Population Pyramids

Today we took a look at population pyramids. We use population pyramids to analyze growth (or decline) of fertility, mortality and migration in cities or countries/regions. In population pyramids, males are always on the left while females are always on the right. They usually have five year increments. In the population pyramids, the age ranges are as follows; 0-19 is the youth or children, 20-64 is the economically active. They have jobs, pay taxes and invest in things everyday. The final range is 65+. These are the retired people who don't have jobs anymore and need more care than other age ranges and therefore use a lot of money extracted from the citizens and the government. There are three basic shapes of population pyramids, the 'Christmas Tree' the 'Box' and the 'Cup'. The 'Christmas Tree' is representing developing countries. They have a high birth rate, their growth rate is slow, and finally they have a short life expectancy. The next type is the 'Box'. The 'Box' is representing a developed nation with slow growth. These countries have low infant mortality, and a long life expectancy. The final type of population pyramid is the 'Cup'. The 'Cup' is to represent developed nations with with negative growth. These countries have a low birth rate and shrinking population. They also have a high life expectancy.

GRADE REVIEW!!! END OF QUARTER!!!

As the end of the quarter is upon us, we took a final look at our grades for the first quarter of the year. Over all, I actually did really well this quarter, except for a few errors throughout the quarter, I think I did pretty well. I ended up with a final grade of a 96%. Going into the second quarter, I want to create better study skills as well as better blogging skills, whether its my wording, length, or following directions on what we need to do. I also edited my CIA work from this weekend considering I got a 50% on that assignment. Finally we took a look at the exams and the possibilities of exams and our final grade on the semester with a failing grade on the exam. Seeing that it shouldn't bring my grade down too much takes a lot of stress off of me considering it wont take a huge chunk out of my grade.
We also looked at grade distribution. Quarter one grades and quarter two grades are worth 80% and the exams are worth 20%. Today was just a catch up day to work on our grades and reflect on our grades and strategize how we will fix our mistakes for next quarter, to hopefully improve our possible grade for our final semester grade.

www.cia.gov Facts

Here are some interesting facts from cia.gov about the population of countries around the world.
1. The dominate sex in Brazil is male
This is interesting to me because I would think their would be more women because thats how it has always been, whether its my class ratio or more girls than boys in my family.
2. Afghanistan median age is around 18 years old
This is a representation or the danger and violence going on in that country, it means there are less people who are older, meaning they could have been killed from the violence going on in that country.
3. The smallest population of a country is 54, in the Pitcairn Islands
This is amazing to me because my small town is at least 20 times the population of this, and its a country!!! I start to wonder how they function and continue to thrive as a country.
4. The lowest life expectancy of a country is Chad, with 50.60
This life expectancy shows me that either violence or disease destroys the population of that country, it makes me want to figure out how to solve some of the issues there
5. The birth rate in Angola is 44.20 per 1000 population
This shows me that people have more babies than we do here. When I looked, the TFR is 6.1 children per woman.
Each of these facts I found interesting because they seemed very interesting and important to population as well as population growth. Age, population, birth rate, and life expectancy all play a factor in population, and population growth.
Today in class we discussed total fertility rate. Total fertility rate is the average number of children born per woman. We talked about the number 2.1. We said that in order for population to increase, the total fertility rate had to be over 2.1. Its 2.1 because we have to take into consideration the number of parents that die after the birth of children, so in order to make up for this number, the number is 2.1.

PUSH/PULL FORCES

Today we finished up talking about the rate of natural increase, which is found by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate. Though we have to also incorporate emigration and immigration. An excess of persons entering the country is called net immigration. It is shown as a positive number. This year, Canada has 5.65 migrants per 1000 population. An excess of people leaving the country is called net emigration. Its represented as a negative number. This year, Mexico has -1.68 migrants per 1000 population. This number is less than other years that were around -3 migrants per 1000 population. We also talked about push and pull forces. We discussed that it would take a lot to want to leave your country, and these push and pull factors are usually the reason why people may want to leave. Some reasons why people may want to leave the country that are pushing them out, which are push factors include civil war, environmental degradation, unemployment or under employment, or religious persecution. The factors that draw you to a country are called pull factors. These factors are better economic freedom, better health services, religious freedom, and political freedom. One way to differ between the two is to remember pull factors as positive factors and push factors are negative or bad.

