Friday, April 27, 2012

Friday, April 27. 2012

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


C Block Geography 12 - Today we'll continue our look at weather; working on an activity called “Sunlight and the Seasons” (week 11 package "Solar energy and the reason for seasons"). After you have finished this activity you need to complete questions 17, 19, and 20 from page 62 in your Geosystems textbook. If there's time we'll see what Bill Nye has to say about seasons.

Don't forget, we'll start the class by looking at the synoptic chart for North America and begin to understand weather station plots. Take some time on the following sites to learn more and to practice your weather operational analysis capabilities:
WW2010 - University of Illinois Weather site
National Weather Service "Jet Stream" online weather school
American Meteorological Society "Data Streme"
British Broadcasting Corporation Reading Weather Maps
USA Today Reading Weather Maps

Practise at: Weather Office (Environment Canada) Operational Analysis Charts or at the Data Streme site above

D Block Criminology 12 -  Today I'll start the class with a quick powerpoint on crime trends in Canada which will help you with your blog entry for Monday. The crime data indicate that rates have declined significantly in the past few years and are now far less than they were a decade ago. Suspected causes for the crime rate drop include an increasing prison population, more police on the street, the end of the crack epidemic and the age structure of society. The data sources show relatively stable patterns in the crime rate. Ecological patterns show that crime varies by season and by urban versus rural environment, however there is evidence of gender patterns in the crime rate: Men commit more crime than women. Age is one of the largest influences on crime; young people commit more crime than the elderly (and there are fewer young people in society). Crime data show that people commit less crime as they age, but the significance and cause of this pattern are still not completely understood. Similarly, racial and class patterns appear in the crime rate. However, it is still unclear whether these are true differences or a function of discriminatory law enforcement.This will help with your blog entry on Monday about the differences between the reality and the perceptions of crime. After we'll watch an episode of Criminal Minds "The Crossing" from season 3. From tv.com:
The team members try to identify a stalker before he can attack a woman who is being stalked in Silver Spring, Maryland. Meanwhile, Hotch and Rossi are called as consultants on a possible battered woman syndrome murder case in Boston


A Block Social Studies 11 -Today we'll finish our look at World War 2 by examining the effects of the war on Canada and then we'll prepare for Monday's unit final quiz. I'll have you work on three questions from the Counterpoints textbook and then watch the American Civil Defense video "Duck and Cover" along with a bit of the Atomic Cafe movie in class. The Atomic Cafe contains civil defense movies from the 1940's through the 1960's and will help you understand the culture of fear that developed throughout the Cold War. Today we'll watch the first few sections that deal with the Manhattan Project, the Trinity Test and the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

B Block Law 12 - Today you'll watch the Law & Order episode “Fools for Love” (season 10, episode 15). This episode is based on the Leslie Mahaffy, Kristen French, and Tammy Homolka cases. All three were victims of Canada's own "Ken and Barbie killers", Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. Bernardo was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Tammy Homolka (Karla's sister) and the kidnappings/murders of French and Mahaffey, and Karla Homolka accepted a ten-year plea bargain for her roles that was later upgraded to a twelve-year plea bargain. Homolka was released on July 4, 2005, and has opted to live under the name Karla Teale (Bernardo and Homolka had originally planned to change their surname to Teale, in honor of fictional killer Martin Thiel).

You'll get a photocopy of a Maclean’s article “Karla Homolka: girl next door” which you'll need to read through. After the episode on Friday work through the question on plea bargaining below. In essence you'll need to discuss and write about the advantages and disadvantages of plea bargaining using the Karla Homolka case as an example. Here is a structure for you to follow:

You will need to complete a two paragraph response based on the class discussions, the video, and the Maclean’s article. The paragraphs should be:

1. Advantages and Disadvantages to plea bargaining
2. Your personal opinion about plea bargaining based on the Homolka case

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