Today we started Chapter 9: Development. I gave out the vocab terms for the chapter so if you missed today's lesson make sure to get one from me. I also gave out our first worksheet for the chapter which can be found on the assignments page of this site. The first thing to understand is what is development. Development is the process of improving through diffusion of technology and knowledge. More develped countries have more technology and knowledge than less developed countries but also diffuse that knowledge and tech to LDCs. While this improves the LDCs it has not narrowed the gap that exists between MDCs and LDCs... in fact if anything the gap has only gotten bigger. Development has various components to it and in order to standardize what developed means the UN has developed the Human Development Index or the HDI for short. It takes into account life expectancy, education, and earnings within a country and gives each country a score from 0.00-1.00. The most developed nations will score over a 0.90 overall. Norway leads the list of most developed according to this Index and the Congo is
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Today we worked on FRQ practice (free response questions) and started test corrections for the last chapter test. Here is a sheet that will help you with completing FRQs. REMEMBER, the FRQs are 50% of your AP test grade. This section we discuss supranational organizations which are international organizations, or unions, whereby member states transcend state boundaries or interests to share in the decision-making and vote on issues pertaining to the wider grouping. In order to join they give up their individual power as an independent state and come together for the common good of the collective whole. Many examples of supranational organizations can be found... The European Union, NATO, OAS, OAU, NAFTA, etc... Today we started talking about why borders cause problems. The first step in knowing why they cause problems is to know the five basic shapes of states: Compact, Prorupted, Fragmented, Elongated, and Perforated. Here is another link to info on them. Another type of country border type is called landlocked borders. If a country has a landlocked border it must rely on others in order to trade on the world market. This article talks a little bit about landlocked borders and why they tend to be lower on the economic scale. Today we worked on Chapter 6 of the "Why Geography Matters" book by Harm de Blij. It is a preview of the next chapter... Political Geography. It extends on the previous chapter where we discussed how borders are created based on Ethnicity. This chapter focuses on the other types of borders and how the countries of the world got their shapes and the laws governing those borders. The key issues we will discuss are: Where are states located? Why do boundaries between states cause problems? Why do states cooperate with each other? Why has terrorism increased? For a fascinating look at how the US states got their shapes check out the History Channel series "How the States Got Their Shape" based on a book of the same name. On the site check out the video clip of h Ethnic cleansing is the process or policy of eliminating unwanted ethnic or religious groups by deportation, forcible displacement, mass murder, or by threats of such acts, with the intent of creating a territory inhabited by people of a homogeneous or pure ethnicity, religion, culture, and history. Ethnic cleansing usually involves attempts to remove physical and cultural evidence of the targeted group in the territory through the destruction of homes, social centers, farms, and infrastructure, and by the desecration of monuments, cemeteries, and places of worship. See the videos below on Ethnic Cleansing. Check out this website for a summary of various Ethnic conflicts in Africa. Place an importance on the Horn of Africa. Check this website for info on the split of India and this website for info on the Kurds. Today we started the student led section discussion with the discussion of section 1 from chapter 7 (Ethnicity). We discussed: 1) What is Ethnicity? 2) What are the main ethnicities in the US and where are they located (refer to picture on left)? 3) What is the difference between African American and Black? 4) What are the three types of African American migration? -Forced Migration -Great Migration -Expansion of Ghetto |