I have completed the assignment and earned my badge as an H2O hero! I was first draw to this badge because I have always been interested in the current global and environmental issues. In past years, the water issue has become of increasing concern so I was eager to learn more. The first step was called, "Finding your Footprint." It was all about finding the water footprint of everyday goods and foods that we consume. My findings were very surprising, we rarely ever think about our food's path before it reaches our table. Simple things such as paper and bread use hundreds of gallons of water to produce. After finding this information we had to create some sort of visual representation of the data. The second task was to iimagine you are the writer of an advice column in the newspaper and a regular reader writes in to the newspaper looking for advice from you. Her family cares about the environment and wants to save water but thinks it’s too difficult with everyone’s busy schedules. Our job was to create a response that offers practical, easy and inexpensive solutions, including our top 5 favorite ways to help conserve water plus other ways to stay on the conservation track. It was not hard to find small changes in our daily activities that would save gallons of water. After I was finished, I concluded that it was all about being water conscious. If you are constantly aware of your water use and the products you are buying, you will be doing our planet a big favor.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Professional Quester
I have completed the assignment and earned my badge as an H2O hero! I was first draw to this badge because I have always been interested in the current global and environmental issues. In past years, the water issue has become of increasing concern so I was eager to learn more. The first step was called, "Finding your Footprint." It was all about finding the water footprint of everyday goods and foods that we consume. My findings were very surprising, we rarely ever think about our food's path before it reaches our table. Simple things such as paper and bread use hundreds of gallons of water to produce. After finding this information we had to create some sort of visual representation of the data. The second task was to iimagine you are the writer of an advice column in the newspaper and a regular reader writes in to the newspaper looking for advice from you. Her family cares about the environment and wants to save water but thinks it’s too difficult with everyone’s busy schedules. Our job was to create a response that offers practical, easy and inexpensive solutions, including our top 5 favorite ways to help conserve water plus other ways to stay on the conservation track. It was not hard to find small changes in our daily activities that would save gallons of water. After I was finished, I concluded that it was all about being water conscious. If you are constantly aware of your water use and the products you are buying, you will be doing our planet a big favor.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
American Studies Final Project
Works
Cited
" George
Washington Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com ."
Famous
Biographies & TV Shows -
Biography.com .
N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2013.
<http://www.biography.com/people/george-washington-9524786>.
"Atticus
Finch and Southern liberalism : The New Yorker." The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June
2013.
<http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/10/090810fa_fact_gladwell>.
Christmas, 1777, in desperate need of a victory, and
Washington defies military convention with a nighttime assault in the dead of
winter.. "George Washington Photos — History.com Picture
Galleries." History.com — History Made Every Day — American &
World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2013.
<http://www.history.com/topics/george-washington/photos>.
"Frederick
Douglass." FD. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 June 2013.
<declaringamerica.com/douglass-slaveholding-religion-and-the-christianity-of-ch>.
"Frederick
Douglass In 1852." All That Is Interesting. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June
2013. <http://all-that-is-interesting.com/frederick-douglass-1852>.
"George
Washington." George Washington. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 June 2013.
<jonathanturley.org/2010/05/21/george-washington-finally-makes-good/
http://declaringamerica.com/douglass-slaveholding-religion-and-the-christianity-of-christ-1845/>.
"Life
Lessons From Atticus Finch | The Art of Manliness." The Art of
Manliness | Men’s Interests and Lifestyle. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2013.
<http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/02/02/lessons-in-manliness-from-atticus-finch/>.
"PBS - THE
WEST - Photo 4.10." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d.
Web. 11 June 2013.
<http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/four/64_10.htm>.
"Red Cloud
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cloud>.
"Red Cloud
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cloud>.
Tully, Kevin.
"OpEdNews - Diary: The Death of Atticus Finch." Opednews.com
Progressive, Liberal United States and International News, Opinion, Op-Eds and
Politics. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2013.
<http://www.opednews.com/Diary/The-Death-of-Atticus-Finch-by-Kevin-Tully-120629-251.html>.
MLA formatting
by BibMe.org.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
U.S. Intervention in Haiti
Haiti, 1920:
10 years ago an international consortium of banks refinanced Haiti's international debt and seized control of the country's treasury. Four years later, in December of 1914, United States marines came to Haiti upon the bank's request to protect the national gold reserves. The gold was moved to the bank's New York vault. Eight months later, the marines once again stormed Port au Prince, claiming the need to protect foreign lives and property and under martial law subdued armed Haitian militia fighters. They began to train a new militia group which Charlemagne Peralte led a resistance movement against. Calling out to the French governemnt, he called President Wilson a hypocrite for preaching on the sovereignty of small nations while occupying Haiti. He urged all Haitians to resist the Americans.
