Friday, June 4. 2010

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

B - Social Studies 10 -Today is the last day to work on your children's book about the building of the CPR. Your project is due this Monday (the same day as our unit final). Don't forget, here are some websites that can help you:
Children's History of the CPR
Canadian Pacific Railway Archives
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Building the Railway
The Kids site of Canadian Settlement - Chinese & the Railway
Vancouver Public Library - CPR History
BC Archives - CPR
Kamloops Art Gallery - Andrew Onderdonk & the CPR
Library & Archives Canada: Canada by Train
Library & Archives Canada: The Kid's site of Canadian Trains
Musee McCord Museum: CPR form sea to sea
Musee McCord Museum: Forging the National Dream
Canada Science and Technology Museum: Railways

A - Earth & Space Science 11 - Today, you are in the library for your penultimate day (second to last) to work on your major semester long project. You can find the assignment on the school computers in K:\Mr. A. Young\Earth and Space Science 11\Earth and Space Science Major Project.pdf. Remember that your entire project is due two weeks from today. You will need to submit all sixteen completed pages (including the eight that you've already submitted). Remember that your topics need to be related to class discussions or subjects covered in the course AND you need to have a research component.

C - Criminology 12 - Today you are going to get into groups of three and make a mind map poster of organized crime groups (gangs) in Canada. You will get a handout on Organized crime (aboriginal crime groups, cartels, ethnic crime groups, and outlaw motorcycle gangs) and will need to explain the activities of each group (What do they do? How do they do it? What do they control? Where are they based in Canada?) and identify the connections amongst the groups (Are they connected? Do they get into conflict with each other?). I'll give you an example: on the handout it states that prairie-based Aboriginal gangs were working with the Hells Angels to sell drugs at street level. Here there is a connection between Aboriginal and Outlaw Biker gangs and you'd identify that on the mind map...now the question is why did the two groups work together? Organized crime by nature (according to Howard Abadinsky) is monopolistic (in other words organized crime groups want to have a monopoly over a specific geographic area for the illicit activity they wish to pursue). You will need to have your mind map poster of organized crime in Canada completed by the end of the class (Note: use the section in your text to help as well).
For more stories about organized crime (especially a particularly interesting court case in Ontario and Manitoba involving the Bandidos) see the CANOE Crime News Archive.

Pau Hana!

Thursday, June 3. 2010

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

C - Criminology 12 - Yesterday we got caught up in the talk about white collar crime and today I'd like to finish the first half of the documentary "The Corporation" that we began yesterday. Please do not forget that the documentary is an opinion piece...it is trying to pursuade you that a corporation acts like a psychopath. Not all business is bad but we do need to understand the "corporate view" of white collar criminal activity.

A - Earth & Space Science 11 - Today, you'll have the class to work on "The Atmosphere" worksheets 1-3. You'll need to have these completed by the end of Monday's class and you can get them finished today if you work. I will have the library booked for you tomorrow but your time is really running short for your major project. I need you to be here working on the project in the library or I will not be able to give you any more time for this assignment. We'll wrap up weather and climate on Monday and then shift into our final unit on astronomy. While you're working on your atmosphere/weather worksheets we'll watch a sweet video on lightning (it's in the top five!)

B - Social Studies 10 - Today we begin by looking at the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 and the implications of the railway and the results for Macdonald, Riel and the Metis. I'll give you a few notes on the topic, like yesterday in class, and then you have the rest of the class for your childrens book on the CPR. DO NOT FORGET that you have a unit test this upcoming Monday on: First Nations groups in Canada; explorers of the Canadian west; Selkirk, Red River, Louis Riel and Manitoba's entry into Confederation; the Gold Rush and BC joining confederation; the CPR; numbered treaties and the Indian Act; the Northwest Rebellion; and settlement on the prairies. You also have your project due next Monday as well. For more on the Northwest Rebellion and Luis Riel look at:

About the Northwest Rebellion of 1885
The Metis in Alberta NW Rebellion 1885
Royal Canadian Regiment NW Rebellion 1885
Mount Allison University Louis Riel & Northwest Rebellion
HistoriCa! minute on Louis Riel
The Heritage Centre: Louis Riel

Wednesday, June 2. 2010

The schedule for the morning has been altered in order to accommodate a tutorial block. If you need help in a class you have from 8:55-9:25 this morning to seek help. The schedule looks like this

Tutorial 8:55-9:25
A 9:30 - 10:30
B 10:35 - 11:35

The rest of the day is a normal schedule.

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

A - Earth & Space Science 11 - Today you need to finish questions 11 & 12 on page 445 of the Earth Science and the Environment text. Afterwords we'll finish the video on cold and begin to understand the connection between the areas of surplus and deficit on the planet and how they help to drive weather patterns. Sweet!

