Brianne's Blog

Today in West Civ, my group presented our project!  I think the group did really well and I think Mr. Schick really liked it, he seemed to laugh a lot.  Each person in my group dressed in a toga which we used a white bed sheet and the people from Sparta had a red sheet around them too.  I talked first and showed the class our slideshow and talked about each person and the achievements they had and when they were born and when they died.  Each person came walking in and then they had a debate about the Ancient Greece government.  The whole class seemed to like it and I thought it was a lot of fun to do and work on.  I can't wait to see what the other groups have to present!

We had a very chill west civ class today because my group finally finished our project.  We wrote all of our note cards and read through our essay.  Today was a short class because it was a D day but my group went out into the hallway and practiced our project.  I did not expect it to go so well, but it went great!  I feel like my group was ahead of most of the other groups in my class because everyone else was working on the essay when ours has been done for a couple of days.  I am truly excited to present this project to the class and Mr. Schick because it is really fun but it also gives a lot of information and facts about Greece and different people in Greece.  Overall, the whole school was chill and it was really nice and Im excited because I am going to NEW YORK CITY on Saturday to see Wicked on Broadway!!!!!

Today in Western Civ class, Mr. Schick gave us some amazing news that we will not start presenting our projects until Thursday, which gives us an extra day to work on them.  I truly don't think my group needs an extra day to work on our project because we are done but an extra day to rehearse is good.  We finished our essay and figured out when each person is talking during what time of the presentation.  We are the second group to present on Thursday and we are talking about the different people and different governments of Greece. Each person is a king or president and I am the narrator so I introduce each person and say when they were born, died, and the achievements they have done.  I am kind of nervous to present our project though but we will see how it goes!

Today in Western Civ Class today, we took our test on Greece and I think I got a good grade.  The test had the map on it which I am so glad I knew because there were about 9 questions about the places in the map.  I think i knew most of the multiple choice answers and I really hope I got 100.  Mr Schick also told us a story about how he went to a new doctor and how he was asking him questions like what do you do for a living and other things.  The doctor told Mr. Schick that he went to school in Macedonia.  I think thats is so funny!  Then, ending the class we were aloud to work on our blog and work on our projects or work on other homework.

I wasn't in class today because I was performing the show PIPPIN!!!

Today in Western Civ, we went through more slides on the presentation about Greece.  The Homeric questions is did homer really exist?  A polis is a fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside.  A monarchy is a rule by a single person(a king, in Greece).  Aristocracy is a rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning family (members of the ruling class).  An oligarchy are wealthy groups who was dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help).  A tyrant is a powerful individual who seize a control by appealing to the common people for support.  Symposiums are meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras while discussing politics.  Politics were an exclusive club where no women could go except for entertainment, no middle class, no slaves and many more!

Today in West Civ Class, we got to meet with our groups to talk about our project and what we are going to do for our project.  Cullen, Joey, Gianna, Caleb, and I figured out who each of us are in our presentation and what we are going to say.  I am the narrator and I am supposed to say every persons name and what they did and they came into power.  We also talked about what we are going to write in our essay and what each person is going to wear.  Everyone in my group is wearing like whites cloths and something on our heads.  I am wearing a crown with olives.  We our doing our project on the democracy and political stand point of Greece.  Each person talks about their government and then everyone starts trashing each other's government.  I am so excited to present this project!!!

In class today, Mr Schick told us all about our new project we are doing in Western Civ.  We have to do a 200 point project in a group and our topic is Greece.  Cullen, Joey, Caleb, and Gianna are in my group.  We decided that we are doing our project on the government of Greece and each one of us are the different kings that ruled.  We haven't figured out much more besides that but we are going to dress up and build something.  Not only do we have to make something we have to write a paragraph about how we made it and what we are doing our project on.  We also have to present it in front of the class.  This project seems really fun and interesting.  I have always loved to learn about Greece but they didn't teach us much about it in middle school.  The gods and goddesses seem like something I am really interested in.  This project will be a lot of fun and I cant wait to get started on it!

