5-28-15

Today, I wasn't in Western Civ because I was absent.

5-27-15

Today in Western Civ, we took the test on Ancient Rome. I thought it was fairly easy, and am now looking forward to next class where we will write the essays for our exams.

5-21-15

Today in Western Civ, we finished our presentations on Ancient Rome. We also learned that we will be doing a little part of the exam next week, and we will also be doing the Rome Test. All we have to do for the exam is the Scantron.

5-20-15

Today in Western  Civ, we continued to present our projects on Ancient Rome. We were supposed to be first, but we couldn't get our video up and running. So, Chris, Sydney, and Nicole went first and we went right after. Our video turned out to be much worse than expected. I think if we had made a powerpoint or a trifold or something else with the video we would've done much better. Following our presentation were Jack and Colin. They had a really good project, which consisted of many mini-trifolds and a catapult.

4-1815

Today in Western Civ, we began to present our Ancient Rome projects. The first one was alright, it was a powerpoint with pottery. The second one was a group that handed out pamphlets, which was pretty cool. I thought the final one of the day was the best by far. It was a model of one of the Roman buildings, and a trifold with loads of information on it.

5-15-15

Today in Western Civ, we watched the end of the video about Ancient Rome. Tiberius Gracchus was beat to death by the senate because they didn't agree with him. He wanted to give the people of Rome their land back, which was taken by the rich.

5-14-15

Today in Western Civ, we continued to take notes on Ancient Rome. Rome, at one point, was ruled by the rich doing basically whatever they wanted. They would take land from the poor because they knew nobody would do anything about it. In all honesty, there wasn't a whole lot they really could do. Most of it was definitely not fair. Nobody could find a job. This was for the simple reason that all the slaves already were doing the work. So, why pay someone to do it when you could basically force the slaves to do it? The men were out of work until the army needed war again. That was when they were finally employed.

5-13-15

Today in Western Civ, we almost did nothing. After doing nothing for about the first twenty minutes of class, our teacher came up with this great idea of having a pop quiz. I barely passed it, though the ones I got wrong were fairly simple.

5-11-15

Today in Western Civ, we watched a video about the Roman Wars. It focused mainly on the third war, and on Tiberious.

5-8-15

Today in Western Civ, Mr. Schick wasn't here. We had to go to the art room, where we would work on our projects the entire class. As we were informed on our teachers blog, this would probably be our last day to work on it in class. My group has barley anything done, even though the project is due in ten days. We are doing a reenactment of one of the Roman battles. The people in my group are Reece and Nathan.

5-6-15

Today in Western Civ, we took notes on ancient Rome. The Romans have an elite army. Their were three Punic Wars, between Rome and Carthage. The first battle was a naval battle over the control of the strategically located island of Sicily. Rome would go on to win this first battle. The second battle lasted from 218 to 201 BCE. 29 year old Carthaginian general Hannibal almost did what seemed to be the impossible; taking over Rome. They attacked Rome from the north, after crossing Iberia and the Alps. However, Rome has won yet again. In the third and final battle, Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage. They mercilessly attacked the city, and Carthage was burned for 17 days. When the war had ended, lasting only three years this time around, the last 50, 000 people in the city were sold into slavery.

5-1-15

Today in Western Civ, we went to the lobby to meet new characters. We were down there for about 45 mins.

4-30-15

Today in Western Civ, we took notes on Ancient Rome. We learned about the Etruscans,  the Greeks, and the Latin's. The Etruscans came from the north central part of the peninsula. They were metalworkers, artists, and architects. They also had two foundation myths: Virgil's Aeneid and the great story of Remus and Romulus. The Greeks had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea. They also borrowed many ideas from them, such as religious beliefs, the alphabet, much of their art, and military techniques.

4-29-15

Today in Western Civ, we joined with our groups to discuss and work on our project. In my group we will be working on the project next weekend. Our project is a video, and its a reenactment on a battle in Rome.

