Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                         4/30/15

                                                           West Civ

     Today in West Civ we took notes on Rome Below I have listed notes from today. Furthermore, we also talked about this really twisted story.

• Etruscan's
• they came from the north central part of the peninsula
• they were mostly metal workers, artists, and architects
• there were two main myths- Virgil's and Aenes 
• and the story of Romulus and Remulus 
• Greeks 
• The Greeks had a lot of colonies around the Mediterranean sea
• Roman's borrowed ideas from them such as;
• religion beliefs
• alphabet
• much of their art
• military techniques and weapons 
• The Latins
• they were the first people out of the three
• descendants of the indo-Europeans
• settled on the banks of the Tiber
• they were situated so trading ships-but no war fleets could navigate as far as Rome, but no further
• built on 7 hills 
• many streams flowed in the Tiber 
• there was a marshy area, called the forum, between Palestine and Capitoline hills 

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                                  4/29/15


                                                                  West Civ

     Today in West Civ we had a project day. This is the first day we have had our full group here. Our idea is to make a program of different things they did in Rome. So far we have everything taking place at the Circus Maximus. Below I have some of the facts we have on the Circus Maximus so far.

The circus maximus:

• IA ancient Rome Chariot racing stadium
• constructed in the 6th century BCE
• It is that largest stadium in ancient Rome
• It could fit 250,000 people which was one quarter of Rome’s population
• history goes back to the 6th century when Tarquinius Priscus made a track in between Palatine and Aventine hills
• 329 BC it was built by more things were being added
• In 31 bc the first fire happened there was a total of three fires
• It was rebuilt by Augustus
• Second fire in 64 AD

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                4/27/15

Circus Maximus 

• Romulus started the chariot races there, however they were said to be distracting because no one would focus on anything else than the chariot races 
• Races took place on both sides of the Aventine and Palatine hills 
• it is thought to be found in the 6th century by Tarquinius Priscus and the fifth king of Rome 
• There were three fires that burnt the circus Maximus it burnt because it was made out of wood and wood is very flamable 
• There were also other things besides chariot races in the Circus Maximus 
• http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=genpub;idno=ACU3468.0001.001 
• http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/circusmaximus/circusmaximus.html

Today in class we tried researching about four different places in Rome. Sky and I did the research together, however when it came to citing our sources it was very hard. We found a very good knowledgeble cite however the sources were mostly books. Therefore we would have to go to the book and get the information out of the book that we want and its a big process. However, I also learned that .edu and .gov websites are the best to use. Overall, today I learned a lot in class. 

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                        4/24/15

                                                         West Civ

     Today on West Civ we worked on our project. Furthermore, only Skylar, and I wee here today in our group. We have the idea to make a program for different things in Rome. When we present we are going to read the different events for that day and where they are. Furthermore, then we will elaborate all the information about them. Today we spent time looking up facts and writing them down for our program. Overall, we had a successful class today.

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                                 4/23/15

                                                               West Civ

     Today in West Civ we looked at the lyrics from the song Mr.Schick wrote. I thought it was fun to look at the lyrics and get a better understanding. I will be trying to learn the song before the test. I think it would really help me. Also I find it easier to learn a song than to learn and memorize notes. Overall, I am going to start learning the song so I do well on our test.

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                             4/22/15

                                                                West Civ

     Today in West Civ we took notes and Mr.Schick rapped for us. The whole rap was about Rome and different facts we should know. I thought this was a really cool and interesting way to learn. It will be a fun way to memorize facts when it comes to taking a test. Mr.Schick did the rap to the song Low by Flo-rida. I love that song and thought it was really funny when he did the rap to that song. Overall, I will defiantly be using his rap to help me study for the test!

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                              4/20/15

   
                                                        West Civ

     Today in West Civ we took notes about Rome. Below I have listed some of the notes I took today.

• Etruscan, Greeks, Latin all settle on the peninsula 
• the Greek colonies are on the tiber river
• indo European tribes moved into the Italian peninsula and some settled along the tiber river creating Rome the city state
• there was also a myth about how Rome was found the myth was about the twin brothers of remus and Romulus there mother got pregnant with them from the God Mars. However, they were abandoned and sent down a river. Then all the sudden a she-wolf saved them and raised the kids. Later on a Shepard and his wife found the boys and then the boys were natural leaders. They went back and killed the person who abandoned them and then fought over which hill they would have. While they were fighting Romulus kills Remus and then he finds Rome. 
• The Etruscan people were originally from the east but had settled in north Italy were an early influence on the Romans
• The Romans were also influenced by the Greeks
• They learned the alphabet and city state organization 
• Originally Rome was a monarchy but over threw the monarchy in 500 BC
• each year they elect 2 senate 
• they can serve for a total of 1 year 
• and if they are in total crisis they will only have one but they can only serve for 6 months 
• they did not want just one person getting all the power 

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                     4/17/15

                                                              West Civ

     Today in West Civ we got in groups for our Rome project. My group is me, Immanuel, and Skylar. We are going to focus our project on Roman architect and art. One idea we had was to make a mosaic. We could make a Roman mosaic and talk about it. Furthermore, we can build our own statues. Overall, I think we are going to do really well on our project.

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                           4/16/15

                                                                West Civ

     Today in West Civ we watched a video on the allegory of Plato. This video was confusing, however I got most of the video and what it meant. These people were in the basement and couldn't move their heads. However, one day someone let one free and he looked in the light and was almost blinded. He then reported back to the other people and they told him he was silly and to stop. The reason he did this was because they had been taught that it was dark and that nothing else was out there. Overall, this video was really confusing but good.

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                            4/15/15

                                                               West Civ

     Today in west cive we talked a lot about grammar and english. Furthermore, I did not know that Mr.Schick was an english teacher before a social studies one. I felt like I was in english class today. This wasn't a bad ting, however, I dislike english and I am not good at it. Overall, we really did not do a lot, but talk about grammar today in West Civ.

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                                   4/13/15


                                                                     West Civ

     Today in West Civ we got the test back and went over the correct answers. This will help us study for exams at he end of the year.I can not beleive that we are already talking about end of the year exams. It seems like the year we by so fast. However, I am really happy that summer is almost here.

Gabriella Spilker                                                                                                         4/1/15

                                                                      Test!!!!!

     Today we took a test and I think I failed. I studied hard all week and I think I failed. I also thought it wasn't fair that he was gone all week and then we had to take a test when he came back. Overall, I failed and I just want spring break.