Religions (10/30-31)

Christianity

• there are about 2.8 billion Christians in the world
• 1/3 of the worlds population
• as the population of the world grows so does the the amount of Christians
• Jesus is the son of god
• believe the word of the bible
• emerged in the mid first century
• lutherans, methodists, baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and many more
• 41 thousand different denominations
• founder: Jesus Christ 

Buddhism

• Buddhism; different teachings, beliefs and practices
• Siddartha Guatama = Buddha, "the awakened one" 
• 6% of the worlds population is Buddhist
• Countries: China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar  
• one of the oldest practice today
• Buddhism is more a practice than a religion
• Influences a lot of Asian countries 
• You can believe in other religions that just buddhism 
• Over a million Buddhist in the U.S.
• A buddha is a person who is free from all faults and mental obstructions 
• 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates and varies)
• Denominations: Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, Amidist 

Judaism 

• Synagogue - church
• 5 million jews in U.S
• 5 million jews in Israel 
• Jewish star, Hanukkah 
• Abraham and Moses 
• 13 million in the entire world
• Moses main teacher of Judaism
• Moses - 10 Commandments
• Israel, North/South America, Europe, and Asia

Hinduism

• 1 billion, 14 % of worlds population
• Indian and Asian countries 
• large number of gods who are worshiped as murtis
• worship in a home, temple or at a road/street shrine
• Most hindu houses have a small shrine inside of their house
• formed in 2000 B.C 
• found in India
• There deity is Polytheistic
• belive in new body after death, different life 

Islam

• Founder Muhammad
• fast from sunset to sunrise for a month
• pilgrimage at least once
• Allah
• Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah
• Monotheistic
• Qua'ran 

Another Day!!

Today for the first part of class are shadows were introduced. I knew one of them and she is a very good athlete. After they were introduced we were handed back the test that I had helped prepare the class on. I didn't do so well myself, although, I prepared a few students a little to much. After we went through all the answers and corrections, we got into our groups and continued to work on our different religions, I am in the group that is dong Islam, and we will be presenting i tomorrow

One lap down, three to go

I feel this quarter wasn't the best for me academically wise. I think this was because I came from a school where the academics were very por. I am striving to do better the next quarter.

Thursday and Friday

          Thursday we watched a short video. I also taught the class. Although, didn't do so well on my test so I guess i'm fired. The test was taken on Friday. I went over all our notes on Thursday and on Friday I reviewed for the test and then we took it. The video that we watched on Thursday was a news anchor telling many people that America isn't the best country. Even though many of us love America and think its superior to all other nations it truly isn't. I found both these days to be a lot more helpful. Although I didn't do good on my test I still think i was more prepared than the other test  I have taken in Mr. Schicks class.

Cultural Characteristics cont'd.

Hindus and Muslims fight with eachother. Jews, christians, Muslims, all claim Jerusalem as their religion's holy site, they are constantly fighting over land.

Spatial Divisions-how we divide the livable space found on the earth by establishing social, economic and political control.

Examples

• Economic Alliances
• European Union (EU)
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
• North American Free Trade Agreement 
• Association of SOutheast Asian Nations
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• Commonwealth of Nations
• Organization of American States
• League of Arab states
• African Union

Reasons: Differences in culture, language of religion, keeping of historical boundaries, imperial conquest and control, economics similarities and differences

Nationalism- the belief that your nation is superior to all others

Economic Differences- fertile land, access to fresh water, access to the coast, fishing rights, natura resources, different economic philosophers. 

Cultural Characteristics

         

Cultural Characteristics- parts of a groups everyday life, the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members, these characteristics can also link or divide the world. Examples of Cultural Characteristics, language, religion, and ethnic background. Language: Arabic unites the Arab world, Spanish untes the Hispanic world, Brazil is the only South American country to speak portuguese, and Canada is a bilingual nation. Religion: five major religions; -Hinduism -Buddhism -Judaism -Christianity and -Islam. And finally, Ethnic Background: In Yogo, many ethnic groups were made into one country, when strong leadership died out, different groups throughout the nation fought a civil war, U.S. and Swiss merged peacefully, Korea and Japan are one ethnic group. Jewish people are considered sons/descendants of Abraham. Shiites, Soonis.Religion can be dividing force around the world.

Missing Schick

Friday we were sitting in the class for about 5-10 minutes waiting for Mr. Schick and he didn't come. So Carly and I went to try and find him in the art wing. We still couldn't find him. We then went o Mr. Ireton who sent a substitute teacher. The sub gave us a worksheet and we all sat quietly and worked on the worksheet that he had given us. I don't think any of us finished it, but it was a pretty interesting class.

