Friday, January 01, 2010

January 4-8

















For those of you new to my blogsite, it is intended to work alongside my website at:http://sites.google.com/site/kbenoy/ Please note: I am too busy to update this site right now as major revisions are needed now that GooglePages has been terminated and my work transferred to GoogleSites, which works differently.

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, download PowerPoint 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 goingtohttp://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.

Please note: North Vancouver schools have had a 50% hold-back imposed on their supplies budget. As a result, I shall be handing out far fewer paper handouts in class. Fortunately it is all available here, online. Paper copies will be made available for many items only to those students who specifically request them because they have difficulty accessing online material.

Social Studies 8

The term will end very soon, and we still have a fair amount to cover. We will move quickly, studying this material in less depth.

There will be a short test on the Renaissance and Reformation on Friday, even though we will move on to the next unit earlier in the week. This should allow students to study more for it and to work beyond the bell if more time is needed. We will write the test in the 2nd half of the class. Expect 25 multiple choice questions (worth 1 mark each) and one paragraph question (worth 6 marks). Flash cards are valued at 3 marks on this unit.

Social Studies 11

Family History/Immigration assignments are due this week -- any time up to and including Friday. See December blogs for links.

Expect a test on chapters 1-3 on or about Thursday, January 14. I will post the mark breakdown on next weekend's blog update.

  • Monday, January 4 - Hand in An Inconvenient Truth assignment. Complete ch. 1 PowerPoint. Begin Ch. 2 PowerPoint. Read pp. 29-31. Do both #1-3 on p. 31.
  • Tuesday, January 5 - Take up homework. Continue Ch. 2 PowerPoint - Population & Demographics. (Introduction to demography and population growth. Population pyramids. Using the data on p. 46, construct population pyramids for these countries. Read pp. 31-37. Do #2, p. 36 - but use 2006 data from US Census Bureau's International Data Base - Canada Population pyramid, #1-2, p. 37 (Click on the following for a Nigeria population pyramid and a Japan population pyramid) Please note: The IDB has changed how it displays data. You will need to plug in the country name and date for each country -- then click on the population pyramid tab at the top of the page to access the population pyramid for each country -- It used to be easier to directly access the pyramid pages. Video sidebar: If numbers interest you, watch professor Malcolm S. Forbes, Arithmetic, Population and Energy.
  • Wednesday, January 6 - Take up homework. PowerPoint - continued. Population theories – Malthus, Catton, Boserup & Demographic transition model. Watch Hans Rosling's What Stops Population Growth. Read pp. 37-41. Do #1-6, p. 39 & #1-6, pp. 41-42. Sidebars: Doom and gloom video, Doom and gloom text at DieOff.Org - read p. 15, an excerpt from William Catton's Overshoot; The Ecological Base of Revolutionary Change. Read a brief synopsis of Boserup's ideas from York University. Julian Simon was another writer who felt population growth is a good thing. Part of his book Population Matters: People, Resources, Environment, and Immigration is available online.
  • Thursday, January 7 - Take up homework. Urbanization material on PowerPoint. Video segment andquestions on Shanghai, Changing China - Urbanization ). Look atGapcast #2 - Urbanization. Read pp. 42-45. Do #1-5, p. 45. Do the Further Thought assignment #1-5, p. 46.
  • Friday, January 8 - Take up homework. Stewart Brand's City Planet and questions. Read pp. 54-55. Do #1-4, pp. 55-56.
Social Studies 11 Honours

Family History/Immigration assignments due this week -- any time up until and including Friday.

The test for Ideologies/Parties/Elections is on Friday, January 8. The mark breakdown is as follows: 31 multiple choice questions at one mark each; 10 identify the ideology of a statement questions at one mark each; four items to identify on a graphic element at one mark each; 5 definitions - write a sentence or two about terms or names that you are given - at two marks apiece; and two long answer questions from four options at six marks each. The test total is, therefore, out of 67 marks. 5 bonus marks will be given for a minimum of 30 well-constructed flash cards -- Please give names and terms only on the front side, not questions!

