8th Grade

Test Wednesday the 1st. You have been working your way through Chapter 3. Completing the section assessments and outline in the sections into your notebook. You have done well in class working but I hope you have also been working outside of class on this task as well.

I will check your notebooks on Wednesday then have a review session and then we will take the test. Remember, focus on vocabulary, explorers, and settlements. Religious relationships among the colonies and Europe are important as well.

Mr. Clark

7th Grade

We will be testing over Chapter 3 Tuesday. That is 4 days from now. Please DO NOT cram. Read your notes then put it away. Come back to it later, read the notes and put it away. Do that every day, 2 or 3 times and you will be well prepared for the test. The key to test taking is exposure to the material. 6 10 minute study sessions is better than one 60 minute study session. Trust me.....believe me.....please do this. Your grade depends on it. :)

Mr. Clark

7th Grade

Here is a 2 minute clip on Free Market Economy vs. Command Economy. Please watch.

Mr. Clark

8th Grade

Here are 2 more videos. The first is a 9 minute clip of Jamestown and the second is a 9 minute clip of Plymouth. Again this is just reinforcement and not required.

8th Grade

Here is that video I promised you. It is 20 minutes. It is just for more indepth information. Not required but I would like you to watch it. Mr.Clark

7th Grade

Here is a video that goes into more detail about population. It is a follow up reinforcement video. It will help you understand the material. Not a required watch, but it will help you with the material.

Mr. Clark

7th Grade

Today we learned how to outline a Section in anticipation of the students completing self-guided learning activities in the near future. We read Section 3-3 and outlined it together on the board. The students decided what was important and they created the outline and copied it into their notes.

Section 3-3 Section Assessment was assigned 1,2,3 all parts due Friday.

All that being said, 7Th grade you need to start completing your work and turning it in. Your schooling is moving towards you accomplishing things independently on your own on your own time. You are doing a very good job with this so far this year. Please lets buckle down and get focused on our education. Far too many of you in Academic Detention each and every week.

Mr. Clark

8th Grade

We tested today over Chapter 2. We will test again on September 1st over Chapter 3. Please remember this is a self-guided chapter. You need to read the sections, outline it into your notebook and complete the Comprehension Section of each Section Assessments. You will turn those in as you complete them. I will give you at least an hour in class on Thursday and Monday to work and to answer questions and have a brief class discussion over the material. I will allow this test to be open notes. It will be nearly all short answer. I will require you to use your brains. You have 8 days to complete this task. You need to work on it outside of class as well. The 2 days I give you in class will not be enough. Please take this serious and learn the material and lean on the notes for recall and not your only connection to the material.

Good luck and I am here to help.

Mr. Clark

7th Grade

We need to get better about taking notes. I will continue to give open notes quizzes as long as you refuse to take notes.

These notes Section 2 of Chapter 3 need to be written in your notebook when you come to class on Wednesday.

Mr. Clark

Migration
Chapter 3
Section2

Why people migrate
Migration- people’s movement from one place or region to another

Immigrants- people who move into one region from another.

Emigrants- people who move out of one region for another.

Voluntary Migration
Voluntary- of one’s own will

Push-Pull Theory- difficulties “push” someone to leave and hope for a better life “pulls”.
Push factors- war, disease, needs cannot be met, jobs, and oppression
Pull factors are the opposite of push factors and amenities

Involuntary Migration
When people are forced to leave a region.
Why would people be forced to leave?

Slave trade, war prisoners, criminals, and natural disasters

Migration hurdles: governments, boundaries (political and natural)

Urbanization
Urbanization- movement of people to cities and the growth of cities
Factors- Industrial Revolution, food easier to get, needs no longer being met in the country, amenities, and dream of home ownership.

