Thursday June 6: SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH

Friday May 31: TIME'S UP!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been a pleasure doing business with you. Be sure that any and all assignments which you want credited towards your grade are in my email inbox by no later than 3:30 pm this afternoon. 

As I have been telling you for over a week now, I will NOT be accepting any work of any kind for any reason after 3:30 pm today

cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday May 30: Last call, ladies and gentlemen!

Today, you all have a very simple task; to wit:

THIS IS THE LAST CLASS DAY WHERE YOU WILL BE WORKING ON ASSIGNMENTS THAT YOU NEED TO FINISH UP AND HAND IN TO ME. THE ACTUAL DEADLINE IS 3:30 PM TOMORROW AFTERNOON, FRIDAY MAY 31.

GET 'EM DONE, GET 'EM TO ME BY EMAIL!!!!

cheers,
Mr. L

Tuesday May 28: ALL ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOW DUE

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO HAND IN ANY AND ALL ASSIGNMENTS WHICH YOU STILL OWE. IF YOU ARE UNSURE, PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL TO ASK, OR ASK ME DIRECTLY DURING CLASS. 

THAT WILL BE ALL.

CHEERS,
MR. L

Thursday May 23: What are the alternatives?

This next assignment is an addendum (love that word; I've been meaning to use it for ages) to the previous one. This time around, I want you to re-list each item, then next to it, list an alternative. Some way of achieving the goal without having to go to a city to do so.

After each "alternative" item, one complete sentence about how just HOW you can substitute the alternative for the original. How would it work? How would your goal be accomplished?

When finished, send it to me in an email with your name and "What are the alternatives?" in the subject line

cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday May 23: What Are Cities Good For?

A NOTE OF COMMUNITY INTEREST:

ALL ASSIGNMENTS WHICH YOU STILL OWE FOR THIS CLASS MUST BE HANDED IN TO ME BY EMAIL BY NEXT FRIDAY MAY 31 BEFORE THE END OF THE SCHOOL-DAY AT 3:30 PM. GRADES ABSOLUTELY MUST GO IN SO THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES CAN RECEIVE YOUR REPORT CARDS  -- MR. L


Greetings, stardust descended life forms!

Today's first foray into school-based thinking will be simple and to the point:

A) List the things that cities are good for. Cities exist, so there's got to be some reason for this. Actually, there must be lots and lots of reasons

So make a list. I like prime numbers, so let's set the list at 13.

The items on the list can be things that you like about cities, stuff you've done there...but not necessarily.

B) Following each list item, give a two complete sentence explanation as to why the item is on this particular list. The first sentence describes the item and how it functions; the second sentence describes why (some) people might find this desirable.

Send this item-description o me in the body of an email, with your name and "what are cities good for?" in the subject line.

cheers,
Mr. L 

Tuesday May 21: finish up from yesterday

No need to gossip, nothing to write home about: just finish it and send it my way by email

cheers,
Mr. L

Monday May 20: Cities and Urban Land Use part one

 A NOTE OF COMMUNITY INTEREST: TOMORROW, MAY 21, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BORROW ANY OF THE MAC LAPTOPS. THEY ARE GOING TO BE USED FOR EOC TESTING. A THOUSAND PARDONS FOR THE INCONVENIENCE. -- MR. L


The following slides tend to equivocate some in the actual definition of a city -- in fact, one of the very first slides states that the definition "depends on time and culture"

That much being said, cities and urban centers are  - by their very nature -- far more crowded places to live than anywhere else. so with that in mind, let's examine the following questions

1) It would seem -- at least anecdotally -- that large urban centers have far more rules governing behavior than do suburban or rural areas. For example, NYC mayor Bloomberg recently attempted to cap the size of soft drinks sold inside city limits to no more than 16 ounces; an idea that would probably NEVER be floated in say, Goose Creek or Walterboro. Question: are there more rules in big cities because there need to be, or because it is easier to impose them in such urban environments? Three complete sentences each both pro and con

2) Since urban centers are more crowded, does this tend to magnify the effects of positive behavior vs mal-adaptive behavior? For example, if a homeless man wants to use a public library to sleep in --and even bathe  in -- is he more likely to be allowed to do this in a large urban center, or a small village far from the centers of population? Two reasons pro and con on this hypothesis, one complete sentence per reason

