Life Expectancy

After a big three-day weekend, the two Honors sections met today. The topic of the discussion was Life Expectancy, the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year. The "born in the same year" part is important, as we spent some class time comparing Americans born in the late 1950s (me) with those born in 2004 or 2005 (all of you). Factors that are contributing to a longer life expectancy include improvements in medicine (such as the widespread use of vaccines) and a reduction in the consumption of cigarettes. Shorter life expectancies may be attributed to the popularity of processed foods and fast-foods, along with the current use of vaping with a new generation.

Don't forget: no classes tomorrow, since you will be taking your PSAT tests Wednesday morning.

the new unit begins

In studying population and settlement, we will be taking the geographic and map skills we have learned so far, and applying them to real-world situations, problems, and challenges.

Terms you will want to be familiar with include:

• life expectancy
• birth rate
• death rate
• Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)
• infant mortality rate
• immigrant
• emigrant
• Net Migration Rate
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
• push forces
• pull forces

And, as always, there will be the Key Issues to consider:

• Where is the world's population distributed?
• Why is global population increasing?
• Why does population growth vary among regions?
• Why do some nations face health threats?

Spirit Week rolls on...

The halls were filled with babies, toddlers, old folks, and everything in between today. There really is nothing like Spirit Week at John Carroll.

There's nothing like reviewing tests in Human Geography, either. Today we went over the map test, covering latitude and longitude coordinates, time zones, and (dramatic pause) absolute and relative locations. That topic got one of the classes pretty fired up, and a terrific discussion ensued. This necessitated an adjustment on my part, resulting in a change to your grade. Tomorrow (Friday) when we are back in school I will adjust your grades in Veracross, giving you credit for two more correct responses. Also tomorrow, I will return and review tests with Honors 102.

After that, it is on to Population and Settlement in earnest. See you soon!

five weeks down, around thirty to go...

Time flies when you're having fun!


Today's class featured a spirited debate in Honors 102 over the advantages and disadvantages of using the current time zone system, versus replacing it with Universal Time. Some eloquently stated arguments were presented on both sides!


SuperHumanGeo had a very brief assessment/review of latitude & longitude & time zones & site & situation, all to prepare for Monday's test on this material. (The Honors sections will test on Tuesday.)

Have a great weekend, and we will see you next week for Spirit Week!

more student-authored test questions

Our SuperHumanGeo class met today, and spent class time submitting possible test questions for next Monday's test, covering everything from site and situation to latitude and longitude and time zones. They also got their map quizzes back, with lots of smiles to go around (nice work!).

Honors 101 reviewed their contributions to the next test. Then we performed a timed assessment to get even more prepared for the real thing next Monday.

Honors 102 did not meet today, but I am posting the Speech and Communication Rubric in the Links for Learning sidebar for your review as you prepare for Friday's class debate.

student-led test building, and preparing for a time zone debate

Two sections met today, engaging in somewhat different activities.

Honors 101 submitted possible test questions for the next assessment, covering everything from site and situation to latitude and longitude and time zones.

Honors 102, fresh off Tuesday's salty discussion about abolishing time zones, began to research the two sides of this debate: should the world continue to use the time zone system, or has the time come to get rid of this complicated fiasco and switch to "Universal Time"?

quizzes and time zones

Overall, all three sections did well on today's map quiz. Results were posted on Veracross right after school (in record time, I might add) in case you want to see how you did. The test was taken AFTER grades were downloaded at 8:30 this morning, so they did not impact the MQRs.

As I post this blog, it's 9:30 pm in Harford County, and 2:30 am Wednesday in Greenwich, England. Time for all of us to get some sleep!