What I know About Maps

Today's class was very easy. It was a class to catch up on what we were behind on, do our blog, and finish labeling our maps. We also had a talk with my teacher about how our blogs were going if he had any concerns. He told my mine looked good and it was very well written. That made me happy because I work hard on them. Some things I know about maps are on all of them that I have looked at have the seven continents and five oceans. I found it interesting when we watched a video that said Greenland is fourteen times smaller then Africa, but one one map they appear to be the same size. Also on the most recent and accurate map, there are lines of longitude and latitude and a scale to tell the sizing from the paper map to the real world size. I think I will do okay on the test for this stuff, as long as he doesn't question us about the minutes and second that follow the longitude and latitude. That confuses me, but other then that today has been a good day!

Labeling Maps

Dear blog, today's class was pretty fun. One of my classmates kept making jokes since the teacher wasn't there for the first half of class. When he came back he gave us three maps and we had to labeling a few things on all of them. The three maps we got were the Mercator Projection Map, the Gall- Peters Projection Map, and the Robinson Projection Map. The different things we had to label were the seven continents, five oceans, prime meridian, equator, international date line, my origin, and where the John Carroll school is located. In class I got done one full map, and then labeled the oceans and continents on the others. I still have to do the other thing on the two other maps that I didn't finish in class. I am somewhat enjoying learning about these maps. I think it is interesting because people actually thought the earth was flat and how the maps have improved over time. The class went by fast and I am kind of excited to learn and find out more about the maps tomorrow.

Longitude/ Latitude and Telling time

Welcome back to my blog. Today in class we went over longitude and latitude on and map. We also talked about time zone. I learned that a geographical grid is a grid that had horizontal and vertical lines that you can't actually see in real life on Earth's surface. I learned that the arcs that run from the North Pole to the South Pole are called meridians is longitude. The imaginary lines the are parallel and same distance from equator and run in the same direction is latitude. Certain places on earth can be pin pointed and communicated by longitude and latitude and where the degrees/ lines meet. I also got confused when we started talking about how you can use minutes and seconds to make more accurate points. I didn't understand how we would do that if we got a question about it on the test, but I am not stressing about it now, it will eventually make more sense. Since Earth is a sphere it gets divided into 360 degrees and that is how time had started.

The West Wing video

    In class last week, we watched part of The West Wing, and since Mr.Schick wasn't in class today we had to re watch it. In that clip the cartographers wanted to change from the Mercator map to the Peters Projection map. Some points that the cartographers made are the Mercator map is not accurate because the map is bigger at the poles. Also, that the longitude and latitude lines are straight up and down. This map distorts and changes the sizes of nations and continents. Yes these are all valid points. I agree with these point for many reasons. One, earth isn't flat so longitude and latitude can never be a perfect line either vertical or horizontal. Also because in real life and on Earth Greenland is 14 times smaller then Africa, but on the Mercator map, Greenland appears to be the same size as Africa. Plus, Alaska looks 3 times bigger then Mexico on the Mercator map, but in real life/ Earth by .1 million square miles, Mexico is bigger. All of these accurate points appear to be right and to scale on the Peters Projection map, and that is why the cartographers want to change maps in the schools.

Map Scale and Projections

Today in class we went over a few things. We looked at different map projections and how most of them were wrong and not to scale. The map projections that we looked at were Mercator Projection which was a rectangle map. On that map Greenland and Antartica was enlarged way more then what it is in real life. The next map is theGoode Homolosine Projection which is a map that is in a weird shape where if you wanted to travel from North America to Europe, you would go off of the map. It is also not to scale. The last projection which is the most accurate which was Robinson Projection. We also learn that since earth is a sphere it causes distortions when drawn on a flat piece of paper. Four types are the shape of an area is most likely to me best up. Second, is the space and distance between the places are most likely to me more or less then what they actually are in real life. Third, is the sizing of oceans, continents, and features of the map are off or can be altered. Last, the direction between point are commonly messed up.

