Successful Review

We continued reviewing for ISTEP today by going over our last test.  Again, most of my students did a good job.  Today we focused on the questions a lot students missed.

Before going on, I'd like to explain something - should it come up tonight:

One of the questions a lot of students missed asked was "Which religion could be categorized as monotheistic, polytheistic, or pantheistic?"  The answer is Hinduism.  It's true they believe in many gods - such as Hanuman, Vishnu, Krishna, Kali, Ganesha, etc... which would make them polytheistic.  But they believe those gods make up the God/God Spirit Brahma.  This is somewhat similar to the Christian concept of The Trinity - except that there are more than three parts to the Godhead.  Either way, because of this Hinduism is sometimes labeled as monotheistic.  And since Brahma is part of everything Hinduism is often designated as pantheistic.

I mentioned that this is partially where the idea of karma comes from - that Brahma keeps the universe in balance.  Much like the scientific idea of homeostasis.  I thought students learned about homeostasis in science this year - but it must be next year.  ...ANYWAY, homeostasis is the body's way of keeping itself in balance.  For example, if you get too hot - you  sweat.  If you get too cold, you shiver and get goosebumps.  I mentioned that if you try to drink a gallon of milk in an hour, you'll end up throwing up.  I had a couple students who were adamant that they either a) could accomplish this, or b) had already accomplished this.


At any rate, I told the kids they could believe what they want, but I was advising them not to try it because 1 - vomit is disgusting, and 2 - it's potentially dangerous.

Ultimately, the point was - like homeostasis, Hindus believe karma keeps the universe in balance.

Students did a great job on the economics section of the test, but most needed to work on the religions section.  So, in order to get the points for today's extra credit - discuss 3 questions that were asked during the game today.  Write down the questions on a piece of paper.  Then have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.

If you weren't at school today, write something about each one of the 5 religions we've studied this year, and have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.