Scramble for Africa Debrief

I was absent! >_<

Net Effect of Imperialism

Positive Effects:

- Found lots of minerals (natural resources).
- Education (For example, school).
- Built railroads, buildings - developed.
- Because of minerals (natural resources), Africa earned lots of money.
- Medication system. (From Current News).

Negative Effects:

- Because of too many minerals (natural resources), many minerals were stolen.
- African Slaves
- British took over Africa.
- Many families were seperated.
- British people treated Africans as an animal or a thing.

Africa Current Event News #3

In Africa, there are some poor countries and rich countries. Everyone would think that rich countries rank would be high about assessing the treatment of children. However, it is not. Malawi which is in Central Africa, it is not a rich country. However, Malawi did far better than Sudan and Angola. Among the top 10 were Malawi and Namibia. Sir Richard Jolly, formerly of UN children's agency Unicef and now an adviser to ACPF said that government did a great job protecting children and taking care children through better health and education. Not only those two countries' rank was high. Some other poor countries' score was high as well. This article is important because it tells people that poor countries are also developing as well. And tells that poor countries' medication is better than the rich countries. Or maybe the government of poor countries are caring children more than the government of rich countries.

Article from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7737784.stm

Central Africa Today

Basically, the countries of Central Africa are mostly poor. After the Civil War (too much damage), the countries are trying to recover. Central Africa is developing, however, it is not that easy. War, disease, and environmental problems have made it difficult. Because of these things, the economic development is growing slowly in Central Africa. Central Africa is developing because of minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has lots of minerals that could bring wealth to the country. Since, people of Democratic Republic of the Congo are poor, the minerals could bring wealth to the country and make the country rich. In Central Africa, war and disease killed many people like, malaria, HIV, and the virus that causes AIDS. Malaria isa disease which causes fever and pain. There are many countries in Central Africa and the common thing is that all the countries are poor, but because of the natural resources, the country would get rich. As you can see, Central Africa is developing slowly.

Cartoon Reflection - Africa

Questions:

1. What are the main visual elements?

2. What issue is this political cartoon about?

3. What is the cartoonist’s opinion on this issue?

4. What evidence in the cartoon supports your opinion?

5. What other techniques could the cartoonist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive?

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1. A foot print on a map of Africa. Maybe the foot print means the European colonizers. The European colonizers are stepping on Africa people.
2. The cartoon is about Africans, controlled by the Europeans. The foot print is the European colonizers and controlling the Africa. And the foot print is big and the Africa map is small. This means that Europe was a strong country and Africa was a weak country.
3. Maybe the cartoonist's opinion is that European colonizers should leave the Africa alone. Because the picture shows that Europe took over the Africa so much that Africa needs some freedom.
4. My opinion is European colonizers should leave the Africa alone. The big foot print on the Africa map supports my opinion. As I said before, Europe took over the Africa so much, so that it is time to leave Africa free.

5. Maybe the author should draw some people, for example, African people on the Africa map (black space) having a sad face, and European colonizers on the big foot print having a happy face.

Image from: http://img.photobucket.com

History and Culture of Central Africa

Many early people lived in Central Africa but about 20,000 years ago, new peoples began to migrate to Central Africa from West Africa. They made some kingdoms and one of the most important kingdoms is the Kongo Kingdom. It was located near the Congo River and founded in the 1300s. The Kongo Kingdom is important because the kingdom grew rich by trading animal skins, shells, slaves, and ivory. Europeans wanted the resources such as ivory. They used ivory for many different kinds of things. Like, furniture, jewelry, statues, and piano keys. By trading with Europeans, some African kingdoms became rich. Great African kingdoms and European colonizers have affected a lot to the history of Central Africa. People who lived in Central Africa, they spoke different kinds of languages. They had hundreds of different languages and spoke different dialects, regional varieties. There are many different languages because of the number of ethnic groups. Each ethnic groups had their own language. And there were lot of ethnic groups. The most major religion of Central Africa is Christianity. Then traditional religions, and then lastly, Islam. Europeans introduced Christianity to the Africans. For the Central Africa arts, it is famous for sculpture, carved wooden masks, and beautiful cotton gowns dyed in bright colors. Also, Central Africa is famous of music. As you can see, European colonizers affected the Central Africa's history and culture (a lot).