Thursday

I wasn't in class...

KIVA

              Friday, we talked about Kiva. It was very cool to be able to donate to people that don't have the money to pay for it now. Although, I feel a little scared as if I wouldn't get my money back. I still have to talk to my mom about donating money. I believe that she will donate money t poor people in need. I am just worried that she won't do the Kiva donation due to the lack of knowledge she has in this subject. Many of the people have high hopes. I think that it is really cool to have high expectations and to actually strive for success when you have nothing. I really hope my mom lets me donate to Kiva.

MORE NOTES!

- Population pyramids- graphical illustration that is giving information about the population broken down into age and sex -> male/left-female/right
- Immigrant- someone entering the country
- Emigrant- someone leaving the country
- Some pull forces would include the fact that one country has better healthcare, better economy, religious freedom, etc...
- Women tend to live longer due to eat healthier, not built strong enough to do heavy duty, hard working jobs, not as dangerous work, and tend to go to the doctors and stay up to date with their health.
-Rate of national increase- The birth rate -(minus) death rate
- 2.1 children for population to stay the same
- current population- 7+ billion people
- increasing 77 million people per year
-145 people are born per minute
- 90% of the population growth takes place in developing countries
- Globalization- is the connection of different parts of the world. Globalization results in expansion of international cultural, economic and political activities.

Notes!!!!

-Life expectancy- the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year.
-Crude birth rate- number of births per 1000 of the population.
-Crude death rate- number of deaths per 1000 of the population.
-Rate of National increase- produced by subtracting the death rate from the birth rate.
-Immigration-Entering the country.
-Emigration- Leaving the country.
- Push forces- civil war, environmental degradation, unemployed or unemployment, religious or ethnic             persecution.
-Pull forces- better economic opportunity better health services, religious/political freedom.
-Total Fertility Rate- average number of children born per woman
-Net Migration Rate- the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during a     year.
           
We went over population pyramids. We discussed and learned what the different pyramids were. The different pyramids include the Christmas Tree, The Box, The Cup. We use population pyramids to analyze growth (or decline) of fertility, mortality, and migration in cities. The Christmas tree symbolizes that it is a developing nation, the growth rates are slow, a very high birth rate, but a short life expectancy (Nambia, Bangladesh). The Box symbolizes a developed nation, low infant mortality, slow population growth, and a long life expectancy (Sweden, USA). The Cup symbolizes a developed nation;negative growth, low birth rate, shrinking population, long life expectancy (Italy, Japan).

TEST DAY!!!!

        Today we took the test on the "lost boys" movie we watched during class. I feel that I did pretty well on the test. I only was unsure of 2/3. I forgot what the tribe was called and it was the Dinka tribe. I also forgot what country they crossed the border to and that was Ethiopia. Also, I was unsure about the person who controlled the refugee camp but I believe that it was the U.S. I feel that I was well prepared for this quiz compared to the last one. I must say that I am really learning a lot from the tests that Mr. Schick gives us. I can truly argue my beliefs with many facts to back me up. I hope to keep up the hard work in Mr. Schicks class.

The movie

I must say the movie "God grew tired of us, was quite interesting. It's really cool to see people that had nothing to go to someone who has it all. This movie also shows that America is really the land of the free. It shows that there are many options in America. 2/3 men found their family, although 1 of them did not. All of them took the advantage of freedom and all the other options that were given to them. I think it was a good idea to watch the movie because it made me feel very proud to be an American and also make me feel very blessed with everything in my life.

Cont'd

         We watched more of the video, and we found out that the 3 guys have been living there for 3 years now. They have all found jobs and paying for themselves living expenses. John Bul found his family in a refugee camp and has been sending them money, along with other people in the refugee camp where he was before. Mr. Schick also told us that he is friends with John this led to my conclusion that John Bul probably stayed in AMerica and became successful enough to pay for some kind of computer and internet. This document just comes to show how much opportunity the U.S. has.

God Grew Tired of Us...

            For the last two days we have been watching a documentary on 3 guys that were born and raised in Sudan. The suddenly were uprooted from their homelands and forced out of the state to Kenya. Where Kenya founded a refugee camp for the "lost boys" boys of Sudan to live. A couple young men received the opportunity to move to the U.S. to live and work. We follow only 3 of them: John Bul, Panter and Daniel. Both Daniel and Panther went to Syracuse where they were given an apartment, food, and an opportunity to get a job. John Bul decided that he would like to live in Pittsburgh, PA. John Bul was given the same things, just in a different city. They are just now finally settling and getting their social security numbers and about to start their mission to hold their own and work for a living.