Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Wednesday, Febuary 22. 2012

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

B Block Law 12 - Today we start in the class and then we'll head over to the library to begin work on our Human Rights project. First off, yesterday our class had an amazing episode of ADHD and tangential conversations based on protections covered in the Ontario Human Rights legislation. This is OK as it was totally connected to our topic but we neither got our quiz/test review or worked on the questions I'd hope we'd get to. So we'll postpone the test/quiz to Monday and you'll get a review tomorrow in class. Today we will venture off to the library to begin work on our introductory unit major assignment that comes from the Toronto District School Board:

Human rights violations are a daily occurrence throughout the world. These violations take place in both the North and the South and affect the civil, economic, political, cultural, social, and equality rights of human beings. These violations are in direct opposition to the universal and inalienable rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Fortunately, organisations around the world work on protecting these rights, partly through education and awareness campaigns

Artists, both visual artists and musicians, often comment on human rights issues through their artwork. Assume the role of the Media Outreach Co-ordinator for a particular human rights organisation (Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, etc.) and research a contemporary case of human rights violations somewhere in the world. Based on your research, create a Human Rights Campaign Poster that educates the greater public about the human rights violations and urges them to take action to end the abuse.

Remember...

  • Human rights are the basic standards human beings need to live life with freedom and dignity. Human rights include fundamental civil and political rights, such as the right to free speech, to freedom of religion, and the right to participate in government. Human rights also include essential economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to education, to work, and to healthcare.


  • Human rights are the rights that all people have simply because they are human beings. Each of these rights are inalienable; they cannot be denied or taken away from any individual. They are also indivisible; all human rights are equally important and one right cannot be taken away because it is said to be less important than another.


  • Finally, human rights are interdependent, all human rights are connected and you cannot guarantee one right without ensuring that other rights are protected.
So your task is to...

1. Choose a contemporary case of human rights violations, as well as an organisation that is working on ending the abuse.

2. Research your case study using the following websites: Amnesty International (click on campaigns); Human Rights Watch (click on Global Issues); Oneworld (click on In Depth then Human Rights); or the BBC "I Have a Right to..." site and complete the following questions to help with your poster Case Study: What is happening? Where is it taking place? What rights are being violated? Who is having their rights violated? Why are their rights being violated?

3. Create a visually appealing Human Rights Campaign Poster that addresses the human rights violation by incorporating the key information from the questions in point 2 above (in point form) as well as pictures, symbols, and colours. Remember, your poster should seek to draw the attention of the public through the balanced combination of text and visuals in a creative, yet educational manner!

Some examples of Human Rights posters...



A Block Social Studies 11 - From Ms. Krahn's blogsite...Today you’ll wrap up the Laurier era by looking at the relationship between Canadians and Canadiens. We’ll watch a brief clip about Laurier’s efforts to come to an agreement between sentiments of imperialism and nationalsim, gaining the nickname of the ‘Great Compromiser.’

We’ll look at the key issues Laurier had to deal with during his time as Prime Minister, including the Manitoba Schools Question, Alaska Boundary Dispute, the Boer War, the Naval crisis and the Reciprocity issue. Laurier struggled to build a Canadian national identity between the powers of Britain and the USA, and we’ll see how these issues came to a head for him during the 1911 election.

After this, we’ll discuss the difference between primary and secondary sources, and how these sources are used in historical research. I’ll ask you to work on questions 1-7 on pages 18-19 in your Counterpoints textbook.

Here are some links about PM Laurier, and the key issues that happened under his government

History Spotlight: Sir Wilfrid Laurier
The Laurier Era

And here’s a link to using Primary and Secondary sources

C Block Geography 12 - Yesterday we looked at earthquakes and the seismic gap concept (focusing on Izmit Turkey in 1999). Today....Oh today we look at Tsunamis and the west coast of North America. We'll watch sections of the History Channel documentary "Mega Disasters: West Coast Tsunami" see below

and sections of the Discovery Channel documentary "America's Tsunami: Are we Next?"
You will have two questions to work on tonight in your week four package:


  1. How do Tsunami’s work? from p.11 &

  2. Why can tsunamis cause such damage and devastation? What are some characteristics of the wave that factor into how much damage it could cause? How do coastal or shoreline features factor into the extent of damage? What role could a warning system play? How effective would a warning system be for the west coast of Vancouver Island? Why?


You can find more information at:
PBS documentary "The Wave that Shook the World" and the British Columbia PEP Tsunami Preparedness website National Geographic has an excellent article called "The Calm Before the Wave: Where and When will the next Tsunami Hit?" in the February 2012 issue. Really it's good and you should check it out...no seriously you should.

Below you'll find footage of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that struck Sendai in Japan

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