Thursday, May 30. 2019

Today's schedule is DCBA

D Block Law - Today we'll be in the class continuing our look at family law. We'll talk about annulments, divorce, property division and support obligations. We'll look at: the equal division rule and the matrimonial home; spousal support and self sufficiency; and the types of child guardianship, access, and child support and Friday we're back in the library for continued work on our major project.

C Block Criminology - Today we'll finish watching Fly Colt Fly.

Remember, Colton Harris-Moore: Barefoot Bandit is ‘not who I am'

So, I hope to have a conversation with you about celebrity/fame (or infamy) and how the television and social media channels contributed to "the barefoot Bandit" mythos. From Crime and the media in America

In the 1960s a term was popularized to describe our society’s fascination with violence and crime as a public spectacle called “wound culture.” It is this odd pull towards the abject that has been at the heart of American media. As the future of media looks to integrate social media and news information more and more, there are serious questions to consider. Will algorithms designed to feed us content we “like” lead to even more consumption of crime news? How will that skew our perception of crime in America? Will an illusion of a crime infested America affect our politics?

And from ShoutoutUK  How the media controls our perceptions of crime

Despite the fact that most crime is fairly routine, trivial and non-dramatic, TV programmes such as Crimewatch often pick up on the more serious and violent offences like sexual assault, murder or armed robbery – with reconstructions giving quite a frightening insight into the crime. This focus on the dramatic side of crime is a routine feature on TV programmes or film as well as news reports, and gives a false and misleading impression of the real extent of such crimes.

You could read an interesting scholarly article Consuming Television Crime Drama: A Uses
and Gratifications Approach

There is also a really good Canadian on line piece titled Understanding how the media reports crime

So What do you get from the Fly Colt Fly documentary? Consider: plot structure; themes (realistic, fantastical, farcical, superficial, complex, sensitive); technique (camera work, lighting, special effects); editing (pacing, long or short sequences); sound (effects, silence, music); values (what values were embedded within the documentary); mass appeal (choice of characters, choice of content, choice of issues addressed)

B Block Human Geography - Today our key issue is, "Why Do Services Cluster in Settlements"? Services are clustered in settlements. Rural settlements are centers for agriculture and provide a small number of services; urban settlements are centers for consumer and business services. One-half of the people in the world currently live in a rural settlement, and the other half in an urban settlement. We'll look at clustered (circular and linear) and dispersed rural settlements and a brief history of cities:


The process by which the populations of urban settlements grow is known as urbanization. Urbanization has two dimensions: an increase in the percentage of people living in urban settlements and an increase in the number of people living urban settlements. These two factors have different global distributions and occur for different reasons. So, Vancouver?


Would you live in the downtown of a city or out in the suburbs?


Lastly questions...

1. How are strips of land allocated in a clustered rural settlement? 
2. In a linear rural settlement, why are settlements clustered around roads and/or rivers?
3. What early structures and permanent man-made features were associated with early public services?
4. What early structures and permanent man-made features were associated with early business services?
5. Why did large urban centers collapse with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE?
6. Explain the difference between number or people living in large cities and the percentage of people living in large cities as it relates to MDCs and LDCs.
7. Present the reasoning of a person who chooses to live downtown, near the central business district (CBD). Answer as though you’re explaining to a friend why you chose to live there. Reference concepts from the note package & text in your answer. 
8. Now present the reasoning of a person who chooses to live in the suburbs while they work in the city. Again, answer as though you’re explaining your decision to a friend and reference concepts from the note package & text.

A Block Physical Geography - Today is a crucial day in Geography 12. First in order to help with yesterday's question about human cultures and parasitic/symbiotic relationships we'll watch Dr. Sam Ohu Gon III, speaking as Senior Scientist and Cultural Adviser to The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii



After, we will be discussing biogeochemical cycles - specifically the carbon and nitrogen cycles. We will also be discussing the flow of energy through an ecosystem (trophic layers and food webs). Maybe Bill Nye can help...



It is very important that you review systems and feedback from week 1 of the course. For a great on-line text resource check out the Human Ecology textbook by Gerry Marten.

For more on cycles in ecosystems check out:
Biogeochemical Cycles at Windows to the Universe
Biogeochemical Cycles at Geography 4 Kids
Biogeochemical Cycles in Michael Ritter's on line "The Physical Environment" text
Energy Flow through Ecosystems in Michael Ritter's on line "The Physical Environment" text
Trophic Pyramids and Food Webs at Physical Geography
Food Chains and Food Webs
McGraw Hill BC Grade 7 Science textbook animation on PCB's and Bioaccumulation