Paul Polak Podcast

So I listened to the podcast and in the beginning I was pretty boring and took down some notes. Then I started to become interested and I kept focusing on the podcast and what Paul Polak was trying to explain. Here are the notes that I took when I reminded my self that I was supposed to be taking notes.

- better job

- improve houses

- $500 per month in US - Less than a dollar a day in Africa

"Im poor cuz i dont have enough money....out of poverty to find more ways to earn more money through farming. he needs so much more to get money (education, health,...etc)

Listen to the poor people who live through poverty and not those who are powering poverty. Sometimes the poor people who stand in the sidelines waiting for proper education, health care, food, water, etc have all the answers.

Reflections on Student Outcomes

Active Learner> I'm an active learner during Humanities when I am researching on South Africa. I not only can apply what I find to my notes, but I can even ask myself questions that people in South Africa are experiencing.

Critical Thinker> I think I use my brain a lot in Humanities. Especially when trying to understand the lives of people living in poverty in South Africa and ways that the grant from the Gates Foundation can help.

Effective Communicator> I don't really talk when researching unless I'm point something out to my partner, Ariel, about something that I am researching that is related to what she is researching too. Also, I've been trying to encourage some other people from other classes to comment on my blog and my articles about South Africa and whether they have any ideas that they can help apply to my project.

Community Contributor> Even if people do not comment on my blog, they still read the articles. When I can list the things I can do to help South Africa, it not only tells the reader what I'm doing in Humanities of this "imaginary" grant request but they can also apply that to their own lives. When Grade 7s and 9s watched the movie, I think many were inspired to help the community like some villagers helped this woman in need.

Person of High Character> One thing i find in myself that I know is part of responsibility to do my homework is...the fact that I complete my homework on time. I do regular blog post about current events and what I'm doing with my AfricaQuest and I can complete assignments like Mind Map notes. When I'm assigned to listen to the podcast I try to find things that I could apply to my AfricaQuest which is a responsibility as I listen to a podcast that was advised in class.

Ways to help South Africa

Today after lunch, the grade 7s and 9s went up to the Language arts classroom to watch a movie to connect to community contributor. It was based on a woman called Yesterday, living in South Africa, with her daughter. She is from the Zulu tribe which is one of the most powerful tribes in South Africa. But she is very sick. She tries to go to the clinic everyday, but it's a two hour walk away and when she gets there, the doctor cannot see so many people. Soon when a friend helps her out to get a taxi to the clinic, she gets to see a doctor and she was diagnosed with HIV.

Another economic way to help the poor villages that I would include on the grant request would be to provide more clinics and hospitals that have enough space and enough doctors for patients to see. These can provide more jobs for people.
Also I would provide more free vehicles and people to drive them for people that need to get to places that are very far away. Maybe I could set up a "new" system that there's a place in every village that people can make calls for a cheap price.
School would be improved in villages for both children and adults who did not have a proper education. This can help adults to get more jobs.

If anyone has more ideas of how South Africa could get rid of poverty, please feel free to comment.

Current Events: Giant Squid Thawed

GIANT SQUID THAWED> On Tuesday, April 29, New Zealand scientist began to thaw out a giant squid of 1,089 pounds (about 494 kg). No one has ever seen a colossal giant squid live in it's natural habitat and futher examination of this squid can help scientist understand how these species live.
The squid was actually accidently caught by fisherman, who were fishing for Patagonian toothfish in Antarctica, when the giant squid started to eat the bait. When the fishermen found this out, they quickly captured the amazing creature and froze it to preserve it. The national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa, later took possession of it.

Colossal squid, which have long been one of the most mysterious denizens of the deep ocean, can grow up to 46 feet long, descend to 6,500 feet into the ocean and are considered aggressive hunters. They also have the biggest eyes to the animal world. It can be the size of a basketball.

This giant squid is actually believed to be the largest specimen of the rare deep-water species Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, or colossal squid, ever caught. The previous largest colossal squid ever found was a 660 pound female squid discovered in 2003, the first ever landed. After it is thawed out, scientists will examine the squid's anatomical features, remove the stomach, beak and other mouth parts, take tissue samples for DNA analysis and determine its gender. If it is a male, it will prove that male giant squids exists as they have never actually found the male species of giant squid before.

