Kassy's Lesson

I received an general view on Denmark from Kassy's lesson. The predominant objective I took from the lesson is that many factors determine a model society. Kassy took us through a journey that explores nearly every aspect of Denmark.
I was most surprised by the unemployment rate of Denmark. 2% is just incredible. In addition, its GDP per capita is one of the highest in the world. The only thing I don't like is the racism. Overall, I was impressed by Kassy's lesson. It was very enjoyable.

Person of High Character:
I tried my best to grasp the concepts that Kassy introduced. I concentrated on the lesson.

Community Contributor:
I shared my ideas with the class. I participated in the discussions.

Problem Solver and Critical Thinker:
I thought hard about how Denmark is qualified for being a model society from all the aspects Kassy discussed.

Kevin Liao Lesson

The objective the I took from the lesson is that a history of a nation can affect its future foundations. Austria has a history of being invaded and invade. It was occupied by many foreign forces, including the Romans, French and German. It also had empires of its own. Due to these facts, it has confusions about its identity. It does not know which culture it belongs to.
Austrians are afraid of foreigners right now since they feel as if they were too open to external forces in the past. They want to protect themselves from making the mistakes again. Another reason why Austrians might have xenophobia was their Nazi education during World War II. As we all know, the Nazis were racist. Therefore, the Austrians were educated with prejudiced ideas. Unfortunately, Austria did not reeducate its people and Nazi ideas still exist in Austrian minds. Hence, I believe that Austria's history did indeed influence present day Austria.


Students outcomes

Active Learner:
I have to pay attention to Kevin's lesson in order to participate in the activities. By paying close attention to the details and facts, I was being an active learners. Furthermore, I took notes of his presentation. That demonstrated my desire to learn.

Effective communicator:
Think-pair share. Doing this activity enable us to share our ideas in front of the entire class. In addition, Max, and. We improve as effective communicator during these processes.

Critical thinker and problem solver:
In order to come up with good reasons to support our prompt, I had to think a lot. I had to think of good examples to justify my statement.

The Greek Economy

Like many other civilizations, the ancient Greek economy was based on agriculture. Grapes, cereals and olives were the main crops. In addition, they domesticated animals like sheep and goats. Husbandry was not successful developed due to the bad soil. Bee were kept to produce honey, which was the primary source for sugar. Mining was significant since they had developed metal. Silver was abundant. Bronze and iron weapons were used commonly. Many Greeks were sailors around the Mediterranean sea. Some of them were traders. Some of them were fishermen who sold fish in markets. Some of them were mercenaries who fought for other nations for money. Coins were used in ancient Greece in several ways. They were used as a way to exchange objects. They were a source of revenue. I think the economy of ancient Greece is similar to our modern economy, just not as complicated.

Baraka

I believe that the film "Baraka" is about our environment. At first, the film presents beautiful and magnificent scenes of mountains and glaciers. However, the film goes into various human cultures. For instance, the scene where a African Indigenous group were dancing around was fascinating. This relates to the topic we discussed before: the disappearing Indegenous cultures. Monkeys swimming in hot springs also amazed me. I didn't know monkeys like hot springs. The different aspects of our world are beautifully presented in the film. To me, this movie is absolutely environmental. It's telling me that we should stop destroying. Our world is unique. There will never be a second one. I am grateful that I live on this lovely planet.

