Friday, March 2, 2012

Friday, March 2. 2012

Please be aware that the BCTF has given notice that there will be a strike next week from Monday, March 5th through Wednesday March 8th. As such there will be no classes for students at G.P. Vanier. In order to keep up to date and not lose more class time for the year, I will post tomorrow the work that we would normally be doing next week on this blog. I'd highly recommend that you take what you need home with you today (textbooks and binders) or e-mail assignments to yourself that you are currently working on. By doing this we can minimize the disruptions that we will face due to the job action next week. Thank you for considering this course of action.

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

C Block Geography 12 - Today we're back in the library to continue our research on the Orting high school case study. Should the town of Orting, Washington, build a new high school to attract people to their community or not? What will the impact of increased population be on the tiny town that sits in the shadows of Mt. Rainier? The assignment is in your week 5 package and was posted on this blogsite so check out yesterday's entry. Remember my note of caution...

What is the greatest danger to Orting? Of all that could potentially happen at Mount Rainier what poses the greatest threat? Now ask yourself what triggers that threat? What causes it to happen? Last think about the statistical likelyhood of that event happening. How likely is the event to occur in the next 5, 10, 100, or 1000 years? Check out the risk analysis section of the COTF website for help here.

This assignment is due next Friday (March 9th, 2012).

B Block Law 12 - OK so yesterday we got caught up in a long discussion about Mens Rea which is good, but we didn't get through the work we needed to accomplish. Let's try again today... Actus Reus and Mens Rea come from Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea which is Latin for “the act will not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty.” To help us understand these concepts we'll look at the R. v. Parks (1992) case as well as the R. v. Williams (2003) case.

For the Parks case there is a great read on TruTV (used to be called Court TV) about the case. It is interesting to note that the same defense was attempted in Arizona in 1999....it failed. You can read about the case involving Scott Falater who stabbed his wife 44 times and claimed he was sleepwalking here. In terms of the Williams case, another example of an HIV related aggravated sexual assault case involved former CFL athlete Trevis Smith. A review of the decision (sentenced to five and a half years in 2007 and was paroled in 2010) can be found here at CBC News. In terms of Wilful Blindness, because of the Sansregret case, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the concepts of recklessness and wilful blindness are not the same and that it is wise to keep the two concepts separate. The court then defined each concept as follows (Stuart: 211):


  • Recklessness involves knowledge of a danger or risk and persistence in a course of conduct which creates a risk that the prohibited result will occur,



  • Wilful blindness arises where a person who has become aware of the need for some inquiry declines to make the inquiry because he does not wish to know the truth.
You'll need to work on the Review Your Understanding questions 1-5 on page 130 in the law textbook.



A Block Social Studies 11 - Today with Ms. Krahn...Today we’ll be wrapping up our look at events on the Home front during the war. We’ll be switching gears a bit throughout the lesson to cover three topics: Women’s roles in the war, Profiteering and the Halifax Disaster.

Yesterday we discussed how the Wartime Elections Act enabled (certain) women to vote. Today we’ll take a look at the roles women stepped into during wartime, and their struggle for enfranchisement in Canada.

We’ll watch a short clip about the influential Nellie McLung and a longer clip about the suffrage, and the work of the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement.

I’ll ask you to take note of which groups of women were granted or denied the vote, and then answer the following question:

Why did PM Borden not extend the vote to all women in 1917?

Links to extra info:

A great documentary from the NFB called And We Knew How To Dance, which features interviews with 12 Canadian women about their lives during wartime

Women’s roles, suffrage and pacifist movement

Here is a link to women’s involvement in the military by country

After this, we’ll discuss the Canadian economy during wartime, and we’ll take a look at a political cartoon from a previous provincial exam about Canada’s dedication to the war effort.

We’ll also discuss the issue of profiteering (a person or business who profits from warfare by selling goods to parties at war), and watch a clip from Canada A People’s History called ‘Spoils of War.’

What was the cartoonist’s message?

A. Canada was a major contributor to the war effort.
B. Canada was lacking resources to make war supplies.
C. Canada was the most dominant fighting force in the war.
D. Canada’s reputation as an effective fighting force was largely symbolic.

Extra info:

Profiteering

War Museum Profiteering

After this, we’ll briefly discuss the Halifax disaster, and how it affected Canadians.

