Blog post #3

Was Caesar a dictator or a reformer?




There are many points that Caesar was a good Reformer of the city state Rome but there were also a lot of bad things which describe Caesar as an ambitious dictator. I believe that Caesar was an ambitious dictator. Here is a quote from an article, "He kept hidden any facts that did not make him look brave or intelligent." In this quote you can see that Caesar must have had a lot of bad sites and that he wasn't as good as it says in all the books that we read today. The books that we are using today only show the good things about him. Also Caesar lowered the senate to make sure he alone is the ruler of Rome. He thinks that he can handle it and shows how much he believes in himself and how he treats others. Caesar would never give someone the glory. As you can see, the popularity of Caesar did not make a good person out of him. Caesar is an ambitious Dictator. 

Blog post #2

 Explain in detail how the geography and climate of the Italian peninsula affected the development of ancient Rome.

Ancient Rome was build on seven hills. That was good because when someone attacked Rome that had to climb up the hills. Rome's hills where mostly flat on the top and so that was perfect for farming or building something on there. Therefore Italians where better farmers than Greek. Also there were Mountains around Italy so if someone tried to attack they had to cross the mountains first. Rome was built so far away from the sea so that the pirates would not come that far, but Rome was able to trade over the sea. The climate of Rome was also very good for farming. It was very hot. Rome was the perfect city for farming. 

Legends of Rome

First Legend:
Once there were two brother called Remus and Romulus. Both were raised by a wolf. Romulus loved built so he decided to built a city. That was 1000 years ago. Remus made fun of his brother and so Romulus killed him. After he spent a lot of time building the city he decided to call it after him, "Rome." Later the Latins came and made the city better.

Second Legend:
Virgil was a poet who wrote about a hero called Aeneas. Aeneas and his followers sailed over the Mediterranean sea after they lost the battle in Sparta. They came to Rome and married the King's daughter. Aeneas and his friends brought the Latins. That is how the second legend goes.

Blog post #6

Alexander the Great
Humanities
By Philipp

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was the son of King Philip. When Philip was ruling Alexander had a very good military career. Alexander did not know that he is going to be the new king so soon. Philip got murdered when Alexander was only 20 years old. Philip was a very smart ruler. Alexander was as brilliant as his father.

I think that Alexander the Great was a great ruler because he conquered a lot of cities. He was very smart and knew how to rule all these cities at once. It is really hard to rule a lot of conquered cities and he did it well. Alexander let his conquered cities feel free. He let them their religion if they would learn a bit about Greek religion. He invested a lot of money to his conquered cities. He made the cities look like Athens.
Alexander died when he was 33 years old. After his death none of the next rulers where able to handle all his conquered cities. Nobody could do anything like Alexander died. Alexander created the largest empire in the Hellenistic time period. Hellenistic means "Greek like."


There was one quote that I really liked. It is at the beginning of the textbook. According to the historian Plutarch Alexander said, "What a horse they are losing, and all because they don't know how to handle him, or dare not try." I think that this quote means that Alexander knows how to do it and that he wants to teach everyone how to handle that horse. I think that he also means that you should not be scared. In this quote you can see Alexander's personality. I think that Alexander gets angry fast and that he wants to teach people. He wants to be a ruler.

A day as an Athenian

I am a seven year old boy and a started school last week and I love it. Today I stood up at seven o'clock and then we ate all together breakfast. I have one brother and one sister. My sister always works with my mom and helps her a lot. My father just went to the Agora like everyday. My mom and my sister making our clothes right now and later they will be baking some bread. My mom is a bit annoyed because she has to do the same thing everyday. Our house is huge and we live in luxury. Tonight my father will invite some friends to our house, but only man. The have to eat in a special room. Once my father showed me and my brother that room because we will have to do that too when we are older. I can't wait until I am as old as my father is right now. Then I am a free Athenian. That is what we normally do on Saturdays at home.

The Spartan Way

From Junior Scholastic

By Sean Price

Sparta was the strongest city state in ancient Greece for more than 200 years. It dominated Greece. That was because of the army that they had. Spartan men had to join the army when they were seven. They were not allowed to show pain and the boys did not even live with their family. The government was as nice to the little Spartan boys as to their slaves and if the boys did something bad they got whipped and were not allowed to show any pain. The army barely gave them any food so they had to steal provision, which means that they had to steal food and other supplies. Man in Sparta could leave the army when they were 30 years old.

