Vdeo Assignment

Daily #4

Cyclic history is one of the four theories of history and it works when events resulted from human action go in a cycle so it never ends. New events, small or large, are always occurring and they return in a cycle so new events are imminent and are ready to occur based on the results of the other event. The Internet really goes well with our belief in cyclic history because the Internet has almost all the information you could possibly want and we can find events in history that are either occurring or about to happen based of that event. People in today’s world have been relying on the Internet more than ever and they have been focusing their attention on computers rather than books all the time like we used to do in the past. This fact is true because it is so much quicker to find historical events on the Internet then taking time to find the perfect book that explains it for you and we can easily see past events that were triggered by other major events. This is why the Internet is so helpful for us to find historical events and that is why it helps us believe in the view of cyclic history.

A hyperlink is basically a URL or a link that is usually highlighted in blue or a different color and it stands out in a piece of text. A hypertext is a specific piece of text that has hyperlinks that can direct a reader to whatever links are available. A hypertext can make it much easier for viewers to access a website with the click of a mouse and they can contain a myriad of websites to choose from. I would say a “hypertext” world will make us more accepting of cyclic history because we could use hypertexts to gain knowledge of historical events and how events are always resulting from a main event. We could use hypertexts to help us grow in knowledge of history and how it works like a cycle and it could potentially make the world more accepting of cyclical history. We could use hypertexts to access information about major events in history and it would not even take long to find because it would only take one click of the mouse. I think hypertexts could potentially help people worldwide accept cyclic history if it could catch on and spread to everyone and if people are willing to use the hypertexts for good, they would no doubt make us accept cyclic history.

Daily #3

There are many types of ways that communication can be learned from us through information, especially books and textbooks. Information communication is one of the best ways to earn about history for the average person and we can learn a lot from them.  Most forms of information communication bring up events that only could have happened if major events occurred in the past so there is always a connection in history. Two of the best forms of information communication have to be books and most textbooks. These two forms explain history the best in terms of events that take place and they can help us learn about events in history.  Books and textbooks are also a great example of how they depict linear history because they have the information to explain events in sequence and what major events can result from them. Other forms of communication that are helpful for us to understand linear history include computers and even television because you can find any information on the computer if you can find it and TV channels like the History Channel help us learn about major events that affected our world at the time of their occurrence.

Books and textbooks definitely contribute to our belief in linear history because most textbooks that I have read especially social studies textbooks have a timeline that put major events in chronological order so it is easy to see where events occurred in history. Timelines can be one of the most helpful devices in a book or textbook because it is easy to see when specific events occurred throughout history and we can even see historical people have a timeline for their lives and what they did. People these days would rather look at a timeline than read a paragraph or so about major events because they want it to be quick and easy. Textbooks can also be helpful without timelines and just text because they can go into a lot of detail about major events and what specific events occurred after them. If linear history means putting events in history according to their dates of occurrence, then textbooks and books with timelines are perfect to look at if we want to understand linear history.

Daily #2

Modern life is very different than life in the past in many different ways. First of all, the quality of life is much better in the world than it was back in the past and technology has evolved so much better now that it can be used for pretty much anything.  Also, modern life transportation has increased from virtually a horse and buggy in the past and maybe a car if you were lucky. Life in the past was much simpler than it is now because there were not nearly that many things you could do to entertain yourself back then but this idea could be a good thing if you did not get yourself into trouble like we do today. A major difference between past life and modern life is the amount of money a person or family had because the past was a time where money was hard to come buy so the children had to get jobs early so they could help provide for their families. Throughout time to the present, jobs have become more plentiful for people to apply for so families over time could earn more money. There was also a lot more poverty in the past even though there is still poverty in the world now and there were a lot more poor people back then. With all these differences between two time periods, it is better to live now or in the past?

I would say that even though you could argue for many reasons that it was better to live in the past, it still is a lot better to live in the present, but it is not always. For one thing the past was safer than it is now and there were not as many daily courting events that negatively impacted the world. It is always better to live now because you can get a better education so you can grow up and get a good job and it is much easier to get money so you can support yourself. One thing that makes modern life not better than the past s that there are many wars going on and thousands of people lose their lives every day due to unsafe living conditions. Even though there are many arguments against modern life, our way of life exceeds the life of the past in almost every aspect of the qualities of life.

Daily #1

Progress in history means that the world is getting better in terms of technology, quality of life, and other things that tell people if the world is getting better through specific events in history.  There have been many events throughout history that have affected these themes of progressive history and have made history regress somewhat. The important thing is that most of the negative events throughout history have been resolved with the help of humans or other countries discovering a new way to solve the negative event. For example, many of the wars were resolved with the help of human stepping in and stopping all of the deaths that were occurring so the wars could end. History must progress through time in order for the world to keep going each day and if history regressed for a significant amount of time, it would be safe to say that history would not be progressing. Even though history always manages to progress, it sometimes can take a step back, even sometimes for a long period of time.