Continuing on our new unit

Today we took a final look at the population clock, finding out how much the American population would raise in 50 minutes and how much the world population would raise in 50 minutes. At the end of 50 minutes, the American population raised by about 200 people and the world population raised by 7,000 thousand people. We also took a look at life expectancy. Life expectancy is the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year. We learned that the life expectancy was determined by the standard of life, and health accommodations. We learned men usually lived less than women lived. This is due to military activity, women go to the doctor more often, guys are more reckless, and finally, men tend to have more dangerous jobs than woman do. We also defined potable water. Potable water is water safe for human consumption. We talked about crude birth and death rate, which is the births and deaths per 1000 people. The rate of natural increase (RTI), is produced by subtracting death rate form birth rate. This gives us the annual natural growth, in percentage form.

New unit

Today we began a new unit, called Population and Settlement. We focused on some facts about population today. A few of these include the worlds population: 7.5 billion. The world population is increasing by about 7.3 million each year. 90% of this population growth occurs in developing countries of Africa, south and east Asia, and Latin America. We talked about China and their laws to regulate population by limiting the amount of children each family can have. We talked about how large population could result in a lot of  problems, one of which being economics. We discussed how population could increase to 9 billion by the time we are in our thirties. We also discussed the factors of population. They are births, deaths, the amount of immigrants and the amount of emmigrants. In conclusion, we talked about population, and the significance of population as well as what it will be able to do to our world if it increases anymore.

TEST DAY!!!

Today we took our test on maps. Overall, I believe I did a really good job on it. Since I studied and took into consideration the information I failed to remember on the pop quiz a few weeks ago, I think I did well. On the test, their were questions asking about Greenwich Mean Time, the International Dateline, the Prime Meridian, time zones, the Equator, maps, GPS, and origins of toponyms. The only question I believe I had a hard time answering was the toponym related question, though overall, if I get that wrong, it wont knock my grade down significantly. In terms of this class, I feel pretty good about my knowledge and capability to excel in this class. Mr. Schick does a great job teaching, and the material is not that difficult to interpret, understand, and remember. I hope that I will be able to remember all the knowledge I gained in this unit for the Mid-Term Exam since my goal is to maintain my 4.0 grade point average I earned all throughout Middle School.

REVIEW!!!

Today we continued reviewing for our test on Friday. We worked a lot on time zones. We were reminded that there are 24 time zones throughout the world, each separated by one hour, makes sense, right? We practiced what times it would be if it were a certain time in another place. I feel pretty good about my knowledge about time zones, especially since we can use our time zone map on the test on Friday. We also discussed the 4 kinds of distortion from the projection of maps from the globe to a 2-D map. These four things include distortion of shape, distance between points, altering of direction between points, relative size. We also learned the 3 types of scale. Ratio scale, which looks like this, 1: 24,000. Written sale, 1 inch = 200 miles, and by adding a symbol, it is called a graphic scale. Overall, I feel pretty good about my knowledge on the material that I will be tested on on Friday. The only issue I have is remembering the difference between latitudinal and longitudinal lines and their direction in which they go. Hopefully I remember this information and continue to succeed in this class, as Mr. Schick does a GREAT JOB TEACHING!!!!

Culture Review

Today in class we discussed and reviewed culture. We discussed that culture comes from the words cultus which means "to care for". We talked about some of the examples of culture and their differences in different regions or their effect on the area in which the culture is. We talked about how religion, beliefs, holidays, laws and so much more are a part of a places culture. We discussed 9/11 and its effect on our country, and how it changed our culture. Some of the ways in which it is changed is a new department in the government (homeland security), more airport security, and as a result of homeland security, their is more security at sports games, large events, large gatherings, large areas and so much more. We discussed how different regions produce different cultures, especially the differences in the 4 regions of China, in dialect and religion. We finally discussed laws and their differences throughout the world. We focused on the laws pertaining to death, and the certain conditions in which someone would have to commit in order to be accused of murder. Some of the charges include, manslaughter, first and second degree murder, and many more

In Class Assignment

Eratosthenes Accomplishments
1. Circumference of the earth
2. Distance from earth to sun
3. Calculated the tilt of the Earths axis

If its 10:00 am in Bel Air its...
7:00 am in Portland, Oregon
3:00 pm in Greenwich, England
10:00 am in Toronto, Ontario
4:00 am in the South Pole

Five toponyms named after physical features
1. Muang, Tai
2. Chiang, Tai
3. Viang, Tai
4. Blarney Castle
5. Geysir, Iceland

Five toponyms named after native american words
1. Mississippi
2. Chanhassen
3. Stinkingwater Peak
4. Denali
5. Tucson

Latitude and Longitude of...
Baltimore- 39 17' 25" N/ 76 36' 45" W
Quito- 0 13' 0" S/ 78 30' 0" W
Tavuni, Fiji- 16°48'59.99" S -179°57'59.99" W
Christchurch, New Zealand- 43 32' 0" S/172 38' 0" E
Juneau, Alaska- 58 18' 6" N/134 25' 11" W

Antipode- the direct opposite of something

Antipode of...
Beijing- Southern Argentina
Bermuda- Perth Canyon Marine Park
My house- Somewhere off the coast of Australia

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!