4-27-15

Circus Maximus

• The first permanent starting gates were created in 329 BC
• In 174 BC the gates were rebuilt and seven wooden eggs were placed on top of the spina, the central wall in the arena
• Was occasionally used for events such as processions or gladiator combats
• The last race in the Circus Maximus was held in 549 AD, almost a millennium after the first races were held at this location

Coliseum

• After nearly a decade of construction–a relatively quick time period for a project of such a grand scale
• Titus officially dedicated the Colosseum in A.D. 80 with a festival including 100 days of games
• Titus had earned his people’s devotion with his handling of recovery efforts after the infamous eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79
• The final stages of construction of the Colosseum were completed under the reign of Titus’ brother and successor, Domitian

  Aqueducts

• The Roman aqueducts stand today, more than two thousand years later, as a testament to the engineering genius of the ancient Romans
• These massive structures not only boggle the human mind as to how they were constructed but their function and reliability are still a modern marvel
• Some aqueducts remain operational to this day
• Walking through the modern city of Rome one will come across these monumental arched structures that often cross streets and avenues

Roman Forum

• The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum) was the central area of the city around which Ancient Rome developed
•  Here was where commerce, business, prostitution, cult and the administration of justice took place
• The main sight of the Forum include the Arch of Titus (Arco di Tito), the Temple of Saturn, Temple of Vesta, and the church of San Luca e Martina
• The Roman Forum became the spectacular showcase of the Roman Empire filled with beautiful statues and architecture

4-24-15

Today in Western Civ, we got back together with our groups to discuss and work on our projects. Im in a group with Nathan and Reece. We are going to do a project in hopes that we get an A. I could use it after what happened on my last project.

4-23-15

We talked about how Greece enhanced the battle formations and the weapons they used in battle.  We also talked about the different battles that were around Rome. Hannibal was a pretty big ;art in the battles.

4-22-15

Today in Western Civ, we continued to take notes on ancient Rome. We learned that Rome was originally a monarchy, but there monarchy was overthrown and they established a republic. So, each year two senates were elected to serve, so one could keep an eye on the other, making sure they didn't get too powerful. Eventually, the Plebeians gained power in the senate by electing their own magistrates, called tribunes. The laws of Rome were codified and written into the Twelve Tablets. Mr. Schick rapped to us about Rome today and it was a very interesting experience.

4-20

Today in Western Civ, we took notes on Ancient Rome. We learned how similar the United States is compared to Ancient Rome. Rome used to have a monarchy, until it was overthrown and formed into a republic. They had two senates, similar to the U.S who has two senates per state.

4-16-15

Today in Western Civ, we watched a video all of class. It was supposed to symbolize how everyone tries to be the same, and finds amusement when someone is different. The video showed four people that always have to look forward, and when somebody would try to experience other things it was weird.

4-15-15

Today in Western Civ, we talked about a few different topics. It was mainly about how to properly write an essay. We were told about plagiarism, and how that can come to a lot of disciplinary issues. He also told us about our grammar and how to use it properly in our essays.

First Day Back

Today in Western Civ, we reviewed the test we took before the break. I failed that test horribly. We also got our essays back today. We did pretty well on it, except I messed it up to an extreme level. Im the big reason we got such a poor grade on it.

April

Today in West Civ, we took a test on Ancient Greece. It was a 50 question quiz and it wasn't that hard. Im hoping I did decently well on it, because of the fact that I did not study nor did I watch that video that Mr. Schick gave us over a week to watch.

3-30-15

Today in Western Civ, we had to transfer to a different classroom for the day. We went to room 109, and we had to watch a video that I plan on watching later. Todays class was more of a waste than anything to me.

3-26-15

Today in Western Civ, we worked on our 1000 word essays while Mr. Schick was out. My group has tried to split the essay evenly, and I got 115 words or so, Colin got 260, and Jack got 95. All in all were about half way done with the entire essay.

3-26-15

Today in Western Civ, we worked on our 1000 word essays while Mr. Schick was out. My group has tried to split the essay evenly, and I got 115 words or so, Colin got 260, and Jack got 95. All in all were about half way done with the entire essay.

