Which Country has the Best Economy?

When I was researching about my three (four) countries, I learned some things about their economies.  For instance, when researching about Japan, I found out that their country isn't as good as their country makes it seem.  I also used this country for my life expectancy project, and their life expectancy was one of the highest in the world, because they have good food, clean cities, and healthy habits.  However, their economy isn't as good as their life expectancy, not by a longshot.  Their unemployment rate is low, but their GNP per capita is low as well.  Their inflation rate is high, and their only natural resource is fish.  The lack of natural resources make Japan the #1 importer of coal, and the #2 importer of natural gas/oil in the world.  These things make Japan the worst economy out of all my countries.  I also learned that Australia isn't as good as I thought it was.  Before this project, I thought Australia was great and perfect (which sound absurd), but I now realize that they are quite average, most of it.  The GNP per capita is about 50 thousand US Dollars, and that is one of the highest in the world, but the rest of it is normal for a developed country.  I also learned some interesting things about Canada, like that it has 10% of the world's forest, and it has many natural resources.  It's GNP per capita is 8,000 below Australia, but that's okay, because that number is still high.

Not only have I learned about economies, but I also learned about infographics.  Every set of data has the right layout that can be put it in for maximum efficiency.  If it is found, the data will be easy to interpret and will flow smoothly.  Unfortunately, I tried to find it, and failed.  My data wasn't super easy to read.  There is also an order to the slides, which I also didn't get right.  My slides were in order at the beginning, but towards the end, it became confusing.  I think this infographic was better in terms of looks, but my first one made more sense in terms of order of slides.  Also, my first infographic was easier, because I only had to focus on one data point and give reasons why, while on this one I had much more data, and I had to explain what they would influence.  I also had to evaluate the economies of my countries, which was also challenging.  Putting evaluations is difficult in an  infographic, because the explanation cannot use many words.  I used arrows pointing up and down to signify high or low standards, but it didn't really convey the message to the audience.  The way an infographic is presented makes a difference as well.  If they ins't presented smoothly, or if the presenter uses a lot of 'um's, the audience won't understand what the infographic is trying to tell them.  Also, generic words like "good" or "bad" shouldn't be overused.  I used them to much, and I could see the confusion on my audience's faces.  I have a lot to improve on when it comes to making and presenting infographics.  If I were to pick a core value for this project, I would chose risk taker, because I took a risk by not practicing the presentation, and it really hurt me.  In the past, I never practiced presentations, but it would be a good idea to do so in the future, so I don't suffer otherwise.

An important part of infographics, charts, presentation, broadcasting, and writing newspapers, is making information interesting, and capturing people's attention.  This can be achieved in multiple ways.  All these forms of catching someone's eye are easy to understand, and look nice.  To gain attention, use size, shape, color, and number.  Use size to show how much more of something there is than something else, or how much bigger.  For instance, if someone is trying to compare two numbers, 3 and 9, two circles could be used, one three times bigger than the other.  If the size of two fishes are being compared, two fish icons could be used, and then expanded until they are to scale with one another, corresponding with the sizes of the fish.  Shape can be used as a sort of key, to tell the difference from one thing to another.  If someone is making a diagram explaining the cause of death during the atomic bomb strike in Japan, they could made a code, for example, hexagon is death by initial explosion, triangle is death from heat, square is death my shockwave, octagon is death by cancer, star is death by radiation sickness, rhombus is death by crippling mutilation, and circle is death by other cause.  They could put all the shapes together in different quantities to show how much more of each type of death there was, and the shapes would help tell the difference between them.  Color can be very useful, especially in maps or in instances where the data changes progressively.  On a map, temperature can be expressed by colors, with the bluest blue being extremely cold, and the reddest red being extremely hot.  All the colors in the middle of those two can be all the temperatures in between.  The same concept can be applied to many different kinds of maps, like elevation, population density, and much more.  Color can also be used as a key, to tell the different between climates in maps.  The can also make text, graphs and images look more intriguing and make people want to look at them.  Number can be used in the same fashion as the example for shape.  Showing differences in number makes it easy to see the contrast, or the similarities of data.  For example, showing different using numbers like 1, 2, 3, aren't interesting.  However, if someone put that many of different shapes, people will be more intrigued and will want to look at it.  I hope to apply all these methods into future presentations.

