Begin Construction of your European Landmarks Project

Your to-do list

• Please start today by wrapping up all your research on your five landmarks.
• Once you have completed your research, begin construction of your six Thinglinks for this project. Remember that you need one Thinglink with a map of your country that will lead viewers to the five places that you are sending them. You then need another Thinglink for each of the five places that you are including in your project.

Use your time today wisely! This is your last chance to get help on your project from Mrs. Brunton, Ms. Kendrick, and Mr. Raby before it is due.

And just in case you were wondering why we contact the representatives of your countries, here's why: sometimes you get a response.

Begin work on your European Cultural Landmarks Project

Your to-do list for today

• Make sure you have submitted both pieces of your homework: Where would you live? European Economics version and the map of your country for the Cultural Landmarks Project.
• Find two official foreign contacts to ask what places you should visit in their country. Make sure you follow the directions from the project. Click here to see them in the assignment.
• Begin research on the most important places to visit in your country. Use the graphic organizer to help you remember all the questions you need to answer and keep track of the information you find.

Homework: Find an image that you will use for your project for each of the five landmarks you are sending people to. Keep in mind that this means you need to find five pictures total. Please submit them on eBackpack.

Is your country successful?

Your to-do list

• Please take the Economic Data on your European country from the last class.
• Check out what the video from the last class.

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Let's learn a little more about the data that you gathered, specifically from the Index of Economic Freedom. Here are some explanations of what each category measures.

• Property Rights: How easy is it for individuals to accumulate private property? Are there private property laws that are enforced by the government?
• Freedom from Corruption: How much economic freedom is lost due to corruption within the country? How much is the economy abused by corruption?
• Business Freedom: How easy is it to start, operate, and close a business? Does the government get in the way due to corruption or over-regulation?
• Labor Freedom: Does a country have a minimum wage, laws preventing layoffs, and laws governing hiring and hours?
• Monetary Freedom: How stable are the prices? How much does the government intervene in the economy to keep it stable? Stable prices with a minimum of government intervention is the goal.
• Government Spending: How much of a country's GDP is composed of government spending?
• Fiscal Freedom: How much are the people taxed by the government?
• Trade Freedom: How easy is it to import and export goods?
• Investment Freedom: How easy is it for people to shift investments both within and outside their country?
• Financial Freedom: How independent is the banking system from the government?

Homework: Where would you live? Europe Economics Version Click here to access the United 

States' data to compare your country to.

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If you were going to send a foreigner to places in the United States to learn about our country's culture, where would you send them? Post your answers here.

Let's start your European Cultural Landmarks Project.

HW for your project: Find an image of a map of your country that you can use for your Thinglink.

What makes a country successful?

What event would you say would have the best chance of giving you a good day at school?

• Getting an A on a big test or project
• Getting a date with the object of your affection
• Extracurricular success e.g. getting the lead in a play, getting a solo in chorus, being elected president of a club or captain of a team
• Having a really good lunch

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What is the best way to determine whether or not a country is successful? Let's take a look at several different indicators. Go to the CIA World Factbook, the Index of Economic Freedom, and the Social Progress Index to complete the Economic Data Worksheet.

Homework: Where would you rather live: European Economics version

• Based on the data that we have seen, would you rather live in the European country you researched or the United States? Please submit your answer on eBackpack. The assignment is posted there as well.
•  If you forgot your country here is the list.

Country names explained

In honor of our Western Europe map quiz, do you know the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England? What about between Holland and the Netherlands? Watch the videos below to find out.

Is GDP the best measure?

Your to-do list

• Please head here for the Western Europe Map Quiz. We will distribute the other resources you need for the quiz momentarily.

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Let's talk about GDP v. GDP per capita. Head to the CIA World Factbook please. Grab a name tent. Look up what your country's GDP purchasing power parity and GDP per capita are. Use the 2014 data, please. Be sure to note not only the figure but the world rank (labeled as country comparison to the world on the site) as well. Record your country's name and all of the data you were asked to collect on the name tent.

But after all of this, is GDP even the best measure? Check out GDP Smackdown! Keep track of the pros and cons to using GDP according to this video.



We need a better measure of a country than just GDP. Let's look at some other resources and compare our countries to each other.

