Research Collaboration and video presentation (artifact 14)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN5b_726_UA&feature=related

- Diary of a working class man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFqTp8_gCjM – Go to my video on "language and fashion across social class."

Reflection questions:
1) a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?
ans: It relates to class consciousness in an overt way. The topic is clearly stated " language and fashion across social class."
b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?
ans: There is no other main topics that it relates to.
2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?
ans: I chose this topics because i know it will be easy for me to come up with examples since lots of literary work can be used. It took me around 2.5 hours to write the script and another 2 hours to record it and process the video.
3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?
ans: The cruelty of reality, that social class is what most people judge others by, and that they can be seen in many ways.
4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?
ans: I think it reflects my best work, I provided very strong and readily understood examples, and it took me a lot of time to look back through my novel shelf.
5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.
a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 4
b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 5
c. Impact on your learning. 4
d. Level of creativity and Originality. 3

ans: 4
6) Any additional comments.
ans: No comment

Gapminder Analysis (artifact 13)

Collaboration with Sabrina Shih
Graph 1: Life expectancy and income (200 years change)
http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=5.59290322580644;ti=1800$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj1jiMAkmq1iMg;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=log;dataMin=194;dataMax=96846$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=23;dataMax=86$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=;example=60
Graph 2: Does Geography matter
http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=6;ti=2014$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=rX3Jfop_ebuY-chuMpCgmRg;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=rAIffGKCmiCdzTl1C0AR2nw;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID2;by=grp$map_x;scale=log;dataMin=240;dataMax=119849$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=-42.4139;dataMax=66$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=
Graph 3: Smaller families and longer lives
http://www.gapminder.org/world/#$majorMode=chart$is;shi=t;ly=2003;lb=f;il=t;fs=11;al=30;stl=t;st=t;nsl=t;se=t$wst;tts=C$ts;sp=6;ti=1802$zpv;v=0$inc_x;mmid=XCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0TAlJeCEzcGQ;by=ind$inc_y;mmid=YCOORDS;iid=phAwcNAVuyj2tPLxKvvnNPA;by=ind$inc_s;uniValue=8.21;iid=phAwcNAVuyj0XOoBL_n5tAQ;by=ind$inc_c;uniValue=255;gid=CATID0;by=grp$map_x;scale=lin;dataMin=0.7454;dataMax=8.6$map_y;scale=lin;dataMin=22;dataMax=84$map_s;sma=49;smi=2.65$cd;bd=0$inds=;modified=59


Graph 1 Analysis:


1800-1850= life expectancy varies up and down, income increases.
1850-1900= Income increases, life expectancy still varies up and down, but overall, it increases.
1900-1950= Year 1918, life expectany drop from 52 years old to 48 years old in a year, probably due to the spanish flu or war. Income continue to increase.
1950-2009= Income and life expectancy increase steadily (directly proportional increasing).


Graph 2 Analysis: 


When we look at 1800- 1850, we can identify that the farthest it is to the north, the faster amount of income per person increases. However, when we keep on looking how the number changes when it reaches year 2000; we would say that Geography does not necessarily matters everything about a cmountry's development. United states is not as far to the north as UK, but at the end it's income per person exceeded Great Britain's.


Graph 3 Analysis:


1800-1850= life expectancy started to increase, the fertility rate still increasee. In year 1849, Life expectancy dropped to 37 years old, and it is thetime fertility rate started to drop a bit. 
1850-1900= Life expectancy varies up and down, fertility rate continues to grow.
1900-1950= In year 1918, life expectancy rate ropped to 40 years old in 2 years, after this, fertility rate inreased a little.
1950-2000= fertility rate and life expectancy continue to increase steadily, does not vary up and down so much.


What have you seen in these graphs that makes you wonder, or ask questions, about events in Britain?
- what happened in 1918? Why does the life expectancy dropped so dramatically this year?
- how is the health care in UK?
- The Geography of UK?

Can you identify key dates/years in the British 19th century where you see a sudden change in the trends?  Do some research to try and find out what caused these shifts, and share what you've found.


