Ashleigh's Blog

Today in class we took our exam. I picked option A: Population and immigrations problems in three countries. I picked Japan, Mexico, and Italy. I wrote a total of five paragraphs during the time given. I wrote my opening, my three body paragraphs, then my closing. My first body paragraph I talked about Japan. I listed its problems, some of the reasons for the problems, some facts about the problems/solutions, and I talked about the leader of Japan's part in helping to solve the problems. I did the same for Mexico and Italy. I listed each of their problems, reasons, solutions, and leaders. Having my note card with me really helped because under the pressure of a times test, I had to write really fast and think. So having the notecard helped me to write my essay faster with our having tithing as much because the facts were written down. Of course, I didn't write my essay on the card, I mostly wrote down facts that I couldn't remember to make my essay more detailed and accura

Today in class we worked on our essays and our note cards for the essay on Friday. I knew I had to be very strategic while putting my information on my index card because I wanted to prepare myself as best as possible. I wrote problems, facts, reasons, solutions, and about the leader for each of the three countries I picked. I managed to fit most of the information for all three counties on one side, but they are in bullet points with very short sentences/phrases. Some of the information had to go to the back too. I also need to write my information for my opening and closing paragraphs. Writing the essay first really helped me remember some of the information better because I wrote it and read over it a few times. I am very relieved that we are able to use an index card for or essay because I was worried, I would forget all my information and facts. I think I am prepared for the essay. 

Today in class we started working on our essay that we are writing in class on Friday as part of our exam grade. Out of the three topics we were given, I chose the first option ( option  A). I choose this topic because  I think I will be able to give the most information on this topic than the other topics. In this topic there are many factors to contribute to my arguments about the three countries I picked to talk about which are  Japan, Venezuela, and Mexico.  I might change my countries if  I  find more  information  on  different   countries   tonight . I am more familiar with the ideas of population, immigration, population pyramids, and problems with society than the stages of the demographic transition. I will probably try to finish my essay tonight and state all the problems for each country and think of ways the problems can be solved. Hopefully I can finish it tonight so I can get it proof read on Thursday. 

Today in class we took our Demographic Transition quiz. I do not think I did very well on the test. I think I study and prepared myself, but I still did know some of the questions. For example, one question I did not know was about what countries were in stage 5 besides Japan. I put the United States and Canada. Another question I didn't know was the question about the population growth rate.  I said that you do not need the starting population to figure out the population growth rate, but I dot know if that is correct because I was assuming that population growth rate also meant rate of natural Increase (RNI). I was glad that the chart was on the front because I looked back at that chart to see what was happening during each stage to help me on some of the questions. I don’t think I filed completely, but I also don’t think I got high score on the test. 

Today in class we prepared for our Demographic Transition quiz on Monday. To prepare for the test we first copied down a demographic transition model in our notebooks to study visually. I found the chart at the bottom of the model very helpful because it helped me to see the position a place would be in each of the stages. Another thing we did to prepare was watching the Khan Academy video again and going into more detail about what the video was talking about. Tis helped me a lot because I picked up more things when we explained the video then who I watched it on my own. I also drew the 5 population pyramids for the 5 stages of the demographic transition in my notebook because I liked how they were show in the video. In addition to our preparation for the quiz I will probably also watch all the videos again, look at the model, and look at my notes. 

Today in class we watched three videos. Khan Academy: 1. Religion influences population growth because many religions promote large families. This increases the number of people who practice that faith.  2. the 5 stages of demographic transition: High birth and death rate  More developed stage (high birth rates + young people)  More industrialized (birth rates decline + people are living longer lives)  More stabilized population (birth and death rates are low and longer life expectancy) Less young people than old  3. Industrialized nations have better access to a good education and a good health care.  Kim Smith: 1. Since the Agricultural Revolution (1750) the world population only grew 67,000 people each year and now we get that many people in 6-7 hours.  2. In some industrialized counties we are experiencing exponential growth which means that there are higher fertility rates than mortality rates and it won't balance out until we reach 9-10 billion peopl

I was absent today.

Today in class we did something a little bit different than what we normally do. Instead of watching a PowerPoint or video, we highlighted information on a packet from a textbook. I kind of liked doing this because I highlighted what I thought was important and I could also write more information that I needed to know. The packet was about demographic transition and the 4 stages of demographic transition. Demographic transition was about the CBR (crude birth rate), CDR (crude death rate), and NIR (natural increase rate). The other part of class we went over our test of the 5 major religions. I got two questions wrong. One question was about the country founded in the 7th century. The other question was about one of the three Abrahamic religions was the oldest. I didn't know those, so I guessed on those, I was not surprised that I got them wrong. Next class I think we are talking more about our packet.