How Much Money?

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After finishing our Europe and Contemporary European Issues unit in geography, we returned to making infographics on Piktochart. We got to choose our three countries, one free choice country, one in Europe, and then one in South America. The country of my choice was Burkina Faso, Africa. I chose this country because so far in infographics, I have not chosen a country in Africa. I chose Denmark because I was intrigued to find out the wealthiness of this county, as I was unsure.  I think that these countries have different GDPs for two reasons.  One reason being is that Brazil and Denmark are both developed countries.  This is an indicator that they are wealthy.  In addition, Brazil is a B.R.I.C.S country and also the countries surrounding Denmark are mainly wealthy.  I also know that Burkina Faso is in Africa which is not as wealthy as a continent.  Burkina Faso is also not surrounded by wealthy countries, so through facts and inferences, Burkina Faso is not very wealthy.
In conclusion, I thought that it was interesting to learn about how wealthy a country really is.  What is behind the mask?

Teaching Each Other

In geography, over the past few classes, we have been learning about Contemporary European Issues, or CEIs.  We have had to research about a current event in Europe.  Due to the fact that it sounded very interesting, I chose independence movements as my topic.  Throughout the time that we have been researching our topics, we also used a website called Edmodo to send Twitter-like messages to our followers, keeping them up to date about our current event.  I have found this unit particularly interesting because I was able to gain an in depth understanding of my topic, the Welsh independence movements.  I have heard people discussing this topic, but have never taken the time to process the information and research it.  This project has not only given me the chance to gain an understanding of the topic, but I have been able to learn different points of view, for example who is in favor of Welsh Independence Movements, or who is against.
Another interesting aspect of the project was that as well as becoming an expert on independence movements, I was also able to learn about other topics, such as the Kurds, ISIS, Ebola, and even a disease on French wine grapes, called Esca!  We all took on the role of a teacher during this process, informing each other so that we could all learn new things over this time length.
The summative portion of this project was creating a presentation about your topic.  We had to explain our issue for the people who do not follow us, then give different opinions on the topic, including our own.  No two people could use the same presentation format, so at the end of this unit, we will be able to learn fourteen innovative and unique websites to present.  I am using a website called "Tackk."  I have never used the site before, but it is very simple to navigate and understand.  I look forward to seeing new presentation formats, and the applying that to my next projects.
To present, I used a website called Tackk.  It is basically an online poster that allows you to insert images, graphics, and change backgrounds.  There is a variety of both colour and fonts.  For the most part, the website was user friendly and easy to navigate.  I liked the website for this use, but I would not use it again.  I would not because I can just as easily take a poster board and do the exact same thing.
Overall, I have learned so many different, interesting things from this unit.
As stated before, my topic was Welsh Independence Movements.  The problem is that Welsh want Wales to become a more distinct country, both culturally and politically.  Through research, I found out that 3% of a sample group of Welsh people actually want independence.  This amazed me because this 3% of people have made the New York Times, BBC News, CNN, and many other well known

The Smallest Things to Me Can be The Biggest Thing to Others

In geography, we have all been given different current events in Europe.  The topic in which I was assigned to is independence movements.  The movement that I chose to research about is the Welsh Independence Movement.
Before I had been assigned to independence movements, I had no knowledge of the fact that this is happening in Europe.  I had seen flashes of it when I look at the New York Times website, and had overheard snip its of people occasionally talking about these movements, but the fact that these independence movements were changing people's lives had never dawned on me.  I chose to learn about the Welsh Independence Movement because I hear the most about it.  I figured that if I were to gain more background knowledge about the topic, then I would be able to participate on conversations about this, or at least understand what people are talking about when they say "Plaid Cymru," for example.
Throughout my researching so far, I have learned that the minority of the population is backing Welsh independence.  One the other hand, nearly 50% would like for the Welsh Assembly to have more power.  (The survey was taken  over telephone to 1,006 random samples by ICM Research.)  I think that this survey is very interesting, because even people in Wales are not supporting their independence.  This makes me wonder what the downsides to Welsh independence are, because the Welsh would not just vote against their county's independence.
In conclusion, I have found out very much about something in the past few weeks.  I had not thought of the significance of the Welsh Independence Movements.  I have looking forward to finding out even more about the movements!
  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Protest_Cymdeithas_yr_Iaith,_1972.jpg

How Many People in How Much Room?!

