We Presented

Today in class we presented our project and everything went pretty smoothly. The volume on the video was a little low but overall we got the point across and hopefully got a decent grade. After us, Grace and Katie went and then Tebo and Colin went. Both were very good and were scored good with the grades we gave them.

First Presentation Day

Today in class Olivia's group presented and they brought in food which was so good. Their project was a little all over the place but it was very funny and very creative. I liked what they did and I think our project will do good also. I'm actually kid of excited to present, I think we are ready to go tomorrow.

Sub Day

Today in class we had a sub and were instructed to finish our projects, but since we had previously finished we didn't have much to do. I made sure I knew what I'd be saying during class and here's what I came up with:

I spent time in class researching a day in the life of an average Athenian boy and then planned the skit. 

Background: 

-       The mortality rate was very high, so babies weren’t given a name until they were between 7 or 10 days old.

-       An infant with any imperfection, was often killed or abandoned.

-       Until age six, boys were taught at home by their mother or a male slave.

In the video:

I am seen in a classroom like setting, similar to one that boys would be learning in all those years ago. I am learning everything the boys would’ve been taught, as they were had the subjects of grammata, music, and physical education. Grammata was similar to today’s english class, where the boys learned to read and write. I am also wearing a white towel, to show an outfit similar to one Athenian may have worn.

After:

Athenians differs from Sparta in the way that they wanted their men to be well rounded, which is why they weren’t forced to train for the military until they were at least 18. Even then you were only forced to train for the military if you looked the part.

Project

Our project is now almost finished and the video is completely edited and ready to go. We present on Wednesday and I hope our presentation will make up for the silliness of our video. However even though our video is silly, it does get the point across and I think it has enough seriousness to it that will make it good. 

test day

The test wasn't that hard and I think I did better than I thought id do. There were a few questions I didn't know but for the most part it was good. I'm so glad it's over and hopefully this test brings my grade up a little bit because its not good right now.

important stuff I need to study

- Greece is a mountainous peninsula
- 2000 islands in Greece
- 3 Seas, Aegean, Ionian, and Mediterranean
- polis: fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside
monarchy: rule by a single person (a king, in Greece)
-aristocracy: rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families
-oligarchy: wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help)
-tyrant: powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support

preparing for the test

-The greeks had a unique relationship with their Gods because in the stories the Gods actually interacted with humans
-Greeks in general were warlike people, especially the Spartans
-Spartans were known for being tough and ruthless, and were trained for war since birth instead of going to school
-Athens had a strong naval power, almost unbeatable because of their weapon called the Trireme (A big ship that can be used as a weapon with hundreds of men on board)
-The Phalanx was the Athens method for land fighting, where they had long spears and clumped close together
-Persian empire fought the Greeks and lost,
- Persians had Archers, Cavalry, lightly armored infantry, but had numbers in cavalry and infantry, should have won but didnt
- Greek had iron weapons so that anyone could get them and fight, had hoplites, their phalanx formation, had the home field advantage, and motivation to preserve their democracy. Were 100% the underdogs but won anyway
-After Greece won, they formed a league with the money to fund their military to prevent invasion

Project part 2

Before the Video

-       The mortality rate was very high, so babies were not given a name until they were between 7 or 10 days old.

-        An infant with any imperfection, was often killed or abandoned.

-       Until age six, boys were taught at home by their mother or a male slave.

Main Thing

-       Age six to 14 was primary school. 

-       Once the youths were 16, their 'basic education' was complete. 

-       Athenians wanted their sons to have a well-rounded education so that they would know a variety of things and appreciate lots of things.  

-       Boys' education in Ancient Athens consisted of three main courses: Grammata , Music, and Physical Education. 

-       Grammata included reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

-       music ,consisted of singing, playing the lyre and the flute, reciting, and musical performance of poetry. Through this, students learnt history, geography, and ethics. 

-       physical education, was when the children practiced wrestling, jumping, running and throwing of discus and javelin. This was to make their body 'strong and courageous.' 

After

-       The boys who didn't have to work could now study the sciences and philosophy. 

-       From the ages of 18 to 20, able bodied young men had to take military training for the army or the navy. 

