Masson's Musings for the Geography and History of the World: 03/01/2006

Monday, March 20, 2006

Assignments March 20 --- March 25

World Geography ‘B’
March 20th — March 25th
All Classes
All completed maps are due immediately after map quizzes
Worksheets due the day of quizzes

Monday: Finish chapter 14 Notes
Finish Video

Tuesday: Mindjogger
Chapter 14 Quiz
Chapter 14 Worksheets Due
Intro to WAC

Wednesday: Library and wac
Russia Maps Due

Thursday: Library and WAC

Friday: WACs Due
Current Events Quiz

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Introduction to Russia and Central Asia

Russia and Central Asia: Introduction

Russia and Central Asia
--covers 11 time zones
--Russia begins on the Northern European Plain and the Caucasus Mountains
--Europe becomes Asia at the Ural Mountains
--region of Russia to the east of the Urals is called Siberia (“Sleeping Land”)
--rich in natural resources, such as oil and natural gas
--developing these resources is difficult
Reasons why: cold climate, poor transportation, distances to civilized areas
--mixture of tundra, mountain, steppe, and desert
--Fertile Triangle located in southern and western Russia
--most farming, industry located here because of arable land and rivers for shipping

History
--Samarkand, Uzbekistan grew because of its location on the Great Silk Road
--region was isolated from civilized and wealthy areas of western Europe and Asia for a long time
--reason for isolation from Western Europe: lack of navigable rivers and sea routes
--reason for isolation from Asia: Himalayan mountains, Gobi Desert
--Soviet Union dominated this region from 1917 until the early 1990s
--communist system of government (government ran the economy and owned most or all of the property)
--this system allowed for little progress and was very inefficient
--little motivation to work hard or develop new ideas
--inventor of Tetris didn’t make money off of his invention
--Soviet Union damaged its land
--Chernobyl Nuclear Plant accident
--Aral Sea shrinking due to decision to stimulate cotton production
--rivers polluted; example—Volga
--1991: Soviet Union collapsed; replaced by 12 independent countries

Current Issues
--Former Soviet republics
--these countries are still developing (see list of per capita GDPs below)
--major economic problem: inflation (money not worth as much as it used to be)
--countries struggling to convert from communism to capitalism (free market economies)
--Chechnya
--area still controlled by Russia
--ethnic violence, resistance to Russian rule; Chechnya wants independence
--Soviet repression of religion no longer exists
--most Russians and Ukrainians are Christian (Orthodox)
--most central Asians are Muslims (Islamic)

General Statistics
GDP per capita:
Kazakhstan $7,800
Russia $9,800
Turkmenistan $5,700
***U.S. $40,100

Land Size:
Russia 17.1 million square km
Kazakhstan 2.7 million square km
Turkmenistan 0.5 million square km
***U.S. 9.6 million square km

Population:
Russia 143 million people
Kazakhstan 15 million people
Uzbekistan 26 million people
***U.S. 296 million people
***U.S. statistics shows for purpose of comparison

ASSIGNMENTS MARCH 13-17

World Geography
Assignments
March 13th – March 17th

Monday: Lecture—Finish Chapter 12

Tuesday: Library—Balkans PowerPoint
Read Chapter 14 Section 1 pp. 345-347
Begin Russia maps and packet—Due Monday March 20th

Wednesday: Chapter 12 worksheets due
Chapter 12 Quiz today
Library—Balkans PowerPoint
Read Chapter 14 Section 1 pp. 348-350

Thursday: Balkans PowerPoint’s due today
Europe fill-in-blank worksheet due today----Check Europe PowerPoint on blog for help
Read Chapter 14 Section 2 pp. 351-353

Friday: Current Events Quiz
Balkans Bi-Weekly article review due today
Europe Study Guide due today
Russia Video
Read Chapter 14 Section 2 pp. 354-355

Planning Notes For Next Week:

Russia maps and packets—Due Monday March 20th
Russia physical map quiz on Tuesday March 21st
Russia Vocab Quiz on Wednesday March 22nd
Chapter 14 Quiz on Thursday March 23rd

Monday, March 06, 2006

EXCELLENT BALKAN/KOSOVO/BOSNIA AND ETHNIC CLEANSING POWERPOINT

Please view this PowerPoint to help with our study of the Balkans:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/rfitzpat/Lesson24.pdf

ASSIGNMENTS FOR MARCH 6-10

World Geography ‘B’
March 6th — March 10th
All Classes
All completed maps are due immediately after the map quiz
All worksheets due the day of a quiz or test

Monday: Read Chapter 12 Section1 pp. 287-291
Chapter 11 Quiz
Begin worksheets
Europe Physical map Quiz

Tuesday: Read Chapter 12 Section 2 pp. 294-300
Notes Chapter 12

Wednesday: Read Chapter 12 Section 3 pp. 301-307 Notes Chapter 12

Thursday: Europe Vocab Quiz
Notes Chapter 12

Friday: Russia Video
Current Events Quiz
Chapter 12 Quiz—Worksheets due today
Read Chapter 14 Section 1 pp. 345-350
Balkans internet powerpoint due today

Copy of the Balkans assignment:

The Balkans Internet Activity
Due Friday March 10th

Directions: Working with partners:
Access the website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/map/yugoslavia/
Click on each of the dates on the timeline and read the information to learn more about the history of the Balkan Peninsula.
Answer these study questions on a separate piece of paper as you go. You do not need to write out the question, just the answer in a complete sentence.
After you collect all the information, you will create a PowerPoint about the Balkan Conflict. The PowerPoint must be a minimum of 15 slides.

What does the word “Balkan” mean and where did the word come from?
What did the Treaty of Berlin do in 1878?
In 1912 which countries claimed independence?
Why was independence short for two of these new countries?
What event in this region triggered World War I?
What does Yugoslavia mean?
What group particularly resented the new government formed by King Alexander I?
What were the names of two leaders who opposed the Germans in World War II?
What is autonomous status? (hint: autonomous region is defined in your textbook)
How did the country of Yugoslavia hope to keep national aspirations from rising after 1945?
When Tito died in 1980 what did most people think would happen to Yugoslavia?
Which countries sought to break away from Yugoslavia in 1992?
According to this web site what effect did UN peacekeepers have on the situation in Bosnia in 1992?
What ethnic group was victim to “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia?
What did the Dayton agreement do in 1995?
What group is in charge of enforcing this agreement?
What did the Kosovo Liberation Army want out of the rebellion? What did the international community want to see happen?
NATO action in Kosovo was historic in what way?
Who was the leader of Yugoslavia during the violence in Kosovo and the resulting NATO air strikes?
What effect did the situation in Kosovo have on relations between Serbia and Montenegro?
What is the European Union’s interest in the former Yugoslavia?
What is Kosovo’s relationship with the UN?

Now go to: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/balkans/history.html
Read the chronology 1389-1912
How does this additional information help explain why Serbian leaders wanted to remain in control of Kosovo?

Fact sheet from the UN about the trial of Slobodan Milosevic: http://www.un.org/icty/glance/milosevic.htm