December 22

With all of my classes today, whether they be Social 10 or Social 20, we went over the final exam blueprint. I hope that you got some ideas as to how to prepare for your final exam. With both Social 10 and Social 20 students, we have finished the content of the course, now we have 5 days when we come back from the Winter break to review. I hope that you find some time to review and study over the break, not just for Social Studies, but for your other academic courses as well. That first week back will just fly by, and then it's off to exam weeks! Please don't rely on the review that we do in class to FULLY prepare you for your final exams, you'll have to study outside of class time to be ready for the final exam.

Just a reminder to Social 20 students: you will have your Topic B Final Exam on Monday, January 8th. Here is your study guide:

Social Studies 20 Topic B Final Exam Study Guide:

50-60 multiple choice questions
Monday, January 8th

• glossary of key terms (know them well!)
• themes (diversity, disparity, interdependence, etc.)
• demographics
• demographic key terms (infant mortality rate, death rate, natural increase, etc.)
• population pyramid (be able to analyze)
• demographic transition model (know the various stages, be able to analyze)
• Thomas Malthus
• geographic regions (DCs, LDCs, LLDCs, First World, Third World, North/South divide)
• be able to distinguish between DC and LDC using statistics
• appropriate technology
• foreign aid (different types, different situations when aid is given; effectiveness? criticisms of foreign aid; would make a good “speaker” question)
• demographic pressures on the land and resources
• quality of life and standard of living
• environmentalism
• greenhouse effect, global warming, climate change
• environmental pressures (deforestation, desertification, etc.)
• availability of food (undernourishment, food consumption, SNU, etc.)
• food production issues (production, price, cash crops, subsistence agriculture)
• world health issues (WHO, malaria, HIV/AIDS, sanitation, clean drinking water)
• resources and development (industrial development, sustainable development, renewable energy resources, alternative energy sources)
• development and the role of multinational corporations in the developing world
• IMF and World Bank (what are they? what do they do?)
• GNP and GDP (what's the difference?)
• poverty reduction in the developing world
  
  
  Please enjoy your Winter break. Enjoy your holidays!

December 21

Social 20

I gave you some time in class today to work on the last bit of textbook work from Topic B. Please check your e-mail tonight and print off the key terms and the blueprint. Please open up the message from "YouSendIt" and download the video.

Social 10

You wrote your last in-class position paper (at least for Social 10) today in class. I will have these marked and returned to you next year (obviously after the Winter break). Please check your e-mail tonight. Please print off the final exam blueprint and the key terms, because I will be talking about them tomorrow in class. Also, please open up the "YouSendIt" e-mail message, and download the video! Please do not send these e-mail messages on to your friends, their teachers are preparing them for the final exam in their own way.

December 20

Social 20

We finished watching "An Inconvenient Truth" today in class, and then tried to get through a presentation on sustainable development (I didn't finish it in either class). I have sent this presentation to you already, so please check your e-mail. I have a couple of quiz/activities for you to look at today. The first one comes from the companion website for "An Inconvenient Truth". At this website I would like you to take the quiz on carbon emissions, so from the main page click on the link labeled "Take Action" and then you should be able to find the quiz. In the drop down box for which U.S. state you live in, choose either Montana (MT) or Washington (WA), since topographically they are pretty similar to Alberta. The other activity that I would like you to try online tonight deals with the second topic that we dealt with in class today, and that is sustainable development. Please see how environmentally friendly your home is with this activity called "Is Your Home a 'Green' House?"

Social 10

You wrote your Rights and Responsibilities unit final today in class. Your Rights and Responsibilities In-Class Position Paper is tomorrow (it will be written in R4).

December 19

Social 10

I went over some loose ends today with our Rights and Responsibilities unit, so you need to get these notes from one of your classmates if you missed today's class. I also went over the study guide for the unit final, and gave you some direction with regard to your in-class position paper. Study tonight, and prepare for your essay!

Important Dates:

• Rights and Responsibilities Unit Final is tomorrow (December 20th)
• Rights and Responsibilities In-class Position Paper is on Thursday, December 21st
  
  

Social 20

We finished watching "The Corporation" today in class. If you're interested here is a hyperlink to the website for that film: click here. Also, there are some very well written articles about the role of corporations in our lives, they can be found at the Global Issues website. We started watching "An Inconvenient Truth" today as well. We will finish this film tomorrow, and I will do a short lecture on sustainable development tomorrow (time permitting).