FREE QUESTION: Do you think cutting up this rare species is good for educational purposes or do you think that we should just leave it in peace?

Current Events

In this picture, over a thousand students gathered up in a Belgium square and all popped Mentos in Coke bottles at once. Their goal was to set a world record. As you can see, many of the students wore raincoats in order not to get the sticky drink all over themselves when they drop the mint, Mentos into the bottle. This creates the "explosion" and the drink shoots into the air like this in the square. It must have been a fun experiment and I think we should do it in this school, though it would be very messy.

Animal Rights Part 02

Do you want to know where your meat comes from? If you pick yes, read on. No, I suggest you to re-direct yourself from this post.

Cows = Burger King/McDonalds
Chickens = KFC
Pigs = Bacon and Pork chops

These foods taste good and we know it.But have you have wondering where they came from. You imagine those fresh, green fields and happy milkers milking the cows and smiling farmers feeding the chickens and so on and so forth. Ever wanna feel that those animals are being well threated? Yeah sure. Good food. Good people. Good Environment. The serenity....well guess what. Welcome to reality. Those farms are really rare in the world now. Those small peaceful farms have now transformed into claustrophobic jail houses for these poor animals. Some cows, chickens and pigs can't even move or turn around because they are so cramped up with all the other animals. These cramped spaces leads to diseases and fights and deaths. Because chickens fight for space and food in this little "high rised pens" the farmers have to cut off their beaks to stop them from hurting each other. Calves that have been taken from their mothers are being feed cow blood to make them grow faster and the corporate farm owners are giving them growth hormones or them to produce milk, cows and grow faster. Then eventually, they go into factories where everything is working at high speed, just to make the profit rate go higher. Then it comes to your home on your plate and down your throat. Boom. You've just eaten a factory raised meat. Do you think that this is right for us and the animals? All our cows and chickens and pigs used to "run free". Now because we've raised them for so many generations, they've lost their wildness and they become ... lame. They can't survive by themselves out there and they depend on the farmers to take care of them, even when they are going to be killed and served in KFC boxes through drive-through. These animals need to be raise and breed with care and we humans want to eat meat that is breed in an almost sanitory place, not something like this....

and imagine the stuff that comes out the rear end of these animals and how much and how fast it was accumulate with this speed and size. This creates pollution to the outside environment too.

So which will you pick: a pig that has been raised on one of these farms and treated like this, or a wild pig that had to chance to run their whole life but just got shot by a hunter. I would pick the hunted pig than the captive pig because if it hadn't crossed the hunters path, it would have not died and be serve on a plate with and apple in it's mouth.

So, do we have the rights to kill animals to eat? I'm tying this up with my previous post on animal rights. Yes, we do have the right to eat these animals. We have to. We we brought into this world to eat meat. It's part of who we are. If we are disciplined vegetarians or vegans, we would find supplements to meat but we will have to work really hard. We have to eat meat to stay healthy.

But we can change the meat that we eat. Just by checking on milk and egg cartons and meat that you buy from the market, for the word free range (which means brought up with space to run and grow) it will change the profit for those farms so they can kept their work up. Buy healthy, eat healthy. Help raise our food properly. Seriously. Do you want your food to be brought up in this environment?

South Africa: Current Events

A decade after the apartheid in South Africa, there has been many stories from both sides of South Africa.

"Life is still not good. It has changed for some people, not for others. Some people still have no jobs. People are hungry." says a young South African boy, interviewed by the BBC.


David Romano from Gauteng says, "I am a primary school teacher but crime is the main worry for me. Three weeks ago thieves came into my house and fired guns. A week ago they came back, broke a window and then took my stereo.I've now installed burglar bars and an alarm so economically it is killing me. The police do not care about my file.My kids are very scared.I was happy when I voted 10 years ago, but today I am sad." His experience through this apartheid was only changed because of people who don't agree with integration in South Africa with the whites and the blacks.

We look at wikipedia and we see that big cities that South Africa has produced, but what they don't say are people's opinion on the matter of the apartheid. What is said in wikipediia articles about South Africa is just the people who benefited after many years of change. But for others, their voices aren't even heard.

I guess I've found my role here on the AfricaQuest. Not to just listen to the people who are the ones having good lives in South Africa, but the people who need to money and need help and need jobs.