Four years later, the occupation remains and the people are desperate. Each morning their is a new offense, poverty is widespread and the people are oppressed with taxes. They are unable to rebuild houses destroyed by fires they create. The constant insults upon their lives have rallied Haitians and unified them to a common cause. Anger towards America has fueled rebellion and the nation's people are just waiting for a leader to step in and direct it. Chants of, "Die for your country," "Long live Independence," and "Down with the Americans!" fill the streets. Even the youngest of children can reiterate, "President Wilson- traitor,bandit, trouble maker, and thief." The tension is pungent and the outrage is palpable. Haiti is a match just waiting to be struck.
Upon speaking to one native woman she spoke, " We were ready to accept this rule and follow its obligations, despite the threat to our autonomy and the dignity of our free and independent people. But the flase promises, given by the Yankees, when they invaded our land, brought in almost four years of continuous insults, incredible crimes, killings, theft and barbarian acts, the secrets of which are known only to Americans." Her dark eyes were then overtaken by a heat and she lowly whispered, "Today we lost patience adnd we reclaim our rights."
Haitians, kind and peaceful by nature, have bore the brunt of America's force for too long and have become intolerant of their barbarious acts. They are quick to acknowledge American fault and the cruelty they've been embraced with. the Yankees have brought ruin to this beautiful country and driven hopelessness into their spirits.
One thing rings loud and true amoungst the Haitians, they are prepared to give everything, sacrafice everything to liberate their nation from this oppression. They will bend no longer, bear no more; they will fight.
10 years ago an international consortium of banks refinanced Haiti's international debt and seized control of the country's treasury. Four years later, in December of 1914, United States marines came to Haiti upon the bank's request to protect the national gold reserves. The gold was moved to the bank's New York vault. Eight months later, the marines once again stormed Port au Prince, claiming the need to protect foreign lives and property and under martial law subdued armed Haitian militia fighters. They began to train a new militia group which Charlemagne Peralte led a resistance movement against. Calling out to the French governemnt, he called President Wilson a hypocrite for preaching on the sovereignty of small nations while occupying Haiti. He urged all Haitians to resist the Americans.
Four years later, the occupation remains and the people are desperate. Each morning their is a new offense, poverty is widespread and the people are oppressed with taxes. They are unable to rebuild houses destroyed by fires they create. The constant insults upon their lives have rallied Haitians and unified them to a common cause. Anger towards America has fueled rebellion and the nation's people are just waiting for a leader to step in and direct it. Chants of, "Die for your country," "Long live Independence," and "Down with the Americans!" fill the streets. Even the youngest of children can reiterate, "President Wilson- traitor,bandit, trouble maker, and thief." The tension is pungent and the outrage is palpable. Haiti is a match just waiting to be struck.
Upon speaking to one native woman she spoke, " We were ready to accept this rule and follow its obligations, despite the threat to our autonomy and the dignity of our free and independent people. But the flase promises, given by the Yankees, when they invaded our land, brought in almost four years of continuous insults, incredible crimes, killings, theft and barbarian acts, the secrets of which are known only to Americans." Her dark eyes were then overtaken by a heat and she lowly whispered, "Today we lost patience adnd we reclaim our rights."
Haitians, kind and peaceful by nature, have bore the brunt of America's force for too long and have become intolerant of their barbarious acts. They are quick to acknowledge American fault and the cruelty they've been embraced with. the Yankees have brought ruin to this beautiful country and driven hopelessness into their spirits.
One thing rings loud and true amoungst the Haitians, they are prepared to give everything, sacrafice everything to liberate their nation from this oppression. They will bend no longer, bear no more; they will fight.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Imperialism 5.9.13
Once again it has been too long my avid blog readers. Last week, we finished the unit on westward expansion and spent 3 days in class with the substitute working on our Oregon Trail simulations. Once again technology gave us some trouble but I really enjoyed the project and how mine turned out.
We have now moved on to imperialism in the United States. We are all familiar with the imperialism that occurred in Europe, but at least I have not heard much about it occurring here. We started by looking at the poem, "the White Man's Burden," and also the responses to it such as "The Black Man's Burden." European nations preached to Americans that it was their duty and god given purpose to spread their "good" ways to "lesser people." And following the Spanish-American war, that is exactly what they did. After this, America took over many Central American countries.
However, this wasn't the United States first encounter with imperialism. They had been dominating Native Americans since its establishment. By the time the Civil War was over and Andrew Jackson was elected president. With the worst of internal fighting over, people now focused their attention on expanding west and they were more than willing to step over anything or anyone to get there.
