Saturday, October 10, 2009

October 12-16


















For those of you new to my blogsite, it is intended to work alongside my website at:http://kbenoy.googlepages.com/
e-mail me at http://kbenoy@nvsd44.bc.ca/

Things that are static -- not requiring regular change -- will be posted on the website. This blogsite will have the changing material -- lesson plans and links to particular assignments. I will try to ensure that all assignments are made available on the Internet in this way. If something is underlined on the blog, it means that you can click on it to see a copy of the particular item -- this could be a pdf document, PowerPoint, music or a video.

Use this blog to see what is coming up each week. I will usually post it on Saturdays for the following week. If you are away, you can check up on what you are missing. There is no reason for you not to know what is happening. If you do not have an Internet connection, you certainly know someone who does. If too ill to work while away, be sure to attach a note from home to any overdue work when you hand it in and I will most likely waive any late deduction.If you can't read the PowerPoint material on your computer, downloadPowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft. It is free.

Sutherland has a license to access Discovery Education's United Streaming video collection. Students may download or stream videos from the collection by going tohttp://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm . Use the passcode posted in the classroom. Please note that since renewing our licence, our starting access code for new users has changed and is no longer what was given on your course outline. I cannot post this online, but you can confirm the new number by looking at what is posted in the classroom.

My tutorial times are officially 2:55-3:15 every Monday and Friday. However, I am available most days before school, at noon and after school. Drop by or make an appointment if you need guaranteed time.

Social Studies 8

With the Geography unit completed, we are now moving into the History portion of the course. Your next unit test is a couple of weeks away and will cover the "Rome" unit.

Be sure to visit the BBC's Roman Empire pages. There is plenty of fascinating material to interest anyone interested in this ancient empire.

  • Monday, October 12 - Eat Turkey and relax. Enjoy the Thanksgiving break -- unless you are one of those who have not handed in all of their work -- you should catch up!
  • Tuesday, October 13 - Take up homework -- the questions on the Roman Towns handout. We will also go over the answers to the video questions on David Macauley's Roman City. Introduction to Classical Architecture -- how the Romans built and how this knowledge is the foundation of modern building today. PowerPoint on Roman Architecture -- from Mr. Benoy's Comparative Civilizations 12 course. If we have time, we will watch What the Ancients Knew; The Romans. Read the handout and do questions for homework. Also complete the Architecture Hunt assignment -- value: 10 marks and due Thursday. Are you interested in learning more about Roman engineering? Watch Rome; Engineering an Empire (Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9) -- great stuff. Check out the BBC's animation on the Roman Colosseum.
  • Wednesday, October 14 - Take up handout questions. Introduction to Ancient Religions: Paganism, Judaism, Mystery Cults and Christianity. Watch this tongue-in-cheek account of Roman Religion - History With a Twist of Lime; The Early Roman Religion. You might not get all the jokes, or you might find them cheesy, but the information about Roman religion is good and at 7:00 minutes, it is timely. Read pp. 6-10. Do #1-6, p. 10 for homework. Don't forget to complete the Architecture Hunt assignment.
  • Thursday, October 15 - Hand in the Architecture Hunt assignment. Take up #1-6, p. 10. Watch The Western Tradition; Early Christianity and do the questions. You might be interested in this documentary comparing early Christianity with the Cult of Mithras. This is part of a bigger video The Hidden Story of Jesus -- which looks at elements of many ancient religions that parallel Christianity. Do a Googlevideo or a Youtube search to find the rest of this video online. Assignment: Conversion to Christianity -- Imagine that you are a young Greek person living in the city of Rome. Write a letter to your parents in Athens explaining why you have decided to give up worshiping the old Greek Gods and become a Christian. You will have to find out something about both Ancient Greek religion and early Christianity to do this. The assignment will be marked out of 10 and will be marked on both content and composition. It is due next class. Note: When we deal with religion in this course it is not with the intention of supporting one religious view over another. What we want to do is to understand basic beliefs of each religion and know something about the impact that any particular religion has had on the world. We do this using an historical approach.
  • Friday, October 16 - Hand in the Conversion to Christianity assignment. Video Legions of Rome (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) and questions. Read pp. 10-12. Do #1-6, p. 12. You might enjoy playing a small game from the BBC - Romans vs. Britons.
Social Studies 11

We just completed a big unit test and we will now finish our last Government unit - a short one on Provincial and Municipal government. You will receive a take-home test on Wednesday -- to be returned on Thursday.