B - Social Studies 10 - Today we'll discuss the numbered treaties on the Prairies and the Indian Act. I'll give you a few notes on the impact of the treaties and the Indian Act and then you'll have the rest of the class to work on your book on the building of the CPR. It is important to note that in 1885 John A. Macdonald said of the Metis "If they are half-breed, they are [considered by the government to be] white". This meant that the Metis were not covered under the Indian Act and were not entitled to "Indian Status" and therefore did not have the same rights until the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the rights of the Metis in 2003. For more on the Numbered treaties and the Indian Act see:
Canada in the Making
Atlas of Canada Numbered Treaties
U of C Numbered Treaties
Canadian Department of Indian and Northern Affairs
CBC Numbered Treaties Background
The Canadian Encyclopedia: The Indian Act
Henderson's Annotated Indian Act

C - Criminology 12 - Today we'll quickly look at individual exploitation of an institutional position, influence peddling & bribery, theft and employee fraud, client fraud and corporate crime. We'll end the class with a discussion about business and corporate culture. What is it that makes a successful business person and what kind of ethical behaviour is valued by corporate culture? From the Business Ethics Forum blog site:

An outstanding in-depth article on the Value of Corporate Values can be found in an article by Reggie Van Lee, Lisa Fabish, and Nancy McGaw in this month's S+B. Based on a survey at 365 companies in 30 countries, the authors claim "increasingly, companies around the world have adopted formal statements of corporate values, and senior executives now routinely identify ethical behavior, honesty, integrity, and social concerns as top issues on their companies’ agendas". The highlights of the survey and article are:

1. A large number of companies are making their values explicit. That’s a change — quite a significant change — from corporate practices 10 years ago. The ramifications of this shift are just beginning to be understood.
2. Ethical behavior is a core component of company activities.
   Most companies believe values influence two important strategic areas — relationships and reputation — but do not see the direct link to growth.
3. Most companies are not measuring their “ROV.”
4. Top performers consciously connect values and operations.
5. Values practices vary significantly by (continental) region.
6. The CEO’s tone really matters.

The article provides quantitative data about these 7 findings and concludes with "A commitment to corporate values may be in vogue, but the public will remain suspicious until corporations both understand and can demonstrate that they are committed to using values to create value". What we are looking at is what makes people abuse the public trust in corporations. We will look at stings, swindles, and chiselling and discuss ImClone (Martha Stewart) and Bre-X. For more on Corporations look at the website for the documentary The Corporation

Watch the documentary on You Tube here!

Tuesday, June 1. 2010

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

C - Criminology 12 - Today we will take the first part of class to finish up work on our anti-shoplifting poster (how to identify those who shoplift and how to "harden" products to reduce shoplifting). Once we finish that we shift our focus and look at White Collar Crime. We will begin by learning how to identify a pyramid / ponzi scam (for more take a look at How Stuff Works).

B - Social Studies 10 - Today we'll continue our look at the Canadian Pacific Railway. I'll give you some notes on the building of the CPR focusing on the effects of hard labour and racism on Chinese workers and land issues with the First Nations peoples across the Prairies. For the rest of the class you can work on your children's book about the CPR. Tomorrow we'll look at the numbered treaties and the Indian Act; Thursday we'll look at the return of Riel and the Northwest Rebellion of 1885; and Friday we'll look at the Northwest Mounted Police, settlement in the west and the effects of the Railway. Don't forget you have a unit final test this upcoming Monday!

A - Earth & Space Science 11 - Today we'll take a look at seasons and the geographic factors that affect temperature on the surface of the planet. I'll have you work through a seasons lab, we'll watch the "Cold" episode of the BBC "The Weather" DVD, and then you'll end with "For Review" questions 11 and 12 on page 445 of your Earth Science and the Environment textbook.

Monday, May 31, 2010

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

B - Social Studies 10 -Today we will spend the class working on our children's book about the building of the CPR. Don't forget, here are some websites that can help you:
Canadian Pacific Railway Archives
The Canadian Encyclopedia - Building the Railway
The Kids site of Canadian Settlement - Chinese & the Railway
Vancouver Public Library - CPR History
BC Archives - CPR
Kamloops Art Gallery - Andrew Onderdonk & the CPR

A - Earth & Space Science 11 - Today we'll continue watching the BBC video "The Weather" episode on heat. You can work on "For Review" questions 2, 3, 5, and 6 from page 445 while we're watching the episode. In the last few minutes of class we'll look at radiation balance, conduction, convection, advection and the transfer of energy on the planet. Tomorrow we're looking at seasons.

C - Criminology 12 - Today we will have our last journal entry.This week we'll look at white collar and corporate crime and today I'd like you to work on a journal entry based on questions in the textbook (and the documentary "The Corporation" that I'll show you tomorrow). I'd like you to answer the question "Can Corporations Commit Murder?" If a corporation is considered as a person in law (as it is in the US) who can be held liable (responsible) if a corporation kills people? Use questions 1 & 2 from page 285 as well as question 1 from page 291 in your Criminology the Core textbook to help. Find an example of a story where a company was held responsible for the death of people and use it to support your ideas. Check out the following:
Redefining Corporate Crime (look at the bullet points half way through the article)
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (a law in the UK)
Corporate Crime Reporter Top 100 Corporate Criminals (most are fraud, antitrust and financial)
Newser (news stories about corporate crime)