GEOGRAPHY:
Hey people! So, today we discussed the following question: "What is physical geography?" To do this, we began by assuming that the "2012 Doomsday Scenario" had happened and that the 10 of us were the only survivors for 500 miles. We decided that what we needed to survive was food + water (and that the water we needed RIGHT NOW!)
So, we went outside and tried to figure out where we could find fresh water. The "survivors" of the group decided that rainwater would go to the lowest place, so we walked downhill and tried to find a stream. Well, there was no stream, but we figured that if we kept walking downhill, we would eventually find one that would eventually turn into a river.
We also talked about how water does not flow SOUTH! It flows DOWNHILL... meaning that water can flow north, east, and west...! If you're confused, ask me or someone in class!
We also discussed how when we would get to the mouth (or the "big part") of the river, we would start to grow food, fish, hunt, and maybe even meet other survivors that would come there. Here we would start a "new civilization." This led into our discussion of how the physical geography of a place can affect the people and their culture. We ended with a story from the Native Australian "Aborigines" about how the universe was created, and Mr.K played their musical instrument, the didgeridoo. (click here for a video of the didgeridoo being played)
WORLD HISTORY:
Hey people! So, today we officially started World History class. We started by working on how to understand and read a TIMELINE. To do this, Mr.K placed a list of events on the board and the task was to organize them on a timeline chronologically (meaning, in order from oldest to newest.) See below for the list and the pictures from class:
- Year 2011 - Your birthday - Homo sapiens "emerge"
- Year Zero (0) - A parent’s B-Day - Birth of Jesus
- 120 B.C. - Humans "harness" Electricity - Pyramids built in Egypt
- 8000 B.C. - Invention of the car - Adam & Eve are born
*Where do these go and what do they mean --> - B.C. - A.D.
After this, we corrected the timeline and figured out the correct dates some of the listed events. REMEMBER! "B.C." means "Before Christ," while "A.D." does NOT mean "After Death"... it means "Anno Domini," which means "in the years of our Lord." The early Christians who made the calendar did this because they meant that because God sent Jesus (whom they believed was God in the flesh), that we were now living in the years when "God walked the Earth." We then had a Q/A session about how timelines work and about how we and historians know when these events happened.
