Project: Southeast Asia & Pacific

Topics

• Cambodia
• Laos
• Malaysia - Megan
• Myanmar - Alexis, Hannah, Olivia
• Thailand - Wesley, Malachi, Caleb
• Vietnam
• Singapore - Tanner
• Brunei
• Indonesia - Anais, Louise, Rodas
• Philippines - Ishyaka, Martin, Rama
• Australia - Gwen
• New Zealand - Grace
• Papua New Guinea - Alex, Arnold

Chapter 8 Word Bank

Here are the terms that will appear as answer choices on the quiz for matching and short answer. Not all will be used.

Textbook

• 2001, 2004, Abraham, Afghanistan, agriculture, al-Qaeda, Almaty, Aral Sea, Christianity, cotton, Council of Ministers, Crown Prince, Dead Sea, desert, dictatorship, Ferghana Valley, Gaza Strip, glaciers, Golan Heights, Green Revolution, Haifa, hajj, Hamid Karzai, Hinduism, hydroelectricity, India, Indus River, irrigation, Islam, Israel, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Judaism, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, khamsin, kibbutz, Kyrgyzstan, Lake Hula, landlocked, life expectancy, literacy rate, malnutrition, Mecca, Mediterranean Sea, minerals, monarchy, monsoons, moshavim, Muhammad, Negev Desert, oil, Osama bin Laden, Palestine, Quran, radiation, refugee, Riyadh, salt, Sea of Galilee, self-sufficient, Sharbat Gula, Sikhism, Soviet Union, Steve McCurry, Tajikistan, Taliban, Tarbela, Tashkent, Tel Aviv, textiles, tributary, Uzbekistan, Wahhabi, West Bank, women, yurt

Videos

• ayurvedic, Buddha, Dharma, Diwali, Holi, Karma, Moksha, Nirvana, Samsara, suffering, Vedas

Class Discussions

• arable, Israel

Crash Course: Agricultural Revolution

Current Events: India

Because our textbook is dated and not very detailed, you will be looking up some events that have occurred since the textbook's publication. To reduce the chance of duplicate events or getting just the most recent events, I have assigned you different years from which to find your "current" events.

2010

Megan, Caleb, Louise, Alexis, Ishyaka, Tanner

2011

Olivia, Malachi, Arnold, Rama, Hannah, Grace

2012

Wesley, Gwen, Alexander, Rodas, Martin, Anais

You must limit your events to those that are political, economic, or those that add to what is discussed in your textbook in Chapter 8, Section 1. Please print your article and attach a one-paragraph summary. This assignment is due Wednesday, 17 April. 

10% will be deducted if you turn it in digitally (flash drive, Engrade, etc.).

Professional-Quality Fonts (Free!)

Want to make your presentation look sharp but tired of the same old Microsoft font collection? Want to stand out from the crowd? Here's a couple articles that link to deliciously free designer fonts:

• 40+ Excellent Freefonts For Professional Design
• 75+ Excellent Free Fonts For Professional Design

Project: Country Profile - Presentation Schedule

Monday, 25 March
Wesley, Olivia, Caleb, Malachi, Rodas, Grace

Tuesday, 26 March
Gwen, Megan, Tanner, Arnold, Martin, Ishyaka

Wednesday, 27 March
Alex, Anais, Alexis, Rama, Hannah

Project: Country Profile - Sources

Sources

• The World Factbook (CIA)
• UN Data
• National Geographic Travel
• BBC News - Asia
• The World Bank: Data

Country Profile Rubric

Content - 50%

• Political - 10%
• flag
• map
• population
• major cities
• type of government
• structure of government
• national leader(s)
• Geographic - 10%
• landforms
• bodies of water
• Economic - 10%
• natural resources
• infrastructure data
• industries
• agricultural products
• tourism
• GDP
• per capita income
• imports/exports
• Cultural - 10%
• ethnicities
• religion
• education
• art
• music
• dress
• food
• Historical - 10%
• important historical event
• current event

The other 50% will be graded according to the Presentation Rubric, slightly modified (Presentation - 40%, Sources - 5%, and Effort - 5%).

Project: Country Profile - Topics

Directions

1. Choose a country.
2. Gather research on your country.
3. Create a PowerPoint presentation.
4. Refer to the Country Profile Rubric and Presentation Rubric for requirements.
5. Present next Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

Countries

• Afghanistan - Caleb
• Armenia - Ishyaka
• Bahrain - Martin
• Bangladesh - Olivia
• Bhutan
• Georgia
• India
• Iran
• Iraq - Gwen
• Israel - Alexis
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan - Alex
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan - Anais
• Lebanon - Rodas
• Nepal - Wesley
• Pakistan - Hannah
• Qatar - Malachi
• Saudi Arabia - Tanner
• Sri Lanka - Grace
• Syria - Rama
• Tajikistan - Megan
• Turkey - Arnold
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Yemen

Presentation Rubric

• Content - 40%
• Accurate - 15%
• factual
• no personal opinions
• debated points presented in a balanced way
• Informative - 10%
• connects to class discussions
• adds to class discussions
• Thorough - 15%
• detailed information
• no trivial information
• Presentation - 40%
• Organization - 10%
• Structure
• chronological
• modular
• physical
• spatial
• problem/solution
• issues/action
• case study
• compare/contrast
• matrix
• Transitions
• Voice - 5%
• loud enough for everyone to hear
• moderate rate of speech (not too fast)
• Slides - 5%
• few ideas (ideally one) per slide
• minimal text
• at least 20 slides (not including title slide and works cited)
• Images - 5%
• quantity
• quality (appealing; high resolution)
• appropriateness
• citation as footnote on individual slide or all image citations on one slide at the end
• Color Scheme, Text Animations, Slide Transitions, and Fonts - 5%
• appealing
• "less is more" when it comes to animations and slide transitions
• appropriate to content/structure
• Audience Interaction - 5%
• asking questions
• fielding questions
• handouts
• participation
• Time - 5%
• between 7-10 minutes
• Sources - 10%
• Credibility - 4%
• Quantity (at least three in addition to your textbook) - 4%
• MLA Formatting - 2%
• Effort - 10%
• Creativity - 5%
• Planning - 5%