Suffering of the Japanese People

During conflict, something happens to the people involved.  There are many ways that people are changed by conflict, especially something as big as the nuclear strike on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The most obvious way people are changed, is that suddenly people go from living to being dead.  When the atomic bomb was dropped, tens of thousands of people experienced this change immediately.  This change ties in with another, and that is the change in attitude.  Any person can go from happy and cheerful to mournful and sad from the loss of a loved one.  One Japanese woman encouraged her family to move to Hiroshima a couple days before the bomb was dropped, so she felt responsible for the death of her family.  This can make people hate themselves, and maybe commit suicide.  Knowing a family member is dead can make people extremely sad, and change people from having a positive to a negative one.  Also, witnessing death, or seeing dead bodies, can make people scared, and they never forget the looks of a lifeless human.  They can become traumatized, afraid, and/or paranoid.  Some people were mutated during the atomic bomb strike during exposure to radiation, and seeing them can make people scared, disgusted, or feel sorry for them.  If someone saw themself like that, the feeling would be multiplied greatly.  The biggest change is fear, fear of the power the other countries of the world have over them.  Even outside of Japan, people feared the weapon that the United States had created, with the power to destroy cities.  Almost all the changes from this conflict are negative, the only positive change would be American citizens being proud of their country and being glad the war is over.

How bad does it look for the future, now that these bombs have been dropped?  Distrust between Japan and the USA is obvious.  How could you trust someone who dropped nuclear weapons on you?  During future wars, Japan might side against the USA on purposed, biased on the hate they feel towards the country that dropped nuclear bombs on them.  However, when the USA used the bombs, ever country wanted to develop nuclear weapons, so as they could stand a chance against the USA and Germany (Germany was already developing it before the US, but finished after).  Now that more countries have it, future wars might use those nuclear bombs and missiles against their enemies, and if one goes off, it could start a chain reaction that could destroy the whole world with nuclear warfare.

How to Get a Job

Unemployment is a complicated issue, even though it may seem simple.  The concept is simple, because it is simply people not having a job, so the solution should be simple: get these people a job.  However, this is easier said than done.  Unemployment as a huge issue that needs to be stopped, because it is at the roots of many other issues.  For instance, an unemployed person may get angry that he doesn't have a job, disturbing or scaring people away.  This person could start to cause harm to others in his anger as well.  Also, when people don't have a job, they don't get much income, so they could resort to petty theft, and if they get caught, they could even kill the person who caught them to cover their tracks.  Unemployed men and women can also start doing illegal businesses such as drug dealerships, gangs, murderers, or worse.  The unemployment rate can show how many people are in this state of not having a job, and can alert countries that something is wrong.  The whole purpose of a country is to give the people a good life, and if they don't have a job, their life will be significantly worsened.

There are many ways to solve unemployment, or at least lessen it.  One way is to create government jobs for the unemployed.  This is a good temporary solution, but it doesn't last very long. The government jobs are usually temporary, and sometimes there are better people suited for the job the government has offered to the jobless.  These things make this solution ineffective.  When people are in a state of unemployment, the citizens receive unemployment benefits, which is basically enough money to pay for housing and food.  Americansforprosperity.org believes that stopping these benefits is the best way to stop unemployment.  The reason for this is when people have these benefits, they don't try to get a job initially.  Once the stay without a job  for some time, the companies offering jobs won't take them, because they believe these people aren't hard working and are irresponsible or without skill.  This will cause them to stay unemployed, and after the benefits are over, they have no choice but to turn to illegal means of living.  Education is another solution, because educated people will have the skills to get better jobs before others can get to them first, and they will know the consequences of slacking off and not pursuing employment.

