Deomocracy

Athens and the birth of democracy

Using the 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? Canada of 1917? (4th paragraph down)

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 a single seat. More people are becoming disillusioned with our system of democracy and not bothering to vote now, especially younger people. The Federal government has proposed a transfer vote system, which at one time used to be used here in Manitoba. Give a suggestion to improve our system of government or comment on the proposed change.  

What is Right?

This past week the details have come out about the government of the United States being involved in torture to gain information for their War on Terror. It has been known for several years that the Canadian government knowingly handed prisoners over to be tortured. Does the end justify the means? A philosophical question we are still grappling with.

The Battle of 300

The Shield

Explain the saying "Come back with your shield, or on it"

This is Sparta

Explore this link about Sparta. Know the word Spartan and Austere. We are studying Sparta since the 5th century B.C.E. With that in mind,  what 3 qualities were boys raised to have? What qualities were women expected to have? Be able to describe in a few sentences what growing up in Sparta would different for you than how you are growing up now.

Who below would be a Stoic and who would be a Peripatetic (a follower of Aristotle's philosophy)?

Thanks to the influence of Alexi's influence, a pun based on a famous philosophical principal. 

I Pun, Therefore I am

Philosophy

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”Aristotle

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." Socrates

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." Plato

Above are the 3 heavy hitters among a huge team of great Greek philosophers. Their names would appear on any Western list of history's most important philosophers.

Here is some information about Greek philosophy. 

1. Which city states did the famous thinkers Aristotle, Plato and Socrates come from?

2. How did they know each other?

3. What is the Socrates Method? What do you feel about this method?

4. Are you a stoic or a peripatetic? (optional question)

5. Who was put to death by the government (by drinking hemlock). Why would he do such a thing?

6. Who wrote The Republic, one of the most important works in philosophy and did much in shaping our sense of justice in the Western World.

7. Who thought the goal in life was to be happy?

Bonus, explain this pun: Icarus told Alexi "Careful, don't fly to close to the pun"

Where is Ancient Greece?

Some Famous Dates for Ancient Greece

Below are some dates from Ancient Greece


Classical Greek Period (Our primary area of study) ~500-323 bce
Democracy first starts to grow in Athens 507 bce
Battle of Marathon 490 bce
Parthenon built 447-432 bce
Rome starts to take over Greece 168 bc
Rome effectively controls Greece with the sacking of Corinth 146 bce
Battle of 300 480 bce
Socrates 469-399 bce
Plato 424-347 bce
Aristotle 384-322 bce
Alexander the Great reigns and conquers 336-323 bce
Trojan War 1190 bce (?)

Early Civilizations

Before moving onto Greece, we need to firmly place in our heads the location and timeline of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Put the three pictures below into Notability. Be sure you are aware of where the 3 rivers are and the pattern of settlement. Do the blog posting two below this titled Timeline Ancient Egypt. Also check Edmodo.

Ancient Egypt Student Projects

Click below to access the student projects

Hieroglyphs

Toys and Games

Drew

Hieroglyphs 

Ethan Thank you Mr. Harland!

Rhine Thank you Mr. Harland!

Gods and Goddesses (empty right now)

Pyramids

Riley Thank you Mr. Harland!

Communication

King Tut 

Max????????????????????!!!!!@@@!!

Shanelle-

Alexi?????????????!!!!!!!!@@@@@@@@

Sam-

Christina-

Hieroglyphics

Gracie!!!!!!@@@@@@@@@?????????????

Fikayo Thank you Mr. Harland

Jessica?!!!!!!@@@@@@@@@@??????????

Gods 

Ancient Egypt Society

Life in Ancient Egypt
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/life/home.html
Click on the above link for the information. When at the above site, also click on ‘story.’


1. Most People in Ancient Egypt worked in one of how many occupations?
2. How does this compare with our society?
3. How does it look like the mud bricks were made?
4. List 10 items that the ancient Egyptians had that we also have in our society.

If done early, and your webpage is up to date, play a game of Senet

Cocoa and the Mayans

Play the movie above, more information kind be found here

1. How did the cocoa taste that the Mayans enjoyed? Can you blog another food item that is served in very different ways, or very different food habits?

2. Besides being consumed, give another use for cocoa beans by the Aztecs and Mayans.

3. How did the Spaniards change the taste of how cocoa is consumed?

4.What security precaution(s) did the Spaniards use to keep their production secrets safe?

