Catch Up Day

Today was a catch up day to finish our maps and do our blogs or other homework. I finished my maps yesterday at home so I am doing my blog. I include almost all of my notes in every blog in some way, so I am just going to talk about how it went when I was doing my maps. Naming the continents and oceans were very easy on every single map. The Equator, Prime Meridian, and International Date Line were easy on the Mercator and Robinson map, but a little harder on the Peters Map because there weren't any lines and everything was much bigger so the distance between things were different. The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn were also fairly easy to place even though I have never heard of those. The only sort of difficult part was the nation of my origin because I only know three for a fact which are Germany, Ireland, and Italy. The African-American part of my origin is harder because none of my family really knows where we are from because of the slave-trade. In the last 100 years or so of the slave trade, Africans were on plantations and being born into slavery, so it would be very hard to track where my ancestors were originally from. After doing one map is was fairly easy to place the same things on the other maps and I didn't have to use my computer a lot after the first map I labeled.

Different Maps

Today in class we worked on finding and labeling certain things on three different maps. We had to label things like the Prime Meridian, the Equator, and the International Date Line, which I have never heard of. The three maps we had to label are the Robinson Projection, Mercator Projection, and the Gall-Peters Projection maps of the world. Usually labeling maps is easy, at least in my experience, but this time the maps were not always centered or positioned like they are when you look them up. I have never really been good at reading maps or longitude and latitude, so this topic of maps is not my strong suit. I never understood how people find things on the map or better yet, how they remember where things are on maps. Even though labeling these maps are a little hard for me, I think it is helpful because I'm not good at it and doing this three times is going to make me better.

Time Zones and Maps

Today we talked about maps and how we have time zones. On maps there is a grid, which are made up of longitude (0 degrees to 180 degrees East to East) lines and latitude (0 degrees to 90 degrees North to South) lines. The intersection of longitude and latitude lines show specific points on the Earth For more accuracy you would divide each degree by 60 mins and then each minute by 60 seconds. For time zones since the Earth is 360 degrees, you divide 360 by 24 hours in a day and get 15 degrees. Every 15 degrees on a map is one hour back or one hour forward. We also talked about how weird it is that we start our day at 12am instead of 0am. It is also weird that we go from 12 to 1. We don't count like 12, 1, 2, 3, 4.... so why would the time be made like that? I think we should use military time because it starts at 0:00am and goes all the way to 23:59pm.

West Wing Clip

In the West Wing clip on the Peter's map, they make some pretty good points about why the Mercator map is wrong and the Peter's projection map should be used in all public schools in America. The first point they make is how the map has been creating a European bias on third world countries because the original creator of the map was German. It was used for navigation tools for European sailors and to make it easy for them, he enlarged everything to make straight lines so they can cross the oceans. This distorts the relative size of all of the nations. For example, on the Mercator map, Greenland looks about the same size as Africa, but in reality Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland. Also, Europe appears to be larger than South America, but South America, at 6.9 million square miles, has almost double the size of Europe's 3.8 million square miles. The OCSE members then explained that nothing is where we think it is on the map. They talk about how we unconsciously equate size with importance and power. We stress the importance of Western civilization and when the Northern Hemisphere is put on the top and the Southern Hemisphere, with third world countries, and put on the bottom of the map, the world adopts top and bottom attitudes.

Peter's Map Is The Best Sis

Today we learned a little bit more about maps and how they are made. We also learned about how all maps have something wrong with them because it is impossible to make something that is round, the Earth, into something that is flat, a map, perfectly. The four types of distortion are shape of an area, distance between two points, relative size, and direction. On the mercator map, which is the one we have been using our entire life, the size of most of the continents and countries are not the correct size. However, the Peter's map is way more accurate with size and distance and should be the maps that we use for education. Also, I think mercator maps are made with a bias from the cartographer. In their maps, they tend to make the countries that they think are the most important bigger and at the top of the map. Which is inaccurate and makes us believe things are bigger than they are. For example, today I saw how big Africa really is and it was huge. It also makes us believe that the world is scientifically made with North America on top and Australia on the bottom, which is not the way it has to be. You could flip the map around and it would still be correct.

Why are maps made the way they are?

