Friday, February 2. 2024

Today's schedule is ABCD

Today is Groundhog Day, in the United States and Canada, where the emergence of the groundhog or woodchuck from its burrow is said to foretell the weather for the following six weeks. Technically a groundhog, also called woodchuck, is one of 14 species of marmots, considered basically a giant North American ground squirrel.

From History Channel...

Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of Candlemas, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal - the hedgehog - as a means of predicting weather. Once they came to America, German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although they switched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the Keystone State.

So, if you believe that small rodents can predict the future weather patterns for Canada then check out Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia or Wiarton Willie in Ontario (BTW...Van Isle Violet, who resides at Marmot Recovery Foundation located at Mount Washington on Vancouver Island is the usual prognosticator here in BC) 😒 Townsfolk in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, will gather in Gobbler’s Knob to watch as Punxsutawney Phil is plucked from his burrow to predict the weather for the rest of the winter

A Block Criminology - To start the class we'll watch the really cool video on the roots of violence from NOVA called Inside the Mind of a Rampage Killer...

What makes a person walk into a theater or a church or a classroom full of students and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? Can science in any way help us understand these horrific events and provide any clues as to how to prevent them in the future? As the nation tries to understand the tragic events at Newtown, NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien separates fact from fiction, investigating new theories that the most destructive rampage killers are driven most of all, not by the urge to kill, but the wish to die. Could suicide–and the desire to go out in a media-fueled blaze of glory–be the main motivation? How much can science tell us about the violent brain?  Most importantly, can we recognize dangerous minds in time—and stop the next Newtown?

After we might watch a bit on epigenetics (or not) and then hopefully we'll discuss what we've seen with the nature/nurture concept in terms of criminality. 

Next Week, you need to create your own theory of why crime happens. I'll give you a handout on crime theories and you can use the following sites for help:

Theories and causes of crime (Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research)
Theories of the Causes of Crime (New Zealand Ministry of Justice)
Criminology Theories (Criminal Justice)
Criminological Theories: Introduction, Evaluation, Application (Oxford University Press Student Study Guide)

B Block Legal Studies - Today we'll take a look at where our laws come from (A History of Law / Law Timeline): Hammurabi (How the Code of Hammurabi Influenced Modern Legal Systems), Mosaic law, Common Law, Precedent and Case law.

Primary Sources of Law: Canadian Case Law

Primary Sources of Law: Canadian Legislation

I'll have you work on questions from page 21 of the All About Law textbook:

• Question 2 How did the English common law system develop? Look @ p. 14-15 in AAL
• Question 3 How is the rule of precedent used in today’s system of law? Look @ p.16 AAL
• Question 5 Explain the significance of statute law as a source of law? Look @ p.20 in AAL

C Block Human Geography - Today we'll start with this...check out the "what3words" app/map. What3words divided the entire world into a grid of 3 meter squares and gave each square a unique combination of three random words (a what3words address). This means that every building or station entrance, pop-up venue and meet-up spot in a park has its own unique address, allowing users to easily find, share and navigate to anywhere in the world. Young's desk can be found at

 ///dangerously.hydration.uphill

So what's the deal with this? Why is it a thing?

After figuring this out, we'll work on the foundations of Geography starting with the Five Themes and take a look at our key question Why is each point on Earth unique? - Like the what three words identifier above. In order to understand the increasingly complex and interconnected world we live in we need to find a way to make sense of information in a way that doesn't overwhelm us.  The Five Themes (Location, Place - Situation, Human Environment Interactions, Movement-Diffusion, and Region) are a framework for making sense of geographic data. It helps you to understand the holistic nature of geography of geography (emphasizing the organic or functional relation between parts and the whole, as each theme cannot be seen in isolation from the others). We'll figure out the difference between place and region (hint think scale) and maybe talk about toponyms, site and situation.  

D Block Physical Geography - Today we'll finish up the Five Themes, focusing on  Human Environment Interactions, Movement-Diffusion, and Region. After, you'll need to use your phones or one of the three laptops in the class to assist you with your GEO ID assignment (specifically a mapping function - Google Earth is always awesome - and web access to answer some questions). From your notebook (it looks like this)

Today's Fit...