Historical Minute
Halifax Explosion

Finally, we’ll go through the work that I’d like you to cover over the strike period. I’ll have a handout, and all the information will also be posted on the blog. You are welcome to email me with any questions you might have.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Thursday, March 1. 2012

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

Today we have an assembly for Anti-Bullying day so the times for the daily schedule are altered. The blocks look like this:

D Block 9:05 - 10:10
C Block 10:15-11:15
Assembly then Lunch 11:20 - 1:00
B Block 1:05 - 2:05
A Block 2:10 - 3:15

C Block Geography 12 - Today we're off to the library to begin our first day of research on the Orting high school case study. Should the town of Orting, Washington, build a new high school to attract people to their community or not? What will the impact of increased population be on the tiny town that sits in the shadows of Mt. Rainier? The assignment is in your week 5 package and was adapted from the following website: http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/volcano.html


Websites of help for this assignment:

The following URL’s will help:
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Rainier/framework.html
http://davem2.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/volcano.html
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/lahar/index.php
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/cover2.html
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Rainier/Hazards/OFR98-428/framework.html
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/abtus/ourorg/dem/MountRainier.htm
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/xml/abtus/ourorg/dem/Mt%20rainier%20learning%20to%20live%20w%20risk.pdf
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/xml/abtus/ourorg/dem/EMDiv/MP/PC%20Volcanic.pdf
http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/Abtus/ourorg/dem/EMDiv/Planning.htm
http://www.cityoforting.org/Lahar_Information.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageplanet/01volcano/03/indexmid.html
http://www.uccs.edu/~geogenvs/ges199/rainier/orting.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7886762/
http://projects.ups.edu/gjones/fall2004/AB/BridgeForKids/
http://www.bridge4kids.com/index.html

Just a note of caution...

What is the greatest danger to Orting? Of all that could potentially happen at Mount Rainier what poses the greatest threat? Now ask yourself what triggers that threat? What causes it to happen? Last think about the statistical likelyhood of that event happening. How likely is the event to occur in the next 5, 10, 100, or 1000 years? Check out the risk analysis section of the COTF website for help here.

B Block Law 12 - Today we're going to review the types of criminal offenses (summary conviction, indictable, hybrid) from yesterday and then shift into the elements of a crime (with special attention focused on the Mens Rea - intent, knowledge, and recklessness). Actus Reus and Mens Rea come from Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea which is Latin for “the act will not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty.” To help us understand these concepts we'll look at the R. v. Parks (1992) case as well as the R. v. Williams (2003) case. In terms of the Williams case, another example of an HIV related aggravated sexual assault case involved former CFL athlete Trevis Smith. A review of the decision (sentenced to five and a half years in 2007 and was paroled in 2010) can be found here at CBC News. In terms of Wilful Blindness, because of the Sansregret case, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the concepts of recklessness and wilful blindness are not the same and that it is wise to keep the two concepts separate. The court then defined each concept as follows (Stuart: 211):




  • Recklessness involves knowledge of a danger or risk and persistence in a course of conduct which creates a risk that the prohibited result will occur,


  • Wilful blindness arises where a person who has become aware of the need for some inquiry declines to make the inquiry because he does not wish to know the truth.
You'll need to work on the Review Your Understanding questions 1-5 on page 130 in the law textbook.

A Block Social Studies 11 - Today with Ms. Krahn...we’ll take a look how the loss of life in the battles on the Western Front affected Canadians back home. We’ll discuss the conscription crisis of 1917; specifically why it was enacted and how it affected the relationship between French and English Canada.

We’ll watch a clip about conscription from Canada A People’s History and I will ask you to answer the question from the chart in your textbook on p. 40.

I will also ask you to respond to the following question:

Why did PM Borden believe that conscription was necessary? Why were many people opposed to conscription?

We will also discuss the Wartime Elections Act and the Military Voters Act, and what these pieces of legislation meant for conscientious objectors, immigrants and women.

After this, we’ll switch gears and look at the role of Women in WWI, on the Western Front and at home. We’ll discuss the efforts of the suffrage movement and the influence of women like Nellie McLung.

We’ll watch a short clip on the history of women’s right to vote in Canada and I will ask you to take note of who was still denied enfranchisement, and why.

