Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Thursday, December 6. 2012

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

D Block Social Studies 11 - Today we'll start with the American Civil Defense video "Duck and Cover" along with a bit of the Atomic Cafe movie in class. The Atomic Cafe contains civil defense movies from the 1940's through the 1960's and will help you understand the culture of fear that developed throughout the Cold War. After, we'll take a look at Canada's role in the post-Vietnam world in two sections - the Trudeau Era and the Mulroney Era. Today we'll start with the Trudeau era. I'll give you a few notes and then I'll have you work on some definitions including: CIDA, la Francophonie, SALT, SDI, FIRA, FTA, NAFTA, Glasnost, Perestroika and the end of the Cold War. You'll need to work on questions 2 and 4 from page 146 as well as 2, 3, and 4 from page 150 from the Counterpoints textbook today.

C Block Crime, Media & Society 12 - Today we'll finish the Criminal Minds episode that we began yesterday. After we'll chat about the episode and see what messages about crime we can find. Added to that we'll see whether or not the Social Process Theories apply.

After we'll look at the last grouping of our theories-  Social Conflict Theories - all of these theories share the notion that society is characterized by inherent conflict between different groups and that law is a reflection of this perennial strife. These theories are heavily influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx and in many ways they indicate that the system...not the individual is broken. So the question I'd like you to work on today is the following:  Is conflict inevitable in all cultures? If not, what can be done to reduce the level of conflict in our own society?


B Block Geography 12 - Today we'll continue our look at severe weather focusing on hurricanes. We'll look at the conditions necessary for hurricane development and then look at the Saffir-Simpson scale (wind speed, storm surge, and damage to structures). Your activity will be to track (plot out the path) of Hurricane Diana from 1984 and answer two questions (including question 18 from page 248 of your Geosystems text). For more on predicting Hurricane Landfall check out: Predicting Hurricanes and the NOAA Predicting Hurricanes site too.

While you are working on the questions I'll show you some footage of Hurricane Ike and the damage done to Galveston Island (on the Raging Planet Hurricane episode)


Raging Planet: Hurricane (2009) - Part 1 by bigcenterprises

If there's time today we'll start watching National Geographic's Inside Hurricane Katrina.

The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina is very personal to me. Although I was not directly impacted by the hurricane (I did not lose loved ones; nor did I lose property in the storm) my wife and I were married on August 5, 2005 just north of New Orleans. We spent time talking with the people of New Orleans and making friends there. We traveled the Gulf Shores road (Highway 90) through Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, and Gulfport. Three weeks later after a clear warning from the director of the National Hurricane Center, Dr. Max Mayfield (someone who I met at a professional workshop five years earlier), Katrina made landfall along the border between Louisiana and Mississippi. Now it wasn't as if politicians didn't know about the potential disaster that could befall New Orleans if a major hurricane was to strike. Dr. Ivor van Heerden ran a simulation (Hurricane Pam) the previous year at Louisiana State University. His test results were provided to FEMA, state, and local officials. People knew. People in power knew. Heck, I even knew and I'm just a geography teacher living on the opposite end of the continent. The DVD asks some hard questions and I hope to begin a lively discussion with you about them.


A Block Law 12 - Today in Law I would like you to read the Thomas v Hamilton Board of Education (1994) case and we'll talk about it together. If there's time then I'd like to look at the Thornton et al. v. Board of School Trustees of School District No. 57 (Prince George) et al. (1978) case together (kind of an important case for non-pecuniary loss in Canada). We'll discuss this case and then I'll go through civil trial procedures with you and give you some notes on summons or statements of claim and the options available when a lawsuit is claimed against you (statement of defence, counterclaims, third party claims, or default judgements). Next I'll explain the benefits of an out of court settlement and identify why negotiating an agreement is better than going to court. For the remainder of the class you'll have an opportunity to work together on your major case study project

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