Culture to Standard of Living to Economy to Human Capital

There is no perfect path to teaching social studies.

I want to review culture, and the cultural ingredients:

• food
• dress
• religion
• language
• standard of living
• the arts
• government
• values
• customs
• ethnicity

But I also want to dig deeper into understanding them.  But digging deeper takes time.  Take standard of living, for instance.

To understand that, we've got to understand the economy.

And to understand the economy, we have to know what GDP is.

And when I teach economy, I want to teach human capital, because they tie together so well.

...But now we're many degrees of separation from culture.

So, Monday we're going to fly back to culture, and hope that we don't all forget the lessons on economics.

If you want credit for reading discussing the blog today, find a scrap of paper and define human capital on it.  (We did this today in class.)  If you were absent, and need to make up the points, go to the "human capital" link.  Figure out what human capital is from that.  Write it on a scrap of paper, and turn it in tomorrow.

No Post in 20 Days?!?!?!

I've become horrible at posting the extra credit blog.  I get that.  And I apologize.  There are a number of reasons for it, but I'm not going to go into it here.

Instead, I'm going to give you a bunch of opportunities to get extra credit.  The rules have changed a little bit with this post.

You still need to read and discuss these posts with an adult.  But you may only do one of these a day.  (And you may only do one for the entirety of Fall Break.)  Sure, you may read more, but you'll only get credit for one.

Some of the things will have changed, since the posts are from previous years, but overall the content is the same.

In order to get credit, you need to write the current date, the date of the post, do whatever the post tells you to do, and have the adult you read it with sign signifying that you read and discussed that post with them.

Here are the posts:  Dealing with Economics:

• The Economy
• Supply, Demand, and GDP
• Economics
• Urbanization

Dealing with Human Capital:

• Human Capital
• Human Capital II
• Human and China
• Human Capital: People With Skills

TEST FRIDAY!

We introduced government today.  It would be worth checking out this blog post.  ...Or maybe this post.


I'm not going to write about that though, because I want to make sure that you realize we have a test on Friday.  It will cover everything we've learned so far this school year, but especially focus on culture, economics, and globalization.

HERE IS A LINK TO THE REVIEW GUIDE.

If you want the extra credit today, you need to study for at least 10 minutes - preferably with an adult, but you may also study on your own.

If there's anything on the review guide you feel like you cannot adequately explain, look at your notes, or search through this blog.  Type whatever it is you need help with into this blog's search engine (upper left hand corner of a desktop) and it should give you all the help you'll need.

When you're done studying, find a scrap of paper and write 5 things you brushed up on.  Have the adult you studied with sign the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow for extra credit.

Urbanization

We're still tying everything together, and looking at the pros and cons of globalization - and there are a lot of both.  We worked on understanding some of the terms that tie in to globalization:

• GDP
• Economics
• Interdependence
• Industrialization
• Standard of Living

...All things we've talked about before.  We added two today: developing nations, and urbanization.

To teach urbanization, I had students draw flowers on their bellwork.  They were in their groups, as they always are.  Each group represented a village, or town.  I told them I'd pay them in construction paper for the flowers they were drawing.  And I did.

But one group was a city.  They drew cars instead of flowers.  ...And I paid that group in Starburst.

At the end of the week, I offered students the opportunity to move to the city, if they wanted to.  Many, MANY students did.

Some students still did not move.  Maybe they liked drawing flowers more than cars.  Maybe they didn't feel like moving their desk.

This is like real life: maybe moving to the city is worth it to get a higher paying job.  ...But it may not be worth it for everybody.

Hopefully this sent home the idea that urbanization = moving to the city.  It usually happens because the person moving is looking for a higher paying job.

If you want the extra credit, tell the adult you're reading and discussing this with what you thought of the activity.  Then, when you're done, write a couple sentences from your discussion on a piece of notebook paper.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.  Turn it in on Monday.

There are some pictures below the page break:

Busy, Busy Days

It's been pretty busy around here.  Grades continue to be updated.  If I were you, I would double-check them to make sure they're accurate.  If there's anything you need to turn in, well...  Get it turned in.

I'm hoping to post some of the ingredients of culture pictures here on the blog, but I might not get that done for a day or two.  We're still studying culture, but we're mixing it with economics.  We're working our way toward globalization.

Today students reviewed the ingredients of culture by writing a short story which included each ingredient.

After that, we got new seats.

Then, they looked in The Hunger Games and found examples of some of the things we've been studying.

