Metaphors for Revolutions

Today, your teacher needs time to prepare for our new project. They need to go here to get all of the information, and then maybe pick these up after school:
            Gizmos, Paper Machines: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Gizmos/Rob-Ives/e/9780760793763/?itm=1&USRI=gizmos

In the meantime, YOU are going to try out a new VIDEO GAME, that will help you learn about the world and get smarter while you play online with hundreds of other young people. Your first and last name have already been sent to the people who run the game, so you have to ENTER YOUR REAL NAME when you sign up. You must be appropriate and positive at all times on this game, or you will be kicked off.


Go to www.urgentevoke.com and sign up now, so that you can play. Learn more about this game at http://www.urgentevoke.com/page/how-to-play (Watch all of the videos!)


Having a problem? Email me! hi.ms.anke@gmail.com

Rewrite the Script of Imperialism

There are lots of new things in this project, so get ready to have an open mind! We are going to learn about one of the most important things that has shaped our world: it is called imperialism. We are going to learn about how countries affected other countries and changed the world. We will learn this by studying parts of our textbooks, watching a couple of movies, and reading a novel called “Heart of Darkness”. Once we understand what happened in history, why it happened, and what effects it had, we will come up with ways it could have turned out differently. Then we will write and make very, very short films showing a different ending that we have imagined. This is all about understanding how the world has been changed by groups of people.

We also will have a new way of learning and practicing vocabulary words, so get ready for a new Project Vocabulary Notebook, and make sure your teacher follows all of the instructions here.

Can you relate some of what Mos Def is rapping about to what we are learning about World History?

Can’t see the video? Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZmxXtxQU_g or here: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8-3KApO0B7QODliNGE5YzUtMDAwZS00ODhmLTlmYTgtMDRkMWMyNjcwMDM2&hl=en&authkey=CN7J0ooE

What do I need to do to get credit in each subject?

HISTORY:

Õ          Complete History, Chapter 11, Sections 1 & 2 Assessments

Õ          Read and understand one of sections 3, 4 or 5 in Modern World History Chapter 11

Õ          Identify an event that could have gone differently, chart the possible consequences

ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS:

Õ          Complete Empathy reading and writing exercises

Õ          Complete Project Vocabulary Notebook , add at least 5 words to the given words

Õ          Read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Õ          Complete Character Profiles of characters in Heart of Darkness and Avatar

Õ          Practice vocabulary words using cloze, dice game, fly-swatter, crossword puzzles

Õ          Complete Story Timeline for Heart of Darkness

Õ          Watch Avatar

Õ          Chart analogous characters between book, movie and history

Õ          Write a 3-minute script that will show one event in history happening differently and showing its result

Õ          Plan props you will need and how and where you will film your script

Õ          Practice for your film several times

Õ          Rehearse your film with all of your props

Õ          Film your scene (3 mins max!)

Õ          Edit your film to make sure it is easy to watch

Õ          Play your film for an audience

Here are some pages that will help you learn more about important characters in history.

Henry Stanley: http://crawfurd.dk/africa/stanley.htm

Joseph Conrad: http://www.online-literature.com/conrad/

Lawrence of Arabia: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/lawrence_of_arabia.htm

Lord Kitchener: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWkitchener.htm

Ram Mohun Roy: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/511196/Ram-Mohun-Roy

Mohandas Gandhi: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gandhi_mohandas.shtml

Lord Irwin: http://www.indhistory.com/lord-irwin.html

Queen Liliuokalani: http://www.hawaii-nation.org/betrayal.html

Here is some help on how to write a good script for your very, very short film: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3336775.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

SCIENCE:

Õ          Complete Glencoe Earth Science, Chapter 4

Õ          Try out mineral classification

Õ          Complete online assessments on minerals

Õ          Listen to African Diamond podcast

You can see where minerals are located in Africa here: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2008/myb3-sum-2008-africa.pdf

And http://maps.howstuffworks.com/africa-land-use-resources-map.htm
Here is some more information about Africa’s resources. http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/teachers/curriculum/m6/natural_resources.html

Here are the quizzes on this chapter: http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078664233/student_view0/unit2/chapter4/section1/self-check_quiz.html
And  http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078664233/student_view0/unit2/chapter4/section2/self-check_quiz.html

Follow this link and download the file to listen to a podcast about the diamond resources in Africa: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8-3KApO0B7QYzJkMjg2NmEtNmM4ZC00ZGJkLWJiZjQtM2U3ZWY5OTY3MjNk&hl=en&authkey=COaB6NkE


MATH:

Õ          Complete Glencoe Economics Chapter 19, Section 1

Õ          Complete IMF online activity

Õ          Watch “Life and Debt”

Õ          Find economic information on country in selected region

Õ          Use percentages to compare colonizer to colonized country

Here is an activity to help you learn about the International Monetary Fund.  Click the link, read the webpage, and then answer the questions. Send your answers to hi.ms.anke@gmail.com. http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/economics/econprinciples2001/chapter19/webact.html

When you want to look up some information about a country that was colonized, look here. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Here is some help to work with percentages: http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/percent/change.html

Design a Theme Park!

