Jordan Willis

Glass Factory

2009-11-09T23:17:00.000-08:00

Art Core
11/10/09

One person was a woman. She was tall, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She was directing our tour. I do not remember facial expressions at all, sorry.
Another person was a man. He was short, wearing a thin shirt and pants. He was making small animals from glass. I do not remember facial expressions at all, sorry.

Hsinchu is famous for its glass manufacturing because of its location. This are is known as the silicon valley, silicon is the sand used to make glass. Also, there are natural gases here.

Peace out.

The Last Samurai: Traditional vs Mordern

2009-05-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

The Last Samurai is a great movie showing the conflict when change is introduced. When the Americans begin selling guns, and effected Japan's culture more noticeably, the samurai are unhappy. The samurai are the traditional warriors in Japan, and they want their ways of life to remain the same. They believe in the sword, and death by the sword. So, they form a rebellion for the better of their country. The emperor of Japan is being manipulated by one his council, because he is weak and indecisive. The samurai serve their emperor and know wheat is best or their home.
In the final scene of the movie, after all of the other samurai are killed, Tom Cruise presents the samurai leaders sword to the emperor. In this moment, he realizes what he was doing was wrong. He says that the treaty with America is not what is best for his people, and that they mustn't forget who they our, and their Traditional ways of life. To be proud of who you are, and what you stand for. The samurai believed in serving the emperor for the better of the country, and they fought to their death to show that modernization was not best for Japan.

Newtons Laws at Leo Fu

2009-05-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I saw multiple examples of each of Newtons 3 Laws. Newtons First Law is that 'an object in motion will stay in motion, and an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. My example from Leo Fu is the Pirate Ship. Before it began, it was at rest, and would have stayed that way without the mechanical stuff. And if the ship was not hooked up to anything, it would continue flying upwards and not stop to return to the other side. Newtons Second Law is 'the acceleration of an object depends on the force acting on the object and the mass of the object'. The pirate ship is also a good example for this law. The higher the mass of an object, the more force necessary to accelerate the object. The Pirate Ship was very heavy, so it must take large amounts of force to make it move. Newtons Third Law states that 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction'. The Canyon River Rapids ride is a good example for this law. The raft would bounce into the walls, and their reaction was to bounce back away from them afterward.
Connecting Leo Fu to Science Class.

Collapse of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Indus Civilizations

2009-04-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

In class, we have recently studied three civilizations and how they rose. Now, we are learning how they collapsed. There are many different factors when it comes to the collapse of a civilization. It is amazing how similar the fall of three civilizations from all across the world can be. Some of the factors to their collapse include Climate Change, war, famine, drought, and small mistakes with extreme consequences. The three civilizations, whose collapse you are about to learn, are the Ancient Egyptians, the Mesopotamian, and the Indus River Valley.

The Egyptian Civilization began its decline around 2150BC. They started their downfall because of Climate Change. When the worlds climate began to change, it threw off the Nile Rivers seasonal floods. You may think that this would be a good thing because floods kill and destroy. However, these floods were extremely important. Since, the Egyptians lived in a very dry desert, the Nile floods were almost the only irrigation for their crops. When the Nile flooded, it brought the fields both water and silt, which are major factors that help grow crops. Since, there were no floods for nearly 20 years, the crops did not grow too well, and this caused famine across the land. Because the people were hungry, they became angry. Angry people do not care about the laws or order, and so, the social order became non-existent. The whole civilization was guaranteed to fall. With no crops, angry people, and no social order, everything was falling apart, so their civilization collapsed.

The Mesopotamian civilization began its downfall around the year 2200BC. They too were facing some problems due to Climate Change. However, they also made a fatal mistake. Their mistake was in the irrigation techniques being used by the people. They let the water sit on the fields for far too long, until it evaporated. This was not good for the fields. Letting the water sit for too long actually led to erosion, until the fields were gone completely. Also, due to Climate Change, this region became drier and more windy. This may have led to a drought, because if it’s really dry and windy at the same time, the rivers would have dried up. The drought led to famine, hunger. With everyone in the civilization hungry, and searching for food, they abandoned their respect for oder and the social structure. They started fighting amongst themselves for food and survival. With a war within the civilization, a drought, and no crops in the fields, their fate was sealed. They were doomed to collapse as the Ancient Egyptians had shortly before them, and they did.

The Indus River Valley Civilization faced their demise around 1990BC. Their reason for collapse is still to be determined, however, there are two possible, and logical, reasons for their downfall. The first is that Climate Change caused the Indus River to dry up and the people had to move away East. The second theory for their collapse is that the river changed its course, also due to Climate Change. Now, this is a very common thing for a river to do, rivers change course all of the time. The Indus River probably changes its course and was directed around the Indus civilization. When the river changed course, there would no longer be any water supplies and way to irrigate the fields. This would have led to famine and war if the people had stayed where they were. However, since they moved away, they were able to survive, but their civilization still collapsed. A civilization needs people, culture, etc. The people of the Indus River Valley civilization moved East to find a new home. The more widely believed theory is that the river changed its course.

All civilizations must collapse at one time or another, and all must collapse due to some factors. The fact that a lot of the factors of collapse are the same for many civilizations would make sense. Since, every civilization we have studied is located near a river, they were bound to run into some problems concerning the rivers. For example, flooding and drought were both common factors to the fall of many different civilizations. The rivers may be the secret to everything. The rivers are why the civilizations rose, and more often than not, why they fall. Climate Change was also a big factor when it came to the end of a civilizations existence. Climate Change caused the Nile to stop its seasonal flooding, it made Mesopotamia drier and windier, causing drought, and caused the Indus River to either dry up or change course. Nature is a magnificent wonder, capable of anything. Even bringing the end to the reign of large civilizations. Everything is connected.

Climate Change

2009-03-30T18:44:00.001-07:00

On Feb. 2, 2007, the United Nations scientific panel studying climate change declared that the evidence of a warming trend is "unequivocal," and that human activity has "very likely" been the driving force in that change over the last 50 years. The last report by the group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 2001, had found that humanity had "likely" played a role.

