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Final blog, how will we conserve our wildlife

Posted by Sean Force in English 1 - Dunn on
I do have to say regretfully that especially since this is my last blog post that I will not be able to tell you exactly why we don't build our building upward instead of out ward.  As I said in a previous post I would think that this is because it might cost more and be harder to do.

I was fortunately able to find a few more ways that we can help to conserve our wildlife before it all disappears.  They are on this site.  

I also have to say that I was not able to find find anything in my research that says why we don't teach more people about wildlife conservation.  I think that one reason at least for us not to be teaching people about wildlife conservation is that then we would have to many people running around interfering with large companies and keeping them from destroying wildlife while they get bigger and bigger and bigger. 

 One thing that I learned that surprises me in that I would think that more people would be out and doing things in more places because of the top 10 wildlife organizations out there almost all of them put more than 70% of all their funds towards conserving wildlife in different places.  This was from this site. 

Wildlife Conservation

Posted by Sean Force in English 1 - Dunn on
For this project our class is going to be blogging about our individual world issues.  

Mine is wildlife conservation, I picked this because I think that it is important that we protect the wildlife around us and learn about it.  

One thing that i have discovered from this site is that according to the World Wildlife Fund there is somewhere from 25 to 50 acres that get burned or cut down every minute.  I have also learned from the same site that overpopulation may be one reason that the wildlife area is being destroyed. This site supports that.  

I wonder why we don't instead of building outward and killing all the wildlife, why we don't build up, we know we can do it, so why don't we?  

I will try to find out this answer and to find out what we can do to help.

Do Women Have Any Rights?- Blog 1

Posted by Taylor Ximines in English 1 - Dunn on
Women have been fighting for their rights for hundreds of years now. No matter what race, education status, religious views, etc. Whether it was the right to vote or have a decent job' but have we taken it to far now? Now the government is talking about shutting down Planned Parenthood. A health center/clinic for women. They help women stay sexually healthy and aware, whether it be by taking a pregnancy test, std test, or even options on how to care for your growing baby. The government is in debt and is thinking about shutting this program down. A program that gives out help and information; and even saves lives. I've discovered that it is the Republicans who want this to happen. That they believe it's services are not that important. I wonder how a bunch of men can decide what's best for millions of women? Next I will see the facts about Planned Parenthood, see exactly how much work they actually do for communities around America. It just makes no since that a program like this should be completely shut down.




Bibliography:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/government-shutdown-planned-parenthood_n_846463.html

Burger King Triple Cheeseburgers Now a Dollar!

Posted by Anthony Buchanico in English 1 - Dunn on

Obesity is one of the most common things seen in the world. More than most, in America. It leaves you trapped within a seemingly endless cycle of gluttony and immobilization and can increase your risk of several cardiovascular diseases. It’s said many fat people have a big heart. (Meaning always friendly of course) Well sadly they more than likely do. Obesity can cause an enlarged heart due to muscle tissue expansion due to overworking caused by thickening blood. Nobody wants to be obese and there should be a lot more done to stop this from taking over people across the planet.

 

            Obesity is thought of as nothing more than just greedy people being gluts to the point where they can’t fit through their doorway. Well that is very far from the truth. A number of things can cause people to gain weight. Let’s focus on one thing that’s obvious to all people: Fast food.

 

            Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 50 or so years you have seen a fast food place such as McDonald’s or Burger King. These places offer great tasting food at a cheap price. All the while dominating commercials with promises of near perfect cuisine. These can attract almost anybody to scarf down as many burgers as they can. They can do all of this for cheaper prices than a head of lettuce. Which leads me into my next point: Food prices




Sources: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/obe/obe_causes.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2010/08/junk_foods_cheaper_than_health.html

It's fine because its Israel?

Posted by Goldie Robins in English 1 - Dunn on
Goldie Robins

BLOG 1:

I am doing a project in English. It is called, You and the world. The purpose of the project is to pick one current event in the world learn about it (research) , create a passion for it, and then BLOG about it. 

 I decided to pick what is currently going on in Israel. Now there are a lot of things happening in Israel, but what’s on the news is everything with Hamas.  I am interested in Israel for many reasons. I believe Israel is my “homeland”.  I also have kept up with everything that is happening, for example when in 2006 they captured Gilad Shalit, just an innocent solider. I am very interested in him, because of all the background information and have “proof” of him still being alive. Another reason why I picked this topic was that everything that is happening to Israel is important.

