Western Civ 2019

Today in Western Civilization, we did a worksheet on Egypt. Although, we got most of the answers down, we didn't have enough time. Also, our teacher got lazy and didn't go over the worksheet that he gave us. Some of the questions weren't in the book so, we skipped over those. We also changed seats. I didn't really like my seat at first but I'm kind of getting use to it. So, that was all that I can recall we did in class so I'm gonna tell you about what happened after school. After school I had baseball practice again. We pretty much have practice every day except for when it's too cold or on Sundays. Today I thought we shouldn't have had practice because it was so cold. But we did anyway. I don't really mind though. All we worked on was stealing bases and turning double plays. We spent the majority of practice working on stealing bases and picking off runners. This is the end of today's post. 

1. Terms and Names . Delta- A delta is a landform that forms from deposition sediments that's carried by a river and opens up to a slow-moving or stagnant body of water. . Narmer- Narmer was an Egyptian king in the Early Dynastic Era. He was most likely the successor of King Ka. . Pharaoh- The title of Egyptian Monarchs and dynasties in Ancient Egypt until the Annexation of Egypt in 30 B.C. by the Roman Empire. . Theocracy- When the government is ruled by the head of the main religion in the country. Like a High Priest was a ruler of Mesopotamia or shared power with someone else. . Pyramid- A triangular structure that was used as a royal tomb for Pharaohs for when they died. . Mummification- A process of preserving the skin and flesh of a body. This can be done naturally or intentionally. If it is done naturally, it is because of cold, acid, or dryness. .Hieroglyphic- The form of writing used by the Egyptians. The hieroglyphics look like real life things like a snake....

Today in Western Civilization, we studied and went over things that we will need to know for the test tomorrow. We need to know things like cuneiform. Cuneiform is the first form of writing.  The Fertile Crescent is an area where Mesopotamia and Sumer are. It is surrounded by the Tigris and Euphrates river. When these rivers flooded, they would bring silt and you would be able to use it to grow plants. Silt is a rich soil used for farming. Irrigation is a way to get water from a river to people especially farther away from the river. City- States was a form of gov. that controlled the area. The modern countries that are in the Fertile Crescent are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Turkey. Polytheism is the belief in multiple gods. A monarchy is when there is a rule by one person that's usually a king.  This is the end of my post.

Today in Western Civilization we didn't really do much other than get a paper back and finish a worksheet we were supposed to finish because we had a 2-hour delay. So, I will also talk about some of my day after school. The worksheet we got back was homework and I got a 100% on it. Although, the homework was only 8 points. But a 100% is a 100%. We also finished a worksheet we did Tuesday where we were the judge of a case back in the time of Hammurabi's Code. Then, we found out what Hammurabi actually put as his punishment. A lot of them had to do with putting someone to death or cutting something off of their body like an ear or hand. We also took notes but we didn't have much time for that so I really didn't get anything down on paper. After school I had practice for baseball. First, we did a jog around both turf fields twice which I hated because I don't have good endurance. Other than that the team split into infield and outfield. I play in the infield. All w...

Today in Western Civilization we looked at 6 scenarios in which one of the laws in Hammurabi's Code would be enforced. We were able to work with a partner. I worked with Will. One of the scenarios was, "A house builder builds a house for a family. He's built several of the houses in the area. This house was poorly made, caved in, and killed the family living in it" (Not word-for-word) and we had to come up with our own punishment. I came up with the punishment of putting the builder in prison for the rest of his life. There were also other punishments other groups made up like putting him to death or giving him a life sentence with a chance at parole. But, in Hammurabi's Code, Hammurabi would put the builder to death for this. Another scenario was, "A slave told his master 'You are not my master'" (Again, not word-for-word) and we had to come up with another punishment. Our punishment was to whip the slave 30 times. The other answers also involve...

Today in Western Civilization we added more notes to our arsenal from the PowerPoint. We even dove into other religions like Christianity. One thing we learned is that the story of "Noah's Arch" is based off of "Epic of Gilgamesh" which are both about a flood flooding the world and the god(s) of both religions. Also, the governments in ancient times were based around the religion and their Gods and Godesses. We also went deeper into Hammurabi's Code. A code of laws made by King Hammurabi, King of Babylon. His laws had things in it that were like "An eye for an eye" or "A life for a life". Like if I was to build a house and it was built poorly and killed the person living in it, I would be put to death. Or if i was to poke out someone's eye, I would have one of mine poked out. There are also more severe punishments for minor crimes. Like if you try to rob someone, you would be put into the wall that you entered through alive and remain...