   In Sparta they had oligarchy unlike in Athens where they had democracy. In Sparta there were few records to study for the historians. Sparta had a very strict government. When there was a baby born one of the eldest came to look at the baby. If it did not look strong enough then it was left behind on a mountain side to die. If you want to be a government leader you need to be over 60 years old.
Here is one quote why the Spartans were so strong: "After eating the spartan food I understand why they were so willing to die in the battle." I like this quote because it is funny and it describes how the Spartans had to live. They did not live in luxury. You can see that from this quote. This quote was by a visitor.
Sparta´s end was when the city state Thebes crushed the city. That was 371 B.C.

Minoan and Mycenaean Empire

a) Briefly describe both civilizations.


The Mycenaen and the Minoan civilizations had a lot of similarities. Both for example used the same tools and they were made out of bronze but Mycanaens also made swords and tools for wars. It is also very interesting that they made jewelry. For the rich kings and other rich people they even made jewelry out of gold. They also made king's chariots out of gold. The Mycenaean buried the dead kings and nobles with their gold things.
Both cultures made places. They built them out of stone and the kings lived in there. They were nicely decorated. In the Mycenaean civilization only the noble people and kings were allowed to enter the palaces. In the Minoan civilization everybody was allowed to enter the palaces. The Mycenaean palace was a place to hide if some attacks. That's why the walls were very thick and high. At the time when there was a war everybody was allowed to be in the palace. The Minoan and Mycenaean made their houses out of mud-brick. There were many other similarities and differences between these two civilizations.

b) What aspects of both civilizations would you expect to survive in later periods of history?


There are not that many things that we have from the past but there are some. I think that the ones survived which were buried with the kings because they were underground. Also there were where stories that were told and then a lot of people wrote them down. Some of them might have put them in a pot and that's how this survived. I think that some of the huge palaces they made survived because they are to heavy to get destroyed, also they were made out of stone which won't fall apart as fast as other materials. Like Stonehenge. The stones were so heavy that nothing happened to it and now it is still there.

OLYMPIC GAMES:


  Here is a picture of the stadium in the Ancient Greece.

Nobody knows id there was something like the Olympic Games. There are only some articles which tell about them. These writings were written by the ancient Greek poets. One tells about a famous chariot race which was held close to Mount Olympus. The king who ruled this race was  called Enamaus. According to the legend the king said: "The first one who can find her and escape with her father in a chariot can marry the daughter." There were thirteen man who tried to find her. For some reason the axle of the king's chariot broke and the king died by falling on the ground and breaking his neck. Pelops was the one who cut the axle and so he got king and married the king's daughter.
There were many other Olympic Games and they had different competitions. These were for example footrace, chariot races, wrestling, boxing, and many more brutal things They were called Pancratium. Horrible things happened at these events. People killed each other by trying to cheat like Pelops or they just fell of the chariot, etc...
Later the Olympic Games got more important and famous because Greece ruled a lot of parts of the world so the Olympic Games were known everywhere. People from different countries came to watch. Therefore the Olympic Games got more advanced and they made more competitions. For example animals against animals fighting or a fight between human and animal and fights between gladiators which leaded to death.
When Greece got destroyed by the barbarian the Olympic Games stopped. They destroyed the city and also the stadium and fields of the Olympic Games. After that there were also some earthquakes and a river flooded through the stadiums. That was the last time they saw the Olympic Games and a every evidence was destroyed. Until now there were no Olympic Games.

blog post #2

a) What values were most important to the early Greek and why were they considered important?

They were: Athleticism, Hospitality, Intuition, Ingenuity, Justice, Loyalty, Respect and Teamwork.
They were so important to the Greek because all their heroes and gods were like this. In Greek myths about heroes you can often find these values. For example in Homer's writing "the Odyssey" you can find a lot of these values when there is a part with a god or hero.

b) In what way are early Greek values found in the modern society?

In life people are trying to become something big. You need these values when you work for something. If you have all these values then are good organized. For example if you are a soccer player you need these values: Teamwork, Respect, Athleticism and Intuition. If you are an architecture then you need these ones: Ingenuity, Intuition and also Hospitality. Without Hospitality nobody would like to buy your building.
Also we use these values in a different way in our school.

End of year refleciton

From now on I have one hour to go through early India. It is very dirty and I see people crying. I walk to them to see what is happening and there are to people in white clothes walking around a dead body. They are talking whirred and put some oil on the body. I smells really bad up to the point where they put the oil on. Now they take the body to a river called Ganges and bath him in there. The man in white is still talking whirred stuff. After the bath they put him on wood and from that part on I did not want to look anymore. The wood is burning with the dead body on it. I can remember that I read a newspaper article in my life before I decided to travel to this place. It said that they are burning the body for recarnation. That means that they want that the dead body get reborn. The is even a wheel for the cycle of reborn and it is called samsara. This religion is called Hinduism. But when they die it is not their end. The people just work hard to get reborn good next life. This is just crazy. The people really think that he is going to life again. But now the dead man's family is not sad anymore. Maybe the guy worked hard and that would mean that he would be reborn as in a good life. Now they put hay over the almost finished burning man. I think this is just to make the fire bigger. The body is ash now. The people don't put out the fire although there is no body visible. I guess somewhere else a mother got birth to a baby and that is the man who just died. My time is over and I open my eyes again. The time did not change here in my old life and I am happy to be back.