I think that, along with education, the best way to stop unemployment is to stop giving periodic unemployment benefits, and only give them initially.  This is because knowing that you are cut off from income will encourage you to work extra hard to get another job.  Therefore, people will get jobs sooner, eliminating the certainty of companies doubting them later.  Also, nobody should ever overlook the importance of education, and it cannot be overestimated.  Education doesn't only provide the knowledge of different professions, but it also can show people the consequences of certain actions, such as slacking off, not being committed to your occupation.  For example, if a student in middle school slacks of until the last day to write a 12-page essay, he won't get a good grade.  It's the same thing with an adult applying for a job.  If he waits until the end of his unemployment benefits and applies for a job then, he won't get the job he's applying for.  This might possible be one of the largest contributors to unemployment.  Procrastinating keeps so many people in unemployment or even poverty, and the way to stop this is to "frighten" them in to working harder by cutting them off from income and teaching them the consequences of procrastination.

Pfl Video 2

PFL Video 2

Democracies: the Creation and Preservation

Creation

To create a democracy isn't as easy as some may make it sound like.  For one, you have to have a good system of work, such as currency.  In old times, there was no such thing, and people would trade things in return for labor.  However, this didn't always prove correct, because some people would trade many hours of hard work for a necklace or gem.  Not only is this limiting to what a person can have, but it makes it harder to measure the worth what you trade for.  With a good form of currency, one can measure how much the labor the worker did, and pay him that much.  Money is, in a way, just a unit of measurement, designed to measure the value of goods and services.  Also, a good form of currency shouldn't be made of anything particularly rare, such as pure gold, silver, platinum or precious metals and gems.  The major currencies in the world are made of paper, which saves valuable metals.  One example of a problem with the solid forms of currency is in the United States.  The penny is made out of copper, which might seem common, since the penny has the least value of all coins.  However, copper has become more scarce in recent years, and now it is less likely to come across things made of copper, because when copper is found in the US, it is sent to factories that produce money, so that more pennies may be made in the future when needed.  This is very bad because copper can be used for many things.  One of them is building, for the statue of liberty is made of copper (although it has been worn down due to waves crashing on it).  Another is electricity, because if the penny is taken out of the US currency, the price of wiring and electric circuits may go down.  This is because copper is used to make wires, which, of course, is used for all electric goods.  However, fixing this problem might lead to different issues, because some smart people with excess amounts of money can trade in money, for pennies.  If course, this isn't expensive at all, because pennies are worth one cent, so if pennies are taken out of currency, these people can melt down their pennies (because doing so with national currency is illegal) and sell the copper from them.  This makes the rich richer, but it can also make the poor richer, if they think it's worth it to trade in money to use later, when it's not money any more.  If the USA hadn't used the copper for the penny, they wouldn't have this issue.

To create a democracy, the people have to agree with the creator's viewpoints.  After all, a democracy is a rule of the people.  If someone tries to create a democracy, they have to have the people's support, because if they don't, it's just them with no other people in his country.  Also, democracies usually rise up from big issues, like the first democracy in Athens, where the laborers wouldn't work until the democracy was formed, or the United States, where they were being mistreated by the mother-country and revolted against it.  When someone has an idea, it usually needs support from others to become reality.  This is true for almost anything, from buildings, transportation systems, companies, and even democracies.  Buildings start off as an idea in the architect's head, and then when it is written out on a blueprint, there have to be workers to build it.  When the settlers of the Western World had the greatest advancement in transportation ever, they needed laborers to create the railroads and tunnels for the trains to use.  When a company (for example, one that makes/sells medicine) is thought up, the creator needs people to develop the medicine, people to manufacture the drug, people to transport the drug, people to sell the drug, and people to oversee all this happening.  The same principle is applied for a democracy, they need the people to work and contribute to society (in many different ways), and people to oversee this happening.  If the people in a democracy vote on leaders for specific areas in the democracy's land, that is their job: to oversee what is going on.  They do this by hiring or having the people elect special people to work under him and oversee those who are working.  But, who watches the watchers?  The democracy must decide, because if a government overseer mistreats those who he is observing, the government who he works for might have an uprising on their hands.