Today we started to talk about maps and we looked at the first maps made of the Earth. Towards the end of class though, I was very interested. We were talking about why North is on the top of the map. The only real answer is because it is always been that way and we are used to it. But, there is no scientific or geographic reason that maps or globes have to have North America in the top left corner and Australia in the bottom right corner. If we did not have maps, most people probably wouldn't know where they were on Earth top, bottom, or middle because Earth really doesn't have a top or bottom. North America is only on the top left of maps because that is where cartographers drew it, not because they knew that for sure. There is no reason why Australia couldn't be drawn on the top left corner. Not everyone sees the Earth from the same point or spot. I think maps were made like this because people are bias and want "the most important" continents and countries on the top and the not so important on the bottom. Think about it, usually the best person is at the top of the list, is on the top team, or the top class. The worst person is usually at the bottom of a list or ranking. I think someone should make a map with North America on the bottom right corner and Australia on the top left, because it would make no difference and it wouldn't be wrong.

First Test

Today in class we had our first test. I think I did very well on both the multiple choice and essay. I did not study that much because I felt like I knew the material pretty well, mainly because it was explained very well and pretty easy to grasp. I did have a little trouble trying to put everything I wanted to say into words on my essay though, I think I got my point across. I wish I knew was what the tallest mountain in North America was renamed after 2015, which would have been cool to remember. The test was easy and fair, it had everything we discussed, no surprises. I liked this unit a lot because I understood it and I could relate to it. It was sort of based on facts but the general focus was people's opinions on human beings. This focus made it easy, especially for the essay question I chose, which was "The unexamined life is not worth living", because I got to give my opinion and take on the quote as long as I backed up it. I do not have any worries about my grade and I am curios to see what I got.

Test and Socrates Opinion

Today in class we learned what our test on Monday was going to be about. We have to connect every topic we have covered so far and explain why they are related. The topics we covered are, Elbert Hubbard's, A Message to Garcia Essay, starting high school, excellence, greek government, and Socrates. We also talked about "the unexamined life is not worth living", which means a life where you do not find your place in the world or try to better the world is not useful. All of these topics we have discussed are essentially about humans using their fullest and highest potential. We have these awesome brains that can grasp so many concepts other animals can't, and it is a shame that some people don't take advantage of that just because they are lazy. I also think that we went from now, to 1899, to 399 BC, to prove that the idea of human's excellence has been around for a long time. It shows that excellence using your knowledge is something that can change the world. I think that doing this at the beginning of my high school year was a good idea because these things show what hard work can do and helps me understand that I shouldn't waste my time in high school, and that I should get involved.

Socrates and Greek Government

• Greek government led to our democracy-- took same ideas
• Socrates was a young man who worked as stonemason
• fought heroically in Peloponnesian war
• working and battle field experience shaped the way he viewed the world-- your life experiences and what you do shape you and your beliefs
• met with young students outside the agora and used method of teaching where he asked their beliefs and branched his questions based on their answers, made them think-- led to scientific method
• lived in Athens, great city that attracted knowledge of astronomy, medicine, meteorology, literature, philosophy, all things scientific 
• the original teachings were only about Greek Gods so Socrates made people think/question with his method of teaching- Greek government did not like that 
• Socrates was charged with corruption of Athen's youth-- making them think instead of just believing what has been taught for so long 
• Impiety- not believing in the God of the state 
• In his defense he said that it was his job to be a gadfly (annoying/ get you going) for Athens because they are lazy and do not want to expand their knowledge or ask questions about things 
• jury of 500 male citizens 279 said he was guilty 221 did not 
• death penalty of drinking poison hemlock 
• he had an opportunity to escape on the day he was supposed to die but refused because he respected and believed in the Greek government, even if he was going to die for such a silly reason 
• proved that Socrates was loyal to the Athenian democracy

Socrates death proved that people do not like change and do not want to be questioned on something they thought for sure was right. They do not like change because it could make them look like they do not know anything. Socrates made people think, which is where all of our ideas come from and how we get answers to things. If we did not think about anything, we would not know anything knew.