3) Large scale protest movements -- for example, Occupy Wall Street -- are much more likely to occur in large urban centers. Please list three possible reasons why this is so. Two complete sentences for each reason

4) RE number 3 above : With all large scale gatherings, the possibility of negative behaviors -- looting, vandalism, assaults, confrontations with armed authorities -- seems to increase. Please offer at least one good hypothesis why this may be, not less than three complete sentences

5) The slides below indicate that two of the attractions for living in large urban zones are cultural and economic diversity. Please explain what is meant by both of those "diversities" (two complete sentences), and postulate at least two reasons why these would be so compelling to people to make them want to live there (an additional two complete sentences.)

6) In this article:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/04/30/sir-richard-branson-plans-orbital-spaceships/
the owner of Virgin Galactic believes that space flight will soon become much more commonplace. Suppose that this is so, and that in the future, people will be able to "hop a rocket" to get to work, and they can cover hundreds of miles in 20 minutes. In light of your answers to #5 above, would this make cities more or less likely to grow even bigger? Two reasons pro, two reasons con, one complete sentence per reason 

7) In the following article
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcellefischler/2013/03/17/8-amazingly-tiny-micro-apartments/
the authors seem enthralled with the idea of urban dwellers living in micro apartments measuring 250 sq ft. (Just to get an idea, if we use room 16 as a measure, that's approximately the space from the back wall to the metal band running through the carpet, and then only up to Mr. LaRue's desk. Home sweet home!)

Please postulate how such living conditions might alter the way the people living in them might interact with each other, and with "non-micro" dwellers. Not less than four complete sentences

That seems like enough exercise for this morning. Please send your musings to me by email, with your name and the phrase " Cities and Urban Land Use part one" in the subject line.

cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday May 16: What the heck is JIT?

A NOTE OF COMMUNITY INTEREST: THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOW DUE BY 8 PM:

THE BOOK OF LISTS
YOUR CALL
TEA EARL GREY HOT
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR PROSPERITY
WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU USE?
KATRINA SYNDROME PART 1

Greetings once again:

To my mind, there are two reasons why our current methods of supplkying our vital "day to day" needs is so perilous:

A) People have NO IDEA exactly how the stuff they buy actually ends up on store shelves

B) Almost unanimously, stores across America are -- in computer terms -- "wysiwgs" --- meaning "what you see is what you get"

In other words, when you walk into almost store in America  -- especially if its part of some big retail chain -- ALL the items they have for sale are already on the shelves. In the bad old days there may have been "some stuff out back" --  those days, for the most part are long gone.

The reason this has taken place is because of an industrial and inventory process known as "JIT". What I would like to do now is a two step process:

A) Read through the following description below and then describe to me -- in your own words, I will haunt your nightmares if you copy and paste --   exactly what JIT is, how it works and what it means to you as a consumer. Not less than three complete sentences

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/just-in-time-JIT-inventory.html


B) The next step is for you to synthesize in three complete sentences what the article listed below has to say about JIT. Additionally, I would like you to connect what you have learned about JIT to what you have written in the previous two assignments having to do with the "Katrina syndrome". Formulate a personal response in light of what you have learned

http://www.assemblymag.com/blogs/14-assembly-blog/post/89347-time-to-rethink-jit


Please send your work in an email with your name and "JIT" in the subject line

cheers,
Mr. L

Tuesday May 14: the Katrina syndrome part 2

Now that you have made your "list of eight", I would like you to expand this list further by 

A) coming up with some alternative ways of obtaining/storing/acquiring those resources

B) doing some online research to see if there are any "off the shelf" items readily available out there which could be used to help stave off a lack of supplies of one of the resources on your list

Send me -- in the body of an email -- a list of such items, along with what they are designed to help with, and a website address where you located this item. Put your name plus the phrase "Katrina syndrome part 2" in the subject line.

Cheers,
Mr. L

Monday May 13: the Katrina syndrome

Years ago, a hurricane named Katrina struck the gulf of Mexico. Besides causing untold billions in damage and killing lots of people, it also made tens of thousands of people completely miserable for a prolonged stretch of time. Why? Simple: because the damage from this storm cut people off from the supplies of those items which they -- in a modern nation like America -- had come to expect, and to take for granted.

