G. Mick Smith, PhD, Senior Educational Technology Executive: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmicksmith/
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Yorba Linda Public Library 2008 Teen Film Festival
Free DreamSpark Tools from Microsoft
Microsoft has offered its development and design tools to students for free and in a move announced yesterday the company will open these tools to as many as many as 1 billion high school and college students.
The Microsoft tools, in the DreamSpark program, is available to 35 million college students in the U.S., China, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.
The tools are ones that young people can build a career around or they can just build fun software for themselves. The basics of good software architecture and the data structures have been consistent for the last 30 years and therefore the skills of design and recognizing good code, is a valuable skill to have for the 21st Century.
DreamSpark is available to students of technology, design, math science and engineering, and students can access Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition, Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, and XNA Game Studio 2.0. As a part of the package students are also eligible for a free 12-month academic membership to the XNA Creators Club.
The program will also include Microsoft's Expression Studio design tools, including Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Design and Expression Media. Students also can access SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition and Windows Server Standard Edition for free.
The timetable for roll-out of the program is six months when Microsoft plans to expand DreamSpark to college students in Australia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, and more countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe. The program will be extended to high school students by the third quarter of 2008.
Microsoft works with academic institutions, governments, and student organizations, such as the International Student Identity Card Association, to ensure the necessary local student identity-verification technology infrastructure exists to provide access to DreamSpark.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Birth of Civilization, Video Vocabulary
Birth of Civilization
Name: _________________________________________________________________ Per.: ___________
1. civilization
2. city
3. metropolis
4. monuments
5. transportation
6. urban
7. artifacts
8. scholarship
9. levy
10. amenities
11. origins
12. agriculture
13. peasant
14. Near East
15. Mesopotamia
16. alluvial
17. torrents
18. Sumerian
19. city-state
20. hegemony
21. Sargon
22. Syria
23. Mediterranean
24. centralized
25. Ur
26. ziggarat
27. Persian
28. Nineveh
29. Amorites
30. Hammurabi
31. cultivation
32. Tigris/Euphrates
33. Menes
34. dynasty
35. rural
36. Aswan
37. Indus
38. Pakistan
39. Indo-European
40. Harappa
41. Mohenjodaro (Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan)
42. Huang
43. steppes
44. Shang
45. ritual
46. scribes
47. Babylon
48. Nebuchadnezzar
49. Hanging Gardens
50. Cheops
51. hierarchy
52. differentiation
53. bureaucrats
54. specialization
55. craftsmen
56. utilitarian
57. diadem
58. priests
59. Lagash
60. pictographs
61. cuneiform
62. script
63. Linear A & B
64. calendar
65. formulae
66. equations
67. Crete
68. Minoan
69. Mesomerican
70. metallurgy
71. oligarchy
72. democracy
73. dichotomy
Sunday, February 17, 2008
1950 Original airing of Defense film, "Duck and Cover"
Duck and Cover was a suggested method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear detonation which the United States government taught to generations of United States school children from the late 1940s into the 1980s. This was supposed to protect them in the event of an unexpected nuclear attack which, they were told, could come at any time without warning. Immediately after they saw a flash they had to stop what they were doing and get on the ground under some cover—such as a table, or at least next to a wall—and assume the fetal position, lying face-down and covering their heads with their hands. Similar instructions were given in 1964 in the United Kingdom by Civil Defence Information Bulletin No. 5. and, in the 1980s, by the Protect and Survive series.
Critics have said that this training would be of little, if any, help in the event of thermonuclear war, and had little effect other than promoting a state of unease and paranoia.
The United States' monopoly on nuclear weapons was broken in 1949 when the Soviet Union tested its first nuclear device, and many in the government and public perceived that the United States was more vulnerable than it ever had been before. Duck-and-cover exercises had quickly become a part of Civil Defense drills that every American citizen, from kids to the elderly, practiced so as to be ready in the event of nuclear war. In 1950, during the first big Civil Defense push of the Cold War; the movie Duck and Cover was produced (by the Federal Civil Defense Administration) for school showings in 1951. At the time, it was believed the main dangers of a Hiroshima-type nuclear blast were from heat and blast damage: radioactive fallout itself was not clearly identified until 1954, after the Castle Bravo nuclear-weapon test in the Marshall Islands caused sickness and death in Japanese fishermen on the Lucky Dragon fishing vessel.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Chapter 2 Sections 2-5
Terms, People, and Places
Sargon
Hammurabi
codify
civil law
criminal law
Nebuchadnezzar
barter economy
money economy
Zoroaster
colony
alphabet
Note Taking
Checkpoint (s)
How do civil law and criminal law differ?
