Human Geo Blog

TERMS & NAMES  1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance. • inflation - d rastic drop in the value of money coupled with a rise in prices • mercenary - soldier who is paid to fight in a foreign army to defend against the increasing threats in the empire • Diocletian - strong willed army leader who became the new emperor • Constantinople - a captain in Rome • Attila -  Germanic assault on the empire  MAIN IDEAS 3. What were the main internal causes of the empire’s decline? (use the chart in the readings to detail the causes). The main internal cause of the empire's decline were the military collapse, the political instability, and social decline.  4. How did Diocletian succeed in preserving the empire? Diocletian succeed in preserving the empire by splitting the empire into two parts and had two different people to rule each part. 5. Why did so many Germanic tribes begin invading the Roman Empire? So many Ge...

Today in human geo we watched Jeopardy. Also today was the last day of Semester 1, which means today was my last day in human geo. Next semester I take Western Civilization with Mr. Fendryk. I learned a lot this semester in human geo with Mr. Schick. The most interesting thing I learned in human geo was definitely the Population Pyramid and the Demographic Transition. I think that it is very interesting to learn about the people and economy part about our world. I also enjoyed learning about other countries and their life style and history.

Today in human geo, we took our test on the guns, germs, and steel video. I felt like I did okay on the test today. I definitely should have studied more. The test for the most part was pretty easy. I think I messed up on some of the questions that had to deal with certain material that I forgot to study. But the whole test was pretty much in my notes. This is the  last test in in human geo. I took human geo for the first semester. Now for the second semester, I am taking Western Civilization, with Mr. Fedryk.  Mr. Schick told us that in Western Civilization we are going to learn about Egypt and Europe.

Today in human geo we finished the video on guns, germs, and steel. Same latitude lines usually have the have climate. There are about 100 million cows in the United States. Papua New Guinea did not become a more advanced civilization because they had more raw crops and tool/ sources. Papua New Guinea is still trying to overcome and catch up to the rest of the advanced civilizations. After we finished the video, we looked up some facts about Papua New Guinea. It has a population of about 7 million people. Papua New Guinea has a zero net migration rate. Their population is growing. Their birth rate is high and their death rate is low. about 20% of Papua New Guinean people live in the city. The life expectancy for someone in Papua NE Guinea is about 68.

Today in human geo we watched the video and took notes on it. Inequality was born from planting and growing crops. Animal domestication is when you control the feeding, movement, and, breading of animals in a contained environment. In ancient times, animals were used for milk and clothes. Goats and sheep were the first domesticated animals in ancient times. Animals were considered to be one o the most powerful machine before the industrial revolution.  There were 14 different species of domestic animals; goats, sheep, pigs, calves/cows, horse, donkey, bacterial camels, ariatbain camels, water buffalo, llamas, reindeer, yaks, mittens, and belay cattle. No animals came from Papua New Guinea. Every animal expect llamas originated in Asia. The use of animals and better crops helps their civilization grow. The Fertile Crescent is an area built around rivers to improve crops. The rivers in the Fertile Crescent are the Tigris River and Euphrates River.

Today in human geo we continued to watch the video with Jared Diamond and take notes on it. Prehistory is before people started to write stuff down. In the Middle East instead of sago, wheat and barley were growing wild. Draa is an ancient land of hunters and gatherers. Granary is a place to store wheat and barley, also still used in todays farming otherwise known as a silos. Plant domestication is also a farming systems they used. Some countries that used plant domestication are China, the Americas, and Africa. China stored rice. The Americas stores corn, squash, and beans. Africa stored sorghum, millet, and yams. Papua New Guinea has one of the oldest farming systems. People around the world are more productive when they have more access to better framing. Jared Diamond's main theory is that it all came down to GEOGRAPHIC LUCK.

Today in human geo we continued to watch the video. In the video, it helped explained Jared Diamond's idea that many should not believe that power is determined by race. It also mentions the three necessary things that a civilization needs to have. The three things are advanced technology, large population, and a well organized work force. Papua New Guinea people are still hunters and gatherers, some consider them still in stage one of the demographic transtion. Sago is taken from a palm like tree and turned into dough for the Papua New Guinea people to eat. From a single tree it can produce up to 70 pounds worth of food.

Today in human geo I got back my grade for the midterm exam. I got an 88 as my final grade, I did good but I definitely could have done better. After, he went over our exams we started to learn about something new. We researched some background information about Gun, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. Jared Diamond was a professor at the University of Las Angeles California. He enjoyed bird watching as well. Jared Diamond produced this book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, in March of 1997. Jared Diamonds main purpose of writing this book was to defend the point that just because you are one race doesn't mean you have power over another race.

Today in human geo we took the essay part of exams.  I think I did really well on this portion of the exam. It was very helpful that we worked on it during class and got to bring a note card with some information on it to the exam. I thought it was going to be so much harder than it actually was. For the essay I chose option A, that dealt with issues and conflicts in counties all over the world. I am a little more nervous about the written test next Wednesday but I think if I study I should do really well.

Kenya is located in East Africa. It has a population of about 48 million people and has been said to grow even more within the next couple years. Even though the population might be increasing is still faces many issues with its economy and population.  The economy is still developing due to poor and corrupt government but has been fixed in the last few years with new institutional reforms that should provide a more developed. Kenya has the largest economy in Eastern and Central Africa. Another challenge that Kenya is facing is a very high infant mortality rate. Somethings that cause this problem are that children are not fully protected against diseases, children die because their families are too poor to access the care they need and Kenya lacks fully functional health facilities. One of the biggest issues in Kenya is disease. Two of the major diseases in Kenya are HIV and AIDS. These diseases are the number one deaths of the people in Kenya because they don’t have access to hea...