3-26-15

Today in Western Civ, we worked on our 1000 word essays while Mr. Schick was out. My group has tried to split the essay evenly, and I got 115 words or so, Colin got 260, and Jack got 95. All in all were about half way done with the entire essay.

3-26-15

Today in Western Civ, we worked on our 1000 word essays while Mr. Schick was out. My group has tried to split the essay evenly, and I got 115 words or so, Colin got 260, and Jack got 95. All in all were about half way done with the entire essay.

3-26-15

Today in Western Civ, we worked on our 1000 word essays while Mr. Schick was out. My group has tried to split the essay evenly, and I got 115 words or so, Colin got 260, and Jack got 95. All in all were about half way done with the entire essay.

3-26-15

Today in Western Civ, we worked on our 1000 word essays while Mr. Schick was out. My group has tried to split the essay evenly, and I got 115 words or so, Colin got 260, and Jack got 95. All in all were about half way done with the entire essay.

3-25-15

Today in Western Civ, we continued to take notes on Ancient Greece. We learned that Poseidon was the God of the sea, Aphrodite was the Goddess of love, and many more. We learned that there are so many Gods and Goddesses, and they didn't exist, there only use was for stories that told lessons. Zeus was the ruler of heaven and earth; God of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice.

3-23-15

Today in Western Civ, we listened to Mr. Schick thank about how to write a good essay. In class, with the same groups that we had for the powerpoint, we have to write a 1000 word essay. This doesn't seem to be that hard, but I'm sure it may pose as a little bit of a challenge. It shouldn't be that hard, considering the fact that we will have three people working on it at the same time.

Spring

Today in Western Civ, we presented our Ancient Greece power points. My presentation was rather interesting, considering that something pretty bad happened during mine. Apparently there were a few inappropriate things in it, but Mr, Schick said it was pretty good other than that. Hopefully he doesn't deduct points for that.

3-19-15

Today inWestern Civ, we continued to take notes on Ancient Greece. The first thing we took notes on was about the clash of the Tyrants. We learned that Hippias was a Tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE. He became so violent because his brother was killed. Eventually he was ostracized from Athens, meaning he could never return. In revenge, he began working with the Persian King Darius I, helping them invade marathon.

3-18-15

Today in Western Civ, we took notes on Ancient Greece. We learned that there was an exclusive club with the upper class citizens. In this group, there were no women, unless they were there for entertainment purposes. There were no middle class citizens, because they weren't as wealthy and couldn't make the high end decisions like the upperclassmen could. And there were certainly no slaves allowed in the exclusive club. Sometimes, even certain Aristocrats were excluded from the group. Sometimes Aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites and set up an alternative form of government called Tyranny. A tyrant was someone who rules outside the framework of Polis. However, the modern meaning of tyrant is an abusive or obsessive ruler.

3-16-15

Today in Western Civ, we worked on our project. This was the last day we had to work on it in class, even though our group finished on Friday. So basically what my group did all class was watch videos on YouTube.

3-12-15

Colin Wolff

John Golumbeck

James Pennington

Athens, Sparta, and The Peloponnesian War

3-11-15

Today in Western Civ, we reviewed the notes we took on Ancient Greece. We learned that around 1200 BCE the mysterious sea people began to invade Mycenae, and burnt palace after palace. So, the Dorians moved into this war-torn region. We also learned about Homer, an ancient storyteller. He told about the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey. We then took a pop quiz, in which I failed horribly on. He hasn't put the grades in yet, but I already know I couldn't have possibly gotten a grade higher than 60%, let alone a passing one.

Ancient Greece

Today in Western Civ, we took notes on Ancient Greece. We learned that Greece is a peninsula of mountains. Actually, only 20% of the entire country is good for farming. They had poor and limited natural resources, so they needed to trade. There are approximately 1400 islands in the Adriatic, Lonian, and Aegean Seas. The Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, and olives. Back in Ancient Greece, temperature usually ranged from the mid 40's in the winter and the low 80's in the summer. The Mycenaeans influence began around 2000 BCE. Mycenae was located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 foot thick wall.