December 18

Social 10

We played a review game for our Rights and Responsibilities unit which took most of the period. I also returned mark sheets for your Government poster project.

Important Dates:

• Rights and Responsibilities Unit Final is on Wednesday, December 20th
• Rights and Responsibilities In-Class Position Paper is on Thursday, December 21st

Social 20

For most of the class we watched "The Corporation". Both classes will finish viewing this film tomorrow. When we were watching this video today, there was a case study about Bechtel and the privatization of the water supply in Bolivia. There is an online article about these events which can be read here, which is called "Leasing the Rain". The more you read, the more you know. Enjoy.

December 15

Social 10

You have a homework assignment that must be completed before Saturday at midnight in order to receive a homework check credit: you must send me an e-mail with 7 high-quality Jeopardy questions in it covering the Rights and Responsibilities unit.

Important Dates:

• Rights and Responsibilities Unit Final is on Wednesday, December 20th
• Rights and Responsibilities In-Class Position Paper is on Thursday, December 21st
  
  

Social 20

You wrote a pop quiz on key terms from Topic B at the start of class today. I then gave you Part 3 of the Topic B Outline. You are responsible for completing Part C #1 a-d for Monday's class (which deals with multinational corporations). We continued watching "The Corporation". Once again, your milk supply is safe.

December 14

Social 20

If you missed today's class, here's what you missed: we played a simulation/game on unequal resources at the start of class. This activity was designed to illustrate the concepts of interdependence, the need for trade and the use of foreign aid. During the simulation you should have seen all of these concepts at work. No group had enough resources to finish the assigned tasks, so each group needed to trade capital and resources, or even lend out expertise/technical assistance at various stages of the simulation. We also started watching "The Corporation", which we will be doing for the next few days. Please bring your textbooks to class tomorrow.

Social 10

I did a homework check on the YOA/YCJA homework, and I collected those booklets from you at the beginning of class. We started looking at Native Rights today.

Important Dates:

• Rights and Responsibilities Unit Final is on Wednesday, December 20th
• Rights and Responsibilities In-class Position Paper is on Thursday, December 21st
  

What do you think about Stephen Harper's proposed Senate reform?

December 13

Just a short post today.

Social 20

If you missed class today, you'll have to get notes from a classmate on "foreign aid". We also watched a video on the Three Gorges Dam Project for most of the class. I have sent you a backgrounder/information on this project from CNN Interactive. Please print it off, read it, and put it into your notebooks. Here is the hyperlink to the NASA image of the dam in October 2000, please click here.

Social 10

I collected your Government Poster projects today. For most of the period you were working on a reading on the YOA transition to the YCJA. Please finish this tonight for homework.

Important Dates:

• Rights and Responsibilities Unit Final is on Wednesday, December 20th (please see yesterday's post for the study guide)
• Rights and Responsibilities In-class Position Paper is on Thursday, December 21st

December 12

Social 10

Today you worked on a handout entitled "Analyzing a Document: The October Crisis" for most of the period. I have sent to you the essay question and outline sheet for your upcoming Rights and Responsibilities in-class position paper. I am also posting the study guide for next week's unit final on Rights and Responsibilities (see below).

Important Dates for Social 10 Students:

• Government Poster Project is due Wednesday, December 13th
• Rights and Responsibilities Unit Final is on Wednesday, December 20th
• Rights and Responsibilities In-Class Position Paper is on Thursday, December 21st

Rights and Responsibilities Unit Final Study Guide:

• UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (know the different types of rights, for example democratic rights, mobility rights, fundamental freedoms)
• The War Measures Act (WWI, WWII, the October Crisis of 1970)
• Internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII
• FLQ Crisis of 1970 (study handouts)
• Emergencies Act of 1988 (study handout)
• Native Rights (questions)
• Young Offenders Act/Youth Criminal Justice Act

Social 20

We finished watching "Supersize Me" in class today and then you wrote your opinion piece about "North American Perceptions of Food" in the time remaining.