Extra info: Here is a link to women’s involvement in the military by country

Wednesday, Febuary 29. 2012

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

B Block Law 12 - Today we'll start by going through your brainstormed list of crimes and categorize them. Next will discuss the difference between criminal and immoral behaviour (crime and deviance)and after that we're going to look at the types of criminal offenses (summary conviction, indictable, hybrid) . You'll need to work on questions 1-5 on page 123
Here are some websites to help:

Offence Classification at defencelaw.com
Summary Conviction explanation at Duhaime legal information
3 Main Types of Criminal Offences in BC (by John Dykstra)

A Block Social Studies 11 - From Ms. Krahn...Today we’ll continue our look at the four key battles from WWI. Each group will have a chance to present their information, and then we will fill out the charts.

Here’s the template for the information we will be covering:

WHO

  • Allied forces
  • Divisions of Canadian Expeditionary Forces

WHAT

  • Key events/stages of each battle (point form)
  • Use of new military technology
  • Results – territory gained/lost for Allies and Central Powers; changes to Western Front; lives lost;

WHEN

  • Start Date/End Date

WHERE

  • Territory involved (where it took place)

WHY

  • Reason for battle

HOW

  • How did it effect Canadian Identity – why do we remember it?

We will watch a clip about Vimy Ridge from Canada A People’s History, and we’ll begin our discussion of the effects of the war on the home front, starting with the Conscription Crisis of 1917.

C Block Geography 12 - Today I will review the upcoming project/assignment that you have (building a new school in Orting Washington). We'll start watching Mega Disasters: American Volcano to help; this is a sweet "what if" disaster video and it explains the dangers of the slumbering giant...Mount Rainier. This will take up about 40 minutes of class time and then you have one question to address in your week 5 notes/package (basically the positives and negatives of volcanoes using Saint Helens as an example). A good article from Popular Mechanics can be found here...it interviews survivors of the blast in 1980. Pictures of before and after the eruption can be found on the National Geographic website here. There's a good article from the May 2010 National Geographic magazine called "Mountain Transformed".

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tuesday, February 28. 2012

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

C Block Geography 12 - Because of the power outage yesterday we didn't get to some things so today I'll show you some footage of the Kilauea eruption (both pahoehoe and aa flows) and the Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption on Montserrat. We'll then look at the differences between explosive and effusive volcanic eruptions (think silica and gas) and you'll have a big question to look at. Tomorrow we will focus on Mount Saint Helens, Wednesday we'll look at our case study and focus on Mount Rainier and then Thursday and Friday we're in the library working on our first project.
For more on the differences between explosive and effusive eruptions see:
National Park Service "Views of National Parks" Volcanic Eruptions and Hazards
San Diego State University "How Volcanoes Work"
Volcano World "Volcanic Gasses"
Science World 2005 "When Mountains Fizz"

A Block Social Studies 11 - Today with Ms. Krahn...Today we will spend the class looking at four key battles of WWI, and the effects each had on the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. We’ll make a chart that compares each battle, and I will ask you to take note of where the battles occurred on a map of the Western Front (Counterpoints, p. 28) and how they affected the front line. I will also ask you to compare a plus/minus of the battles as well (example: territory gained vs. lives lost). After this, we’ll watch a clip from Canada A People’s History.

The four battles include:

The Second battle of Ypres (1915)

http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ypres2.htm
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/battles/second-ypres-1915/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Expeditionary_Force#The_Battle_of_Ypres.2C_1915
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/first-world-war/interviews/025015-1100-e.html
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/memorials/cbmr
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_ani_western_front.shtml
Battle of the Somme (1916)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/launch_ani_somme_map.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/maps_somme.html
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Expeditionary_Force#The_Battle_of_Ypres.2C_1915
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/first-world-war/interviews/025015-1400-e.html
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/somme.htm
Battle of Vimy Ridge (1916)

http://www.canadaatwar.ca/page9.html
http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/vimy/index_e.shtml
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/firstworldwar/025005-1300-e.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Expeditionary_Force#The_Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge.2C_9.E2.80.9314_April_1917
http://www.cbc.ca/history/EPISCONTENTSE1EP12CH1PA3LE.html
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/memorials/ww1mem/vimy
Passchendaele (third battle of Ypres) 1917
http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/guerre/passchendaele-e.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Expeditionary_Force#Passchendaele.2C_October_.E2.80.93_November_1917
http://www.canadaatwar.ca/content-12/world-war-i/passchendaele/
http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/ww1battles/p/passchendaele.htm
http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/passchendaele.html
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/passchendaele


