Daily #5

Identify the 'Venus of Willendorf'. What does it suggest that the beginnings of art and the domestication of animals happen during the same period in human history? 

Also known as the Woman of Willendorf is an eleven centimeter high statue of a female.  It is estimated that "she" was made between 22,000 and 21,000 BC.  It was discovered in 1908 at a site near Willendorf. It is carved out of limestone.  Several similar statues have been found.  Scholars believe that she is a symbol of fertility because of her round belly.  She has no visible face, and her "hair" is a bunch of horizontal bands which could also be a headdress.  The statue was does not have feet and does not stand on its own.  The one thing scholars and scientists do not know is for what purpose was she made.  Was she a self-portrait? Or was she created to honor a person in the society.

This suggests that art was probably based off of real people back then.  Perhaps ancient hieroglyphics were drawn based on what the people saw.   Looking at the other two Venus statues, I was able to see that all three of them look like pregnant women.  Their estimated times of creation are apart by a few thousand years, but they all appear to have the same look and they all don't have feet.  I would guess that maybe pregnant women were an important part of culture back then.  Artists did not have the kind of supplies we have today, so this statue suggests that art was basically using whatever you have and basing your art on what you see.

Weekly

http://www.xtranormal.com/makemovies/edit_movie/4d2cba30-28a5-11e0-8d23-003048d69c21/luc/
sorry i couldn't get it to publish
username: amreid
password: bubbles

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8288372/ (video with partner)

Daily #4

Will a "hypertext" world make us more accepting of cyclic history? 


Hypertexts are the things that you can click on to take you somewhere on the page/website.  Hypertexts can show us how things that happen in the past connect us to events today.  Hypertexts are becoming a part of daily lifestyle.  People use hypertexts all the time, and it has become quite a global idea.  Wikipedia has hypertexts on all of their articles so you can see where the information used came from exactly.  Cyclic history shows that history is cycling constantly.  When you click on a hypertext, it takes you to another link that explains what you are talking about.  It cycles through the information, making a pattern that you can follow.  This pattern is a perfect example of cyclic history.  Just as the hypertext cycles through information in a pattern, cyclic history cycles through a pattern of events.

We live in a cyclical world.  Everything has its cycles.  History can be repeated if we do not learn from it.  When a cycle is started, it is hard to break.  A good example of this is the Ice Ages.  Many Ice Ages have occurred in the past.  It was almost in a constant cycle of heating and cooling.  People were effected because they had to move further south to stay out of the cold.  When I went on Wikipedia, there were many hypertexts that I could click on to circle through the web.  Hypertexts definitely help me understand cyclic history, and they help me to better understand the patterns and cycles of the internet.

Daily #3

Don't our traditional forms of information communication, notably "the book" and especially "the textbook" contribute to our belief in linear history? 



I think that "the textbook" definitely contributes to our belief of linear history.  In all the textbooks I have had in my social studies classes, they all have at least one linear timeline in them.  Some of my textbooks even have a linear timeline every chapter!  I hadn't even heard of the other three timelines until class this week.  At my middle school, my social studies teacher made us make a few linear timelines based on what happened in the chapter.  I always just thought of that as a timeline.  I thought linear timelines were the only type of historical timelines.  Because of this, I understand the linear timeline the most because it is what I have always learned about since elementary school.


Books that I read even have a linear timeline in them.  For example, sometimes I read diaries of historical people (and some fictional people), and their whole book is basically a linear timeline of what is happening in their lives.  Some books just have a story on a fictional character's life.  For example, the book may jump back and forth in time talking about different events.  Other books I read have a special section that they put in the end that has a timeline with events that happened after the book.  Other books I read have a section in the beginning of the book that really foreshadows the events that are going to happen.  This type of timeline is everywhere I look, and it really does surprise me that I never even knew about the other types of timelines.

Daily #2

 Does history progress? Is an elephant really "better" than a mammoth? 

I think history always progresses.  We learn from mistakes made in the past, and we are always coming up with new things.  I think an elephant is much better than a mammoth.  Elephants did evolve from mammoths, so I think that makes them better in the first place.  Elephants also have a really good memory.  I don't know if mammoths had good memories because they lived so many years ago.  I think that both were obviously able to adapt to their environment.  The woolly mammoth had its hair along with a thick layer of fat to keep it warm.  Elephant skin actually has little tiny hairs on it, but it is nothing like the hair that the woolly mammoth had.  Elephant skin is also extremely tough and thick.  According to wikipedia, the mammoth may have used its tusks to dig off snow to reach the plants underneath.  Elephants use their tusks to dig for water, salt and roots.  They are only occasionally used as weapons when the elephants guard their territory.  Another thing that I find interesting is that mammoths have small ears compared to elephants.  According to wikipedia, elephants use their ears to keep their temperature regulated.  They flap their ears to cool off the blood vessels in their ears, which cools their whole body down.

I think that to make an accurate decision on whether mammoths are better than elephants I would have to see them both.  A scientist in Japan says that he will extract mammoth DNA that has been preserved in a Russian laboratory and insert it into the egg cells of an elephant in hopes of producing a mammoth embryo.  They are hoping to have one withing six years.  I think history does progress, and even though an elephant and a mammoth might be different is some ways, they are mostly the same which isn't necessarily progress, but it isn't becoming any worse.

Citations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly_mammoth

google imagesh

Daily #1

 Is modern life "always" better than it was in the past? Haven't there been massive genocides in every century?


I think in some ways modern life is better, especially in the home. We have healthier food (and some unhealthier).  We have nicer homes because of better light, heating, and air conditioning.  Education systems are improving thanks to technology.  Many high schools are teaching their students how to use different programs on their computers.  We are discovering more and more ways to save energy and help the environment.  Every little thing we do like turning off the lights, recycling, and taking shorter showers effects the world.  Medicine is also changing the world for the better.  New vaccines and treatments are being created, and cancer research is becoming better. Many things in modern life are better, but some are much much worse.


In other ways we are a lot worse off.  Wars are becoming more and more dangerous because of new weapon inventions.  Wars also cost a lot of money which is causing lots of debt in the United States.  HIV and AIDS are growing to startling amounts.  The environment is gradually getting worse. Global warming is causing lots of melting.  Drugs and underage drinking have also become a big issue.  More students are being kicked out of high school and college because of illegal drug use.  Teenage pregnancies in the United States are becoming more frequent.  This isn't the way that the world should be.  These issues are not just a problem in the United States.  Everywhere in the world people are being affected every day.  Terrorism has become a huge issue all over the world.  Every single act of terrorism is a big deal, from the Tuscon shooting to 9/11.  It happens all over the world to millions of innocent people.

question 14 with Grace Leung

1. learn to use our computers in responsible ways
2. get rewarded for helping others use the computers
3. use them to stay organized
4. stay green by not using paper
5. have a lesson where the teacher teaches us to use the online resources
6. take classes online to prepare us for college
7. have a chat room for studying
8. use video chat to work together
9. organize a charity event
10. use google maps to learn the area and roads