They had to find:

• standard of living (3 examples)
• economies
• traditional (1)
• market(1)
• command(1)
• ethnocentrism (1)
• ingredients of culture
• food (1)
• dress (1)
• religion (1)
• customs (1)
• ethnicity (1)
• values (1)
• the arts (1)
• government (1)
• language (1)
• standard of living (already listed above)

I think it went pretty well.

Students can get extra credit by reading and discussing this blog with an adult.  After you've read and discussed it, write a sentence about your discussion.  Have the adult you read with sign the paper.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.  Turn it in tomorrow.

Supply, Demand, and GDP

We're jumping around a little bit here - between culture, standard of living, and economics.  Maybe, just by reading that sentence you can see how those things all relate.  Standard of living is one of the ingredients of culture.  The economy is a fairly reliable indicator of standard of living.

Of course, a teacher can't just say "economy" and expect the kids to know what he's talking about.

Yesterday, we reviewed the 4 types of economies:

• Traditional
• Market
• Command
• Mixed

We discussed the common thread between them - they all deal with how things are made, sold or traded for, and bought.

We also looked at their differences.  A traditional economy is based off of necessity and availability.  A market economy is based off supply and demand.  In a command economy, the government dictates production, distribution, and consumption.

And of course, a mixed economy is a mix of the others.

For instance, here in the United States, we're primarily a market economy.  However, the government does tell us there are certain things we're not allowed to make.  Can you think of any?

So, although we're a market economy, we're at least partially a command economy as well.

We discussed supply and demand - the less you have of something people want, the greater the value.  To illustrate this point, I told students a couple stories about aluminum.  (Students, if you remember any of the stories, quickly retell them now.  ...If not, feel free to click this link.)

We'll be discussing the economy (and how it ties in with culture) for the next several days.  Often, we'll do this through the lens of The Hunger Games, which depicts each type of economy.

One of the last things we studied and learned about was GDP.  Yesterday, after the bellwork, we played a computer game organizing countries by GDP.  (One might argue we were also looking at the standard of living for each of those countries, but it's a little more complicated than that.)

You should check out the game, too.  In fact, students, to get extra credit today, challenge whoever it is you're reading this blog post with.  Let me know who wins.  Write it down on a scrap of paper, along with what they thought of the game.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.  Turn it in tomorrow.

Here's the link.

Hunger Games Quotes

Thursday and Friday of last week, I gave the students 6 "big idea" terms, along with a definition/explanation:

• culture
• government
• economics
• standard of living
• ethnicity
• ethnocentrism

Today, in class the white boards around the room had a quote from The Hunger Games.  Each quote dealt with a term.  Before we started reading, the students had to figure out the term, and why it fit with the quote.  Here they are, page numbers included.

Quote 1:  "Besides, the Capitol accent is so affected, almost anything sounds funny in it."  p.8

Quote 2:  "'Mm, still warm,' O say.  He must have been up at the crack of dawn to trade for it.  'What did it cost you?'

         'Just a squirrel.'"  p.7

Quote 3:  "Since almost no one can afford doctors, apothecaries are our healers." p.8

Quote 4:  "He could be my brother.  Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes." p.8

Quote 5:  "It's to the Capitol's advantage to have us divided among ourselves."  p.14

Bonus: Quote 6: (More than one term applies):  "No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob can afford to be a little choosier."  p.11

Students can get extra credit if they read and discuss the blog with an adult.  If they've done this, have the students ask the adult if they can match any of the terms with the quotes.  On a sheet of paper, either write how the adult answered, or tell me how they did.  Did they get them all?  Most of them?  Did they miss any?

When you're done, have the adult sign the paper.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on the paper.  Then turn it in tomorrow in the extra credit tray.

Hunger Games: Big Ideas

As promised, there's a blog post today.

We've started The Hunger Games!  Woo hoo!  I'm really excited about it, and I'm doubly excited that this year I get to work in tandem with Mr. Ogle, who will be teaching the Language Arts side of things.

Why The Hunger Games?

The content of The Hunger Games ties in with multiple 7th grade social studies standards.  It's a well-written, captivating story about the dangers of unlimited government.  Many of the big concepts we study are expressed in narrative fashion, allowing me to reinforce what we're learning in class.

