Wednesday, March 11. 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 with Ms. Tancon we'll continue looking at Canada's entry into the war: remember how it wasn't an option? We'll cover topics such as the excitement Canadians felt to sign up, the exclusion of many from joining the war, the Canadian Expeditionary Force (ahem: Army), the War Measures Act, and the infamous Sam Hughes. Following this, we'll start looking at the realities of war through primary documents like the painting to the left called "For What?" by Frederick Varley who followed Canadian troops in the Hundred Days’ Offensive through France and Belgium. He wrote to his wife:

"You in Canada … cannot realize at all what war is like...You must see and live it. You must see the barren deserts war has made of once fertile country … see the turned up graves, see the dead on the field, freakishly mutilated — headless, legless, stomachless, a perfect body and a passive face and a broken empty skull — see your own countrymen, unidentified, thrown in a cart, their coats over them, boys digging a grave in a land of yellow slimy mud and green pools of water under a weeping sky.” (courtesy Historica Canada)

For more on the War Artists (A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer and Frederick Varley) check out the Canadian War Museum's Canvas of War exhibit

D Block Criminology 12 - To start the class I'd like to talk about your lists from yesterday and find out why violence is entertainment for some.

After that we'll watch some Warner Brothers cartoons with all the glorious violence in them and we'll have a discussion about the acceptance of violence in our modern culture. We'll look at: Bully for Bugs; Rabbit Seasoning; For Scentimental Reasons; Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2^th Century and lastly The Ducksters. Criminal Harassment (Stalking), Sexual Assault, Assault, Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault (torture), and Unlawful Confinement are just a few of the crimes in these cartoons...all violent crimes.

Is Bugs Bunny bad for kids? Comedy and violence are intermingled into a typical or formulaic narrative story.....Wile E. Coyote chases the Road Runner, Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny, Sylvester chases Tweety Bird and they inflict carnage on each other. The end is always the same....someone wins, someone loses, the loser is humiliated and we laugh at them (good clean wholesome fun). While we watch the cartoons I want you to think about the implicit and implied messages that each cartoon sends to kids (rather than the explicit and obvious messages) and then we'll talk about what those messages do even if kids understand the difference between cartoon and real violence.

So now compare the violence in the Warner Brothers cartoons (from the 50's and 60's) with that of the Happy Tree Friends. Check out the following video: Happy Tree Friends A to Zoo . Let's be frank here, the cartoon is not meant for children but because of the "cute" characters what would it be like if we just let young children watch that cartoon unsupervised?

Consider the following:
Media Violence: Psychology
Cartoon Violence Project
Gender and Comm. Kids Cartoon Violence

 I'd then like to give you a few notes on the question: Where does violence come from? We'll look at personal traits, ineffective families, evolutionary factors, exposure to violence, cultural values, substance abuse, and firearm availability. If there's time don't forget to work on yesterday's questions:

1. What is the attraction of violent films and video games?
2. Is there more violent imagery in media now as opposed to the past (think graphic, realistic visceral)? Why / Why not?
3. What kinds of people are drawn to violent imagery and what kind of violent images draw them to that form of entertainment?
4. What is “morbid curiosity”?
5. Are there any equally satisfying substitutions for violent entertainment?
6. What draws our attention to violent media events (news) that are not intended to entertain?

C Block Geography 12 -Today we'll look at the differences between explosive and effusive volcanic eruptions (think silica and gas) and you'll have a big question to look at. We'll finish watching the Raging Planet volcano episode and then I'll show you some footage of the Kilauea eruption (both pahoehoe and aa flows) and the Soufriere Hills volcanic eruption on Montserrat. Tomorrow we will focus on Mount Saint Helens, and Friday we'll look at our case study and focus on Mount Rainier. Monday next week 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"