Westward expansion but mainly the moving of the Native Americans to make this possible became a highly disputed topic. Jackson was the main advocate for their relocation arguing that they are dying out in the east and this is exactly what the needed for a new start. Pretty much everyone else such as the judicial branch, Christian missionaries and the Indians themselves disagreed.
This however, did not stop Jackson. He implemented the Indian Removal Act, which even though it was found to be unconstitutional, but due to the presidents connections in congress he was not impeached. Even though he without a doubt deserved to be.
We have now moved on to imperialism in the United States. We are all familiar with the imperialism that occurred in Europe, but at least I have not heard much about it occurring here. We started by looking at the poem, "the White Man's Burden," and also the responses to it such as "The Black Man's Burden." European nations preached to Americans that it was their duty and god given purpose to spread their "good" ways to "lesser people." And following the Spanish-American war, that is exactly what they did. After this, America took over many Central American countries.
However, this wasn't the United States first encounter with imperialism. They had been dominating Native Americans since its establishment. By the time the Civil War was over and Andrew Jackson was elected president. With the worst of internal fighting over, people now focused their attention on expanding west and they were more than willing to step over anything or anyone to get there.
Westward expansion but mainly the moving of the Native Americans to make this possible became a highly disputed topic. Jackson was the main advocate for their relocation arguing that they are dying out in the east and this is exactly what the needed for a new start. Pretty much everyone else such as the judicial branch, Christian missionaries and the Indians themselves disagreed.
This however, did not stop Jackson. He implemented the Indian Removal Act, which even though it was found to be unconstitutional, but due to the presidents connections in congress he was not impeached. Even though he without a doubt deserved to be.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Westward Expansion
On Monday, we began our work on our 16% project. About one day every cycle we will work on our designated project we got to choose from the smithsonian classroom. By the end of the term, we will submit our work to the smithsonian for credit and then present our findings to the class. I choose the project about water water use called H20 hero, and greatly look forward to working on it.
Yesterday in class we had a simulation of what it would be like to live in a soddie. It was great, the activity was engaging and very interactive. There were three stations in which we got to experience the spacing of a soddie, one where we got first hand knowledge of the smell and lastly what it was like to pose for a time-lapse photo. After my round through the stations I reached the conclusion that I would not be able to live in the soddie with my entire family. It was very small and the smell was intolerable. I would definitely not have been suited for the move to the great frontier. I really loved how it allowed us to experience somewhat of what it would have been like.
Today we were split up into groups and were set to the task of researching a farming invention that allowed the farmers to more successfully harvest the land in the west. It was our job to create a presentation that would convince an investor to back our product as if first introducing it on the great frontier. My group got the reaper and I look forward to learning about the other inventions.
Yesterday in class we had a simulation of what it would be like to live in a soddie. It was great, the activity was engaging and very interactive. There were three stations in which we got to experience the spacing of a soddie, one where we got first hand knowledge of the smell and lastly what it was like to pose for a time-lapse photo. After my round through the stations I reached the conclusion that I would not be able to live in the soddie with my entire family. It was very small and the smell was intolerable. I would definitely not have been suited for the move to the great frontier. I really loved how it allowed us to experience somewhat of what it would have been like.
Today we were split up into groups and were set to the task of researching a farming invention that allowed the farmers to more successfully harvest the land in the west. It was our job to create a presentation that would convince an investor to back our product as if first introducing it on the great frontier. My group got the reaper and I look forward to learning about the other inventions.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Push Pull Factors
Last class we had a Socratic seminar in which we discussed the push and pull factors that influenced people to move west. First we watched the tutorial made by Mr.Boyle for both cases and wrote down three different leveled questions in which we could ask, or propose during our discussion (not debate!). It was very slow starting but after all was set and done I would have to say that the push factors most heavily influenced people decision to move. African Americans desperately wanted to find land in which they could exercise the rights they had gained after the Civil War. Many war veterans were eager to escape the bad memories of combat they were forced to face while still leaving on the East Coast. Also, angry white southerners whose land was destroyed and couldn't bare to see their ex-slaves be equal to them hoped to escape to the west as well. In general, the west offered a chance for a new start to those who were unhappy with their current lot. The pull factors such as the Homestead Act, the gold in California /'d the low land costs enticed Americans to make the move west. However, it is my opinion that most people would not had made the move if something had not been driving them.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Manifest Destiny 4.11.13
Today in class we continued out discussion on westward expansion, learning about the popular idea that was Manifest Destiny. Suggested by O'Sullivan, it was basically the idea that from divine providence the United States was blessed with democracy, and it was their God given duty and right to spread this government to sea to shining sea. I believe that this had to be one of the most genius thing those pushing for westward expansion could have done. It was the perfect way to get god fearing people to move west. Personally I think it was a total hoax complete with political propaganda to expand the frontier, to which we did not deserve or have the right to take.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)