Reflections on Student Outcomes

Critical Thinker> I have been a critical thinker this week on our AfricaQuest project. In able the win the grant we have to sell our country. Basically, I'm focusing on Africa's economy. I think that our country and make a lot by its safaris and the gold mines and all the special geological places you can find there. Mostly building roads and tourist spots and information centers need to built up for tourist that want to see Africa's sights. Maybe we can have it that if you visit the safaris you can get a free trip to Cape Town and its beaches. Maybe get more tourist bonuses and by that, get more people to hire for jobs and money to pay them.

Active Learner> I am not just looking at the internet for my resources. The books that are in class has also proven useful. I found a small time-line on South Africa and during the 1940s - 1980s mostly about politics. Which can be applied to the node on Mind meister of history and political science.

Community Contributor> I seem to be the only one to go on the Del.icio.us website to share websites and I actually find that easier as my partner can also see the sites that I've been to and find useful. I also put links to my mind map to show where i found th information. Also when my peers have problems with anything and they ask me, I help them out to understand the meanings of different problems they face.

Effective Communicator> When my partner asks a question, I can effectively explain her the problem and give her little pushes towards the answer. Other-wise the only times we talk is when we find something useful and we tell each other but we just research on what we are focusing on but also go deeper into the subject.

Person of high character> I am responsible during class and I'm doing the work instead of messing around. I find that i'm actually sometimes not interested in the subject. I don't really like having things down on paper and would rather talk to the Gates foundations rather than having to send a letter to them. I think that person to person communication is the best but in this case, we aren't actually going to send an actual letter the Mr and Mrs Gates.

Current Events

2 current events>

In Florida, there is a little kitten that has 6 legs. Some say that while in it's mother's womb, there were twins but somehow, the legs that were supposed to be for the twin merged with one kitten. Doctors are planning the surgically remove it soon but this little kitten is truly unique with its extra pair of hind legs.

In Pennsylvania, the primaries for the democrats, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama has been a hard time. They have been havng many debates side by side. But they has to be a winner.
Hilary Clinton, last night, won the Pennsylvania primaries and she's very happy about it.

Notes from Sachs

- oil prices up
- food prices up
- wear and tar practically everywhere.
- many people ignoring the crisis
- pollution a lot in many countries

After one point while listening to the podcast, some window came up and said that the rest of the podcast is unavailable and that i had to try another time. I tried a lot of times later but it still stops at the same point.

Animal Rights

What is a right?
- A right is something you come with. You're born into the world with the right to live. It isn't something that you can earn but it can be taken away. It depends on how a person or animal uses the rights can you take it away. If something has more rights than others, they must have the responsibility and also have more responsibilities than a person or animal that disobeys other's rights. So then do we lose our right for living if we take other's life, even if the other is less or more superior than us. Everybody has rights and they have the power or authority over whatever they have the right to. They have power of their lives and their actions. If someone is taking over their lives and what they do, its the same thing as taking this person's or animal's right to live on this planet. You take away another's right to live, you may take your right to live and the authority over your life by doing a wrong.


What animals would we use to dissect (Why?). Which animals don't we have the right to dissect (Why?)
- We don't have the right to dissect any animals. No matter what they are still equal to us. Sure we may have more developed brains, but they still have the right to live. Mosquitoes have the right to bite us and suck our blood because it's the way they can reproduce and LIVE. If we don't let them have the right to suck our blood, they would never live. But since we give them to suck our blood, they can suck all the blood they want and they are the ones taking our right to live. If animals did not have the rights to do anything, they would be all living under our command. We would be able to dissect all the frogs we want because frogs don't do anything to impact our lives on this earth. Sure they won't like it but we are giving ourself the right to take their lives. I think we should only get frogs that are almost dying anyway. We would just be putting them to rest and giving them peace, also giving us the real experience to see what is in a body and how it works. Leonardo di Vinci dissected humans but they were humans that let him dissect them. We can't just ask a frog whether they want to die or not because we don't communicate in the same language.
They have lives to live. True, they don't have Ivy league colleges and Disney World and cars and clothes. But a thing more important than that is lives. They live and they have still time to experience things. They aren't even harming us right now. Rats have their small little homes with other rats they live with. They have emotions just like humans but you won't be able to see it and if you kill a rat you make the other rats scared, angry, and sad because they just lost a family member and they're scared that they're next. They have the right to live peacefully.