Today in class we began reviewing for the test next week. This test will be on maps, regions, and cultures affect on the uniqueness of certain regions. I feel pretty good about most of the topics, but the only issue I have is the difference between latitudinal and longitudinal lines. But for the most part, I am pretty good on most of the topics that I will be tested on next week. Today, Grace John had a shadow named Holly. Holly came from Bel Air and hopes to come to John Carroll to get away from some of the people she doesn't like. She also got a smarty for answering a question about Christoper Columbus.  That brings us to the final topic, we talked about Christopher Columbus and the colonization of North America. We talked about how they stole a lot of Native American supplies and killed a lot of them with diseases they spread.

Regions and Culture

Culture is the body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that together constitute the distinct tradition of a group of people. Latin word meaning cultus which means "to care for".
Meaning:
1. To care about
2. To care for
Culture: What people care about. Their ideas beliefs, values, and language, as well as ethnicity
What people take care of, production of material wealth, food, clothing, and shelter.
Scale
The relationship between the portion of the earth being studied and the earth as a whole
Globalization: force or process that involves the entire world, and results in making something worldwide
We also learned that Mr. Schick was in a really good mood today because he learned his dog Ginny is not sick
We also learned how he got his dog. To make a long story short. His wife found it hurt, after being hit by a truck and took it to a vet in the town they were outside of, in Virginia. After their trip ended, the vet notified his wife that she could adopt him, and she did. Vinny is short for Virginia.

Pop quizzes and more information on maps

Today in class, we were surprised with a pop quiz at the start of class. I thought I did well, but it turns out I got a 70%, which hopefully wont bring my grade down too much. I realized that my grade was the way it was because I got latitude and longitudinal lines mixed up, as well as meridians. Hopefully, I will take my error into consideration when taking the next test or final exam. Next we talked about the type of regions. The three types of regions are formal, functional and vernacular regions. A formal region is where most of the people in that region share one or more distinctive qualities or characters. A functional region is an area organized around around a node or focal point, ex. circulation of local newspaper. The final type of region is a vernacular region. In a vernacular region. the inhabitants believe that their region is a part of their cultural identity.

Maps

Today we identified location and regions on maps. Locations can be identified in three ways, places names (a toponym is a name given to a place on earth), a site (physical character of a place), and situation (location of place relative to other locations). A region is a unique area, an area on earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics is a region. Most often applied by 2 scales. 1. Spanning Political states. 2. Constrained with one political state. A region derives its unified character through cultural landscape- combination of culture, religious and political features. Finally, we discussed regions throughout the US. Some regions based on religion (some places closed Sunday), some regions cause different accents, in which differ from those throughout the country and world.  We also discussed different accents in forgien countries including China, which is separated into North, South, East and Western China.

Today in class we got our test back from the beginning of the year. I got a 96% and did very well on my essay. I am proud of how I did on this test, as I was still beginning high school, and yet I still managed to get an A. I believe I got this grade due to my study habits. I made sure to study at least 15 minutes every night a week before the test. And this got me an A. I will not only use this habit in future test, but in test in other classes, as it was successful in getting me a good grade, which helped keep my grade up in the class. Overall, I am happy with how I did, and I hope I can continue my test taking skills in the future, as well as keep this knowledge while taking the exam. When I take the exam, I will use this test to study from, and hopefully get a good grade on this section on the test.

The GPS and the governments insight on our lives.

Today in class, we discussed the GPS. The GPS is short for Global Position System. Its a system that accurately determines the precise position of something on Earth.
How does it work?:
1. Satellites placed in pre-determined orbits
2. Tracking stations to monitor and control satellites
3. Receivers that can locate 4 satellites or more can figure out the distance from them to calculate the exact location.
Uses:
1. Turn by turn
2. Navigational aid to pilots and ship captains
3. Locations for social media
Why is each point on Earth unique?
A place is a specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular characteristic
Describing features is an essential building block for geographers to explain similarities, differences, and changes across the Earth.
Geographers describe features on Earth by identifying its location. 
Finally we discussed the governments insight on our personal lives through things like GPS, Alexa, our computers etc.