Preservation

After creating a good democracy, the challenges aren't over.  After the creation, there are many struggles to maintain and preserve it.  I won't talk about civil wars, rights movements, just the basic things that will be expected by any good democratic government.  One is maintaining the people's positive opinion of their government, but I have explained that already while talking about the creation.  The first priority of a democracy that wishes to stay there is defense, inside and out.  With democracies started by uprisings, this will be an immediate concern, the first priority during and after the establishment of government.  If the United States hadn't taken care of defense right away, they would have been destroyed or defeated right at the beginning.  But because the United States took care of what they needed for driving out the enemy, they were able to stay an independent nation and to develop into one of the most innovative and successful nations.  To accomplish this successful defense, they needed multiple things for their army.  The most important was weapons, for they couldn't have defeated the British with their fists, and if they could have and did, the casualties would be so great, that victory would feel like defeat.  Another thing the army needed was uniforms, which might not seem important.  However, if no one could distinguish one army from another, they would just keep fighting each other blindly, or trust someone from the other side.  If only one side had uniforms, if would also would be bad not to have uniforms, because when your allies have uniforms, it is more prominent that they are your allies and that you need them.  To defend a nation, you also have to defend the borders, by cameras, or stationed soldiers.  If a government doesn't do this, armies could get in to their country and get to civilized areas.  In the past, when all soldiers had were spears and swords, and cities all had walls, this wouldn't be as big an issue.  But now, all soldiers carry ranged weapons, and hits are fatal more often than not.  These modern ranged weapons, (guns), can hit people--civilians--from far greater distances than primitive ranged weapons like the bow, crossbow and spear.  Also, those armies could drive in tanks, which can explode entire building if they felt like it.  Maintaining a border control can prevent a large number of invasions.  However, not all attacks come from outside.  A police force must be made to prevent crime such as thievery, murder, or large scale attacks on civilians.  If the police are doing their job correctly, the majority of people residing in a country will feel supportive of their government, and will be happy living there.

Learning About Unemployment

While studying unemployment, I have learned some causes for rates to be lower or higher.  I have focused on states in the United States and their unemployment rates, and I have found a list of the top ten lowest unemployment rates in the US, and have been looking for why their unemployment rates are so much lower than the others in the country.  People have connected many things to low unemployment rates, such as what industries are around, and what education people have.

What's in the area is an important factor of the unemployment rate.  If there is a large oil reserve under a certain area, there will be more jobs open for extracting it, processing it, and overseeing the work that is done.  Places with low unemployment rates usually have lots of natural resources in the area.  North Dakota has an unemployment rate 5.9% lower than the national US average, at 3.6%.  This state has many different jobs available because of the area they are in.  In North Dakota, there in petroleum and good land for farming.  The natural area can also open jobs for tourism, because many people will come to that place to look at natural wonders, visit national parks, or just stay there for a bit because it's nice.

Many unemployment rates are affected greatly by the education people in the area have.  For example, Minnesota's unemployment rate is 6.8%, which is 2.7% lower than the national average.  This may be because 31% of the adult population has either a bachelor's degree or higher.  This allows for more people to get better jobs, and can cause openings for people who could work under them.  For example, if there are no jobs open except for many spots for lawyers, everyone will want to be a lawyer.  However, if a jobless person that didn't go to school tried to apply to be a lawyer, he wouldn't get the job.  If people in that place had good education, it would be much easier to get that job as a lawyer, because they would know how to do that job.

Here is a site I used to compare unemployment rates to job openings and education.  Fish

SLC

How have I grown as a student?

Last quarter was the first time I took a geography class, and I have never really been good with atlases before then.  Since taking geography with Mr J, I believe I can find cities and countries easier, as well as label maps with rivers, cities, and compass roses.  I also know how to find new quantities and values of lots of things in science, like mass and volume and density, using water.

What challenges did I face?

The biggest challenge I had was note taking.  On most projects, I don't take any notes, and when I do, they are extremely low quality and I don't take them willingly.  In Humanities, we were assigned an argumentative essay about what democracies were supposed to focus on: general welfare or individual needs.  In this class, I only took one section of notes, and it was the quotes from the giver.  I also didn't do the pre-writing and made the outline after I had already written the first paragraph.  I find it annoying, difficult, and inconvenient to take notes, because usually, I would just write my facts right into the text.  Also, while reading an online article, it is irritating to have to switch tabs to you tones document to write something down.  However, it helps organize thoughts and ideas to write down what you've learned so you can get to them quickly later.  I also had some challenges in orchestra, which can be read here.