The addition of that single word "very" did more than reflect mounting scientific evidence that the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from smokestacks, tailpipes and burning forests has played a central role in raising the average surface temperature of the earth by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900. It also added new momentum to a debate that now seems centered less over whether humans are warming the planet, but instead over what to do about it. In recent months, business groups have banded together to make unprecedented calls for federal regulation of greenhouse gases. The subject had a red-carpet moment when former Vice President Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," was awarded an Oscar; and the Supreme Court made its first global warming-related decision, ruling 5 to 4 that the Environmental Protection Agency had not justified its position that it was not authorized to regulate carbon dioxide.

The greenhouse effect has been part of the earth's workings since its earliest days. Gases like carbon dioxide and methane allow sunlight to reach the earth, but prevent some of the resulting heat from radiating back out into space. Without the greenhouse effect, the planet would never have warmed enough to allow life to form. But as ever larger amounts of carbon dioxide have been released along with the development of industrial economies, the atmosphere has grown warmer at an accelerating rate: Since 1970, temperatures have gone up at nearly three times the average for the 20th century.

The latest report from the climate panel predicted that the global climate is likely to rise between 3.5 and 8 degrees Fahrenheit if the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere reaches twice the level of 1750. By 2100, sea levels are likely to rise between 7 to 23 inches, it said, and the changes now underway will continue for centuries to come.

Foreigners Report on Taiwanese Food

2009-03-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

The foreigner dude from the movie travels around the world eating some disgusting shit. His name is Andrew and he actually enjoys what he eats. The first, and only food that he could not bare, he found in Taiwan. He tried the stinky tofu, but could not stand to continue to consume this wretched food product. After this initial taste of Taiwan Culture, he traveled to a night market and eats chicken butt, oyster omelet, coffin bread, grilled shrimp, roosters’ crown, unlaid chicken eggs, chicken head, and chicken uterus. His reaction to all of these ‘unique’ food products was the same, good. He ate all of them, and enjoyed all of them. The chicken uterus was the mans favorite, but not mine. After the night market, he traveled to a small town south of Taipei, Tea Town. In this town, Andrew was shown the process in which their tea was made. Then he tasted the towns favorite, which he liked. After he looked at, sniffed, and tasted the tea, he he goes to a special restaurant whose food is all made with tea leaves and tea oils. There, he enjoyed many dishes with tea products in the recipe. After eating a bunch of food and drinking a lot of tea, he travels to a new aboriginal town, Hot Spring Town. In this town, he goes to a nice hot spring and soaks in its relaxing waters. Then he goes to a restaurant with all aboriginal foods. He gets help from a woman ordering his meal, and receives three dishes. He gets deep fried bee’s, bamboo salad, and two-week old raw fermented pork. He said that he really enjoyed the bee’s, because normally insects have a gooey, chewy inside, but these were crunchy all the way through. He also like the salad. Andrew was a little scared to try the aboriginal meat, but tried anyway, because to experience another culture, you must be willing to try their food. He said that the two-week old raw fermented pork tasted just like thin cut beef with lemon juice sprinkled on top. The aboriginal meat was the last thing that Andrew ate in Taiwan before returning home.
P.S.- Somewhere in the middle up there, Andrew went to Taipei 101 and ate a lot of good looking food. He ate Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese food there. And on his way out, he stopped at the grocery section where a woman offered him pigeon eggs. I forget if he liked them or not, but whatever.

“If you see something that looks good, eat it”
- Andrew

Drought, Disease, Social Turmoil, Foreign Invasion

2009-03-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

The Mayan civilization was a very prosperous one. Their population was in the millions, and they had invented so many ‘life simplifying’ tools. The Mayans were around for almost 4000 years, and in that time, much was done. By the end of their time, they were facing a serious drought, new diseases, social turmoil, and foreign invasions. They were a strong civilization, but when all four of those terrible thing occurred at once, they didn’t stand a chance. The Mayan civilization faced its fall in the 1400’s.
Drought was a major problem that had a big affect on the fall of the Mayans. Droughts are a natural disaster when it does not rain, for months, even years. The drought during this time lasted for nearly 10 years, and the Mayans were getting weaker and weaker. At least they had the river water, but that would not last forever with no rain to fill them. The Mayans had huge, underground, marble caverns which were used as wells to store water. Now these wells were behemoth. With the drought, the Mayan people were getting weaker. It was always a difficult to find a drink, and lots died from thirst. The drought also brought something fierce on the people.
Disease was a problem as well. Though disease was always there, the drought made the people more effectible. Since the people bodies were getting weaker, they could not always fight off the deadly diseases. Disease was a cause of death all across the Mayan kingdom. Diseases such as Small Pox were a big surprise to the people of the Mayan civilization. Most of the diseases being spread around were lethal, although, some took a while to kill you. The Mayan people faced great loss due to sickness and disease, especially at this time, when all else was going wrong as well.
The Mayan civilization had social turmoil. The people were arguing and fighting. With this going on, nothing was getting done, or getting done right. Some members of the government opposed the others. Everything was falling down around them. Also, the Mayan leader, trying to please the Gods to end the drought, started sacrifices his own people. Send warriors out to capture entire villages, and bring them back to the main city to be killed in frond off the people. Many Mayans were killed this way, and by the hand of another Mayan. They were performing human sacrifices to end a drought same save the peoples lives, but, to do so, they killed many people.
With the Revolution, Disease, and Drought, the Spaniards were able to come in and conquer, wipe out, the entire civilization in 10 years. The Spanish came with maybe 1000 soldiers, well armed with steel weapons, and they killed over 1 million Mayan. This is because of the other factors of how their civilization fell. The Spanish came at the worst possible time, while the Mayans were at their weakest. They stood no chance against the foreign invaders.
The Mayan civilization was over long before it was gone. The drought and disease made the people weak and unable to defend, or fend, for themselves. Social turmoil meant that the Society was in extreme confusion and disorder. The Mayan people were as good as dead before they actually were. Then, when the Spanish came, they were just finished. If the Mayans only problem was the invasion of the Spanish, there would be millions more of them alive today. But that was not the case. Many died from the thirst and disease before the Spaniards arrived. Social turmoil can be overcome and fixed. They had no control over the drought or diseases. That is how I believe their collapse came to be.