In this project, you will design a theme park with an ancient civilization theme. You will create a computer drawing of your park, a poster to get people to come to it, and you will put together an application to protect your theme park idea from being stolen by anyone else. You will learn History by studying ancient civilizations and basing your theme on one of them. You will learn English by writing a professional explanation of your project, and by coming up with a creative way to get people to come to your park. You will learn Science by studying the physical forces (like gravity) that affect the rides at your park. Your rides must be fun, but also safe! You will learn Math by calculating the forces that will make your rides successful, by calculating how many visitors your park will have each day, and by creating your computer drawing to scale. 

Start by checking out some examples of theme parks! http://www.battagliainc.com/ThemedProjects.html

When you finish your design, you can enter it in the Wallace & Gromit Cracking (brilliant) Ideas contest! Be sure to hand in your project on time, and send it by email to hi.ms.anke@gmail.com because it has to be in by March 31st! http://www.crackingideas.com/competition/

HISTORY: [] Understand life in the past, what decisions people made and what were the consequences of their decisions       [] Understand how life is different depending on the place where people live       [] Understand how norms and values were different in the past

Your theme park needs a theme, of course! For this project, you must choose an ancient civilization to be the theme of your park. That means everything in your park will remind people of that ancient civilization. Think really hard about this: the walkways, the names, the rides, the buildings, the food sold, everything should remind people of that civilization. If you do a really good job, people will feel like they have walked into the world of that civilization, like they have traveled back in time and to a distant land. I have narrowed this down to three civilizations you can choose from:

• Ancient Egypt
• Ancient China
• The Roman Empire

You will need to read Chapter 2 in your McDougal Littel World History textbook and complete all of the section reviews, so that you will know about these civilizations. You can find resources to learn more about these places here: http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/wh_survey05/page_build.htm?id=resources/jsp/chapter_links/chapter_links_ch2 

Log in as "communityday" and the password is the same as the username on our classroom computers.

This site will help you get ideas for developing what you know about ancient civilizations into a theme for your park: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/familyx/04/wonderworld.html

SCIENCE: [] Understand Newton's Laws of Motion and use them to plan how to build your rides        []Understand how energy and momentum work when objects are moving, use this to plan your rides

Go to this site and do the activities. You will learn about forces, and then about what forces have to do with theme park safety. http://www.engineeringinteract.org/resources/parkworldplot.htm

Now see how physics affects the design of your rides. Do all of the activities on this site. http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/index.html

Think you really understand the science of theme parks? Then test yourself with these quiz games! http://library.thinkquest.org/2745/data/openpark.htm

MATH: [] Figure out what information is needed to make calculations for problem-solving      [] Use math to prove the answer to questions      [] Solve problems one part at a time       [] Use scientific formulae to calculate the answers to problems

You will need to complete two different mathematical activities in this project. First, once you have understood the physics forces that affect theme park rides, use the physics formulae to figure out how to build your rides. Show your work on at least three different equations so that your rides will be fun and safe.

Secondly, look at the graphs of theme park attendance. Read them carefully and then figure out how many people will probably attend your theme park each day. Once you know this, you can figure out how long they will have to wait in line and make changes if you need to.  http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/feature/atend_disparks.htm

Here is an example of a proposal that gives a lot of details about a theme park. You can use this as a model for your math and for your professional writing. http://www.rab.com/sales_meetings/amusement.pdf

ENGLISH: [] Use accurate language about what you are studying      [] Use correct grammar and punctuation in writing        [] Write an explanation that is clear, organized, and sounds professional from beginning to end         [] Use strong and descriptive words to make your idea clear and interesting

Once you have a complete theme park idea, you need to think about whether it is original and, if it is, what is original about it. You will need to write a very clear, professional explanation of your ideas and then point out which are new ideas so that those can be protected. Read these instructions, then follow the steps below. http://www.ehow.com/how_4829802_patent-theme-park-idea.html

• Decide which ideas are appropriate for a patent:
• ...a trademark:
• ...a copyright:
• Conduct some research to make sure your ideas have not already been used by someone else. Think of different ways you can find this out, and explain what checking you did in your paper.
• Describe in detail how each part of the park will be built. Explain how physics affects the design of each ride. Show the math used for physics problems and for the number of visitors you think you will have. 
• Explain the details of the parts of the park that are not rides. For example, how will the walkways be designed, how will food or souvenirs be sold, how will these fit with the theme? 
• Edit and publish your application packet.

