three-day weekend! (for you...)

Today in class we will be taking a quiz on God Grew Tired of Us.  It's worth 50 points, and it will be your first grade of the second quarter.

The Migration magazine assignment is due next Friday (11/5) at the end of class.  While we will devote some class time to this 100-point project, I highly recommend you work together over the three-day weekend.  In order to do a good job, you will need to spend a significant amount of time researching your topic, writing your article, editing your work, and composing your Microsoft Publisher pages.  It is possible to do very, very well on this assignment - it is also possible to bomb it by not preparing enough.  The choice is yours.

Finally, today is the last day of the first quarter.  I will be entering your grades this weekend.

publishing our magazine

Today we worked on our magazine on Migration.  Work on this project will be completed by the end of next week.  I definitely recommend you do some work at home, and especially over the weekend, on this 100-point assignment.

Just to make sure you have this covered, here are a few of the definitions we went over in class:

• in-migration: people moving into one place from another place within a nation
• out-migration: people moving out of one place to another place within a nation
• net internal migration: the numerical difference between in-migration and out-migration
• movers from abroad: people coming into a nation from another country or part of the world
• net migration: the difference between net internal migration and movers from abroad
• internally displaced person (IDP):  someone who is forced to flee their home but who, unlike a refugee, remains within their country's borders.

magazine project underway!

To wrap up our unit on Migration, we will be publishing an online magazine.  This issue will cover God Grew Tired of Us, plus culture, migration, modern Sudanese history, twentieth century African history, and social activism.  Our magazine will include articles on many of the following:

• British colonization and African independence
• Sudanese civil war
• the incredible journey of the Lost Boys
• the Dinka tribe
• cultural identity, cultural differences, culture shock, cultural assimilation
• working to effect social change
• current efforts at southern Sudanese independence
• by the numbers - statistics on world migration

Your article should include good writing, links to informative sites, descriptive images, useful maps, embedded videos, etc.  We will be using Issuu which you can check out tonight if you are interested.  More details will be coming in class.

This assignment will be worth 100 points.

There will also be a quiz on God Grew Tired of Us this Friday, 10/29.

breaking news on Sudan

It's in the New York Times.

And the BBC.

And Reuters Africa.

And the Economist.

And at AllAfrica.com.

Check any number of World Newspapers.  Chances are they are covering the situation in Sudan.

It's that big.

more God Grew Tired of Us

Special note to Section 04:

I will not be in class with you today, so I need you to rise to the occasion.

I would like Joe Otenasek and Kelly Stifler to lead the class.

Start off with the prayer.

Then, for the first mod of class, Joe and Kelly will moderate the class discussion.  Instruct the class to go to their blogs, and for five to ten minutes each, go over the three parts of your weekend homework:

• summarize the part of the movie you watched last Friday
• describe the Sudanese civil war that caused Daniel, Panther, and John Bul to flee their homeland
• define the terms I listed, and how they relate to the "lost boys"

For the last mod of class, resume watching the movie where we left off.

The homework assignment will be to blog about the class discussion, plus what you watched in class.

Your substitute will give me a full report on how you all handle yourselves in class.  I expect lots of participation and intelligent discussion.  Show me what you're made of.


Update:   I got an excellent report from 04's sub.  Thanks for coming through.

Homework for 04 and 05 is to discuss what you watched in class today, plus to comment on the class discussion.  See you Wednesday.

continuing with God Grew Tired of Us

Define the following terms.  Good sources for definitions would include Wikipedia and WordIQ.  

• in-migration
• out-migration
• forced migration
• net internal migration 
• movers from abroad
• internally displaced person (IDP)

Second, summarize briefly the civil war in Sudan.  Tell me where you found your information, and remember, Wikipedia is not a primary source.

Last, briefly summarize what you watched in class today.

Have a great weekend!

Lost Boys of Sudan

For homework tonight, post answers to the following questions:

• Why did the Lost Boys have to run away from their homes?
• Why couldn’t they stay in Ethiopia?
• What was life like in the refugee camp?

Also, find a map of Sudan.  Mark the routes the Lost Boys took on their migration journey from Sudan to the United States.  Note how long (in miles) their journey was.  Then, mark a route covering just as many miles on a local map, starting in Bel Air.
Here is a map of the Lost Boys' journey.

test review

Today we reviewed the Population test we took last week.  As always, it is recommended that you keep your corrected test for later reference.

More on Migration tomorrow - promise!

mapping the past

Good to hear how much you enjoyed learning some of your family history.  It's pretty amazing to look at our sections' maps and see how far our relatives came, just to end up here in Maryland.

