85%

I think I deserve a 85% for this class because I bring a very good energy to this class. I participate sometimes and ask questions sometimes. I know I talk a lot but this this was really fun and I had a great time! I learned lots and very sad that I am leaving this class in a few days....THANKSSSSS

Guns, Germs and Steel

In Papua New Guinea, they never developed technology because they spent too much time feeding themselves. With enough food stored they can start progressing by making clothes, bronze etc. Americans produced about 20 million tons of wheat a year which is about 135 pounds of wheat for each American. Jared Diamond was set out to find the haves and have bots in the world.

Papua New Guinea is mostly mountainous and tropical. Their natural resources are gold, copper, limber etc. They have about 6 million people in their country but 125 thousand have internet, 130 thousand have main line phones and 2.4 million have cell phones. Three million are in the labor force. New Guinea has 562 airports but only 20 are paved. Their GDP percentage is good because it is 8.9% it is ranked 12th in the world. Their unemployment rate is 1.9% which is 49 out of 50 people who get a job. New Guinea is developing and almost to a developed country.    

Germs, Guns and Steel....and LOCK DOWNNNN

Today in class, we went in to Lock down mode and have to shove ourselves into a corner and the police men went around the school to see if we all did the drill correctly. We did a pretty good job for our first lock down drill. After that all happened, we went back to watching Guns, Germs and Steel. This part of the movie was about domestication and geographical luck. What is meant but geographical luck is, people who are located in a place where crops grow naturally. The people in New Guinea and the Middle east had a steady source of wheat and barely. There is many animals that controlled the people's eating. The people in New Guinea got their milk from goats which was good protein. The also used the skin of the goat to make clothes. Another thing they use from goats is their poop for fertilizer for their crops. There are about 2 million animals that have been domesticated but you can eliminate insects, birds, fish, cats etc. One animal that the people in the Middle East did not want was a carnivore  All they do is east meat so, they would eat the other animals and the people would have to raise lots of other animals. But one animal they did want was a herbivore. That animal could eat the buds of the plants. Zebras are also not good for domestication because they are raised in Africa and they are trained that when they see a predator coming they kick there legs for protection. There are 148 animals that are useful in the middle east. Fourteen of the species are domesticated...goats, sheep, pigs, cows, horses, donkeys, Bactrian camels, Arabian camel, water buffalo's  llamas, reindeer, yaks, mithans, and Bali cattle. In Asia, North Africa, and Europe most of the animals are native to the land. In South America, llamas are native to that land. And in the Middle East cows, sheeps, goats and horses are most useful there. People wonder why they still live like they did 10,000 years ago, but they don't have to worry about money, bills and they don't have to stress over anything.  

Take COVER

Whoops! I forgot to blog last night! Anyways yesterday in class we talked about the procedure of lock down, in case someone that was armed walked into school. We talked the whole entire class on safety and what we should do and where we should go. We only have a few seconds to take cover and get into our position in the corner of any class room. I must admit I was FREAKED out yesterday during class. But, Mr.Schick said that nothing like this will ever happen but we just need to be prepared for any situation. Hopefully, this drill today will go smooth and we will take this seriously!

Guns,Germs and Steel II

This part of the movie was about how the people in New Guinea survived. Women usually gather and the men hunted. In Papua New Guinea, it reached a point where it became colder and then hotter so the people had to travel to the Middle East to get food. There was a site in the Middle East called Drah which was the oldest village ever discovered. It was discover about 11 1/2 years ago after the drought. Many people wonder how such a bog village would survive. Archaeologists found where the people store their food. They keep it is this building away from water. The building is called a granary. The people in Papua New Guinea decided to start growing food closer to them. People brought them seeds and they panted them in their village. The process they went to is called domestication. Countries that grew also were China, the America, and Africa. In China, they grew rice. In, Africa they grew sorghum, yams, millet. And in the Americas, they grew corn, squash and beans. In New Guinea they farmed for about 10,000 years.

Guns,Germs and Steel Movie

Jared Diamond took his first journey to Papua New Guinea and his the leading expert of bird examinations. People have lived in New Guinea for about 400,000 years. One of Jared Diamond's friends Yali says "Why do white men have so much cargo, and we New Guineans have so little." The New Guineans says that cargo is materials bought by westerns. The 'Colonists' gave them record players when they came to New Guinea to kinda show power. The New Guineans wonder why the Colonists brought them all that stuff. They thought maybe they were trying to help, maybe they wanted to trade, or maybe they were just bragging. The Colonists thought they were genetically superior. But, Jared Diamond disagrees greatly. In the film they stated that, all great civilizations have something in common- they have advanced technologies, large populations, and well organized work forces. Diamond set out to find the division of the world.

Guns, Germs and Steel

Guns, Germs and Steel was published in 1997 which sealed his global reputation. His book has turned into a National Geographic Special about 2005. The first part of the book discusses how some of the civilizations have progressed and have dominated and how others have not. He goes back 13,000 years to find out. In order for him to find the differences between the cultures, Diamond emphasizes the effects of food production, technology, government and religion. Then he expresses his opinion the differences among different cultures. He then concludes that it is ultimately geography, not biology or race that produced the cultural gap that his friend has pointed out.

Jared Diamond

Jared Diamond is an American Scientist. He is the author of many popular science books. Diamond is the Professor of geography at the University of California. Jared has been granted the position of all three leading national scientific/academic honorary society. He has written a book called "Guns, Germs and Steel". He has made many trips to Papua New Guinea. He is very environmentally active- he is an anthropologist. He studies the ecology and evolution of birds in Papua New Guinea. He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1999 and many other awards for his books.