For example, the water mains into New Orleans were turned off, and a fleet of WalMart trucks carrying bottled water were turned back. Those are facts...WHY these events happened is still in dispute. What remains a fact is that the people of New Orleans had no water for a prolonged period of time, and water is a very important resource, as evidenced by this website put out by the US Geological Survey, an entity of the US government:

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html


OK, so now previously you have made a list of the resources which you make use of on a regular basis. (Hopefully you remembered water in them somewhere!) Now let's look at the next level: how long do you think you could last on the resources you already have? And alternatively, what could you use as a replacement for those resources of which you have a limited amount?

What you need to do for this assignment is to first of all, make a prioritized list. That is, a list of the most important items, the most crucial resources which you will need to have. Begin with the top priority item, and build down from there. Make it a list of the top eight, and next to each item, define why it is so critically important by explaining what you do with it. And exactly how long it would be before it's lack made an adverse/fatal impact on your life.

Why eight? Because its a good computer number-- 8 bits in a byte. It was also the number of bits in a silver Spanish dollar -- its where we get the term "pieces of eight" from.    

Just a little FYI


send in this assignment by email with your name and the phrase "Katrina syndrome" in the subject line.

cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday May 9:what resources do YOU use?

NOTE:  THEY WILL BE CONDUCTING PASS TESTING RIGHT NEXT DOOR
YOU NEED TO BE 100% QUIET DURING TODAY'S CLASS



Greetings, human student types!

For the past several classes, we have been exploring various issues surrounding resources: how nations acquire them, what they do with them, and how they have even fought over them. Today, I wish to bring this down to a more personal level, and talk about the resources you use on a regular basis, and what use you have made of these resources.

To begin with, I want you to list and define every single solitary last resource which you have made use of within the last two weeks. Try to be as thorough as possible, and remember that if you did something, performed some task, then you have made use of a resource of some sort

A sample part of your list might look like this:

Task -- brushing my teeth
Resources applied -- toothpaste, toothbrush, water, plumbing

Task -- having some yummy Fruit Loops for breakfast
Resource applied -- Fruit loops, milk, electricity/refrigeration, bowl, spoon, water, detergent, plumbing

As you may notice, most "uses" involve far more than one resource.

I have placed a standard value of "10" for this assignment. I will be using the group which takes this task the most seriously as a "benchmark"; meaning, for every group which doesn't make as thorough a list as the "benchmark" group, I will deduct points off your total score.

You will have not more than 45 minutes to complete this particular assignment and then get it to me by email, with your name(s) and the  phrase "the resources WE use" in the subject line

cheers,
Mr. L

Tuesday May 7: finish up from yesterday

NOTE:  THEY WILL BE CONDUCTING PASS TESTING RIGHT NEXT DOOR
YOU NEED TO BE 100% QUIET DURING TODAY'S CLASS

Greetings, children!

Today, there are two tasks which you will need to complete:

A) Finishing up and sending off to me by email the assignment which we began yesterday

B) Sending in files in response to requests which I have emailed to you. Requests for assignments which I ave yet to receive

That should do nicely.

cheers,
Mr. L

Monday May 6: minimum requirements for prosperity

Years ago, I worked in a "behavior house" -- a home setting for my fellow Americans who had propensities for violent behaviors. I worked there alongside people from all over the world... for some strange reason, they had all picked up stakes and moved to America, then to Rhode Island, and had ended up working in the same behavior house in East Providence where I was stationed. Guess they had a hankering for working with people who would try to rip your hair out in big chunks, or fling TV sets across the living room. Either that or-- like me -- they just needed a steady paycheck.

In any event, I learned why one of my co-workers had left his homeland. Seems he was a self taught car mechanic, and he had used his skills to build up a small fleet of vehicles. In his small nation -- located on the Atlantic coast of a very warm continent -- automobiles were at a premium, and not many people owned them. So he hired out these cars, sort of like a taxi service. And he made pretty decent money doing this. And all was well and great and wonderful, until an army officer showed up with a squad of soldiers.

Seems this officer took a liking to these vehicles, so he took them. At gunpoint. Needless to say, my future co-worker was very upset, but he was unarmed, so he did nothing. However, he made the mistake later on of complaining about the treatment he had received. Word got back to the authorities, so this fellow told me he had ended up "on the list".