More on migration the next time we meet.

What could be clearer?

The due date for this Migration assignment is Monday morning at 8:00 for all sections.

I always make it clear when one section has a different due date than another.  This was not the case with this assignment.

Here's how it was worded in the original posting:  Both parts of this assignment are due no later than Monday morning, October 18.  You must post before 8:00 am.  Penalties will apply for lateness.  Each part of the assignment is worth 50 points, for a total of 100 points.

This assignment was posted early TUESDAY morning, and pointed out in class on Tuesday.  This means you had over five days to work on it.

I've read a number of your migration stories, and many of them are fantastic.  I hope you learned a lot about where you've been, and where you might be going.

a treat for your day off

This video doesn't really have that much to do with Human Geography.  

I suppose it required international cooperation.  

You could say it's an example of technological innovation.  

But mostly it's just a really cool video 

I thought you might all enjoy.  

Feel free to leave a comment if you like.

(And don't forget about your migration project...!)

Your own personal migration

Here is your assignment for the "break."

Part One:  I want you to imagine your future.

In less than eight years you will have completed both high school and college.  You will have decisions to make about what you will do for a living and where you will live.  Think about two places you would like to move - anywhere in the world - after graduation from college.  Write out the reasons why you would like to move there.  Discuss why you chose these locations.  Consider pull forces and push forces.  What would be the downside of moving?  What would be the advantages?  You should write at least 300 words, and post this to your blog.

Part Two:  I want you to investigate your past.

America is an incredibly diverse land.  Our nation is made up from people from all over the world.  Check with your parents, grandparents, and other family members, and discover when your family first arrived from another country.  Describe where your parents were born, where your grandparents were born, and keep working backwards until you find ancestors who were born someplace other than the United States (or, just go back as far as you are able).  Ask questions of your relatives - find out about where they may have migrated, both from outside the US or within the country.  Write at least 300 words on your findings, and post this to your blog.

Both parts of this assignment are due no later than Monday morning, October 18.  You must post before 8:00 am.  Penalties will apply for lateness.  Each part of the assignment is worth 50 points, for a total of 100 points.

short project for the "break"

As I'm sure you are aware, this is a very short week.  Classes on Monday and Tuesday only. The PSATs on Wednesday (with a one-hour late bell AND early dismissal).  No classes on Thursday or Friday - essentially, a four day weekend.

Frankly, I'm concerned that your teenage brains will atrophy due to this extended period with no intellectual stimulation.  So I am going to give you a fun little (graded) project to do over the "break".  The details will be listed on this blog after school on Tuesday.  I just wanted you all to be aware that it is coming.

quiz on population

Sections 04 and 05 have a quiz on population Monday.  Section 01 takes their quiz Tuesday.

What's on this quiz?  All the terms we have been studying (see my Learn! These! Terms! blog post from October 6).  Know the math that you need to compute these terms.  You don't need to know the demographic transition model.

The quiz is worth 50 points.  Matching, fill in the blank, short answer.  Email me with questions. 

How to take a screenshot

In class we talked about a kind of milestone coming for the population of the world: 6.9 billion people.  Sometime next month we will hit that number, and if you can grab a screenshot of our population clock at that moment, I will try to make it worth your while - with a big apple, some extra credit, or something else cool.  The video below shows you how to grab a screenshot.

How To Take a Screenshot on Howcast

The result will look something like this:

Population Pyramids

The complex yet important population pyramids were the focus of today's class.

Tomorrow we tackle the demographic transition.  If you want to read up on it to be ready for tomorrow's class, there is a link to the right that should be helpful.

Learn! These! Terms!

THESE are the terms and concepts you will need to learn and know for our Population unit.

life expectancy

birthrate  

death rate

RNI (rate of natural increase)

TFR (total fertility rate) 

net migration rate 

population pyramid

You may have noticed the new links I have posted on population pyramids and demographic transition.   Please get familiar with them, too.

test review

Today was the 01 section's turn to review their last test.  Smart students will keep this review in a safe place, as these questions have a funny way of turning up later - on semester exams, for example.

review of the last test

So, what did Sections 04 and 05 learn today?

• Mr. Schick's tests can be kind of hard
• details are useful in any essay
• a Muslim religious leader is called an imam
• it wasn't Colby's birthday, but it sure felt like it for awhile

Don't forget to post to your blog today, 04 and 05!

population terms

If you didn't finish up in class, your weekend homework is to complete the wiki-definitions and CIA Factbook statistics.  The assignment is described in yesterday's blog post entitled "population studies: defining our terms ."

Have a great weekend!