Opening Lesson About Maps

Dear blog! Today we started a new lesson because he just finished taking our first test. We went over what we would be learning next. We talk about some of the questions we would be answering. Some of those are How do geographers describe where things are?, Why is each point on earth unique?, Why are different places similar?, and Why are some human actions not sustainable?. We are also be able to tell the difference between early maps and contemporary maps, and explain how longitude and latitude are used to mark and find places on earth's surface. Something that I already knew, but was also mentioned today is that a map is 2-D and is flat with a portion scale of earth. The first maps invented were used to help traveler get from on point to another. First world map ever created was in 276-194 BC by Eratosthenes. Map making grew during the Age of Exploration and Discovery. Long ago, people thought Mediterranean meant the middle of the earth. Finally, geography is the study of where thing are located and found on earth.

First Test

Hello blog!! Today in Human Geography class we took our first test. I think it went ok because there were some parts that were really hard and some were really easy. I think they beginning multiple choice questions about "A Message to Garcia" were the easiest part, but the short answer questions were pretty confusing. For some questions I knew part of it and other I just guessed. I am praying that  I get a good grade on the test, but I have 100 in the class right now so hopefully if I don't get a good grade I will still have an A. I think Idid pretty good on the essay because I am good at writing, and I felt my evidence to back up what I had said to answer the question. But other then the test, the rest of the class was pretty good and funny. It was funny because multiple people asked the same question about if we have to blower not, and what do we have to blog about, after Mr. Schik told us so many times. He told us we have to blog everyday the class meets and we just have to write about what we did in class.

Review for First Test

Today in class felt very short. WE went over the Socrates notes that I already posted about in my last blogs, went over schedules, and reviewed. We also found out that we have a test on Monday about "A Message to Garcia", excellence, Socrates, "You Idiot", and a democracy. I am kind of nervous for the test because I don't know what will be on it an Mr. Schik seems like he would make hard test. Also because there are a lot of topics, and things to memorize since this test isn't open note/ blog. We also have to write an essay at the end of our test in one class! It takes me forever to take test and write an essay alone. Mr. Schik let us write our blog in the end of class because we had extra time. I'm very excited to go to the football game tonight so I'm glad I get to finish my blog with the few minutes I have extra in class.

Notes of 9/12/18

Today in class we spent half of the time going over the notes from yesterday because a new girl came to our class. We also finished our notes on Socrates. The main notes that I missed from yesterday were when democracy was born and when it came about and into play in different places. In 505 BCE democracy was born/ invented. In the United States the first time we used democracy was in 1776, in France was 1789, in China was both 1851 and 1949, in Russia was 1917, in Iran was 1979, and most recent was in Egypt in 2011. I also learned that an agora is a meeting, gathering, market place, or an assembly. That is where people would gather to talk and socialize. It was typically in the center of Athens. Polis was political entries controlled by citizens. Politics, metro politician, and  poll were the origins of the would polis. Todays new notes about Socrates was that he got people thinking, and questioning the original teaching of the greek gods. He got in trouble for this and got 2 different charges. Those charges were "Corruption of Athen's Youth" and "Impiety (not believing in the gods if the state)". He thought he should be rewarded free dinners, and he also felt he had no wrong doing and was just doing his job, "It's my job to be a gadfly to the lazy, sluggish horse that is Athens". 500 male citizens (women were not counted as citizens and given equal rights at the time) voted him guilty, and he had to drink poison hemlock as his death.

Notes of 9/11/18

Dear blog,
         I came to class with only about 5 minutes left. Therefore, I don't have a lot of notes, but the note that I got a very interesting. Today I learned about Socrates. Socrates was a strong determined man. He was a very hard worker ever since a young age. He was a stonemason in his early days. He was also very brave and heroic considering the fact that he fought in the Peloponnesian war. Throughout all of his experiences from the battle field and his overall background, he viewed the world differently then others. When he was a teacher, he taught you student close to Agora. He had a way of teaching, and it was to ask people a series of multiple questions to better understand their knowledge and to examine their beliefs. In the end, Socrates was a very smart guy who used methods to learn and to find new information about things.