I would say that the mammoth is probably better than a present day elephant because the mammoth lived through pretty bad conditions like the Ice Age and they supported themselves just enough to survive through treacherous conditions. Mammoths are even bigger in size than the elephant even though they are in the same family and their bodies learned to adapt to the coldest conditions. Elephants today have it easy compared to mammoths in the past because some of them get to live in zoos and they can find food pretty easily. Mammoths also had a ton of strength they could use to survive attacks from other animal and they could use their tusks efficiently. This is why mammoths are probably a little better than elephants since the past was much harder to live in then now.

Question 15

Our 10 Step Plan

1. Spread the word of God and Archbishop John Carroll using social media.
2. Better the learning experience by exposing students to other parts of the world.
3. Advertise the school and what it stands for.
4. Share ideas with others on the Interne.
5. Use a blog to better the experience as a student.
6. We should use our computers to prepare us for the future ahead of us.
7. Use news websites to keep up with current events and the future.
8. Learn not only the cirriculum, but how to integrate technology into it.
9. Use the computer to start new programs and share them with others.
10. Use the computers to help you grow wiser and more knowldgeable so that you can use them for the rest of uour life.

Question 7

A regional food hub is a central facility that stores, processes, and distributes food products regionally and locally. They are essential to to sustaining agriculture and food distribution because they do have to find new ways to distribute locally and these local hubs help grow food that is in their region and distribute it to regional stores for the consumers. The hubs can find new ways of transportation to deliver their food products faster and more efficiently for the consumers.

2. You could go to numerous places throughout Harford County to find USDA poultry, including Broom's Bloom Dairy in Bel Air and Andy's Eggs in Fallston, MD. There are many types of beef you can find around John Carroll, including Angus beef and crossbred. Some good places to do are Hickory Chance Beef and the Mill of Bel Air. Places to go for vegetables include Brad's Produce in Churchville and Wilson's Farm market in Bel Air.

3. I am writing a proposal for a "JC Sustainable Food Day" where we could get organic food products from local markets and we could help teach the students at John Carroll about growing organic products and how important it is to sustain agricultural products. For one day we could go to a local farm market and pick up some  organic products o use for an assembly later that day. During the school day, we could teach that growing organic is important and that agriculture is so important to the United States that we could no go without it. Hopefully, the students here understand how important it is to grow organic products and maybe we could start a program here.

Question 6

The enhancement of greenhouse gases through human activity causes climate change because humans are burning fossil fuels by driving cars and that enhances the greenhouse gases, so surface temperatures have gone up a little bit each year. Human activity is the main reason behind climate change because we burn so many fossil fuels that the greenhouse effect is producing more greenhouse gases that lead to climate change, especially in North America. It is a fact that the climate is warming because the climate has warmed almost 1 degree Celsius since the late 19th century, especially in North America but it has cooled in some spots. It has been warming all over the world. The Northeast has been hit with so many blizzards because precipitation in the form of rain and snow is increasing throughout the United States and it has got cooler near the North Atlantic region. 

Question 5

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12252699

Screen clipping taken: 1/21/2011 1:15 PM

Question 4

There are so many names of "soda pop" in New Mexico because there are a lot of Indian reservations there so they have their own way of saying it and there are also a lot of immigrants from Mexico that say soda pop their own way.

Question 3

The most unfriendly city in the USA is the 'City of Angels'.http://www.koreatimes.com/article/639616

Question 1

The sudden dip of the graph shows the significance of 9/11 to the United States. After 2001, it became much harder to have oversea products because security was very strict and the US was afraid of terrorist attacks so oversea arrivals went down right after 9/11 but went continued to rise after that event. Statistics can help explain the significance of historical events because if we find the statistics on a graph for a certain year, we can figure out and research a specific event that occured in that country that made their statistics rise. A specific example is for children per woman because many African countries were at the top since the men would migrate to different woman and have sexual relations with them, so many children were born.

Language Interview

Andrew Beard

Mr.Wojewodski

Honors Human Geography

1/9/11

My Interview

            For my interview, I decided to interview a girl named Renee L’Altrelli. She is currently a sophomore here at John Carroll and she was born in Maryland. Her primary language is Spanish and I interviewed her to find out how hard it was for her to transition to English from Spanish. I also wanted to find out how her experienced has differed in America since she speaks another language than English and if her lifestyles have changed. It was a great experience to interview her and I also thank her for taking part and putting her time into this project.

Q: How difficult was it for you to learn English?

