nicolewmrt09's Blog

In Chapter 5, I learned a lot. The most important thing I learned in this chapter was how the fur trade influenced the economy at the time. Trapping for furs and selling them was great, and made them a lot of money, until all the animals started running out. Once this happens, of course the result is loss in money because everyone stopped buying furs. I think we can learn about how to help the economy today by this event in history. It can help us plan for the future.

In Chapter four, the things I’ll remember most, would be the Lewis and Clark Expedition. I think this was extreemly important. Some of the things that I find important about it is that, if Lewis and Clark didn’t explore this area, nobody would have ever found Washington or the Pacific Northwest. This area would have remained undiscovered until someone else came along. Lewis and Clark also started a revaltion, traveling as long as they did was unheard of. But once Lewis and Clark did, other people started doing the same. This allowed a lot more people to discover things we never knew were there.

In chapter 3, the things that I’ll remember most is/are the differences between the Platuea and Coastal indian ways.  What I learned is that the Coastal indians and the Plateua indians lived very differently. They had differences, such as how the Coastal society was very strict compared to the Platuea. They had strict social ranks, while the Plateaus had more of  a democracy.  This was an important part of our state’s history becaus it plays into our social structure now. Maybe the  parts of the state where the Coastal indians were is still a little more stricter than the Plauteua parts? Plus, it teaches us about govornment now, such as how congress works.

In the Washinton State History unit this week, the thing that I’ll remember most is Bretz discovering how the Scablands were formed.  What I learned is that at first, nobody believed him, and it was hard because he was almost sure he was right and his theory made sense, but the geologists didn’t believe it.  This was an important part of our state’s history because I think it shows that if you have a good idea, stick to it regardless of weather people believe you at first. Because you might have just discovered something important that nobody ever realized!

For this research, I feel like I have done one of the best jobs I have dont in a while on the computer. At first it was hard for me to get used to all these websites and the usernames and the passwords and all that, and it still is, but I think I handeled it better this time and managed to do a pretty good job! So the process was definitly something good. As for the work itself, I feel like I also did a good job. My favorite part was making it pretty with all the colors and stuff, and I feel like I got s TON of info from using Diigo. It’s one of the easier websites to use, and I thought that was cool. I got a ton of info that I would have never gotten if I was just reading books and stuff. The only thing I think I could have improved on, is the actual quality of my writing. This doesn’t have to do with Social Studies, but I think I might need to work on how to write an essay using info from other websites, without sounding exactly like the person who wrote it originaly. The best part of my final project is definitly all the awesome details I had! It was so cool that I had all those details. If I had to do it over again, I would have started researching earlier and spent less time trying to figure out the whole wiki thing. I just used Word, and it was easier. The proccess with all the websites is, ok. I think I might need to get used to having all those usernames/passwords to remember, and which website does what, and all the URL’s. But overall it was fine. Something I dislike is the rush of being on a computer for so long. I feel really really rushed when Im in the lab and not in the classroom actually writing on paper, because I know I’ll have to log off soon. Overall this project was fun, and I feel like I learned a ton!

I think that using the Dabbleboard website for our posters was confusing. I personally would have much rather done it just on paper, in person, with our partners. I think we would have been able to collaberate ideas alot better this way, and we would have gotten alot more work done in half the time. If the website had problems, we couldn’t work on it. If the chat feature was slow, we couldn’t work on it. I think next time we should just stick to paper and pencil in person with our partners…

I don’t feel like I learned alot about the 5 Pillars of Islam because we spent so much time trying to figure out the website. But, I did learn some things. I learned about how Zakat is giving the the poor and how Muslims do this  to help them if they are in poverty. I also learned about how Siyam is fasting. I didn’t know that they could break their fast with dates, though. I was wondering how they survived, but now I know. I learned about how they pray 5 times a day and it’s called Salat which is the 2nd pillar.