Being pretty simple in those days, I said "List? What list?" I was genuinely puzzled. So this fellow looked at me as if I was the dumbest person ever, and explained -- as if he was talking to a small child:

"The list for being fed to the crocodiles."

Ohhhhh... that list.

ASnyway, they must really feed people to the crocodiles there, because this co-worker of mine left his country that very night. I though about his story for a long time, and it occurred to me to wonder just how many other people like him there must be, all over the world. Hope smothered, opportunities wasted, dreams denied. Are the problems of poverty really the result of lack of resources? Or does it go deeper than that? 

What do you need -- as a person, a state, a nation -- to become wealthy? In other words:


WHAT ARE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR PROSPERITY? 


Today's assignment is for you to tell me what you believe these requirements to be. Please list these requirements -- and there should definitely be several at the very least-- and provide not less than three complete sentences for each item on the list. One sentence explaining what the requirement provides, what it's good for. A second sentence explaining what the attendant difficulties will be for a country to achieve prosperity if they DON'T meet this requirement. A third sentence offering a possible alternative to this requirement, some way around it.

Send these requirements to me in the body of an email, with your name and the phrase "minimum requirements for prosperity" in the subject line

Cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday May 2: Tea...Earl Grey...Hot

Greetings, fellow scholars!

So now that we have been talking about resources for some time now, I thought it might be fruitful -- and interesting-- to consider what would happen if every nation on earth had "replicators" like they do in the old science fiction show "Star Trek". You know, the devices where you say something like "tea...Earl Grey...hot" and out pops a piping hot cup of the sort of tea you drink when you're sitting in the billiards room, wondering aloud if Britannia will ever regain her colonies.

So let's suppose that every nation did have these devices. They could literally create any resource they want or need. Would this end all wars over resources? Would it usher in an era of universal peace? Or would it have some other effect?

Here's what I'm looking for:

A)  At least six reasons -- three pro and three con -- why there either would or would not be universal peace resulting from this. At least one complete sentence per reason.

B) Two additional possible outcomes --- please base them on something that's possible, even if seemingly fantastic. Sort of like intelligent life deciding to look for something worthwhile, and then somehow ending up here searching for it on planet Earth. At least four complete sentences per outcome

send it all my way in an email with your name and  Tea...Earl Grey...Hot in the subject line

cheers,

Mr. L

Tuesday April 30: Your Answers to Your Classmates questions

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! Here is our first entry:


Imani

Construct a well organized plan to get your supplies to another country without resorting to violence. Answer in a paragraph(5-7 complete sentences)

and here is our second entry
Simon Aidyn Kyle
Do you think that your country's natural resources are susceptible to attack, and if so, how? How could you prevent such an attack? What kinds of attacks are these resources vulnerable to (Ex: hacking, war, petitions, etc.)? Which nation would most likely attack your resources and why? (5-8 sentences per paragraph, 2 paragraphs required)


and here is our third entry
Noah

If you were the leader of a small nation and you desired to establish yourself on the world stage as a powerful force to be dealt with, what resources would be to your immediate benefit? In what ways would you obtain them?

-Consider the materials necessary to remain in power for a prolonged period, what could a nation possibly require to become powerful and/or influential? Have you considered the possibility that other nations may already posses these resources? If so, how might you go about purchasing or obtaining them from those lands? Answer in two paragraph(3-5 complete sentences each)

and here is our fourth entry

Craig, Davonte, Simon

How does one's own nation's manufacturing of outsourced resources (say, the U.S.'s outsourcing of GMO's to India) effect it's own economy and the economy of the nation it is outsourcing goods from? Is it beneficial or harmful, and which one to which nation? Answer in at least seven sentences and give an example (besides the one already given) to explain your answer. After that, identify a resource that is a staple of your country and outline a plan of how you could outsource it and make a profit. In this plan, include what this resource is, your country, the country that the resources and labor is being outsourced to, how the outsourcing effects the economy of both countries, how you benefit from it, and how you can successfully pull it off. Answer this in at least eight, descriptive sentences, and give good, logical reasoning.

All the rest of you are responsible for answering this question. Please make haste and send in your own

cheers,
Mr. L

Monday April 29: Your Call

Greetings, superior humans!