Ishmael Parable

There was a long silence. I stood on the ground. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was not good. I walked and walked. Weird sounds and creatures appeared simultaneously. No. No. Did I travel to the wrong place? That’s not possible. I did it the way professor told me to. I looked at the creature that was looking at me. It’s quite beautiful. But that’s not why I was there. I was there to do something. Research. Yes, I remembered clearly that I was there to do research. I didn’t want to disappoint my professor so I flew.
I flew in the sky. I recalled what the professor said, “Tall square gray rocks”. I was supposed to find those rocks. I couldn’t find them. I saw many brown sticks with green stuff on them, but no gray rocks. Suddenly, I noticed something. In a close distance, I saw a lot of them. “Tall square gray rocks.” I said to myself. That’s it. No joke. That was what my research would base on. “What the heck!” I shouted like a baby. The professor lied. He said there would be creatures that look like us. Nothing was there. Nothing. I forgot what the professor taught me. It was ten years ago. I opened my lab-top and turned it on.
I found the file that professor gave me. It had all the information about my mission. Okay, my mission was to save the world. That was clear. Let me explain to you why. My hometown was in danger. It was facing destruction. My mission was a to find a solution from this place. Our ancestors lived here. I knew what I wanted to find. Our ancestors. They were supposed be around these tall gray square rocks. However, I couldn’t see any of them. I flew again. I flew out of the gray rocks. I was flying on top of green stuff again.
Suddenly, I saw something moving. Quietly, I moved beside the object. It was the creature that I wanted to find. I walked up to that creature and said, “Hi, my people are facing some problems. We’re dying off.” The creature was the same specie as my people. It’s a female. It’s a girl.
“Why?” the girl said.
“I don’t know. That’s why I am here” I replied.
“I don’t know either”
There was a long silence. “I am here to find my ancestors” I broke the silence. “I’m guessing you are my ancestor.”
“No, I am not. I am different from you guys. Your ancestors are gone.” She said indifferently.
“That’s impossible,” I said impatiently, “According to the file, our ancestors are living just fine.”
“That’s a lie,” She laughed. “Why do you think they left this place?”
“They left because…what’s this place called anyway?”
“The earth.”
“I know. That’s what file tells me also. The file tells me that you are my ancestor.”
“Well, I am not,” She smiled “I am not a destroyer.”
“ I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said angrily.
“Well, your real ancestors are gone. They destroyed themselves. That’s why part of them moved to your world.”
“No, no, that’s not the real story.”
“If you don’t believe me. Then go and fine them yourself. You will never find them.”
I looked at her. She seemed to be serious. So, I believed her in the end. “So, how do I prevent the same thing from happening again?”
“You can’t”
“What’s the truth? How should we live?”
“There’s no truth.”
“She’s talking nonsense.” I murmured in my mouth.
“You guys are doomed to face extinction because of your mindset. There’s no truth. You will never find the truth.”
“Who are you?” I shouted.
“I am the kind of creature you never want to become. A creature that is free.”
I walked away slowly. I couldn’t take it anymore. It was time for me to go. I walked to the machine that brought me here. I sat in the machine. That girl had nothing. She was naked. She was the kind of creature that I wanted to find. Nonetheless, she didn’t possess the technology and all that stuff that are described in the file. I turned on the machine and pressed the special button.
10 years passed. I finally traveled back to my world. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. My world was destroyed. Everything was destroyed. I saw my professor lying on the floor dying. I sat beside him.
“It’s too late,” he said, “I know what you want to say.”
“What?”
“You haven’t found out the truth yet. You are the only one who can do the job now. Leave now, and create your own world. The world with free men.” He died right after he finished the sentence.
“That’s why I am here,” I said to myself. “I am here to find the truth. I am the chosen one.”

Instinct

This is a magnificent and moving film. I like Ethan Powell's unique way of thinking and living. The part I like the most is when Ethan Powell presses Theo Caulder on the table and asks him "What did I take from you?" and Ethan, almost choking to death, said "illusions". That ties back to the book Ishmael. We have all these illusions that we're in control. We're not in fact. Ethan finds freedom in the forest living with gorillas. Theo isn't free. Like the rest of us, he has to play the game. This reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye. The protagonist of the book Holden Caulfield mentions about the game of life also. We are controlled by this game that we have to play. We don't have to true freedom. We play with the rules of the game. I want to experience what Ethan experienced: living in complete freedom. Ethan realizes that we don't control anything. The game controls us. Ethan chooses to quit the game and live outside of it. We won't lose anything living outside of the game because we don't have control over anything in the first place. We only have illusions. This film also tells us that freedom is not just a dream; it can be fulfilled. The last scene of him walking into the forest is absolutely touching. I want to be able to do that too.

The Knowledge

The Leavers have followed the past from the beginning of human existence and the Takers have created new lifestyles for every generation. I actually don't think there's anything wrong with that. That's what make us, Takers, special. We generate new lifestyles. Leaver has a system that works well for them because it evolved among them. They have adapted to the environment. Unlike Leavers, we don't adapt to the environment, we change it so it suits us. I am confused about this one. I kind of feel that something is wrong about that and I kind of don't. I don't know if it's right to change the environment for us. The knowledge of what works well for production is valued in our society according to Ishmael, and I agree on that. What's one big reason we go to school? Of course is to be productive in the future. We are destroying everything that's not suitable for us, I think that's what Ishmael suggests. It's ugly, I concur. This ties back to the theme of how things came to be this way. Things came to be this way since we value differently from others, which, in my opinion, has nothing wrong.