Human Geo - Essay Kenya: Located in East Africa Has the largest economy in Eastern and Central Africa 2nd stage of the demographic transition Economy is struggling due to poor and corrupt government Major industries include agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, manufacturing, energy, tourism, and financial services High infant mortality rate, 36.1 deaths / 1,000  births Less access to electricity / are not producing enough electricity  International disputes / terriosm  Disease  Japan : Located in Eastern Asia 5th stage of the demographic transition Population is decreasing Declining birth rate  High death rate High life expectancy rate Lack of regular employment in young people Natural hazards; volcanism, air and water pollution International disputes Germany: Located in Central Europe 5th largest economy in the world  4th phase of the demographic transition Decreasing populati...

Today in human geo we had a quiz on the demographic transition and all the stages in it.  On Friday I thought I was going to do pretty well but when I came home today I felt so unprepared. I wish I had studied more of the dates and reviewed all the videos on Mr. Schick's blog. This quiz was short but it wasn't hard but I had a little trouble with some questions. The question that took me the longest was the questions that we were given where we had to make the false statement, a true statement. For that question I put rate of natural increase, but it was supposed to be immigration. I definitely could've done way better on this quiz than I should have.

Today we still review the demographic transition and answered some of the questions that might be on the quiz on Monday. I feel confident in this quiz that I am going to do well on this quiz. One question that might be on the test is to list countries that are in stage five of the demographic transition. Five countries that are in stage five of the demographic transition are Italy, Greece, Japan, Germany, and Russia. I think that if I study a little more and review my notes a couple more times I should do really well on this quiz on Monday.

Today in human geo we did another lesson on the demographic transition. We draw a graph showing the crude birth rate, crude death rate, and natural increase. We talked about the five stages and whether it had a high, low or stable birth rate, death rate, and natural increase.  Also we reviewed for the quiz that we have on Monday about the demographic transition. I feel really prepared for this quiz. I'm very glad we reviewed today and that we are going to reviewed tomorrow.

Today in human geo we watched two videos on the demographic transitions. The first video explained the stages of the demographic transtion but at a college like level. The second video also explained the demographic transitions stages using terms we know. There are four stage of the demographic transitions. Stage 1, has a high crude birth rate and a high crude death rate. Stage 2,  rapidly declining death rates and very high birth rates produce very high natural increase. Stage 3, a country moves from stage 2 to stage 3 of the demographic transition when the CBR begins to drop sharply. A country reaches stage 4 when the CBR declines to the point where it equals the CDR and the NIR approaches zero.

The demographic transition is a process of change in a society's population from high crude birth and death rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, and higher total population. Stage 2,  rapidly declining death rates and very high birth rates produce very high natural increase.  Industrial Revolution, which involved major improvements in manufacturing goods and delivering them to market. Also includes a medical revolution. Medical technology invented in Europe and North America has diffused to developing countries. Stage 3, a country moves from stage 2 to stage 3 of the demographic transition when the CBR begins to drop sharply. The population continues to grow because the CBR is still greater than CDR. A society enters stage 3 when people have fewer children. A country reaches stage 4 when the CBR declines to the point where it equals the CDR and the NIR approaches zero.  This condition is ca...

Today in human geo we went over our 5 major religions quiz. I did a lot better on this test than I thought I would. I got a 50/60 on the 5 major religion test. Today was also the last day before Thanksgiving break. I am so happy that we get off for the next five days. I really don't have any plans for Thanksgiving except Im going to my aunt and uncle's for dinner on Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving I usually wake up and watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade. When we come back from Thanksgiving break we only have eleven school days until exams and Christmas break.

Today in human geography we took a test on five major religions. The five major religions were Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. I don't think I did very well on the test. I defiantly should have study more and spent more time to look over it. But I also think that we should have had a little more time in class to look at these religions. I felt that we just read the slides and then took a test. I wish we went into a little more depth about the religion to really understand it. With the power point I learned a lot about each different religion. I think I had a hard time study for this quiz is because I would keep getting them confused for the other religions. For example, I got Hinduism and Buddhism mixed up a lot. Overall, I should ave studied more for this test and I should have been more prepared to take it.

Hindusim- number of adherents: 1.1 billion (third largest) call them: Hindus geographic location: India, Nepal holy book: the Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized) founder: no distinct founder - it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs - probably the oldest extant religion, although Hinduism is less a religion than a way of life, or a faith Buddhism -  number of adherents: 500 mill. to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit, don’t they?) call them: Buddhists geographic location: southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (there are 1.2 million Buddhists in the United States) denominations: Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, Amidst founder: Siddhartha Gautama Four Noble Truths:  There is suffering, Attachment to desire is the origin of suffering, There is a cessation of suffering, The Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation ...

Christianity: number of adherents: around 2.2 billion (largest in the world) call them: Christians geographic location: Europe, the Americas, southern Africa denominations: Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestants (Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, many more) founder: Jesus Christ (Christianity is Abrahamic in origin) holy book: The Bible, especially the New Testament (gospels) beliefs: Jesus is both human and divine - the Son of God;  he led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected; he ascended into heaven where he reigns w/God the Father  clergy: the Pope is head of the Catholic Church, priests are local authorities Islam: number of adherents: 1.5 billion (second largest) call them: Muslims geographic location: Indonesia, Middle East, north Africa denominations: Sunnis (75 - 90%), Shiites (10 - 20%) founder: Muhammad  (570 - 632) holy book: Qur’an (Koran) belie...