Michael’s Social Studies Blog

• What would you change about the final product (the wiki you created) if you were to do the assignment again?

I would never EVER! go ahead and ignore teacher’s instructions because our group had caused problems to other people because we made our own wikispace. I would also make our homepage neater.

• Look at some of the other wikis from any class and find a few that you think are done exceptionally well. Tell me the name of the empire and the block, and then explain what you like about their wiki.

I think the Zimababwe Kingdom and Mali Empire from block E was done exceptionally well because their pages had neat layout, just the right amount of detail and all their sources were neatly written. Big Cheer To You Guys! You Rock~~~! Good Job to others to~! 

What did you learn from this task?

I learned effective use of teamwork, how to use the different techniques of wikispaces.

Did you find this difficult or easy? Why?

I found this task really easy because all it really was to create a homepage, only easier.

What would you change about the process you went through to complete the wiki if you were to do the assignment again?

I would always listen to teachers instructions and never work ahead.

I have learned about the 4 Kingdoms that rose in Western Africa. The 4 Kingdoms were Ghana, Mali, Songhai and The Morrocan Empire. Ghana was named the ‘Kingdom of Gold’ and it was the first empire to be made in Western Africa. Before that was some tribes who survived or faded out because of the appearance of more powerful weapons. The most powerful weapons were made out of ‘iron’ which was made by melting rocks that contained iron ore. The people melted the rocks until the iron ore got very soft but hot. The people took out the iron ore and shaped it when it was soft. then they cooled down the iron so it could be in use as a weapon. The tribes became more powerful if there were more iron weapons. Then the kingdom, Ghana was formed. Ghana was very rich in gold. It took the rivers so people could trade with them. Ghana lasted about 100 years. After 100 years, Mali took over the land and became twice as big as the usual Ghana kingdom used to be, but the Kingdom of Mali was conquered by the Songhai Empire who was the most powerful trading kingdom in Africa. Then Finally, the Morrocan Empire which formed from the north-west, attacked with their well-trained and equipped with highly expensive armory attacked. The whole kingdom of Songhai was conquered in a year and Morroco gained all power.

I wonder what happened to Morroco although there is a country called Morroco in North-West Africa. I believe kingdoms came, rose in to height and then became conquered. I wonder why the kingdoms, Ghana, Mali and Songhai couldn’t survive.

1.Social+Economic Indicators

Nation (green)

Country name: Iraq

Type of government: constitutional hereditary emirate

Political leader: none; formation of political parties and leaders are illegal

People (red)

Population: 2,418,393

Age structure:
0-14 years: 26.9% (male 331,768/female 319,895)
15-64 years: 70.3% (male 1,085,721/female 613,746)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 42,460/female 24,803) (2006 est.)

Ethnic group(s): Kuwaiti 45%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian 4%, other 7%

Religion(s): Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shi’a 30%), Christian, Hindu, Parsi, and other 15%

Language(s): Arabic (official), English widely spoken

Literacy rates: definition:
Age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 83.5%
Male: 85.1%
Female: 81.7% (2003 est.)

Fertility rates: 2.91 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Life expectancy: total population: 77.2 years
Male: 76.13 years
Female: 78.31 years (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rates total: 9.71 deaths/1,000 live births
Male: 10.72 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 8.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Economy (blue)
GDP per capita: $19,200 (2005 est.)
% Living under Poverty: NA%

% Of Internet Users: 25% (2005)

% Of cell phone owners: 83% (2004)

2.Google Earth Map

3.Preminilary Data & Inferences

Kuwait may be facing serious problems that affect the nation. There may be water shortage in Kuwait, as 80% of the water has to be purified, filtered and distilled. There may be food shortage, as every single type of food except fish has to be imported from a country elsewhere from Kuwait. Kuwait may face war problems, as the land is full of expensive Petroleum which would get more expensive and the price would gradually become higher and higher. Kuwait will face poverty problems in a few centuries, as more and more Petroleum will be mined and it will soon become gone and 90% of the GNP of Kuwait depends on Petroleum. More and more fields of Petroleum are being discovered and there will be less land for people to live on as greater portions of lands are being used to mine Petroleum. If Kuwait would like to solve these problems, Kuwait would have to stop putting all their effort in Petroleum and give some effort to growing crops and food.

4.Reflection

Question: What did you learn from this task?

Answer: I have learned hard vocabulary such as ethnic groups, literacy rates, fertility rates etc. and htmls such as breaks, (
) bold () and font color (.I have also learned that Kuwait is a small, rich country that has 95% of the GNP coming out of Petroleum a rock that contains fuel. 80% of Kuwait’s water has to be filtered and distilled and all the food except fish has to be imported.Question: Did I find this difficult or easy? Why?

Kuwait may be facing serious problems that affect the nation. There may be water shortage in Kuwait, as 80% of the water has to be purified, filtered and distilled. There may be food shortage, as every single type of food except fish has to be imported from a country elsewhere from Kuwait. Kuwait may face war problems, as the land is full of expensive Petroleum which would get more expensive and the price would gradually become higher and higher. Kuwait will face poverty problems in a few centuries, as more and more Petroleum will be mined and it will soon become gone and 90% of the GNP of Kuwait depends on Petroleum. More and more fields of Petroleum are being discovered and there will be less land for people to live on as greater portions of lands are being used to mine Petroleum. If Kuwait would like to solve these problems, Kuwait would have to stop putting all their effort in Petroleum and give some effort to growing crops and food.

What did you learn from this task?

I have learned hard vocabulary such as ethnic groups, literacy rates, fertility rates etc. and htmls such as breaks, (<br>) bold (<b>) and font color (<font color=”#code number”>.I have also learned that Kuwait is a small, rich country that has 95% of the GNP coming out of Petroleum a rock that contains fuel. 80% of Kuwait’s water has to be filtered and distilled and all the food except fish has to be imported.

Did I find this difficult or easy? Why?

I found this easy because I learn things connected to computers and geography really quick and I was fascinated and overjoyed when I could see houses and roads that were very real.

What else would you like to learn about creating Google Earth maps?

I would really like to try the Google Earth Pro because I have seen 3D buildings in the sample Google Earth Pro images. I would like to learn more about html sources.

The URL for this assignment is: http://ssmeetsit.edublogs.org/2006/09/12/homework-for-block-e-and-block-h-tuesday-12-september/

The URL of this article is: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/5336984.stm

What is the issue?

• The issue is that wars are forcing children to have improper education.

Who is involved?

• The armed groups and educational aids are involved as armed groups block educational aids from educating the children as most educational aids are being captured by war conflicts.

Who is affected and how?

• Children and countries without properly educated people are affected, as children are not getting the education they are supposed to have and the countries that have poorly educated children are having bad war conflicts

What would you do if you were directly involved?

• I would probably first make shelter that children can stay in as safety is important and I would probably get donations from people to get the educational aids