Cyber Day

Socrates: 

- Born in classical Athens

- Died in 399 BC

- His wife was xanhippe

- He had three children named Menexenus, Lamprocles, and Sophroniscus

- Was famous for being a Greek Philosopher

- His famous motto was the unexamined life is not worth livingfile:///Users/jamesedwardpennington/Desktop/Unknown.jpeg

Cyber Day

 The Parthenon
Buit in 447 BC
located in Athens, Greece
people consider this structure as their patron

Temple of Apollo at Didyma. It was built in 300 BC. 

It was made to have two sets of columns surrounding 

the inside 

called a dipteral. Only 3 columns are left there were 

thought to be 126 

The Temple of Hephaestus 

This temple was built in Athens. In the seventh century it was

 converted to a church. this church is still in use today. The temple was originally built for Hephaestus god of metal work and volcanoes.

3-4-15

Today I wasn't in school.

Cyber Day 3-2-15

Greece's location can effect their culture by providing them with what they need to survive, how they farm, if they are vulnerable to attack, and if the ground is stable to build cities.

the bodies of water that surround Greece are the Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. 

the large island to the south/southeast is Crete. 

Athens and Sparta are located pretty close to the sea and they are good ways apart 

Ancient Egypt Quiz

Today in Western Civ, we took a quiz on Ancient Egypt. I think I did fairly well on it, considering the fact that I did not study for it until the last minute. Some of the questions I was clueless about, but the others I thought were easy because of the the other options.

Cyber Day 2-26-15

1). What river was right next to Egypt?
A. Nile
B. Mississippi 
C. Tigers 
D. Euphrates 


2) Who was the most powerful person in Egypt?
A. Queen 
B. Gods 
C. Pharaoh 
D. Slave 

3) What was the water of the Nile used for?

A. Bathing 
B. Crops 
C. Drinking 
D. All of the above 

4) What did the Scribes write in?
A. Hieroglyphs 
B. English 
C. Spanish 
D. Sign language 

5) Why were the organs cut out of the pharaoh when he died?

They were cut out of him because they thought when then Pharaoh goes to the other side the gods would put them back into his body.

Pyramid Challenge

Today in Western Civ, we did the pyramid challenge. It was without a doubt the most challenging thing I have been assigned all year in Human Geo or Western Civ. I was able to complete the task, however and received an 85 on it. The way he graded it was kind of weird in my opinion. The first two done got A's, the next two got B's, and after that anyone who finished in class got C's. If you were unsuccessful in finishing the assignment in class, we could do it at home, screenshot it, and receive a D on the assignment. Anyone who failed to complete it, obviously failed it. The project was out of twenty points.

2-23-15

Today in class you were not here, so we all worked on the assignment you gave us. In class I went to your blog and re-went over the whole Egypt power point including all of the videos. I made sure that i had sufficient notes on the geography, gods and goddesses, everyday life social classes and so on. I made sure that i understood the social pyramid and that it went pharaoh, government/noble priests, soldiers, scribes, merchants, artists, farmers, slaves/servants. I also made sure that i understood how important the Nile is to them for agriculture. For me this was a very good review class time.

Cyber Day

Today was a cyber day, and the assignment is to name five Ancient Egyptian inventions. One invention they made was the 1000 glyphs, 400 Egyptian word examples, and the 500 hieroglyphs. Another invention was the pyramids. They made many pyramids in their history, and very high ones at that. They also started mummification, which had to do with their religion. They were also the creators of the hieroglyphic typewriter. They also had a Pharaoh, who was known as half man half God.

2-19-15

Today in Western Civ, we continued to take notes on Ancient Egypt. I learned that there are over 2000 Gods and Goddesses. We also learned that scribes wrote in Hieroglyphs and hieratic. The soldiers used wooden weapons with bronze tips and they might use chariots. The Upper Class was known as the White Kilt Class, and consisted of Priests, Physicians, and Engineers. The Pharaoh was the leader of the Egyptian people. He owned the land, made laws, and collected taxes.