  • Monday, January 4 - Quick review of ideologies & parties. Party organization. As part of your homework, you must go to Elections Canada's pages entitled I Can Vote, with information for young and first time voters. Answer these questions. Read pages 109-115 in the red Government text and answer questions #1-3 & 5, p. 115. Optional: Click here to go to a list of all of the political parties, with links to their webpages.
  • Tuesday, January 5 - Take up homework. Elections in Canada (Including handout) – 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? Find political party information at Elections Canada's registered political parties page.
  • Wednesday, January 6 - Take up homework. Take up #1-3, p. 257 & #4, p. 97. Elections lesson (handout) – day 2. Various voting systems. BCSTVanimation. Assignment: What electoral system do you feel is best? Why? (due Friday. About 1 page).
  • Note: No reminder of the test was given on Wednesday in class - though it was posted here, so I have decided to postpone the test until Friday. Homework each day remains the same, but the lesson is swapped from Friday to Thursday and the test from Thursday to Friday.
  • Thursday, January 7 - Unit Test - Ideologies to Elections. Look at the Parliament of Canada website. Download, read and study from the Guide to the House of Commons. Read pp. 231-233 sidebar. Do #1-3 in the sidebar on p. 233.
  • Friday, January 8 - Take up homework. Introduction to Parliament - focus on the House of Commons. Filmstrip & note-taking. Discuss the role of a member of Parliament. Online Handout – The Work of MPs (See also On the Job With a Member of Parliament) and questions. Read 226-231. Do #1-3, p. 231.
History 12

Remember, the final set of topic questions -- up to #62 are due on Monday, January11. I will also need final confirmation of whether you will be writing the Provincial or School final exam by January 15 - a sign-up sheet will be circulated.

Because of the lack of time remaining to cover all of the remaining material, I have decided to cancel the final (in-class) essay. Spend your time preparing for the final exam. Link to any grade 12 ministry exam material from here. Look at all of the material here. The more comfortable you are with the exam and its composition, the better you will do. Be sure to write the sample exams. Note: Many past exams can be found here.

  • Monday, January 4 - Vietnam (base notes). You must watch the CNN Cold War episode, Vietnam 1954-1968 (Episode 11). On your own, watch Dien Bien Phu - a film of a little under 1 hour, on the decisive battle leading to France's withdrawal from Vietnam and the rest of Indo-China. Hearts and Minds is a documentary dealing with the importance of the importance of winning support for the war in order to successfully fight it. Vietnam; The Last Battle looks at the collapse of the South and the end of the conflict. Take 7 minutes to watch Last Word; Dith Pran - the subject of the stunning 1984 film The Killing Fields, which told the story of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. For a right-wing view of the Vietnam War, that opposes the interpretations of America's PBS history of the war (Vienam; a Television History -see episode 1 online - introducing the series, but mainly dealing with the French) currently the mainstream view, watch the Charlton Heston narrated Vietnam War; the Real History. This is a "cold-warrior" viewpoint.
  • Tuesday, January 5 - Indroduction - music video A Walk in the Light Green (I Was Only 19). Vietnam War lecture material concluded (base notes). Video (as much as we can see in the time remaining): CNN Cold War episode, Vietnam 1954-1968 (Episode 11). Please watch the remainder if we are unable to see all of this in class. You MUST also watch one other episode from the series to see how the Vietnam war ended - Cold War - Detente (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5) - available on Youtube.
  • Wednesday, January 6 - The USA (domestic) Since 1945 (base notes). Note: look at Britain's SchoolHistory's revision material for this topic. Look at Susan Pojer's PowerPoint on 1950's America. Watch this short video (7 minutes) with images and protest songs (mostly Bob Dylan) about the civil rights movement. Watch the 11 minute video of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. See other Civil Rights videos at the PBS site - Eyes on the Prize. Link back for other material.
  • Thursday, January 7 - USA (domestic) Since 1945 - continued.
  • Friday, January 8 - Economic Resurgence in Western Europe (base notes). Watch this short American video clip on America's reasons for launching the Marshall Plan (1 1/2 minutes). For a look at British 1980's cynicism about European cooperation, watch this 4 minute segment from Yes, Minister. The opposing view can be seen in this short pro-European Union animation (3 minute) made to explain the EU to the British public. Introductory video:European Union; 50 Years in 5 Minutes.