5. In which century did people start eating the chocolate as well as drinking it? (hint, think Cocoa Press)

6. Find out why some people thought the world was going to end on  Dec 12, 2012

Ancient Egypt Project

Below is a partial list of possible projects that you may pick. Blog your project choice below. Whatever project you do pick, the project has to be shared with the class because it will be part of our group learning about Egypt.

Start exploring the links I have given you. Come up with a project and record 15 relative facts and the sources for those facts. Due dates and rubric will be discussed later this week. Below are some project suggestions.


Society
▪ How was Ancient Egyptian society organized?
▪ What was the place of the Pharaoh, priests, scribes, craftsmen and peasant?
▪ What laws did they live by?

Daily Life
▪ How did Ancient Egyptians dress?
▪ What tools did artists, craftsmen and farmers use in their work?
▪ What did Ancient Egyptians eat?
▪ How did they farm their land?
▪ What games and toys did Ancient Egyptians have?
▪ What sort of entertainment did rich people enjoy?
▪ How did the Ancient Egyptians travel on land and on water?
▪ What was the market place like?


History
▪ When did people begin to live in Ancient Egypt?
▪ Pick a famous Pharaoh for your project. There were quite a few of them.
▪ How did the two Kingdoms arise and when did they come together?
▪ Major conflicts and relations Egypt had, such as with Greece and Rome.

Communication
▪ When did Ancient Egyptians begin to use hieroglyphics?
▪ What was the role of papyrus?
▪ What was the Rosetta stone and why was it important?
▪ Inform us about the Ancient Library of Alexandria
▪ Explain those Ancient Egyptian artworks

Religion
▪ Which were the major gods and goddesses in Ancient Egypt, and their roles?
▪ How did Ancient Egyptians worship their gods?
▪ What was the role of Priests in Ancient Egyptian society?
▪ Why did Ancient Egyptians mummify their dead?
▪ Why were the pyramids built?
▪ What did Ancient Egyptians believe about life after death?

The Nile
▪ What was so important about the Nile (transportation, farming)?
▪ Ship technology

Geography
▪ Who did the neighbours of Ancient Egypt and who did they trade with and fight with?
▪ How did their location help them to thrive (protection, growing food, transportation?


Structures

▪ How were the common buildings constructed?
▪ How were the temples constructed?
▪ How and why was the sphinx made?
▪ How were the pyramids made?
▪ What was learned from King Tutankhamun's Tomb
▪ What are the connections between Manitoba's Legislature and Ancient Egypt? (what about those 2 Sphinxes and all those Fibonacci Numbers?)

Just how big is that Pyramid?

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built some 45000 years ago, is one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World and only one still standing,  and for nearly 4,000 years was the tallest building in the World.  How big is our school compared to this fabled structure? One way to measure size is by measuring the volume. If you treat the school like a rectangle, then Height X Width X Length gives us the volume of Bruce Middle School. No climbing the school to find the height!!! The size of the Great Pyramid of Giza can be found from this Link.  How does the volume of Bruce school compare to the volume of the Great Pyramid of Giza? Remember to show your work!

Egyptian Gods

You are stuck in a museum. Go to this link to get the vital information about Egyptian Gods you will need for survival, then click on the challenge tab. Show the teacher that you have survived. The game won't play on a IOS device. 

Finding out more about Pyramids

Find out about pyramids  from this link and/or from the teacher supplied links above. Read the story, take the challenge.  Now create a test. 

1. Have a question on why the pyramids were built, this would be important. 

2. Have at least 2 questions on how the pyramids were built. 

3. Think of another question

4. Finally, have a question about the complex that surrounds the Khufu's Pyramid, which is something that archeologists have been finding more about in recent years. 

Blog the questions and the answers below. We will be using this information in further classes. 

Citizenship and WE Day

Democratic Citizenship is one of the four stated outcomes for Social Study students in Manitoba, K-12. For WE day, the school is looking to take people who are committed to being good citizens. In class we will be making presentations about what it means to be a good citizen, why we should be good citizens, and how we plan on being good citizens. From the curriculum, Democratic Citizenship is broken down into the following 4 categories.

Canadian Citizenship 

• Being aware of the issues and doing something to improve  the local lives of people. Examples could be working at a shelter, helping an elderly neighbour, sticking up for somebody's rights.

Citizenship in the Global Context

• Being knowledgeable and concerned about International issues that affect people and doing something to improve the lives of people in other parts of the world. Examples could be providing funds to dig a well in Africa, only buying fair trade chocolate, signing a petition supporting equal rights for women around the world. 

Environmental Citizenship

• Being engaged in efforts to protect our environment because you know how important our Earth is. Examples could be reducing your intake of red meat, choosing to use other means of transit than a personal car, using cloth bags. 