Today Mr. Schick had us write notes from a PowerPoint. It was a recap of what we learned about Mesopotamia and Sumer plus a few extra notes. Some things we recapped are: *Kings and  family dynasties emerged *Cities and towns were founded in Sumer *Sumer- Heart of Tigris and Euphrates Here are some new things we learned today: *Agricultural Revolution *Shift from hunt/gather to homes *Population Increase due to food surplus *Modern Day Countries in the Fertile Crescent: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, and kind of Turkey Today was also shortened due to a 2-hour delay. We've had two snow days off in a row and I didn't want to go to school today but I did anyway. We also had another very small conversation about the question of if there is a difference in being illiterate and choosing to be illiterate but not actually being illiterate.

In Friday's class, we continued to read and take notes from the textbook. During that time, we also got into another debate about something I can't remember so, I'm not going to go into depth about that. In the class, we went over a few things I already had. For example, we went over that Sumer was the first to split their civilizations called City-States, the City States had their own government and ran their own City-State, the power of the government was split between rulers and priests, and the environmental challenges of living in the Fertile Crescent. But there were some things I added. Here is some information I added to my notes: *The Tigris and Euphrates flooded unpredictably *Silt- a rich soil good for farming *Ziggurats- Town Hall and religious temple *The religion is polytheistic- multiple gods; gods were bloodthirsty demons which is why Sumerians would sacrifice their best pigs, cows, goats, etc. *Priests managed farms and always got a part of what was ...

Today we continued to read and take information from the textbook. We also went over the test. I got a 101. That's the first time I've gotten a 100+ on a test since 6th grade. Some things I learned today was: *The Sumerians were the first people to create solutions to solve problems. One of the solutions was Irrigation Systems to make it easier to live farther from a source of water like the Tigris or the Euphrates. Another solution the Sumerians made was that they made a wall out of mud bricks to defend their Civilization. *Sumerians were one of the first people to develop a trading system *Sumerians were able to build their own City-States. The City-States were like small countries inside of one big country. So they're kind of like the States in America. *Priests and rulers shared the power in the government. This is the end of my post for today.

Today we started to talk about early river valley civilizations. Specifically Mesopotamia. It seems like this is going to be like 7th grade Social Studies because we are starting with Mesopotamia in both but that's okay with me because I liked 7th grade Social Studies. Places like Mesopotamia were the first civilizations to invent the wheel, the sail, and many other revolutionary inventions like mathematics and writing. These things couldn't be invented without a code of law and a leader. Usually, a leader of a civilization would be a priest, a military leader, or a king. One of the first written codes of law were used in Mesopotamia, Hammurabi's Code. Scribes were skilled people specifically taught how to write and read. Hammurabi's laws were sometimes unreasonable or were easier for the rich to pay off. Like in the textbook a man stole a pig and ended up having to pay 30 times the thing he stole. Since he couldn't pay it off, he was sentenced to death.  This...

Today we had a test. I thought the test was fair and easy. I think I studied enough and got a good grade. Maybe even a 100%. I don't think I got the extra credit though. I may have spelled one wrong or thought that one existed but doesn't actually exist. The test was short but still had good questions. The things on the test were so easy to remember because it was fresh in my mind and Mr. Schick engraved all of the information so deep into my mind that I might never forget it. I just hope all of his tests are like this because if they are then I'm going to get a fairly high grade in Mr. Schick's class. The test probably only took about 10 minutes give or take a few minutes which seems to be the average time for tests at this school. Other than French class, that test sometimes will take 20 minutes because  I have to right a conversation at the end. This is the end of my post.

On Friday, my class and I watched the rest of the video Mr. Schick had us watch throughout the last week. One thing that happened in the video is that Jared Diamond finally was able to answer Yali's  question, "Why you white men have so much cargo and we have so little?" His answer was the geography. Papua New Guinea had no plants that could be domesticated as well as animals. The New Guineans also didn't have any of the similarities that the most advanced civilizations of human history: A large population, a well organized work force, and advanced technology (at the time). Countries like China or countries in Europe all had those things when they first developed. These civilizations also have things like an easily domesticated plant and animal. One of the earlier civilizations of the world, Gwar learned how to utilize fire into making things like plaster to help insulate their homes. This technique was first utilized around 2,000 years after Draa, the earliest civili...