Importance of Drawing a Sketch to a Scientific Method and Why do I always neglect it?

2009-03-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

Drawing a sketch is important when working on a scientific experiment. This is because when you have a sketch of your plans, you are more likely to be successful in your experiment. The sketch helps you to organize your thoughts, however, sometimes it is better to just make it up as you go. For example, during SMASH day on March 4, we were instructed to build the tallest tower possible out of clay and toothpicks. All of the other groups had 'plans' on how they would build theirs, but my team did not. We had some conversation going throughout the experiment, and tried multiple structures before we found what we wanted. The sketch would have been helpful for the timed part of the experiment, but we probably would not have had the same design and come in first place. Yeah, we won. That is why, sometimes, it is okay to not have a set plan, but to 'just do it'.
If you are performing a science experiment, I would recommend that you have a plan. Just don't be afraid to make changes if it is not working as you had wished. So, to wrap this all up, I would recommend having a flexible plan.

Jaguar Paw: A New Beginning

2009-03-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

It was a cold morning, a wet morning, and all was still. The only noise was the whistle of the wind. Jaguar Paw and his family were laying together, asleep, under a tree. Only Jaguar Paw was awake. He was sitting there thinking of the odd white men from the ships. They were dressed is very strange clothing. He tried to put them out of his mind, but they fascinated him. He heard a rustle in the forest and grabbed his spear. His sudden movements awoke his wife who had Rabbits Run on her lap sleeping like his baby brother. There was another rustle and Jaguar Paw stood up to investigate it. They had not gone far from the coast, but were planning on moving further today. He held his spear ready to attack when he heard the noise again, a little bit closer this time. Jaguar Paw woke up Rabbits Foot and told his wife to take the two kids away from the noise and hide somewhere. Then He walked closer to the noise and saw a movement. He did not know what it was, but he was well prepared to kill it. Then a mans voice broke through the trees. He was speaking some weird language the Jaguar Paw did not understand. The mans voice made Jaguar Paw jump. Both men were walking towards each other now. They did not know what the other was thinking, and were both a little scared. The white man put his hand up and waved it to say hello. Then he put down his weapons. Jaguar Paw was curious as to why the man would do this. Did he mean them no ham? Was he a good man? What should I do? Those are the questions that went through Jaguar Paws head at that moment. He was not sure if he should also lay down his weapons. So he decided not to put it down, but to hold it by his side like a walking stick. The white man seemed to be okay with this and walked forward to about three feet in front of Jaguar Paw. Then Jaguar Paw raised his and and waved at the man. They were both a little more relaxed now, but then Jaguar Paw hear another sound, this time behind him. He as not positive what to make of this. Were there more white men? Did they have weapons? What is about to happen? Then the white man said something else in his strange language. Shortly after, seven white men with shiny weapons stepped out from the trees, fully surrounding Jaguar Paw. He did not know what to do, so he he picked his spear back up. His wife and eldest son were not far away, close enough to see what was happening. His wife had a tear in her eye. Then one of the white men, from his right side, moved forward and took a swing at him. He was trying to knock him unconscious, but Jaguar Paw ducked and with one smooth movement, speared the man in the gut. The other men reacted to this and two more moved forward toward Jaguar Paw. He saw them coming and got ready. He rolled to the side just in time to not get cut by the one mans shiny sword. Jaguar Paw was on his feet in not even a second. The white man was still hunched over after chopping the ground, so Jaguar Paw kicked him in the stomach, punched him in the face, and then he was laying next to the dead white man. Jaguar Paw saw the reaction of one man in front of him and knew that another attacker was coming up from behind. Jaguar Paw turned around and saw a fat white man with not weapon charging straight at him. He put his arm out and stepped to the side. The fat man was running too fast and was too fat to change directions. So, he ran straight into Jaguar Paws stiff arm and flipped mid-air before landing on his ass and falling backwards laying on the ground. There were still five men around him, including the original white man who had now picked his weapon back up. Jaguar Paw stuck out with his spear at one of the men’s legs, and with all of his steel armor, the man could not move. He dropped to his knees and tried to stop the bleeding. That left four, and two of them were behind him before he noticed. Jaguar Paw felt the mans hand on his back, turned his spear around under his arm, and speared the man through his throat and up into his mouth. Jaguar Paw was then him in the back of the head, probably by a rock one of the men picked up. He fell on his stomach and lay motionless until the three men approached him. They spoke between each other, probably to decide what should become of this man. Jaguar Paw. A group of five Mayan men were running through the forest when they saw what was happening. They stood there for a second or two to see exactly what was happening. Jaguar Paw lifted his head and saw them. He looked at them, and as if he used his eyes to ask them to help him, they came running to his aid. The five of them killed two of the white men, and the first white man ran, back toward the ships. Were these the men Jaguar Paw was fascinated by? The other Mayan men helped Jaguar Paw up to catch his breath. Then they got to talking and the men told Jaguar Paw that they are starting a new tribe. Their wives and children were back at the temporary camp until they could move farther away from the white men and start over for real. During this conversation, they invited Jaguar Paw to join them. He called out his wife and kids, so they came over to meet the men. Jaguar Paws wife agreed to the invitation, and they set out into the jungle to meet their new tribal family. Jaguar Paw and the other men picked up the white mens shiny weapons and took them with them. They didn’t know what they were made of, but they knew the escaped white man would report to the ship and they would send more people after them. When they arrived at the mens’ camp, they were welcomed with open arms. They quickly got acquainted with the people and started packing up to move further towards their new home. Away from the white men, and away from the sacrificial Mayans.
They were walking through the jungle for days. The men would go out and hunt for the food, while the women stayed with the children. After about a week, they came upon a small camp that was being lived in. They waited their to meet the people that lived there. After a couple of hours they saw people walking towards the camp with a large boar, dead, being pulled behind them. When they got a little closer Jaguar Paw and his family recognized them. They were the children from their old village that were left for dead after the attack and capture of the adults. They were still alive and obviously doing well. Everyone spent the night there around a camp fire as the children told stories of their lives alone, everything they faced and overcame. The next morning, all of them set out to find a new home. After about a month of walking they got to a new land, a strange land. They were out of the jungles and into deserts. They walked through the desert for a while until they made it out, now this was a long time later. Days. Weeks. But when they got out, they saw something beautiful. There was a large mountain and rivers and lakes and strange piney trees. They were in America, somewhere in either Arizona or Utah.
After about a year, they were completely aware of their surroundings, and had made friends with the local native indians. The native people taught them what crops to grow and when to grow them throughout the year. They taught Jaguar Paw and the others about the wild life in these parts. Jaguar Paws people also learned the language of the native people, and eventually began to not use their own language. They were one with the rockies. They killed what they needed, and used what they killed. They were no longer Mayan people, they were Native Americans.
Jaguar Paw and the others had found themselves a new home, and escaped from the freaky white people. Little did they know that the white men would eventually land in North America thinking it was India. But, forget about that, they were happy now.