Democracy and Excellence

Democracy is a form of government where the people are in charge. People have the power to vote for or to not vote for certain political topics. I think democracy can lead to excellence but, only to a certain extent. People take pride when they can do something for their country or are allowed to be involved because they feel like it is actually their country. When there is a dictator or one person in charge, people start to dislike their country or their government because it is unfair. In that regard democracy would seem like the best plan. Even though democracy does work very well and is the best form of government, I think it allows too many people to believe that their vote or idea does not matter or does not need to be heard. I think that a democracy only works for people who want to be involved or believe that they can make a difference in the world. Imagine a democracy full of people who do not care about politics. It would be a waste of time to let them have the power, compared to a democracy full of people who love politics and want to vote for things. Democracies work because it gives different opinions and views from so many different minds. Humans have so much potential and knowledge. But the people who choose not to do anything are people who either do not care or do not see the point in working hard because there are already so many people to do that instead. For example, if the person who came up with the first phone became famous and rich, many people would want to be like that person. The other people would say "Oh he already came up with a phone, why do I need to make a new and better one?" I think it relates to democracies because a lazy person would also say something like, "If everyone else already voted, why do I need to? My vote is not going to make a difference." Democracy also gives other people the idea that they can discriminate or be rude to other people's vote or to the people who do not vote. Giving power to the people is excellent and is the best way of government, if your country wants it. Working hard and being compassionate for something is where democracy comes from. Democracy can only cause excellence if people want to take pride in their country.

A Message to Garcia: Excellence

The essay, A Message to Garcia written by Elbert Hubbard talks about human's lack of hard work. This essay inspired and spoke to many people. It was reprinted as books that were 42 pages long. They sold 40 million copies in 37 languages and the essay was also made into two movies. A Message to Garcia is about an army officer Rowan, who was sent to give a message to Garcia, a war general for Cuba, during the Spanish-American War. Rowan was able to complete this task quickly and without any question. In this essay, Elbert Hubbard rants about how humans have so much potential but they choose to be lazy. Knowledge and knowledge about knowledge is the highest potential humans have that every other species does not. We have the ability to change the world, to create new things, and to allow us to do things only other species can do, such as fly. Humans have the ability to take initiative and Elbert Hubbard talks about the common rule of people being lazy and doing only what is good enough. This essay was and still is so powerful that the slang expression "take a message to Garcia" means to take initiative, which is still used in the military. We have so much potential, if we would just do what is right, even if we were not told.

A Message to Garcia Essay

The essay, A Message to Garcia written by Elbert Hubbard speaks to me about my high school career because it stresses how important hard work is. The essay also explains how the majority of people are dependent on other people to make things happen for them. When we are given a task, especially difficult ones, most people do not have the ability to just do the task, instead they are bothered by the fact that they have to work for something. In response we ask why we have to do it or make up ways to get out of the task. What Elbert Hubbard is talking about relates a lot to me because starting high school is starting the chapter of your life where you are in almost complete control. High school is where you get your license, where you apply for college, where you get your first jobs, get scholarships and crazy opportunities. In high school you cannot expect to be very dependent on other people. High school is where you learn no matter how smart you are or how cool you are, the work will never stop. Everything is about effort and working hard. The transition from middle school to high school is very difficult. People will help you and can help you but only to a certain extent, after that it is all up to you. In order to achieve your dreams and your goals you need to constantly work. Even if you have already done good enough, you need to do better. Hard work is what gets you places and many people do not realize that. In high school your teachers are not going to chase you down for homework, they are not going to ask you if you want to join a club, they are going to suggest you take a harder class but they are not going to force you to do better. You have to be able to make the best decision for yourself on your own. This essay was really helpful and informative especially since I am starting high school. It made me think about what type of person I want to be and brought to my attention what kind of person I do not want to be. High school is where you learn your work ethic and what you are able to achieve. But it takes hard work and the right mindset to get things done, no matter how difficult everything may get.

First Day Experience

My first day experience at John Carroll was more than I expected, but in a good way. I was expecting to just go through the motions and not have much of a purpose to the day. I did not expect to feel happy to be in school. None of my first days for school have ever been exciting and today was. Usually the first day is just a teacher talking a little about the class and that is all. Today my teachers were very open and so were my classmates. I was never uncomfortable and I did not feel like I was a freshman just starting high school. I worried that finding classes, being on time, and walking in the crowded halls were going to be stressful. That was not the case at all.  I very quickly felt at home and getting through the day was a breeze. The building was very easy to navigate and my schedule was making sense. I enjoyed the work that we did in each class and today set an expectation for me on the school year and my time spent at John Carroll. My teachers and classmates were great and I am excited for the school year.