Social Studies Meets Information Technology

Remember, there are some important rules we all must follow:

1. Students using blogs are expected to act safely by keeping personal information out of their posts. You agree to not post or give out your family name, password, user name, email address, home address, school name, city, country or other information that could help someone locate or contact you in person. You may share your interests, ideas and preferences.

2. Students using blogs agree to not share their user name or password with anyone besides their teachers and parents. You agree to never log in as another student.

3. Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for your blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.

4. Student blogs are to be a forum for student expression. However, they are first and foremost a tool for learning, and as such will sometimes be constrained by the various requirements and rules of classroom teachers. Students are welcome to post on any school-appropriate subject.

5. Students blogs are to be a vehicle for sharing student writing with real audiences. Most visitors to your blog who leave comments will leave respectful, helpful messages. If you receive a comment that makes you feel uncomfortable or is not respectful, tell your teacher right away. Do not respond to the comment.

6. Students using blogs take good care of the computers by not downloading or installing any software without permission, and not clicking on ads or competitions.

7. Students who do not abide by these terms and conditions may lose their opportunity to take part in this project.

Resources:

Citation: BBC News Round. 20 August 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_5260000/newsid_5268200/5268230.stm (23 August 2006).

Link: Israeli Lebanon Raid Worries UN

Picture:

Picture Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41992000/jpg/_41992948_israel203_bodyap.jpgMap:

Picture Source: http://www.fpif.org/briefs/maps/map_is_leb_syr.jpg1. What is the issue?

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was broken on 19 August 2006 because the Israeli military conducted a raid on the southern part of Lebanon where most Hezbollah members live. The Head of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, is very concerned about the violence.
2. Who is involved?

The United Nations, Kofi Annan, Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah

3. Who is affected and how?

• The United Nations: Resolution 1701 by the United Nations was the ceasefire agreement.
• Isreal: Scared of Hezbollah getting weapons, so they attacked, which breaks the ceasefire.
• Lebanon: People in Lebanon are in danger from the raid.
• Hezbollah: Continues to fight with Israel and tries to get more weapons, which breaks the ceasefire.

4. What would you do if you were directly involved?

We know that the United Nations tried to create peace between these two countries with Resolution 1701. We also know this did not work. So, we would bring all of the parties involved together again to amend and improve upon the current resolution. We would review the failed resolution and determine what went wrong. We would also ask each group to tell all of us what their ideal solution would be. We would work together to come up with a solution that involves everyone’s needs. The goal of the amended resolution would be to address as many concerns as we can.

Block D had a great discussion about how to tell if an article is acceptable or not. We came up with the list of criteria below. It is important to note that acceptable articles do not have to include all of the criteria, but they must meet at least one of them. Hopefully this list will also help you determine if an article is unacceptable as well.

Criteria for an Acceptable Article
Acceptable articles should….
• last at least 10 years in the history books
• make world news
• affect the whole world
• reflect human innovation
• change lots of lives
• groundbreaking scientific discovery
• affect the environment on a large scale
• change living environment for a large portion of the world

Criteria for an Unacceptable Article
Unacceptable articles…
• won’t make world news
• will not last 10 years in the history books
• affect a very small group of people or one person
• can be celebrity news
• interest only a small group of people
• can be human interest stories
• can be silly news
• can be entertainment news

Good Luck!

Well done block E! You learned some of the finer points about current events today. We discussed the definition of current events, and the different types of current events you will find in the news. To help you remember what we discussed, here is a brief overview:

Definition of Current Events
• the cultural, political, and social events of importance and interest at the present time
• present-time news events concerning important people, places, things, and ideas

Definition of Political Events
Events related to politics (government, war, economy)

Examples of Political Events:
• Lebanon bombings
• US dollar currency drop
• Hurricane Katrina
• 9/11
• Presidential elections
• New laws or policies

Definition of Cultural Events:
Events related to culture (religion, art, human accomplishments, language, beliefs, education)

Examples of Cultural Events:
• Tsunami
• Hydrogen cars
• Bird flu
• Scientific discovery
• Historic discovery
• Museum exhibits

Definition of Social Events:
Events related to people; usually parties, activities or gossip

Examples of Social Events:
• Parties
• Moving homes
• New people arriving
• Gossip
• Celebrity gossip/news
• World Cup
• Marriage
• Airplane crashes