26th of September 2011

Luis XIV

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Louis_XIV_of_France.jpg

Today in Social Sciences, at the beginning of the lesson, Paqui has reminded some people that they have to comment on the blog this week. Then, we have checked the exercises we had about the economy of the 17th century.

The first one was about the manufactures, which were big workshops where merchants provided tools and raw materials and workers recieved a salary in exchange for their work. Then, the merchants sold their products in markets.

The second one was about international trade routes; sea routes were consolidated in the 16th century and in the 17th century appeared a new route (the triangular trade) which linked Europe, Africa and America.

The third one was about the new countries that broke the monopoly of the Hispanic Monarchy and Portugal, and they were England, France and Holland.

The fourth exercise was about trading companies and in this exercise we have copied the definition from the Powerpoint: companies dedicated to trade, whose shareholders invested money in a commercial business and recieved benefits in proportion to their investments.

In the last one we had to explain the Thirty Years' War and the Westphalia Treaty. This war from 1618 to 1648, confronted the Protestant kingdoms of the north of Europe with the Catholic kingdoms of the south of Europe and finished with the Westphalia Treaty, that had some consequences: All the kingdoms accepted the Peace of Augsburg, independence of the Low Countries, the kingdom of France became hegemonic and the consolidation of State-nations and Absolute Monarchy.

After this, Paqui has shown us a Powerpoint about Absolute Monarchy while she was explaining it. She has explained us that kings went on consolidating their authority over their subjects (over the privileged groups). Some wise men wrote books saying that the kings' power came from God, so they "proclaimed" themselves as untouchable; their decisions were unquestionable although the Parliaments limited their power, so they avoided to call the Parliaments. Luis XIV of France (also known as the Sun King) moved the court to Versailles and he entertained the nobles with parties to control them and to avoid revolts. Then, he created the post of intendant to control the government of the provinces.

After, Paqui has explained us The English Revolutions. From the Middle Ages the kings' power was limited by the Parliament and some kings such as Charles I wanted to rule as an absolute Monarch but later he was decapitated.

We have learned some expressions like HABEAS CORPUS (you can't be arrested if you haven't committed a crime or anything against the law and it was established by the deputies to limit the power of the king in 1660), To get rid of (deshacerse de) and Mercenary ( proffessional soldier who fights in exchange for money).

Finally, Paqui has given us some exercises for homework: 8,9 and 10 from page 117.

Friday 27th of May

Today in Social Sciences class, Paqui has given us the exams checked. In general the marks have been good but we still have some mistakes, so that's why Paqui has explained the exam and the most common mistakes. This has been the last exam of Social Sciences this year, but Paqui has threatened us to do another test. Then, we have given them back to her and we have continued with Unit 7. We have read the Counter Reformation (the reaction of the Catholic Church to Reformation), the measures taken by the Church to excommunicate the critics such us the forbidden books and the later changes they did (new orders were created or reformed...). After, we have talked about what a council is and we have copied on our notebooks: meeting of the hierarchy of the Church to make decisions about dogma or the organization of the Church. We have read about he Council of Trent and we have seen its main decisions:

-Reaffirmation of the Catholic dogmas -The Vulgate was the only valid interpretation of the Bible -Prohibition of selling indulgencies - Priests and bishops were obliged to live in dioceses...

After this, we have started reading point 4: Renaissance ( the art style of the 15th and 16th century). Paqui has shown us a Powerpoint presentation about this and we have learned the stages in Reneissance art: Quattrocento (In the15th century developed mainly in Italy) and Cinquecento (In the 16th century spread out to Europe). Then, we have talked about Renaissance Architecture and we have seen and remembered some elements, such as rounded arches, columns, pediments, pilasters... Some of the main architects were Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti and Michelangelo Buonarrotti. Their main objective was to be inspired by the Antiquity , represent an ideal of beauty and study the nature of the human body. Paqui has told us that there are a lot of these elements in Florence. Finally , Paqui hasn't given us homework but we should do today's Challenge.

That's all , have a nice weekend!

Image: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Michelangelos_David.jpg

Monday, 14th of February

Today in Social Sciences, we have eaten breakfast in the classroom because we were on a speech and first Paqui has given us the Africa's map back and some people have to repeat them. Today Kelly has been with us. Then we have started checking the 3 exercises from homework about the present situation of the secondary sector in Spain and the main regions which are Catalonia, Madrid, the Basque country and the Valencian Community. After, Paqui while she has shown us a powerpoint of graphics and percentages , she has explained that Spain is one of the most industrialized countries in the world, the main industrial regions in Spain, the importance, etc. Then we have started reading point 2: The tertiary sector , that includes the activities that consist of rendering services to the people and we have started with one activity: Trade. It consists of exchanging products for money or other products and we have seen two types depending on the quantity of products exchanged: Wholesale trade that is comercio al por mayor and Retail trade; al Retall . Depending on the place where products are exchanged we can see: Inland trade and Exterior trade , that includes Exports ( when we sell to other countries) and Imports ( when we buy it from outside). We have copied a scheme on our notebooks about this. Paqui and Kelly have looked for: cementerios nucleares but they haven't found (Now Paqui knows: nuclear waste dump). Suddenly, a teacher has brought some Saint Valentine's cards to some people. Finally, no one wanted to do the journal and Paqui has told me to do it.

SORRY FOR THE DELAY! I couldn't do it before.

13th of December, 2010

Hello! Sorry, I couldn't write the journal before.

Today, Kelly has been in the class but she has arrived a bit late. We have started the class checking one exercise from the previous day about the types of rural habitats. It was very easy. Then, Paqui has turned on the computer and we have seen a powerpoint about the types of agriculture. In this powerpoint, we have learned with pictures what is the subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture. The subsistence agriculture is a type of agriculture whose farmers produce all they need to survive and another type is commercial agriculture that consists in produced to sell the products on the market. Paqui has explained the slash and burn agriculture and that this includes deforestation too. She has explained the differences between that system of fertilization and the extensive dry-land agriculture. After that, we have seen the wet rice agriculture which is mostly practice in China, India, etc. We have also seen two types of commercial agriculture: specialized agriculture that is dedicated to monoculture in large estates (wheat, corn, cotton...) and the mediterranean that includes vines, wheat and olive trees (Dry-land products) and fruit and vegetables (Irrigated crops). Then, we have written on the glossary some new words from the vocabulary, like: Fallow-barbecho, Rice paddy-arrozal, To harvest- cosechar, To reap-segar, Slash-tala, and the literal meaning of: Slash and burn agriculture- agricultura itinerante sobre rozas o cenizas. Finally, Paqui has given us two exercises for homework.

I think this class has been very interesting because agriculture is one of the most important things here, so it's very important to know all its types to distinguish which of them we have... etc.

Here is the powerpoint that we have not finished:

Types of Agriculture

Bye bye!

22nd of September 2010

Today in Social Sciences, Paqui has given us our corrected map of Europe. Then, we have finished and given the America map. After, we have played password with the countries and its capital cities. Finally, we have played some games on the Internet to learn and study in different ways the countries and capital cities of Europe. This class has been very interesting. I think that we have to do this everyday...