Today, we talked about 4 of the big ideas that will show up in the book.  I had students write down a definition/explanation (in their own words) for:

• Government
• Economy
• Culture
• Standard of Living

These are hardly the only social studies topics that will show up in the book.  After students wrote down what they thought those things were, I gave them my definitions and explanations.  By page 6, each of these concepts had been brought up in some fashion.  We'll delve into it more, as we read the book.  I can't wait.

For now, here are some pictures of some things we did during the days I missed posting.  (The information on how to get some extra credit points is found below the pictures.)

If you want the extra credit, define/explain at least one of the following terms on a sheet of paper: government, economics, culture, standard of living.  If you were class, try to use my definition/explanation.  If you were absent, give it a good guess.  You may get help from a parent.

When you're done, have the parent or adult you read and discussed the blog with sign the paper.  Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.  Turn it in in the extra credit tray tomorrow.

No Computers

We gave up the computer labs today for the practice ISTEP test.  Still, I feel like the lesson went pretty well, even if we didn't get to work with google drawings.  We'll get there.

Yesterday's video dealt with Mexico and Cambodia, among other things.  One of the questions on the google doc asked students to tell me which continent the countries were located on.  (The video showed them on a map, so I thought it wouldn't be too difficult.  Also, ...Mexico.  I mean, we know what continent Mexico is on, right?)

Turns out a lot of us don't.  I know what you're thinking: Mexico is not in your jurisdiction.  It's not a 7th grade standard.  Well, you're right.  But still.

Today, I gave students a pop quiz over the continents and oceans.  It was the same quiz they all had to pass at the beginning of the year.  It's interesting that almost everybody earned a perfect score, and almost everybody could place Mexico on the map, but so many students still named Mexico as being in South America when the map wasn't in front of them.

Well, hopefully we cleared that up.

I'm also trying to go over any of the smaller standards that I've missed.  Some standards are huge.  Religions?  Ancient civilizations?  Governments?  Economics?  Those take a lot of time.

Banking is pretty straight forward - at least for what 7th graders need to know.

Here's the 3 minute video we watched on that.  We discussed quite a bit as well.

We talked about allowances, and doing chores.  Keeping money in a jar, versus keeping it in a bank where it can collect interest...  the irony of having a savings account while also having a mortgage.  

Students may earn extra credit by reading and discussing this post with an adult.  Discuss money a little bit.  Talk about saving versus spending.  Talk about buying now and interest rates.  When you're done, students should write a couple sentences about their discussion.  The adult they discussed the blog with should sign the paper.  That will prove that they've been here.

Turn it in next time you see me.

Diversity Within Christianity

We've moved from discussing economics into discussing religions.

Before break, I introduced the concepts of monotheism, polytheism, atheism, etc...  We started learning about Judaism.

Today, we've moved into Christianity, and we're looking at the diversity within the Christian faith.

I've created a Kahoot to try to show this to the students.  If you're interested in seeing it, CLICK HERE.

You'll have to be at a computer, and have a smart phone, or tablet ready as well.  (The students used laptops in the classroom.)

If you want extra credit today, write down 3 of the main beliefs of Christianity.  (If you were absent, you may google them.)

Have the adult you discussed this with sign your paper.  Turn it in tomorrow in the extra credit tray.

Don't forget that Friday is the last day of the grading period.

Quiz Today

Three things happened in class today:

1.  We took the economics quiz.
2.  We played the opening round of the geography bee.
3.  We played an online game that Miss Short made up.

I'd never made or played a game like it before.  It was pretty fun.

If you weren't in class today, remind me on Monday that you need to take the quiz.  We'll finish our maps then, and go over the Gold/Salt trade simulation.

I hope to have all the quizzes graded and entered by the end of the day.  We'll see how that turns out.

If you're here for the extra credit, write me a note telling me what you thought of the game we played.

Turn it in on Monday.

Gold Salt Trade

Yesterday and today, students participated in a simulation trading gold for salt.

Make It Rain

The activity tied together a lot of our studies.  The civilization/empire of Ghana originated around the Senegal and Niger Rivers.  (Can anybody guess why?)

It was in the middle of the trans-Saharan trade, which allowed it to become rich.

The students traded gold for salt - bartering in a traditional economy.  Each aspect of the activity was intended to represent actual aspects of the trades that happened hundreds of years ago.

The king (so it's a monarchy) tightly controlled the supply of gold.  All of the gold nuggets, or chunks, found in the kingdom had to be given to the king.  (Sounds like an absolute monarchy...)  (pg. 146)

People from one country are trading with people from another country: globalization.

Again, we're tying a lot together.

