The Law

Make some rules in the style of King Hammurabi. Make note of the style of the code. If . . . Then . . .

With your group, create at least 5 codes in your assigned category.

Communication

The ability to communicate is thought to be a contributor to the great leap forward, and later the downfall of the Neanderthals. How would a phonetic alphabet increase our knowledge? What is happening in society now with communication that has lead to a huge increase in available information? Blog your answers below

Voting

Voting in Canada, 2015.  One person gets elected from each riding. Many of the people running represent one of the 4 major political parties, Conservatives (in power ), NDP (Official opposition), Liberals (leading in the polls at the moment), Green Party. Those elected become members of parliament and the ruling party is the party that has the confidence of parliament. At the link given below, are question about where you stand on some major issues in the this campaign. Based on your answers to those questions, the site will gauge the parties your views most closely align with. This of course may not be who actually support,  single issues like Day Care or Canada's Defence may be very important to you and would sway your vote to a particular party. Then of course, you may think a person running in your riding is a really good representative, even if that person isn't running for your favourite party.

Click on this link here and then wait for the teacher to start

Election Day is around the corner!

Athens and the birth of democracy

Using the link and/or this link for guidance, be prepared answer the following questions.

1.Who were the people that were able to vote in Ancient Greece. How does this compare with Canada of 2014? Oops, don't forget your I.D.  

2. What decisions did the voters of ancient Greece make? Or Make a Pun about something to do with Democracy. 

3.What is the problem of people having to gather to vote on every decision? What solution did the ancient Greeks come up with? What solution do we use for this problem in Canada?

4. Their are concerns with how Canadians choose their representatives. Some of the concerns are: Majority Governments have great power, but seldom get elected with a majority of the votes. Many votes don't lead to representation, such as the Green Party getting a million votes but not a single seat. There is also increasing concern that Canadian elections are not being held in a far and reasonable manner. More people are becoming disillusioned with our system of democracy and not bothering to vote now, especially younger people. Give a suggestion to improve our system of government.

Answers are due for next class. 

How farming changed our lives

Civilization

Civilization is a word with loaded meanings. Often the word is used to describe societies that are agriculturally based, agrarian societies, like ours. To get a sense of timelines and the passage of history, answer the following questions. This link might help you and this link has some good graphics. Blog the answers below:

1. As a review, see earlier blog posts if you need help, where are the earliest Homo Sapiens (us)  remains found and how old are those remains.

2. Review again, when did people take the Great Leap forward and what was that leap. (hint, if you don't get this, you too might have to go back 50,000 years hehehe)

3. What climatic event had to end for agriculture to begin?

4. What materials did people, Homo Sapiens, need to start agriculture?

5. About when did agriculture start?

6. Is agriculture the domestication of plants, the domestication of animals, or . . . ?

7. How did agriculture affect ones lifestyle?

8. How does agriculture lead to specialization?

9. What is specialization (asked the grade 8 Manitoba Social Studies teacher)?

Early People

People

When and how we came to be has been the source of much thought. Many stories exist in various cultures about how we came to be.  Read the Greek Creation story. Scientists have also weighed into the debate, and though evolution isn't proven, here are dates that are widely accepted in the scientific world. Timeline 1   Timeline 2

Some major dates are:

1.When us, Homo Sapiens, appeared on the scene.

2. The eruption of Mt Tobo

3. The 'Great Leap Forward' in Homo Sapiens's ability to adapt, think, communicate.

4. When the land bridge developed to enable people to travel to North America

5. When the last ice age ended
6. From your readings, what was the fate of Prometheus?
7. What was the last thing to leave Pandora's box?
Blog the answers to the above 7 questions.

If done early, review how we talk about time. Edmodo has been down today, otherwise you would have had another test on that. Also peruse the iTunes textbook.