Wednesday, January 9. 2013

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

B Block Geography 12 - Today we will begin looking at biomes and biogeographic realms. Biomes are the major regional groupings of plants and animals discernible at a global scale. The distribution of these biomes is connected to climate, soil, and the physical topography of the earth. Biogeography is the study of the distribution and patterns of plants and animals throughout the biosphere.

Using chapter 20 of your Geosystems textbook, I would like you to describe the adaptations and structure for flora and fauna (plant and animal) in each of the following terrestrial biomes (land based not aquatic): Equatorial & Tropical Rain forest (ETR); Tropical Seasonal Forest and Scrub (TrSF); Tropical Savanna (TrS); Mid latitude Broad leaf & Mixed Forest (MBME); Needle leaf & Montane Forest (NF/MF); Temperate Rain forest (TeR); Mediterranean Shrub land (MSh); Mid latitude Grasslands (MGr); Deserts (DBW & DBC); and Arctic & Alpine Tundra (AAT). At the end of this there are questions 8, 12, 13, & 15 from page 693 to complete as well.

While you work on this I will have the Planet Earth Pole to Pole episode on for you to watch. For more on the biomes covered in the Planet Earth series check out Planet Earth: Guide to the Planet

A Block Law 12 - Awesome questions on family law yesterday! Yesterday we focused on trespass to person and property and today we'll start with defences to those intentional torts (consent, self-defence, defence of a third party, defence of property, legal authority, and necessity). Finally, we'll look at defamation of character and strict liability in civil law and then we begin looking at Family Law (our focus is on marriage and divorce). We will understand the differences between the formal and essential requirements of marriage. Here's an example: In BC sections 28 & 29 of the Marriage Act [RSBC 1996] Chapter 282 indicates consent is required to marry someone under the age of 19 and forbids marriage to someone under the age of 16. Specifically the act states:

28 (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) to (4), a marriage of a person, not being a widower or widow, who is a minor must not be solemnized, and a licence must not be issued, unless consent in writing to the marriage is first given

(a) by both parents of that person if both are living and are joint guardians, or by the parent having sole guardianship if they are not joint guardians or by the surviving parent if one of them is dead,

(b) if both parents are dead, or if neither parent is a guardian, by a lawfully appointed guardian of that person, or

(c) if both parents are dead, and there is no lawfully appointed guardian, by the Public Guardian and Trustee or the Supreme Court.

29 (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), a marriage of any person under 16 years of age must not be solemnized, and a licence must not be issued.

(2) If, on application to the Supreme Court, a marriage is shown to be expedient and in the interests of the parties, the court may, in its discretion, make an order authorizing the solemnization of and the issuing of a licence for the marriage of any person under 16 years of age.

You should be aware that there are 11 classes remaining until our final exam days and 15 classes remaining until our major project is due....no pressure.

BC Vital Statistics Agency - How to get married in BC
JP Boyd's BC Family Law Resource - Legal Requirements for a valid marriage
MacLean Family Law Group - How to get married in BC

D Block Social Studies 11 - Today we're in the library to work on an on-line population activity. You'll need to use the 2012 World Population Data Sheet (you should use both the PRB Interactive Map and the pdf data sheet). Copy and paste the following questions into a word document and then type the answers into your document.

1. What is the population of the world?
2. Rank the ten countries with the largest population (from largest to smallest).
3. Instead of absolute numbers, rates are often used to tell how frequently a population or demographic event is occurring — rates show how common an event is. List the type of information on the data sheet reported by a rate.
4. The crude death rate (CDR) is the annual number of deaths per 1,000 population. Which country has the highest CDR? Which country has the lowest?
5. The infant mortality rate measures the number of deaths each year to infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births. Which country has the highest infant mortality rate and what is that rate? Which country has the lowest and what is that rate?
6. The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children women would have if they maintained the current level of childbearing throughout their reproductive years. Which countries share the highest TFR and what is it? Several countries share the lowest TFR. What is it?
7. Which country has the "youngest" population, that is, the highest proportion of population under age 15? Which country has the "oldest" population, that is, the highest proportion of population over age 64?
8. In which country are people expected to live the longest? Which country has the lowest life expectancy?
9. In which African country does the highest proportion of people live in urban areas? In Asia? In Latin America? In Europe? In Oceania?
10. Gross national income in purchasing power parity per capita (GNI PPP) converts income into "international dollars" and indicates the amount of goods and services one could buy in the United States with a given amount of money. Which country is the wealthiest in terms of GNI PPP? Which is the second wealthiest?
11. A population grows because there are more births than deaths or more people are moving in than moving out. The difference between births and deaths is expressed as a percentage called the rate of natural increase. Which region is growing the fastest through natural increase? Which region is growing at the slowest rate?
12. Which country is growing the fastest through natural increase? Which country is growing at the slowest rate?

I'll then hand out the Country Profile Worksheet and I'd like you to fill in the data for Canada on one side and then you may choose a country from Africa, Asia or South America to compare us with.

C Block Crime, Media & Society 12 - Today we'll look at race and ethnicity connected to moral panics and crime waves. American and Canadian social histories are littered with the rise and fall of drug panics. From marijuana, heroin, alcohol and crack, varying levels of moral outrage and repression have been thrown at those blamed for "the sweet pill that makes life better". If you look historically, media depictions of crack are most often associated with African Americans (blacks) and violent crime, while methamphetamine is most commonly associated with Caucasians(whites) and is framed as a "public health problem". As you can see, the "depravity" of a "ghetto drug" like crack, and the creeping of meth into the ‘‘mainstream’’ belie racial stereotypes of  black and white in North America. Meth brings the depravity of urban drug panics to new spaces. The next Racial Moral Panic and Crime Wave? Mexican Drug Cartels flooding Meth into White Suburban USA. So how is this portrayed in Crime Media?

48 Hours Mystery aired an episode titled "The Curse of Small Town U.S.A". The description from their website reads like this:

Methamphetamine is a powerful, cheap drug and it is a growing problem in some surprising parts of America. Unlike crack cocaine, which primarily targeted the inner-city during its reign of terror in the 1980's, crank is making it's mark in Small Town, U.S.A. The drug's users range from middle class and well-educated people to teens -- even mothers who have passed on their addictions to their babies. One of the reasons crank is growing so quickly is that methamphetamine is easily produced in makeshift labs from inexpensive raw materials. In addition, users experience a "high" lasting up to 30 hours -- much longer than many other drugs. "Methamphetamine may be the worst drug ever to hit America," says retired General Barry McAffrey, the nation's Drug Czar. "It's expanding in a very bizarre manner. It's all over the Midwest. It's in Idaho, Arizona, Hawaii, San Francisco, Southern California. It's now showing up in Georgia." Crank's explosive growth is being fueled by mass production labs run by Mexican nationals. Authorities say they produce up to 95% of the crank on America's streets. CBS News 48 Hours took a close look at methamphetamine on Thursday, and found a drug that threatens to tear apart the lives of countless Americans. Could your community be at risk?

So we'll watch parts of the 1990's 48 Hours episode "On Crack Street"

and then we'll watch the Discovery Channel documentary :American Underworld: Homemade Illegal Drugs"

So after watching today's videos I'll ask you to answer the following:

• What messages about race and drug use do the videos show? (think about who uses meth, who makes meth, and who sells it).