Goals

Next quarter is the last quarter of this year, and I need to guarantee the best grade possible for me, because this quarter I know my overall grade in many classes will be a 4 due to recent assignments.  I think that in order for this to happen, I need to follow the instructions that the teachers give me, and try not to take any shortcuts like not taking notes or skipping pre-writing.  I should also focus more in class and pay attention to ways that I can make my work better.

Viola last Quarter

While playing my instrument in orchestra last quarter, I realized some things.  I noticed what I can and cannot play at the moment, such as I have no skill at extremely fast songs.  We are playing selections from Carmen, and the songs have short notes and a fast tempo.  I struggle to keep up with the rest of the orchestra, even at the most simple parts.  I think I need some more practice playing many quickly.

Last quarter we also started practicing for Chamber, a music festival where student musicians get into groups and play a song chosen by the teacher.  Most Groups are chosen by the students, but I was placed in a group not of my choosing.  I'm not particularly upset with my group, but I'm not overjoyed with it either.  None of us are horrible musicians, but we aren't professionals, and we need some improvements.  We struggle to play together on the tempo.  Other than that, we know all the notes and are almost ready for the concert.  I hope we can resolve this issue soon.

Food Plate

Eu morei em Easton, uma cidade na Pennsylvania.  Easton e a sede da Lafayette, uma universidade muito boa.  Lafayette tem uma parque muito grande, mas eu so fui la uma vez, e nao sei muito sobre ele.  Mas, tem outro parque que eu fui muitas veses.  Da pra correr, ter guerras de neve, e casar animais pequenas Nao e uma parque de verdade, mas eu fui la muitas veses.  Ele e um campo de milho, e nos invernos nao tem as plantas, e da pra jogar no campo.  Ele fica atras da minha casa.  Nesse campo de milho tem marmota e cobra la.  Meu amigo Liam foi ordido pro uma cobra, e depois matou a cobra.  Meu cachorro tentou comer marmota muitas veses, mas a marmota era mais rapido do que Amber.  Esse campo de milho era muito divertido.

This Quarter in SciSeven

This quarter in Science class we were studying water.  What it does, who uses it, and how it's important.  First, we just studied it's effects, then what we needed it for.  Later, we used it for investigations, and took some tests on them.  We also took a test about water in general, which I did quite well on (7).  At the end, we had to do presentations on a water issue.  I was very bad on my last essay, so I had to do an essay instead.  I think I did okay, and my grade reflected that.  I didn't cite my sources, but I had many.  I also think that I had a lot of good content, but I got a low grade, so apparently I didn't Overall, I think I didn't do great this quarter, but I can do better in the next one.

Egg Babies, ugh.

For health class we got some eggs, and we had to take care of them as if they were our children for 24 hours.  There were some rules:  The egg must not crack, you can't leave it alone, you have to keep it breathing, and you had to feed it.

I think it was quite easy to carry around my egg babies to my classes, because I could have my bag open and put the eggs at the top, so they could breathe.  This way I had an extra hand free, unlike the other egg baby parents.  I also thing it was very easy finding something to carry the eggs in, because I just had some leftover soda cans, so I cut them in half and carried my eggs in them.

At recess, I usually get my basketball, and go play with my friends, but when I had my egg baby, I couldn't go do that, for two reasons.  One, if the ball hit the egg carrier, both of my eggs would break.  Two, I couldn't effectively participate, because I would have to move so that the ball wouldn't hit my eggs, and I couldn't shoot properly with one hand.

Although this project wasn't the hardest summative assignment, I wouldn't want to do this project indefinitely.  When I was carrying around my egg baby, I didn't forget it very often, because the grade mattered so much, but I have been known to be very forgetful of my laptop, books, and other things.  If I had to carry around these eggs for a prolonged amount of time, I would eventually forget it somewhere.  Also, the people staring at me like I'm a crazy person isn't very pleasant.

