Middle East Reflection

What makes the Middle East an important region historically and currently?

     The Middle East is historically important because there where all these wars in the Middle East a long time ago. The U.S has noticed all these wars and it makes them very tense because it hard for us to start to trust them. Now the Middle East is very important because that is where we get most of our oil from there. We also have a lot of troops their so we always have to be careful of what we do, because if we start to attack and wipe out places they could raise the price of oil and it would make every one have to pay more.

How has its physical geography shaped its cultures and history?

      Every year at the Fertile Crescent the snow melts from the mountains and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood. It takes all of the soil and brings it down to the valleys where it's spread out.This makes everyone want to move there and grow their crops in the rich soil. The mountains are a good barrier so the people couldn't get attacked as easily. Only some cultures survived the harsh area. The Taurus Mountains separated empires too. Mountains have always divided people and helped people to escape to the mountains. One example is the Christians who escaped when they were getting prosecuted. The waterways have shaped the culture because they had to ship goods at places like Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. 

How can I effectively research reliable facts about geography, history, and current events? 

     There are many different ways to find out good reliable facts about geography, history, and current events. The ways I like to use to find facts are by going to video clips about whatever I am studying and find out information about. I think its a lot more easier to understand then to just read word after word about your topic, but it's just a personal preference. One other way is reading and making sure that is a good website and not just some fake stuff about your topic. Finding reliable facts is just a little bit more challenging then finding videos because all though that there are fake videos its easier to tell the difference then by reading it off a website.

SCRAVID reflection

SCRAVID was a great to help with reading. i used the methods some but not as much as i would like to in the future. I used them while reading Enders Game by Orson Card. The stradegies are: summerize, make connections, re-read, ask questions, visualize, infer, and decide. I have to re-read a lot because i have a hard time understanding the book sometimes so it causes me to re-read. I also like to make connections to real life. Making connections helps me better understand also because it might make me think about whats happening in every day life compared to whats happening in the book. I think the SCRAVID stradgey will help me read books in high school and in college a lot better. In Enders Game i re-read a lot because a lot of different people talk in the book so i had to understand who was talking. I make connections usually to events that happen in my life and that i live. I hope to get better at these stradegies and maybe it will help me become a better reader.