Bear Bile Letter

Advertising Questions

1. Advertising influences a lot because it impacts greatly on people’s choices of goods. Companies with a lot of money can greatly advertise their products, resulting in their products being known to more people, and with proper advertising techniques, have a huge impact in a customers’ choice of products. The more money a company spends on advertising its product, the more likely that the consumption of their product will increase.

2. We are not sufficiently informed of the sustainability of our consumptions habits. Most of our activities are not sustainable. Therefore, ads will not include them because it can erode the perfect product image the ad is trying to imprint into the audience. Therefore, we can only find out about the sustainability of our consumption through books, the Internet,… which is very unlikely because we have limited time. In summary, it is hard for us to know about the sustainability of our consumption and a great many of us still do not know how great the impact of our choices are on the environment. We want to raise awareness on the sustainability of our choices. This is hard because companies will do their best to misinform people. One way we can raise awareness is through social studies class. If we talk about how our choices affect the environment, hopefully more and more students will realize that they need to change their behavior.

3. I do not think the advertising techniques help a lot in influencing what we and our friends buy. I think that when we get money, we just spend it on anything “cool” or what we want. I believe the only thing that advertising does is just helping the information of the product coming to us. The main thing that compels us to buy these products are our desire for more. These new “stuff” that keeps coming out is like “psychological junk food” (I got this from the video that Mr. Blake had us watch.) In other words, the more we buy, the more we want to buy, and then we want to buy more,…

Sustainable Development Examples

• Many sustainable cities are being built around the world.
• Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany - Strong wind economy
• houses are designed with low energy consumption
• Cloughjordan Village - Ireland: 
• »  A solar- and wood-powered community heating system
  »  Pedestrian pathways lined with fruit and nut trees
  »  A streamside walkway
  »  50 acres of land for allotments, farming and woodland
  »  A green enterprise centre and hi-spec broadband
  »  A centre of education for sustainable living
  »  An eco-hostel for visitors
  »  A nearby train station and local car-sharing scheme 
  (http://www.thevillage.ie/)
• Also, sustainable energy resources are being developed throughout the world:
• Bio-fuel development
• Wind energy

Immigration-Migration Assignment

Immigration – Migration Assignment

            Hello! My name is Rafael, and I was from a Mexican village close to the United States Border. It was a small rural village, however it was a strategic point because it was located so close to the United States. There, drug lords imported and exported heroin to and fro the United States. Patrols guarded our village carefully. Therefore, there were many gunshots and gunfights happening in our village. We lived in constant fear of being killed. I have even seen a man being shot cleanly on the back, while his wife wept hysterically. Our parents decided to take a huge risk migrating to United States, leaving us in the care of our uncle and aunt. They thought that beyond the United States border is a peaceful life, a life where we don’t have to glance around for men with guns or strain our ears for gunshots.

            They decided to San Diego, a very urbanized city they picked because of its large Spanish population, and also because it provided a lot of jobs that my parents can do to support our family. Because there are many fellow Mexicans and many of whom also speak Spanish, my parents felt at home because they knew little English. After two years, we were brought to San Diego. There are many people who know both Spanish and English here, so we can be guided to speak English by people who can help us quite well. Also, the culture is quite similar. There are many Mexican holidays being observed as well. For example, many Mexicans in San Diego celebrate Day of the Dead, and that makes us happy because we are in a community that is both similar to and different from us.

A Message from Mother Nature

Q1. What is the main point of the article?

·         The article attempts to answer whether the wild weather patterns lately, including the torrential Pakistani flood, a record-breaking heatwave that killed hundreds, and droughts in the United States, are a sign of climate change, or if they are normal weather patterns throughout the course of Earth’s history.

Q2. List four vocabulary words that you do not recognize or understand, lookup the definitions, write them out using your own words. 

·         Frequency – the number of times at which an event occurs

·         Intensity – the strength/degree of something

·         Variability – the ability to vary, or change

·         Static – staying in one place, non-changing, invariability

Q3. What is the difference between “weather” and “climate”?

·         Weather is the condition of the Earth in a short period of time, while climate indicates weather patterns through a longer period of time.

Q4. What are the examples listed in the article of “extreme weather”?

·         Monsoon rains in Pakistan caused the one of the worst floods in 80 years, killing up to 1,500 people and displaced millions of people

·         A Russian record-breaking heat wave along with a drought destroyed a lot of wheat farmland and sparked wildfire in the forests that killed dozens of people.

·         Flooding in the United States destroyed New England, and an intense heat wave baked eastern part of the country.

Q5. What experiences have you had with “extreme weather”?

·         My experiences of weather in Ho Chi Minh City is not extreme, because if I do, there would be a good chance that I would not be writing this assignment. However, if rains up to your knee cap and killing your engines are “slightly” extreme events, maybe I have experienced one. J It took me an hour to get from school back home, and I was exhausted, and I didn’t do the day’s homework, and I got a zero. L

Flood in Pakistan

Q6. What does the word “perception” mean?

