Egyptian Test

On Friday, we took the Egyptian test. I wish I would've known about it in advance so I could have studied and tried my best to get a good grade. It was just the opposite of that. I did terrible, the worst grade I have ever gotten on a test in this class. Of course I was really upset because it brought my grade down a great amount and it was just bad. I actually couldn't believe the grade when I saw it because I studied before I took it and also I thought the test wasn't that bad. I guess I really wasn't ready because the results were bad. Let's just say that Friday was a bad day for me overall. I hope I can get this grade back up to where I want it and I can forget about this grade for good.

Five Questions for the test

Today is a Cyber Day and we have the assignment to create 5 questions that we think will be on the test for tomorrow. I'm going to do this in sort of a list thing. So I will list the questions I think will be on the test. These are the five questions I think would be used in the test somehow.

1. What is the Nile River used for?

2. Name the social pyramid in order starting with the Pharaoh. 

3. What was most important to Egyptian life?

4. Where does the Nile River flow from?

5. In what month of every year does the Nile flood?

Pyramid Building Game

Today in class we had this assignment where we had to play this pyramid building game. You had to work in pairs which I think was definitely for the better because the game had so many tricks to it and it was hard to finally win. The first two groups would get an A and the two second groups would get a B and so on. Katie and I got an A! I was really surprised we finally beat the game and I'm really happy because that A helped our grade. It was great because you just feel so much better when you win and it makes you happy. I really don't ever want to do something like that again because it just creates so much stress and it's annoying. I don't know it was okay in the end because our grade was good but it was weird and overall I guess it was just something that was supposed to be for fun even though it was still graded. 

Notes on the three videos

Today in class we had an independent assignment and had to watch three videos and take notes on each of them. The first video talked about one of the Egyptian inventions, the pyramids. The pyramids were the wonder of the world and everyone loved how they looked and thought how amazing they were. The pyramids were built as tombs for the Egyptian's god and goddesses and even their kings and queens who ruled in their time. The video also talked about the Great Sphinx and how it was built. The Great Sphinx is also another wonder of the world and so many people were and still are amazed by it. Sadly, there were cannons that launched at it so it does have a big dent near the front, but it is still there and many people go to see it today. The first video overall talked about the architecture that existed during the time of the Egyptians. They sort of started a revolution because the Egyptians always built great big structures. They did this because they thought it was the best way to repay their gods for what they did for them. The second video was about mummification and why they preserved the pharaohs. They took the organs and intestines out of the body to get it ready for the afterlife. The body was also covered in silk and left for forty days to let out all the moisture. There was also a type of embalming oil that went on the body to preserve it better. Then there was the linen strips that went on last to cover the body. The tomb was decorated with hieroglyphs and probably signs that represented the personality of the deceased person. The third video was hosted by John Green and he talked about Egypt overall. He talked mostly about the great history of Egypt and how the pyramids are the last existing things from the Egyptians. He also talked about the social pyramid like the slaves and the pharaohs. I thought the video was pretty interesting because it was like taught in a way that was fun and not slow and boring.

Egyptian Inventions

1) One invention the Egyptians created was hieroglyphs and it was their first type of writing. They also created mathematical problems and numbers after hieroglyphs came along.

2) Another invention that is still famous and popular even today was the pyramids. The pyramids were built in the time span of 2589 and 2504 BC. They were built because they were tombs for the pharaohs and queens.

3) Another invention that is very useful today that the Egyptians invented was the calendar. The calendar helps us know what day it is and organize things when we have plans. The calendar also tells you the holidays and other information on the days in the year.

4) Another weird invention that I discovered was the Egyptians invented the first type of breath mints. They always had to deal with poor dental health because they didn't have dentists or oral surgeons. These first mints were a combination of frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon boiled with honey.

5) Egyptians also invented the plow. Even though historians were never sure where the plow came from or who invented it, evidence suggests that Sumerians and Egyptians were the first two societies that used the plow around 4000 BC.

Some notes from the Prezi Presentation

Today in class, we went back to finishing our notes on Egypt. We started from the beginning by reviewing and writing down the notes that we didn't have yet. I had most of the notes because we were almost done but there were a lot for this presentation I thought because usually it really isn't that much but there was quite a bit. It wasn't that bad though but there will be some studying for the next test for sure. I have had these notes for a while now but I want to put some of them in my blog.. Here are SOME of them.