Name a significant contribution made by the Hittites, Assyrians, and Babylonians after each group’s conquest in the Middle East.
What are two steps that Darius took to unite the Persian Empire?
How has the Phoenician development of an alphabet been a lasting contribution to civilization?
Map Skills
Money and Economics
HW
SECTION 2 Assessment
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
2. Use your completed table to answer the Focus Question: How did various strong rulers unite the lands of the Fertile Crescent into well-organized empires?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Demonstrate Reasoned Judgment
3. What do you think was the most important achievement of Sargon? Of Hammurabi? Why?
Draw Inferences
4. How do you think the Persian policy of tolerance helped the empire grow so large?
Draw Conclusions
5. One effect of warfare and conquest was that knowledge and beliefs spread among different peoples. How else did people of the ancient Middle East spread their ideas?
EC
Writing About History
Section 3 Kingdom on the Nile
Terms, People, and Places
cataract
delta
dynasty
pharaoh
bureaucracy
vizier
Hatshepsut
Thutmose III
Ramses II
Note Taking
Checkpoint (s)
How did the yearly floods of the Nile influence life in ancient Egypt?
How was Egyptian government structured during the Old Kingdom?
In what ways was the Middle Kingdom turbulent?
What role did Egyptian conquest of others play during Egypt’s New Kingdom?
Map Skills
Biography
For what reasons do you think Hatshepsut wanted to leave a record of her accomplishments?
HW
SECTION 3 Assessment
Reading Skill: Identify Supporting Details
2. Use your completed outline to answer the Focus Question: How did the Nile influence the rise of the powerful civilization of Egypt?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Summarize
3. How did the Nile play a crucial role in uniting Egypt?
Analyze Information
4. What knowledge did Egyptians gain from their conquerors the Hyksos? How do you think this helped them later on?
Draw Conclusions
5. What types of information about ancient Egypt can we learn from colossal monuments such as the Great Pyramids or the building projects of Hatshepsut and Ramses II?
EC
Writing About History
Section 4 Egyptian Civilization
Terms, People, and Places
Amon-Re
Osiris
Isis
Akhenaton
mummification
hieroglyphics
papyrus
decipher
Rosetta Stone
Note Taking
Checkpoint (s)
Which details about the Egyptian gods show the importance of agriculture to Egyptian society?
How did mummification reflect Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife?
Which social class grew in size as a result of trade and warfare?
Describe three advances in learning made by the ancient Egyptians.
What art forms were common in ancient Egypt?
Primary Source
HW
SECTION 4 Assessment
Reading Skill: Identify Supporting Details
2. Use your completed chart to answer the Focus Question: How did religion and learning play important roles in ancient Egyptian civilization?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Predict Consequences
3. Egyptians believed that their pharaohs received the right to rule from Amon-Re. How do you think replacing him with the god Aton would have affected the authority of the pharaohs?
Make Comparisons
4. How do the Book of the Dead and the tomb of Tutankhamen offer different types of information about Egyptian views of the afterlife?
Summarize
5. What jobs were Egyptian women allowed to hold? What jobs were they not allowed to hold?
Analyze Information
6. Considering the materials that ancient Egyptians used to create their writing and art, what do you think are the challenges of locating examples of them today?
EC
Writing About History
Section 5 Roots of Judaism
Terms, People, and Places
monotheistic
Torah
Abraham
covenant
Moses
David
Solomon
patriarchal
Sabbath
prophet
ethics
Diaspora
Note Taking
Checkpoint (s)
How did the beliefs of ancient Israelites differ from those of other nearby peoples?
According to the Torah, where did the Israelites go once they left Egypt? What was special to them about this place?
How did the prophets help Jews uphold the law?
