Ashley's Human Geo Blog

In human geography we talked more about site. Especially the fact that the southern portion of New York City's Manhattan Island is twice as large as it is was in 1626. Also how it was much more important to most people to get money from building more buildings then whatever effect it had on the environment. Generally whoever has the most money wins, so environmentalists don't usually win the argument. We also discussed hurricane Harvey and its affects on Houston. Because environmental factors like global warming strengthened the storm and the water had had no where to go, the flooding was very destructive. A few people explained how their friends or relatives were affected by the hurricane. It was terrible to hear this, as I also have family members that were affected by a hurricane(Irma specifically). Towards the end of class, Mr. Schick explained how he didn't grade us on class participation. I am extremely grateful to have a teacher that actually understands the concept

In human geography we talked about site. We talked about how the area around here was hilly, and the soil was good good for farming. However, some of the best soil in the world was out in the midwest. Another thing we went over was how the weather was temperate. We have all four seasons, and it isn't really hot like out in somewhere like Nevada, but it isn't really cold like Alaska with all the permafrost. We also talked about how different people from different places had different cultures. In Maryland, the crab fest is when people take crabs and eat them by ripping them apart. Mr. Schick explained how he thought it was very violent when he first saw it. But he also exaplined how he didn't judge the Marylanders because it was their culture and you shouldn't judge someone's culture just because it's different from yours. I agree with this viewpoint entirely.

Site is the physical character of a place. Climate, water sources, topography, soil, vegetation, latitude and elevation are all example of important site characteristics. Site factors have always been essential for choosing which place is best to settle. Because of different cultural values, there are many disagreements on which site attributes are the best. Example: Some prefer a hilltop site for an easy defense from an attack, some prefer river crossing points for easier communication. Humans also have the ability to modify the characteristics of a site. Example: The southern portion of New York City's Manhattan Island is twice as large as it is was in 1626, when Peter Minuit bought the island from its native inhabitants for the equivalent of $23.75 worth of Dutch gold and silver coins. Also, the central areas of Boston and Tokyo have been expanded through centuries of land filing in nearby bays, substantially changing these sites. Situation is the location of a place relative

Today in human geography, we first talked about how we should improve our blogs by doing things like not putting the date as the title. In the middle of class, Chase's phone went off because he had an alarm on. We then reviewed our maps that we did a few classes ago. We talked about where each place was and how weird Africa was divided on the map. We also talked about how the Wi-Fi in South Korea is way better then in America because the government provides a strong connection all in one place. However, in America, there are different companies that put less towers everywhere to save money and you get these certain spots where you don't get very good coverage.

I was not in class today.

In human geography, we learned about the different kind of maps. The one used by most people is called the Mercator map. It is very much distorted however, and makes America seem a lot more bigger then it actually is. We discussed it was most likely made this way to stress the importance of America. The second kind of map we discussed was called the Galls-Peters map. It was a lot different from what I was used to so it was slightly uncomfortable to look at. It made Africa seem a lot bigger then on the Mercator map. It was actually pretty cool to see the difference between the two maps and really challenged my perception of the Earth. Mr. Schick also made a point that there is nothing stopping us from just flipping the map upside down. He flipped the Peters map and it was strange looking. This also made me think about my view of the Earth. It was an interesting class.

Today in human geography class, we talked about maps and how amazing technology is. Mr. Schick explained to us how he met someone on Facebook that was from Egypt. Also how during the uprising in Egypt, she disappeared from Facebook but later returned saying that they did not allow any social media for a week. Maps and different regions were also subjects we went over. We talked about how there are many different people with different cultures and that cultures can be shared. Mr. Schick gave us a map packet for us to fill out and locate where certain places where. We had to label places like Oceania. It sounds like it would be some kind of secret island Indiana Jones would go to but then I remembered that's its actually just Australia and some other islands. This class excited me for what we will learn in the future.

Today in human geography, we had the big test. I am pretty confident I did well on it. I know I got one wrong because instead of putting down Agora I put down Polis for one of the fill in the blank questions. Other then that, I'm pretty sure I got everything else right. It was actually easier then I thought it was going to be. But it's not like I'm complaining or anything. Anyways, there weren't any questions that were particularly confusing or hard, except for the date of when A Message to Garcia was published. Thankfully I remembered what it was before the end of class. I am excited for the next human geography class because we are learning about something new.

Today in class Mr. Schick explained his experience of the 9/11. He explained to us how shocking it was to everyone and how it really hit close to home at John Carroll. A girl who was a freshman at the time lost her father to the attacks. Mr. Schick also told us how there was a lot of confusion and how the principal told everyone to just go home and be with their families. Towards the end of the class, we reviewed what was going to be on the test. We talked abut how ancient Egyptians didn't even think about revolting because they believed their king was a God. I am a little concerned about memorizing the years of when each country revolted against their leader. However, I am pretty confident that I will do well on this test, because what I'm studying is actually interesting.

Today in class we learned more about Socrates and his tragic death. Socrates was put on trial for corrupting youth in Athens and speaking against the common beliefs. Even though he was given many chances to escape or avoid execution, he refused, proving loyalty to his beliefs. He died of hemlock poisoning, which was a very painful way to die. Another thing we did in class was talk about the situation between the United States and North Korea. Whether or not we should intervene, what our plan would be, what we would do were all things that we talked about. Some people suggested assissinaged Kim Jong Un, others suggested we use diplomacy instead. Mr. Schick explained to us afterwards that he used Socrates method of just asking us questions to answer to allow us to really think about the subject.

Today in class, we learned about Socrates and ancient Greece. We discussed how Greece was the first to introduce a government governed by the people, aka democracy. Cleisthenes is credited to being the one who introduced it. Democracy allowed not just the rich elites to have a say, but the working class and normal people as well. However, this reformation still did not allow women to vote or have any say. Socrates was another topic we discussed. We talked about how his method of teaching was important because it was just him asking questions that would cause other people to challenge their beliefs. This allowed people to think of new ideas and philosophies. We also talked about how he was forced to kill himself because he went through a trial and was found guilty. It was an interesting class and I learned much more about ancient Greece.

Today in class, we learned more about the essay A Message to Garcia. We learned about how popular it was and how it was made into movies and books. In fact, over forty million copies were sold worldwide. We also learned more about its backstory and the people in it. Another thing we learned was the odd vocabulary used in the essay. Some of these words included perihelion, missive and stenographer. We debated a bit about a comic a cartoonist made about the essay. We talked about how older generations criticize the advancement in technology and the increasing simplicity of doing things that took much more work back then. Finally, we discussed the word arête and its meaning. The word means the act of living up to one's potential. We also talked about how the highest human potential is knowledge and that the highest human knowledge is the knowledge of knowledge itself.