Wednesday, February 3. 2010

Today's schedule is B-A-Lunch-D-C

B - Social Studies 10 - Today we'll continue taking a look at latitude, longitude, and time zones. We'll finish some notes on the topic and get our textbooks for the course today. We'll also spend some time on Google Earth (right now I'm sitting at 49 degrees 42 minutes 32.62 seconds North and 124 degrees 59 minutes 51.09 seconds west).


A - Earth & Space Science 11 - Today we'll continue our work on spheres in the class (lithosphere - the text uses the term geosphere - hydrosphere, atmosphere, and the biosphere). You'll have time to work on your spheres poster today. Don't forget you need to:

1. Find a picture that shows / demonstrates each sphere
   
2. Explain how each picture shows / demonstrates that sphere
3. Identify and explain how each sphere is connected (Atmosphere to Lithosphere, Atmosphere to Hydrosphere, Atmosphere to Biosphere, Lithosphere to Biosphere, Lithosphere to Hydrosphere, and Biosphere to Hydrosphere)
   

This activity is due Monday but you should be able to get it done today or tomorrow. Please hand it in when you've completed it. After this, we'll look at systems in Earth and Space Science along with the 1st and 2nd law of thermodynamics. I'll give you a few notes and then you'll need to work on questions 9 from page 19 and 11 from page 20 of the text.

C - Criminology 12 - Today I want to continue with our look at the nature vs. nurture debate that we started yesterday again focusing on the history of psychological and sociological criminology. We'll look at the difference between deviance and criminal behaviour (acts that are criminal but not deviant and deviant but not criminal). What is deviant behaviour? A simple explanation of deviant behaviour could be any action that violates cultural norms (formal norms like laws - or informal norms like nose picking). This is a difficult concept because what an individual or sub culture in society defines as deviant is contextually situated (meaning what I think is deviant may be different for you; it is subjective - influenced by personal considerations).

Take smoking in public. You may think that this behaviour is acceptable because an individual has the choice to consume a cigarette and they are merely harming themselves...no problem right? You may, however, think this behaviour is unacceptable. Second-hand smoke is hurtful to others because they could be harmed by someone else's behaviour. So what is deviant in many cases is subjective. What is criminal is the codification of what a society as a whole deems as deviant. Homicide is criminal because as a society we believe that taking another life is unacceptable and deviates from the accepted cultural norm that we wish our country to be like.

So using the text and your brains you need to come up with a list of things that are deviant but not criminal and a list of things that are criminal but not deviant. After you'll need to take one act from either list and explain why it should be criminalized or why it should be decriminalized.

Don't forget for Monday you need to create your own theory of why crime happens. You need to use the brainstormed list we did in class along with the notes you take today on the history of Criminology. Use the Crime Theory Web Site found on this link.