HW
SECTION 5 Assessment
Reading Skill: Identify Supporting Details
2. Use your completed chart to answer the Focus Question: How did the worship of only one god shape Judaism?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Recognize Ideologies
3. Which events recorded in the Torah reflect the Israelite belief that God had a plan for the people of Israel?
Summarize
4. At which points in its early history was Israel unified, divided, or ruled by outsiders?
Categorize
5. What types of laws does Judaism uphold?
EC
Writing About History
Friday, February 08, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Chapter 2 Section 1 City-States of Ancient Sumer
Terms, People, and Places
Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia
Sumer
The Epic of Gilgamesh
hierarchy
ziggurat
cuneiform
Note Taking
Checkpoint (s)
What geographic characteristics made the Fertile Crescent a good place for civilization to develop?
How was Sumerian society structured?
What advances did the Sumerians make in mathematics and astronomy?
Map Skills
The Story of the Stars
HW, SECTION 1 Assessment
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
2. Use your completed concept web to answer the Focus Question: What were the characteristics of the world’s first civilization?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Draw Inferences
3. Sumerians faced significant geographic challenges, such as floods. How do you think facing these challenges played a role in the formation of a strong government?
Determine Relevance
4. How might the invention of cuneiform writing have strengthened Sumerian government and religious practices?
Analyze Information
5. Describe ways in which later peoples built on Sumerian learning. Would this have been possible without the invention of writing?
Writing About History
Friday, February 01, 2008
Freeciv Illustrates Chapter 1, Section 3
Graphic source: Wikimedia Commons.
Freeciv is a multiplayer, turn-based strategy game for workstations and personal computers inspired by the commercial proprietary Sid Meier's Civilization series. The latest stable version of Freeciv is 2.1.3, released on January 23, 2008. The game's default settings are closest to Civilization 2, both in gameplay and graphics (including the units and the isometric grid).
Freeciv is included with most desktop Linux distributions, and continually rated as one of the best available free/open source games. Released under the GNU General Public License, Freeciv is free software.
Description
Players take the role of a tribe leader in 4000 BC and have to guide their people through the centuries. Over time, new technologies are discovered, which allow the construction of new city buildings and the deployment of new units. Players can wage war on one another or form diplomatic relationships.
The game ends when one civilization has eradicated all others, accomplished the goal of space colonization, or at a certain deadline. If more than one civilization remains at the deadline, the player with the highest score wins. Points are awarded for the size of a civilization, its wealth, and cultural and scientific advances.
Freeciv can be downloaded for free here.
Agenda Chapter 1 Section 3 Beginnings of Civilization
Objectives
*
Analyze the conditions under which the first cities and civilizations arose.
*
Outline the basic features that define civilization.
*
Understand the ways in which civilizations have changed over time.
Terms, People, and Places
surplus
traditional economy
civilization
steppe
polytheistic
artisan
pictograph
scribe
cultural diffusion
city-state
empire
Note Taking
Checkpoint (3) in section.
In what ways were river valleys ideal locations for civilizations to develop?
What roles did governments play in early civilizations?
How have different types of challenges encouraged peoples and civilizations to change over time?
SECTION 3 Assessment
Reading Skill: Summarize
2. Use your completed chart to answer the Focus Question: How did the world’s first civilizations arise and develop?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Make Comparisons
3. How were the conditions under which early civilizations developed in Asia and Africa different from those of the Americas?
Synthesize Information
4. In early civilizations, how did religion influence government and social classes?
Identify Central Issues
5. (a) Give three examples of cultural change in early civilizations. Hint(b) Give two examples of cultural diffusion today.
EC
Writing About History
Quick Write: Make an Outline
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Chapter 1 Section 2 Turning Point: The Neolithic Revolution
Terms, People, and Places
Old Stone Age
Paleolithic Period
New Stone Age
Neolithic Period
nomad
animism
Neolithic Revolution
domesticate
Çatalhüyük
Jericho
Note Taking
Checkpoint (3 in section).
What skills did Old Stone Age people develop in order to adapt their surroundings to their needs?
What major lifestyle changes did farming allow people to make?
What new technologies did people invent as a result of agriculture?
