Monday, June 8. 2015

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

B Block Social Studies 11 - Today I'd like you to watch a brilliant commercial about access to fresh water from World Vision

FYI: World Vision is a non-profit organization (however it is denominational - Christian) that works in three areas for the developing world: disaster management, development assistance and advocacy (human rights, economic justice and peace).

Today we'll take a look at the Human Development Index which focuses on health, poverty and hunger, education, and environmental issues in countries around the world. Don't forget a good resource is the UNDP HDI Report. We'll try to understand what HIPC's (Highly Indebted Poor Countries) are along with the cycle of poverty looking at two power points about material wealth and food (based on photography from Peter Menzel). Later we will make a connection between the social problems (gender, health, children, etc.) in HIPC's with economic development. We will examine traditional economies which are based in primary industries and subsistence farming and compare those with developing and developed economies.

To end the class I'll have you work on questions: 1 from page 351; 1 and 2 a and b from page 357; question 1 from page 360 and question 1 from page 364. These questions deal with the cycle of poverty, the burden of debt, structural adjustment policies, and HIPC's (see the World Bank's list of HIPC's here). For an alternative view on the World Bank, the IMF, and HIPC debt see the New Internationalist March 2004 magazine article here.
Tomorrow we'll look at vulnerable people in impoverished countries (women and children), health issues (including the HIV/AIDS epidemic), and foreign aid (CIDA). Don't be apathetic and feel hopeless! Is there something you can do? Check out the possibilities for Canadian youth at CIDA's Youth Zone.

C Block Geography 12 - Today we shift our focus to look at ecosystem components. We'll identify what an ecosystem is (along with its abiotic and biotic components) and understand what a community is. We'll see what Tim and Moby have to tell us about ecosystems and then you'll need to work on questions 1, 4, 6, and 8 from page 661 of your Geosystems textbook. For help on ecosystems check out:
"The Concept of the Ecosystem"
Ecosystem Fundamentals
Ecological Systems
Living Things: Habitats & Ecosystems

D Block Crime, Media and Society 12 - Today we're back in the library working on the collaborize classroom site. Now for today I'd like you to do two things:

1. Work on last week's threads on the individual media monitoring project/assignment and on the Media vs. Anthony, Arias, & Zimmerman, then
2. Work on the Russell  Williams Canadian-American News Coverage thread