I my self know a lot of people who make aliyah. Making ‘aliyah’ is when a Jewish person immigrates to the Land of Israel. Not just for vacation but deciding to live there as a citizen. When making ‘aliyah’ at a certain age you have to join the Israeli army, along with the citizens that already live there. If you are a U.S. citizen you can just choose to be in the Israeli army with out it being necessary. I know someone who made aliyah to Israel and choose to be in the Israeli army, and died August 1, 2006. He died because was fighting for his homeland, against terrorist like Hamas.

I have discovered a lot not only from researching this past week, but also through out the years. I have been following what has been going on with Gilad Shalit since 2006. This is why I want to focus more on him through out this project because he is something special to me.

Even though there are videos of Gilad Shalit saying he is alive, and he says the date no one knows for sure.  Hamas wants all of their captured soldiers from Israel and they will give back Gilad Shalit. Although they would like Gilad Shalit back they can’t risk  one solider, who may not be alive for  all of the female and underage Palestinian prisoners along with 1,000 other prisoners. I want to know if Gilad is still alive. I am hoping he is.

I want to focus more on my sub- topic, Gilad Shalit. Yes I will still follow more on everything with the Gaza Strip, Hamas, and the Palestinians but I will do more background research on Gilad. In the next blogs to come, I will see if I can attach any of the videos that I was talking about above.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilad_Shalit

http://giladshalit.blogspot.com/           

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Gilad_Shalit.html

Corn, corn, corn, everywhere, literally

Posted by DeShawn McLeod in English 1 - Dunn on
​ This project is based on current events happening everyday, that, most people don't know about. Especially teens. My topic is corn production and usage. This situation is intriguing, yet eye opening because we Americans eat it all the time. 

There's almost no way to avoid it. Corn is the number one produced crop in America due to it's demand in many products. The average American doesn't realize how much corn they eat in a day. So much corn is produced in the U.S., there's a name for it's locations. The "Corn Belt." This "belt" includes the states Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, and Kentucky. Although the states, together, don't look like a "belt", it's one third of the country that produces a major crop. If scientists were to do DNA tests on the amount of corn an average American eats, verses a Mexican, they'd think that Americans eat nothing but corn. A major reason it's widely used it's because it's cheap. It's a companies "alternative" to the "real stuff."

An example would be the sweetness in Pepsi. Back in the 70's, they used real sugar to sweeten the tasty drink. Now, the second most used ingredient is "high fructose corn syrup." I wonder how many people know this. Corn, the vegetable that one has hated as a child, is in the drinks they consume everyday. 

What's next? All the products that contain this small yellow kern.

Resources:
Screen shot 2011-05-02 at 2.50.18 PM
Screen shot 2011-05-02 at 2.50.18 PM

Why them, What did they do?

Posted by Shannon Powers in English 1 - Dunn on
  
 Our teacher Miss.Dunn gave us a project so we could get more in site in to the world that we live in. This is that project and it is called " You and The World". P retie catchy huh? 

 My issue  has always been two things Human Euthanasia  and Animal Cruelty. This time I went with Animal Cruelty. I choose this topic because I've always had one question for it : Why?

As for info...sorry I haven't got any yet. My charger broke so this is the first I could use my computer for three days. I'll post some shortly , but for now I can tell you the pictures I have found are horrifying.

I'll get around to my grammar later.


Ok So after some carful research I have found that there are three leading causes for people to abuse animals.
1) Because they don't know how to care for the pet the right way or forget to care for it.

2) Because they are young kids trying to impress a friend/group and give in to peer pressure,in these cases they most likely won't do so again.

3) These people are Physiological messed up and think that hurting an animal is fun or helps them be more in control. In this case there is no help.

Teen Suicide and depression: You and the World

Posted by Nicholas Murray in English 1 - Dunn on

The point of this project is to connect to the things around us. Each of us has chosen a subject in the world to study and understand. I have chosen the subject of teen suicide and depression. This is an interesting topic to because I have always wanted to know if both of them have a relationship.