Rural- area in the countryside
Urban- area in cities and nearby towns

Problems with living in cities-
Traffic
Overpopulation
Crime
Pollution
Disease

So why do we flock to cities?
Jobs
Housing
Hospitals
Schools
Easier life
More to do (amenities)

7th grade

7th grade you need to read Chapter 3 Section 1 over Population and read Chapter 3 Section 2 over Migration. After that you need to complete the Section 2 Assessment over Migration all parts of questions 1 and 2. This is all due Monday August 23rd.

Mr. Clark


Population
Chapter 3
Section 1
Population Distribution
• Population- total number of people
• Population Distribution- How a population is spread out in an area.
• Demography- The study of how populations change and why populations are unevenly distributed
• Population and Places
• Why people move
• Better life
• Forced
• Cannot meet families needs
• As long as needs can be met people tend to stay put. Areas with large populations tend to keep them.
• Population and History
• People lived where they could grow food, get water, farming climate, good soil, plenty of water
• New Population Clusters
• Transportation (RxR, steamships)
• Rise of Factory and office jobs
Population Density
• Population Density- the average number of people per square mile
• Population Distribution- total number of people in an area
Population Growth
• Birth rate- Total number of live births per 1000 people
• Death rate- Total number of deaths per 1000 people
• Population growth- Live births minus deaths.
• Reasons for Population Growth Today
• Death rates dropping and birth rates increasing
• Medical break through
• Green Revolution
• Crop protection
• Bigger yields per acre
• Less water needed
• Cleaner drinking water
• Better sanitation
• Challenges of Population Growth
• Big problem in Asia and Africa
• More people than food
• Not enough clean drinking water
• Money
• Environment
• Deforestation
• Loss of fertile soil

8th grade Chapter 2

Here is whats is going on for the next 2 class periods. This will take us to next tuesday. For Friday the 20th you need to have Chapter 2 Section 3 notes in your notebook. For Tuesday the 24th you will need to have completed your Guided Notes from Chapter 2 Section 4. We will also test over Chaper 2 on Tuesday the 24th. This gives you 6 days notice for the test.

Mr. Clark

Chapter 2 Section 3 Notes

Trade Networks of Africa and Asia
Chapter 2
Section 3
Muslim World
Arabia- major trade crossroads
 Linked Asia and Africa in the Mediterranean world
 Rise and Spread of Islam
 Early 600’s Islam emerges in Arabia
 Prophet Muhammad – Leader
 Quran- Sacred book of Islam
 Islam spreads rapidly throughout Asia and Africa.
5 Pillars of Islam
 No God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet
 Pray 5 times a day
 Show generosity and concern for the needy, help them with donations
 Fasting cleanses the Spirit
 Must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a life time (Hajj)
Silk Road
 Land route that linked China to the Middle East
 Crossed mountains, deserts, and grasslands
 Bandits, desert storms, and starvation were threats
 Caravans- groups of people who traveled together for safety.
African Trading States and Cultures
 City-States of East Africa
 Lined the coasts- natural harbors
 Gold, Hardwoods, and Ivory came shipped from here to India and China
 Accumulation of wealth from trade allowed the formation of city-states
 City-states- a large town that had its own government and controlled the surrounding countryside
 Trading Kingdoms of West Africa
 Mainly a grassland region
 Timbuktu was a major trading center
 Mali- 1200’s A.D. lasted about 200 years
 Songhai- 1400’s A.D.
 Village and Family Life
 Herding, farming, fishing
 Extended families- many generations in one house
 Kinship- sharing common ancestors
 Links to family lasted after death
Chinese Voyages of Trade and Exploration
 China’s power was centered around an Emperor
 Most isolated of all the ancient civilizations
 Believed they were the center of the ancient world
 Looked down on outsiders
 Physical barriers separated it
 Great Treasure Fleets
 1405-1433 many long voyages to Asia, India and Africa
 Voyages End
 New Emperor decided China had nothing to learn from the outside world. Outlawed foreign trade
 What Might Have Been
 1421- Chinese sailed to America
 Ships sat in port and rotted and sank
 Proof of voyage to America was lost

8th Grade Notes and assignment

You are to complete the Section Assessment on page 48 numbers 3,4,5,6. COMPLETE SENTENCES ARE REQUIRED. Notes for Section 2 of Chapter 2 are listed below. I will be around on Wednesday to make sure you got them.