2-18-15

Today in Western Civ, we reviewed the quiz on Guns, Germs, and Steel. I did amazingly well on it, I believe it was the highest quiz or test grade I've ever received in this class. The grade I got was an eighty-eight percent. I was pretty satisfied with the grade, plus it was a step up from the last quiz I took, when i only got a 56 percent. Overall I was extremely pleased with my grade.

2-12-15

Today in Western Civ, we didn't have a teacher for the most part of class. He finally came in with about 15 minutes or so left of class. On Mr. Schicks blog, he posted what he wanted us to do for the day. Today in class, we were supposed to take notes from the presy that our teacher made for us, so thats what we all did.

Egypt

Today in Western Civ, we took our first set of notes on Ancient Egypt. We took notes on their Geography, Daily Life, and The Great Sphinx of Giza. In their geography, the Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River. The Nile River isn't like many others. It flows from south to north, rather than north to south. The people used the Nile River for drinking, irrigating, bathing, and transportation. Every July the Nile River floods., and every October it leaves behind rich soil. In the everyday life for the Ancient Egyptians, they had their upper, middle, and lower class citizens. In order from highest to lowest, The Pharaoh, Government Officials, Soldiers, Scribes, Merchants, Artisans, Farmers, Slaves, and Servants. The Great Sphinx of Giza was basically a recumbent lion with a humans head. It is the oldest monumental statue in the world.

Quiz Day

Today in Western Civ, we took our second quiz of the course. I found it to be a little challenging, but that was for the main reason that I didn't study for this quiz. If I had studied It might have been a whole lot easier. The last quiz we took I failed horribly, so I went to Mr. Schick after class to ask him if I could retake it tomorrow. He said yes, but the main reason that he is allowing me to retake it is because of how miserable my grade on it was. I will take the quiz again with high intentions of passing it.

2-6-15

Today in Western Civ, we studied our notes for the quiz that we found out today is on Monday. I studied my blog, which has the majority of my notes that are in my composition book in it. After we studied our notes for about a half hour or so, Mr. Schick started reviewing with us about the subject. He talked about how they have been trained to survive by working all day. Then Jared Diamond ended up in Papanewguinea by studying birds. He went there and ended up studying Papanewguinea.

2-5-15

Today in Western Civ, we watched the video for the third straight day. We also finished the video, and I learned even more about the prehistoric like village of Papanewguinea. The people invented plaster. They also made a paste for their homes. Another thing they did was make a steel that would change the world forever. Within a thousand years, most of the villages were left behind. They were killing the environment. They all moved west and east. The animals followed, creating a boom in human history. Their geography was the main reason that the people advanced.

Video

Today in Western Civ, we continued watching the video on Papanewguinea. We discussed the multiple problems they have over there, and we also talked about what animals have and haven't been domesticated. There are currently only fourteen animals that have been domesticated on the entire planet. This was honestly to my surprise that there were only fourteen. The nay fourteen domesticated animals on the planet consist of goats, sheep, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, Bactrian Camels, Arabian Camels, water buffalo, llamas, reindeer, yacks, mythons, and Bali Cattle. All of these animals can and have been domesticated. Most animals that cannot be domesticated have similar qualities. Zebras could be domesticated, seeing as they are very similar to horses. The only problem with trying to domesticate zebras is the fact that they are terrified by all of their predators. So, whenever a zebra is working, such as hauling a plow, if they even heard the slightest noise they would probably take off in Fear, thus naming the people and probably destroying the plow.

2-2-15

Today in Western Civ, we continued to watch the video about the one island. It has taught me many things about how they have to live like the prehistoric era. I think it must be horrible to have to live like that, but they don't. This is simply because they've all grown up like that and are used to that way of life. One man asked why the white men have so much cargo, but them as black people have very little. One man is in search of the answer to that question.

Video

Today in Western Civ, we watched a video on a modern day version of the paleolithic era. They are used to the stuff they have to do to survive. This was a successful week in Western Civ.