A: I had a few challenges like learning slang and words that can have two meanings, also words that you have to rhyme together. It was definitely a big change for me and it took me a while to really get the hang of speaking English. I knew I had to learn English in order to live in the United States and I could not give up learning English because I knew I would not fit in correctly.

Q: Did you want to learn English at all?

A: I wanted to learn English because it is something that all countries use for business and it is something that I find would be helpful for the future.

Q: Do you still speak your primary language to your family?

A: No we mostly try and try to speak as much English as possible but sometimes we break into Spanish.

Q: Do you like living in the US so far, or were you born here?

A: I have enjoyed living in America so far, and I am trying to get used to all of the technology and all.  I was born here in Maryland but have been moving all around since I was 3 years old.

Q: How has your lifestyle changed?

A: My lifestyle has changed by the clothing styles are different here and having to make new friends and trying to get used to all of these different areas in Maryland

Q: How hard is it to learn your subjects in English?

A: It is hard for me because they teach differently and they have more requirements for assignments. Also, a lot of times I do not know what some words mean, so I try to ask people next to me.

Q: What is your native language and does your family speak it at home?

A: My native language is Spanish because I grew up speaking it with my family, but for now we speak English as much as possible at home because we want to learn new words, and sometimes we will break into Spanish depending on the conversation.

Q: What is your favorite thing about living in the United States so far?

A: My favorite thing is how all the stores and such are close so we don’t have to travel far, and all of the American food is incredible. There are also a lot of fun things to do here and there is always something going on during the weekends.

Q: What do you like least about living here?

A: How people are always in a rush here, also that it is super cold here compared to Mexico, so now I have to buy a new wardrobe of clothing. It is also much harder to fit in than in Mexico and a lot of things are very expensive, especially clothes.

Q: How hard it to make friends since English is your second language?

A: It is hard because sometimes I don’t know what the easiest word can mean, and then I will ask them, and then they make fun of me for it because they think I am stupid, so I feel out of place sometimes.

Q: Do you know other students who share your first language?

A: I don’t know anybody else here who speaks it, but it would be very interesting to find someone who speaks Spanish so we could communicate together and be friends.

Q: How are high school students here different from those in your native Country?

A: High school is different here because in Mexico I went to an international school so they were a bit more ahead there, also I feel like people do not understand me a lot because I have had experiences there that people will probably never experience here, for example dead people lying on the street, and tons of drugs.  You make friends with people that you can connect with, and here there really isn't anyone here like that.

Journal Entry on my visit to Sweden

Dear Journal,
I have just taken a trip to Sweden over the Christmas break to see the lifestlye of Swedish people. I went in a student exchange program and I was paired up with a young boy named Sven Johansson. When I first got to the country by airplane, I noticed how beautiful the wildlife was and I thought to myself that this was going to be a great time. The Johansson family picked me up and took me to their home just outside of Stockholm, the country's capital. The family's house was relatively large, and I concluded that they were a middle-class family. The family mostly spoke Swedish, but Sven spoke a little English since he was currently learning English at his school. I could pick up his English just enough to know that his dad worked in Stockholm at a very large company called Ericsson. I could tell he was a very smart guy since he was doing work at his desk. Sven told me his mom was a math teacher at his school and it was very convienent for him to go home each day since his mom could drive him home. Sven said he went to a primary school because he was fourteen years old and they called it "grundskola". He was currently on break, too and he had to go back in early January. After all the conversations I had with Sven, his mom prepared an excellent dish for dinner called palt. Palt is a traditional dish in Sweden and consists of dumplings filled with pork. They also had fresh baked bread, which was excellent. The whole meal was delicious, and it felt good to eat something different! At that point, I could not wait for dessert! The dessert was also excellent, and it was called ostkaka. It was a traditional cheesecake in Sweden, and it tasted different from American cheesecake. Since it was Sunday, I had a chance to go to school with Sven tomorrow. Sven's school was very nice and most of his classes were similar to the ones I am taking now at my school. He is in the ninth grade like me and he technically graduates after this year. During that week, my exchange students and I went sight seeing in Stockholm and we also visited neaby countries including Denmark and Norway. The Johanssons even took me sking in the mountains of Sweden, located in the north. One thing that stood out the entire trip was that it was extremely cold the entire time and I had to wear multiple layers the whole time. I would definitely come back to Sweden again later in my life since it was so beautiful and I was amazed at how clean the counry really was! It also snowed a couple days I was there, and it was really exciting to see the snow pile up! It was also dark for most of the days I was there, and they said they only saw about 6 hours of daylight in late December. It was just a great overall time for me and I was very fortunate to have a family like the Johanssons take care of me during those two weeks. I was actually upset to leave Sweden on the last day because I knew I would be leaving behind so many memories behind on that famous trip.

Sources- http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page for all pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page