- In 1918,  flu pandemic (Spanish influenza) spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin. Most victims were healthy young adults, in contrast to most influenza outbreaks which predominantly affect juvenile, elderly, or weakened patients.,was a bird flu (a type of influenza). It spread through the world killing between 50 million and 100 million people. The flu did not start in Spain. Spain was a neutral country in World War I, and so it did not censor its news. This made nearly all news reports of the disease come from Spain.




Reflection questions:

1) a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?

ans: It relates to Human health and the advancement of medicine. It relates to it in a subtle way. As the life expectancy rise and fall it might be because of epidemics and improvement of medical treatment.

b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?

ans: I can not think of any other main topics it relates to.

2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?

ans: It took me around 90 minutes to process it. I chose these gapminder topics because I think they are critical to the understand of 19th century Great Britain.

3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?

ans: How strongly the pandemic of "spanish flu" affected the body politic in Europe, America. More people died compared to World War 1, it is two times the death of WW1.

4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?

ans: I think this artifact does reflect my best work. Sabrina and I revised the work together and give comments for improvements until we think that nothing else can be changed.

5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.

a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 3

b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 4

c. Impact on your learning. 4

d. Level of creativity and Originality. 2

ans: 3

6) Any additional comments.

ans: No comment.

Idea Page 2 (artifact 12)

http://www.storyofstuff.com/ - A 20-minute animation of the consumerist society, narrated by Anne Leonard, to view online or download. 
http://www.storyofstuff.com/blog/
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/historyprofiles/f/why_government.htm

Reflection questions:

1) a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?

ans: It relates to the building of the modern economy, because it talks about the pollution and problems in our world RESULTED in the building of modern cities, urbanization.

b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?

ans: Urbanization.

2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?

ans: It took me 2 hours to process it, I chose this idea page because it includes the quintessence of "the building of modern economy" in all of my idea pages, it is more complete and easy to understand.

3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?

ans: This is the notes I took from the story of stuff (the website I posted at the beginning of the page), it made me understand how much pollution human is causing. People always say that "polluted rivers, pollution, recycle, etc.", with the statistics provided in the story of stuff, and how poison is the world is pretty astounding.

4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?

ans: I think it reflects my best work, I really thought about the summary, extension ideas and make it pleasant to view.

5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.

a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio.4

b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 5

c. Impact on your learning. 3

d. Level of creativity and Originality. 2

ans: 3

6) Any additional comments.

ans: watch the story of stuff.

Pictures relating to the Industrial revolution

Luddites (Artifact 3)

Luddites Simulation (Question)


Q1: How was the Yorkshire textile industry organised in 1801?
A1: Factories were built in Yorkshire because it is very close to Scotland which they have a lot of wool, and sheep’s. Water power, hydropower is another reason it is built in Yorkshire. During this period, you usually have one owner, who owns a factory; this person has a lot of money, and all they care is about making money and profits.
The Basic Business Model is :
1. Labour intensive
2. Profit centered
3. Unskilled Labour – lots of woman and children, and these people are uneducated, they don’t have money and time to go to school, as a result they are very easy to replace.
4. Management was completely authoritarian.


Q2: How was the textile industry changing by 1812?
A2: Between 1779-1810, much textile industry became mechanized, they had large looms. Labour was beginning to organize against mill owners because their jobs are threatened.


Q3: Who were the Luddites? What were their methods of protest?
A3: Luddites are workers who organize against manufacturers during the Napoleonic War, they attacked mill owners and they destroyed machines.


Q4: What did it mean to be “twisted in”? Why was this so dangerous?
A4: To be “twisted in” means to join a secret commity of Luddites and the reason why it is so dangerous is because if you inform on those people, they’ll kill you. The government consider this oath as illegal and you can go to jail for it.


Q5: Who was General Ned Ludd?
A5: Ned Ludd or Ned Lud, possibly born Ned Ludlam or Edward Ludlam, is the person from whom the Luddites took their name. He is the the Luddites' imagined leader and founder.He is a character in 1779 who destroyed two stocking machine, he was introduced in Emily Bronte’s book – Shirley. No actual proof of his existence has been found, it is believed that he came from the village of Anstey, just outside Leicester in England.
Q6: Why were the Luddites prepared to risk their lives protesting? (lots of reasons for this one?
A6: People lost their livelijood, jobs are threatened.