In geography, we finished making an infographic about population density.  It was really interesting to learn about this because now I have an idea of the size and population of my three countries, Belgium, French Guiana, and Panama.
Belgium Population density:  889 people per square mile
French Guiana Population Density:  6 people per square mile
Panama Population Density: 54 people per square mile.
I think that there are different population densities between these three countries because they have different landscapes.  French Guiana has a lot of rainforest, so not as much housing areas in all of it.  French Guiana's rainforest probably not suitable for people to live in.  Belgium is more metropolitan and has many cities, so they are more packed together.  There is a variety of landscapes, but they are nowhere near French Guiana's dense rainforests.  Finally, Panama is more mixed in terms of landscape, although there is more forest than metropolitan area.
 

How Long Can You Expect to Live And Why?

In geography, we have been making infographics on a website called Piktochart.  We had to select 3 countries, research their life expectancies and then turn it into an infographic.  My three countries are Belgium, French Guiana, and Panama.  Their life expectencies are the following:
Belgium:  Male:  76.76  Female:  83.22
French Guiana:  Male:  78.55  Female:  84.91
Panama:  Male:  75.51  Female:  81.22
After researching and creating our infographic, Mr. J has challenged us with the following question- "Why do your countries have different live expectancies?"

Well, the health care rankings in my countries are rated completely differently.  France is rated first, Belgium 21st, and Panama 95th.  (According to WHO, or the World Health Organization.)  This means that the French have medical attention whenever needed and have proper vaccines, medicines and doctors know how to perform surgury if needed.  In Belgium, the healthcare is also very good, but it may not be as organized or they might not have certain vaccines.  Being rated 95th in world healthcare, Panama may not have very good emergency health care services or maybe surgeons are not availible or are not trained that well.  Therefore, Panama's people might live with injuries shortening their life.  Crime may be another factor as well.  According to OSAC, in France and Belgium, the crimes are generally non-violent, consisting of pick-pocketing and burglary.  Obviously, people's live's are in less risk.  In Panama, however, "crime rates are higher than one would encounter in most of the United States," writes OSAC.  In 2009, 800 murders were recorded. This cuts people's lives short, therefore lessening their life expectancies.  

I think that this topic is extremly interesting and this question is one in which I enjoyed answering very much!

Comparing Climatographs

In Geography 7, we have been making climatographs.  Climatographs are graphs that show the precipitation and tempurature per month.  When we had to make one, Mr. J assigned us a city.  I was assigned Punta Arenas, Chile.  I used the following steps to complete my climatograph.

1. Find out where my city was in an atlas.
2. Once I found out where my city was, I had to find a website with the average monthly tempurature and precipitation.
3. Then, I had to find another reliable website that had information fairly close to the orginal website.
4. After that, it was time to create the graph!  

I had to erase a lot because there were a lot of things that seemed to work but did not end up so.
This is my finished product:

This is Hannah's finished project.
My task is to compare the two climatographs.

Hannah's graph is of Paris, France and mine is of Punta Arenas, Chile.  First of all, I know that Punta Arenas is in the south of Chile and Paris is closer to the North of France.  They are on oppisite sides of the Ecuator so when it is hot in the Summer in Paris, it will be cold in Punta Arenas and vice versa.  Also, I can see that Punta Arenas is close to the South Pole, so it will be cold.  You can also tell by the wildlife in Punta Arenas.

Also, I can see that there is a lot more precipitation in France than in Punta Arenas.  Also,  I can see that the tempurature is much warmer in Paris.  The difference between Punta Arenas' highest and Paris' highest is about 20 degrees.  I can tell that the seasons are more exaggerated in Paris.  It gets really cold in the Winter and fairly hot in the Summer.
I really liked this project because I got to see the tempurature of different places in the world!