·         Perception means one’s interpretation of something, one’s comprehension and understanding of something

Q7. What is your “perception” of global climate change?

·         As a person, I believe that global climate change is a very important issue for human beings. Even though we still have not had enough proof to prove that climate change is linked to the increased frequency and intensity of these natural disasters, still we should prepare early. How does it hurt when you turn off the air-conditioners and switch to compact fluorescent bulbs? J

Map Final Assessment

United Nations of Alex (UNA)

            I’d rather play real. I could see a region of nations, working together, contributing toward a healthier me. J One of the most important nations in this peaceful region, Kardia, also known as the “Heart” in the Anglobarbarica language, is particularly interesting. The way its economy fits into the multitude of nations, and its horribly interesting history has made their way into the records. Kardia is located in the “heart” of the region.

            The nation had few interesting places to visit. One cool place you can see, though, is the Amazonian Plain, very flat, and with few trees, and though crisscrossed with major rivers, it is unable to support agriculture. The nation is notoriously hot. Disastrous floods are common, and therefore, this region is one of the most technologically advanced, crammed by thousands of little canals to support the flow of the floods.

Two main rivers course through the UNA region. They are the Red River, known as the “Artery” and the Blue River, known as the “Vein.” They start and end in Kardia, giving it control over transportation. Canals conntect the region, and because of the harsh weather and flooding, people of Kardia built a special fortress made out of muscles. These muscles ensure that the people of Kardia are safe from most invaders and climates.

            The nation’s economy is robust. Because of its inability to support agriculture, it must resort to other means to contribute to the overall well-being of the region. Its most valued service is transportation. Kardia, due to its super-advanced transportation technology, has been able to built roads to the most secluded places. It helps transport packages called “blood cells” everywhere throughout the region. No places are missed. Its main import is oxygen from Pulmonaria, and its main exports are “blood cells” towards all other regions.

            The nation’s history is quite interesting. The Declaration of Independence was read in February 28, 1910. However, the Kardian Civil War broke out shortly afterwards and continued until February 28, 1980. Only the intervention of other nations could help the two major forces of Kardia, the Atriumists and the Ventriclists, from tearing each other apart and destroy the nation. Kardia only started to rebuild its economy and infrastructure for 5 years, when in April 30, 1985 the Viking Virus invaded Kardia. They killed more than 1000 people and displaced thousands of others. In September 1, 1985 the Royal Lymphatic Force was summoned to battle the monstrous intruders. The war commenced until May 2005, when a particularly brave Lymphatic soldier broke into the Viking Virus’s lines. Finally, in September 12, 2005, Lymphatic forces were able to completely drive Viking Viruses out. Since September 13, 2005, Kardia has received a lot of assistance from the neighboring peoples and has risen to become one of the major powers in the United Nations of Alex.

            

Study Guide

Topics Covered:

            Maps

• Political
• Physical
• Thematic

            Culture

§         what is culture?

§         what are elements of culture?

§         how does culture divide into subcultures?

§         how is culture learned?

            5 Themes of Geography

·         location

·         place

·         region

·         human-environment itneraction

·         movement

           

            6 Elements of Geography

• World in Spatial Terms
• Places & Regions
• Physical Systems
• Human systems
• Environment and Society
• Uses of Geography

            Tools of Geography:

• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• uses satellite to determine location
• Geographic Information System (GIS)
• store/gather/analyze/display data

           

            Careers in Geography:

·         Land surveyor - measures the land, maps boundaries

·         Location analyst - finds the best place for a specific function

·         Climatologist - studies weather patterns and data for specific functions

·         Urban Planner - plans how to make the city a better place to live

            Vocabulary:

·         Geography

·         Environment

·         Location

·         Place

·         Spatial

·         Region

Family Tree Project

Reflection on Family Tree Presentation

            This project was a lot of fun for me. Because Mr. Blake did not give us anything solid to work on, very few rules and guidelines, I could let my imagination run wild and had a lot of fun experiments with my new presentation tool prezi. J I could take (steal???) several albums from my parents’ room. I could see myself growing up before my eyes as I rummaged through my pictures. My memories, some of them quite sharp and embarassing, returned. (Oops, my parents were coming home. I’d better tuck the pictures away and look innocent! J) I announced to my parents that I was going to do a project about my family tree. I was really impressed when my parents recited a list of about 50 people and I just could not put all of them into my painting-black family tree. They seemed to be really psyched about my project, and took me and my brother around to pick some cool food that I could boast around. It turned out to be bánh trung thu. I moved about my house like a shuttle, waylaid my cousins (older) and poured queries on my exasperated cousin. I plunged into my room, creating a big mess and jostling  everything on my path. I couldn’t remember how I cleaned my room afterwards, but anyway, I managed to wriggle out of the destroyed, crumpled manuscripts (some older than I am) the first piano song I played and the very first chess set I had. Unfortunately, I could not show them to the class because of memory reasons. J

