Last Day of Human Geo

          Today is our last day of Human Geo. I liked a lot about the class. First of all, the teacher was FRICKIN AWESOME and made class entertaining all the time. He took the most boring topics and made them bearable to sit through. As far as the class itself, it had it's good and bad moments. Some topics were just, "Ugghhhh" while others were extremely interesting and fun to talk about. Over all, Mr. Shicks Human Geo class was a very great one!

Guns, Germs and Steel

          Today in class, we watched a film called Guns, Germs and Steal. In this film, a many named Jared Diamond, a professor from UCLA, had someone ask him, "Why do newer civilizations have more cargo and the older ones don't." Diamond's theory is a good one. Papa New Guiney didn't thrive because of their farming. They didn't have the animals to pull carts or plows and overall had a very old fashion way of doing things. Other civilizations were coming up with new ways to farm and they just stayed the same. Naturally, they're going to be the ones left behind. But, it isn't a terrible thing. Yes, they won't have the luxuries of city life like we do, but they seem content with their lifestyle. Hunting and gathering seems to be a good things for them. They have the potential to start towns and cities, but just don't do it.

Urban Geography

          Today in class, we started a new section called Urban Geo. This talks about the first civilizations of the world. The word "Urban" refers to the build up of cities. There are 5 Hearths of Urbanization. They are Mesopotamia, the Nile River Valley, the Indus River Valley, the Huang He and Wei River Valley and Mesoamerica. The Greek cities were very urbanized for their time. They had a network of more than 500 cities and towns. The Roman cities were greatly influenced by the Greek cities. Their cities and towns were linked together with hundreds of miles of roads.

Microfinance Test

          Today in class, we took a test on Microfinance. I think I did pretty well on it. Kappel and I did some last minute studying, so that's probably why. I also used the bathroom after the test. That was pretty cool....I guess.

 

Microfinance Test Review

          Today in class, we went over notes for our Microfinance test Friday. There weren't many notes on the final power point, but we still got some review in there. We also talked about the academic team and the kind of questions they were asked.

Microfinance Test Questions

          Today in class, we made up questions for our Microfinance Test. Here's what Kappel and I came up with.

1.) Question: What do loans do for small businesses?
      Answer: They give these people small amounts of money to get a kick start on their idea or     business.

2.) Question: What is microfinance?
      Answer: A form of financial aid for small businesses that don't have accesses to banking services.

3.) Question: What solutions do microfinance solve?
      Answer: The destruction of small businesses due to large businesses taking over.

4.) Question: What is a micro lender?
      Answer: An organization that makes business loans to individuals who are not able to obtain financing from traditional lenders.

5.) Question: How can we improve microfinance?
      Answer: People can get a loan from other people who have money. Once the people who are borrowing can escape poverty, they can pay the donors back.

6.) Question: What is Kiva?
      Answer: An online website for giving microloans to people who ask for it.

7.) Question: What is a microloan?
      Answer: Loans to people who ask for money to start their business.

8.) Question: What kind of problems occur in countries that need microfinance?
      Answer: Malaria, drought, and clean water.

9.) Question: What is malaria?
      Answer: A fatal disease spread by female mosquitos.

10.) Question: How can you cure yourself of malaria?
      Answer: Doctors are trying to come up with vaccines for the disease and the International Peace Corps are trying to stop it as well.

Microfinance

          Today in class, we talked about Microfinance. Microfinance can be a great way to help people get a kick start on a new and great idea. People with these ideas will receive a microloan. I microloan is a loan made  to someone to help them by what they need to being their new product,, idea etc. They eventually have to pay that money back because it is a loan. We also talked more about how big businesses are killing small, family run businesses.