Native American Cultures
Chapter 2
Section 2
Culture Areas of North America
Cultural Area- a region in which people share a similar way of life
Tribe- a community of people that share common customs, language, and rituals
Needs must always be met first, Native Americans developed several ways to do this
Hunting, Gathering, Fishing- (Nomadic)
Farming (stationary)
Trade ( diffusion)
Diffusion- Process of spreading ideas from one culture to another

Climate, Resources, & Culture

Climate and Resources-
What could be grown
Clothes they wore
Tribal organizations
Harsh conditions, nomadic and small
Favorable conditions larger groups and stayed together

Culture-
Far North and Plateau
Limited resources
Depended on the sea for almost everything
Northwest
Plenty of food
Built permanent villages
So much surplus, they competed to see who could give away the most
Southeast
Hunted, Fished, Farmed
Permanent villages

Shared Beliefs
Though belief varied between groups, they did share some basic ideas
Respect for nature
Sought to maintain a balance between people and nature
Believed in spirits and unseen forces
Special Ceremonies
Ceremonies to bring rain, good harvests,
Dances and feasts that could last for days

Iroquois Confederacy
12 or more families to a “long house”
Women
owned all household property
In charge of planting and harvesting
Held political power
Men moved in with woman’s family
Clan- group of 2 or more related families
5 nations of Iroquois- League of the Iroquo

8th Grade Notes

Here are Chapter 2 Section 1 notes. Please have them in your notebook when you come to class on Monday. This gives you 4 days to do it. No excuses.

Mr. Clark

First Civilizations in America
Chapter 2
Section 1 Reaching the Americas
• Glaciers- Thick sheets of slow moving ice
• One such glacier created a land bridge that allowed peoples from Asia to enter North America across the Bering Strait
• New country, new way of life
• Hunting for new types of food
• Growing new types of crops
• Climates dictated these changes
Olmec Civilization
• First known civilization in the Americas
• Farming
• Formed cities
• Social classes
• Complex religions
• Primitive forms record keeping
• Studied stars to know when to plant crops
The Mayas
• Rainforests of what is today Guatemala
• Cleared rainforests and drained swamps for farming
• Populations grew and spread along trade routes
• Social classes
• 365 day calendar
• Mysteriously disappeared about 900A.D.
The Aztecs
• Originally nomadic
• Settled in Central Mexico and built a powerful empire
• Causeways- raised roads made of packed earth
• Farming and trade
• Worshipped the Sun God
• By 1500 ruled a huge empire that stretched from Gulf of Mexico to Pacific Ocean
The Incas
• 2500 miles along west coast of S. America
• Massive palaces and temples made of stone
• Population 10 million people
• Well organized
• Systems of roads
• Government officials to carry out emperors wishes (governors of each area)
• Skilled engineers
Early North American Cultures
• Hohokams-
– American Southwest
– Dug irrigation ditches for farming
• Anasazis-
– Four corners region
– Adobe for housing- (sun dried bricks)
– Irrigation farming, trading
Mound Builders
• Appalachian Mts., and Mississippi Valley
• Mounds used as burials & religious ceremonies
• 2 groups- Hopewells and Mississippians
• 30,000 may have lived at Mississippian city of Cahokia

7th grade Chapter 2 Sections 2 &3 Notes

Here are the notes for the next 2 sections. Please do not forget to read Section 3 as well.

Friday we will talk quickly through section 3 watch a video clip and then play a review game. Please be ready to play. It will not be fun if you do not know the material.