Boy, 11, accused of killing father's pregnant girlfriend

2009-02-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

11 year old boy charged with two counts of murder in the first degree. The victims include the fathers pregnant girlfriend, and the child inside of her. She was 8 months pregnant, and there is no apparent reason for these two deaths at the moment. The boy used his own weapon, a youth model 20-gauge shotgun, designed for the use of children. The body of the pregnant woman was found in her bed the next morning by her 4 year old daughter. The daughter, shortly after, ran outside and alerted some nearby landscapers who called it in to the police. Under Pennsylvania law, anyone over the age of 10 accused of murder or homicide is charged as an adult. If the boy is convicted, he will be looking at a maximum of life in prison with no parole. There is no known history of child abuse, but there is still an ongoing investigation.

How do Civilizations Rise?

2009-02-18T23:59:00.001-08:00

How do Civilizations Rise?
By Jordan Willis

The Mayan Civilization, Egyptian Civilization, Mesopotamian Civilization, and Indus River Valley Civilization all rose in a similar way. They all rose through the same basic methods, and for the same basic reasons. The Four Factors of a Civilization are the explanation for how they rise. The Factors, in order based on importance, include Geography, Society, Economy, and Technology. Each play a key role in developing a Civilization, and in keeping it going.
Geography is the most important factor in the rise of a civilization. All four of the civilizations that we have studied were located right near a river. The Egyptians were on the Nile River, Mesopotamia was between the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers, The Indus River Valley was on the Indus river, and the Mayans were surrounded by a bunch of different rivers. The reason Rivers are so important to a civilization is irrigation. Rivers help farmers to grow more crops more efficiently. Also, all civilizations have some sort of Natural Barrier. The Egyptians had a lot of desert, Mesopotamia had a desert and a mountain range, the Indus River Valley had both desert and mountain range, and the Mayans had a mountain range and a thick jungle. These Natural Barriers are important to keep enemies from attacking, and keep unknown diseases from making people sick. Also, when it rains, rivers are formed in the mountains as the water flows down the the people. That is why Geography is a key part to the rise and maintaining of a civilization.
Society is the second most important factor in the rise of a civilization. All four of the civilizations were able to create a certain culture. Since the rivers were helping farmers to grow more crops, other people were given more time to shape this culture. They had more time to learn a spoken and written language. That is important because then information and true stories of their lives could be written down and known today. They also had to communicate with one another. Art and Music was also created with this time. The people were given time to think about life, and how they could explain the natural occurrences of everyday life. They created their gods, mystical figures to explain death, life, and much more. They invented new recipes for cooking their meals. Society is important to keep a civilization running as well. Without it, the civilization would crash and burn.
Economy is another factor of a civilization that was important to its rise. Each civilization we have studied had an economy. Some did all trade, and some had a kind of money to purchase goods. Living on the river made it a lot easier to trade with other civilizations. They would trade anything they could for for anything they could. They used to trade food recipes to other cities or civilizations, and receive recipes from other places as well. They would make beautiful pottery just for the purpose of trading it for something else, things like pots and dishes. Some of the women would make amazing jewelry to trade with other women, or men for their women. Along the river, they would also exchange ideas, things like math and astronomy. As the people traveled to trade their goods, they learned some language from the other people, and they adopted some customs from them as well. They also sold stuff for money so they could buy something from someone who wasn’t willing to trade for you goods. Economy kept the people somewhat equal with one another. They trading and learning from other civilizations kept ideas fresh as the civilization thriving.
The fourth factor is Technology. All civilizations develop different things, but a lot of them are also the same inventions. People created tools like wheels, which were put under carts and pulled by animals. They also invented weapons out of different kinds of stone or metals. The Mesopotamians used bronze to construct weapons, which is much stronger than The Mayans’ Obsidian. The Indus River Valley designed a sewage system that kept people from throwing crap on the streets. The Indus people also had a very effective city planning style, they used a grid system showing that had great math skills. All of these ancients people were able to create a style of housing good enough to still be there, for the most part, today. They had time to create a language, written and spoken, for the other people to learn. Technology, though fourth out of four factor, was extremely important in the rise and maintaining of a civilization.
All four of the civilizations we studied shared those four factors in common. Geography, Society, Economy, and Technology. They each have a different role to play in the rise of a new civilization. Without even just one of them, the civilization would fail, crash and burn as I said before. So, to have a civilization, the four factors are are necessity. IIf one fails, they all fail. All people, all across the globe, have the same style of thinking. That is why four different civilizations, on all sides of the world, share so many commonalities with one another. That is because of man, all of mankind have the same brain, and all brains think of Geography, Society, Economy, and Technology. That is why these four factors are the four factors.