1. How long did it take Odysseus to return home from the Trojan War? It took Odysseus 10 years to return home from the Trojan 2. According to Google Maps, how long should this trip have taken? This trip should have taken 2 weeks according to Google Maps. 3. According to archeological evidence, when did the Trojan War occur? The Trojan War occurred around the twelfth century BCE. 4. When did Homer compose   The Odyssey ? Homer composed The Odyssey in the eighth century BCE. 5. What is the definition of “epic poem”? The definition of epic poem" is a long narrative poem on a serious subject that is written in a grand or elevated style.  It is centered on a larger-than-life hero. 6. Who is Odysseus’ wife? Odysseus' wife is Penelope. 7. Who is Odysseus’ son? Odysseus' son is Telemachus. 8. What happens in the cave of the Cyclops? In the cave of the Cyclops, Odysseus and his soldiers were in the cave eati...

Today in Western Civ class, we took notes off of the slideshow Mr. Schick showed us.  Before we took the notes though Mr. Schick told us about the Klein family and how he knew them.  The man who owned shop-rite died yesterday in a car crash and we prayed for him.  In the powerpoint it taught us that the fertile valleys cover 1 quarter of the peninsula which is only about 20% arable (suitable for farming).  The greeks diet consists of grains, grapes, olives, and fish.  The lack of resources was most likely led to greek civilization.  The temperature in Greece was ranged from mid 40's sin the winter snd low 80's in the summer.  The Mycenaeans were the first people to control Peloponnesus which began around 2000 BCE.  They were protected by a 20ft think wall and they dominated Greece from 1600-1100 BCE.  The Mycenaeans eventually invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture.

Today Mr. Schick taught us about ancient greece.  In Mesopotamia the two rivers are the Tigres and Euphrates.  Egypt's river is the Nile river.  The Indus is the river in India.  China's river is the Huang He River.  Mr. Schick told us that we have to be able to label the following places on a map, the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Peloponnesus (where the Peloponnesian war between Sparta and Athens), Athens, Sparta, Crete, Asia Minor, and Macedonia.  Greece is a mountainous peninsula and the mountains covered it 3 quarters.  Approximately 2000 islands in the Ionian and Aegean Sea and this combination shaped Greeces culture.  Greece had many skilled sailors and shipbuilders.  Also farmers, metalworkers, weavers, and potters.  They had poor or limited natural resources so they needed to trade and it was difficult to unite the ancient greeks because of the terrain.  The developed small, independent communities (city-states) tha...

Today in Western Civ class we reviewed for our Egypt quiz Thursday but I have to take the quiz Friday because I will not be in class on Thursday.  I am getting my braces off!  I also had a shadow today and I introduced Addy to Mr. Schick.  Addy really seemed to like western civ class today because we were all screaming at Elpris about dolphins and fish.  He claims that dolphins and fish or mammals for that matter are not animals.  He said that since they sell seafood in the cafeteria on Friday's now that the meat is animals but seafood isn't.  HE IS WRONG.  We looked it up on the internet and it states that mammals are one of the subunits of animals so they ARE animals.  We debated about this for about 20 minutes and then I left 5 minutes early to take Addy to the chapel.  Today's class was interesting and kinda fun, it would have been better though if Elpris got his facts straight!

Today in Western Civ class we started to take notes on Egypt off of a powerpoint but that didn't go very well.  We got off track a lot but I learned that there was an Upper and Lower Egypt.  Upper Egypt was a 500 mile long strip of fertile land along the nile and lower Egypt was the wide land of the nile delta, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.  After learning some things off the powerpoint we sang happy birthday to Kayla and then we learned that Egyptians relied on harmony and balance of the universe which they called maat.  Gods were often portrayed with animal heads or bodies.  Egyptians believed in an afterlife called ka and they mummified to preserve them for this post-death journey. Egyptian astronomers created a calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make sense of seasonal cycles.  Today was a wild class.  Mr Schick got upset at us because some of the people in my class decide to leave class everyday to use the bathroom.  Also he told u...