Wednesday, February 25. 2015

Today is a PLC day so the schedule is shortened for the day. Today's schedule is B-A-D-C and the Bell Schedule for PLC Day on Wednesday looks like this:

B Block 8:58 9:57
A Block 10:02 10:59
Lunch 10:59 11:42
D Block 11:47 12:44
C Block 12:49 1:45
PLC 1:45 3:15

B Block Social Studies 11 -  Today we'll talk about the ways you can influence government, focusing on elections and voting. We'll look at representation by population, the first past the post system, and the concept of proportional representation. You'll need to work on 1, 2, 3, and 4 on page 253 along with 1 and 2 on page 258 of your Counterpoints textbook today. For help on why you should vote see:
Elections Canada Young Voters Site
Elections Canada Electoral System explanation
Compulsory voting in Australia explanation
Electoral Reform in BC First Past the Post or STV
About.com First Past the Post vs Proportional Representation
Historical record of Canadian Voter turnout
2011 Election Results CBC

There will be two members of parliament representing the Comox Valley after the next federal election, now the Electoral Boundaries Commission has decided to draw a line through our Regional District.

Comox and Electoral Areas B and C will remain with the North Island, while Courtenay, Cumberland and Area A will join a new 'Courtenay-Alberni' riding.

D Block Criminology 12 - You now know that 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. One of the major suspected causes for the crime rate drop is the age structure of society; the number of young males in Canada is lower than before and 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. Today I'll have you work on three questions about crime trends:

1. Using pages 37 to 46 in the CRIM textbook outline and explain the crime patterns in relation to ecology, firearms, social class, age, gender and race.
2. What is a chronic offender and what is the significance of Marvin Wolfgang's discovery (why is identifying the chronic offender important)?
3. How would you explain the gender differences in the crime rate (why do you think males are more violent than females)? 

C Block Geography 12 - OK Lets get this out of the way right now....No the movie the Core is not possible. We do not have the technology to burrow our way to the core of the earth and detonate a nuclear device in order to start the liquid outer core rotating. Today we start with tectonics and the internal structure/composition of the earth. We'll take some notes down in the week 3 package on core, mantle, and crust and then we'll watch the first 20 minutes of the Amazing Planet DVD from National Geographic. You may use the Earth Interior web page or the Dynamic Earth webpage to help with questions 7 & 8 from page 366 of your Geosystems text (answers can be found between pages 334 and 336 of the text).

Use this diagram for your notes in the week