Reminder

You have two quizzes this week.  Tomorrow's quiz is on your notes from chapter 5 section 2.  Friday's quiz will be on the North america map.  If you need the notes from this week, click this link and go to the handouts folder:

http://edweb.pylusd.org/echo/portal/public/files.aspx?un=sshen&dc=082&sc=ca&site=0220

Good Luck!

Friday Fun Discussion

Pizza vs Burgers.  You can only have one of the two for the rest of your life.  Choose!

Discuss!

We don't think of Japan as being an especially isolated place today.  Japan trades with the world and tourism both to and from is wide spread.  But it wasn't always that way.  Japan's geographic isolation resulted in developing a unique culture with very few influences from the outside world.  Despite this fact, Japan took a great deal of influence from the neighboring super power of its time, China.  What do you think?  Was Japan more an independent culture or a copy cat of China?  Argue one way or the other and be sure to give an example or two.

Reminder

 Workbook Pages 70-74 will be due on Thursday the 24th.  Don't forget to study your North America map.  Test on that will be next week.  Hit the break for maps of North America.

Discuss!

Harry Potter or Hunger games?  Which one and why?  I look forward to hear your opinions in the comments!  Have a great weekend!

Reminder

South America map test is tomorrow.  Study the entire list for South America including the geographic features.

Here are a couple links to map games you can play online:

http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/
http://www.ilike2learn.com/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/

Happy studying!

Reminder

Your quiz for Chapter 4-4 is tomorrow.  Don't forget to study your notes.  Workbook pages 65-68 are also due tomorrow.

Discuss!

During the Ming Dynasty, China sent an enormous fleet of ships led by Zheng He out to explore the world.  They landed in Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Africa, and some even say North America.  No empire on earth in the 1400s could have even come close to matching their might.  When Zheng He died however, those ships were dismantled or burned to the ground.  Records of the voyages were destroyed, and China's dominance as a world power began to decline.

With very little to show for all this work, do you think these voyages should be celebrated?  Was Zheng He a hero to be commemorated for all time or in the end did his achievements mean nothing?  What do you think?  I look forward to hearing your responses in the comments!

North and South America Maps

We're starting a new map this week!  We're going to do North and South America together because there are fewer items in this part of the world than in previous maps.  We'll start with a test on all of South America on Friday, 1/18.  We'll do North America next week and then we'll have a test on both North and South America the third week.  This is a deceptively difficult map because of the islands in the Caribbean and other geographic features.  Happy studying!  Hit the break (read more) to download the most current maps.  You can also go to my district website by clicking here to download the files there.

Discuss!

For better or worse, the Mongol Empire had an undeniable impact on world history.  Some would argue that Genghis Khan and his successors were blood thirsty barbarians who left a path of destruction in their wake.  Others would say that their impact in world trade and inter culture mixing was their true legacy.  What do you think?  Does the Mongol Empire lean toward the good or bad side of history?  Did Mongol awesomeness outweigh its not so awesomeness?  I look forward to your response in the comments!

Here's a link to the Crash Course we watched in class:  Crash Course: The Mongols 

First Post!

In this increasingly digital age, I'm finding it more and more common for students and teachers to rely on the internet for information regarding schoolwork.  While my Bernardo website here does a great job of getting information out there, I believe that this can be improved in a couple ways.  First and foremost, this blog will be a place to get information on my class regarding homework and other happenings.  More importantly, I hope to be able to engage my classes in more of a discussion in digital form through the comments section.

Please keep in mind I'm not a professional blogger, and I hope that this site will grow with time. Any comments left should be appropriate.  If you're not sure what appropriate means, keep in mind that I will encourage parents to visit this site as well; so don't post anything you wouldn't want your own parents seeing!