Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi is one of the best known female political leaders that ever lived. She was born in India in 1917. She was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru the first independent Indian prime minister. Gandhi went to England but never finished all her schooling, There she met Feroze who she soon after married. After she returned to India were she took a political career. In 1966 she became the Primeminister of India.

Gandhi was the first ever female Primeminster of India and the 3d independent Indian Primeminister. While in office Gandhi did a lot of things for India. She built friendly relationships with the Soviet Union to help her with the Indian war against Pakistan. Gandhi advanced green technology and agriculture to feed the rapidly growing population of India. Gandhi Developed the nuclear Weapons program in India so the country could follow all the advanced countries which were developing there nuclear weapons.

Gandhi served 3 consecutive terms and was in office until 1977. She is the second female leader with such power and authority and the second longest serving female leader. At the age of 66 in 1984 she was assasinated by her bodyguards in retaliation for ordering Operation Blue Star.

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas is a saint, for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Nicholas was born a greek in 270 A.D. in Asian Minor modern day Turkey. Saint Nicholas is the patron of Sailors, mechants, archers thieves, children and students. He is known as a very generous and kind person an example is that people left their empty shoes and he left money for them. He became the model of Santa Claus because of his generous deeds. Nicholas was also given the name Nikolaos the wonderworker since many miracles attributed to his intercession. Nicholas became the patron of many harbours and docks in towns all over greece and Rome because he protected them while sailing.

Nicholas was known to be born to wealthy parents in Asian minor as a young boy he was very intrested in religion and Christianity. His parents died while he was still young form and epidemic so he was raised by his uncle.

Saint Nicholas preformed miracles during his life, he preformed a miracle when he unloaded wheat from the emperors boat, to help people deal with a famine. When the emperors boat reached constantinople it was still the same weight before he unloaded the wheat. He unloaded enough to feed the people for two years.

Saint Nicholas was awarded his own day on december the 6th because of his great generosity and miracles he preformed for people.

Anchor Mosaic

I made an anchor for my mosaic. The anchor is a early Christian symbol and was one of the primary christian symbols until 400 A.D. The anchor was a key symbol during the time of Roman persecution. The christians found the anchor, as the symbol of Seleucus the First, the king of a selucid dynasty. it's also the symbol of safety. In more modern christianity this symbol means hope and further existence on this planet. It relates to salvation. In earlier christianity especially in the 3 and 4th centuries achors were found in catacombs and graveyards. A qoute that is used to describe the anchor is " As the anchor thrown from a ship prevents this from being borne about, but holds it securely, so faith, strengthened by hope,"

I chose this as my symbol for my mosaic since I liked how it looked, and I could picture how it would look like when I skecthed it. I liked how the anchored looked like and how it was shaped. I also chose it because I like sea's and sailing on ships. When you think of an ship you also think of an anchor.

The Fall of The Roman Empire

There are many reasons for the decline of Rome. The geography was donut-like and therefore it was harder to defened from the empires enemies and barbarians. The economy was very weak Rome was hiring and buying more than they could pay for. The Goverement grew and many dishonest and untrustworthy people who were corrupt entered the goverment. There was a decrease in work force since the number of Romans decreased due to death and the number of slaves decreased. There was a lack of technology the number of workers couldn't produce enough for all the people. The army became weaker and could no longer defeat the barbarians. I think that three of these factors affected the decline the most, First the weak economy, secondly not enough workers and thirdly the weak army.

Blogpost Caesar and Augustus

I think that Augusts was a greater leader, and contributed more than Caesar to the Roman Empire. Augustus brought a lot of good reforms, that the Roman people contributed from. Augustus brought a great Era of peace to the Roman empire known as the Pax Romana. During Augustus reign, arts and philosphy flourished in Roman. Roman soon became the most advanced city in a big area, trade evolved and soon Rome was the trading capital. Augustus provided more jobs, and made a proffesional military which was paid, and you served you whole life in, this meant that Rome had one more job to offer.

When Augustus started his military campaign he conquered more lands than Caesar did. Through Augustus's military campaigns he conquered the whole of Spain and Gual, and big parts of modern day Austria, Hungary , Bulgaria and Romania. Augustus reformed parts of he Roman army, he added the Praetorian guard, which guarded the emperor, this army consisted of 9,000 men.

Caesar started big reforms in Rome and was a great leader that was the spark of a new Era , but Augustus was the one to take all Caesar has created and go further, he was the one that made Rome, so succesful. When we think of ancient Rome we think of what Augustus created.

Juilus Caesar

If I was a pleabian Cirizen in ancient Rome I would very much appreactiate and like Julius Gauis Caesar for all his acomplishments and acheivements. I would support Julius Caesar and his attempts to reform Rome and make it stronger and better. He gave the poorer people a bigger chance, He gave them a chance in the world and gave them land they could own and make a profit from. He stopped the amount of poverty and landless people and gave a lot of people a chance. On the other hand, he was growing very powerful, and he grew into a bigger and bigger threat amongst the Rich and powerful Roman citizens, mainly the Senate.

