CIA Factbook Questions

What is the population of the United States? 313,847,465
What are the five largest countries in the world, by population? China, India, United States,Indonesia,Brazil
What is the population of Pakistan? 190,291,129
What kind of government does the United States have? Constitution- based federal republic
What is the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe? 95%
What is the largest country in the world by area? Russia
What country has the third greatest number of airports? Mexico
What country has the greatest number of exports? China
What country exports more oil than any other? Saudi Arabia
What country imports more oil than any other? United States
What country consumes more oil than any other? United States
Can women serve in combat roles in China’s military? yes
What is GDP? Gross Domestic Product
What country has the highest GDP per capita in the world, and how much is it? Liechtenstein, $141,100
Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita? no
Most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in what continent? Africa
11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from HIV/AIDS can be found in which continent? Africa
What other country is in the top ten? Asia
Where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths? 18th
Is the US #1 in number of cellular phones? no its 3rd
What percentage of the US is Roman Catholic? 23.9%
What percentage of Mexico is Roman Catholic? 76.5%
What is Net Migration Rate? difference of immigrants and emigrants of an area in a period time
Does the US have the highest Net Migration Rate in the world? no its 26th
What is the current population of the entire planet? 6,973,738,433
The two most interesting questions to me are what percentage of the US is Roman Catholic and where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths. The percentage of Roman Catholics is 23.9%. I thought there was more people who were Roman Catholic because it seems like most people I know are Catholic. I was surprised to see that the US was ranked 18th for HIV deaths because I wasn't aware there were that many people in our country who are affected by HIV in the US.

9/6/12

         Today in class we took notes on note taking. Mr. Schick read a paragraph about Illinois and while he was reading it we had to take notes. It talked about how Illinois is the most populated state in the Mid West and how most of the people live in the city of Chicago. Then Mr. Schick told us his story of how he was born and his parents couldn't find a hospital so they had to go to this hospital in a really sketchy neighborhood. Then he joked about how his story was like Jesus and he could be the "Messiah." It was really funny. Today I really enjoyed Human Geo.

9/5/12

        Today in Human Geo we learned how to post links on the corner of our blog. This helps us to access websites easier. Then we talked about which websites had accurate information for research papers. Most teachers don't like us using Wikipedia but, Mr. Schick said he loves that website but not for it to be our primary source of information. We looked at a few websites that were fake and had wrong information and then we looked at websites that weren't fake so we would know the difference between them.

Essay #3

        Over the next four years of my high school career I plan to take on excellence. In middle school I was a horrible procrastinator. I would be stressed and overwhelmed to try and get everything done in one night. I want to try and not do my homework or write my papers all at the last minute. I’m going to try and be more organized.  I want each paper, test, and all my notes to have its own place and not have everything all jumbled together. Studying for each subject every night is something I also want to start doing. To take 10 or 15 minutes for each subject and go over the notes we took that day because that will make me more prepared for class the next day and if there was a pop quiz I could be prepared. I’m not going to let the computer distract me during class or when I’m trying to do homework on it at home. And lastly I want to try and enjoy school the best I can and try and get good grades. So far all my classes keep my attention and I hope it can continue to be that way. I know if I try and follow all these things it will make me a lot more prepared and on top of things for my years at John Carroll. 

Essay #2

If Elbert Hubbard traveled into the present I think he would be disappointed in what he saw but I think Socrates would probably be pleased in what it’s like in the year 2012. Elbert Hubbard’s “A Message to Garcia” shows that years ago people were willing to work harder. If someone was asked to deliver a message to someone now they probably wouldn’t want to do it and would complain and ask questions unlike how Rowan did. He took the message right to Garcia without any complaints. It would be really hard to find someone that willing to do something like that in the present day. Socrates however would be pleased to see how much his method has changed what life is like today. Now people have opinions on everything and ask questions. His way of teaching is what has helped us progress over the generations. If they could travel to the present I think it would be very interesting to hear what they would have to say about our way of living. 

Essay #1

        Arête is a Greek term that is literally translated as “virtue.” It means being the best person you can be and living up to your fullest potential. It’s a word that is associated with bravery, fierceness, and skill. Socrates was an excellent hero in ancient Greek times. He demonstrated arête by showing his belief that the perfect human life should concentrate on self-development. He wanted a person to have their own opinions by using his method, question and answer, which is called the Socratic Method. He taught people a new way of learning which affected the way people lived their lives. The ancient Greeks showed arête by looking down on people who didn’t participate in their politics. They were the first people to have democracy as their government and they wanted everyone to not live their life in private but to be involved. Socrates and the ancient Greeks have changed what life is like today by demonstrating arête.

8/31/12

Yesterday afternoon in class we went over Thursday nights homework which was to define eight Greek terms. I thought the most interesting thing was Socrates's death. He was put on trial for his beliefs. He could have just apologized and said he was sorry and they would have let him go but Socrates stood up for his beliefs and refused to apologize. So they made him drink this poison that's called hemlock and that killed him. I think it was a very heroic act to stand up for something you believe in even if it meant life or death. After we discussed each word we had to define Mr. Schick gave us three essays that have to be posted on our blog before Tuesday. At fist when we talked about it in class I thought the assignment sounded kind of hard but now that i went over the directions again it seems like it shouldn't be too difficult.