More Restrictive Computer Use Agreement

2009-02-15T21:19:00.000-08:00

An argument from a teachers point of view about the computer use agreement.

I believe that our computer use agreement is too loose on the students. They are still getting away with playing games, using facebook, and chatting online. We have not been able to stop them from messing around in and out of class. Even when we catch them in the act, they do not stop. We punish them once, twice, but how many times until they get the message? How long will it take for them to respect us enough to stop. What will it have to come to to receive a little respect from our students? I believe that punishment is not the answer, it has not worked yet, and will continue not working in the future. We need to let them know how we feel, how it makes us feel when they would rather listen to their itunes music than listen to us speak. We need to connect to these students to figure out what would interest them more than the computers, what could we teach that they would enjoy? Thank you my fellow teachers for listening to me speak.

Mayan Technology vs. Egyptian Technology

2009-02-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

The Mayans and the Egyptians had similar technological advances in their times. Their architecture was pretty close, both Civilizations developed a special building structure known as the Pyramids. Well, the structures were similar in appearance and were both built for the ruler. Both were shaped like a triangle, but the Mayans had different levels getting smaller moving up. So, they both developed a similar structure with similar reasoning. Their mathematical counting systems were pretty similar as well. Both systems used icons, but the Egyptians used icons fr more bigger number, and the Mayans used an icon for zero. They also both used lines, but the Egyptians line were vertical and equal to one, while the Mayans lines were horizontal and equal to five. The Mayans used a dot to show one, but the Egyptians did not use dots in their counting system. So, the Mayans counting system isn't so different from the Ancient Egyptians. Another technological advancement that both civilizations created was their calendars. The Mayan calendar was very accurate and could predict when the sun would rise or set, what time of day it was, even when there would be an eclipse. Their calendar had 365 days in the year, same as we have now. They even predicted the end of the world, 2012. The Egyptian calendar was based on the phases of the moon with 360 days in a year. Their calendar had three different seasons, each with four months. Each month had 30 days. The Mayan calendar and the Egyptian calendar were not so different, but the Egyptians didn't predict the end of the world, did they? So, to wrap this all up, the Mayans and Egyptians were not so different from each other. All people have the same basic style of thinking, they all think the same way.

Mayan Civilization vs. Egyptian Civilization

2009-02-11T00:04:00.000-08:00

These two civilizations have got a lot in common and also a couple differences. Both Civilizations were ruled by one ruler. In Egypt it was the pharaoh. In the Mayan civilization it was the mah kina. However, the Mayans had different city states led by people they called halch uinic. The Egyptians did not have city states led by separate leaders under the pharaoh, they did have cities though. The Mayans served their gods with many human sacrifices, the the Egyptians rarely, if ever, performed human sacrifices. Both civilizations had a had a polytheistic religion. They each believed in many gods to explain everything that happened. The people would pray to the specific god they requested help from. The geography of each civilization is pretty similar, yet not exactly the same. Both were located on a river. The Egyptians on the Nile and the Mayan were surrounded by dozens of rivers. The Mayan civilization was located in a rain forest nowhere near a desert. The Egyptians were located in a desert with no rain forest anywhere close. The Egyptians wore a fair amount of jewelry since they lived in big cities and had no apparent danger. The Mayans, located in the rain forest with danger around every tree, wore a lot of body paint, so that they could move quickly and swiftly. Both civilizations came to a sudden end with the bubonic plague which got Egypt, and the Spanish that got to the Mayans.

Yellow Submarine SMASH Reflection

2009-02-09T23:47:00.000-08:00

Today, in science class, we had to something. We were treasure hunters with a problem. The treasure was on an island with 10 foot brick walls all around. We had to confirm that the treasure was there before being able to send in our men, due to the fact that our enemies could appear from out of nowhere. Our mission was to construct a periscope capable of reflected images from the other side of the wall. We were sailors on a submerged yellow submarine. Given that the ocean was the table top and the island was a cardboard box in the center of it we had limited supplies for constructing such a thing. We had with us some cardboard, 10 sheets of paper, 4 mirrors, and an unlimited supply of tape. So, we got to work, and in the end none of us were able to verify the location or that it was even there at all. In the end, we all went home to our loved ones with nothing.
My group consisted of Kevin Chi, Connie Chiou, and myself, Jordan Willis. We used the supplies given to us so that every piece played a role in holding the periscope together. We never really changed our design, we never really planned a design. However, when we did modify our beautiful creation it only made it better. My team communicated both verbally and physically. If someone noticed it needed more tape they would point to where they saw it was needed and say,"Tape?", and the other two would say,"Yes" or "Sure" or "Whatever". We were very communicative, just not about the assignment. If I was helping someone make a periscope for the first time I would tell them to just build it. I faced the difficulty of critical thinking and problem solving, so should they. But, if I had to give a hint, I would tell them to just build it, it's easier than planning, and if you face a problem you can change it easily.

Thank You

Old Men Fight

2009-01-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

Two men from Fort Myers Retirement home engaged each other in a fist fight. Chrisanto Beltran, 72, and Kenneth Knauf, 87. The Retirement home phoned the police at approximately 10:30pm. The police, on arrival, find Chrisanto, the younger of the two, dead on the ground. The people who witnessed the fight say they don't know what happend. Kenneth was taken to the hospital, and in good condition in a couple of days. Both men suffered from Alzheimer. Nobody knows why the fight broke out in the first place, but it left one man dead, and the other looking at jail time. However, the Medical Examiner will have to state the what exactly killed Chrisanto before anybody is going to haul an 87-year-old man to jail.

