Reflection on Maps

Physical features, climate, and elevation all affect each other. One example of how they affect each other could be a desert - the desert, being the physical feature, is only created by the climate of that area, which is a very arid, dry climate. If the desert had a tropical climate, it wouldn't be a desert!
I learned a lot from this mapping project, and it wasn't all just about India. I learned that in any country, the physical features depend on the climate, and the elevation somewhat depends on the physical features. Humans tend to settle in places where there's enough natural resources, and the resources depend on physical features, the climate, and also the elevation.

Shiva

The Hindu god I decided to research is the god Shiva. Shiva is the destroyer, but he is not evil. He is just responsible for change both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of destroying the ego, the shedding of old habits and bad attachments. He is also the god of the yogis. In Hinduism, destruction creates a path for a new creation of the universe, a new opportunity for truth, goodness and beauty. There are many different attributes of Shiva. He carries around a trident , he is often seated on a tiger skin or wears it, because tigers represent the mind. The sound of Shiva's drum is said to maintain the rhythm of the heartbeat. He lives on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas, and his 'vehicle' is the white bull called Nandi, or 'the joyful'. Shiva is one of the mainly worshiped gods. He is worshiped everywhere in India, and that is because he is part of so much of Hinduism. He affects Hindu's lives in so many different ways that they worship him in order to have a good life.

Mohenjo Daro (National Geographic Article)

In 1911, archaeologists first visited Mohenjo Daro, an ancient ruin on the Indus River. They excavated there for a long time, but they still haven’t figured out who occupied the city. The city has no flamboyant palaces, temples, or monuments. We still aren’t sure what type of government there was. However, we do know that modesty, cleanliness, and order were preferred, that pottery and tools of copper and stone were standardized, and that there was a system of tightly controlled trade. The city was very wealthy and had high stature.

In modern Pakistan, it’s located in the Larkana district of Sindh province in Pakistan. With no evidence of kings or queens, Mohenjo Daro was most likely a city-state.

There were many prized artifacts found – for example, a miniature bronze statuette of a female, known as the dancing girl. This statuette was discovered in 1926. There were also a few stone sculptures of males found broken, which archaeologists also found interesting.

Another mystery of Mohenjo Daro is what ended the civilization. There is no evidence of any flooding destroying the city, and the city wasn’t totally abandoned either. Archaeologists are still researching today, but there was no evidence found yet.

Ancient Egypt Reflection

For our Ancient Egypt Reflection, we were supposed to write about which IB Learner Profiles we had exhibited throughout the unit as well as which Approaches to Learning Categories we showed.

For the approaches to learning categories, I think the one that I showed the most was Communication. The three points are to present information with a variety of formats, to understand how visual information communicates ideas, and to demonstrate good speaker and audience behavior. This was something I definitely did because of our end-of-unit presentations, where everybody did a presentation on something different. Also, we all drew pictures that resembled Ancient Egyptian art that had a meaning but were free to interpretation, which also falls under communication.

During the section of the unit where we were taking notes, I used problem solving and thinking skills as well. There was a lot that we learned about the Nile, where we had to recognize cause and effect relationships.

For the learner profile, there were a couple that I showed, other than communicators. I was an inquirer for a lot of the unit when we were learning about the Nile, because it was an interesting unit that I didn't really know much about.

I was a risk-taker when I did my presentation by trying to talk more to the class and do less reading, whether from cue cards or from the PowerPoint. It worked for most of the time, I only forgot what I was going to say once.

Lastly, I think the whole class demonstrated being knowledgeable this unit. We all explored different aspects of Ancient Egypt on our own, and finally at the end, everybody presented the topic that they found to be interesting.

Egyptian Hieroglyph Picture Explanation

In class, everybody decided to depict a different scene that is typical of Ancient Egyptian art. Here is mine:

This is a picture of the Egyptian god Horus, or the god of light. He basically controls the weather, so I tried to show him responding to a priest's prayer. On Earth, there's a thunderstorm. The crops are drowning from all the water, so the priest is praying and giving an offering to Horus, begging the god to give them light again.

Question 3 - Importance of the Nile

How do natural features such as rivers, lakes, and mountains help unite people or keep them isolated from each other?

The river Nile acts to both unite and separate different parts of Africa. It is essential for transportation and is often thought of as the ancient day "highway" because it is a quick method for trade and migration. Also, if one part of Africa is expecting an attack, the Nile may act as protection and separation.

Mountains stand in the way most of the time, and it is often necessary for people to travel around them. They only isolate, they do not unite.

Mapping Project Section

1. Describe the climate zone/biome of the Nile River area.

The Nile River is so long that there are several different climate zones, ranging from rainforest to desert. The Northern area of the Nile River, in Sudan and Egypt, there is nearly no rainfall. However, in Ethiopia, the southern part, there are heavy rains during the summer months. There are parts along the Nile River that have more tropical climates, with lots of rainfall. The rainy season is usually around April to October. Further North, the land is characterized as being a desert. It’s very hot and dry, or arid. There are often sandstorms during the spring months, which last from three to four days.

2. List the vegetation and natural resources available.

Because of the Nile’s flooding, there was plenty of silt and fertile soil for the Egyptians to farm. Egyptians were then able to farm wheat, barley, and vegetables such as onions, lettuce, and beans. The Nile also gave water and mud to the Egyptians. The mud was useful for farming, while the water could be used for both farming and drinking.

3. Explain how water, mud, plants, and animals were all “gifts of the Nile” to the Egyptians.

Because of the Nile, farmers were able to grow flourishing crops, such as wheat, barley, onions, lettuce, and beans. Egyptian farmers also raised cattle, goats, sheep and pigs for food. However, plants and animals weren’t always used as food. For example, fibers of the flax plant were used to spin linen thread, and sheep’s wool was also spun and woven. Water wasn’t only used as a farming technique, but also for the more obvious purpose – to drink it. Mud was useful for crops and for building things, a true gift of the Nile.