Grade 6 A and B Weekend Homework

School has been canceled for Grades 1-6 this Friday (Nov. 13th), BUT ALL OF YOU STILL HAVE HOMEWORK TO DO!  Take the main points below, print them out onto an A4 paper, and then add extra point form notes (“bullet points”) in blue pen about the city of Ur.  In the past, you tried to find the main points about cities in general, but now you must take specific notes about Ur near the main points listed below.  This is due on your first class next week (6A on the 16th and 6B on the 17th).

Features of Ur:  An Early City

• Standard of Ur—mosaic panels showing war and peace
• Ur—an early city near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
• Cities need rivers or water
• Farmers provide food
• Irrigation (canals and tunnels from river to fields) provides water
• Surplus food (no famine—lack of food)
• Specialized jobs
• Large population
• People live close together
• Leadership or government
• King or “big man” controlled everything, e.g., farmers, soldiers, etc.
• Planning or organization of workers
• Priests and kings have influence over people
• Large public buildings
• Different social classes (three class system—upper, middle, lower)
• Burials and graves (cemeteries)
• Long-distance trade
• Writing system
• Culture
• Cities and civilization come from the Latin civitas (“city”)

Major Project for Grade 7 Due Soon!

As you know, we have been working on a research essay since the beginning of Week 1!  Finally, students (after going through a lengthy drafting and redrafting process) are finished this part of their project that is worth 20% of their final mark this semester.

Students were instructed to finish their 3-D Project during the October holidays.  However, many have still not finished.  Nevertheless, students were told in the past that the due date for the 3-D aspect of their research project is due on November 20th, 2009.   I strongly encourage you to finish these projects as soon as possible so you will have time to study and finish other projects you may have been assigned.

I would like students to take a picture of their completed future board / 3-D project and show it to me by November 20th.  (DO NOT bring it in UNLESS you have my permission.)  Students will bring in their projects on December 10th and will set them up AFTER their final exam in the exam schedule (probably Science) or on December 14th in the morning.    I will then grade your projects and I should know your final mark within a day or so of you handing it in.

No projects will be accepted after the date I have mentioned above!

The Grade 7 Social Studies projects will be on display for the parents to see on December 17th, 2009–the night of the Christmas performance.

Second Part of the Roman Empire Test

Last week we did the first part of the Roman Empire Test thanks to field trips that forced me to split the test into two.  Well, because of another surprise field trip, we will have to have our test on Wednesday instead of Thursday as I had originally planned!

The last part of the Roman Empire Test is as follows.  Study three study guide sheets:  pages 81 to 87.

Everything we did on the Roman Empire–starting with Caesar all the way to the fall of Rome and the contributions of Rome.  Know the dates of the Pax Romana and be prepared to write about everything on those study guide sheets.

The test is Wednesday!  GOOD LUCK!

Portfolios for the PTC on Friday, Oct. 16th, 2009!

Students,

As I have told you from the beginning of the year, make sure you have a lot of extra A4 removable sleeves in your portfolio!  I will be giving you a new contents page and you will have to make sure you have all your sheets in the correct order.

If you are missing sheets, find them!  You are responsible for photocopying  sheets that you have lost.

If you do not have enough A4 clear plastic sleeves, buy them!

When your parents come on Friday, Oct. 16th, I may be showing them your portfolio!

Study Guide for the Last Prehistory Test!

1. Recognize all of the megafauna on your Prehistoric Oral Presentation list.
2. Hunting Point-Form Notes—make sure you know how to discuss how Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals hunted various animals in the Stone Age.
3. Recognize the animals we pointed out on your cave art sheet and know how each of them was hunted.
4. Understand what extinction is and know the basic order of events in your Stone Age Timeline such as the extinction of various hominids, when art was produced, the end of the Ice Age, etc.  Do not memorize all of the dates! I will give you some fill-in-the-blank words and phrases that you should be able to fit into the timeline based on what we have learned.
5. Understand what happens when different species of upright apes meet, i.e., there is a conflict due to food/territory that results in the species with better technology and a bigger brain driving out the other species.
6. Prehistoric Art Project #2.  Focus on stone sculpture—know when art began (during the “Great Leap Forward”) and why Venus figurines were so important—to show fertility, etc.  Know how to recognize the Venus of Willendorf.
7. Know all the information on your Chapter 4, Lesson 2, Study Guide.   (Also, be prepared to describe Neanderthal tools as well.  You may use your stone tool handout that we just had a quiz on as a guide.)
8. Stone Age Toolkit—make sure you know the names and uses of each tool.  Also know what an atlatl is and what it was used for.  [Here are some clues if you did not get a chance to finish your activity:  1. Antler harpoon—to hunt large marine animals; 2. Burin—to make fine cut marks while decorating a weapon; 3. Beads—worn for decoration; 4. Blade Core—used to make stone tools; 5. Bone Flute—used to make music; 6. Bone tip—used on the end of a spear to hunt animals; 7. Awl—to poke holes in animal skins or to shred plant fiber; 8. Clovis Point—used on spears in North America; 9. Scraper—to clean fat, etc. off of animal hides; 10. Needle—to sew clothes.]
9. Clash of the Cavemen sheets—make sure you know all of the information that you filled in and that we went over in class.

