December 12th

Today in class we went over all of our previous tests. We discussed every answer. Mr. Schick told our whole class that we could redo our test if we got less than a 70. I think I'm going to redo my first test. The one i'm going to redo I didn't do good at all on that.

December 10th

Today in human geo, we had a test. The test was very difficult because you had to know the answers to the questions on the movie, "Slumdog Millionaire". I don't know how I did, but it was hard.

December 9th

Today Mr. Schick was not here. When he left, I made flashcards for the test tomorrow on all the religions.  I think tomorrows test is going to be really difficult.

December 8th

Buddhism:

Four Noble Truths
There is suffering
attachment to desire is the origin of suffering
there is a cessation of suffering
the eightfold path will lead to
the cessation of suffering

the Eightfold path
right view
right intention
right speech
right action
right livelihood
right effort
right mindfulness
right dedication

Judaism:

number of adherents: 14 - 18 million (ninth)

call them: Jews

Geographic location: Israel

founder: Abraham

holy book: Talmud, Torah (first five books of the Old testament)

beliefs: ethical monotheism- God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind, Ten commandments, 13 Principles of Faith

December 5th

Again, we took notes.

Examples of Spatial Divisions

• Political Alliances
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Commonwealth of Nations
• Organization Of American States (OAS)

Five Major Religions

• Christianity- 2.2 billion (largest in the world)
• geographic location: Europe, the Americans, Southern Africa
• Denominations: Catholic Church, Easter Orthodox Church, Protestants
• founder of Christianity was Jesus Christ
• holy book: Bible especially New Testaments
• clergy: the Pope is head of the church, priests are local authorities

• Islam- 1.5 billion (second largest)
• call them: Muslims
• geographic location: Indonesia, Middle East, North Africa
• denominations: Sunnis, Shiites
• founder: Muhammad
• holy book: Qur'an
• beliefs: monotheistic, Abrahamic, Five Pillars
• Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God) and observing Islamic Law

• Hinduism- 1.1 billions (third largest)
• call them: Hindus
• geographic location: India, Nepal
• holy book: The Vedas
• founder: no distinct founder

• Buddhism: 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)
• call them: Buddhists
• geographic location: Southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (there are 1.2 billion in the US)
• founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• denominations: Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, Amidist

Tuesday

Today we took notes.

Examples of cultural characteristics

• Religion can be both a unifying force
• there are five major religions in the world today- Hindusim, Buddism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• they have millions of followers all believing the same thing
• Religion can also be a dividing force around the world
• Hindus and Muslims fight in India and Pakistan
• there are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants (Two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland
• Jews, Christians and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religions holy site. They are constantly fighting over the land.
• Spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by establishing social, economic, and political control
• you can be the member of more than one spatial group
• spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation
• Examples of Spatial Divisions
• -Countries
• -Economic Alliances
• European Union
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

December 2nd

Today we watched a PowerPoint. The PowerPoint was about the topic "Cultural Geography". Cultural characteristics are parts of a group's everyday life. They are the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members. These same characteristics can also link or divide a region. Examples of cultural characteristics would be language, religion, and ethnic heritage.
Examples of Cultural characteristics:

• Arabic unties the Arab world
• Spanish unites the Hispanic world
• Brazil is the only South American Nation which does not speak Spanish. It speaks Portuguese.
• Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are their official languages.
• Switzerland had multiple languages but very little conflict between the groups.
• English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world.
• in Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into one country, (Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Albanians)
• When strong leadership died out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and now they all have separate countries
• in the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, Two ethnic groups are dominant , the Tutsis are dominant in the other.
• The Hutus are dominant in one and they persecute the Tutsis, and the Tutsis are dominant in the other
• and they persecute the Hutus. It has led to almost constant war between the groups.
• the United States and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries.
• Korea, Japan, and China have primarily one ethnic group.
• on the island of Cyprus the Greeks and the Turks try to gain control.

December 1st

Today in class we watched Slumdog Millionaire. We finished the movie last class, but some people were not here last class. It shocked me that Latika and Jamal ended up together at the end.