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Tests are hard. No doubt about it. It seems like even though I study for hours, and review the text, and go over the study guide about a million times, but some questions catch me off guard. I drew a blank at the two point question, “Describe the Grand Banks.” If you know the answer off the top of your head, maybe you should be writing this report and teaching me something.

 

But I’ll get off that track and go on to other things. Everyone is sad to leave their breaks, but at least I was ready to go back and learn new things. And you miss the friends you make in your classes--I know I did. Everyone is frantically working on the next project, "Home Front." It requires knowledge of your hometown’s landscape, businesses, social makeup, and uniqueness. I’ve learned more about Gainesville, my home town, then with any other project or assignment I’ve ever done. The popular sports drink, Gatorade, was manufactured here, obviously because our sports team is the Florida Gators. Also, Tom Petty, from the band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was born here. No doubt everyone else also has interesting things to share about their home towns.

 

We went over our second "Hot Topic" for this year, which covered countries that produce nuclear weapons. The Bush Administration is up in arms about Iran, who just announced their research on nuclear products. The president of Iran is trying to reassure the USA that their research is not for weapons of war--but I don’t know if that brings a sigh of relief. It was interesting learning about the different countries that have nuclear weapons, the ones that are new to nuclear weapons, and ones that had nuclear weapons but lost them. Surprisingly, India is new to the idea of nuclear war, but they have the weapons for it. Brazil used to have such weapons, but they discarded them for unknown reasons.

 

Speaking of which, South America was one of the other countries studied. It boasts many famous natural features, including the Amazon River and the Andes Mountains. The Andes Mountains makes the Continental Divide in South America, and Brazil is the most stable nation in South America for many reasons. It is the fifth largest nation in the world and the fifth most populous. It also covers half of the South American continent. Some of Brazil’s stability is owed to the fact that their government was a republic, modeled after the US’s. It was interrupted by dictators but mostly stayed as a republic. Brazil was the first South American country to produce nuclear weapons and was the only one to send an army to Europe in World Wars I and II. Another reason on why Brazil is so stable is the products that they can export. Sao Paolo, a city in Brazil, makes so much coffee that they have made Brazil the top leader in coffee exports. Brazil also raises more beef cattle then any other nation.

 

The last place we studied was the British Isles and Scandinavia of Europe. This region includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Scotland, and Norway. These places give much evidence for a spiritual Designer, for they are full of beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers and hills. Sweden and Iceland sound especially pleasant, Sweden with its rugged hills and forests, and Iceland with its mountains of ice and volcanoes. Great places to go hiking!

 

One of the things I like so much about my classes is the people that run them, and the people that take them. Mr. Carter graciously answers my many questions, either in class or by e-mail. Patience is not one of my virtues (although it should be), and I’d probably get annoyed with all the questions and comments in class. But they are welcomed and enjoyed, and for that I am grateful. My classmates are also very friendly and humorous. I think the most loved topic in class, besides the landscaping of the world, is food. Many times I’ve had to get up and get a snack because of the discussions of food. But with either fun, or seriousness, I enjoy myself in the classroom and I definitely recommend the class for high school geography. I hope that this report contributed to your knowledge of the HS Geography classroom and that you enjoyed reading it!

 

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English 8, section 5 English 9, section 7 English 9, section 8 HS Biology