Today I would like to do a two part assignment:

A) Creating your own questions

B) Inflicting them on your classmates

Lets start with point A)

The questions I have in mind will naturally have to do with the topic at hand: resources, which nations have them, the stuff that's made from them and their strategic overall importance.

The kind of questions I'm looking for are the higher level questions, those that fall into these categories

Types of Questions I am looking for	Keywords that would go with each set of questions
Applying: can you use the information in a new way?	choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write.
Analyzing: can you distinguish between the different parts?	appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test.
Evaluating: can you justify a stand or decision?	appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate
Creating: can you create a new product or point of view?	assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write

What I will require each group of you to do is to create at least THREE higher order type questions. Along with each of these questions, you will create the conditions for answering these questions, ie what specific issues you want your classmates to address, as well as the minimal amount of writing you will require of them to answer each of these questions (number of complete sentences, word count, etc etc)




Now for point B)

After each group sends me three higher order questions, I will consider them, and choose that which is best. It will be posted on this blog later on this class, with your names just above it. All other groups will be required to answer this question, and send it in to me by email. Before the end of this class

If NONE of your questions proves to be taking this assignment seriously, I will ship them back with a "start over" message. Which means you will need to come up with something that's for real.

I will be posting the questions as I receive them. Those who created them are not responsible for answering them; that's the job for the rest of you.

Cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday April 25: your nation's best strategies CRITIQUED

OK, now for the next step: below I have posted at least one response from each of the teams. Each team will now review at least two of these plans -- plans that are NOT your own. The review is pretty simple:

A) List and explain not less than four points about their plan which you believe make sense, are workable, and WHY you see it this way. One complete sentence for each point

B) List and explain not less than four points about their plan which you believe do NOT make sense, are inherently unworkable, and WHY you see it this way. One complete sentence for each of these points

Please send your findings in the body of an email. The subject line should include your names, plus the phrase "best strategies CRITIQUED"

cheers,
Mr. L

PS If none of your teams' strategies are listed here, it is because they never arrived. They are officially late at this point



 A) One of the strategies we examined last week about gaining access to another nation's -- resources "your" nation does not have is  by war. Describe a war strategy that can get you what you want, while lessening or eliminating the the risks to you of an armed conflict
RESPONSE 1A
 It all depends on how big the other country is, but this strategy will work with most countries south of Mexico. In order to get what they want they would need to build up their military strength near the borders of the opposing country in order to intimidate them. The example of this working at this moment in fact is North Korea. They intimidate people with their military power and we all give them stuff to stop but they never do.

RESPONSE 1B
we decided to go with terrorism. We went with that because its random attacks and random actions. we could blow something up at a  random time and leave the country speechless, shocked, scared, etc. the more times we "Terrorize", they will just have to make an alliance with us. 

  B) You have proposed a more than reasonable trade agreement with another nation, yet their government stubbornly refuses to even enter into negotiations -- they won't even sit down and talk. Outline a strategy that is NOT war to make the government of this other nation come to its senses
  
  RESPONSE 1B
 If a nation is being stubborn the best way to get what you want is to offer something they can't resist. If the nation is at war you can offer support and help. You can offer war tactics, armies, or weaponry. If the nation is not in war, but needs supplies that they can not get from anyone else you can use that as leverage. Often times when someone is that stubborn they often want to feel in control. Make them feel like they have complete control of the trade and that they have all of the leverage. 

RESPONSE 2B

The first step would be to try and form an alliance by
explaining the benefits for both nations. The alliance would be
to support the ally. The alliance would be be equal.
The second step would be to show how we as a nation
can support ourselves. However, we prefer to have an alliance.
Also, to show how our nation can help the other nation.
The third step would be prove that we could provide
protection. We would prove that we are not a weak nation.
This would demonstrate that we could further help the other
nation.