Geography
- Egyptian life is centered around the Nile River
- The Nile River flows from south to north
- They used the Nile River for water for drinking, irrigating, bathing, and transportation
- Every July the Nile floods
- Every October it leaves behind rich soil
- The delta is a broad, marshy triangular area of fertile silt
- Managing the river required technological breakthroughs in irrigation

Society Pyramid (order)
- Pharaoh
- Government officials, nobles, priests
- Soldiers
- Scribes
- Merchants
- Artisans
- Farmers
- Slaves and servants

2-18-15

Today in class, we reviewed the test we took like two weeks ago on Guns, Germs, and Steel. That was the test that I was worried about because I thought I failed in my mind. When I got my real grade back, I was upset because I wasn't happy with what I got at all. I got a 76! That was pretty bad for me and my last test I did well on and was happy because my grade was so good. Now, I hate that my grade is at a B again because I want to end this quarter with as many A's as I possibly can have. I only want to have 2 B's at the most. I really want to try even harder now because when you get a bad grade on something, you learn to do better and study next time if you didn't the first time. I think I have learned that over the times it has happened to me. I just want to do really well on this next test which I think will be on Egypt because hopefully it can bring up my grade to an A like I have wanted and it will stay that way.

Ancient Egypt

Today in class we started a new unit and it is on ancient Egypt. We took a lot of notes today more than usual I think and we learned a lot about Egypt, things I didn't know for sure. We categorized our notes by having sections on what we were learning. Like one category was the daily life of the people in Egypt and the society pyramid which was the list on what part of society was more important. The most respected person in Egypt was the Pharaoh which makes sense because people would just bow down to the Pharaoh since he was the ruler of Egypt and people had to respect the Pharaoh because if not, they would probably be put to death someway or be put in prison. I think that's kind of crazy because it was like a dictatorship rather than a president sort of thing and obviously that's pretty messed up because the society probably felt trapped but then again they didn't really know any better because this happened many many years ago and people just started out and they also lived in a desert which was on the other side of the world from where everywhere else was. Most of the places in the world were probably not discovered. We also learned about the geography around Egypt and the importance of the Nile River. People who lived in Egypt used the Nile River because it was like the only river near them and helped them do many things and survive at the most. Tomorrow, I think we will finish our notes and learn more about the life of the Egyptians in ancient Egypt.

Test Today

Today we took the Guns, Germs and Steel test. I was worried about it while I was trying to study because I wasn't sure what would be on the test and if it would be multiple choice or not. I don't think I did bad because that's not what I wanted to show on the test because I am trying to keep my grade the way it is. Last semester, I had a B as my final grade and I think I should've had an A. I'm just worried because I hope I at least got a 90 on this test because if I didn't it will bring my grade down and make me really upset because one of my goals for this semester and quarter is to have straight A's or having only 2 B's. I think we will find our grade out by late tomorrow and I am hoping the result is fair.

Test Monday!!!

Yesterday in class, we finally got to know our grades from the first West Civ test we took. I thought I did good on the test overall, and I was nervous to know what I got it. I finally found out and got a ding! I got a 93! I was really happy because my grade is really good in this class already and I wanted to keep it that way obviously. We also reviewed for our test on Guns, Germs, and Steel that we have on Monday. I kind of thought that we wouldn't have it this early, I mean I thought maybe we would review a little more and than have the test on Wednesday. I hope it will be easy though because I don't know it's kind of harder to have a test on a Monday and study over the weekend. I think it will be okay though and I get an A+ because I need it to keep my grade good and have a good grade in this class.

2-5-15

Today in class, we finally finished the guns, germs, and steel video. We did only watch part one but everything was answered in the end anyway. The big question was why does a white man have more cargo or belongings than a colored man or the people of Paupa New Guinea. Jared Diamond spent many years in New Guinea to find this out and other things like the way of life people lead in New Guinea. He went there to see how they live and experience the hunter-gather lifestyle they lead even in this century. The people of New Guinea lead this type of lifestyle because they don't know about the lifestyle most people live today. They also aren't as geographically lucky as other people are and were. For example, the people who lived on the Fertile Crescent were very fortunate because civilization began in a great way there and growing food was easy and they also had two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, which gave them a great amount of water for anything they needed. The Fertile Crescent was the start of a great civilization and changed the way people lived.

2-4-15

Today in class, we continued to watch Guns, Germs, and Steel again. We still aren't quite finished yet and I think we are only on part one so there is probably another part we will watch after the first part. We are still taking a good amount of notes mostly about domestication. We wrote down how many animals in the world could be domesticated which was about 14 different species. Some species were water buffalo, llamas, cows, pigs, etc. I thought there would be way more than just 14. It seemed weird since there are so many animals in the world even though some of the species are extinct. It was interesting to learn about that because I never knew that. I think we will finish the first part of the video tomorrow and finish taking notes.

2-2-15

Today in class, we continued watching the guns, germs, and steel video. We only watched about 10 minutes because at first, the video wasn't working no matter how many times someone tried to open and play the video. It worked close to the last 10 minutes of class so we didn't have as many notes to take as I thought. We took notes on plant domestication and animal domestication and how domestication created civilization. Also, we took notes on some countries and the most valuable crops they grew a period of time that helped that specific country and made that country a lot of money. For example, China had rice and the Americas had corn. There were other countries but I couldn't remember what was the main crop that boosted their economies. I think by Wednesday, we will have finished the video and the notes will be on our next test.