We do not have the right to dissect (as a class) the endangered species or any animal for that matter. The one animal that I would fully support on not dissecting are primates. They are the most like humans and taking them away is like killing a fellow human being. They have the same right as we do to live. Taking it away would be the same as committing a homicide.

Every single animal has the same rights as humans. What if animals ruled the world and they took one of us to dissect for educational purposes. S**** educational purposes! most people would say. We want to live just as every thing else. So should they have the right to live? Let the animals go. Let them to be free to decide for themselves whether they want to live.
But if a frog came into a science room and lie down on the table spread-eagled pointing at a scapel, i would think it wants to die. Then the humans should just toss it back into the pond to knock some sense into it.

(i would rather discuss this in person if you guys have anything else to add. i suck at stuff through written or typed words)

Community Contributor

Recently in this past week, I have been a community contributor, to try and remind people to do their homework and to tell them what is homework. I also have been helping my mom with my baby brother when I can be doing my personal stuff.
Being a community contributor for me is helping other people so they can be equal to me.

Current Events: 8-year-old sues

In Yemen, Arabia an 8-year-old-girl is forced to elope to a man 22 years her senior (that's a man that 30 years old). True that she's underage, but still, cultures there are really strange. She tried to ask for a divorce to her parents but they refused. She asked her "husband" but she also refused. So she met some other lady and asked for her help and the 8 year old girl went to court. She sued her husband for abuse and surprisingly, she won.
Its amazing what kind of culture would force an under-aged girl to get married to a 30 year old man, and also amazing that she won the case with some help.

Bloom’s Hierarchy of Learning

Remembering: In Language Arts, we have to remember which punctuation to use in different sentences.

Understanding: In Math, we have to understand the formula to an equation before doing it.

Applying: In science, we read from the book and than experiment to test it out for ourselves.

Analyzing: In Humanities when I collect notes, i have to them separate them into categories to make it simpler to understand later.

Evaluating: Going through my humanities notes and see whether I can add ideas that i think when I'm trying to make South Africa a better place with the grant.

Creating: In my previous science project, I had to gather all the information and go through them, then finally put it all together into a presentation.

Current Events: Elections and Wikipedia

Taken from CNN student news.

The election in America with Obama, Hilary, and McCain is one of the biggest stories all over the internet.
The three competitors use the internet to promote their side but others too can do it.
Many people go on wikipedia and add good information to the competitor they support and bad information to the person they do not support. Sometimes these information isn't even true. But it's just a way to get others to support their candidate too.
Luckily, editors working for wikipedia regurally check the sites and try to neutralize it so it doesn't seem that the person who wrote the article is supporting the candidate.

Current Events

This is a picture of a AmericanAirlines ticket counter in an airport. As you can see the long line and the disappointed people waiting.
1,094 planes were canceled because of oil prices going up and wiring of the wheels (on the plane) had to be fixed...on every AmericanAirlines plane in the world.
Some planes are still canceled today and many people couldn't get to where they wanted.

Even a girl who was trying to go to a college interview missed her flight and the interviews were canceled and she can't go to that college anymore.

Critical Thinker and Problem Solver

So far in this class, I have a lot of thinking to do. Mostly on research when I'm looking for information of South Africa. I have to think about questions I want answered and what kind of examples I can give to the Gates Foundation for a grant request. When my blog didn't let me sign on or write and post something, I checked regularly on the blog to see whether it let me on after a few days. Finally I got in to my account after tolerating that I couldn't do my homework. I only put demonstrates in this outcome because I think and can be better in problem solving in class and outside of class.

South Africa 02

Upon reading more on Africa's economy and such to see the reason why South Africa needs the grant request, I find that South Africa has already has a good supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange (the JSE Limited), that ranks among the top twenty in the world.

Why does South Africa need the fundings from The Gates Foundation? Another country might be in more need of the money in reality.

South Africa has industries than provide and bring out iron and steel, engineering, food processing, diamond mining, and gold.

And most of those that are poor are the xenophobic people that have been living in South Africa before the Dutch and the British invaded and colonized South Africa.
They reject the offers only because they think that the immigrants are the ones that are getting all the good jobs and earn their way up. So should I get the money and pass it to the leaders of the country, the ones keeping it for themselves, or to the poor native that want everyone else out of their native country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#Economy