Migration and Visualization

Today in class, we did research on human migration, human population, and the idea of visualization and how it can help us learn. According to Wikipedia, human migration is the movement by people from one place to another with the intensions of settling temporarily or permanently. Humans have been migrating for thousands of years. This is because of many different factors such as climate and agriculture. Because of these migrations humans became experts in different skills and began to develop traits that benefited them in the areas that they migrated to. The idea of migration began in Africa and this is because this is where humans first began to settle. A phrase that was commonly mentioned throughout my research was "out of Africa". I was not sure what this meant exactly so i looked it up. According to an article, out of Africa is a theory or hypothesis that argues that every living human being is descended from a small group in Africa. This theory has been researched greatly and is well supported and many believe it's true. We study human migration in order to understand the past, to understand the patterns of our ancestors, and to see where we come from and why. But a question that has always been in the back of my mind is why do we look the way that we do? After taking a quiz on PBS, I soon found out that scientist do not know the answer to this question yet. We seem to associate looks with a place of origin but are assumptions are not always true. After taking another quiz on PBS, I was shocked to see my results when i matched someone's face with a place of origin. I got almost every single one wrong. This confused me but it turned out that even though someone may be white or black, we each have different races in us that may make us look a certain way even though we identify as something else.
     Visualization is a great way to learn. I am personally a visual learner. This is because I learn better when I get to interact and see the things that are being explained right in front of me. With pictures we are able to bring a conversation to life and understand it more.

Philanthropy

Philanthropy and charity are two things that are practiced often in everyday life. However, the two do differ from one another. Charity is an idea that focuses on the now. It helps provide for people who need help at the moment.  For example, an act of charity would be to donate cans in a can food drive to help feed the hungry and less fortunate. Philanthropy is a little bit different from that. Philanthropy focuses on bigger visions such as world peace and scientific advancement. Philanthropy is often looked at as a way to better the world around us. Philanthropy also focuses on the future. Two of the most important philanthropist in the world are Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller. They both contributed to many organizations and donated billions of dollars each. Carnegie focused on education, mainly libraries because he always took interest in it. Rockefeller was known for donating more towards medical research. Both were huge parts of philanthropy but in the end Carnegie donated more than Rockefeller. These two philanthropist were the richest people of their time. Some of the top philanthropist today include: Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, George Soros, and Michael Bloomberg.
     If I were a billionaire and a philanthropist, I would donate my money towards animals and children.This is because I believe that with great wealth and power, you should help speak and provide for those who can't do it for themselves. Philanthropy is a very important thing because it helps our world become a better place. 

Investigating Primary Sources about the Bradley Martin Ball

What can you learn about the ball from this article in the New York Times?  What assumptions have the editors of the paper made about their readers?  What is the Newspaper’s perspective on the issue?


1. Without reading this article, I learned a lot about the ball. The ball must have been super important because it took up the entire front page of the New York Times. Also, the newspaper is not celebrating the ball nor is it criticizing it. I think the newspaper is just telling its viewers this because they think that it is exciting and important. 

This website contains the New York Times article that was published after the ball.  What perspective on the event does it offer?  What can we learn about the event from this source? 

2. In this article, the perspective of the event that it offers seems as if they do not find the ball as important or exciting as it was set out to be. From this source, we learn multiple things about the event including how many guest came that were actually invited, the entertainment, the decorations, and much more. 

Why was the ball criticized by a clergyman (minister)?  Why did he see the ball as a problem?  Why do you think the newspaper published an article featuring his views?

3. The ball was criticized by a clergyman, or minister, because he thought that all of these displays of wealth were ill- advised. Also, the minister said that having lavish balls of the sort makes outsiders think badly of New York. The newspaper published this article featuring his views because they wanted to show two opposing opinions about the party. 

This website contains New York Times coverage of the ball as it ended.  What can you learn about the society of the time from reading this piece?

5. By reading this piece, I can determine that in this time period, the society care a lot about appearances of those around them. The reporters and witnesses payed attention to the tiniest of things about the ball. For example, what time guest left and who showed up late and etc. Also from this newspaper, I can tell that  the town was very gossipy based on some of the facts that were given in the newspaper. You could tell that people cared about the tiny things because every little thing mattered.