If you want the extra credit, you were supposed to read and discuss this with an adult.  Tell them about the activity.  What did you think.  How did you do?  Did you end up with more than when you started?  How did Ghana become so rich?

After you discuss it, write two sentences from your discussion.  Turn it in tomorrow.

DON'T FORGET THAT WE HAVE OUR ECONOMICS QUIZ TOMORROW!!!

Africa, Economy, Ancient Civs, and Dunk a Chicken

We'll be tying a few things together tomorrow...  geography, history, economics, etc...

We'll be trading gold for salt in the trans-Saharan trade.

Today we worked on a map looking at that.

We started off the class, however, by watching a video.  (It started playing just before the bell, and ended just after the bell.)  If you want extra credit, watch it again and tell the adult why we watched it in class.  What did I want you NOT to forget?

Quiz Friday

We're having an Economics quiz on Friday.  I sent home a review guide today.  If you weren't in school today, you can view or download the review guide here.

We spent a good portion of the day reviewing.  Part of that review was reading and discussing THIS ARTICLE about Elkhart County's GDP.  There was also a 10 point worksheet that went along with it.  If you weren't here, I'd download it and turn it in.  You can do that here.

If you weren't in class today, read and discuss that article with an adult.  If you were in class, you may summarize it and discuss it with an adult.

To earn the extra credit, write two sentences from your discussion, and ask one question about the article, GDP, or economics in general.  Have the adult you read and discussed with sign the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow.  (Make sure your name, date, and hour are on it.)


*Update/Edit*  A couple ladies from my 7th hour class watched Frozen over the weekend.  They pointed something out to me...  Extra extra credit to anybody who tells me how this clip ties in with what we're studying.

#Money #GDP

A good quiz for my students: what is the economy?  Whenever you see or hear the word economy, what should you think of?

Production, distribution, and consumption of goods.

Every. Time.

So, when they see words like economic spillover, they know that it has something to do with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods.

I taught economic spillover yesterday, but didn't have time to post.  Economic spillover - which is now being called externalities - are the unintended positive and negative consequences of economic development.  When someone decides to build a factory, why do they build it?  Profit.  To make money.

Some by-products may be air pollution or noise pollution.  Maybe a Starbucks around the corner popped up to sell the workers coffee in the morning.  Did the factory owner build the factory because he wanted to pollute and drink Starbucks?  No.  He wanted to make a profit; those are externalities - they happened anyway.

GDP = Gross Domestic Product.  When my students see the word product, it should now be linked to economics, or the economy.  Things made.

What's the Gross Domestic Product of the United States?  16.8 Trillion.  What about Indiana?  246.4 Billlion.

So, if you took everything the U.S. made in a year and added the profit for all of it, you would get 16.8 trillion dollars.  Not bad.  We're #1 baby.  (That is, if you go by country...)  If you figure GDP per capita, then we're ranked 10th.

GDP and money are difficult to visualize.  I mean, a trillion dollars?  I can't really conceive how much a billion is.  Honestly, when I bought my house I had trouble understanding the high thousands...

This chart really helps with that:

I'm not sure if my blog will let you zoom in on the chart as much as xkcd does.  If it doesn't you should check it out there.  Each little green square represents one dollar.  Each little orange square represents $1000.  Yellow = $1,000,000,000.  Gray/purple = $1,000,000,000.  Blue = $1,000,000,000,000.

If you want the extra credit for reading and discussing today, start by asking this question: what is the economy?  Then discuss GDP.  Finally, look at that chart for a couple minutes.  On a scrap of paper, write down 2 things that stood out to you on that chart.  Write them down.  Have the adult you read and discussed with sign the paper.  Turn it in tomorrow.

Economics

The test grades were sent out.  Shazaam!  (They were a little late... I had some issues with technology.)

I'm impressed by the report though.  If you didn't sign up to have your grades emailed to you, you should next time: tre cool.

We're in to economics now.  This is the definition I gave the kids:

After that, we simplified the definition.  (I also added services in after goods...)

So, we could say, "the economy deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services."

Or, we could say, "the economy deals with the making, selling, and buying of stuff."  

I prefer the former, but for 7th graders the latter is easier to understand.

We discussed the difference between a good (or healthy) economy and a bad (unhealthy) economy:

And of course, we discussed Black Friday just a little bit.

I'm not a big fan of rampant consumerism.  I'm worried it's destroying our country.