Be Creative and make a Submission showing how you are knowledgeable, concerned, and active in improving the World at a Local and International level. 

Rubric, taken from WE Day, out of 15

Using Work Time Effectively

Always remains on task, showing exemplary adherence to boundaries and rules.

Consistently remains on task, showing respect to boundaries and rules.

Sometimes on task, showing inconsistent observance of boundaries and rules.

Sometimes on task, showing limited observance of boundaries and rules.

Not on task, showing no observance of boundaries and rules.

Knowledge Of Topic

Demonstrates thorough knowledge and understanding of concepts.

Demonstrates considerable knowledge and understanding of concepts.

Demonstrates some knowledge and understanding of concepts.

Demonstrates limited knowledge and understanding of concepts.

Demonstrates no knowledge and understanding of concepts.

Communicating Effectively

Expresses and organizes ideas and information with a high degree of effectiveness.

Expresses and organizes ideas and information with considerable effectiveness.

Expresses and organizes ideas and information with some effectiveness.

Expresses and organizes ideas and information with limited effectiveness.

Expresses and organizes ideas and information with no effectiveness.

Showbie code to hand in to Mr. Harland to mark NYQ6J

Showbie code for to hand in to School to go on WE Day NY8CV

Friday's Class

Join the edmodo group, the code is above. Take the test that awaits you in Edmodo (you are welcome). Make sure that your group has completed the assignments from the previous days. Be prepared  to present your tools on Monday to boost your marks. Being prepared will mean having your tool sheet that I handed back to you (Jessica, I picked yours up off the table, you are welcome). Please browse the blog posting below and make a thoughtful posting. What we study about ancient Egypt will be tailored on the feedback you give me.

New Technologies

New to us, but old to early people, are the everyday tools and skills used to survive. 

With the power of writing, Hammurabi gave Mesopotamia a set of rules to live by, with clear consequences for breaking those rules. This helped make everyone accountable, a clear set of rules for all to live by. 

Here is a list of those rules put forth by Hammurabi 

Browse through the list. Blog the answers below

1. If Mariah's locker was robbed and we don't catch the robber, then what do we have to do?

2. How much would Joshua have to be paid for working in the fields for a whole year?

3. The concept of money also began in Mesopotamia. Explain how the concept of money makes it easier to buy a onion rings at A&W and then a slurpee at 7-11.

Communicating with only pictures

In your group, we will be creating a message without the use of letters and numbers. Use the paper provided, and only using one side, communicate one of the following two messages. Your Choice.

"Take your younger sister Suzy tomorrow morning to help farmer Brown harrow his field. If you are done early, catch some fish in the irrigation canal for your supper"

"Take your younger sister tomorrow morning to help rake Mrs Brown's leaves. If you are done early, you can use your allowance to buy a treat at the store"

Communication with Text

Writing with pictures has been done since the prehistoric times. We still do it with emoticons. What is an emoticon and why might we use it in a text message? Writing with symbols or text that represented a phonetic sound greatly facilitated the passing of information (such as how to grow crops), keeping records (such as taxes paid) and the writing down of rules and first appeared in Mesopotamia. 

Mesopotamia and the start of agriculture

The advent of agriculture changed how people lived. It is widely believed that this change started in Mesopotamia, the site of modern day Iraq, and is often called the Cradle of Civilization and the Fertile Crescent. Look at the map of the Fertile Crescent. Many parts of the world, such as where we live, is good farming land. The huge advantage that Mesopotamia had was access to crops and animals that can be easily farmed and domesticated.

Consider some of the crops and animals that they had access to and what this meant to changing their lifestyle from a hunter and gatherer to a farmer.   

Like where we live, ancient farmers in Mesopotamia had to deal with flooding and drought. They came up with an interesting solution. Click here and try your hand at being a Mesopotatmia farmer. 

If done early, and many of you are or will be

Something very exciting happens today. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights opens today here in Winnipeg. The content of the museum and the building itself has been the topic of much discussion.  Explore the official website. Of particular interest to me was the blog of personal stories and they have a section in the blog featuring Children Rights. In that section there is the story of Garabed Haroutounian who as a teenager survived the Armenian Genocide and found refuge in Manitoba. Do you know about the Armenian Genocide? Hitler is famously quoted as saying he wasn't worried what people would think about his Holocaust plans, because nobody remembers or seems to care about the Armenian Genocide. What caught your interest on the CMHR website?

