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~! 

Resources:

Yardley, Jim, and David E. Sanger. "Nuclear Talks in North Korea Hit Roadblock."
     The New York Times Learning Network 12 Feb. 2007. 12 Feb. 2007
     <http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/articles/12korea.html>.

(Viewed 12th Feb, 2007)

Link to the Article:Nuclear Talks on North Korea Hit Roadblock 

Images.

Source: Click Here!

Source: Click Here!

Sources for Maps: Asia: Click Here  North Korea: Click Here

1.What is the Issue?

The Issue is that the step-by-step offer for North Korea giving up their nuclear weapons are not working. George Bush, President of the United States, can’t trust North Korea to give the USA all the Nuclear Weapons they have if the USA send North Korea huge shipments of fuel and electricity beforehand. The USA can’t afford to send huge shipments of fuel which are reaching 60.00 US$ and thousands of electricians to install cables in North Korea.

2.Who is involved?

1. The US Government
2. North Korean Government
3. Christopher R. Hill (Chief American Envoy)

3.Who is affected and how?

1. The North Koreans are affected because they are living with 1000 US$ every year, and they don’t have enough electricity and modernized equipment because dictator Kim-Jong Il only thinks about himself and WAR! Also, Every citizen living in North Korea has to pay taxes which are used for making Nuclear Weapons.
2. People who donated (Red Cross, United Nations, UNICEF etc.) are affected because all their donations were sold to make nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.

4.What would you do if you were directly involved?

If I was Christopher R. Hill, I would tell the North Korean Government to have a direct trade (When two people both bring their goods and exchange at the same time) in sea or land. This would be fair to both countries which would make the trade a success.

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.

Resources:

Citation:Abrashi, Fisnik. “NATO, Afghan Troops
Battle Insurgents.” Yahoo! News 29 Oct. 2006. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061029/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan_13

(29 Oct. 2006)

Link: NATO, Afghan Troops Battle Insurgents

Picture:

Picture Source: Click Here

Map of Afghanistan

Picture Source: Click Here

1. What is the issue?

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and Afghani soldiers battled a large group of Insurgents who attcked a military base in Southern Afghanistan. There also was a roadside bomb blast where it killed 1 NATO soldier and wounded 8 soldiers. 55 suspected militants were killed on Saturday.

2. Who is Involved?

• NATO’s Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
• Civilians living in Southern Afghanistan
• Afghani soldiers
• Insurgents
• NATO soldiers

3. Who is Affected and How?

• Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO Secretary General: He sent NATO soldiers to attack but instead, he injured soldiers by sending them to roadside bombs.
• Civilians: Some have lost their lives just because they lived close to the battlefield.
• Insurgents: They have tried to attack, but only their roadside bomb was a success. The others all lost their lives.
• Militants: Some were killed because their party were suspected.

4.What Would You Do if You Were Directly Involved?

Instead of killing all the militants, I would have put them in some serious condition where they would tell the answers to everything I ask. Then I observe the information told and then choose a solution for the fight.

What have I learned about geography so far?

I have learned that geography can be divided into human geography and physical geography. The word geography comes from the greek word “gaea” which means earth and graphein meaning to describe. Human geography is a study of human including culture and religion etc. Physical Geography focuses on the study of earth and the world. It aims to learn the physical features of earth.

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

I went to Thailand during my holidays. I went to the Grand Palace which was mostly made out of gold. I stayed in Bangok for two days and Pattaya for three days I enjoyed Pattaya more than Bangok because Bangok was scorching hot while in Pattaya we even did paragliding and jet skiing. It was a enjoyable week

The URL for this assignment is: http://mkis6.edublogs.org/2006/09/06/homework-for-block-e-tuesday-6-september/

The link for the article I read is: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_5310000/newsid_5316900/5316952.stm

Kids are being hurt by cluster bombs. Cluster bombs release lots of smaller bombs when they blow up. Not all of these explode straight away, and it can be a long time before they are found. That means kids could pick them up without knowing what they are. Over the past years, peace organizations such as the United Nations and other countries have asked for the ban of cluster bombs as anyone can just pick them up and think of it as nothing.

Who is affected and how?

Harmless children and peace organizations are being affected because childrens are getting hurt and that might lead to another world war. That will affect the peace organizations as they would need to have a hard time making peace. Also, citizens will be affected as there would be hundreds and thousands of harmless people dying.