Now you need customers! Look at some examples of ads, then follow the instructions in this video to make a poster that will bring people to your theme park!

http://www.ehow.com/video_7369054_design-advertising-poster.html

Make a visual representation of your park using Google SketchUp. Here are some videos that show you how to do it: http://sketchup.google.com/training/videos/new_to_gsu.html

Plan a Better Richmond!

This project will ask you to look at the experiences of other cities, and make a plan for your own city to be better. Everyone will work together on this project, but every person will have to do many assignments individually. Each person will work on a different idea, and you will have to work on your skills in all four subjects in order to earn credit. We will make specific plans for how our town can be better, and submit them to the mayor's office. This project will be based mostly on the computer because you need strong computer skills to get jobs and be successful in school. (Here is some research showing that http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te800.htm#context)
Richmond can be a better place to live, let's make it that way!

How do I earn grades and credits?
HISTORY: [] Understand the history of Richmond's economy and population [] Understand Richmond's municipal government [] Understand the effect of solutions to inner-city problems

For History, you need to learn about Richmond's history, its current problems, and what can be done to make it better. Let's start by making our version of a Memory Map: http://shareable.net/blog/the-visceral-neighborhood

Here's how we can do it:

Richmond's History ---- read these pages and write a summary of what you learned. We will want to refer to these facts in our essays.

1. http://richmondconfidential.org/2011/01/11/richmond-once-a-mecca-for-the-blues/
2. http://richmondconfidential.org/2010/10/02/richmond-residents-celebrate-rosie/
3. http://richmondconfidential.org/2010/08/17/a-richmond-jewel-reborn/
4. http://richmondconfidential.org/2010/06/22/developers-parks-service-close-to-deal-at-ford-point/
5. http://richmondconfidential.org/2010/05/28/the-mechanics-bank-a-history-shared-with-richmond/
6. http://richmondconfidential.org/2010/05/02/local-icon-reminisces-on-his-march-with-history/

Richmond Right Now -- read these pages and identify 4 problems and some solutions that are being tried. These will help us plan our suggestions.
What's going on right now to improve the city?
http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?nid=1610  and http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1841
http://richmondconfidential.org/

Here is a discussion about some things other people would like to see in their cities. You might agree, disagree, love or hate their ideas, but it should make you think about what you would like to see in Richmond....and why. http://www.city-data.com/forum/general-u-s/114873-things-you-would-do-improve-your.html

How Can A City Be Improved?
Choose a link that you will read. Then, make a poster with a list of ideas and put a star next to your 3 favorite ideas for Richmond. Present it to the class so that we can choose ideas as a group. Each person will be assigned a few ideas, and they will figure out how to make them real.

1. http://shareable.net/blog/12-nifty-ideas-to-improve-your-city
2. http://www.ehow.com/how_4699035_improve-cities.html
3. Two people might work on this one together: http://www.d-log.info/cities.pdf
4. http://www.cityofaikensc.gov/index.php?page=ways_to_improve_your_neighborhood
5. http://www.cityoftacoma.org/Page.aspx?hid=11654
6. http://www.helium.com/items/237049-how-to-improve-conditions-in-distressed-inner-city-neighborhoods
7. http://citypaper.net/articles/2008/05/22/one-stone

This page connects urban youth all over the United States who are changing their cities by creating jobs that improve the environment! http://www.greenforall.org/blog/video-meet-the-dream-reborn-story-contest-winners

ENGLISH:  [] Understand how to structure a 5 paragraph essay [] Understand how to write strong introductions and conclusions [] Understand how to expand on supporting arguments


You will need to write three 5-paragraph essays. They will have these topics:

1. How We Should Improve the Environment in Richmond
2. How We Should Improve Health in Richmond
3. How We Should Improve Jobs in Richmond

Each time, we will go through the stages of the writing process:

• Prewriting
• Drafting
• Revising
• Editing
• Publishing

We will help each other become better writers. In the end, we will choose three essays to be included in our package delivered to the mayor's office.

Here is a page that teaches you how to write a good 5 paragraph essay. Follow the steps when you are Drafting, and then ask someone to help you revise and then edit. http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/English/essay/

MATH: [] Understand how to translate words into algebraic expressions [] Understand how develop algebraic formulas to solve future problems 
In this project, we will go a step beyond just making a budget for what we want. We will figure out the costs and benefits of our suggestions in algebraic terms. That means, we will show someone how to figure out what the cost is, depending on how big their project is.  Here is a webpage that teaches this whole skill, starting with the basics you already know. http://www.themathpage.com/alg/algebraic-expressions.htm#expressions

Write an algebraic formula to calculate the cost of each of your ideas, and explain it in words.