Africa News Current Events #2

In Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Congolese children were forced to join the military. Children were on their way back from school, and they met the rebels. The rebels made children to carry the luggages and told them to go with them. The rebels well-planned attempt to find new recruits. Six children and three teachers were kidnapped. Six children were Jean Vierre's (not his real name) classmates. Two boys were also kidnapped but after two days, they were able to escape. Last few months, there was a fight between Congolese army and the rebels. Therefore, the rebels were kidnapping those young children.
This is very important, because it is like a 'slave.' Children are forced to join the military. It is like those children who were forced to work. Some slaves tried to escape or succed at escaping. Same thing happened in this article. Some students tried to escape or succed at escaping. By reading this article, we could tell that these things (similar to slave) are still happening in Central Africa.

Article from : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7724088.stm

Physical Geography - Central Africa

Central Africa's major physical features are Congo Basin and plateaus surrounding the basin. A basin is a flat region surrounded by mountains and plateaus. In Central Africa, there are two kinds of rivers. Congo River and Zambezi River. Congo River is made by hundreds of smaller rivers and Zambezi River flows eastward toward the Indian Ocean. Central Africa climate is humid tropical and has lot of forest vegetation. The Congo Basin and Atlantic Congo lies in the equator and in the low latitudes. That's why the climate is humid tropical. Because of this climate, there are many forests and plants. Therefore, there are many animals too, living in the forest. Also, there are many insects living in Central Africa's forest. The forests are huge so that animals are safe. The Central Africa's resources are forest products and minerals like copper and diamonds. It involves uranium, tin, zinc, gold, and cobalt also. In these minerals, copper is the most important. People find coppers in an area called the copper belt. Putting all this together, The Congo River, the climate (humid tropical), and the mineral resources are important in Central Africa's physical geography.

Can we trust Julius Lester? (TO BE A SLAVE)

Julius Lester is the author of a book called, TO BE A SLAVE. He wrote about slaves as you can see, and how people treated the slaves. The question is "Can we trust the "truthfulness" of what we read in TO BE SLAVE?" I would say yes, because TO BE SLAVE is a book of a Newbery Honor Book. If it wasn't true, then the book won't be a Newbery Honor Book. Also, these days in Africa, there are slaves and people are treating them very badly as it says in TO BE SLAVE book. Plus, Julius Lester is a famous author which means we could trust his book. I searched about him from the website called, Wikipedia, and it says that "Julius Lester is an award winning American author of books for children and adults.' As you can see, Julius Lester got many awards, and this book TO BE A SLAVE, got an award also. To get an award is not that easy. Therefore, in my opinion, I would trust Julius Lester and his book, TO BE A SLAVE in several reasons. "Truthfulness."

Go to this link to find out more about Julius Lester: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Lester

Africa News Current Events

In the Democratic Republic of Congo is struggling with the cholera. A cholera is threatening the people and many people died because of this. The MSF says that it has seen more than 45 cases around the city of Goma and other places also. The MSF doctor says that the Democratic Republic of Congo is in "very bad sanitary conditions." This got really serious that became a major problem. The MSF had seen "45 people with suspected cholera since Friday." There are also fears because the disease might spread further. Because of this, some people are running away from their camp.

Why is it news??? It is a major news because of the cholera, many people are dying. The biggest thing is that cholera spreads further, so that all the people would get cholera if one person gets. (Conflict — A major struggle in the news). The population would get low if people are keep on dying. This has to stop immediately before many people get cholera. "A cholera outbreak is threatening tens of thousands of people who have fled fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an aid agency has warned." said fromt the article which I had read. Also, baby gets cholera easily because their body is weak to defend it. Even to adults are difficult to defend. As you can see, cholera is killing people and people are afriad with it. This should STOP immediately! ; o ;

Article Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7719030.stm

5 Themes of Geography

5 themes of geography are movement, region, human environment interaction, location, and place. In this picture, for the movement, people are moving basically, and not all the people live in church. Secondly, for the region, you can see the 'cross' which means the building is a church and people are christian. Thirdly, for the human environment interaction, it is the building (church). Long ago, the building didn't exist (maybe) and it was empty, but now, from the environment they made the building which is a church. Fourthly, location, when I looked at the picture, they are definitely not Koreans, Japanese, or Chinese. However, maybe they are Americans or from other country. Maybe the location would be America or place where people are similar (looking) to Americans. We could see that Christian moved to other country, which is a movement. Lastly, for the place, people are wearing shorts and the building's roof is pointy. Maybe right now, the weather in the picture,
would be summer but it is a cold country. If the roof is pointy, that means it snows and rain. But in the picture, people are wearing shorts and the sun is very shiny. These are the 5 themes of geography.

Image from: http://www.salemjax.org/Portals/Salem/Images/Church/Building%20Photos/Church%20Entrance%20People%20Vert.jpg

“Violence leads to more violence.”

