Human Geography Blog 8-29-17

Today in Honors Western Civilization we talked about philosophy more and continued watching the Crash Course on philosophy. Today the main point was really about how people's ethics tie in with their beliefs and philosophy. Mr. Schick told us a story about how he was in Chicago walking into a bagel shop and spotted a homeless man. Bob then told us that he bought the man a meal and talked to him for a little while. After all of this it made Bob think. This is a prime example of how our ethics shape our philosophy. The way we think and know what to do all shapes the way we think about philosophy. The other branch was aesthetics. Aesthetics is the study of beauty. So, knowing something beautiful can also contribute to the way that we think about philosophy. After this the bell rang and ended class.

Today in Honor's Human Geography we watched a Crash Course on Philosophy and all of its different definitions. Philosophy can be described in an infinite amount of ways. One example that we learned was "questioning the reality of nature".Another definition was "is the world made up on energy and matter or does it all just happen." This definition really made me think. We know that certain things in the universe are made up of matter and things happen using energy. We also know that matter makes up things. But, what makes up matter? Particles? If so, what makes up particles? The questions and answers would keep going on until you get to the 'ultimate answer'. This answer would be the answer to everything in life and would provide a logical explanation towards everything the universe has to offer. After watching the video and talking in class, the bell rang and ended the day. '

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we started the project on Ancient Greece. We had the option of making food, recording a video of us performing olympic events, or something else very creative. My group was originally going to build a model of a trireme and write a paper on it. Then we decided we were going to change our minds and build a statue of Socrates and base our paper off of one of his books of philosophy. However, I came up with the best idea ever of building an Ancient Greek catapult. I personally think that this is the best idea ever. I am still thinking but I think that this is a creative idea. I will most likely construct the catapult with popsicle sticks and rubber bands. My group and I will also construct a paper about the catapult. Today in class I started looking at how the Greeks used a catapult and how to construct a catapult. After this the bell rang and ended class.

Today in Honors Western Civilization we finished the Ancient Greek Google Slides Presentation. Here are the notes that I took today: Socrates: -looked to science and logic for explanations of how the world worked -the Socratic method fostered critical thinking -"I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think." -charged with impiety and corrupting the youth  -he described himself as a horse fly and Athens as a horse - asked for free dinners for what he has done - found guilty and sentenced to drinking poison hemlock Plato: - Plato was a student and follower of Socrates - he wrote out Socrates' teachings and described his trial in Apology - Republic was Socrates' discussion of justice and the ideal books on philosophy ever written Aristotle: - a student of Plato - he helped foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination - his school- the Lyceum- focused on cooperative research- building on knowledge gathered from all

Today in Honor's Western Civilization some people had to make up the test, so the people already finished took notes from our text book. Here are the notes that I took today: -Plato- a student of Socrates and writer of the Republic -in his ideal society all citizens would fall naturally into 3 groups: farmers and artisans, warriors, and the ruling class -the person who was the smartest from the ruling class was chosen as philosopher-king Aristotle- questioned the nature of the world, human belief, thought, and knowledge. -worked in psychology, physics, and biology - tutored King Philip II's son Alexander -a major branch of Greek art was sculpture -the most important type of building was the temple Nike of Samothrace- statue of Nike the goddess of victory to honor a sea battle Red and Black Pottery- pottery that had a unique design of Greek Mythology The Parthenon- a notorious Greek temple built to honor Athena Dramatic Masks and Theater- Greeks wrote comedies and tr

Today in Honors Western Civilization we had a test on Ancient Greece. I think that the test went well there were about 3 questions that I had trouble on. I now know that Macedonia is at the very top of Greece. I also now know that soldiers that helped tyrants take over were called hoplites. After we got finished taking the test we took notes on pages 134-141 in our textbooks. Reading this section I found it very interesting that the man named Pericles led Greece to their Golden Ages. He came up with the idea to pay government officials which has never been done before. This made the people of Athens very motivated and government participation went up very much. Throughout this entire tie tensions were heating up between Sparta and Athens for pretty petty reasons. They basically were arguing over whose city state was the best. This eventually led to a war called the Peloponesian War. Athens tried to contain Sparta to the water so their navy could defeat them. This worked for a while unt

Today in Honors Western Civilization we had a review day for the upcoming test tomorrow. We watched the 46 slide power point on Ancient Greece and copied any notes that we may have missed the first time. Before this review day I actually thought that Hipias was Cleisthenes son, but now I know that Cleisthenes actually overthrew Hipias to take control of Athens. After the overthrow there was a power struggle between Isagoras and Cleisthenes. Isagoras had the support of some aristocrats and Sparta while Cleisthenes had the support of the majority of Athens. Isagoras eventually became a tyrant in Ancient Greece. Cleisthenes' followers overthrew Hipias and invented Democracy in 508 BCE. This was the first time a group of people overthrew their government to start a democracy. Citizens would come in to vote on a law by dropping a black or white stone into a basket. The rest of history shows that it really worked out for Greece.