Research: Israel and Palestine

Questions

1. Who is involved in this conflict?
2. What region is at the heart of the conflict? Describe the claim that both groups have on this region.
3. What is Israel? When was it founded and by whom?
4. What is the Zionist Movement?
5. Describe the role of the U.S. in the establishment of Israel, a Jewish state.
6. How did the Holocaust affect the formation of a Jewish homeland?
7. What is the PLO? Whom does it represent?
8. Which nations are opposed to a Jewish state?
9. What was the intifada? Who was involved and what caused it?
10. What caused the rise of militant Islam? What is its link to modern terrorism? What is Hamas?

Use credible sources to answer the questions above. Possibilities include:

• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/middle_east/conflict/index.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/middle_east_crisis/
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oslo/etc/cron.html 

PowerPoint Tips

Here's the presentation that I shared with you in class. Credited and linked, as promised.

Don't Be A PowerPoint Felon from Nick Smith

This one has more tips on slide design. A bit more artsy and certainly more humorous in its sarcasm/meanness. Let's just not be mean about each other's (or our own) presentations. :)

You Suck At PowerPoint! from Jesse Desjardins - @jessedee

Credible Online Sources

How do you know if your source is credible or not? Here's a few guiding questions that I found at a university library's website*:

• Does the site have a scholarly apparatus: a bibliography and endnotes?
• Is there a clear author?  What are the author's credentials, biases, and perspectives? 
• Who is the publisher?  A university or historical society?  A company? 
• Is the thesis built on a foundation of primary source material?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the site?
• How does the site help me understand my topic?
• What questions are left unanswered by the author?

Tips on finding credible sources:

• One clue that can help you decide if a site is credible is the domain name.  In general, sites that end with "edu" (educational sites), "gov" (government sites), or "org" (nonprofit organizations) offer more credible information than sites that end with "com" (commerical sites trying to sell something).
• Google your topic along with the keyword "library guide" or "libguide".  This will lead you to library web sites about your topic, and librarians generally list only high-quality sites on their pages.
• Specialty Search Engines
• IPL2: works like Yahoo, but finds mostly quality sites discovered by librarians
• InfoMine: scholarly internet collections

*http://guides.lib.ua.edu/content.php?pid=126639&sid=1087764

Map Quiz: SW Asia

• Countries
• Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen
• Bodies of Water
• Arabian Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf, Red Sea

Project: E/S/SW/C Asia

• Pick a partner or work alone.
• Choose a country.
• Choose a specific topic that you would like to research.
• Write at least three specific questions that you would like to investigate regarding your topic.
• Find at least three reliable resources in print or online in addition to your textbook.
• Choose a medium for what you will produce to demonstrate your learning including but not limited to:
• a 5-10 minute movie
• a drawing, painting or diagram with a detailed explanation
• a travel guide/brochure
• a skit, play or script
• a scale model of a significant structure/scene with an explanation of its significance
• a collage with detailed explanation
• multiple journal entries of a fictional, yet factually based person from your Asian country
• a children’s book based on facts
• Rubric (0-5 in each criterion):
• Presents accurate information about your topic (30%)
• Presents accurate information about your topic (30%)
• Selected product allows you to convey your message/information (5 %)
• Reflects careful planning, creativity and effort; final product presents a polished appearance (30 %)
• Uses and cites a minimum of three references (5%)
• additional consideration will be taken for individual effort and collaboration for those working in groups
• Scale
• 5 - Excellent
• 4 - Commendable
• 3 - Adequate
• 2 - Developing
• 1 - Remedial
• 0 - Nonexistent

Q: How did Commodore Perry force Japan to trade with the US?

It's hard for us to think that the United States (self-proclaimed good guys of the world) would militarily force another country to trade with them under threat of war. But that's exactly what happened:

Perry, on behalf of the U.S. government, forced Japan to enter into trade with the United States and demanded a treaty permitting trade and the opening of Japanese ports to U.S. merchant ships. This was the era when all Western powers were seeking to open new markets for their manufactured goods abroad, as well as new countries to supply raw materials for industry. It was clear that Commodore Perry could impose his demands by force. The Japanese had no navy with which to defend themselves, and thus they had to agree to the demands.

Perry's small squadron itself was not enough to force the massive changes that then took place in Japan, but the Japanese knew that his ships were just the beginning of Western interest in their islands. Russia, Britain, France, and Holland all followed Perry's example and used their fleets to force Japan to sign treaties that promised regular relations and trade.

(http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1750_perry.htm)

One-Child Policy

China facing one child policy dilemma

In light of today's discussion, this article and accompanying video from BBC reports on the forced abortions and infanticide that may result when families under the policy have more than one child.

Continents?

For those of you who really enjoyed this in class and can't live without watching it again. :)

P.S. There's a reference to George Orwell's 1984 at 0:50 that's purely fictional. Make sure you read it in high school!

New Year, New Blog

Hello, students of KICS. I'll be experimenting with posting relevant class activities to this blog for your good. Enjoy.