that the school system is the same it goes up to grade 12.

16. What was the hardest thing about living in America as a different race?

One of the hardest thing is learning to keep part of your culture and still having the American side of you. I don’t want to forget about my Vietnamese heritage.

17. Do you ever feel you are treated differently because of that race?

I don't really feel like I am treated different that much. Sometimes I do but rarely.

18. Do your parents ever feel like they are treated differently?
My parents feel like people are always judging them, yeah u can call them paranoid but that’s how they feel and you can't change that about them.

19. For dinner do you eat American food or Vietnamese food?

I mostly eat Vietnamese food for dinner and American food.

20. What is your favorite Vietnamese food?

One of my favorite foods is egg-rolls.

21. What are some of the most noticeable differences between American food and Vietnamese food?

One of the most noticeable things between the two types of food are the ways they are prepared and their taste

22. Do you ever listen to Vietnamese music?

I've heard Vietnamese but i don't really like it

23. Is there different types of Vietnamese music like pop and jazz and rap?

They have different types like pop and slow songs

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

My Trip to Madagascar

Dear Journal,

Today i finished my student exchange program in Madagascar. I will be flying home tonight. The main thing i noticed while in Madagascar was that they use a lot less oil and a lot less electricity (ifitweremyhome.com). Almost every meal we ate had rice in it. Sometimes though, they would substitute in potatoes which was always very good. The main religion of Madagascar is Catholicism but less then half of the population is Catholic. The second main religion is Islam but thats only 15% of the country. One of the coolest things i remember about Madagascar is that it is the world's fourth largest Island. There are two main season, a hot and rainy one, and a cool and dry one. Luckily while i was an exchange student there it was the cool and dry season. Un-fourtoneitly Madagascar is a very poor country, where two thirds of its population live below the poverty line. The health care isn't as good and there are only 29 physicians on the whole island (wikipedia.org). If you were to live in Madagascar for the rest of your life you would most likely die 15 years earlier. But the fertility rate is slightly higher than that of the United States (ifitweremyhome.org). Being a foreign exchange student there was fun but i am glad i do not live in Madagascar. Here are some picture of the different houses where i lived at and some of my new friends.