On this project, I think I did well on the drawing. For not being a good artist, I think it was better than some other things I’ve done. I also think my summaries worked well and they were the right length and had accurate information. One thing I could have done differently on the summaries was having more detail in them. I wanted to do this, but eventually I ran out of room on the page because I made the font too big on my computer. That’s one of the only thing I would have done different. Oh, and I’d remember to make my angel have wings. My work habbits on this project were good. I worked on it a little each day and in the end, I had a couple extra days! Muhammad’s influence on the Arabian Peninsula was something I learned about through this project. I learned that if it weren’t for Muhammad, the Arabian Penininsula wouldnt be the same place it was, and the religion of Muslum would’t exist. He gave the people of the A.P. a great prophet to look up to and to learn from. Lastly, I like projects better than quizzes. With quizzes, I got nervous and completely forget everything because it’s so stressful for me. But with a project, I can learn from it slowly and work at my own pace. Plus, its more fun because you get to color! I learn WAAAAY more from projects than from quizzes. Quizzes are just a couple of questions, whereas with a project, you can learn slowly, over a couple of days, and you end up learning way more.

To survive in the Arabian Peninsula, you need to know some certain things. To adapt to the different environments, you must follow certain guidelines. Follow the guidelines below to thrive in the Arabian Peninsula.

In the desert, there are many things you need to know. First of all, bring fresh rainwater with you because it rains infrequently. Also, bring warm clothes for the nightime when it drops below zero. Wear loose clothing, this will help you keep cool in the 120 degree weather in the daytime.

Living in the Oases, there are also many things you need to know. You must dig a well, to get water. Also, grow some fruit! There’s plenty of water for that. Also, bring your camels along because there’s plently of water for them to drink.

On the Coastal Plains, there are also many things you need to know. First of all, this is a good place to build some terraces, so you’ll need to know how to do that. Use some palm wood to build a house!

Lastly, if you want to live in the moutains, there are also many things to know. First, you should build your houses of mud bricks. This is because there aren’t many other things to build your house out of and you can build it out of mud bricks easily. Second, rain falls regularly and the weather isn’t too hot or cold, so if you’re traveling and want a place to grow food, this is a good place.

Overall, if you want to live in the Arabian Peninsula, you have many options. Just remember these tips to live in them sucessfully.

Dear Mom and /or Dad,

The first trimester of 7th grade has gone really well for me so far. In math, I’ve learned so many new things, I’m surprised I still remember it all! I know way more than I thought, and it’s super duper challenging, which I love. I’m glad I got into Pre-Algebra. In SS, it’s pretty much the same thing. I like all the things were learning and I’m always excited to learn something new. We’ve learned about the Middle Ages. We’ve learned about the churches and religion in the middle ages and kings, monarchs, knights and serfs. We also learned about the Fall of Rome and what caused it, such as the bubonic plague. Gym has gone pretty well. We did volleyball and I like the fitness center, with the treadmills. Band has been my all-time favorite class, with new music to learn and stuff, and practicing has been way more easy for me. I like LA, even though its challenging, and we’ve leanred lots of basic writing skills, along with Latin. And science… Has been good, but I wish we learned the things we learned, such as different types of rocks, in a different way. Taking notes doesn’t help me process it – It just goes from eyes to pencil – it feels like doesn’t go past my brain. But overall, my classes are good. I feel like I’ve done well in getting my work done and my grades are proving that well. Some of the things I’ve done to make that happen are using my eagle book, like it’s my LIFE! There is NOTHING I dont weite down in there. I’ll even write something down if I already did it – Like a soccer practice or a movie – to remember it. I’ve also been making flash cards for EVERYTHING, and this seriously helps me memorize things like rocks for science, and Latin. Overall, I love 7th grade so far, and I’m excited for 2nd trimester!

From Nicole

1) I feel like I’ve done the pictures best on my church poem. Thinking of symbols that represent things is something I’m good at, and I think I did well at drawing the pictures, boarder, and iluminated letters.

2) If I had the chance to do it over again, I’d probably make the sentences flow together better and boarder more detailed.

3) The most helpful teaching tool for me would have been the peice of paper with all the information on it that we got on the first day. This is because I could look back at it any time if I needed a reference, without asking.

4) One thing I wanted Mr. T to know is that it would be nice to warn everyone that we will have time to work on it in class. What happened to me was that I spent a ton of time at home working on it (because I didnt know we’d have time in class to work on it) and then I was all done halfway through the week, and had nothing to do in class. One more thing is, if you’re planning on changing the due date from Friday to Monday, maybe the people who were actually finished on Friday could get extra credit? That way they dont feel like they’ve worked hard for nothing. But overall it was a great project!