Q7: Why were mill owners and the government so worried? How did they respond to Luddites?
A7: Some owners got around this process by not lowering their prices, so Luddites would not destroy machines, and British troops occupied Yorkshire. Finally, the government made breaking machine a capital crime. There are examples of Mill owners attacked, killed, and there are lots of death threat, including magistrates and food merchants. The government was worried because at one time there were more troops fighting the Luddites than fighting the Napoleon the first in Spain, and they were afraid of lawlessness.


Q8: How were Luddites punished?
A8: Governments executed 17 leaders in Yorkshire in 1813, and many of them were transported to Australian as convicts.


Newspaper:
Execution of Luddites:
York – On Saturday, at half past one, the following culprits recieved the full measure that the law will afford, for crimes to body and property, viz. John Hill, Joseph Croether, Nathan Hoyle, Jonathan Dean, John Obdin, Thos. Vrosk, and Johnny Walker.
After due sentence, each man mounted the scaffold with great penitents and contrition. Each man was asked to make his peace with god ater being aloud a brief oration. The behaviour on the whole was sobre and dour owing to the melancholy surroundings of the prison. Prior to the execution of the sentence, in due course of the verdict handed down by lord high judge Lancaster, the Right Reverend John Swallow asked the assembly to pray that god would grant salvation to the prisoners so much in need. The lamentable scene of these proceedings was closed when the sentence was carried out on the drop. Ladies and Gentlemen, God have mercy on their souls.



Reflection questions:
1) a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?
ans: I think it mainly relates to Urbanization, because the luddites destroy machines because the world is mechanizing, modernizing and they are loosing their jobs. They want things to be like what it is before.
b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?
ans: It relates to Entrepreneurs too.
2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?
ans: I did not choose this artifact, Mr. Kinzer did. I spend circa. 2 hours on this artifact.
3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?
ans: I understanded how people can be so foolish,by destroying a few machines and threatening people doesn't change the big picture that the world is mechanizing and they are going to loose their jobs eventually. De facto, they are producing problems for themselves.
4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?
ans: I think thie artifact does reflect my best work and ideas, I spend a lot of time reading detailed information on the Luddites and I spent time trying to write the newspaper article like a 19th century british journalist by using certain verbs and nouns.
5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.
a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 4
b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 5
c. Impact on your learning. 4
d. Level of creativity and Originality. 3
ans: 4
6) Any additional comments.
ans: No comment.

The Rural Exodus - cause and effect analytical writing (artifact 10)

     Rural-urban migration has long been associated with economic development and growth in the economic literature. With the industrial revolution, more and more forms of mechanized farm work were being accomplished by ever fewer individuals. This work could be mechanized by the use of threshers, tillers, fertilizers, and harvesters that would eliminate the need for manual labor. Fewer people were now needed to accomplish the same amount of work. Without the availability of jobs, farm tenants could not afford to stay on the land. Without jobs, families could no longer pay for the many children that were previously needed for assisting in farm labor. Finally, the jobs that could be acquired, were located in the greatly expanding cities of the industrial North and the capitol of London. In addition to people leaving the rural locations, many English, Scottish, and Irish chose to leave for the relative opportunity of a new life in North America, Australia or other British colonies.

     London, in particular, attracted people from all over Britain to come and seek their fortunes. In rural areas, often on small family farms, it is difficult to improve one's standard of living beyond basic sustenance. Farm living is dependent on unpredictable environmental conditions, and in times of drought, flood or pestilence, survival becomes extremely problematic. London, in contrast, was known to be a place where money and wealth were centralised. Cities were where fortunes are made and where social mobility was possible. Businesses, which generate jobs and capital, are usually located in those urban areas. Whether the source is trade or tourism, it is also through the cities that foreign money flows into a country’s larger economy. Moreover, people were forcibly driven from the land into factories by 'enclosure' from the late 18th century. Landless, the agricultural labourers who remained were powerless in the prevention of further exploitation by wealthy landowners, therefore they were forced to work for longer hours for meager, and usually irregular wages. They attempted to fight back against the landowners in the 1870’s through trade union but failed on doing so.

