class on 2/27

today in class we did a worksheet. the worksheet was about what we have been learning from the textbook. it started off with giving us some words to define:
1. cataract- where the boulders turn the rivers into churning rapids and white water
2. delta- a marshy region that is formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river
3. nome- member of a group that has no permanent home, they wander from place to place
4. dynasty- a series of rulers passed down within the same family
5. pharaoh- the Egyptian god-kings that thought they were powerful but they were not
6. kA- the eternal life force that Egyptians believed you had after death
7. pyramid- an immense structure used for the people to "rest" after they had died
8. maat- this is the idea that goodness, laws and order may stay in line
9. hieroglyphics- a more flexible writing systems (sacred carvings) the scubas developed this
10. papyrus- made out of reeds, sap grew together to make a very paper like sheet

-my name is Howard Carter. I was a British Archeologist who discovered Tutankhamen tomb in 1922
-the nile river provided Egypt with a reliable system of transportion and with an annual soil deposit
-in about 3100. BC a strong willed king of upper Egypt named Harmor united all of Egypt

todayS QUIZ

Today in western civilization class we didn’t do much. when I first got to class, everybody was looking over their notes and reviewing for the quiz that we were going to take today. As soon as I sat down, I took out my notes and looked over them. Last night I spend a lot of time studying for this quiz because I really want my grade in this class to go up. I was expecting it to be much harder than it actually was. It was just 15 multiple choice questions and we had to match the word to the definition. It was very simple, and I am feeling extra confident about it. After I turned in my test, Mr. Schick asked me if I wanted to go back and look over it one more time. I took the opportunity and I checked over my work to make sure I didn’t make any errors. Overall, I am feeling very confident about this quiz. 

reviewing for the test

1.    Cuneiform- first form of writings 

2.    City-state- equivalent to a country surrounded by countryside and city like areas

3.    Ziggurat- huge temple that was used for religious needs and a city hall

4.    Empire- one leader over control of multiple nations 

5.    Fertile crescent- Euphrates and Tigris river flooded and left really good soil for farming and it also left water. This area makes up the modern-day Iran, Syria, Jordan etc. 

6.    Dynasty- the rulers are all from the same family, just passed down

7.    Cultural diffusion- spreading of cultures beliefs, ideas, and practices

8.    Irrigation- the control of water to people

9.    Polytheism- the belief that there is more than one god

10.  Monarchy- a government set up where only one king rules 

11.  Paleolithic- also known as the old age; hunters and gathers

12.  Neolithic- also known as the new stone age; new tools- beginning of agriculture 

notes from textbook 2/22

-      Sumerian civilization was rising and so was the places along the banks of the rivers

-      The Egyptian civilization turned out to be very different from the collection of city-states that were in Mesopotamia.

-      Egypt was united into one kingdom at this time 

-      They enjoyed a high desire of unity, stability and cultural continuity over 3000 years 

-      The Nile river flows northward across Africa for over 4,100 miles, making it the longest river in the world. There is a thin river of water in this parched deserted land. The great river brings it water to Egypt from mountains that are in the distant.

-      Yearly flooding brought the water and a rich soil that allowed settlements to grow more

-      Every year In July, rain and melted snow from the mountains caused the Nile river to rise and flow over its banks. When the river receded in October, it left behind a rich deposit of fertile black mud which they liked to call silt. 

-      Before the scorching sun could dry out the soil, the peasants would prepare their wheat and barley fields throughout the whole fall and winter, they wasted their crops 

2/20/19

today was a snow day!

2/19/19

Today in class Mr. Schick took a break from the PowerPoint. Instead, He decided to read from the textbook about Hammurabi and all of his laws and codes.  Then after he finished reading this to us, we got into groups of two and completed a worksheet about the different punishments that would be given for certain scenarios in today’s world, and then after we completed that, we compared them to the punishments that would have been given back then according to Hammurabi’s code. Once we finished this paper, Mr. Schick gave us another worksheet to complete for homework. On this paper there were questions about how we felt about these punishments they would give these people. I really hope tomorrow we have off school for the snow that we are supposed to get tonight. I love having days off school and it will give me a chance to catch up on some of my school work!

february 13, 2019

Today we had very short mods since we came in 2 hours late today after having two days off for snow. Mr. Schick showed us a PowerPoint on some of the things that we have been going over from the lesson in the textbook. We started off by talking about before civilizations, the origins and “ages” of humans. 2,000 years ago, a human species emerged in southwest Africa. 14,000 years ago, a worldwide human race existed. Earliest pre-historic age is the Paleolithic age which is also known as the old stone age. Neolithic age, also known as the new stone age, was marked by advanced tool making and the beginning of agriculture. Initially, humans were parts of migratory groups which hunted, fished, and gathered plants for their food. The agricultural revolution is another thing they called the Neolithic revolution. This is the new agricultural revolution. Overall I feel like I learned some good stuff today even though we didn’t get through much because of the shortened classes, we were productive with the time we had. 

notes from pages 32-24

Science and technology-

-      Arithmetic and geometry: in order to effect city walls and building, plan irrigation systems and to survey flooded fields

-      Architectural innovations: arches, columns ramps, and the pyramid shaped the design of the ziggurat and permanently influenced Mesopotamian civilization

-      Cuneiform: summaries created a system of writings. One of the first known maps was made on a clay tablet in about 2300 BC others contain some of the oldest writings

The first empire builders-

-      From 3000 to 2000 BC the city states of Sumer were almost constantly at war with one another. The weakened city-states could no longer ward off attacks from surrounding people that were in the desert area or the other parts of the city-state.

-      About 2350 BC a conquer harmed Sargon defeated the city state of Sumor.

-      They took control of both northern and southern Mesopotamia, Sargon created the world’s first empire- several nations, people or previous independent states all under the control of just one ruler and all under control by that same leader. 

Notes on textbook: chapter 2

Early river valley civilizations:

-      They formed fertile river plains

-      They faced many challenges such as flooding and limited growing areas

-      They had to form an irrigation system

-      In some of these societies the priests controlled the government rather than a leader, but some however were controlled by military and government officials

Problem solving:

-      Over time these people created solutions to deal with all of their problems. They were able to start producing more crops and they had a good water supply. They were able to build city walls for protection. These were built with mud bricks. People were beginning to be able to trade with other civilizations to get what they needed for their livelihood.

The Sumerians stand out in history as one of the first groups of people to form a civilization. As we learned in chapter one there are 5 key characteristics set apart from early human societies:

1.    Advanced cities

2.    Specialized workers

3.    Complex institutions

4.    Record keeping

5.    Improved technology

Dynasty- a series of rulers from a single family which is passed down

Cultural diffusion- the process in which a new idea spreads from culture to culture

City state- each city and its surrounding land

Polytheism- the belief that there is more than one god 

test on video

Today in western civilization we had a test. The test was on the video that we have been watching for the past few classes over these past few weeks. I had felt like I was pretty prepared going into it today. I feel like I got a few things mixed up but overall, I am feeling pretty confident about my test grade. For the rest of class, we barely did anything. After we finished the test, he let us take out our computers and do any kind of homework or studying that we had to do. I finished all of my homework and studying for today, so I just sat around during the rest of class and wrote my blog and checked my grades and my emails. I am excited t see what we will be learning next in western civ since we finished, she movie and will be starting something new.