Room 611: Monday, April 22. 2024

Although EVERY day is Earth Day...Nonetheless Happy Earth Day!

Today's schedule is ABCD

A Block Criminology - Today we are off to the learning commons / library for our next blog assignment for the term and I'd like you to answer the following:

What characteristics must a good burglar have? What theory of criminal behaviour best predicts the development of a good burglar? If a good burglar is a professional thief then is their career path similar to other professionals like lawyers or doctors? What can you do to reduce the chances of being victimized by a good burglar?

Look at Neil Shover's explanation on page 234-237 in the CRIM textbook.... Neal Shover studied the careers of professional burglars and uncovered the existence of a particularly successful type--the good burglar. Shover also discovered that a person becomes a good burglar through learning the techniques of the trade from older, more experienced burglars.

To help check out What makes a good burglar? at:

We asked 86 burglars how they broke into homes

The strange expertise of burglars

How to be a better burglar

The Mind of a Burglar

Understanding Decisions to Burglarize from the Offender's Perspective

Through the eyes of a burglar: Study provides insights on habits and motivations, importance of security

B Block Legal Studies - Today grade 12 students are required to complete the Ministry of Educations Student Learning Survey in the library. After attendance, you'll head to the library to complete this. After, we'll focus on How a Criminal Trial works, including the presentation of evidence (Crown first then Defence), the rules of evidence (including voire dire - A Voir Dire is usually referred to a "trial within a trial". It is usually held during the Crown's case in order to determine the admissibility of evidence. For example, Voir Dires can be held to determine whether a confession is voluntary and admissible or whether it should be excluded under section 24(2) of the Charter. If the evidence heard in the Voir Dire is deemed to be admissible, counsel can agree not to repeat the evidence and the Voir Dire will form part of the evidence at trial. Two very common Voir Dires are a challenge to the admissibility of items seized in a search and a challenge to the admissibility accused confession to the police), and types of evidence (circumstantial, hearsay, privileged, and character).

Before a trial takes place, at the arraignment hearing, some of the things that will be discussed are:

whether the prosecutor is proceeding summarily or by indictment;
whether the prosecutor has made full disclosure (given all of the information the defense needs, like witnesses’ statements);
the number of police, expert, and other witnesses that the prosecutor plans to call if the case goes to trial;
the time estimate for the prosecutor’s case; and
whether an interpreter is needed.

The arraignment hearing will likely be handled by a judicial case manager. At the hearing, the judicial case manager will ask how the defendant wants to plead. At this point, the defendant has three options:

plead guilty (before a judge),
plead not guilty and set a date for trial, or
ask for an adjournment

C Block Human Geography - Today we'll try to answer the key question, "Why Do Folk and Popular Culture Face Sustainability Challenges?" The international diffusion of popular culture has led to two issues, both of which can be understood from geographic perspectives.

First, the diffusion of popular culture may threaten the survival of traditional folk culture in many countries.
Second, popular culture may be less responsive to the diversity of local environments and consequently may generate adverse environmental impacts.

So we'll examine these two things today. We'll start with the potential loss of folk culture through assimilation which is a process of giving up cultural traditions and adopting social customs of the dominant culture of a place, acculturation which is a process of adjustment to the dominant culture of a place all while retaining features of a folk culture, and syncretism which is the creation of a new cultural feature through combining elements of two groups. See this site here. To help think of:

Or the story of Chanie Wenjack set to the music of Gord Downie (the Tragically Hip singer who died of brain cancer in 2017).

D Block Physical Geography - Today we look at stream profiles, deltas, and floodplains. We are focusing on the erosive action of rivers along with the land forms that they create. You will need to copy a meandering stream profile and a diagram on oxbow lake formation. We'll start by looking at flooding along the Mississippi. Stretching across more than 1.245-million square miles (40% of the Continental USA), 31 states, and two Canadian provinces, The Mississippi is the fourth largest river in the world. In 2019, spring floods broke records in many parts of the Mississippi River basin. River levels peaked at record highs in 75 locations in the Missouri River basin alone, and constant high water weakened levees until they collapsed. The United States federal government estimated the floods along the Mississippi caused $20 billion in damages. At least 14 people died.

Maps of Mississippi River flooding

Flooding in Mississippi

National Weather Service Flooding in Mississippi

Letting the River Run