SMASH Day Reflection

2009-01-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

Today was SMASH day in Mrs Smiths Science class, and we had to flip a marble around the table over post-its to obtain points. My team, made up of Kevin, Artie, Leon, and myself, came in the lead with an astonishing one hundred and forty points. In this experiment I displayed myself as an Effective Communicator as well as a Critical Thinker/ Problem Solver. I was able to discuss different patterns and arrangements for the obstacle, and always kept my cool. I was able to work well and everyone was able to speak their mind about their thoughts and opinions. I also helped my teammates to figure out what needed to be changed and how to make the "flick of the marble" go further. I was able to view a problem and fix it with little to no difficulty. This is why I feel I have been an Effective Communicator and Critical Thinker/ Problem Solver.

8 Is a Difficult Age

2008-11-10T07:56:00.000-08:00

Young 8 year old boy awaiting his court hearing to face two counts of premeditated murder in the shooting death of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and a co-worker, Timothy Romans, 39. There is currently no known motive for the shootings. No problems at school or any reports of abuse. The police are hoping the boy will be tried as an adult. The killings took place in a small town of about 4,000 people located roughly 170 miles northeast of Phoenix.
The significance of this article is that an 8 year old boy, for no reason, picked up a .22 and killed two men. The article contains only pure facts about what occurred.

SMASH Day

2008-11-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

Our group built a tower that was awesome but not working properly. I was not using my teamwork skills, because my teammates would not listen to my ideas. That is why I started my own group with my personal paper and only 10 cm of tape, while everyone else had a meter of tape. I should have stuck with my group. Tape makes all the difference.

Liquid Column

2008-10-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

The column had multiple liquids in it all of different colors. The liquids were separated because of their densities. The denser the liquid the closer to the bottom it will go. The formula to find density is volume over mass. When we dropped solid objects into the column some floated on top, some sank to the bottom, and some floated in the middle. The object only sunk to where the were denser than the liquid. For example, a small piece of wood floats on the very tap, and a marble sinks to the bottom. The objects in the middle floated in the middle because they were denser than the liquids above them but less dense than the liquids below them. For example, Hot glue gun glue stick floated in the middle. After we tested this out we mixed up the liquids in the column and made them one color. My guess is that they will be separated again by next class on Monday, October 12th.

Is Air Matter?

2008-09-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, Air is matter. Matter is the substance or material of which all things are made. Matter has mass. Matter has volume. Air weighs very little, but takes up a lot of space. Air is still matter. If you put a balloon in an empty bottle and try to blow it up you cannot. This is because the air in the bottle has nowhere to go. But, when you poke a hole in the side of the bottle the balloon can be blown up, because it pushes the air out through the hole. This means that air is matter.

Hope..?

2008-06-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

I’m sitting here on my own,
Wishing someone would approach,
And ask me how I am,
I sit and wait,
But no one comes,
I feel more alone as time goes on,
I know nobody’s coming,
But what does it matter?
Sometimes hope is all it takes,
To make a dream come true,
I keep hoping someone will come,
That someone will care,
But it’s no use,
I’m sitting here on this edge,
But nobody cares,
I’m bound to jump one of these days,
Or maybe I’ll be pushed…

Benevolent Dictators- Persuasive Essay

2008-06-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Jordan Willis
Benevolent Dictators
Humanities
6/10/08

Some people may say that having a dictatorship is never the right choice. Although, Some people would argue that in certain cases a country may need to be led by just one man/woman to help better the nation. I think that usually dictatorships are not good, but, also that there are some times that a benevolent dictator is the best/only choice for the country.

Some people would say that any type of dictator is wrong. Just look at all of the terrible things that Hitler did. Hitler was pure evil, and once he received the power he started to abuse it. He became power hungry and started killing people for no good reason. He killed and destroyed so many people and families. Having one leader/dictator, like Hitler, is never okay. All people, if receiving too much power, will abuse their power. Never is having any type of dictator all right. Power changes people, usually for the worst. If you give a single man/woman power they will almost always use it to better their own lives and not care about their country. A country should not accept dictatorships of any kind.

Some people do believe that having a benevolent dictatorship is acceptable. One of the things a benevolent dictator can do to help his/her country is to help the economy and better the living quality of for the people. A democracy can do the same thing but a dictator does not need the approval of others to progress in his decisions. A dictator could make choices on their own to better the economy and living standards of the people. Yes, Hitler did kill a lot of people and become extremely power hungry, although he did a lot to help his nation as well. When Hitler first came to power Germany’s economy was very poor after the end of World War I which Germany had lost, leaving them in great debts. While in power Hitler found ways to help Germany become more economically strong. He assisted the whole country by getting them out of an economic hole left after World War I and back on their feet. Hitler made the peoples lives much easier while in power. He may have done a lot of bad things, however, he did help improve Germany.

There are some circumstances that a country will need just one leader to make the best decisions for the country, for the people.

Sometimes having one man/woman leading the country in a time of need is what has to be done, because one person can make quick, easy decisions . A benevolent dictator will be a great help to the nation. He/She will not let the power go to their heads, although, you cannot tell how power will effect different people. Some may have enough self control but others may let the power go to their heads. You can never tell until it happens. They will do what they can to not become power hungry. Benevolent dictators do what they can to help out their country not themselves. If the USA entered another Depression I believe that a benevolent dictator would be the best choice to help them, even if he/she is only in power until the Depression came to an end. For example, the US of A's previous depression. During this time the Us had a democratic government. The depression grew worse and lasted for a long time. A benevolent dictator could make decisions that best benefit the people.

Sometimes having one man/woman leading the country in a time of need is what has to be done. An example of when a benevolent dictator was needed is Saddam Hussein. Though he was not a dictator he was still a powerful figure who was able to keep the peace throughout his nation. He was the dictator in Iraq. Iraq is separated into three groups, the Kurds to the North, Sunni to the West, and the Shia in the East. All three groups hate each other, but with Saddam as dictator they got along better or at least did not fight. He may not have kept everybody getting long, but he kept them separated so no conflict would occur. Saddam was able to keep his people under control so Civil War did not break out. Even if Saddam used fear to keep everyone together he still kept everyone in order. Now, with Saddam gone Iraq has broken out into a massive Civil War. Saddam is what was holding Iraq together, and with him gone Iraq is falling apart.