OTHER STUFF:

If you’re interested in learning more about Georges P. Vanier, here is a link to a documentary from the NFB

B Block Law 12 - Yesterday's class took the entire block for the test (which you'll get back today and which you generally did well on as a class) so today we'll get to the first part of our criminal law unit...
  1. Come up with three "Criminal Law" questions you want answered for the "Free Question Day" (remember to write your questions about crimes, criminals, and punishment on a piece of paper and place them in the question box).
  2. Brainstorm a list of all the crimes you can think of in the following categories: Violent Crime; Property Crime; High Impact Social Order Crime

Next we'll go through your brainstormed list of crimes and categorize them. After that we're going to look at the types of criminal offenses (summary conviction, indictable, hybrid) and the elements of a crime (with special attention focused on the Mens Rea - intent, knowledge, and recklessness).

Monday, February 27, 2012

Monday, February 27. 2012

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

A Block Social Studies 11 - Today with Ms Krahn...Just a reminder, the questions from last week are due. Hand them in today if you have not done so already.

MONDAY:
1.Describe the steps taken in BC to restrict Asian immigration (Counterpoints p. 10-11)
2.Describe the policies of the federal government that were designed to assimilate Canada’s Aboriginal people (Counterpoints p. 12)
3.Can we right the wrongs of past generations? Is a formal apology appropriate, or not enough?

TUESDAY:
Questions 1-7 on pages 18-19 in your Counterpoints textbook on primary and secondary sources.

FRIDAY:
1. What powers did the War Measures Act give to the Canadian Government?
2. Do you think the War Measures Act was necessary? Why or why not?

Today we’ll be covering advances in military technology, and how these changes affected perceptions of war. We’ll watch a short clip on the types of technology, and briefly discuss the types of weaponry that changed the face of war (Photo Essay )

Then I will ask you to brainstorm some ideas to answer the following question:

HOW DID THE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY CHANGE THE IDEA OF WAR IN WWI?

Then, we’ll take a closer look at trench warfare, and how this system became a symbol of the stalemate of WWI.

Using this interactive map, we’ll look at the details of the Schlieffen Plan and then we'll discuss the conditions soldiers had to face while living in the trenches.

We will also watch two video clips about trench warfare.

The first is about soldiers going ‘over the top’ from the film Gallipoli
The second is from the NFB documentary Frontlines – life in the trenches:

B Block Law 12 - Today is your introductory unit final test in Law. Since you had the weekend to prepare I am certain that you will do extra well on this test. When you're done you have two things to accomplish:


  1. Come up with three "Criminal Law" questions you want answered for the "Free Question Day" (remember to write your questions about crimes, criminals, and punishment on a piece of paper and place them in the question box).


  2. Brainstorm a list of all the crimes you can think of in the following categories: Violent Crime; Property Crime; High Impact Social Order Crime
We'll deal with these at the end of the class today and in class tomorrow afternoon as well

C Block Geography 12 - On Friday we took some notes about the five types of volcanoes and watched the Discovery Channel Raging Planet episode on Volcanoes.



Today I will finish the types of volcanoes with you (focusing on cinder, caldera and fissure) and then we'll watch the remainder of the Raging Planet episode. Later I'll show you some footage of the Kilauea eruption (both pahoehoe and aa flows) and the Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption on Montserrat. We'll then look at the differences between explosive and effusive volcanic eruptions (think silica and gas) and you'll have a big question to look at. Tomorrow we will focus on Mount Saint Helens, Wednesday we'll look at our case study and focus on Mount Rainier and then Thursday and Friday we're in the library working on our first project.

Now for fun (as if there isn't enough Volcano fun already in Geography 12)...

Remember how I was talking with you about walking on Lava in Hawaii? Below you'll find a YouTube video compilation of a series called "On the Volcanoes of the World" where French vulcanologist Guy de Saint Cyr takes people around the world to study Volcanoes....Sweet!




You could also watch the Hawaii episode here.

Or you could watch this...



Yeah that would probably be me.