 

So far I haven’t found that much yet. I learned that 30% of the teens that commit suicide are because of depression. That is more than any of the other reasons of teen suicide. I also learned that 1 in 8 teens suffer from depression with women twice as likely. I wonder what is the number one cause of depression in teens, which could also be said to be the leading cause of suicide. My next step is to go on and figure out the number one cause of depression. (http://www.teen-depression.info/overview/teen-suicide-rate/)



Babies having babies?

Posted by Tyler Creighton in English 1 - Dunn on
Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school or other plans. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of shame and fear, and it may appear that you will crumble under pressures in your environment.About 85% of these pregnancies are unplanned, which in any population can increase the risk for problems.About 4 out of 10 girls in the United States will get pregnant by age 20 - about 1-million of them each year.

My issue with this is that its basically like babies having babies! I wonder if there is a way that people can help stop teen pregnancy.  I wonder why these things happen , and why do they allow this. Sometimes  people say they did not use protection because they weren't planning to have sex. And it can also be from peer-pressure. From this research and knowing this , I think i will proceed to find out why this is happening and find out if it is the environment and what types of environment that causes this . Knowing some of the things that I discovered while researching pushes me to research more and find lots of information.


The stress of how you are going to break this news to your parents might be even greater, and finding help may seem an impossible task.Some times people think that someone will judge them and they feel that they are  in a dark place and there embarrassed and scared to search for help. However denying it or ignoring it can only make things worse for you and your child. A lot of people help with these problems .The biggest risk for teen mothers is delaying prenatal care or worse, 7.2% received no care at all.

The reason for lack of prenatal care is usually delayed pregnancy testing, denial or even fear of telling others about the pregnancy. Most states have a health department or university clinic where prenatal care is free or low cost and patient confidentiality is very important, meaning no one can tell the teen mother's family.Another problem facing teen mothers is the use of drugs and alcohol, including cigarette smoking. No amount of any of these substances is safe for use in pregnancy. In fact, their use can complicate pregnancy even further increasing the likelihood of premature birth and other complications.With the proper nutrition, early prenatal care and good screening for potential problems the majority of these potential problems will not come to light. While some tend to think that you can't teach a teen mother anything about her body or baby, it's really a ridiculous notion. Many of the teen mothers who take active roles in their care do go on to have healthy babies, despite the other hardships that they will face in their lives. Support from the families and communities is a must for the young, new family to be successful.


Bibliography -
http://www.ripnroll.com/teenpregnancy.htm
http://www.teenpregnancy.com/

Democracy, who has it? Why is it important?

Posted by Victoria Yarbrough in English 1 - Dunn on
Democracy, why is it wanted? Why is it important?
  
 You and the world is a project based on the issues of the world and how they relate to a student. In english class we were asked to focus on an issue that people around the world care about. For this project, I chose democracy, it is something that people have been fighting for for hundreds of years and it has made the headlines several times in the past 5 months.

    I'm interested in Democracy around the world because I dream of a Free world. Of course there isn't really a true form of "freedom" but when I hear of certain countries and how they have limitations that people in America may not have, it makes me angry.

    In my research, I have discovered that since 1999 democratic progress around the world has been made. Especially in places like Latin America. I also learned that some countries don't really mind living in dictatorship, they don't know any other way and are afraid of standing up for a change.

    I wonder if people of certain countries were shown a different way of government, would they stand up and try to make a change. Are people not tired of being told what to do?

    My plan is to single out a few countries and research the type of government they have right now. Then I will list the pros and cons.

Bibliography-
http://www.wmd.org/about/current-challenges/current-challenges-democracy
http://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/symposia_democracy.html

Some Boys Kiss Boys, Some Girls Kiss Girls.

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on
​
You and the World, for me, is about Teen Suicide related to gay rights and gay bullying. I've always heard stories about my friends being gay bashed, to the point where they want to commit suicide. I would hear it on tv, and I strongly believe that there is nothing worst than losing your child because kids are bullying them for their sexual orientation.

Teen suicide is the third leading cause of deaths for teenagers. It is more common for males to commit suicide because of getting bullied because they are gay, than it is for a female. As of now, anti-gay bullying programs are not working at all. Gay-right supporters want anti-gay bullying programs to be about harassment to the gay youth, while religious conservatives think it is an chance to change teen's views of homosexuality. Regarding to the fact that religions are saying that homosexuality is a sin. 

I wonder...what every made it okay to bully anyone. Someone is gay? So, they are still the same person you knew before they were gay. When was it ever right to brutally harass someone until the point, where they think nothing is going to get better?