"First they came for the Jews"

---

 

In Germany they first came for the Communists

  and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,

  and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists

  and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics

  and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me

  and by that time no one was left to speak up.

 

--The Reverend Martin Niemöller, a pastor in the German Confessing Church who spent seven years in a concentration camp.

What year did?

This class find out when the following events happened, according to your classmate's timelines, what year did:
Jordan take his last shot
World War One start
Philippines tsunami happen
Declaration of Independence signed in the United States
First person step on the moon
The Red river flood (a few times!)
Somebody take their first bike ride
World War Two start
Dog Conan get a new home

Somebody stop breathing

A second cousin was born

Grandparent's 10th Anniversary 

Somebody start to walk

Somebody start crawling

Grace and William get married

Someone move into a new house

Bucky die:(

In your team, blog the year and the timeline below.

Mesopotamia

The Start of Agrarian Societies

The advent of agriculture changed how people lived. It is widely believed that this change started in Mesopotamia, the site of modern day Iraq, and is often called the Cradle of Civilization and the Fertile Crescent. Look at the map of the Fertile Crescent. Many parts of the world, such as where we live, is good farming land. The huge advantage that Mesopotamia had was access to crops and animals that can be easily farmed and domesticated.

Consider some of the crops and animals that they had access to and what this meant to changing their lifestyle from a hunter and gatherer to a farmer.   

Like where we live, ancient farmers in Mesopotamia had to deal with flooding and drought. They came up with an interesting solution. Click here and try your hand at being a Mesopotatmia farmer. 

Writing with pictures has been done since the prehistoric times. Writing with letters greatly facilitated the passing of information (such as how to grow crops), keeping records (such as taxes paid) and the writing down of rules and first appeared in Mesopotamia. 

Course Outline

The Provincial Curriculum is here. The course is about 200,000 years of history, so during the year we won't be going into great depth on any particular time period. What will be important is understanding the trends and patterns that exist throughout history. The four main outcomes for Social Studies in Manitoba and what we will be focusing on during the school year are:

1. Communication
2. Managing Ideas and Information
3. Critical and Creative Thinking
4. Democratic Citizenship

The first two outcomes are important skills to have as the student moves through school and life. The last two skills are vital to produce the kind of society we want to live in and avoid something like this

As we jump from one period of history to another, the class at times will be asked for their interests and class lectures will be tailored to those interests. During the year we will also be making use of project based learning so that the students can focus on periods of history that they find to be the most interesting. 

This iTunes U course is a supplement to the actual course, which is delivered in class and on this blog. Supplemental links can also be found here. Some points to consider as we start our course:

What is History? Who makes it? Who writes it? How has it affected our country, the province we live in, our city, you? 

What year is it?

Time Lines about YOU!!

Time Line

Using photoshop, or the other programs shown by the teacher, or doing it by hand, create a timeline. Be sure to include graphics and have the timeline easily readable.

-Have the year of your birth as your starting point. Remember, there are no 0 years on a timeline.

-Have at least 3 dates from before you were born

-Have at least 3 dates after you were born

-Have at least 10 dates

-Have at least 4 dates that have no personal connection to you
The dates must all be referenced by when you were born. The math for this would be (Year of event)-(year you were born)+1
Marked out of 15. 10 proper dates, some type of BCE-CE, graphics (links?), and ease of reading.

Renaissance Project

Renaissance Project



For your final project on the Renaissance, you will pick a famous representative or event from the time and try to convince the class that this person or event was the most influential person/event of the era.

You will need to have a 2 1/2minute speech with 10 pictures for your presentation (set the presentation to change the picture every 15 seconds).

You may choose from the following people, topics:
Leonardo DaVinci Machiavelli Shakespeare
Gutenberg Michelangelo Magna Carter
Catherine de Medicci (or another Mecicci) Henry VIII
Elizabeth I Descartes The Borgias
Fibbanacci Isabella d’Este Galileo Galilei
Isaac Newton Christopher Marlowe Nicolaus Copernicus
Jacques Cartier Vasco de Gama John Cabot
Johannes Kepler Donatello Marco Polo
Magellan Sir Walter Raleigh Isaac Newton
Raphael Martin Luther The Inquisition
Saint Bartholomew's Massacre The Reformation Art and Perspective
Developments in Navigation Spanish Armada Bloody Mary


Things to focus on:
1. Why they are/it is famous.
2. Impact on today’s society.
3. How they/it advanced science/technology/literature/government?
4. Interesting Facts (at least 5-with explanations)

You will be marked on the following:
1. The information presented.
2. How it is presented.
3. Pictures used (do they match your speech).