Semester Test Blog!

[3chelsea]

Semester Test Blog - Spring 2010

1. “Students will understand the main political and economic systems of the world” -
*Representative Democracy is a form of democracy where people elect representatives to make decisions for them. Examples of countries with a representative democracy are the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and the Philippines. Gordon Brown is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany. Kevin Rudd is the Prime Minister of Australia. Barack Obama is the President of the United States. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the President of the Philippines.

*Direct Democracy is a form of democracy where people make decisions as a whole instead of voting for somebody to make decisions for them. Examples of countries with a direct democracy are Switzerland, Colonial America, and Ancient Athens. Doris Leuthard is the leader of Switzerland. Alexander the Great was the leader of Ancient Athens.

*Communism is getting rid of all private property and everyone being treated equally. Karl Marx came up with the Theory of Communism. He believed everyone would share everything. His theory has never been practiced before. The Practice of Communism is more like a dictatorship. Leaders tell the common people what to do/boss them around. Examples of countries that practice communism are China, the Soviet Union (main people who practiced), Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea.

*Monarchy is a form of government in which one person, or ruler, has all power.

*Constitutional Monarchy is a form of monarchy that is limited by its laws. The parliament holds the power and the monarch is a figure head. The United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand, Japan and Belgium are all examples of countries with constitutional monarchy.

*Absolute Monarchy is a form of monarchy that isn’t limited by its laws. The monarch has all the power. Brunei, Russia (until 1905), Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal (until 2008) are all examples of countries with absolute monarchy.

* Dictatorship is a form of government that has one leader. The leader controls everything and has complete power. An example of dictatorship would be Germany while Hitler had power.

*Anarchy is where a country has no form of government or leader running the country. Third world/developing countries tend to have anarchy most times.

*Capitalism is where people can own and control their own businesses. The United States is an example of a country with capitalism.

*Socialism is where the government controls and runs all businesses. It is designed so people are treated more equally.



2. Students will understand the differences between the major political parties in the United States.
*Republican Views:
-Abortion: Republicans are against abortion. They think that the baby is living. They believe the unborn child has a right to life.
-Flag Burning: Republicans are against flag burning. They think it is designed to hurt, not persuade. They support a constitutional amendment banning it.
-Gun Control: Republicans are against gun control. They think people should be able to carry their own guns for self-defense. They support the second amendment, the right to bear arms.
-Environmental Laws: Republicans believe that environmental stewardship is best advanced where property is privately held. They support President Bush’s Clear Skies proposal to reduce power plant emissions.
-Affirmative Action Laws: Republicans believe that we should do-away with affirmative action laws because no matter what we do people will never be treated equally. They believe businesses know enough now to not discriminate because of color.
-Immigration: Republicans are against illegal immigration. They believe we should protect our borders more effectively and take stronger measures to make sure nobody illegally enters the country.
-Minimum Wage: Republicans believe that there should be no minimum wage. They think that the amount of money you are being paid should depends on the type of job you’re doing, and that those wages should be fair and not the same.
-Health Care: Republicans are not in favor of an all-out health care reform. They think we should fix what we have, not start something new. They support a reformed Medicare program. They do not support government run universal health care or assisted suicide.
-Taxes: Republicans are in favor of lowering taxes. They support taking the 5 current brackets and changing them to 4 lower ones, doubling the child tax credit, etc. They also believe everyone should pay the same amount of taxes.
-Military Spending: Republicans support military spending. They consider an increase of military spending needed to up our defense.
-Death Penalty: Republicans support the death penalty. They believe it is fair punishment for some crimes that are committed. They also think it helps prevent prison overcrowding.
-Gay Marriage: Republicans are against gay marriage. They believe marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that every child should have a mother and a father figure, of that gender.
-Prayer in School: Republicans support individual student prayer in school without government involvement. They think the student should be able to pray whenever they want to without being told not to.
-Iraq: Republicans support the war in Iraq and believe the United States did not make a mistake by sending troops there. They don’t support a timeline to pull out and believe we need to stay until work is finished. They also believe the country will be better off after the war than it was before the war.
-Afghanistan: Republicans feel the threat of Afghanistan is gone and we can leave now. They believe the country has a good president and it doing well.
-United Nations: Republicans are against the United Nations. They accuse the UN of being “scandal-ridden and corrupt”. They believe the UN should not prevent our joining with other democracies to protect our national interests.

*Democrat Views:
-Abortion: Democrats believe that abortion should be legal. It is the mother’s choice if she would like to have an abortion or not.
-Flag Burning: Democrats believe that flag burning is part of freedom of speech. It should be allowed because you are voicing your opinion.
-Gun Control: Democrats support stronger gun control. They think that it should be harder for people to get a gun. Also, it would be safer if people didn’t have guns.
-Environmental Laws: Democrats support laws to protect our environment. They consider environmental protection a big issue. They think we need to protect our world as best we can.
-Affirmative Action Laws: Democrats are in favor of affirmative action laws. They believe that it helps people from being discriminated against and helps treat people fairly.
-Minimum Wage: Democrats support a minimum wage. They believe it helps the economy because people will have more money to spend on things. They support a raise in minimum wage.
-Health Care: Democrats support a health care reform. They believe universal health care is the way to go so that nobody is left out of the care they need. Government should supply healthcare for everyone.
-Taxes: Democrats support taxes. They believe increases are needed so we can have more public resources like libraries. They also believe that the rich should pay more taxes than the lower class.
-Military Spending: Democrats believe that we shouldn’t spend so much on military. They believe the money could be put to use for better things. They also believe we should give veterans more benefits.
-Death Penalty: Democrats do not support the death penalty. They believe that sitting in jail is a much worse punishment than being put to death.
-Gay Marriage: Democrats support gay marriage. They believe that if someone loves another, no matter the gender, they should be able to without being discriminated against. They should also be able to marry because they are like anyone else.
-Prayer in School: Democrats are against prayer in school. They believe that church and state should be separated and a child should pray somewhere besides the classroom.
-Iraq: Democrats believe that we should not be fighting in Iraq. They think the focus should be on Afghanistan because that’s where everything originated from.
-Afghanistan: Democrats believe we should focus our time on Afghanistan. They think we need to get everything done there and not worry about Iraq.
-United Nations: Democrats are in favor of working with the United Nations. They think it is a good thing to be a part of because you are working with other countries around the world and helping each other out.