     Some villagers decided to leave the Dales of rural England due to the prospect of jobs, especially amongst younger family members. Also, young people were increasingly being driven out of the area in order to find their own place to live whenever they left their family homes. For example, as late as 1971, the opportunity to get employment in a new worsted mill a little over 30 miles away at Dolphinholme (near Lancaster) attracted a countless number of families from the valley of Dentdale. Another cause was that about 150 to 200 years ago, the Scottish were evicted from their homes by English landlords to make way for sheep pastures, which were much more profitable than collecting rents. This was known as the terrible 'Highland Clearances'. Many of the people who were evicted, emigrated to the USA and Canada for lack of another suitable local place to go. Inadequate social amenities and facilities in the rural areas also acted as a motivation for people to move to the urban regions. These included pipe-borne water, electricity, good roads, hospitals, schools, recreational centers and other reasons. Inadequate jobs in the rural areas also drove many youths' wish, such as, the migration to urban areas that could provide better opportunities for them to make a reasonable living. Other causes include the Irish potato famine, constant colonial wars for Empire, and the rise of the landed gentry who had no use for over-populated estates with meager rents.

     The urbanisation process has marked effects on the natural and cultural environment, on housing arrangements and social networks, as well as on work and employment patterns, not only in the cities, but also in the rural areas. Access to health care, social services, and cultural activities are in many cases better in the cities, but the access there may not be evenly distributed among the population. The urbanisation was also part of larger processes occurring in the world, of which market integration is the most important. Globalisation means flow of economic capital, labour, goods and services, as well as ideologies across national borders. Shifts in social networks and living arrangements may lead to changes in mental health and social capital, and a depletion of human capital may be the outcome in some rural areas. As more and more people left villages and farms to live in the cities, urban growth resulted. England's population shifted greatly, from rural to urban and from mother country to colony. This human exodus proved to be extremely beneficial to England's ability to create and expand its empire and thereby influence the world culturally. Today, England still remains widely rural, and it has a tradition of small villages, and manner houses dotting the countryside. The social fabric of England changed profoundly as a result of the migration. Urban poor became very much a part of the class system supported by the rigid economic realities of the urban-industrial setting.

     Because of the density of people, wealth, and other resources in cities, many institutions become possible that would not be in areas where such things are more spread out. Basically, when enough people are put together in a small area, they will start coming up with ideas to do things - cultural, political, commercial and social activities that just don't occur outside of cities. On the other hand, rural-urban migration also had negative consequences too. It eventually lead to overpopulation in the urban areas, however, as the cities expand, more companies and corporations are opened yearly, helping people find suitable jobs in the developing countries.While it is true that opportunities exist in cities, it is also true that the competition for these opportunities is fierce. Very few people make their fortunes, and the rest must still find ways to eat and sleep while they wait for their chance. This lead to one of the most obvious effects of urbanisation - the growth of slums. Slums are areas where large populations of extremely poor people live in sub-standard conditions. Common features of slums include land Insecurity. Slum dwellers are often 'squatters', living on land that they don't officially own. The land is often owned by the government, and there is a constant danger that it may be sold out from under its powerless inhabitants. These displacements exacerbate a poverty that is already oppressive. Poor Living Conditions are also another problem, the houses in slums are often made of any materials at hand, which could include mud, sticks, sheet metal, cartons, and other waste materials. Crowding is typically extreme, with entire families living in one-room structures, and very little space between one structure and the next. Sanitationin dense urban settings is often very poor, which contributes to the spread of diseases such as cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and bilharzia. Utilities such as electricity, water and sewage disposal are either not available or only available on a very unreliable basis. Slum conditions make maintenance of law and order extremely difficult, and patrolling the slums is not usually a priority for law enforcement officers. As a result, crime is typically rampant in those areas, and common activities include drug trafficking and abuse, weapons trafficking, burglary, and prostitution. Criminal elements are sometimes organised into gangs, and are sometimes independent.