"Violence leads to more violence." This sentence is true and I certainly agree with it. When you punch someone that person would also punch you back. Then this will change to a fight which can be serious. Same with the Julius Caesar. Cassius and Brutus (also other people), started first - killed Caesar, and then after that they (Antony and Brutus) have a war. However, Antony won that Brutus and Cassius also die. First, it started with a 'fight' and then it ended to 'death.' This is exactly the same with the sentence, "Violence leads to more violence." A small thing can change to a big thing. A small problem can change to a big (serious) problem.

Brutus' Dilemma

In Julius Caeasr, if I'd been Brutus I would choose Good of Rome. There are several reasons:

First, (very important) if I don't choose good of Rome, then Cassius, Cascar, and other people who hates Caesar, would kill me (Brutus). If I choose Good of Rome, then I could save my life. Second, many people like me (Brutus). Therefore, many people would follow my directions and I (Brutus) could become a leader. Third, sometimes Caesar do some actions which make people angry. For example, he wants to take a risk of Rome (means, he is too bossy). Look at page 15 from a book called Literature Connections, Julius Caear by William Shakespeare and Related Reading. Many people would get angry about this because he wants to control the Rome.

Maybe there are some more good reasons. I'm choosing the Good of Rome because the important reason is, as I told you above, Cassius would kill me and I would die! I don't want to die. =)

Leadership

Questions:
- What are the qualities of a good leader?
- Who are the student leaders in Grade 8?
- How do they demonstrate the qualities of a good leader?

To be a good leader, leader should be active, have a loud voice, and should know how to control people. Also, leader should be patient and be a good listener means that should listen to people's idea or comments. I think Aysha is the student leader in Grade 8. She is involve in almost everything. For example, during peace assembly (in gym), she went out as a leader of middle school. She is also in SLAMS, and almost every people know Aysha. She demonstrates the qualities of a good leader by listening to other people's idea or comments. Also, she helps planning dance and other events (because she is in SLAMS).

Maybe SLAMS people are the student leaders in Grade 8.

Imperialism Paragraph

Imperialism means that stronger countries control the weaker countries. At that time, Africa was a weak country. European thought that they were better than Africans. Africa had lots of raw materials, like tins, coppers, diamonds, and golds. Because of these, European's interest increased. Therefore, they took over it by force. Other countries like India, they also had the same situation like Africa did. Britain took over India by force. India also had many natural resources, like cottons. They needed lots of raw materials (natural resources), because they needed for their industrial economies. As you can see, the common thing is that the stronger countries took over the weaker countries, where had many natural resources.

End of Quarter 1 Feedback

My goals were write a short story everyday to improve my writing skills, do all my best what Mr. Coyle assigns us to do, and get a high score. This quarter, I did my best in humanities. I did all the assignments and followed Mr. Coyle's direction. In my opinion, I think I achieved that goal, and proud of myself. I missed some days to write a short story. When there is a test, I had to study, therefore, I wasn't able to write a short story. With my grades, I'm satisfactory with it and maybe I could do harder and get a higher grade than this quarter.

For this quarter, my three goals are:

- Get a higher grade than this quarter
- Do all the assignments and do my best
- Keep continuing writing a short story every day

I'm going to do my best to achieve these goals.

Political Cartoons

Questions:
What are the main visual elements?
What issue is this political cartoon about?
What is the cartoonist’s opinion on this issue?
What evidence in the cartoon leads you to believe that the author feels this way?
What other techniques could the cartoonist have used to make this cartoon more persuasive?
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In the picture, there is one big man, small skinny man, and money. When I looked carefully, the big man is holding the skinny man tightly. The skinny man is the labor and when on the big man's chest, it says 'CAPITALISM'. Plus, the big man's foot is on the money. On the money bag, it says 'PROFITS FROM A CHILD LABOR'. I can see that the big man is trying to take the money away from the skinny labor. If you look at the picture closely, the big man is shaking the skinny man so that every money he earned comes out from the skinny man's body. In my opinion, on the money bag it says 'A CHILD LABOR,' so, the skinny man is the child and earned money by working. However, the big man is taking the money away from the child. (That's mean...) The author is trying to show us that the big man is taking money away from the child (the skinny man). Maybe the author can make that small things coming from the skinny man clearly that it is money, so people can see notice right away.

Roller Coaster / Factory Game Day 1 / Factory Game Day 2

Sorry, Mr. Coyle! I was absent for a week. I published the posts which I missed (because I was absent), but I'm not sure if it is right.