Let's look at the Index of Economic Freedom and see how your country does on its different indicators.
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Homework: Prepare for your Central Europe Map Quiz! Click here to see what it will look like.
You will need to know the following countries.

• Austria
• Czech Republic
• Germany
• Hungary
• Italy
• Liechtenstein
• Poland
• Slovakia
• Switzerland

More help for your government project

These resources should help you out on your government project. Remember to look on eBackpack as well.

First, you need to remember what country you have. Look here for a reminder.

What is your country's government like? Does it have features that are similar to the United States' government? Check out this assignment to find out. Use this resource sheet to help organize your work.

Discover the story behind your European country's flag. You can access all the details for the assignment here or on eBackpack. Check out the CIA World Factbook for details about your country's flag.

Use this model Adobe Slate project to help give you a better idea of what we are looking for on your European Government Project. Click the image below to launch the presentation.

Where did Russia come from?

Check out this cool video from TED-ED on the origins of Russia.

How do we know which countries are rich?

Your to-do list

• What data would you look at to determine whether or not a school is a good one? Please post your answers here.

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How do we know if a country is wealthy or not? Please post your answers here.

What is GDP?

Let's talk about GDP v. GDP per capita. Head to the CIA World Factbook please. Grab a name tent. Look up what your country's GDP purchasing power parity and GDP per capita are. Use the 2014 data, please. Be sure to note not only the figure but the world rank (labeled as country comparison to the world on the site) as well. Record your country's name and all of the data you were asked to collect on the name tent.

But after all of this, is GDP even the best measure? Check out GDP Smackdown! Keep track of the pros and cons to using GDP according to this video.



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Homework: Your first map quiz on Europe. Be ready with your Western European countries for Monday! Check out the list of countries you will need to know for each quiz here. Click here to see what the quiz will look like.

You will need to know the following countries for Monday

• Andorra
• Belgium
• France
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain
• United Kingdom

Your European Flags

Great job everyone. Click on the flags as they appear to access the details about them.

AREAS

Your to-do list

• Please brainstorm a list of your favorite foods and post them here.

What is AREAS?

Here's a graphic organizer to help you.

I know I should have shared this before Homecoming

See how people around the world get down.

Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

A model for your European government project

Use this model Adobe Slate project to help give you a better idea of what we are looking for on your European Government Project. Click the image below to launch the presentation.

A tech opportunity for all of you

There is a group from Apple that will be coming to Thornton Academy to pitch an app called Pencil Case on Wednesday the 14th from 12-1:30PM. This would be on your day off. Pencil Case allows people to create apps without having to code. If you are interested in attending, please let me know. The Technology Department is looking for interested students to attend.

Europe's Politics

Your to-do list

• Please add Adobe Slate to your iPad.
• Brainstorm answers for the United States to the questions below.
• The type of government
• The name of capital
• Where does the Federal government meet? Keep in mind it could be several places e.g. one place for each branch of government.
• The Administrative Divisions (like states for us)
• When did they gain independence
• National Holiday: when is it and how is it celebrated?
• Suffrage: Who is allowed to vote? At what age are they allowed to vote?
• Chief of State: includes name and title of the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial functions but may not be involved in the day-to-day activities of the government
• Head of the Government: includes the name and title of the top administrative leader who is designated to manage the day-to-day activities of the government. How are they chosen?
• Legislative Branch: How many how houses are in our legislature? How many members? How are they elected? For how long are they elected?
• Judicial Branch: How many levels does the court system have? What is the highest court in the land? How many members does it have?
• Political parties: Who are they and what are their beliefs?

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Projects on your country

First, you need to remember what country you have. Look here for a reminder.

What is your country's government like? Does it have features that are similar to the United States' government? Check out this assignment to find out. Use this resource sheet to help organize your work.

Discover the story behind your European country's flag. You can access all the details for the assignment here or on eBackpack. Check out the CIA World Factbook for details about your country's flag.

Your European Country Assignments

In case you've forgotten what your country assignment is, you can access it here.

Let's head to Europe!

Your to-do list

• Let's learn about Europe. Head to Kahoot!

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Now that you are warmed up, let's get a European country for you to focus on during this unit.