So far this year students have learned a good bit about the geography of Europe. We're now about to get in to some of the history. The history we study will be used to explain how Europe is today.
We're going to be studying the religions of Europe. Though there are many religions in Europe, Georgia expects students to know about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Georgia expects students to be able to "describe the major religions in Europe." Naturally students will bring their own views about these subjects to class, and sometimes they will share them. I won't be sharing my views about which religion is best, as its not my job to tell your child what religion they should practice.
Often these discussions lead to the role of government in controlling citizens' religious beliefs. If that happens, this gives me the chance to discuss some U.S. history, including the 1st amendment to the Constitution which prevents the government from "establishing" a religion and allows citizens the "free exercise" of any religion.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
European Environment and Population
We had a test today over European environmental problems and population density in Europe. Later in the year we'll study Latin America and Canada, and we'll look at how these issues are relevant to those places. The test is below. I hope to get it graded this weekend, but it might be early next week before I get it back.
Test- European Environment and Population
Test- European Environment and Population
SS6G9
SS6G10
1. What is one environmental problem in Europe?
2. What is another environmental problem in Europe?
3. What is another environmental problem in Europe?
4. Which of these is NOT a main cause of pollution in Europe?
a. cars and trucks c. burning trees
b. factories d. generating electricity
5. Which of these does NOT pollute?
a. burning coal c. hydroelectricity
b. burning petroleum d. cars and trucks
6. How much does nuclear power usually pollute?
a. a lot c. a little
b. a medium amount d. not any
7. Which country had the nuclear power accident at Chernobyl?
a. U.K. c. Poland
b. Ukraine d. France
8. Which of these things is true about the accident at Chernobyl?
a. wind carried the pollution to many parts of Europe.
b. the pollution was bad, but it all stayed around Chernobyl
c. little radiation pollution was released
d. the accident only affected a few people
9. Why do people put up with the problems caused by energy resources and factories?
____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
10. What is one thing people can do to pollute less?
_____________________________________________________________________
11. What is a type of energy production that does not pollute? ______________________
12. What does population density mean? ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
13. How is population density different than population? __________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
14. What is one reason that a place might have a high population density?
_____________________________________________________________________
15. Which European country has a low population density, especially in the north?
____________________________________________________
16. Why does that country have a low population density, especially in the North?
____________________________________________________________
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Comparing Russia and the U.K.
SS6G10a
Essential Questions:
How are Russia and the U.K the same and different?
How do their differences affect where people live and how they trade?
1. Location and physical features:
Which continent is the U.K. in? ______________________
Which continents is Russia in? _______________________
Which country has more land to the North? ____________
Which country is an island? __________________________
Which country has rivers that run into the Arctic Ocean?
___________________________
2. Size:
Which country is small? _________________________________
Which country is one of the biggest in the world? ____________
3. Resources:
Which country has the most coal? ______________________
Which country has the most oil? ________________________
Which country has the most natural gas? _________________
Which country has more hydroelectricity? _________________
Which country has the most iron? ________________________
Are more of Russia's resources located in the East or West of Russia?
Are more of Russia's resources located in the North or South of Russia?
Effects of size, location, physical features, and resources.
1. Where people live:
2. How the countries trade:
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Quiz Tomorrow
We've got a quiz tomorrow over European countries. Students need to know the locations of Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. We'll also be reviewing environmental problems in those countries, and continuing to work on how the climate of those countries affects people's lives, including the decision about where to live.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
After introducing some of the history of Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and France last week, we're back to doing more geography this week, though the history is still connected to it. We're working on several related environmental issues.
We've learned about 5 different kinds energy resources. We've mapped their locations, created a table that summarized the resources of the Spain, Portugal, France, the U.K., and Germany, discussed which were used first, and emphasized why they've been used. We've evaluated the good and bad points of using these resources. Today we did some reading and completed some guided notes as a review, and then did some new reading and had a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of nuclear power, using the accident at Chernobyl as a case study. The review is located here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfszq998_46drwggzhf
Tomorrow we'll look at a brief video about Chernobyl after a demonstration of how pollution travels from one place to another. Students will then do some writing about the benefits and drawbacks of different energy resources. If we have time, we'll begin working on the effects of acid rain, which is kind of difficult for the children to understand.
