Blog Entry #6 - A Message From Mother Nature?

Posted by Unknown , Tuesday, September 21, 2010 8:03 AM


1)      What is the main point of this article?
  • The main point of this article is about whether weather is an indicator of climate change that is impacted by global warming or not.

2)      List four vocabulary words that you do not recognize or understand, and look up the definitions, write them out using your own words.
  • Uproot – forcing someone to leave
  • Reluctant – unwilling to do something
  • Variability – inconsistency; changeability
  • Vulnerable – likely to be hurt or damaged

3)      What is the difference between “weather” and “climate”?
  • Weather is a condition of the atmosphere at a particular time and place whereas climate is the usual weather of a place, occurring for a long period of time.
4)      What are the examples listed in the article of “extreme weather”?
  • Heavy rainstorms in summer
  • Big snowstorms in winter
  • Intense droughts
  • Bad heat waves
  • Monsoon rains in Pakistan, killing more than 1,500 people and uprooting millions.
  • In Russia, a bad heat wave and a record-breaking drought had destroyed millions of acres of wheat and sparked wildfires that killed dozens.
  • In the United States, flooding devastated New England, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, a record-breaking heat wave warmed/heated the entire eastern part of the country.

5)      What experiences have you had with “extreme weather”?
  • I haven’t had any experience with an extreme weather because I live in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – a pretty safe place because it is not bordered by the oceans which can cause floods, neither any earthquake, drought, etc – has had happened before. Despite that fact, there are still some unusual climate changes during the past few years, for the temperature increases and rains turn out to be heavier. However, so far as I remember there were two severe storms in 1996 in Vietnam and they damaged a lot of things, killing a hundred of people, destroying 194,000 households, and flooded 177,000 ones.

6)      What does the word “perception” mean?
  • Perception – the understanding; how you see and comprehend the concepts of something.

7)      What is your “perception” of global climate change?
  • I perceive that global climate change is in fact a serious issue that all human beings should concern about. In my opinion, global climate change can be blamed of global warming, and that severely damages human as well as living things’ habitations. In general, global warming is when CO2 and other greenhouse gases are heated and released to the atmosphere, which later get trapped in the greenhouse effect. That heat cannot escape in which it warms the earth more and more. As the earth gets hotter, precipitations will get heavier in wet regions whereas in dry regions, they will get drier. Even though those signs are only statistics of weather change, it could be perceived as global climate change if that keeps happening for a long period of time. Therefore, I personally think that global warming is affecting climate change.  

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Blog Entry #5 - Map Assessment

Posted by Unknown , Sunday, September 12, 2010 2:51 AM

The Story of Lalaland
 
      
        Lalaland is where dreams come true, all started with the historical man named Gaga. Gaga was originally born an inheritance in Spongie Spunge, but at an age of 33, he was exiled to another land because of his dullness & irresponsibility towards the nation. Only that Spongie Spunge people didn’t realize that there was an extraordinary potential in Gaga, which later manipulated him to be a successful king.

        Gaga sailed to the wild land across the Woolge Zand Ocean, and decided to found his kingdom named Lalaland there. After many years, he died a shameful man for he didn’t leave any accommodating things on earth for his people. Consequently after his death, the kingdom felt into years of corruption with wars and destructions, including a devastating pollution. In heaven, Gaga was regretful and desperately asked God to give him another chance in 5 years to rebuild his kingdom. His issue was accepted, and therefore he revived from the death and expanded Lalaland into an official country. The capital is named after Gaga, where every year people around the country gather together to have a memorial of him. They then later proceed to the Gaga Shrine, which locates about 2000 miles west from the capital, 525 degrees north and 350 degrees east. On this special event, people would use the main road system that leads the four main cities toward the capital, even though normally they would travel by clouds as transportation; the clouds often suddenly precipitate which cause a variety of accidents throughout the country. Those four cities include Mooney – the largest port city, Sleepy – another port city, Cloudy – a port & exploitation city, and Pinky – a port city. Each city has one hospital and one agora so that those will support human’s needs. All of them locate on 0 sea levels and near the sea coasts as well as the Pinky Sugary River. The highest elevation includes Mt. Lolli, in which people from Pinky and Sleepy have to go through in order to reach the capital. 

        The Pinky Sugary River starts from Gaga Shrine and spreads north east across the country where it ends up meeting the Wet Land, and south east where it ends up flowing into the Lagonspolin Ocean. Facing the oceans, the port cities provides adequate boats for traveling to foreign countries such as Gongoozler, Spongie Spunge, and Linsey – Woolsey order to trade and exchange ideas: education, religion, etc; exchange goods: silk, fabric, spices, cotton, etc.

        In the past, Lalaland people just spent the whole day eating, gossiping at the agora, sleeping, or checking into the hospital. They were really lazy and mainly got the food resource by ordering Spongie Spunge people to fish the cotton fish from the seas and exploit the Cotton Mines region. Nowadays, they do the same thing yet but their own labor. The Cotton Mines region locates near the North West coast and is ever famous for its splendid cotton - deposited from the dead cotton fish. Cotton Mines region is not only a physical geography or an environmental geography, but also a human geography and an economic geography because many countries crave for this resource.

        Lalaland has different types of precipitation throughout the year, including: hailstone, rain, fog, etc Even though those cause various accidents and death, yet sometimes is helpful for the Lorda Forest that locates 650 degrees north and 600 degrees east. A lot of wild animals live there, including gryphon, Pegasus, unicorn, and jackalope. People never disturb these animals, though their population remains balanced due to hailstones.