Mr. Clark

Forces Shaping Earth
Chapter 2
Section 2
Understanding Earth
• Core- sphere of very hot metal at the center of the Earth
• Mantle- thick hot rock layer around the core
• Crust- thin rock and mineral layer around the mantle
• All layers are “floating” on each other
Water and Air
• Less than 30% of the Earth’s crust is land
• 97% of Earths water is in the oceans
• Most fresh water is frozen in the polar ice caps
• Earths atmosphere contains miles of layers of gasses
• Contains oxygen, carbon dioxide and other important gasses
Landforms
• Mountains- raise more than 2000 feet above sea level. Wide at the bottom and narrow at the top
• Volcano- type of mountain
• Hills- less than 2000 feet, with rounded tops and less steep than a mountain
• Plateau- large mostly flat area that rises above the surrounding land. At least one side is steep
• Plains- large areas of flat gently rolling land
Forces inside Earth
• Magma- soft nearly molten rock
• Lava- molten rock
• Plates- blocks of Earth’s crust
Volcanoes & Earthquakes
• Fault- cracks in the Earth’s crust
• when 2 fault lines come together, pull apart or rub against one another, earthquakes happen
Forces on Earths Surface
• Slower processes happen on the surface
• Weathering- process that breaks down rocks into tiny pieces
– Ice, water, and lichens cause weathering
• Erosion- removal of small pieces of rock by water, ice or wind (wearing down)
• Removed material is moved downstream forming plains regions
This is the End of Section 2…………………below is Section 3. Please be sure to read this section as well as copying the notes.

Climate & Weather Weather- conditions of the air and sky from day to day
 Precipitation- water that falls to the ground: Rain, snow, sleet, hail
 Climate- average weather over many years.

Air currents are also called Belts or Cells

Water Cycle
Evaporation- Condensation- Cloud Formation- Rain- Flows into ground or water systems- Repeat

Oceans and Climate
 Oceans spread Earth’s heat
 Equatorial region would overheat
 Warm water flows away from Equator
 Cold flows towards Equator

Cooling and Warming Effect
 Water takes longer to heat than land
 Water takes longer to lose its heat than land
 Coastal or lakefront land is warmer than inland

Raging Storms
 Cyclones- intense wind and rain that form over the oceans in the Tropics
 N.H.- Hurricanes/S.H.-Cyclones
 Tornadoes are funnels of wind
 Formed around low pressure areas

7th Grade Chapter 2 Section 1 notes

Here are the notes for Wednesday 8/11.

Mr. Clark

Our Planet, Earth
Chapter 2
Section 1
Earth and Sun
• Orbit- A path one body makes as it circles another
• Revolution- Circular motion
• Axis- an imaginary line running north and south through Earth
• Rotation- each complete turn on its axis
• The earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis.
• The time it takes earth to rotate on its axis is 24 hours
• When it is day in the Eastern hemisphere it is night in the Western hemisphere
• It takes the earth 365 ¼ days to make a revolution around the Sun
Time Zones
• The day starts at a different time all over the Earth
• Time Zones were created to solve this problem
• There is a new time zone every 15 degrees longitude
• One hour between each time zone
Revolution of the Earth
• The earth tilts on its axis a total of 47 degrees per year
• When the N.H. is tilted towards the sun, Summer occurs
• When the N.H. is tilted away from the Sun, Winter occurs
• In between the 2 extremes, Fall and Spring occur
• The Earth is in a constant state of tilting, it is never in one place
• The closer to the Sun the less extremes between the season (Equatorial Region)
• The further from the Sun the more extreme the seasons (Middle Latitude Regions)
• Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn represent the tops of the Equatorial Region
• June 21st represents the First day of Summer
• March 21st represents the first day of Spring
• December 21st represents the first day of Winter
• September 23rd represents the first day of Fall
• Solstice- The Sun’s intensity is fully in the Tropic of Cancer or Tropic of Capricorn or Middle Latitude Region
• Equinox- The Sun’s intensity is fully in the Equatorial Region
• Winter and Summer are Solstices
• Fall and Spring are Equinoxes

8th Grade

We are off to a bumpy start. You MUST do assignments or you will fall behind. Reading counts as an assignement. I was disappointed that no class was not able to answer the very first question about the reading.