We've learned about 5 different kinds energy resources. We've mapped their locations, created a table that summarized the resources of the Spain, Portugal, France, the U.K., and Germany, discussed which were used first, and emphasized why they've been used. We've evaluated the good and bad points of using these resources. Today we did some reading and completed some guided notes as a review, and then did some new reading and had a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of nuclear power, using the accident at Chernobyl as a case study. The review is located here: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfszq998_46drwggzhf
Tomorrow we'll look at a brief video about Chernobyl after a demonstration of how pollution travels from one place to another. Students will then do some writing about the benefits and drawbacks of different energy resources. If we have time, we'll begin working on the effects of acid rain, which is kind of difficult for the children to understand.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Lots to do next week
Why is most of this world map covered up? Your child should be able to tell you. The history I'll be teaching isn't about memorizing names and dates-instead, its about understanding causes and consequences. One of the challenges for students is that the material they are expected to learn isn't organized in a textbook.
The old vocabulary words important for understanding these causes are Africa, Europe, Asia, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Iberian Peninsula. The new vocabulary words are impact, exploration, regions, Spain, Portugal, Prince Henry the Navigator, navigation, boats/ships, colonization, land, wealth, natural resources, market, goods, gold/silver, spices, slavery, trade, trade routes, religion, missionaries, Christianity, competition and honor. That's a lot of vocab., especially when the goal is not to memorize definitions, but to understand relationships between vocabulary words.
We started this unit by looking at why and how Europeans explored. Your child should be able to tell you why boats/ships (instead of other methods) were used by Europeans for exploration, which requires them to understand where the continents are, the basic shape of Europe, how much technology has changed in the past 600 years, and the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of transportation. Today we
1. drew a map, or wrote sentences describing, what Europeans knew about the world in 1400,
2. talked about how people make money by buying and selling things,
3. looked at different trade routes from Europe to Asia,
4. began looking at how Prince Henry wanted to find a route to Asia from the
Iberian Peninsula.
On Monday we'll
1. Review Europeans' knowledge of the world in 1400,
2. Review the reason boats/ships were used by Europeans,
3. Review how people can make money buying and selling things, introducing the words
goods and market,
4. Introduce the goods Europeans wanted to get and sell, such as spices,
5. See if the students can figure out why a country would want to colonize another
region,
6. Continue looking at Prince Henry's specific contributions, working on the concept
of navigation and and what exactly
Europeans hoped to get from Asia.
7. Begin predicting the impact of exploration on relationships between European
countries.
There's a lot to learn, and I'm looking forward to it.
The old vocabulary words important for understanding these causes are Africa, Europe, Asia, Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Iberian Peninsula. The new vocabulary words are impact, exploration, regions, Spain, Portugal, Prince Henry the Navigator, navigation, boats/ships, colonization, land, wealth, natural resources, market, goods, gold/silver, spices, slavery, trade, trade routes, religion, missionaries, Christianity, competition and honor. That's a lot of vocab., especially when the goal is not to memorize definitions, but to understand relationships between vocabulary words.
We started this unit by looking at why and how Europeans explored. Your child should be able to tell you why boats/ships (instead of other methods) were used by Europeans for exploration, which requires them to understand where the continents are, the basic shape of Europe, how much technology has changed in the past 600 years, and the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of transportation. Today we
1. drew a map, or wrote sentences describing, what Europeans knew about the world in 1400,
2. talked about how people make money by buying and selling things,
3. looked at different trade routes from Europe to Asia,
4. began looking at how Prince Henry wanted to find a route to Asia from the
Iberian Peninsula.
On Monday we'll
1. Review Europeans' knowledge of the world in 1400,
2. Review the reason boats/ships were used by Europeans,
3. Review how people can make money buying and selling things, introducing the words
goods and market,
4. Introduce the goods Europeans wanted to get and sell, such as spices,
5. See if the students can figure out why a country would want to colonize another
region,
6. Continue looking at Prince Henry's specific contributions, working on the concept
of navigation and and what exactly
Europeans hoped to get from Asia.
7. Begin predicting the impact of exploration on relationships between European
countries.
There's a lot to learn, and I'm looking forward to it.
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