Mother of Necessity

"Necessity is the mother of invention" I think this phrase means that people can invent things what we need in life. Firstly, it would be difficult to live without computers. For example, we connect (contact) each other through e-mail; however, if there weren't computers we had to write letters which will take a long time. We could live easier because of Charles Garbadge who was the first inventor of computers. Secondly, planes. When we go to other countries, we need planes, invented by the Wright Brothers. Now we could go to other countries easily and safely. Thirdly, Thomas Edison who invented the light bulbs. If there was no light, we could have to use candles. (Oh no!)

How do you learn best?

In my opinion, I think I learn the best way by playing games, watching videos, and reading. Last time we had a game which was really fun. It was a good experiment. To experience something, I thing the best way is to play games. Watching videos were the best way to learn because I could see how people lived, what happened, etc... (for the Industrial Revolution). I like to watch videos so any main ideas stick in my head and could easily understand because the video shows the scene about what they are talking about. Reading is very important... It is really important because it gives you lot of information. By reading those handouts which Mr.Coyle gave us, I'd learn many things. Maybe we can do these kinds of activities more in the future!

My goals - If they are achieved

My goals were to improve my writing skills and I would write a short story in my journal when I have time. Also, another goal was do all my best what Mr. Coyle assigns us to do and get a high score. In my opinion, I'm not sure if my writing skill improved. However, I wrote a short story in my journal. I didn't do much, but usually I wrote about what happened on that day. I think I achieved this goal, but I can't guarantee about my writing skills. My another goal, which was to do all my best what Mr. Coyle assigns us to do, I think I achieved this goal. I did my best what Mr. Coyle assigned. Getting a high score, some parts I did, but some parts I didn't. From now on, I should do more hard to get a better grade. My new goals are (from now on), improving my writing skills (stay the same) and study and spend more time on the assignments which Mr. Coyle gives us.

1870’s Stock Market Reflection

"A fool and his money are soon parted"

As it says above, "A fool and his money are soon parted," I was "fool." I didn't spend much money on buying. In Mr. Coyle's investment tip, it says that you must spend money to make money, but I didn't. I didn't spend much money that I didn't earn much money as others did. Not 'much' money, I should say 'alot' of money. If it was real, I would had died. Starve to death! Good thing that it was not real. But I learned one BIG IMPORTANT thing. I must spend money to make money. Money only comes to me when I spend money. It was just a play, but I think it was a good experience. Hope we could do this kind of game again!

Net Effect

Net Effect for the Industrial Revolution

Positive things for the Industrial Revolution are, we are not having difficult time as long time ago. Because of the Industrial Revolution, we could make many products by using machines, and people who works in factory don't have to make everything. While a person makes one thing, machines make more than one. Therefore, if they have more productions, they could have a better trade with others. To have better trade, the transportation should be good. Then, the transportation will also get better. They earn more money and more factories. If it goes on and on like this, the world will get develop.

Negative things for the Industrial Revolution are, there are more pollutions because of the machines. When they use power or steam machines, they use power and water. By then, the air would get polluted. Also, the water would get polluted. They also needs more workers and more money. When they earn money, they use the money to make their factory bigger. Then, they need more workers and spend a lot of money.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingdutchee/1814134221/

Feedback Q1

Answer the following in your BLOG in complete sentences:

What were two highlights from the first week of school?
- Meet my friends again and some of my friends changed. (For example, haircut).
- When I saw my schedule and I was in Band.

What was your first impression of Humanities?
- I felt that I have to work more hard to get a high score.

What are two goals you have for this quarter in Humanities? (Remember a goal needs to be specific, realistic, and measurable)
- To improve my writing skill, I would write a short story in my journal when I have time. (Already started from last year.)
- Do all my best what Mr. Coyle assigns us to do and get a high score.

My 'Gang'

When I'm with my Gang, I always have a smile on my face. Also, she/he never shows her/his angry face or a sad face in front of me. She/He always help me when I have a hard time with it. In Korea, to me, it was hard to study Korean. However, she/he helped me with the homework, projects, etc... I still contact with her/him when I'm bored. When I came back to India again when I was in 6th grade, I missed her/him so much. Since I came to India we didn't meet. We planned to meet together during summer vacation, but she/he had to go to school. Normally, in Korea, summer vacation starts in 4th week of July. I told her/him we can meet next year, however, I'm not sure if our family will go to Korea next year. My mom told me we will go to Europe next year and America. When I went to Korea this year, I called her/him and she/he's voice was full of excitement. I was happy also. She/He said let's contact when you go back to India. Means call to her/him very often. I told her/him I'll try to call, but I won't be able to call that often. She/He said she/he will going to come to India, but she/he doesn't know the accurate date. I hope we can meet each other next year. If we can't, then next next year. If still we can't hope we meet each other soon! =)