I can only imagine what it would be like to be a real parent while being a teenager.  It would be horrible!  The "crazy stare" effect would be multiplied exponentially, but there's much more that would change.  People would think differently of someone if they were a parent in middle or high school.  People would think they were irresponsible, and they really are if they're carrying around their child at 15.

Overall, I'm glad this project is finished.  My sister asked to keep my eggs, but she has no idea what it's really like to take care of those egg babies.

Do People Have Jobs?

When we were thinking about global issues, I thought of unemployment, and I think it's a very big issue that needs to be solved in the not-too-distant future.  I don't know much about this topic, and I'm not sure where it's the biggest issue.  Of course, there is unemployment everywhere, because not everyone has jobs.  When I post about this topic, I think I should find out which countries have the most unemployment, and which countries have the least.  I should also find out what people are doing to stop unemployment in various countries.  I will also have to find reliable resources in order to find these things out, because my information must be accurate.  After this project, I will know much more about this topic, including who has more unemployment, and how to get rid of it.

Reflecao do PFL B

Na aula de PFL B, nos temos que fazer uma presentacao esponania sobre o nossa bairro.  Nos so temos 30 minutos para preparar, e esse era muito pouco tempo.  Nos precisamos de pegar os direcoes para chegar na escola, e o que nos gosta de fazer na nosso bairro.

Eu nao acho que eu usei os core values, mas eu estava muito risk taker porque eu fui presentar sem plano.

Eu acho que eu fui muito orrivel porque eu nao tinha presentacao.  Eu tinha que 'wing it'.  Os direcoes nao foi muito specifica, e eu nao esta certo que eu falei direito.  Eu nao acho que eu usava as palavras certas.  Tambem, nao sabia muito que tem no meu bairro.

Em uma escala de um a dez, eu pegei uma 3.

Eric.mp4 meu barho no Brasil

Long Lives?

As you know, some people in different countries live longer than others.  However, not many people know the causes for these changes in longevity.

Guatemalans don't live as long as people in other countries.  It's quite sad, really, with guys living only 69.82 years and the women living 73.76.  This generates an average of 71.74. Their cancer stats are dangerously high, with stomach cancer rates the fourth highest in the world for both genders, but second highest for women. There are also many smokers in Guatemala, which increases risk of lung cancer, and is just all-around bad. Guatemala also ranks 50 most deaths from HIV/AIDS in the world. There is also much child labor in Guatemala, with 21% of children working. By the way, that's 929,852 children working. These things effect the life expectancy because children can die of child labor, and those short lives throw off the average life span. Diseases also shorten lives similarly. Guatemala is also close to the equator, which is where many diseases thrive.

In Turkey, people live longer than Guatemalans, but not as long as Japanese people. Men live 71.33 years, and women live 73.35 years. This means an average of 73.29 years of age. There are some reasons these numbers aren't as high as they'd like. For one, half of the men smoke. This increases risk of lung cancer, which is very deadly. Half of the women are obese, which means that is takes more energy to move, and when they do get that much energy, it's hard to get around. Some cases of obesity are caused by an addiction to food (yes, that is a thing), where food becomes more important to the person than their health, social life, and even their family. I'll stop talking about the negative sides of their life spans, because their lives aren't really all that short. Child labor is down to 3% of children ages 5-14. Almost all the people can read and write, which makes it much easier to get a job. HIV/AIDS levels are very low, and there is also less cancer. However, there is a lot of bladder cancer, and smoking is 100% bad for you, and if half of men smoke, that's half of the men who could likely get lung cancer and die.

Japanese people live the longest of all the people of the world, with men living 81.13 years, and women living 87.99 years.  This makes up an average of 84.46 years in total for all citizens living in Japan.  There are many causes for these extremely long lives, and they are as follows: cleanliness, transportation, diet.  Japan is one of the cleanest countries in the world.  Some Japanese almost have an obsession with being really clean.  We can be like them too, its actually as simple as washing your hands before and after meals, and taking good showers everyday.  Japanese people also usually walk instead of drive.  Also, they stand up more once they get where they want to be, and stand while they wait for a doctor's appointment (which they have 12+ times a year) or to cross the street.  But I think the most important reason that Japanese people live so long, is their very healthy diet.  One thing about their special meals is that they eat fish instead of red meat.  Red meat give high cholesterol, which leads to nice things like heart attack and heart disease.  They also drink less milk, less dairy products, eat more soy.  I'm not being racist, but Japanese people rice with most of their meals.  Not that their meals are very big anyway.  Their small portions also adds to their life span, because they get less calories.
"Bladder Cancer Statistics | World Cancer Research Fund International." Bladder Cancer Statistics | World Cancer Research Fund International. World Cancer Research Facility. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wcrf.org/int/cancer-facts-figures/data-specific-cancers/bladder-cancer-statistics>.