C) You are a government leader in one country. You are in contact with business leaders in another country; 
corporate leaders who can provide your nation resources which it needs. You can make it legal for these 
foreign business leaders to sell their resources in your nation, but you don't want this to become public knowledge.
List and explain four different plans which would make this happen

RESPONSE 1C
Have restrictions on what can be said in newspapers
 This would prevent journalists from telling people about the private trade
 Have restrictions on what can be said on television
 Reporters will not be allowed to mention this to the public if they know about it
 Keep this as a government trade
 Not involving civilians
 Don’t tell the people of the country
 Same as keeping this as a government trade, not involving civilians





D) Your nation wants very badly to sell its resources to "country X" However, country X allows a free press-- newspapers, radio stations and TV can all say whatever they want, whenever they like. One of the things they like talking about is the truly horrible working conditions in the places in your country where these important resources are found. Please list and explain at least four different steps you can take to make these media outlets see the "better side" of your nation

RESPONSE 1D There are several different things that we can do so that people don't know about the horrible working conditions.  We can bribe the press to lying for us so people don't know about the horrible working conditions. This might work because they could take the money and no one would know about the horrible conditions. We improve working conditions.  We could be kind and fix up the conditions so people and other countries won't think badly of us.  We kick them out of our country.  We can simply kick these reporters and press out of the country so that they can't say anything.  We can also have more positive events happen in the country to distract them from the poor working conditions.  The press would go away and people wouldn't see the poor working conditions.

Tuesday April 23 : the book of lists

Greetings, monumental geographers!

Today, while we are waiting for everyone in class to finish their "resource strategies" from last week, we will make good use of our time by making some lists

A) The first list you should already have: it's a list of resources which your country has quite a lot of

B) The second list you should also have: it's a list of the items manufactured from these resources.

C) Now for the third list: WHO is actually making these items? Who is gathering these resources? By this I mean, which companies in your nation are doing both of these -- making stuff, AND getting the stuff to manufacture that stuff. You know: bauxite to aluminum, gold ore to Krugerrands,  timber to tables and baseball bats, etc etc

The easiest way to start is by doing a search for "100 biggest companies in [name of your country goes here]"

You can also get a good idea by searching the companies listed on your nation's "stock exchange" ...for that, you will need to do a search for "stock exchange [name of your nation goes here]

When you a good listing, you will want to pick out the names of companies that you're pretty sure are native to your nation... not that it's always possible, but then again, even though Coca Cola has locations in South Africa and Mexico, they are still an American company 

D) From this list, start looking for websites for each of those companies you have found. Try to compile of list of at least 14 websites

E) On each of those websites, there will no doubt be a section about what they do... that's the gold mine; that's your silver tuna. List what they manufacture just beneath each website address

F) If for any reason you're "coming up empty" for a particular company, scrap it and try another

When you're finished, send me an email with your information in the main body and your names, your country's name and the phrase "book of lists" in the subject line

cheers,
Mr. L

Tuesday April 16: your nation's best strategies

All nations have needs for various resources, and varying abilities to make use of those resources. Nations engage in trade and diplomacy and go to war for the sake of these resources. Now it's time to consider what sort of strategies might best suit your nation in its pursuit of greater power and prosperity.

Please answer the following questions using not less than three paragraphs of three complete sentences for each answer. Send your answers my way in the body of an email, with your names and your country's name and the phrase "Nations best strategies" in the subject line

cheers,
Mr. L

A) One of the strategies we examined last week about gaining access to another nation's -- resources "your" nation does not have is  by war. Describe a war strategy that can get you what you want, while lessening or eliminating the the risks to you of an armed conflict

B) You have proposed a more than reasonable trade agreement with another nation, yet their government stubbornly refuses to even enter into negotiations -- they won't even sit down and talk. Outline a strategy that is NOT war to make the government of this other nation come to its senses

C) You are a government leader in one country. You are in contact with business leaders in another country; corporate leaders who can provide your nation resources which it needs. You can make it legal for these foreign business leaders to sell their resources in your nation, but you don't want this to become public knowledge. List and explain four different plans which would make this happen

D) Your nation wants very badly to sell its resources to "country X" However, country X allows a free press-- newspapers, radio stations and TV can all say whatever they want, whenever they like. One of the things they like talking about is the truly horrible working conditions in the places in your country where these important resources are found. Please list and explain at least four different steps you can take to make these media outlets see the "better side" of your nation

PS At some point during class, I will be picking out at least one answer to one of these questions from each group. I will post these answers, and each group will critique at least two of the plans made by other groups -- details on this to follow

Monday April 15 : what's in your wallet?

