Human Geography

    Today classes were on a shorter schedule because we needed to get to every class for exam review. In class today we went over the first constructed response. The review in class really helped me understand the concept of the constructed response and I now have a map or plan of my writing. I took your advice on studying the demographic transition chart. I know to use lots of vocabulary words in my response because those show better understanding of the topic. I have proficiently studied for this exam and am confident. As for my religion exam before I am not as confident. I have lots a terms to memorize and hope it does not prohibit or hurt my exam.

Today in class we studied for the Midterm again. After reviewing the exam doesn't seem too hard. I still need to study because I saw some questions on A message to Garcia which I am not prepared for. I also need to study the power point on excellence which I haven't looked at in a while. Overall I am confident for this test because the multiple choice seem easy. Also the two constructed responses don't look hard  and I already have an idea on what to write.

     Today in class you were not there to give us a lesson. So, instead we went to your blog where you posted all of the information that will be on the exam. I am writing this in class after I have read through your study guide and can say that this will be crucial in my studying for this exam. I would have gone through all of my blogs to find this information which would have taken a lot of time but, now it is all posted in one place. I did find the note you left at the bottom of the study guide and I think that the essay question isn't too hard. The other method I will use to study for this exam is all of our past tests. I have saved them in preparation for the exams. the only topic that was not found in your latest blog was the information on Excellence. This and the information on Socrates was a very big part of the beginning of the year so I will have to go through my tests and blogs instead.

     Yesterday in class we were given a pop quiz on the two population demographic maps we talked about in class. I did not feel confident with the quiz because I forgot which stage a country goes through when it has a rapidly falling death rate. Even though I got an 80 on the quiz it didn't bring my grade down much. For the rest of class we reviewed for the next test and for exams. When we reviewed for the next test I felt that most of the topics were covered in our last test so I can use that as a study guide. As for exams I am pretty confident because I have already had semester exams at my last school so I am more prepared on my ways to study. I have kept all of my previous tests and can look at my blogs to study.

    Today we started class with a survey monkey survey. I had already taken the survey in English. After the survey we went over a different demographic graph. This one was just a picture and was meant to show how countries develop. The grid was split into 5 sections on each of the transitions of a country. On the graph it showed the rate a natural increase and a countries population. As a countries economy developed their rate of natural increase also increased. Then once a country's healthcare develops then their death rate also decreases. Then their population increases a lot. Once a country fully develops the birth rate decreases leveling out their population.

     Today in class we watched another video and took notes. These notes were a add-on to yesterday's notes. Today's video was on a teacher who found a new way to help visualize population and how people live. He made a diagram using a coordinate grid where the y axis represented lifespan and the x axis is the annual income. Then he represented each of the top countries of each region with a circle. The larger the countries population the larger the circle. The circles were color coordinated by region. First he depicted where the circles were in 1810 with all of them being in the bottom left corner of the grid with people having a low lifespan and low annual income. Then he changed the dates and the circles moved accordingly. The European and American countries were the farthest with annual income and life span. Then when countries became more modern they started to move to the top right corner. This is used to show how countries with higher income usually have higher lif...

     Today in class we watched a video working with population pyramids. This video was a TED talk which I have watched in the past and have really liked listening to them. This video was about how demographers can read and use population pyramids to predict following trends. The video also highlighted the differences between countries population pyramids compared to what there economy is like. It used the trend that post industrial countries or developing countries have a very high birth rate and there population is growing quickly. This is because these countries need a lot of people in their work force. In industrial countries families do not need to have as many kids to succeed so the birth rate is usually about constant with the death rate. In post-industrial countries the society has a lot more automation and less need for work.