But, of course, I'm glad people buy things.  If they didn't, where would we be?  It's because people buy that allows us to have jobs and a higher standard of living.  The problem comes in when "stuff" becomes more important than people.

To get the extra credit today, you should read and discuss the blog with an adult.  On a sheet of scrap paper, write a paragraph about your discussion.  Write your thoughts about the paragraph from above.  Do you agree?  Do you disagree?  Why?  What should we do about it?

Some classes also watched some videos about this topic.  Watch if you want to, but you don't have to for the blog credit if that's what you're here for:

Study For the Test.

Study.  Study.  Study for the test.

Here's how I want you to do it: get your review guide - OR A NEW ONE, if you must.

At the top of this webpage, on the left-hand side - there's a search engine.  Use it to search for the topics you need to study about.  Try typing Ancient Civs, Ancient, Ancient Civilizations, Economy, Economics, etc...  Let your study guide guide you.

When you're done, write down 5 things you searched.  For each one, tell me one thing you found.  Have the adult you studied them with sign the paper.  Turn it in tomorrow.

Review

We spent the day going over some of the bigger topics/concepts from the year:

• Human capital
• Trade routes
• Globalization
• Economics (consumers)
• International trade
• Ancient civilizations - rivers/development
• Standard of living

As is generally the case, the students who got it, got it.  The students who didn't, didn't.  And some students were strong in one area, and weak on another.

I was planning on going over the review, and then finishing The Hunger Games, but the review took most of the hour.  I tried to get into some of the aspects of each topic we may have overlooked.  For instance, when we did the gold/salt trade simulation we learned that Ghana made it's money by taxing the people who came through.  But we didn't really talk about the importance of the location of Ghana.  And really, isn't that what is't all about?  Location, location, location?

And earlier in the year, we studied globalization quite a bit - but I worded questions a bit differently.  I've been trying to get students to see how it applies to us.

If you want the extra credit today, you had to read and discuss the blog with an adult.  If you did that, explain to them why location was so important to Ghana.  Then tell them about the speech Mr. Zook gave at convo - and what it actually had to do with.  (I didn't share this with every class, so students, if you forget that one, don't worry about it...)

Write the answer to the location question down on a piece of scrap paper.  Have the adult you read it with sign it.  Then, turn it in tomorrow.

Review for the Test

We're having a test in here on Wednesday.  It's probably a good idea to review for the test.  So, here's what's going to on it:


Latitude & Longitude:
     • Know the difference
     • Plot on a map
     •  Locate places using
Cultures:
     • Ingredients
     • Definitions of ingredients
     • Examples of ingredients
     • Standard of living
             o Infant mortality rate
             o Literacy rate
     • Ethnocentrism
     • Cultural borrowing
     • Cultural diffusion
Globalization:
     • Technology speeds globalization
     • Positives of globalization:
             o i.e. gain knowledge
             o improve standard of living
             o etc…
     • Negatives of globalization:
             o i.e. loss of culture
             o outsourcing
             o spread disease
             o etc…
   Economics:
     • Definition
     •  4 types
             o Traditional
             o Market
             o Command
             o Mixed
Anything I forgot…   ...like continents and oceans or 9/11.

If you want the extra credit for reading and discussing the blog today, read and discuss it with an adult.

Adult, ask them about 5 topics from this list.  Hopefully they're able to answer.  If not... looks like it's time to break out the notes.

If you discussed at least 5 topics, find a sheet of scrap paper, and write: "No need to break out the notes here..."  Then have the adult sign it.

FYI, there will be no blog post tomorrow.

Outsourcing

We're continuing on with globalization, and soon we'll be moving into economics.

Yesterday in class (I'm writing this on Saturday) we watched a 5 minute clip of the Simpsons.  In it, we find out that Mr. Burns, the boss of Springfield's nuclear power plant is going to move the factory to India.  He says no one should worry - the jobs are still there - they're just being done by someone else in a foreign country.

We look at the causes of globalization, and I also ask the students to refer back to previous lessons as well - for instance we note ingredients of culture in the clip.

Monday we'll be reading about and discussing the factory that collapsed in Bangladesh.  Soon we'll tie it all together - looking at the positive and negative implications of globalization as a whole.

Students, I hope you have time to discuss some of this with a parent or other adult.

Adults, please feel free to ask them what outsourcing is, why it happens, and how it is an example of globalization.

When you're done, write this phrase on a scrap of paper: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."  Then have the adult you read and discussed with sign the paper.