Juilus Ceaser

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The geography and climate of Italy greatly influenced it's development and played a great factor in forming ancient Rome. The geography of Italy is very accessible and unlike Greece there were little mountains, so the people were not isolated from one another, which meant they could share ideas and contribute to the development. The people could come together to form a city, just like the Romans did.
The geography and climate allowed the people to have a surplus of food which they could trade but also keep for when there was a shortage. The climate wasn't too hot or too cold which meant the people could farm and grow food for longer periods during an year, it also meant they had mild winters which they didn't have to prepare for a long period of time. Most parts of Italy were accessible to water, which meant the Romans could earn money by trading with other empires at the time, such as the Egyptian empire. Because this great accessibility to water the Romans could travel quickly.
The Roman climate and geography was perfect for building a great and very successful empire. Their empire became so successful partially due to there good climate and geography, which helped them stay successful for so long.

The Beginning of Rome

There are two legends to the beginning of the mighty Roman empire. The first legend is the traditional legend were Romulus and Remus, were left near the tiber river, a wolf raised them. They decided to form a city, one day Remus made fun of Romulus's wall, Romulus killed his brother. The village was then named after him and he became the first king. The second legend is that the Trojan Hero Aneaos survived with a couple followers after sailing for some time, he landed at the riber river and mixed with the latins to form Rome.

Historians believe that latins lived in the area 1000 years B.C.. They built huts on Roman hills, tended herds and grew crops. Sometime in 700 BC they banded together for protection and formed a community known as Rome.

Alexander the Great

Does Alexander the Great really deserve his title? I say yes. He deserves this title, because he conquered half of Asia and most of Europe. But Alexander wasn't a ruthless leader, he included the Greek culture in his rule, and he tried to tie the Greek culture and the culture's of the cities he conquered together. Alexander is believed not to have lost a single battle he fought, and that just proves his physical and mental superiority in that time, which should give him the title of great. According to historians " Alexander was very smart, he was even tutored by the great philosopher Aristotle, While conquering the world, Alexander came across the great Gordian knot, which was untied for centuries, he just cut it." I think this quote shows us Alexander mental readiness, and how his always thinking, that was the reason for his great success on the battlefield,

Alexander deserves this title, because he was truly unbeaten in battle but he also, in a way helped the cultures he conquered. Instead of killing or capturing enemy soldiers he hired them for his army, he also invested in the cities he conquered and improved the living standard. All of this Alexander the Great completed and that's why his title is deserved and will stay with him forever.

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Spartans and Athenians, are two different people, they had there conflict, but they also combined there forces in times to fight the common enemy, Persia. These two civilization's have similarity they are the two largest cultures in ancient Greece. The Spartans are Dorions, while the Athenians are ancient Greeks.

The Spartans are people that are focusing all there time and effort to form a strong army. This is because most of the people they are surrounded by are enemy's. 250000 inhabitants are slaves while 10,000 are actual citizens, this is why the Spartans rely on a strong army. Spartan education for boys, begins at the age of seven, where they are sent off to barracks with there peers to learn how to read write and most importantly fight and become a soldier. While spartan girls have only a physical education so they stay healthy.

Athenians are different they have a strong economy, and farming. There culture does have military aspects, but they also support art,music, math and philosophy. There citizens have a variety of jobs not only soldiers. In Athens only rich boys can be educated. They learn about reading, writing, solving math problems, writing poetry, drama but also athletics.

AS you can see these people and cultures are very different.

Olympics

Olympics are a great sports manifestation, which was first held in ancient Greece. From writings of famous poets it dates back to the earliest forms of poetry. The Olympics were a gathering of Greek athletes, people and monarchs. There was a truce between all the city-states and the people watched many sports events during this festival. The first events were, footraces, chariot races, wretsling, and panctrium (A type of fight among people, which could end in serious injuries).

During the first 127 games women, were not allowed to participate or watch the games. But a newly elected emperor changed the rule. As time progressed more and more games were added. The Olympic games became a place of celebration banquets and a 5 day holiday. During the Olympic games leaders of city-states made deals, and formed truces and made trade between there states.

The decline of the Olympic games occurred when the Romans conquered the Greeks. They took out the sports and replaced them with fighting to the death. The Romans turned the Olympic games into a aggressive sport.

Greek Values

The Greeks had 7 to 8 important values, but the three most important, were respect, loyalty and teamwork. These three are most seen in Greek epic poems. To the Greeks these were important, because they guided them through life and should them the most important values they should always follow and keep in there mind.

Most of the old Greeks values, are found in the modern world. Respect would fit into caring and openmindess, while loyalty would fit into caring and principled. In this modern world teamwork would fit into communication. As you can see all these values fit in these modern values and connect. The modern Greeks invented a lot of the values we use today, at least the basis

Minoans and Mycenaeans

During early ancient Greece there were to main civilizations, the Minoans that came from the Greek island of Crete, and the Mycenaeans who were located on mainland Greece. The Minoans where an older civilization, and were friendly, diplomatic and peace loving. They were great traders and advanced architects, who even built flushing toilets. There culture consisted of many peaceful activities and celebrations. They worshiped the Earth goddess who was, peace and nature loving.