HW
SECTION 2 Assessment
Reading Skill: Summarize
2. Use your completed chart to answer the Focus Question: How was the introduction of agriculture a turning point in prehistory?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Predict Consequences
3. How do you think the development of spoken language influenced people’s development of skills and religious beliefs?
Determine Relevance
4. How are our lives today affected by the Neolithic Revolution that occurred 11,000 years ago?
Make Comparisons
5. How was settled village life different from nomadic life? Consider population size, social status, and technology in your answer.
Writing About History
Quick Write: Gather Information
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Agenda Honors WH I
Section 1 Understanding Our Past
Terms, People, and Places
prehistory
historian
artifact
anthropology
culture
archaeology
Mary Leakey
Louis Leakey
Olduvai Gorge
technology
Donald Johanson
Note Taking
Checkpoint (3 in section)
What kinds of evidence do historians use to study the past?
What types of evidence do anthropologists and archaeologists study to learn about prehistory?
What have anthropologists learned about the use of tools during prehistory?
Biography
Louis Leakey
Louis Leakey (1903–1972) was born in Kenya, where his English parents lived with the Kikuyu people. Leakey was initiated as a Kikuyu warrior at age 13 and continued to speak the Kikuyu language for many years after leaving Kenya. Leakey moved to England to attend Cambridge University, where he studied anthropology. Afterward, he returned to East Africa to search for the remains of early humans. He and his wife, Mary, found many tools, bones, and other artifacts. In later life, he traveled all over the world, lecturing and raising funds for new research projects. Leakey’s enthusiasm inspired a generation of anthropologists. Why might someone devote his or her life to studying early humans?
Mary Leakey
Mary Leakey (1913–1996) was born in London, England. During her childhood, she traveled throughout Europe and visited numerous prehistoric sites, which increased her interest in the fields of archaeology and geology. Because of her natural artistic talent, Leakey began working as an illustrator at archaeological sites during her teenage years. In particular, she focused on drawing Stone Age tools. Through this work, she met Louis Leakey, whom she married in 1936. Together they spent 30 years digging for early humans in East Africa. Mary Leakey found many remains that have become key to our understanding of early hominids. How did Mary Leakey become interested in studying the ancient past?
HW
SECTION 1 Assessment
Reading Skill: Summarize
2. Use your completed concept web and table to answer the Focus Question: What have scholars learned about the ancestors of humans, and how have they done so?
Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Express Problems Clearly
3. What types of obstacles do historians have to overcome to give a straightforward account of events? How do you think they might do this?
Analyze Information
4. In what ways do archaeologists work with new technologies and other scholars in their work?
Synthesize Information
5. Describe the story that anthropologists think the bones and tools they have discovered reveal about prehistory. Hint
EC
Writing About History
Quick Write: Explore a Topic
6C55BE72F39D2AFF7EE4 Enroll in Course 211-01 1st Period Honors World History I Spring 2008 textbook site
Teacher name: Dr. Smith
Class/Group name: 211-01 Per. 1 Honors WH I Spring 2008
Class access code: 6C55BE72F39D2AFF7EE4
When you enroll or register, type the access code exactly as shown above.
Use all uppercase letters, and include dashes.
Student Name:
User Name:
Registration/Enrollment Instructions
First time users:
To register in SuccessNet:
1. Go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com
2. Click Register
3. On the first screen, type the class access code above in the access code field.
4. Follow the instructions to register, and write your user name on the blank line above exactly as you typed it.
5. At the end of registration process, the SuccessNet login page appears.
6. Log in by typing your user name and password.
Existing users:
To enroll in this class:
1. Go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com.
2. Log in by typing your existing user name and password.
3. From your Home Page, click My Account.
4. Click Add Class/Group
5. Follow the instructions, and use the class access code above to enroll in this class or group.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Back to School Night
World History I and AP Government according to the Social Studies Standards of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia
COURSE GUIDELINES AND INFORMATION
a) Lesson Plans, Homework, course information can always be found on my blog:
http://gmicksmithsocialstudies.blogspot.com/
b) World History Online textbook, notices, assignments:
http://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com/
c) World History Textbook Code/Student Information
Period 1: TBA
d) Page for collaboration:
http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/gmicksmith/gmicksmith.cfm
e) Course information and additional content can always be heard on my Podcast:
http://www.gcast.com/u/gmicksmith/
f) Grades can always be found on:
http://www.gradeconnect.com/
Listed below are expectations for the class.