SCIENCE: [] Understand what cells are and why they are important [] Understand the link between food, glucose and energy [] Understand the importance of amino acids and enzymes in human diets [] Understand the importance of lipids in human diets


Read and study Chapter 24, Sections 1 - 4 in Prentice Hall Chemistry. Answer all questions in the section reviews in complete sentences. Use the facts you learn here in your essay about how to improve health in Richmond. Here are some links to help you learn and understand:
Section 1: http://www.exploratorium.edu/traits/cell_explorer.html
Section 2: http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=AP13104
Section 3: http://www.learnerstv.com/animation/animation.php?ani=170&cat=Biology
Section 4 : http://www.learnerstv.com/animation/animation.php?ani=172&cat=Biology


What are some health problems present in Richmond?
Here are some links about this issue. Read them and make a list of health problems that we can try to solve in Richmond.
http://richmondconfidential.org/2010/11/04/health-care-on-wheels/
http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1900
http://www.richmondgreens.net/pollution.htm

1. bss.sfsu.edu/raquelrp/projects/515_ej/Richmond_CA.ppt

   
   
2. What will our final product be?
3. You will be graded on the following products:
1. Three 5 Paragraph Essays --- 400 points
2. Pop-Up Map Contribution --- 200 points
3. Project Vocabulary Notebook --- 200 points
4. 
   
5. We will submit a pop-up map of Richmond showing our projects to the Mayor's office. Here are some tools that can help us design our final product. 

http://www.ehow.com/how_6524223_make-pop-up-map.html
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PLSlHbQ-bc&feature=relmfu

Call Ms. Anke any time!

Create an Orbiting Space Colony!

This project requires by far the most imagination of any project we have done! Space colonies have been dreamed about for centuries, but they are becoming very close to possible! You can win a NASA contest by designing one in the next two weeks!

 Read more about this at http://space.mike-combs.com/index.htm

Here are some resources that can help you:

Here is the contest information: http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/

Here is an online course in how to create a space colony using the science NASA already has. You can go through as fast or as slowly as you need to, and it will help you figure out how to be realistic about your space colony. http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/teacher/course/

There is this guy, Al Globus, who thinks A LOT about space settlement. Check out his website for almost ENDLESS ideas!!! http://space.alglobus.net/

On this message board, people share names of stories that take place in space colonies. Reading some of these might help you get creative ideas! http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-85321.html

Remember! Not everything you read on wikipedia is true or accurate, but this still has a lot of ideas. If you want to know whether a fact on there is true or not, look for it from another source. If you can back it up, you can believe it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_colonization

Gobs and oodles and tons of information, brought to you from the folks at NASA!! Look around, read whatever you want, and if you really want to buy a book  listed, just talk to Ms. Anke! http://www.nss.org/settlement/library.html

Take the Glencoe Chapter 29 test to learn about Earth and its atmosphere:  http://www.glencoe.com/qe/scienceOLC.php?qi=7211

Design an Eco-Friendly House!

Here is a gallery of architectural styles to give you ideas for your own home design. http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/colonial-cape-cod-2268048.htm

Check out the green home being built by Battlestar Gallactica celebrity, Tricia Helfer! http://www.triciagreen.com/index.htm

Design a 3D house and walk through it with the guidance of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright! http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/home.html

Take a quiz to see how much you know about what it takes to build a house! http://home.howstuffworks.com/house-quiz.htm

Read the CA Green Building Codes and make sure your building is up to snuff! http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/CALGreen/2010_CA_Green_Bldg.pdf

When you want to choose a location, check it out to see what the zone is. http://gisweb.ci.richmond.ca.us/website/webapppublic/zoning/

You can see information about different places in Richmond, including race, population and wealth, by creating your choice of maps here: http://www.socialexplorer.com/pub/maps/map3.aspx?g=0&mapi=SE0012

Read Chapter 16.1 in McDougal Littell Biology and take the quiz online! Click here: http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/bio_07/quiz.htm?title=Section%20Quiz&ch=5&testId=18262

Here is a radio story about what has been happening to real estate in America. The show tells the story by following what happened to one specific house. http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/01/13/pm-lot-354-a-tale-of-americas-housing-meltdown/

Once you have designed your house, you can learn how to calculate your LEED rating here: http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=3638

Create and Run a Country!

January's first project is to create and run an imaginary country. You can find most resources on the Project Resources table in the classroom, but there are also some more links here. 

Check out Hammurabi's Laws.  Watch the story of how they came to be. http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=196344&title=Fertile_Crescent___Soggy_Bottom_
Read the oldest written law code and write your reactions. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM

Take the Street Law chapter assessment to show you understand law enforcement in the United States before  you design your own law enforcement system. http://www.glencoe.com/qe/qe143.php?qi=4518

This page explains how to make a scale map. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Map

Make a good PowerPoint- not an ugly one! Here's how: http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=35662