So, some believe that, under certain circumstances, having a benevolent dictator is the only choice a country has. A benevolent dictator can help your countries economy grow, they can keep peace in the society to make sure there are no civil wars. People may say that any form of dictatorship is wrong, well, I would have to disagree.

Its Funny...

2008-06-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Its funny how hello is always accompanied with good-bye
Its funny how remembering good memories can make you cry
Its funny how forever never seems to really last
Its funny how much you'd lose, if you forgot your past
Its funny how friends, can just leave you when you're down
Its funny how when you need someone they're never around
Its funny how people can change and think they're so much better
Its funny how many lies can be packed into one love letter
Its funny how people can forgive even though they can't forget
Its funny how one night can contain so much regret
Its funny how crazy and ironic life turns out to be
but the funniest part of all, is that none of this seems funny to me

I did not write this

Burma Cyclone Bringing Change?

2008-05-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

I recently read an article about the recent cyclone that ripped through Burma. Natural disaster themselves do not usually cause change to occur, but here it may. After the cyclone many died, 22,000 and rising. "The higher the death toll climbs -- and the less effective the government's relief efforts prove -- the bigger the potential for undermining the military's mandate to rule." The cyclone occurred just a week before the May 10 referendum on a proposed constitution that the military had hoped would go smoothly in their favor. However, with what's happening with the cyclone and the people noticing how little their governments relief efforts are working this could be a time of change in Burma. There is a group in Burma the is pushing for democracy and not a military ruled government. This vote will give people the rare and relatively safe way to express their discontent with the countries junta. This could be a very big time in history for Burma, a time of change.
I feel that with the way things are going that people will take this opportunity to better their country, better their lives, and better their futures.

Is it right to eat meat?

2008-05-21T23:44:00.000-07:00

There is no correct answer to this question, only opinions. My opinion is no, I do not think that eating meat is right. Animals deserve all the same joy and happiness that people do. There are different ways of getting the meat though.

The first way, and in my opinion the worst, is large farming corporations. The way the animals in these farms get treated is non forgivable. They lock the animals up in cages where they can barely turn around. These giant farms feed the dead animals to the living ones. Also, the animals are given a very large number of medications to make them grow bigger and faster than ever. These pills are very dangerous to the animals,
especially with the amounts they receive.

Another kind of farming which is better but still not the best is small family farming. On these farms the animals are given more space to move about. They are fed actual food and not given any medications. All Natural. These farms are much kinder to the animals and give them better lives than the big corporation farming.

In my opinion, hunting is the best way to get your meat. The animals have lived a happy life, free in the world. Animals in the wild eat what they want, do what they want when they want. People have been hunting for their food since way before the farms appeared. Hunting is the most natural and honest way to get your meat.

In conclusion, I believe that eating any kind of animal is wrong(I do eat it though..) But, to prove my point I am becoming a vegetarian until dinner time tonight.

And remember folks, I do believe that happy meat is good meat..

China's Quake

2008-05-15T07:09:00.000-07:00

I did not read an article about the quake in china that devastated so many. Instead I talked about it with my mother. Th quake was a 7.8 on the quake scale. That is the most powerful quake in China in three decades. The number of people killed is, as of now, unknown. But one thing is for sure; the total number of deaths is very high. My mother told me some of the things she heard at work. She told me one story of two grandparents carrying their dead grandson for two days without putting him down, because they did not want to put him on the rubble, debris. Another of how a live baby was found under his dead mother and father because they had covered, protected, him from all of it. His parents had blocked him from being hit by everything that falling around them. These are two true stories from this incredibly destructive quake. I feel that this quake has done much damage to China and China's people. It is amazing to think that so many people have died and yet, I don't feel any different and I didn't even know there was a quake. There are some things that you just cannot control, you wish you could, but you can't. You don't feel any different, but you know something major that effected so many has occured. This and this is one of those things...

Stalin/ Soviet Propaganda

2008-05-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

After watching the Stalin/ Soviet Propaganda video I thought that Stalin would make a good leader. The video used the background music to should power and leadership. The pictures of Stalin were all nice pictures and kind of made you like him. I would have definitely voted for Stalin after seeing the video if I didn't know anything about him that I do now. I would see him as a person with good leadership skills and someone who was loved enough to make such a good video. I think that the video was made very well, which I have already proven by saying that I would have voted for him. The video uses pictures of Stalin with children, shaking other mens hands, smiling, surrounded by people, or just on his own making him look more appealing as a new leader. This is definitely a Propaganda.

Buddhist Monks Protest

2008-05-12T06:48:00.001-07:00

Burma's dictatorship is facing its largest protests ever. The protests are being led by the young Buddhist monks who say that they should be given more political freedoms. The monks are protesting on the streets to fight for their right to more political freedoms. There are,like, 400,000-500,000 Buddhist monks that are protesting against the dictator. A lot of the monks are younger and know that they, in fact, do deserve more political freedoms, and that is why they are protesting in Burma. I feel that they have good reason to be protesting. The Buddhist monks do deserve more of the political freedoms they are fighting for. If I lived in Burma and I were a Buddhist monk, I too would be protesting.

Defector says he's fed up with North Korean dictatorship

2008-04-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

I have recently read an article about a highly ranked North Korean Man who defected from North Korea and is seeking asylum at the South Korean Embassy located in Beijing. The mans name is Hwang Jang Yop, age 72. He defected because he was fed up with his countries leadership. North Korea paid no attention to that and claim that if he is in the hands of South Korea that he must have been kidnapped. This reaction from North Korea is not unusual. South Korea reacted to the kidnapping accusation with "Preposterous". North Korea promised that if that turns out to be the case that their would be unspecified retaliation. South Korea then placed their 650,000-member military on high alert. South Korea's Foreign Minister will leave for Singapore on thursday for talks with his Chinese counterpart to try to resolve the crisis.