A NOTE OF COMMUNITY INTEREST: GRADES FROM LAST WEEK'S ASSIGNMENTS WILL BEGIN GOING UP ON POWERSCHOOL SOMETIME LATER TODAY. YOU HAVE NOW BEEN INFORMED -- MR. L 

Last week, we began to look at how different nations possessing different resources -- and different approaches to using those resources -- would have different ways of interacting with each other. Each of you teamed up into groups and chose a nation from a list, then explored what resources they had vs which resources they did not have. Finally, you began to consider what "your"nation might do to obtain the resources it needs from others. Some of these methods could be peaceful, some of them most assuredly were not.

Today, we will explore a little further, and see what sorts of things each of your nations manufactures from the resources it possesses. You begin  by going here:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

And, using the interactive world map, clicking on the region your nation is part of, then clicking on your nation; this should bring you to a webpage which contains very detailed information about your nation and what it produces. The section on "economy" is where you need to be. You are searching for, not just the stuff they grow or dig up out of the ground, but the things they build from those resources.

You will also want to find out who their major trading partners already are, what items your nation exports, and what stuff it imports. You will definitely want to list any items you import which you have either none or very small amounts of in your own country

Additionally, you will want to discover how your nation produces its electricity and other forms of power.

Please send all such information to me via email, with your names, your country's name and the phrase "what's in your wallet?" in the subject line

cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday April 11: if you don't hold it, you don't own it! part four

OK, so now here is where it gets creative: how do you get these other nations to trade with you so that you can obtain the resources which your country needs to have? There are many different options; here are some general possibilities:

A) trade agreement --  the simplest way is to just ask. Offer something in return for what you seek. Just a simple trade of resources.

B) An alliance -- either political or military or both. Offer to help them out with them there pesky neighbors or fiendish archrivals

C) cash -- if your nation has enough of it that is

D) bribery/corruption -- perhaps your money doesn't go so far. Well who needs to buy a whole country when you can just bribe some officials in its government? Or perhaps you can funnel some money into "buying" an election.... who knows? The possibilities here are endless

E) threats -- if they won't see the light, maybe you can turn up the heat. Make trouble for them somehow. 

F) war -- when you get right down to it, there's nothing like a full on invasion to make a country change its mind -- and probably its government leaders as well

OK, that should be enough examples. I want you to pick out just four of the resources you're looking for. List three countries that each have this resource, and for each nation, at least three complete sentences explaining

1) What method you would use
2) what makes you think this will work -- use some historical precedent or examples
3) at least one known risk associated with that method, especially as applied to the particular nation in question

Send your results to me with your name, your nation's name and the phrase "gettin the goods" in the subject line

cheers,
Mr. L

Thursday April 11: if you don't hold it, you don't own it! part three

OK, so now you know which nation you "represent". And by now you know the stuff your nation has and what it lacks. Now it's time to figure out where go you from here: how do you get the stuff your nation needs?

To make this assignment more practical, I would like you to pick out just seven of the resources your nation lacks. Then, once you have them listed, make two additional lists:

A) What items are manufactured from this resource that you need? For example, bauxite is useful in making aluminum. Silver is used for circuits used in everything from laptops to cellphones to Blueray players to microwave ovens. Petroleum is used for making not just gasoline, but also road tar and plastic. Sugar can be used to flavor foods; it can also be distilled into ethanol and burned inside internal combustion engines

So, list at least 5 or 6 uses for each resource in your first list

B) Who are the nations most likely to consider trading this resource to you? This might be influenced by geographical proximity -- its easier to trade with nations that are close by -- but not always. For example, Israel is very close by to Saudi Arabia, but I don't forsee them becoming major trading partners anytime soon, since they hate each other. Ditto for India and Pakistan: they share a long border, but there is no love lost between these two nations.

You might want to check to see which nations "your" nation has traded with in the past... you can Google this by searching like so:

who are [name of your nation goes here] major trading partners?

You might also want to include nations which you HAVEN'T  traded with much in the past, but have resources which you could use. Just try to make sure there isn't a major stumbling block, such as a war that happened between your two nations. You can Google something like

war between [your nation] and [this other nation].... this will no doubt pick up any major armed conflicts between the two

Tuesday April 9: If you don't hold it, you don't own it! part two

NOTE: THIS  ASSIGNMENT IS DUE NOT LATER THAN 8PM WEDNESDAY 
04/10/2013

Greetings once again!