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Blog Entry #4 - Study Guide

Posted by Unknown , Thursday, September 2, 2010 3:21 AM


Study Guide
MAPS:
1.       Physical – shows the physical features of the earth
2.       Political – shows the countries
3.       Thematic – shows different types of themes, including: resources, climate, road, economic, etc

5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY:
1.       Location – where things exactly are based on the longitude & the latitude
2.       Place – describing the physical & human characteristics of a location
3.       Region – a bigger place with similar physical & human characteristics
4.       Movement – how things (humans, ideas, goods) go from place to place across the planet
5.       Human/Environment Interaction – how humans adapt to the environment & how the environment adapts to humans

6 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS – HELP GEOGRAPHERS UNDERSTAND PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS ON THE EARTH:
1.       The world in spatial terms – by studying locations of places using maps, this helps geographers understand physical and human patterns
2.       Places and regions – geographers look for characteristics of places and then compare their similarities and differences
3.       Physical systems – geographers study changes in the Earths surface; where and why people choose to live in certain locations
4.       Human systems – by studying human settlement patterns and use of resources, this helps geographers explain human interactions and lifestyles
5.       Environment and society – geographers study how people interact with the environment and how they use resources
6.       The uses of geography – by studying patterns and processes in the world, this helps people understand the past and plan for the future

HOW FORCES CONTINUALLY CHANGE EARTH’S SURFACE

WHAT IS CULTURE? :
1.       History, tradition, religion, government, costumes, education, trade, environment, nature, everything around us, etc

VOCABULARY:
1.       Geography – study of people, places, and environments
2.       Environment – physical surroundings of a location
3.       Location – where things exactly are based on the longitude & the latitude
4.       Spatial – referring to where a place is located and its physical relationship to other places, people, or environments
5.       Place – describing the physical and human characteristics of a location
6.       Region – an area that has similar physical & human characteristics
7.       Map – a representation of a part of the Earth
8.       Globe – a model of the earth in the shape of a sphere
9.       Surveyor – a person who measures the land
10.   Remote sensing – obtaining information about a site by using an instrument that is not physically in contact with the site
11.   Landsat – a series of information – gathering satellites that orbit above Earth
12.   Global Positioning System (GPS) – a system that uses a network of Earth – obtaining satellites to pinpoint location
13.   Geographic Information System (GIS) – a computer – or Internet – based mapping technology
14.   Database – a collection of information that can be analyzed
15.   Location analyst – a person who studies an area to find the best location for a client
16.   Urban planner – a person who creates plans for developing and improving parts of a city
17.   Climatologist – a geographer who studies climates
18.   Geomorphology – the study of how the shape of the Earth changes
19.   Cartographer – a geographer who creates maps

GEOGRAPHY’S JOBS:
1.       Location analyst
2.       Land surveyor
3.       Urban planner
4.       Climatologist

HOW TO READ A MAP? USING:
1.       Compass, scale, legend, resources, elevation

TOOLS:
1.       Global Positioning System (GPS) – a system that uses a network of Earth – obtaining satellites to pinpoint location
2.       Geographic Information System (GIS) – a computer – or Internet – based mapping technology
3.       Remote sensing – obtaining information about a site by using an instrument that is not physically in contact with the site
4.       Map – a representation of a part of the Earth
5.       Irrigation system

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Blog Entry #3 - What I Have Learned From The Family Tree Project

Posted by Unknown , 2:33 AM


        By doing the 'Family Tree' Project, it not only reminded me of the times that I've been through with my family and how I've been growing to become the me right now, but it also helped me understand and appreciate other classmate's family cultures more. Personally, I was amazed by my own process of growth for what I’ve been through were really challenging. The biggest change ever was when I entered AIS. This school has been helping me to become a more confident person with more worthy knowledge, which miraculously took away part of my fear of being lonely and useless. However, I’ve also realized that I have to face a new challenge, for the US culture has caused my Mom and me numerous fights. In her perspectives, Mom thinks that I should only care about my family and she expects me to look up for traditional issues. While at school, I’ve been taught that friends are really important for your social health, and being open to modern ideas are essential because that makes you a better person. Also, since my Mom doesn’t speak and understand English well, it’s really hard for me to explain every single thing to her.
        In addition, I also acknowledge that the conversion in my religion was also a big step in my 14 – year old – live, for faith made me become more calm and peaceful. I actually went through a pretty hard time when I was in grade 4 -  when my friends discriminated me, and grade 5 – when I couldn’t manage my stress and had to take half of the year of. After that year, I had to start over my 5th grade life, and therefore I had to face a lot of changes since I was one year older comparing to my peers. I had to change the way I normally communicated with my friends, and I had to accept the fact that some of them think that I failed so I had to retake the grade. Anyway, since I converted into Christianity, I don’t care what people say and how they feel about me anymore. But yes, if there are positive comments I’ll listen to them, but in general, I just know that I’ve always been doing my best in everything and therefore should feel satisfied. Speaking of spiritual issues like this, it reminds me of how fascinating God is, for he changed not only my life but my each member of my family’s, too. It’s really important for me because what involves my family influences me. By doing this project just made me feel prouder about how my family has been supporting me even when sometimes we made bad choices, and that motivated me to think that I’m a really lucky person to having been born in the society of being loved and supported.


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