Friday, February 07, 2014

February 10-14



Contact me by e-mail at: kbenoy@nvsd44.bc.ca 

This blog provides lesson plans for each week.  Look ahead to see where we are going.  Look back to see what you might have missed. All assignments are provided here.  If anything is underlined, click on it to bring up the document or, in the case of videos, link to an online version of what was scheduled for seeing in class or as enrichment.  
So you just want to see photos of Sutherland activities? Click here to see my Picasa Albums. 

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- can be found at my website:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/.  Admittedly, I do not update this site regularly, so there may be dead links.


Social Studies 8

We will begin with a Geography unit. Expect a unit test at the end of this, worth around 75 marks. This will be in roughly 3 weeks. It will be based on map reading and the use of Canadian Oxford World Atlas (7th edition). We will also have a number of quizzes worth from 5-30 marks throughout the unit. You will not always be warned ahead of time about quizzes -- so it is important to keep up.

If you are struggling, be sure to see me outside of class for extra help!

You will need the following material for this class: a ruler, pens, pencils, and coloured pencils, erasers, whiteout, a portable computer storage device (USB key, with at least 1 GB of space on it -- which you can use in all of your other classes too), and lined paper.

Keep all of your material in order in either a section of a bigger binder, with work from other courses, or a smaller Social Studies binder. The choice is yours. You should also have section dividers to separate units. Keep all work to study from for the final exam at the end of the course. After unit tests, you can take this work out and leave it safe at home if you do not want to keep carrying it around -- just don't lose it.

National Geographic has some nice overview PowerPoints for this unit. See Map Elements and Map Skills.

  • Monday, February 10 - Family Day Holiday.  No classes in session.
  • Tuesday, February 11 - Take up Scale homework. Countries game - girls vs boys.  Direction on maps - points on a compass. -- introduction and video clip. Here is a second, more detailed, video.   Direction and Scale Worksheet.Struggling with figuring out how compass directions work? Use this simple elementary school explanation from the BBC in Britain.  
  • Wednesday, February 12 -  Take up Direction and Scale Worksheet homework. Countries game - girls vs boys.  Direction on maps - points on a compass. -- introduction and video clip Introduction to map symbols.  Video clip on map symbols - colour.  Symbols worksheet - complete for homework.  For a really simple (elementary school level) explanation of map symbols, see this National Geographic site.  Rather more advanced, but quite cheesy, is this 1967 US Department of Defense educational video dealing with map symbols.
  • Thursday, February 13 -  Take up Symbols worksheet (I may or may not do a homework check, worth 3 marks for completion). Animaniacs countries song. Countries game -- individual lists -- compare your total to the first time we did this.  More symbols review -Symbols 2 worksheet - complete for homework.  Also complete the assignment: Continents and Major Water Bodies map -- due next class, value: 10 marks -- based on completion, accuracy and neatness.  Completely unrelated to learning map symbols, but entertaining is this video clip - McGyver; How to Use a Map.
  • Friday, February 14 -  Hand in Continents and Major Water Bodies map.  Take up homework -- Symbols 2 worksheet.  Naming countries contest - boys vs. girls.  Quiz - Scale and Direction -- note: this was postponed.  Expect such a quiz next week.  Introduction to grids.  Geographical Essentials, pp. 15-19. Activity #9 #1-3. Complete #4 and Activity 10 for homework. Map Assignment - School to Home - due Monday, Value: 10 marks -- based on having all the map basics, accuracy, neatness and usability.
Social Studies 11 

We will begin with the Government unit and start with the old red text to deal with ideologies. You will get the Counterpoints text, which we will use for most of the semester, once we get past ideologies -- which Counterpoints does not deal with well.

Expect your first unit test on Ideologies/Parties/Elections to be on Wednesday, February 15 -- or thereabout. The mark breakdown is most likely to be as follows: 30 multiple choice question (1 mark each); 4 items to label on a diagram (1 mark each); 5 definitions - you write a sentence or two about each term or name (2 marks each); 2 long answer questions from a choice of 4 options (6 marks each). The test should, therefore, be out of about 66 marks.

  • Monday, February 10 - Family Day Holiday.  No classes in session.
  • Tuesday, February 11 - Take up Identifying Ideologies worksheet. PowerPoint –Ideologies  Other ways to show political spectrum.  Ideologies Identification homework. Lecture/discussion - from ideologies to political parties - national parties in Canada. More practice with ideologies. Do the first side only. Read Counterpoints pp. 255-258.  Do #3 and 4, p. 258.  For homework you earlier did an online quiz to determine your ideology.  Which political party comes closest to your views? You might try some more tests -- mostly American - to see where you stand.
  • Wednesday, February 12 - Take up homework.  Video on ideologies (sorry, unavailable online).  Placing parties on the political spectrum.  PowerPoint:  BC & Canadian Political Parties in the Ideologies and Political Parties  PowerPoint.  Complete More practice with ideologies.  Read Counterpoints  pp. 249-258.  Do #1-5, p. 253 and sidebar #1-3, p. 257.
  • Thursday, February 13 - Take up #1-5, p. 253, #4, p. 258; sidebar, #1-3, p. 257.  Review of party positions on the political spectrum, what parties currently stand for, and names of party leaders.  Introduction to political party organizations.  As part of your homework, you must go to Elections Canada's pages entitled I Can Vote with information for young voters.  Answer these questions.  Read pp. 109-115 in the Red Government text and answer questions 1-3 &; 5, p. 115.  Optional:  Click here to get a list of all of the political parties, with links to their web-pages.
  • Friday, February 14 - (Block 3 only.  Sign up for open house day activities - computer lab).  Reminder of flash card policy for tests (see above). Take up I Can Vote and #1-3 & 5, p. 115. Elections handout. Elections in Canada – The first-by-the-post system. (If time; proportional representation too). Read Government pp. 88-97. Do #4, p. 97. Research Canadian federal political parties. Which party would you support in the next federal election? Why? About a half page or so of writing is needed to adequately answer this question. Value: 10 marks, due Tuesday (next class). Find political party information at Elections Canada's registered political parties page.  Watch this video account of the problems with first past the post elections.