December 11

Social 10

For most of the class we watched a film on the FLQ Crisis of 1970 from the "Turning Points of History" series.

Social 20

I returned some marked assignments and essays today. I delivered a presentation on the "Politics of Hunger and Poverty", and then we started watching "Supersize Me".

December 8

Social 10

We finished watching "The Tides of War" today. I also had you copy some definitions down from the board as well. Your Government Poster Project is due on Wednesday, December 13th. Here is the link to the CBC Archives site:

• CBC Archives: "From Relocation to Redress"

Social 20

You have a homework assignment today: complete the "Ecological Footprint Assessment" sheet. Visit http://www.myfootprint.org to complete this worksheet. I also gave you a worksheet that illustrates quality of life and food production/consumption. Please complete what you didn't finish in class for homework.

December 7

Social 20

We watched excerpts from a CNN series called "The People Bomb" today in class. Please remember to complete your Topic B glossary terms for tomorrow. As of next week these terms are "fair game" (testable material) so please be ready!

Social 10

After current events presentations today we started watching a film entitled "The Tides of War" which deals with the internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII. We will be finishing this video tomorrow. I will post the link to the CBC Archives tomorrow (I had hoped that we would finish the film today).

A few of you asked me to post some information about the food drive for Sheriff King Home. Here's some information for Social 10-1 students:

• the Food Drive lasts from Monday to Friday of next week
• $1 donations count as one food item
• donations will be sent down to the shipping dock on a daily basis in Period 1 (so I'm going to need some volunteers)
• some food items will count as "bonus items" as there is a desperate need for them

The following is a list of these "bonus items":

• Pasta/Tomato Sauce
• Cheese Whiz
• Peanut Butter
• Jam/Jelly
• Muffin Mix
• Pancake Mix

Let's do our best to bring in as many food items as possible!

December 6

Social 20

I gave you an assignment today that requires you to read selections from your textbook World Prospects. This assignment (whatever you didn't finish in class) is due tomorrow. Please also print off and read the article that I sent you yesterday called "Population Bomb Fizzles at Six Billion".

Social 10

I delivered a presentation today on the internment of Japanese-Canadians in WWII. I will be sending this presentation to you today, so please check your e-mail and print off a copy of this presentation for yourself. If you somehow forget what presentation I'm talking about click here. Please print off the two articles that I sent you yesterday. One is on the history of the War Measures Act and the other is on the Emergencies Act.

Important Dates

• Government Poster Project is due on Wednesday, December 13th (1 week from today)

December 5

Social 10

We talked about the Charter very briefly today. I also gave you a handout that covered "Protecting Human Rights in Alberta". We watched a film today called "Freedom Had its Price". We'll finish it tomorrow. Don't forget that your Government Poster Project is due on Wednesday December 13th. I'm sending you an e-mail tonight so please check your inboxes and print off what I'm sending to you.

Social 20

We finished watching the second part of "World in the Balance" today called "China Revs Up". There is a hyperlink on the blog to this NOVA program, it's under Social 20 Links and it's called "World in the Balance", you can take a quiz and other activities there. I'm sending you an e-mail tonight so please check your inboxes and print off what I'm sending to you.

December 4

Social 10

We continued our examination of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I would like you to complete the two page chart that I gave you in class today, by using the online version of the Charter. There's a hyperlink to the charter here on the blog under "Social 10 Links". I also set a due date for the Government Poster today, it will be due on Wednesday December 13th.

Social 20

We watched a video for most of today's class period called "World in the Balance: the People Paradox". There is a hyperlink to this video's website here on the blog under "Social 20 Links". I also collected your WWI Dossier Assignments today, they look good, hopefully the information is accurate as well!

December 1

Sorry, I completely forgot to post on the blog tonight. It doesn't look like anyone missed out anyway. We've been busy getting things ready for my son's birthday party tomorrow, and we went to his Christmas concert tonight. But enough excuses.

In Social 10, we continued talking about the connections between the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also discussed some issues related to the Charter. No homework this weekend, spend some time with your family and friends!

In Social 20 we talked about some population terminology. We'll be watching some videos next week that should help improve your understanding of these concepts. Don't forget that your WWI Dossier Project is due on Monday.