Every nation on Earth is composed is people. Every nation is run by governments, which are themselves collections of people. these governments have power, and the people in charge of them very much like the idea of keeping their power.

Resources of every kind feed this power. At it's most obvious, you need resources so that a government can enforce its will: that means people with weapons who keep their rulers in power -- armed forces and police. So at the very least, you need things like steel for vehicles and weapons, 

You also need resources to keep your people alive. Whether your government treats its people well, or like slaves, the people have to be kept alive and (relatively) functional. Its hard to be a slavemaster if all your slaves are in a hunger-induced coma; and if your government rules by the consent of the governed, well then its even more important to keep the people happy. So you need things like drinking water, shelter, food, clothing. These items in turn are dependent on resources. Water is a resource; the chlorine which keeps it fit to drink is a resource too. To make food, you need dirt, seeds, water, air, sunlight and of course, some sort of tools.... in most countries, these tools are mechanized, meaning they're run by machines. These machines need fuel, and of course the machines themselves are made out of things that are also resources - steel, rubber, glass etc.  You also need fertilizer. What's modern fertilizer made from?

To make shelters, usually you need building materials: wood, metal, concrete, glass

To make clothing, you need fibers of some kind, either natural -- cotton, wool, silk -- or manufactured -- rayon, polyester, etc etc, all of which are derived from the resource called petroleum -- "crude oil"

You probably also need electricity -- even the most primitive nations now have it, even if only for their governments and their police and military. How do you produce electric power? What resources can you use to do this?

OK, so now let's pretend that each of you is a leader of one of the governments I am going to be listing here. You may work in groups of two or three, but you MUST be able to work together -- I'm not throwing any civil wars into the mix! Your first order of business is to list all the resources which your country has, then list all the resources it DOESN'T have. That might be difficult to find out on your own,but luckily for you, I have found this website:


http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/geo_nat_res-geography-natural-resources

which will make your research easier. It lists pretty much every nation on earth, along with the resources it has got. By definition, this should mean that the ones that aren't listed for a particular nation means it either doesn't have them or it doesn't have enough of them.

Your job for each group will be to compile the list of what your nation has and what it doesn't have. For example, India has "arable land", while Japan has no such listing. Ireland has natural gas and silver, but not petroleum and chromium, while Iran has exactly the opposite.

Just to make it interesting, I am limiting your choice of nations to the following:

Australia
Brazil
China
England
Germany
India
Mexico
Nigeria
Russia
South Africa
USA

Your choice of nation is on a "first come, first served" basis, so get going and tell me who you will be, and who you're working with. Then get cracking on this assignment

cheers,
Mr. L

Monday April 8: If you don't hold it, you don't own it! part one

UPDATE: THIS ASSIGNMENT IS OFFICIALLY DUE BY THE END OF CLASS ON THURSDAY APRIL 11

Greetings, and welcome back!

Today we will begin a unit on resources: who has them and what they are good for, and how they affect your day to day life

Visit these websites and answer the questions that follow. Use at least two complete sentences per questions; be sure to send your responses to me by email with your name  and the phrase " If you don't hold it, you don't own it! part one" in the subject line

            http://www.myfootprint.org/

            http://www.rprogress.org/footprint/ecolFoot.shtml

What does the Ecological Footprint measure? 

How is it calculated?

How big is your ecological footprint? 

How many Earths would we need  if everyone on Earth consumed as many resources as you do?

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Additionally, you will begin work on writing  a two-to-three-page essay (approximately 500-750 words) in reaction to what you found from calculating your footprint. You may choose to critique the methodology of the footprint calculator (either as being too conservative or too generous), or you may analyze your impact on the environment in terms of what you've learned about the concept of an ecological footprint. OR, you may choose to question the whole philosophy behind the concept of a "footprint" : perhaps its not the Earth that needs to be "bigger" but our understanding of it that needs to expand. Perhaps we don't need to consume less resources; perhaps we need to find new uses for stuff that today we don't even think of as a resource

Whatever part of this you can finish today, please send to me in an email with your name and the word "resource essay" in the subject line

cheers,

Mr. L