On the other hand you had the Mycenaeans who were military organized. They were bloodthirsty and liked warfare. There Idea was train there military and conquer new lands. They were also advanced architects, and built all there weapons out of gold. They had a little feasts and celebrations. The Mycenaeans Had a Earth mother who protected the warriors. The Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans without any resistance.

Both Civilizations left something for later Greek civilizations. They left there advanced architecture and building ways. The Minoans probably left some of there activities and celebrations. While the Mycenaeans left there weapon building ideas and plans. They probably left there good shipbuilding techniques and plans, and there trading routes. And most importantly some parts of Religion.

End of year reflection

WOW! The time machine actually worked, in front of me i could see the huge and vast plains of Africa, animals roamed free like they used to years ago, their were people, but they looked nothing like us much hairier and simpler, they held tools that resembled weapons, these humans were chasing after an animal, minutes and minutes passed they seemed so persistent, and then the animal finally fell before there feet in exhaustion, but this wasn't enough they chased after other animals close by.

I disappeared! and reappeared but the scene was different I was in a town Catal Huyuk, a town of sun dried brick, but unlike normal towns I was standing on a roof instead of a street. The town bustled with activity, people were all around walking carrying stuff. People entered and exited building through rooftops, I could smell grain, I watched and watched this interesting town, and as I started to get the hang of it I disappeared again.

This time unlike the times the times before I was on a boat in the nile , on either side I saw a sandy bank and desert continued onward, here and there villages appeared people were fishing and tending there everyday lives, houses were wooden, and all people were farming. Soon I disappeared again to repaper.

I was again In a town, as I looked towards the horizon I saw huge mountains, people here were in different outfits, some looked wealth and some poor, now and then a person wearing orange appeared, on the sides of streets some people were peacefully meditating. I even saw a untouchable doing dirty work. And then I disappeared this time I was home this was a amazing adventure

Right View

The first step to achieving the eight fold path is having the right view, the right view means to see and understand things in a way they really are, and realize the 4 noble truths. The right view means seeing through things and intercepting and understanding them it means. Right view is not intelligence it is something you attain, and then have to sustain. The right view begging with the insight that all creatures suffer and ends with the complete understanding of nature and the surroundings and environment around you.

Vishnu

Vishnu is the supreme god in the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. Vishnu is described having divine color of water filled clouds. He is one of the three main gods, known as the preserver, while the other two are the creator and destroyer. The belief that Vishnu is the preserver in Hinduism cam quite after the creation of the religion. When the nine powers on Earth are upset and not equal it is fought Vishnu comes to equalize them and make them fair. Vishnu is portrayed as blue or black shinned and has four arms. He has a thousand names and their repetition is an act of devotion.

Map reflection

Our three maps are very similar. The maps show different aspects of India and when you sum it up you learn a lot about the climate, elevation and physical features. They relate to each other in the way that it all makes since the climate for example depends on the elevation and and physical features.The area is a desert there surely wouldn't be rain forest climates. Or in the Himalaya's there wouldn't we ocean climate.

I through this I can draw a lot of conclusions about India. An example is where people settled, through observing the map I see, most of the main cities are located on flat land which is at a pretty low altitude usually not exceeding 400 meters. Through the map I can also draw a conclusion that weather in India varies in each part of this massive country but that they have two main seasons, the normal one were, during the days it's pretty hot and the monsoon one were it keeps on raining.

As you can see you can observe and learn a lot about a country by only studying it's map.

Lost City of Mohenjo Daro

Archeologists didn't know the Indus civilization existed until 1921 when in the are of modern day Pakistan scientists found the ancient and mysterious city of Mohenjo Daro. The city was organised, which meant that the people were great Urban planners, and easily controlled water.

One interesting fact about the city is that it has nor palaces nor temples, which meant they didn't have a king or queen who ruled the whole time. Experts believe, Mohenjo Daro was a city-state that was governed bye elected leaders, such as modern day president's.

Unlike most religions and beliefs their one was based on something else. The closest found to a temple in the town of Mohenjo Daro was a building that somewhat represented a temple. It is believed that this ancient civilization believed in cleanness every house had a well and a bathroom.

Ancient Egypt Reflection

While studying ancient Egypt we learned a lot. We learned how there daily lives looked like, and how a lot of the technology and customs were based on the ones Egyptians made. While learning about Egyptians we did not just learn facts, we used a lot of the MYP learner profile traits. The trait I think was the most important and we all used the most was thinking, we were thinkers. We connected Egyptians to the modern world, and realized how much we actually got from them. We also thought about how were similar yet different them Egyptians. The second was communicating, we used this skill mostly while presenting are projects we communicated with our classmates and thats how they learned the topic. Thirdly I used Inquiry, I asked myself questions on the lives, and different periods in Egyptian history, and at the end of the unit I had answers to most of them. And Lastly I used Reflection, At the end of the unit I reflected on The whole theme. What I learned during this unit and how I could use it.