Human Geography Blog 8-29-17

In today's Honor's Western Civilization class we reviewed the test that we just took. I happened to get a 96 on the test and felt really good about myself. I only got three questions out of fifty wrong on the entire test. After reviewing the test Mr. Schick decided to give the test a four point curve since one of the questions was marked wrong and two others were worded oddly. So that is what brought my grade up to a 96. So, I believe I started the quarter off on a good note with getting one hundreds on the blogs and a ninety six on this test. Today was a shortened class of only thirty-five minutes so that was all that we got done. The bell then rang and ended class for the day. After class I went to Italian Sensation where I enjoyed a pizza and fries with some friends.

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we started the new unit of the course which happened to be Ancient Rome. I happened to take very good notes but leave them at school however I remember  most of them so here they are: -Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romolus and Remus -The two were twins whose father was the Roman god Mars and their mother was a princess -they were abandoned on the Tiber River where they built the city of Rome -Ancient Rome is considered to have had one of the best governments of all time -they had pieces of aristocracy, oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy -they called it a republic -citizens voted for representatives to vote on things on their behalf -they had two officials called consuls -each consul could only serve for one year and could not be re-elected for another ten years -each consul also had equal power over the other -plebians and patriarchs had a power struggle through Ancient Rome

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we took a test. We were warmly welcomed back to the school with a 50 multiple choice question test that was worth 100 points. I think I did well on it. I found most of the questions to be simple. I think that I may have even gotten a one hundred percent worthy of a two bell ring. After the test we took notes on the next part of the class which I believe is Ancient Rome. -Rome began as a republic, a government in which elected officials represent the people -eventually absolute rulers called emperors seized power and expanded the empire -At its height the Roman Empire touched three continents (Europe, Africa, Asia) -For several centuries Rome brought peace and prosperity to its empire before its eventual collapse -Out of Judea rose monotheistic religion known as Christianity -Based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, it soon spread throughout Rome and beyond

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we continued reviewing for the test that we will be taking when we come back from break. We talked about Alexander's  museum and how much of an impact he was on the culture and science of Alexandria. After reviewing we watched a movie scene of Alexander's battle at Guagamelala. Alexander used amazing military tactics to defeat Persia's King Darius. I learned that none of Alexander's generals supported his tactics because they all believed that even with all of the luck and gods in their favor they still would not be able to win the battle since they were outnumbered 250,000 to 40,000. However, Alexander trusted his gut and continued his battle strategy. His strategy proved to be successful and allowed Alexander to win the battle. After the video the bell rang and dismissed class. I brought the textbook home as well to study over break and get a 100% on the upcoming test.

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we took a vote on when we want to take the second Ancient Greek test. The options were either to take the test tomorrow and be done with it to enjoy our Spring Break, however, if we fail it could be catastrophic to the enjoyment of our Spring Break. The other option was to take the test the first day when we come back from break. We all voted to take the test on the day we come back from breaks in order to have more time to study. After the vote we reviewed Alexander's museum and the art and culture of Alexandria. Alexander had a small observatory in his museum where astronomers studied the stars and planets. Eratosthenes was an astronomer who determined that the Earth was round and what the actual size was. Many great astronomers studied here and made ground-breaking discoveries to boost science. After this the bell rang and ended class.

Today in Honor's Western Civilization we discussed, as a class, how much Alexander the Great was an influence towards the Macedonian Empire and the entire south Europe and southwest Asia. Alexander the Great was made king just when he was a shocking 20 years old. His father was the previous leader of Macedonia and was about to conquer Persia when he was killed. To honor his father's dreams Alexander decided to conquer Persia. This is when Alexander first came into contact with King Darius II. Alexander defeated Darius causing him to flee the country. Every time Alexander's troops came into contact with Darius' troops it was a slaughter. Darius' military tactics were nowhere near as powerful as Alexander's. Alexander eventually completely conquered the Persian Empire. Alexander carried on to conquer parts of India and southwest Asia. His reign lived on until he and his troops returned home after 11 years of over 11,000 miles of walking. Once he returned he died.

Today in Honor's Western Civilization the final group finished their presentation on Ancient Greek pottery and finished the class by taking notes out of our textbook. I found the pottery project very interesting. It was neat to see the way they made pottery by molding it and eventually putting it on the wheel like you see in the movies. They then painted it to make it look Greek and attached handles on it. I also found it interesting how creative the Greeks were and how competitive they were. Greek artists would literally paint on their pottery and say that they were better than another particular artist in Greek. After their presentation we took notes from the textbook. The notes from the textbook were basically about Alexandria and how beutiful it was. It was so beutiful that it attracted people from all around the world. The pages also talked about how philosophy made a personal change towards people's lives. After this the bell rang and ended class.