            Apart from my own experience, I saw even more clearly how diverse AIS is. There are so many nationalities within 10 meter squared of my room. Emily is from Hainam, Olia from Russia, Jennifer from Norway, and Darlene, Vivi, and Henry from the United States. There are so many cool things to talk about. Emily is a polyglot, 4 languages she speaks! Olia pronounced very cool Russian words (too fast I couldn’t repeat, but I guess that the faster it is said, the cooler it sounds!). Jennifer told as that only one out of ten people in Norway is actually Norwegian. Henry was a Boy Scout. He brought to us all the different badges and told us all the different levels that he could achieved when he participated in the Boy Scout. Even within Vietnam I could see so many differences. Because my family is Christian, we celebrate Christian holidays such as Christmas, Easter,… I don’t really know about traditional Vietnamese holidays.  Therefore, holidays such as cung co hon are not very familiar to me. In addition to that, I could taste Johnny’s bánh dưà from Ben Tre, Mary’s banh chung banh day, and probably some more I could not remember. So many things are different about us, but however, I could see that we are united. We celebrate Tet. We believe in religions that encourage nonviolence and love. We can relate to each other. I could see that albeit our different backgrounds in our cultures and subcultures, we are relatively similar as humans. And Mr. Blake summed everything up, “We are not very different, therefore we need to treat each other as we would treat ourselves.”

            This project was very inspirational. Not only could I touch my heritage, but also see how my friends came to be. I could see that my friends are so much different from me, and I, once thinking that Vietnamese people are so boring, changed my view completely after listening to 17 very talented presenters!

Vũng Tàu

Characteristics of Vũng Tàu

            I have had a few privileges to go to some nice places and vacation sites in Vietnam. One of them, is Vũng Tàu (pronounced like Voong Tau). It is famous for its beaches. Vũng Tàu is, I think (I don’t have any data for this statement), the most famous city (I’m only sure in Ho Chi Minh City) if you want to go for a swim. Partly this is because Vũng Tàu is quite near Ho Chi Minh City, only a 4-hours drive, meaning about 160 km (possibly 100 miles) will suffice in fleeing the polluted hustle of the metropolitan area of Ho Chi Minh City, escaping the noise that 7 million people is capable of, and to a pleasant, tranquil, quiet opposite of the contamination, the burdening din, and the probably-able-to-age-you-ten-times-faster quick pace of life of Ho Chi Minh City.

Vũng Tàu, famous of its beaches, obviously has beaches. And quite beautiful ones too. The water is not like Nha Trang, a translucent green, but rather, a pretty dark azure blue accompanied by a salty smell that have the tendency to reassure me that I am not surrounded by floods of cars and motorbikes that seem to be endless. Another of its beautiful physical (not man-made, just to reassure you in the period of time when humans are able to make one whole island J) feature that I really like to visit are its hills. Vũng Tàu’s hills vary in its vegetation. Some are bald (no trees), with a basalt red color. They look beautiful in the sunset. In the afternoon (2 to 4 o’clock), I like to explore the ones with lots of trees. The hills look like a painting from a very creative artist who do not have any tastes for wild colors, well, because the whole work of art, is green, but is extremely various in its different tints and shades…It is very nice to be able to climb up, look down at people and gaze towards the sea. Vũng Tàu’s climate is able to support some agriculture. There are different rice fields that come in many sizes and shapes, and if you happen to be awake during the boring 4-hour journeys, you will be able to see people planting rice, a very enjoyable thing to look at.

Vũng Tàu is more like a vacation site than a city to live in. Therefore, there are a lot of inns and hotels in the city and few people. The streets are nearly deserted. If you happen to live in Ho Chi Minh City your whole life, like me, being able to see no traffic on a road is a treat that you can only observe on Ho Chi Minh City’s streets at 2 o’clock in the morning. And I hardly am that patient. So it feels quite strange. J There are so few people that you can play soccer on the streets only to find that you are interrupted every 10 minutes by a single car passing by (However, I highly recommend that you don’t, because you can hit a pedestrian, and that’s not fun, at all).

Vũng Tàu mainly supports an economy that focuses on tourism, because it is such an attractive vacation site. However, I do think that Vũng Tàu has some form of fishing, because I often see different boats wandering about near the horizon. What else does it do J? Also, people take advantage of the beaches by mining sand. The mine looks very ugly.

Does it seem like a nice vacation site for you, Mr. Blake (and few, if any, people who haven’t gone there yet)? Sounds nice to me…Trust me, it really helps when you think too much for a whole year, and gets to relax once every year for two days. And I am the one who experiences the whole process firsthand. J

About Me

     I'm Alex, studying Social Studies period 1. Social Studies is one of my favorite subjects because I like to understand about the world I live in, because I'm good with facts, and because I like to compare and contrast different things, which is done a lot in geography. I am someone who approaches learning in a logical/mathematical way. I am good with facts, recalling facts and analyzing them. I have a pretty good command of English, and therefore can understand most of what Mr. Blake teaches. I am better with group work, because I like talking and cooperating and sharing my ideas with my friends. The one thing that I would like to improve is my creative skills. I have trouble with thinking outside the square and I am the one who usually follows the rules and rarely breaks out of what are called the standards.