10.  Be ready to compare-contrast your teacher with a Neanderthal.

Study Guide for the G7 Roman Republic Test

The Roman Republic Test (in the first class next week)

• Know everything on the following Reading Comprehension Sheets:  Pages 75, 77, 78, and 80.
• Know how to label the Roman soldier and draw/label the soldier’s kit.
• Page 79’s LPS is NOT on the test, but you need to know what Republic, patrician, and plebian are.  The note taking for the Roman Soldier sheet and the Oral Presentations will NOT be on the test.
• Rome’s social and political structure is on the test.  Know the proper names of the rich and poor citizens, the Latin name of the Roman father and be ready to explain the patronage system / patron-client relationship.
• Be ready to explain how the Republic comes to an end.
• Know how to label the map on Page 76.  Make sure you know the significance and location of each term we went over.  I will give you clues about the labels that you will need to know.  For example,
  • The enemy of Rome is __________   (Crhatgae).
  • You will need to write Carthage in the blank and then label the map in the correct location!

G6 Students Who Missed My Class on 14-15/9/09

1. Visit this site and read it carefully:  http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/

CLICK “PLAY” to watch how humans migrated around the world.

2. Watch the following YouTube video:  Human Prehistory 101 Part 1 Out of (Eastern) Africa

3.  Borrow your friend’s corrected quiz and, WITH A PENCIL, correct any mistakes that you have made.  If you got less than 14/20, you will need to write a quiz reflection!

STUDY GUIDE for the first G6 test!

For the test next week, you need to study the following things:

Know the different skulls and craniums on the back of your “Brains vs. Brawn” reflection sheet.

Know ALL the facts about “Lucy” and all the other hominids except for Neanderthals and Homo sapiens (Cro-Magnons).  But make sure you know the meaning of every hominid name or the reason behind each hominid name.  And make sure you know all the facts found on study guide (Chapter 4, Lesson 3) “Hunters and Gatherers.”

Know the order that the hominids appear on the timeline: Lucy, Homo habilis, Homo erectus/Homo ergaster, Homo Heidelbergensis, Neanderthals, Homo sapiens. You do not have to memorize the exact dates because there are not always “exact” dates in the study of prehistory. Just know the order that the hominids come in and the other details about them like toolmaking ability, etc.

Know who/what “Lampang Man” was, that the four cranium fossils were found in 1999, etc.

Be ready to identify some pictures and state why they are important.

Remember to study all the sheets I told you, especially your study guide (Chapter 4, Lesson 3) “Hunters and Gatherers.”  The sheets you need to study on your Contents page are 7, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16.

If you have any questions, come and see me!  Study with your friends!  Get your parents or friends to quiz you!

Good luck!

How to Make ENDNOTES in Word 2007 and Word 2003

For Word 2007, click “References” and then click “Insert Endnote.”  Then you copy and paste the website address into the endnote that appears. Make sure that the endnote is right up against the period or full stop, i.e., make sure that there is not space between the end of the sentence and the endnote.

(To change the endnotes to the standard “1, 2, 3,” click on the little arrow at the bottom of the box where you found “Insert Endnotes.”  Once you click on that little box, a new window will appear and you will choose “1, 2, 3″ in the “Number Format” option.  Then click “Apply.”  All of the endnotes that you typed should change from “i, ii, iii” to standard numbers.)

In Word 2003, visit this site:

http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/technology/tutorials/office/word/09footnotes.html

A WARM WELCOME to the New Parents and Students!

Please feel free to check HOMEWORK and see how you can contact me, etc.

Welcome!