-       The aim was not to produce athletes, or soldiers like in Sparta, but young men who were graceful, fit, and attractive, and it was hoped they would develop habits of fitness that they took with them their whole lives.

Project!!

Today in class we were told we are doing a project on a part of Ancient Greece. I am in a group with Sydney, Belle, and Sophia and we are doing the life of Spartan and Athenian children. We all took a different person, and I'm doing an Athenian boy. So far I've noticed that life for any baby in Athens wasn't great, and that it was really easy for you to be abandoned and the mortality rate was insanely high. Most babies weren't even named until they were 7 or 8 days old because they were at such a high risk of dying. We will continue to get more research in the next few days.

Subs and Sandwiches

I think I'm pretty with my blog title today. (Get it cause we had a sub today in class! I know I'm funny you don't have to tell me.) Because we had a sub today in class all we did was watch a video and fill out a paper, all of which related to my last blog and who was in power. The paper was relatively easy to fill out because most of the questions were directly answered in the video.

Democracy and Stuff

Draco- (621 BCE)

- everyone rich/ poor was equal under the law

- debt slavery was allowed

- death penalty 

- was unfairly harsh

Solon- (594 BCE)

- outlaws debt slavery, no longer legal

- all citizens can speak at the assembly '

Cleisthenes- (500 BCE)

- Getting closer to a democracy 

Hippias- (527-510 BCE)

- tyrant

- his brother was murdered and caused him to become harsh

- was insanely harsh and killed families at a time

Isagoras and Cleisthenes-

-Both were aristocrats who were fighting for power

-Isagoras had support from aristocrats and Spartans 

-Cleisthenes had support from majority of Athens (middle class included)

Isagoras won, and banished cleisthenes from Athens. The people didn't support this and overthrew him.

 

This was in 508 BCE, and is known as "the birth of democracy"

Cleisthenes becomes leader and the Athens citizens can now vote. 

Citizens included only 1/5 of the population, including male property owners. (NO WOMEN)

Direct Democracy:

-State is ruled by citizens 

-Rule is based on citizenship

-Majority rules

Class today

Today in class we went over slides on the power point, and since I missed class Friday I was kind of confused but Sydney helped me get caught up. Class actually went by really fast and now it's 12:44 and class is over.

Class Friday

Yesterday I missed class because I had a doctors appointment.

Additional Greek Notes

There wasn't much on the powerpoint today that I didn't already write down, but what I did learn was that Homer, the man who supposedly created the Odyssey and told countless stories while being blind, could actually be made up. In my mind I want to believe he's real but some people think he was a myth himself. Everything else we talked about today was in the blog I posted yesterday of notes.

Greece Notes

- Greece was a mountainous peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean sea
- There were 2000 islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas
- Mountains covered 3/4 of the land
- the sea shaped greek civilization, allowing jobs for fishermen, boat makers, etc.
- most of the island was not ideal for farming
- in 2000 BC Mycenaeans settled on Greek lands
- the mycenaeans came into contact with the Minoan civilization, which led to seaborne trade
-mycenaeans also took n the minoan writing system
Trojan war took place in 1200 bc, when the Mycenaeans fought a 10 year war with troy
This led to the fall of the Mycenaen civilization
The dorians then took over the old land, but because they were so less advanced they fell as a society
caused Greece to loose the art of writing
Homer, a blind man, was responsible for telling stories that contained greek history.
The greeks created Gods to understand the powers of nature and human passions

places we need to know
3 IMPORTANT SEAS: Adriatic, Aegean, Ionian
Peloponnesus
Athens
Sparta
Asia Minor
Macedona
Crete- A large island to the south of Greece

Test Day

Today in class we took the Egypt test which is was 110% not prepared for and had no clue we had. Mr. Schick let us use our blogs which wasn't really helpful because all the questions I didn't know weren't in my blog!:) Still grateful he let us use the blog though. The last question was slightly unfair in my opinion though because it was a picture that I had never seen before, and there's no way I could've possibly taken notes on it in my blog because it was a picture that I couldn't put in the blog. But thats okay I think I only got like 3 wrong which was an 85%. But my grade in this class is an 85% right now which is lower than my MATH grade. That's kinda bad but oh well.