exam grades are posted

Check your PowerSchool to see how you did!

Overall average: just over 81.  Nice work!

tomorrow's exam

Here's how the 100 objective questions break down:

• 1 - 41: globalization, population pyramids, migration, life expectancy, TFR, demographic transition charts, etc.
• 42 - 54: God Grew Tired of Us, sub-Saharan Africa
• 55 - 67: culture
• 68 - 82:  economic geography
• 83 - 100:  North and South Korea

You already know the essay questions.  Remember, you can bring a sheet of paper with your outlines on it to the exam.  You can't just write out paragraphs, and you can't bring in any other notes.  The essays are to be in five-paragraph form, and at least 350 words long each.  If you need help outlining your essays, check out this site and this site.  Email me if you have questions.

Do a little preparation, and you'll be just fine!  

reminder

As we discussed in class on Friday, you may choose to outline one or both of the essays you will write for the semester exam.  You may bring one sheet of paper to the exam, with one outline on each side of the sheet.

You may not have entire paragraphs of the essay on this sheet.  You may not bring in any other notes.  You will turn in the outline sheet with your exam.  The sheet may be typed or handwritten.  It must have your name on it.  Email me if you have questions.

Good luck preparing for your tests!

Essay questions for the exam - happy outlining! ;)

Choose two of the following topics and write a five-paragraph essay of at least 350 words on each.

 

A)  Three of the most important sources of energy are coal, oil, and solar energy.  Analyze each type of energy, paying attention to the many advantages, disadvantages, and uses of each one.

B)  Describe in detail the journey of the Lost Boys of Sudan, analyzing how they came to leave their country, their experiences in the refugee camp, and what happened when they came to America.

C)  The labor force in any country can be divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary jobs.  Discuss the importance of each kind of labor, including examples of the kinds of work that is done in each of these categories, what the importance of each kind is, and countries that emphasize them.

D)  (You may only write one essay on North Korea.  Pick just one of these two if you choose D.)

Life for a teenager in North Korea would be quite different from that of an American teenager.  Write an essay that details specific differences.

OR

Imagine what the future will hold for North Korea under their new leader.  Predict what you think is their best case scenario, their worst case scenario, and what the United States could do to ensure a good outcome for both us and the North Koreans.

E)  China and the United States are currently the two most powerful countries in the world. Compare these two countries, possibly including information on their economic relationship, their approach to education, their use of technology, or other details of your choosing.

F)  Using the population pyramids below, describe everything you can assume about Country A and Country B, including their possible locations, population trends, standard of living, etc.

                       A                                                      B

 

notes on exams

General information on next week's exams:

• exams are worth a lot: 20% of your semester grade.  I advise you to take them seriously and prepare over the three day weekend
• most exams are partly Scantron...come to the exam with a pencil (or two).  Most teachers proctor exams in someone else's classroom, and will not be able to supply you with a pencil
• exams are 90 minutes long with a 15 minute extension if you need it
• you cannot leave until the initial 90 minutes are up, even if you finish your exam
• you are usually allowed to study for another test after you finish the one you are taking, so bring books and notes (but not computers)
• no advisory during exam week
• the cafeteria will be open between exams, but it will be completely jammed...I recommend you bring your own lunch/snack during exam week
• your locker must be completely emptied out and left open before you leave today
• the full exam schedule, including times and room assignments, is posted on the window outside the courtyard, by the big trophy case

Notes on your Human Geography exam:

• Section 01 tests in Room 106, Section 02 in Room 110, and Section 03 in Room 111 
• The exam is 2/3 Scantron and 1/3 essay.  So, bring a pencil plus whatever you prefer to write your essay with.
• This exam is NOT open blog or open note.  Prepare accordingly.
• However, you will be allowed to bring in one sheet of paper with your outlines for your essays.  Outline only - no paragraphs, no notes for the test, just the outline that you will then turn in with your essay.  I will instruct proctors to check this. 
• You are not allowed to bring your computer to this exam.
• You have already taken tests on the following material:  Intro to Human Geography, Population and Migration, Culture, Geopolitics, Economic Geography, and the Koreas.  Semester exam questions will be taken in part from this material. 
• More details - including the actual essay questions - soon.

test on the Koreas

Section 01 took the Korea test today.  Sections 02 and 03 get theirs tomorrow.

This semester is really starting to wind down, folks!

rest of the week

Just to review the schedule for the rest of the week:

Tomorrow (Tuesday) Section 01 will test on the two Koreas, and on Wednesday Sections 02 and 03 will test.

Section 01 will review for the semester exam on Wednesday and Friday.

Sections 02 and 03 will review for the semester exam on Thursday and Friday.

the future

I hope the rest of Inside North Korea was enlightening to you.  Sometimes I feel like that type of thing can't possibly happen in our world - but it can.  And it does.  A very sad situation.  I'm interested in reading your blog posts on it.

On Monday we do any presentations that still need to be done, and we will have a discussion on the volatile situation in North Korea.  On Tuesday Section 01 will test on the two Koreas, and on Wednesday Sections 02 and 03 will test.

Section 01 will review for the semester exam on Wednesday and Friday.

Sections 02 and 03 will review for the semester exam on Thursday and Friday.

The semester exam schedule looks like this:

Date	8:00 – 9:30 a.m. (extended to 9:45 a.m.)	10:00 – 11:30 a.m. (extended to 11:45 a.m.)
Tuesday, January 17	Religion	Science
Wednesday, January 18	English	Social Studies
Thursday, January 19	Math	Foreign Language

Our look at North Korea continues.  Yesterday groups in Section 01 researched aspects of life in North Korea, including the government's use of propaganda, the cult of personality surrounding their leaders, their standard of living, life since the death of their Dear Leader, and, scariest of all, their nuclear capability.  Sections 02 and 03 do the same today.

I will not be in class with Section 01 tomorrow.  One of you will need to hook your computer to the LCD so the class can watch the rest of Inside North Korea.  The link is on my blog, and you need to start at the 15:30 mark.  If you finish watching, polish up the mini-projects you worked on in class yesterday.

Sections 02 and 03 will watch the rest of the video with me tomorrow.

home stretch

Two weeks left in the semester.  The last unit will be on North Korea.  If you want to participate intelligently in class discussions, and to really appreciate the incredible video we will be watching, it would be helpful to know these terms and people.

the Korean peninsula at night

• totalitarianism
• Stalinist
• socialist
• Communist
• dictatorship
• Kim Il-sung
• Kim Jong-il
• Kim Jong-un
• juche
• songon
• cult of personality