     Urbanisation also slowed down the rate of development of the rural areas. As populations grew, more items were consumed. This put a further strain on planetary resources, especially non-renewable resources. More pollution is created through human activity, whether it be ground, water, air, noise or light pollution. As urban environments grew, they encroached on the local natural habitats, converting them into suburbs. This reduced habitat for wildlife, watersheds for rainfall and carbon sinking by forests and plants, it also reduced the amount of arable land available for farming. Also, the food demand increased and more land needed to be cleared for food production. Although we have regulations and governing authorities to help improve energy efficiency, recycle, build green buildings and so forth, as population expands we will inherently consume more, that's a given. In addition, poor waste management causes the spread of disease and pollution, and high density of people can lead to conflicts and the quick spread of health problems.

     The growth of cities can have significant impact on the surrounding environment. Temperature, due to several factors, including the paving over of formerly vegetated land and the high concentration of heat sources, cities tend to be warmer than surrounding countryside, sometimes by a difference as large as 10° Celsius. Large cities become 'regional heat islands', which can alter local weather patterns. Air Pollution, one of the most obvious differences between an urban and a rural area is the air quality. Due in large part to heavy motor vehicle traffic, and also to energy production, a blanket of smog hangs over many cities. This polluted air is, in addition to being quite ugly, a public health problem. Water Issues, when an area is urbanised, the water cycle in the area changes dramatically. Destruction of Habitat, the conversion of a natural area to an urban area means the destruction of whatever was there previously. When wetlands, for example, are paved over, an ecosystem is lost, and any species dependent on that ecosystem die out in the area. A less drastic example is that of erosion valleys tend to contain fertile topsoil, which tends to get washed away if the valley is urbanised.

     Today, day by day millions of people from all over the world continue on moving from rural areas into more urbanized areas, such as big cities. Most migrations take place in developing countries, possibly due to lower standards of living, lower wages and less job opportunities in rural areas.



Reflection questions:

1) a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?

ans: This relates to the topic Urbanisation. Everything I discussed in this essay is about urbanisation, the effects, and causes, it's relative pros and cons.

b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?

ans: It also relates to the building of the modern economy.

2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?

ans: I didn't choose this artifact, Mr. Kinzer chose this. It took me around 2h30min to do this.

3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?

ans: I think the deeper you analyse and think about a topic, the more you will understand it.

4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?

ans: This artifact reflects my best work and ideas. I spend a lot of time researching on urbanisation, and it also took time to revise and correct grammatical errors or repeated ideas.

5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.
a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 2
b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 1
c. Impact on your learning. 1
d. Level of creativity and Originality. 1

ans: 1.5-2

6) Any additional comments.

ans: I think it is a little longer than expected, and I didn't really only stick to the 19th century

Google earth tour (Artifacts 5)

British Empire in the New world
Download Google Earth: http://www.mediafire.com/myfiles.php

Reflection questions:

1) a. What main topic does the artifact relates to? In what way?

ans: This artifact relates to the main topic Nationalism and Liberalism: creation of the nation state. It is about the British colonies and about them leaving British Empire's control and become a country itself.

b. Which other main topic does it also relate to?

ans: It also relates to Globalization through Imperialism.

2) Why did you choose this artifact, and how much time did you spend creating and /or processing it?

ans: I chose this topic because I think it is important to know about the British colonies if you are studying British history, and to understand why are those colonies what they are like. Such as having english as the official language. It took me around 1.5 hours, because there is a little research to do on each colonies.

3) What insights and understanding have you gained from the creation and/or processing of this artifact?

ans: I understanded how important it is to have control on the sea, if you have control of the sea, you basically control the big picture during that time. You will have more colonies, and have more resource.

4) Does this artifact reflect your best work and/or ideas? Why, or why not?

ans: I think this artifact reflects my best work. I tried to pick out the essence information on each colonies, trying not to make it sound verbose.

5) Rate this artifact on a scale of -5 to 5 (0 is neutral) for the following four criterion.
a. Impact on the quality of your portfolio. 4
b. Impact on your level of enjoyment and happiness. 5
c. Impact on your learning. 5
d. Level of creativity and Originality. 4

ans: 4.5

6) Any additional comments.

ans: no comment.