Below is the Guided Notes for Chapter 1 Section 3. These will be turned in at the beginning of class on Tuesday. You must do them. We will have our first test over Chapter 1 on Thursday of next week. The tests this year will be the same format as last year. 50 points and the bulk short answer in complete sentences. Be ready for it. You do not want to start off the school year in the hole.

Mr. Clark

Chapter 1 Section 3 Guided Notes
Tools of History


1) Define primary source
2) List the examples from the textbook of primary sources
3) Define secondary source
4) List the examples from the textbook of secondary sources
5) Define authenticity
6) What are some of the questions historians ask when deciding if a source is authentic?
7) Define reliability
8) Define bias
9) What are some things the textbook lists as sources of bias?
10) Define artifact
11) Define archaeology
12) Define culture
13) List the 9 examples of culture the textbook gives.
14) History tells us how the ________ is linked to the _____________.
15) History is the story of the men and women we _________ as ____________.
16) History is also the study of ____________________ people.
17) List the 4 things you learn by studying history.
18) Define chronology
19) Define absolute chronology
20) Give an example of absolute chronology other than the one(s) listed
21) Define relative chronology
22) Give an example of relative chronology other than the one(s) listed

7th Grade 8/5/10

We will be having our first test over Chapter 1 on Monday(8/9) You have Section 1 notes and I have posted Section 2 below. Complete your Chapter Review sheet and use it as a reference to aid you in your studying. The test will be 50 points and be a combination of True or False, Matching, and Short Answer. Remember everything for me must be in a complete sentence.

Mr. Clark

Chapter 1 Section 2 Notes

The Geographer’s Tool
Chapter 1
Section 2
Globes and Maps
 Globe-model of the Earth-same shape
 + Land and water as it really is
 - what can be shown-detail
 -not very portable
 Maps- flat
 + shape-(round to flat)
 -distortion-loss of accuracy
Better Choices
 Aerial Photos
 Satellite Images
 Both provide more current information
 GIS- Geographic Information System
 Connects information with locations
 Ex. Military & Businesses
Mercator Projections
 - Makes poles appear larger
 -To keep latitude lines straight, had to stretch distances
 + Correct shapes
 -Not correct size
Equal-Area Projections
 - Shapes wrong
 + Size right
 - Lines that would be straight on Earth are curved
Robinson Projection
 Named for Arthur Robinson
 Best most accurate map available
 Distances, size and shape are fairly accurate
 - Edges are distorted
Reading Maps
 Parts of a Map
 Compass Rose- shows direction
 Scale Bar- Distance
 These can vary
 Key- explains symbols and shading

7th Grade Chapter 1 Section 1 notes

These are the notes. You need to have them in your notebook when you come back to class on Thursday (8/5)

Mr. Clark

5 Themes of Geography
Chapter 1
Section 1Geography
• The study of the Earth
• Where and why are things located where they are
5 Themes
•Location
• Regions
• Place
• Movement
• Human-Environment Interaction
Location•
Where is it?
• Cardinal directions (N,S,E,W,)
• Intermediate directions (N.E.)
• Latitude- “Flatitude”
• Longitude- “Long-a-tude”
• Latitude lines- Parallels
• Equator- 0 Latitude
• Longitude lines- Meridians
• Prime Meridian- 0 Longitude
Place•
Human and Physical Features of a specific location.
• EX. People live in apartments/condos
Regions•
Used to group places that have something in common
• Population
• History
• Climate
• Landforms
Movement•
Explains how people, goods, and ideas get from one place to another
Ex. Cultural groups
Human-Environment Interaction•
How people affect their environments
• Ex. Clearing a forest for farmland