First Quiz of Western Civ

Today in Western Civ, we took our first quiz of the semester. The quiz was on the prehistoric era, and the quiz was an open blog quiz. For the most part it was fairly easy, there were only the first few parts I didn't have in my blog. I probably should've known those parts anyway, but I don't think I did too bad on it anyway. I think I got the short answer questions at the end right. I think I got about a B on it, because I'm almost positive that I didn't get an A. Hopefully I didn't get anything less than that, not even a C. Im looking forward to getting a higher grade than I did last semester in Human Geo. I honestly wasn't satisfied with how I did in that class, because I know I could've gotten at least a B in that course. It was probably because of my blogs, they weighed me down.

Quiz Review

Today in Western Civ, we reviewed for the test that were taking tomorrow. It all seemed pretty easy, hopefully it will be as easy as it seems. the district known as Sumer occupied the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Their population increased dramatically due to new irrigation techniques. Also, cities and towns were founded, some with as many as 40,000 inhabitants. They found that better food storage allowed for diversity in professions. Kings emerged as did family dynasties and the concept of a "city-state." Sumerians invented the earliest form of writing, known as "cuneiform." A pantheon of Sumerian Gods and Goddesses emerged, with many of the deities representing the natural elements of the world. The worlds first surviving epic was the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh" which told of a great flood. Sumerians first divided the hour into sixty minutes and the minute into sixty seconds. They also organized a calendar based on the moon cycles. The Ziggurat was a Sumerian Temple built on top of a "mountain" of Earth. The civilization in Mesopotamia was starting to come along. Wandering nomads drove herds of domesticated animals in many areas, especially south of Sumer in Arabia. Sumer was conquered by Akkadians, their Gods took the place of previous Gods and all were forced to worship them. King Hammurabi created a series of laws known as Hammurabi's Code - laws included eye for an eye, and regulations for marriage, divorce, and punishments for all sorts of crimes.

Mesopotamia

Today in Western Civ, we took notes on Mesopotamia. I learned that the district known as Sumer occupied the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Their population increased dramatically due to new irrigation techniques. Also, cities and towns were founded, some with as many as 40,000 inhabitants. They found that better food storage allowed for diversity in professions. Kings emerged as did family dynasties and the concept of a "city-state." Sumerians invented the earliest form of writing, known as "cuneiform." A pantheon of Sumerian Gods and Goddesses emerged, with many of the deities representing the natural elements of the world. The worlds first surviving epic was the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh" which told of a great flood. Sumerians first divided the hour into sixty minutes and the minute into sixty seconds. They also organized a calendar based on the moon cycles. The Ziggurat was a Sumerian Temple built on top of a "mountain" of Earth. The civilization in Mesopotamia was starting to come along. Wandering nomads drove herds of domesticated animals in many areas, especially south of Sumer in Arabia. Sumer was conquered by Akkadians, their Gods took the place of previous Gods and all were forced to worship them. King Hammurabi created a series of laws known as Hammurabi's Code - laws included eye for an eye, and regulations for marriage, divorce, and punishments for all sorts of crimes.

Notes

Today in Western Civ, we took our first set of notes for the course. The notes were on Pre-Historic times to civilization. I learned that they were just like wild animals for 186,000 years. They had to hunt their food, and wondered when their next meal was going to be. About 14,000 years ago, they were finally able to to create a civilized environment, and they were also for the first time in history organized in many ways. For one they had finally been able to build a few villages. Within the villages there were a lot of people, each with very important roles for the survival of the villagers. There were some people in charge of hunting the food. The hunters were mainly skillful men because they were bigger and more able to hunt the food. Others were in charge of getting the meat out of the animals. And they also had a role for the people to make weapons for the hunters. Out of all the roles of the villagers, the hunters were valued the most because they were the ones getting the food for the village.

First Day of Western Civilization

Today in Western Civ, we were introduced to the course. I already despise my class, I absolutely loved my Human Geo class, it was one of the best classes I'd ever been in. I can already tell this class is worse than the last. Other than that we set up our new blogs. This is mine, and I do have to admit I wasn't too very thrilled about creating a new blog. This was for the main reason that I didn't want to have to use another gmail, also because I didn't want to create another username.