I want to research about different cases of teen suicide because of gay bashing. I want to find organizations that are gay-right supporters and see what they are doing about this, to change it. 


Bibliography: 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20019163-10391704.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39593311/ns/us_news-life/

LGBT Issues-- Talking about yourself: Do you share your feelings or "Flaws"?

Posted by Dejah Harley in English 1 - Dunn on
     I am doing a project for English Class called "You and the World". In the world, people are treated differently for living. These people choose to live their lives freely. The U.S constitution says that every person should have the same rights. This would give each person the freedom to express themselves. If a single person can express themselves, without anyone saying anything, what gives that person the right to discriminate against another. The question being, do we really treat others the way we want to be treated.
    The issue that I choose to discuss is Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered and Questioning, LGBTQ, issues in America. This topic interests me because I find it hard to understand how a person can point out the flaws in another but don't want their flaws to be shown. These people are so against LGBTQ people that they want to stop them from living the own lives. They want to stop them from being free and happy. They want to stop them from getting married and bully them constantly just because they are different.
    I have done research among my peers, friends, and family that prove that most people do not like having their insecurities or secrets shown. Many teenagers in society are so afraid of their flaws that they keep them hidden with all of the power. However, when their flaws are actually shown, they get bullied and take hurt themselves to express their inner shame.
    Every person has flaws. I think that is what makes us all unique. If we weren't different, how would we know the good from the bad? The people who I have spoken with that are a part of the LGBTQ community feel that their flaws is just being themselves. However, when they have the courage to show their "Flaw" to everyone, they get made fun of. They are being brave. This teasing can become too much and they take it out on themselves.
    My next goal in my research study is to find out why people lie. Is it something that comes naturally or is it to purposefully hide their "flaws"? 


Bibliography:
1. I got some research on suicide rates from this website.

Cuts in the Budget

Posted by Teige Dougherty on
​ The school district of Philadelphia has set forth severally strict budget cuts. In total they are cutting 1.1 billion dollars. This effects me very strongly because both of my new advisors are being laid off because of the budget cuts. Another way that this affects me, is that all sports are being cut off at this school, and I was hoping to play soccer next year. Now I won't be able to do this.
There is money for the districts but instead of putting the money toward us they put it toward building more jails. This is because it costs the school district close to $4000 per child, and it costs only $3500 to keep a prisoner incarcerated.
Their reasoning for cutting the money is simple. They say that we have been over funded for the past couple of years and we are just being returned to our normal funding. 
I wonder if all school districts are going through the same thing or if it has been mismanaged. I will research other states budget cuts and see if they cut education as much as they did in Philadelphia

Cites: http://www.philly.com/philly/insights/in_education/121070948.html

http://articles.philly.com/2011-03-30/news/29362102_1_budget-cuts-students-rally-budget-proposal

http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-26/news/29474843_1_voucher-supporters-voucher-legislation-voucher-issue

Me and the World- The Energy Crisis

Posted by Jonathan Spencer in English 1 - Dunn on
The worlds is in the middle of an energy problem. We don't have enough of it! The world consumes to much energy to fast. The chart below shows current energy usage (dark blue) from 1990-Now and what it is expected to be (orange) up until 2035. 
figure_12-lg
figure_12-lg
In 1990 the world used 355 Quadrillion Btus. By 2035 it is expected that the world will be using 739 Quadrillion Btus. The world energy usage level has increased by an average of 1.4% each year since 1990. By the way, 1 Btu is equal to 0.29307107 watt-hours. Even though that may seem small a quadrillion is 16 zeros.
The problem is that the renewable energy sources out there is that they are costly to set up and people don't like change. Many people also don't have faith in how useful these energy sources are. That is why I am posting these blogs. I want to let people know how serious the energy crisis is and the ways that we can fix this.
People are to afraid of change to what can help save the world and also make electricity cheaper just because it would cause job losses. Renewable energy doesn't have a lot of jobs that it needs besides maintenance.
Sources
World Energy Consumption

EIA - 2010 International Energy Outlook - World Energy Demand and Economic Outlook

Is Your Future Worth Enough

Posted by Robert Jenkins in English 1 - Dunn on

Education is one of the most valuable things in a person life and it is only better if it is allowed to be taught to best potential. But lately this has been hindered in the Philadelphia area. This is all the cause of School Budget Cuts. This is an important topic in the Philadelphia community because it greatly affects what type of education that thousands of kids will get. As of now I know that some of possible budget cuts for next year are....