"Guatemala." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 1 Mar. 2015. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html>.

"Japan." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 1 Mar. 2015. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html>.

"Lung Cancer Statistics | World Cancer Research Fund International." Lung Cancer Statistics | World Cancer Research Fund International. World Cancer Research Facility. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wcrf.org/int/cancer-facts-figures/data-specific-cancers/lung-cancer-statistics>.

"Stomach Cancer Statistics | World Cancer Research Fund International." Stomach Cancer Statistics | World Cancer Research Fund International. World Cancer Research Facility. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.wcrf.org/int/cancer-facts-figures/data-specific-cancers/stomach-cancer-statistics>.

"Turkey." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 1 Mar. 2015. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tu.html>.

"Why Do Japanese People Live So Long? (And What You Can Do To Live A Long Time Too) - Tofugu." Tofugu. Koichi, 6 Oct. 2010. Web. 3 Mar. 2015. <http://www.tofugu.com/2010/10/06/why-do-japanese-people-live-so-long/>.

Goat Pen Math

In math class we were handed certain problems to solve and then explain.  Here's mine:

You have 40 meters of rectangular fencing material and you want to build a rectangular pen for your goats, but you are not sure what size to make the dimensions.  (You only know that you will use all 40 meters of fence.)

a.  What will the perimeter of the fence be?
This is an easy question.  It basically said the answer in the up at the top.
You have 40 meters of rectangular fencing...
Perimeter the length of all the sides combined, laid out in a straight line.  This first part means that the same thing, all the fencing in a line is 40 meters long.  Therefore, the answer to a. is 40.

b. Draw a diagram and label the dimensions using x for the width.
(there's also a hit, but we're too cool for hints ;))

So, this means that we've got to draw a rectangle with the width labeled x.  


Of course, it doesn't have to be red, I just wanted it to be the same color as the one explaining stuff.
And while were sitting here wondering what the length is, let's find out how to find it, no matter the dimensions.
Let's use y as the length

20 - x = y

Since all the lengths are 40, that makes two sides equal 20. 20 minus the width must equal the length, if 20 is both of them added together.

c. Make a table of values (using only integers) to see how the width of you pen affects the area, and graph these values

A table of values is a table where each value matches with another.  In our case, these values are the length and width of your goat pen.

x	y
1	19
2	18
3	17
4	16
5	15
6	14
7	13
8	12
9	11
10	10
11	9
12	8
13	7
14	6
15	5
16	4
17	3
18	2
19	1

And when we graph these points, they look a little like this:

d. From your graph, determine what dimensions would give you the largest area.

This is simple multiplication.  Right in the middle, there's 10x10, which is 100.  Next to it, is 11x9, which is 99.  The product gets lower the farther you go from (10,10).  Commutative property, so same deal on the other side.

So basically , you've gotta make your goat pen a whopping 10 by 10 meters.

e. Write an equation for the area  of your pen, using your diagram.

The most commonly used equation for area is lw = A

But that's the lame generic equation.  We want the new+improved awesome equation with the right numbers.

So, it could be A = x(20-x), because that generates our length in the parentheses, and has the x multiplying it.  However, it can still be simplified.  If we distribute the x, it turns into A = 20x - x².  

f. Graph your equation using a graphing calculator and compare it to the graph you drew*.

we''re rebels so we did it digitally and didn't draw it, but we're still cool.

So this is what you get when you type in your equation into a graphing calculator.

 What do you make of this meaningless line?  Well, if you zoom out...

 You eventually get two lines!  They look like they will intersect.  But if you zoom out,

It turns out that it's a huge curve!  At the climax is the number 100.  What's the area of your goat pen?  That's right, 100.