There is a major research assignment cstarting now, the Family History - Immigration Assignment (With additional options for International and First Nations students.) The due date for this work is not until right after the Christmas holidays, to allow plenty of time for research and discussion with family members.)

  • Monday, October 12 - Eat turkey and relax -- unless you have incomplete work to submit!
  • Tuesday, October 13 - Take up homework. Filmstrip -- Provincial Government. Government (red) texts. Read pp. 170-178. Do #1-3, p. 178. Note: Municipal Government will be tested using a take home test next Tuesday (October 9).
  • Wednesday, October 14 - Take up homework, #1-3, p. 178. Federal and Provincial governments compared. Municipal government introduced. Video & questions on Provincial and Municipal Government. Read (red book) pp. 186-196. Do #1-6, p 196. Read (blue book) pp. 245-246. Do #2-4, p. 246.
  • Thursday, October 15 - Take up #1-6, p 196 (red book) and #2-4, p. 246 (blue book). Take up homework. Discuss Aboriginal self-government. Mayor Mussatto's PowerPoint on Municipal affairs. Write a paragraph to a page explaining why we should study History. 10 marks. Due in two classes.
  • Friday, October 16 - Introduction to History. Family History and Immigration Assignment or alternative (see above) assigned and explained. Take home test assigned. Read pp. 10-20. Do #1-4, p. 16 & #1-6, pp. 19-20.
Social Studies 11H

You have an ongoing project -- the Geography research essay on a geographical topic of your choice that relates to our current curriculum. This will be due in about a month and we will set the precise due date after discussing the options in class. I rather expect that Monday, October 26 would be good, as it follows the October 23 province-wide professional day.

Your Geography textbook is also available online athttp://www.design4effect.com/soc11/ . Though we will use some material from the other text, most will be from this e-text. Be aware that this text is now a few years old and many hyperlinks are broken. Rewriting is a massive job that I have not had time to take on yet.

Your next test is on Thursday, October 15. Expect the following mark breakdown: 40 multiple choice questions (1 mark each) and 3 from a choice of 8 long answer questions (6 marks each) for a grand total of 58 marks. 25 flash cards will earn 5 bonus marks.

  • Monday, October 12 - If you aren't Kendall, Eat Turkey today.
  • Tuesday, October 13 - Take up #1, p. 118, #1-3, p. 120, #1-5, p. 123, #1-3, p. 129. Introduction: Worldmapper animation. Watch the amazing Dr. Hans Rosling's presentation at the 2006 TED Conference - The Seemingly Impossible is Possible. We will also complete the chapter 5 PowerPoint. Read pp. 130-132. Do #1-2, p. 131, #1-4, p. 132 and Further Thought #1-6, p. 132. Prepare for Unit Test on chapters 4 (Resources) and 5 (Aid) on Wednesday. If you liked Hans Rosling, try William McDonough's TED lecture(the sustainable architecture fellow from our recent conservation video from Discovery Education.
  • Wednesday, October 14 - Take up homework. Video: Nova; The Fragile Mountains (sorry, unavailable online). Do note: This is a very old video, but the intermediate technology solutions posed for Nepal's problems are still valid today. While watching the video, identify the problems the film identifies as being faced by Nepal and what is being done about them. Learn how to reduce your carbon footprint by watching Ethical Man on BBC's Panorama Programme - the stream is low quality but the content is outstanding.
  • Thursday, October 15 - Unit Test on chapters 4 & 5. Sign outCounterpoints textbook. Look it over. Assignment: Why do we study history? 10 marks. Answer in a paragraph to a page and a half.
  • Friday, October 16 - Hand in assignment. Introduction to the study of history. PowerPoint from History 12: Historiography & Historical Interpretation. Read pp. 10-20. Do #1-4, p. 16 & #1-6, pp. 19-20.
History 12

Topic #3's plan and questions are also now available. The next unit test is still a little way off.

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