  • 22 million out of kindergarten funding. Which causes half days only for kindergarteners.
  • No extended days programs, which was used to help 11,000 students a year.
  • 430 central office jobs lost.
  • Gifted and Talented Education cut 50%.

This list goes on much longer but what I wonder is how this will affect extra curricular activities such as basketball, football, and others. Which do many as a gateway to college scholarships use. Next blog I will bring more information on how this budget breakdown affects sports.






Screen shot 2011-05-26 at 9.58.01 AM
Screen shot 2011-05-26 at 9.58.01 AM

Bad jokez

Posted by Harrison Talese-Rhodes in Storytelling - Chase on
I live for bad jokes. Seriously. What do you call an alligator in a vest?

An investigator.

Come on, now; admit it. That's comedy gold.

I love telling jokes that I know other people won't find funny, because it leaves me with the unique challenge of making them laugh with my own reaction. I've pretty much mastered as many funny laughs as I'm ever going to use. And I've a relatively good track record when it comes to over-explaining the joke and getting laughs that way. It's easy to be clever when you start at a jaw-droppingly unfunny baseline.

A Day in the Life...

Posted by Devon Thomas in Globalization - Laufenberg on
For this assignment, I did a day in the life of a 12 year old Kuwaiti boy. Life in Kuwait is similar to the United States in regards to Education, because you must go to school until you are 14 years of age. Religious views of Kuwaiti Natives are different, therefore in the evenings men have social gatherings, and women take care of the children's homework and dinner.

A Day in the Life - Japan

Posted by Taniera Reid in Globalization - Laufenberg on
Reflection: The life of Japan, surprisingly, is similar to my own. Aside from the fact that Japanese children don't have to face as much peer pressure as I do, A teenager in Japan and myself are very similar. When I was 12, I did basically what a child in Japan did. The thing that was most surprising was the fact that I could actually have more things than I though in common with a person my age from Japan. A 40 year olds life in Japan should be extremely successful. Considering the fact that education is so heavily weighed upon, there should be no reason a 12 year old, 28 years later is not successful in whatever he/she does with his/her life. 

Citation:

N/a, . "A Day at School." Web-Japan. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2011. <http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/schools/q9.html>.

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Screen shot 2011-05-02 at 12.26.49 PM

Tarea de Nathan

Posted by Nathan Kamal in Spanish 4 - Manuel on
el-llano
​1)​Me gustaría ir a los llanos. Todo los pastos y los montanas en el paisaje son muy tranquillos. Me gusta la humedad, y probablamente es mas limpio que los estados undios. Quiero ir a un lugar donde la vida es meños ocupado, y mas sencillo. Iría en los caminos de montañas, y dormiría mucho.

firm believer.

Posted by Catherine Young in Storytelling - Chase on
Is it me or this is like a twilight? This is.. weird.. strange.. Why are we celebrating the brutal killing of a man? The world is getting more and more demonic to me everyday. People don't realize that this is not good. This is the beginning of something terrible. Frankly, I just want to see me 21 birthday. There's a war in the city and there's a war in the Middle East. I'm scared. I don't understand and I just want to live a normal life not in fear.

A Day in the Life

Posted by Catherine Young in Globalization - Laufenberg on
Life in Malawi for a 12yo boy or girl is simple. They are to wake up at dawn, help with warming water, meal and any other things needed around the home. If the do go to school they are to walk to their school house which is usually more then 1 mile away. School hours are normally from 8 to 3. when they come home they are to repeat the same steps from the morning. They also are to do their homework, pump water from the well or go into town for grocery shopping, bringing back in all the livestock and creating a fire for warmth.


Screen shot 2011-05-02 at 10.26.09 AM
Screen shot 2011-05-02 at 10.26.09 AM

Osama is dead.

Posted by Evett Hawks in Storytelling - Chase on
​Twitter blew up cause of that  and to be honest i was as excited as everyone else. Call me what you want but the only thing i can give is a slow clap and unenthusiastic yay.Sorry is'nt really something i can be solely excited about i know what he did and everyone was upset i get it, but still it can't really pull a reaction out of me. all i can say is "good job america here's a sticker keep it up".