Now let's compare this curve to our other graph (the one we "drew").

I don't know what's similar about these, execpt for something you can't see in this image.  The 10x10 mark on the bottom lines up with the climax of the big curve.  I think this means our previous graph was correct.

Now we have to make a graph out that big curve.

Now you can see that the area starts low, and gets higher and higher, until it reaches the maximum (100), and then goes back down, less and less.  Just like our areas we calculated higher up.

I hope this helped you understand how to come up with equations to make graphs to find areas.

Now go make your goat pen!!

The Giver Government

I already know that the society in the Giver is a bad one, but what about the government system?  Does it meet the standards that every government should?  Is is protecting the people and the place itself?

Every government has a set of expectations that should be met.  Governments should protect the people from outside threats, and those inside.  Part of doing this is deciding who enters and leaves the territory or country.  If any government was to let anyone in under any circumstances and didn't guard their borders, they would be overthrown very quickly.  Armies could get inside without the government knowing it.  And as for leaving, if a criminal escaped from prison, he or she would head strait for the border and cross it.  In doing this, the criminal would have escaped justice and could continue to do things like his past crimes without punishment.  This connects to the government needing a force of men to fight in wars or keep laws.  If there wasn't any army, the country would be crushed by nearby societies, and there would be no stopping them.  If there were no police, people could get away with anything they want.  The government also needs to meet the people's needs, such as food, shelter, water.  If the people of a country don't have their basic needs, there won't be many people who can contribute to society because they would be so weak.  However, one of the most important reasons for a government, is to to prevent conflict and establish peace.  If there was no government, everyone would be separated by families.  Blood feuds would happen easily, and families could kill each other and no one would do anything about it.

Thinking back to the community of the Giver, were all these requirements met?  If you think about it, yes, they were.  The people in the community were protected completely.  For one, there was no pain, because the government made anti-pain shots and meds.  There were no outside forces in the book, and in the movie they were above the clouds on a giant plateau.  No one committed any crimes because they were brainwashed, and they could think of doing something against the law.  This means no murder and no thievery.  Does the government have the means to fight off a war?  They don't have armies, but with how advanced in technology they are, they probably have missiles, or an army of robots!  Also, in the beginning of the book, they say they have the means to shoot down a jet, so they could easily launch the rocket ,or whatever they would shoot the jet with, at an army of soldiers marching to destroy the community.

Science Test

I think i did well on  the recent science test, but there is more I could do to improve my grade.  I should be more open to different viewpoints.  I also should pay attention in seemingly easy material, because I forgot some of it.  I sometimes didn't answer the questions completely, so I should also do that.

The Giver: An Unfair Society

The society in the Giver is without choice, governed by people who decide everything for you.  I have a strong opinion that this community is not exactly utopia.

In this society, there are no secrets.  In the morning, you are forced to tell your dreams, and in the afternoon, all your personal feelings.  That would be torture for me, and for pretty much anyone alive on earth today.  No matter how personal, how awkward, or how hard it is to explain, you must tell your family members what it is.  Think of your deepest, darkest secret.  Now, imagine you telling it to your family.  Imagine the leaders of your community knowing what it is.  Also, in the morning, sharing every one of your dreams.  No matter how crazy or embarrassing.  I didn't think it sounded appealing either.

The most important reason this society is a bad idea is the families.  Everyone is assigned a "mate," and later, two children, one boy and one girl.  You don't choose your husband or wife, and the children aren't even yours.  The children are collected from birthmothers, which is a job assigned to young women.  The babies are taken care of by Nurturers, and later they are assigned to a couple.  Another thing that makes these "families" undesirable, is that there are no animals.  Why would that affect families?  No animals means no pets.  If you have a pet, you understand what this means for these people.  Pets become a part of your life, and life without them isn't as good.  The people of the community don't even understand what an animal is, and that's just sad.  So, picture your happy family life with your assigned spouse, raising kids that aren't your own (and, by the way, you don't get to name them), and without your dog or cat (or turtle or bird, etc.).  If you ask me, it isn't much of a family at all.