Australia & New Zealand

We've done all the reading and now it's time for our latest social studies project. I am going to post some links on this page to help you research your elements and create your travel campaign. I hope someday you can actually visit all of the attractions you are about to discover!

Welcome to Africa!

Wow, it's been a while! We've left the ancient times and moved on to world geography. Did you find it interesting to study the Egypt of 3,000 years ago, then to learn about the Egypt of today? If the Nile River could talk, she'd have some amazing stories to share. She has experienced many changes in her lifetime, but some traditions have remained the same. Think about your own life span. What has changed and what has remained? Pretend you are ninety years old and reflecting back on your life. Make a prediction: What things will have changed? What will remain from your childhood?

Happy Vacation!

You have a few tasks to complete before you start your vacation. Use your checklist to stay organized and on task. You will need to turn in your checklist at the end of class.

First, visit the "Tomb Building" link. Plan your journey into the afterlife by carefully reading each page and following the directions. Do not check off this task until you have completed a successful afterlife planning session. It's okay to try a few times if you don't make it on your first attempt. Be sure to read the recommendations on the page to help you make better decisions on your second (or third) turn.

The next task is to visit the culturegrams link. Go to the section for "subscribers." I will give you the username and password in class. Please visit South America and check out the country links. Look for interesting topics like, "famous people" and "photo gallery." Use your checklist to record anything interesting to share with the class.

Third, I would love to hear from you. Please comment to this blog today. Tell me your thoughts on Social Studies class lately. Did you enjoy the mummy project?

If you have extra time check out the "geography games" link. Choose South America and run the country tutorial first. When you have studied the country locations, try level one. You can keep track of your improvement with your scores. Try to come up with strategies to help remember the country locations.

Keep track of your progress on your checklist. You will need to turn it in at the end of today's class. Have fun!

Hammurabi's Code

We recently learned about Hammurabi and his code. Here are some examples of Hammurabi's laws:

If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.

If any one bring an accusation of any crime, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if a capital offense charged, be put to death.

If any one steal cattle or sheep, the theif shall pay thirtyfold. If the sheep belonged to a freed man of the king, then the theif shall pay tenfold. If the theif has nothing with which to pay, he shall be put to death.

What do you think of Hammurabi's laws?

Entering Mesopotamia

Welcome to our blog page. We are off to a great start this year. I've enjoyed our study of early humans and the beginnings of civilizations. You did a wonderful job on your Power Point Projects and now it's time to blog. I want to remind you to write as if you were passing this paper in for a grade. You need to edit your typing before you publish your response. Sign your response with your first name and last initial only, not your full name. Please take the time to read your classmates comments when they are posted. We will discuss the comments in class. I am going to start you off with something easy. I want you to write about your opinion of Social Studies class this year. What do you like about it? Dislike? Wish? We have finished one project and one chapter to date. What would you do again? What would you change? In the next chapter, we will study ancient Mesopotamia. We will do a newsletter project. What are your hopes for that section? Take some time to think and write your comment. It should be about as long as my post. Please remember to capitalize, use punctuation, and edit your work. I look forward to reading your thoughts.

Welcome to our class blog. We will use this page to share information and continue class discussions and assignments. Be on the lookout for future assignments and links to be posted on this page. I'm looking forward to the many adventures we will share in Social Studies this year! Please leave comments and suggestions for things to be included in this blog. I look forward to reading your ideas.