1. Be in your seat and prepared for class when the bell rings with pencil/pen, notebook, and textbook(s), or any other assigned materials.
2. Obtain permission by raising your hand before speaking, or leaving your seat for any reason once the bell rings.
3. Follow directions and complete all assignments on time.
4. Remain alert, awake, and on task during the entire class period.
5. Above all, respect yourself, your teacher, and others and their possessions.
Grading Calculation is a “Straight Point Based” system. I do not calculate grades on GradeConnect, the programming algorithms perform this task automatically, and all I do is accurately enter the student points earned.
I adhere to a policy of PDP (Positive Daily Performance), which is based on my understanding that lifetime success arises out of what you do, day in and day out. Being prepared and ready to apply yourself with your school materials everyday is crucial.
Absence Policy on Test Day or any class work:
If you are absent for a test/quiz it is your responsibility to make arrangements with me to take it. This is scheduled the day after you return to school. Points will be deducted each day you fail to do make up work.
Contact Information and Brief Biography
Dr. G. Mick Smith, Room #267, and contact info: gmicksmith@muchomail.com (fastest and direct contact), 215.276.2300 (slower, indirect contact).
Dr. Smith earned his PhD in History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was also awarded a Masters degree in History from UCLA, and he obtained a second Masters in Theology. Smith was a Johannes Quasten Scholar in Patristics at The Catholic University of America and he holds a Distance Learning Administrator’s Certificate from Texas A&M University and the Center for Distance Learning Research. He has published over 110 mostly peer-reviewed publications in history, technology and education, and computing. Dr. Smith has been President of the American Association for History and Computing. Smith has also taught at colleges on the Left and Right Coasts as well as locally at Northeast Catholic High School, Lansdale Catholic, Villa Maria Academy, Phila Academy, and Hahnemann University. At Cardinal Dougherty Smith is Assistant Chair of the Technology Committee and Moderator of Mock Trial. Dr. Smith is a widower and a full-time single parent; he wrote his first novel about parenting the greatest daughter ever born.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
"Teach the Children," Crosby, Stills, and Nash: A Contemporary Application
Monday, January 14, 2008
India Transformed
Monday, January 07, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Material to Finish Course: Cold War and Following
"China: Emerging Powers" Video
1. communist
2. capitalism
3. IBM
4. CPB
5. standing army
6. restrained
7. Beijing
8. modernization
9. represssion
10. contradiction
11. superpower
12. nuclear
13. Cultural Revolution
14. Mao
15. Red Guard
16. commune
17. peasant
18. will power
19. fortitude
20. endurance
21. social status
22. crux
23. wisdom
24. legacy
25. nostalgia
26. revolution
27. investment
28. Gobi Desert
29. backbone
30. destiny
31. Shanghai
32. cosmetics
33. corridors
34. skyscraper
35. country bumpkins
36. investors
37. chaos
38. commodity
39. aspirations
40. regulator
41. market economy
42. innovation
43. PhD
44. socialism
45. monument
46. assembly line
47. utopia
48. cradle to grave
49. "jumping into the sea"
50. pioneering
51. radical
52. reform
53. dislocation
54. private sector
55. state sector
56. abject poverty
57. enterprises
58. national college entrance exam
59. cropland
60. residency
61. migrants
62. harvest
63. defraud
64. insignia
65. racketeering
66. license
67. disparity
68. hazardous
69. structures
70. covenant
71. bankrupt
72. manufacturing
73. conglomerate
74. poultry
75. incubator
76. charcoal
77. mechanized
78. feed (for animals)
79. traitor
80. kilometers
81. ration
82. patriotic
83. undermining
84. uncensored
85. environmental protection
86. dialogue
87. ideology
88. disco
89. waltz
90. foxtrot
91. rock 'n' roll
92. decadent
93. dissidents
94. Tianamen Square
95. alienation
96. corruption
97. human rights
98. Gallup Poll
99. reverberate