Today in Honors Western Civilization we watched a movie about Ancient Greece that covered everything from Aristocrats to gods and goddesses. Some of the notes I took during the movie: -Spartans were expected to leave home to go and train at army barracks at the age of 7 -They would start real battle at age 30 -They were expected to serve until they were 60 -Spartans wore red capes to hide their blood from the enemies -He did not like that which made him take over Athens and start a democratic government -Greeks diet is made up of grains, olive, and fish -Greece is right next to the Persian Empire -The Mediterranean is located right under Greece -The seas around Greece functioned as water ways for trading and a huge place to get fish -potters workshops were located in the caracas -Greek potters came up with a complete new style of painting -Hippias was a tyrant and took advantage of his power -Cleisthenes took control of Athens heroically and introduced Democracy -The Olym

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we continued on the Ancient Greece Google Slides. The notes I took in class: Zeus -ruler of heaven and Earth -father of Athena -god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice -had a temper and was known to hurl thunderbolts Athena -goddess of wisdom, skill, warfare, intelligence, battle strategy, and handicrafts - She was born from Zeus' head full formed and armored -the patron of Athens Apollo -god of music, arts, knowledge, and wisdom -son of Zeus and twin of Artemis -associated with the sun, his sister with the moon Poseidon -god of the sea, rivers, floods, earthquakes -brother of Zeus Aphrodite- goddess of love, beuty, desire, and sexuality. Her loves included Ares, Adonis, and Anchises Demeter- goddess of grain, harvest, agriculture. She is Zeus' sister -Greeks were certainly a warlike people -Spartans were known for their tough, ruthless infantry -started training at 7 -Athens had

Today in Honors Western Civilization with Mr. Schick we had an extremely interesting and weird class. It started off with just some people clapping when ever Mr. Schick said something. But, then I asked to use the bathroom and was then shunned and asked by my fellow classmates to leave. And since I don not have a Mac I was not able to communicate with the class nor know what was going on. So, at this point I gave up on trying to figure out what was going on. It got to the point that they were communicating by writing on the board. Now, I got really confused when they expresses that it was a protest and then started playing songs about victory. To top it off they all stood up at 1:00 and dabbed. Even after writing this blog I'm still not even sure what exactly happened today in class.

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we continued on the Ancient Greece Google Slides Presentation. We started off on an ordinary slide about Greek gods and godesses and somehow I got the class on a discussion about Ryan Gosling and a cult that dresses up in Santa clothes. We just basically got onto the subject of questioning. This topic really makes me question my entire life and everything that I know. In a way, there is no one that absolutely knows that the Greek gods were not real. However, we simply believe what the archaeologists and history textbooks say. Why? Why do we have to believe what they say? Why can't we question? After having Mr. Schick I have learned to only believe something if there is factual evidence supporting it. And I'm not going to let any famous person that thinks they know anything change my view away from something. In my opinion when no one questions anything it creates a society where everyone thinks the same way and believes in the same thin

Today in Honors Western Civilization we continued working on our textbook project. Here is what out group has come up with so far: Shortly after the Mycenaeans who were very advanced in all forms of math and writing fell apart, the Dorians moved in and took over. However, the Dorians were not as advanced as the Mycenaeans. The period of time that the Dorians were rulers was known as the “Dark Ages”. During this time period writing disappeared for more than 400 years. So, for more than 400 years not one record was taken. Everything was passed through Greek oral tradition. Greek oral tradition is how the Greeks passed down their stories through word of mouth. Many people became storytellers and wandered around Greece telling stories in exchange for food and shelter. However, the advancement of the Dorians was not enough to run Greece. Due to this they looked towards trade to keep the dynasty going. But, the trade couldn’t make up for the advancements that they didn’t have causing them

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we learned about the project we will be starting where, as a class, we make a textbook about the information about Ancient Greece we've learned about so far. My group got stuck with Homer and Literature. So, we will most likely be talking about the stories Homer told like the Oddysse and Illiad and the great 'homeric question'. We've decided we're going to work off of the notes we've taken like these: Blind storyteller composed stories of the Trojan War c. 750-700 BCE. popular for telling stories of his courageous journeys. He told stories or "epics" of Zeus and his relationships. Told of the Odyssey- 12,110 line story. Homer may have been a mythical creation himself A blind, wandering minstrel; a heroic figure said to have told of the Iliad and the Odyssey. May be the culmination of many generations of storytelling or... Homer actually existed and he was just that amazing The Od