Taj Mahal

Once upon a time there was a girl and a prince. The prince was called Shah Jahan and prince Khurram. The orince did not fell in love with any girl. The girl was the persian princess Mumztaz Mahal. The prince was so in love with her that they married and became children. At the time the princess got a her 14th child the prince said he is going to built something for her. This building was the Taj Mahal. 


The Taj Mahal is the most beautiful monument in India. The Taj Mahal was built in Agra and it is 171 meters high. The cultural monument was built in 1632 to 1653.

Right effort

One of the things that the Buddha teaches you is right effort. Without trying and effort you won't achieve anything. If you are a very mental person and if you can concentrate on things that you can achieve effort. Sometimes it is really hard to work on something that you don't like. That's why you need to be a mental person. Sometimes you are interested in the project but next to there are people playing games and you want to watch them. That's why you need to concentrate to get good effort. 

It is hard to show full effort for me. Sometimes I just don't feel like working now. I think that you don't get good grades because you are smart. I think that you get good grades because you show effort and try everything. If you have effort you can almost be happy with everything.

Mohenjo Daro

This city is a mystery. Mohenjo Daro is a cleanliness city. Archaeologists found out that they had a great civilization. The people of mohenjo Daro had all the same size of houses and none of the houses was better than the others. That means that there was no government, leader or king. Mohenjo Daro also had a drainage sysem. Each resident had his own bath, which is attached to the drainage system. Here you can see how smart the people of Mohenjo Daro were. They also traded with other city.
For Archaeologists this ruin of a city is mystery. Nobody knows how it got destroyed until one theory came up. The city might be destroyed by a river which flooded. Many scientists try to find out more about Mohenjo Daro but that's hopeless. This city is a mystery and will always be one.

Compare all three maps:

1)  How do physical features, climate and elevation relate to each other?
The only different I found at the beginning was that one is 3-dimensional and the others are flat. Basically they are all really similar. If  you would not know what the colors mean you would say that they are the same.
I saw something similar. You don't need a climate map to find out the climate. If you look on the elevation map, you can see the height of India. As everybody knows if it is higher then the climate is colder. That means that the Himalayas are really cold and that's what the climate map also says.

2)What conclusions can you draw?
In conclusion I would say that the maps are very similar to each other. They look the same only that there is one 3-dimensional. I found it interesting that you can find out the climate without using a climate map.

Hanuman

Hanuman the monkey god 

Hanuman is an Indian god who looks like a monkey. In India they have a lot of gods but now I will write about the monkey god. Some people believe that he was the son of a king and the queen of the monkeys. But Hanuman can also fly that's why other people believe that he is the son of Anjana, who is a female tha has turned into a monkey, and of the wind god. That's why he can fly the wind god gave him the skill. The problem was that Hanuman was a monkey and monkeys are normally not useful. Hanuman was pestering the saints in the forests. This is a little information about the monkey god Hanuman. 

Ancient Egypt reflction

The IB learner profile:

Communicators: I had to communicate with my partner for the map a lot. We also tried to communicate with other groups to find something out we did not know. Without the communication that would have been a bad project for us.

Knowledgeable: I knew a lot about Egypt because I already studied it in my old school so I just had to remember it. I liked the project where we had to teach the students because I had to write an essay and I was in Egypt. We learned a lot in Egypt and I had to write about their daily life(Entertainment). I saw a wedding and so it was easy for me to write the essay. Now I am very knowledgeable about the Egyptian life and about their history.

Open-minded: I am open minded because I love to learn about other cultures and how they live. That's why I wanted to write about the Egyptian life. I think I made a good essay because I wanted to learn about the Egyptian daily life. That's what makes me open-minded.

Risk taker: I am a risk taker because I want to try everything I can even when I am not that good at stuff. I don't care if I do something wrong because on the next day it will be forgotten so I just try.

Approaches to Learning Categories:

Collaborative: This is like open-minded so I took it. I also took it because I ask a lot of question my partner and we discussed a lot at the group project. I always discuss with my partner about something.

Communication: I was not presenting but I know that I am never or just a bit nervous when I have to present. I actually enjoy presenting to the class.   