3. Students will understand the causes and effects of global warming.
*Causes of Global Warming: Overpopulation is where it all starts because the more people, the more things we used and throw away. Lots of vehicles on the road result to air pollution which eats at the ozone layer. Volcanoes that erupt let emissions into our air and warm it up. People who cut down trees and don’t replant them take away some good use to prevent global warming.

*Effects of Global Warming: The temperature of the Earth is rising. Seasons are more drastic (weather wise) than previous years. The water level of the oceans is starting to rise and soon may have nowhere to go. Animals like polar bears are becoming extinct because their natural habitat is going away.



4. Students will understand the causes and effects of overpopulation.
*Causes of Overpopulation: Women in third-world countries often have lots of children. Some of that is because of a lack of sexual education or protection. That results in an increased number of births.

*Effects of Overpopulation: A lack of resources people need is an effect because with more people not everyone can get their necessities. The more people, the more cars, and that result in more pollution. Animals have become extinct because people are taking over their habitat for their own uses. There is a higher birth rate, poverty rate, and a lower life expectancy because of overpopulation. Poor diet, dry farmland, unhygienic conditions, high crime rate and high unemployment rates are also effects.



5. Students will understand the impact of globalization.
The world has 6.7 billion people. The world is getting ‘flatter’ with the help of things like the internet, so you could be in Iowa and instantly know what happens in Moscow because of someone you’re chatting with over there. As technology advances, the world keeps getting ‘smaller and smaller’. It’s almost like you live next door to someone a million miles away. People can work for a company in India, or sell something to a customer in Germany, or even teach a class to students in China. From 1492 until the 1800s globalization was caused by countries as a whole globalizing. From the early 1800s until 2000 globalization was caused by businesses globalizing. From 2000 to present globalization is caused by each individual globalizing.



7. Students will be able to explain their understanding of recent
current events (Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Darfur, Rwanda, and Somalia).
*Iraq: Saddam Hussein was elected president of Iraq is 1990. In the 1990s Iraq went to war with Kuwait over oil. We went to Iraq to fight the Persian Gulf War. The main reason was to get the people of Iraq to leave the people of Kuwait alone. In 2003 we went to war with Iraq because we believed Saddam was making WMDs. The country has broken out into a huge civil war. We have been there since.

*Afghanistan: In 1996 the Taliban, a terrorist group, came to power. Although they are no longer in power of the country, they are making a comeback. On September 11, 2001, members from the terrorist group al Queida crashed airplanes into the twin towers in New York City, along with two other buildings. President Bush decided to go to war with Afghanistan, and we are still there fighting. The attack on them was titled Operation Enduring Freedom.

*Iran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the president of Iran. He claims that Iran is working towards having nuclear energy, but many believe he’s using that energy to make weapons. He believes that the holocaust never happened, the United States planned 9-11, and that Israel should be knocked off the face of the earth. Ayatolla Ali Khamenei is the supreme leader of Iran. Many people claim that Ahmadinejad is just a puppet to Khamenei.

*Darfur: Darfur is located in Sudan, which is in Africa. It is about the size of Texas and is home to 6 million people. The Darfur genocide has been going on since 2003. Since then, about 500,000 people have died. Many people, 2.5 million, have fled to the neighboring country of Chad. The conflict has broken out because they are racist towards the black Africans. The Janjaweed is the main rebel group in this whole thing. The named Janjaweed means ‘devils on horseback’. They ransack villages, rape women, and line up men to shoot at. They’re trying to get the good farmland to themselves by killing the blacks. Sudan’s president, Omar Hasan al-Bashir, is accused of supporting the Janjaweed. Many people live in camps without food or shelter and that is a major cause of deaths.

*Rwanda: The Rwanda genocide took place in 1994. The country used to belong to Belgium. There were three major groups in Rwanda, the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The Belgium’s favored the Tutsi because they were more ‘white’. When the Belgium’s left the country the Hutus started to get revenge at the Tutsis by killing them. This lead to the genocide. In the 100 days leading up to the genocide, 800,000 people were killed. The weapon of choice for these killings was a machete. The Tutsis finally won after forcing the Hutus to Congo. A cease fire ended the fighting.

*Somalia: Somalia is the number one failed state in the world. The downfall of Somalia started in the 1990s. The tragity of Somalia is continuing still today. There are many acts of piracy and terrorism happening in the country. There is also a lack in leadership of Somalia. Somalia is anarchy. The pirates are a major threat to international trade. They’re also targeting big oil tankers. The three major terrorist groups in the country are the Al-Quada cell group, Jihadis, and Al-Shabaab. Al-Quada is said to be responsible for the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kenya. Jihadis are responsible for many massacres and are led by Aden Hashi Ayro who trains them in Afghanistan. Al-Shabaab is in control over most of southern and central Somalia. They describe themselves as enemies of Islam.