Levels of Learning

2008-04-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

1. Remembering Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory, eg. find out, learn terms, facts, methods, procedures, concepts

2. Understanding Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining. Understand uses and implications of terms, facts, methods, procedures, concepts

3. Applying Carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing. Make use of, apply practice theory, solve problems, use information in new situations

4. Analyzing Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing. Take concepts apart, break them down, analyze structure, recognize assumptions and poor logic, evaluate relevancy

5. Evaluating Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing. Set standards, judge using standards, evidence, rubrics, accept or reject on basis of criteria

6. Creating Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing. Put things togther; bring together various parts; write theme, present speech, plan experiment, put information together in a new & creative way

WWII Video Reaction

2008-04-23T05:03:00.000-07:00

In class we watched a video about WWII. WWII is a very interesting topic to study and learn about. When I was watching the video I wondered why the Axis power would have lost the war. I mean, they had a very strong army with many soldiers in it. Also, during the war the Axis power conquered much land, why after the war did they not keep that land? Why did they not keep some of it at least? Seeing the scene where the huge groups of people were gathered and listening to their leader, that was amazing to me. That many people listening to one person talk. It's unbelievable. The guy in power that they were listening to and cheering for was the same guy who wanted to kill all Jews and he was a dictator. Why, i thought, why would anybody want to listen to him speak? If anyone went against Hitler or dictatorship they would most likely be killed. Hitler had this group, the Secret Police, who would report back everything bad, anything at all, and the person who said it. So, that may be why people went along with Hitler and dictatorship. They were afraid that if they disagreed they would have been killed. There was nothing they could do about it. If people did not show patriotism they would either be killed or prosecuted.

Animal Rights

2008-04-23T00:37:00.000-07:00

In our class, Animal Anatomy, we are determining what rights are, and which animals deserve rights. We have to answer two questions. 1) What is a right? 2) What animals would we have the right to disect(why) and which animals do we not have the right to disect(why). We are writing our blogs on this topic. I hope you enjoy.

A right is something that everybody has and deserves. Rights depend on you maturity. So, you receive more rights with age and responsibility. Through life you become more mature and deserve more rights and freedoms. “With rights comes great responsibility”. Not every right can be measured by how responsible you are. For example, you cannot figure out for everyone if they are responsible enough to drive a car. In this case the right is based on your age. When people think that you should be responsible enough to so something. When you are 18 you can drive, you can drink, and you can party. Rights may be equally deserved by everyone, but can also be taken away from anyone. For example, if you murder somebody else you lose your right to freedom and are sent away to jail. Rights are something we all get to have, but can also lose. Rights are something you deserve from maturing and aging.

We as humans more evolved than animals may think we have the right to kill and dissect animals of nature, but we really don’t. Animals have the right to live, which means we do not have the right to kill. However, say we did have the right to kill and cut open other species, which would we have the most right to kill and dissect? We would be able to dissect anything from a shrimp to a rat. That would include the small things. Creatures like mice, small lizards, small birds, and insects. Those are a few of the small creatures we would be able to kill and cut. I, myself, do not believe in killing or cutting animals except for food. I am one to support animal rights.

I believe that we should not be able to kill or dissect any creature. I do not feel that cutting any animal open should be aloud. We as humans have no right to injure or kill any creatures of this great earth. Primates are something we should not be aloud to do anything to, yet you can find videos online of people doing practice surgeries on baby chimps. Where is the moral, the ethics? What makes we people so much better then them? Are we, are we really? We are just the same, and they deserve just the same.

Why do some people think it is okay to dissect animals like rats, but not okay to dissect pandas? We determine this by respect. If we respect an animal, we respect their rights. All animals have the same rights. We just do not respect all of them. Cockroaches, for example, we have no respect for. So, we feel it is okay to kill them. Dogs (mans best friend), we respect, so we treat them different and respect their rights as well. We humans have no right to treat different animals differently. All animals big or small, important or not, maintain the right to have their rights. We cannot take them away from the animals. One way we determine how useful an animal is is by how useful they are to us. If an animal is useful we show them respect. If not, they receive nothing. A dog is a useful animal. Dogs do a lot of stuff for people. We show them respet, and let them keep their rights. Mosquitos, on the other hand, are useless to us. They do nothing to benefit the human race. So, we show them no respect, give them no rights, and smack when we see them.

All animals deserve their rights. We have no right to take the rights from another animal. We should not be able to determine whether an animal deserves more or less rights. We need to show respect to all animals. We shouldn’t care how useful an animal is. We should let them live in peace, respected.

MY 100% Democratic Family

2008-04-13T02:53:00.001-07:00

If my family in the future were 100% democratic it would not be difficult to explain how things would work in the household. Everyone would have equal power and responsibilities. The positives of this would be that the children would not be punished, and the parents would have less responsibility and stress. The negatives to a 100% democratic family would be that the children would be invincible to punishment, and the school would constantly be complaining about the children. Some of the troubles that might occur are majority rules (if you have 3+ kids). I will not have a 100% Democratic family.

Active Learning with Greece

2008-04-13T02:52:00.002-07:00

Through my Greek project I am displaying myself as an active learner. I am able to go out and do research, find pictures, and make a video on my own. I am finding more information than I need to use, but learning the information. I enjoy researching ancient Greece. It is a very interesting topic.

Ancient Greece Project

2008-04-13T02:52:00.001-07:00

I am currently working on a project on ancient Greece and feel it is going very well. I have chosen the topic of Gods. I thought of a few questions /that I wanted to answer in my presentation. Those questions are, “Why did the ancient Greeks have Gods?” and, “Who are the main Gods, and what do hey do?”. I have been able to answer these questions pretty easily and am now working on my video. I have picked three Gods to really tell about; Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. I am feeling good about this project and cannot wait to present.