Homework: My five questions:

1) Is it possible to find a mummy in a moor?
2) What kind of ornaments do the Egyptians put in the grief?
3) Why do embalm the humans when they are dead?
4) Where do they put it, so that it doesn't get destroyed?
5) Who embalmed the humans which are dead? Which civilization?

Egyptians

The definition of a mummy:

A body which is embalmed for an burial in preservations like an old Egyptian would do it. They put the king in a pyramid when he did. 

What are some reasons people were intentionally mummified?

They probably did this because they wanted to know why the Egyptian put the dead persons in a mummy. They could learn about the mummies and about the people. Probably they also could know how their body was and what they ate. I think that is why the archaeologists try to find a mummy, they want to study their body. Sometimes the Egyptian put some other culture ornaments or food in the grief. So the archaeologists can find something out for her culture. 

What are the features of the natural environment can cause to be mummified unintentionally?

The grass(other plants or grain) won't grow their where the mummy is. You can see that form an helicopter. 

In what parts of the world have mummies been found?

Mummies have been found all over the world. A lot of mummies were found in Egypt.

In what types of places(physical geography&climate) have mummies been found?

If there is a very cold place and a human would die there, the mummy would probably survive because of the cold climate. Mummies can also be found in a moor because it won't fall apart in the moor. 

How did ancient Egyptians preserve their dead?

At first they take out some body parts such as the lungs, brains and stomach. Then they embalm the mummy with salt everywhere(inside and outside). The next thing they do is that they put the mummy in a pottery incubator. They close the incubator and making a whole on the top of the incubator. After that they do something strange they put the incubator on fire. Then if the Hot air gets the right temperature. After that they have to close the incubator tightly. Then they put the incubator in the sun outside. The last step they do is that they perfume the body and then wrap clothes around it. They put it on a safe place.

Why do you think ancient Egyptians took such care to embalm their dead if the desert could do the job for them?

They believed in a life after the dead. They had special gods for the life after the dead. They want to make the mummy ready so that it will be save for the next life. 

  

Group project:

Here is a picture of our group's poster:



The poster was made by Maria, Eliza and Philipp. This poster was about the Persian Empire.

Unit reflection 


1.
    a) The domestication of plants and animals 


I learned that the people learned a lot about plants and animals.
They made their life easier by domesticating animals and plants.
They learned how to use the animals like goats. With the goats they made milk and other products.
They also used they fur of the goats.
They learned which plants can be eaten and which not.
They had an own garden for their plants.
   
    b) The transition from hunter-gatherer communities to the first civilizations?


The people began to care about the city and their other people.
The made a leadership to control the land. They all had different jobs. They invited different technologies to make their jobs easier. One good technique was their channels. With the channels they could bring the water to the field if the river is far away. After an time they had different ranks. King, priest, army leader were some of the higher ranked.
The people who worked on the fields were the lower ranking. They began to make an army. They also started making their own solar system. Another big thing is that they made a wheel. They also made their own jewelry...



    c) Early religion and beliefs?


The people began to have priest. The priest were on of the higher ranking. So the priest wanted their temples.
The people began to build temples and they all had a religion. They believed in many gods. They thought if they go to temple and pray they will make good work on their field. If they made bad work on their field then they thought that the god doesn't like them any more or he is angry. They also made drawing at the beginning they drew in caves but then they started carving religion gods (they drew how they think the god look like) in the stones.

2. Imagine someone saying to you, "Learning about the Sumerians isn't very 
    important since they're long gone!" What would you tell them in order to change their mind?


If we don't learn about the Sumerians we don't know what happened in the past. It is interesting how the people developed. 
I think if we don't learn about the past we will have problems in the future. 
We know when it was ice age and maybe we can find out when the next one will be if we know when it was in the past.


3. Include at least 2 visuals in your post (photograph, drawing, map, table/chart...)


           This is a temple made by the Sumerian. That was for their religion.

This is a wheel made by the Sumerian. It was invented by Asians, around 8,000 B.C.

From earliest times, people have changed their environments. How have people today changed their environment. Discuss both the good and the bad.

Before us the people changed their environment by settling down. The people of today have changed their environment by a lo of things. They made products which are recyclable like plastic bottles. We also changed our environment by building cars. That wasn't  good for the environment. Now we have problem with the global warming. If we drive a car or do deforestation in Brazil CO2 will go in the atmosphere and the global will get warmer.

But there is another good thing: Now all the people know what happens with the earth, so we start to be nicer to the environment. The big consulting are making a lot of things that help the environment.

It would be much better if everybody would do his work online so that they don't need paper. If we use to much paper than there will be less trees in the world. If there is no more paper than people have to cut down more trees.

The good thing that we have changed is that we have some conservation areas for animals and for plant.