Notes of 9/10/18

    Hello blog! Today in class we learned and talked a little bit more about "A Message to Garcia".  Some of the background information that I did not quite understand or know before was how fast and popular "A Message to Garcia" was. Over 40 million copies had been sold, and it was translated into 37 different languages. The last thing that really interested me in the essay was in it, there was a line that talked about one man that stood out on the horizon in the disbands appeared like mars perihelion. This was say that basically one man stands out among the rest, and is the one person showing excellence. This brings me to the next thing we learned in class. We learned what excellence is. Excellence is taking initiative and areté. There is few ways to describe areté. Which are excellence of any kind, moral value, fulfillment of purpose or function, and preforming at the best you can all the time. In conclusion, excellence was tied with the essay, "A Message to Garcia" and showed that all people have the ability to be excellent.

A Message to Garcia

   Welcome back to my blog! I'm glad you liked it so much to come back and read my second post.
   I am going to be sharing my thoughts about the essay A Message to Garcia with you. After reading this essay, I realized this can relate to my life in so many ways. I agree with working hard and not always questioning everything will get you far in life. I think have a good work ethic is key to being successful in life (along with some other things). It was a little hard to understand, at first, how this could relate this to my life because it was in old English, and I have not been through a situation like this one yet, but I felt it told a message to me. The message was that if you do what you are told, whether being watched over, not watched over, told so, or not told so, you will go somewhere in life. Starting off with high school. Meaning being organized, staying on top of classwork and homework from the first day of school until the last, not being late, attending all classes, and many other ways to be a good student.
   In conclusion, I felt that this was a good essay, and it spoke a lot to me.
   Thanks for reading!!!

My experience at John Carroll so far!

         Hi! Im Alexa Courtalis, welcome to my blog!
      I will be sharing my experiences that I've had during my first few days at The John Carroll School.
     I've experienced three unforgettable days at The John Carroll school so far. The first one was the freshman kickstart, second was the freshman orientation, and the third was today, my first day of school.
      I had a wonderful time at kickstart! I went on the fourth day so the peer helpers were extremely helpful with all of my questions and concerns I had prior to coming. I met so many new friends and staff members. I got to see exactly where everything was and learned so many new things about John Carroll. Some of those thing that I learned were our school is named after a patriot named John Carroll, The John Carroll school was founded in 1964, and most importantly all of the teachers and upper class men are extremely helpful and kind to incoming freshman. At kickstart we also played a lot of team bonding and ice breaker game to get to know our classmates. I've seen many of those people in the hallway and in classes, and because of those games, I feel comfortable talking to them! I was super excited to start this new journey with my fellow 2022 classmates!
      The second experience I had at the John Carroll school was freshman orientation. I could barely fall asleep the night before, I was so excited! My mom took me to freshman orientation, and she was also thrilled for me to start this journey. After everyone spoke, and I was sent of to my advisory, I met two people in my advisory that were also freshman, and that I later found out were in some of my classes. I met my advisor, Mr. Grzanna. He told us a little about him, including he was also new to JC. This made me feel better because he was in the same shoes my fellow classmate and I were in. It was his first year at JC, new school, new material, and all new people. After advisory, we went through all of our classes and met all of our teachers. I had a great time connecting with them for the short amount of time we had together that day. We completed our first hour of community service by making cards for veterans. Those were the highlights from that day. I had a great time, and was eager to see what a real day would be like!
       Last but not least, FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! I got a good amount of sleep, woke up, got ready, ate a good breakfast, and was headed off to school. I was a bit nervous about being with all the upper class men and trying to find all my classes. It wasn't as bad as I thought and everyone was helpful. My favorite class today was biology with Mr. Low. That was my favorite because Mr. Low made it super fun and interesting by telling jokes, and explaining all of the exciting things we would be doing throughout the rest of this year. I also have a really fun bio class which helped a lot. I was super happy that I didn't forget anything and wasn't late to any of my classes! After the school day was over, I was headed off to auditions for the upcoming fall musical, Hello Dolly. I was very nervous but everything ended up going smoothly. I went into auditions wanting to be apart of the ensemble, but ended up getting a call back for a speaking role! Therefore, I had an overall great day!
        To sum it up, I love JC so far, and I hope you enjoyed my three experiences I've had so far1
         Catch you later, Alexa Courtalis