Guns, Germs, and Steel Video Notes Pt. 3 & Bread

First, Mr. Schick as telling us about the ingredients in some grain bread and how those grains connect to the

grain in the Guns, Germs, and Steel video. Then, he passed out some of the bread, toasted, to let us try some of

the grains people used a very long time ago. There was only one piece of bread left in the basket and Ben and I both wanted. He was super nice and let me have the last piece! After we had some yummy bread, we continued watching the Guns, Germs, and Steel video again. These are the notes we took today:

• none of the domesticated animals in:
• New Guinea
• Australia
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• North America
• domesticated animals in:
• South America = llama
• Asia + Europe + North Africa = has rest of 13 is native there
• Middle East = cows + pigs + sheeps + goats  
• Fertile Crescent: where civilization started
• Tigris + Euphrates rivers inside area
• fertile land = good crops
• cows + pigs + sheeps + goats native there
• people who lived there are very geographically lucky
• Gwar: 9000 year old civilization (2500 after Draa)
• in Fertile Crecsent
• all houses had plaster on walls + floors
• limestone can melt to plaster
• little windows = air control / circulation
• women making cloth from animal hair

Guns, Germs, and Steel Video Notes Pt. 2

• 1150 years ago, where people starting growing own food in Draa
• plant domestication = controlling the food grown
• food people found that grew naturally and learned how to domesticate
• China = rice
• Americas = corn, squash, beans
• Africa = sorghum (grain), millet, yams
• New Giunea = sago (bu different bc of island)
• some places (ex. Europeans) are geographically lucky to have the types of grain and food naturally show up and be able to use them sooner than New Guineans
• Jared Diamond's main theory
• not difference of intelligence just lack of food resources
• domesticating animals = controlling food as animals
• raise them and eat when want to
• get hides, hair, milk
• 9000 years ago for making pens
• grow crops --> harvest edible, top parts for humans --> give bottom of crop to animals for food
• before the industrial revolution, big animals (oxen, horses), "beats of burden", were the greatest meachine
• harness to plow
• no big animals in New Guinea so all is done through man power
• best animals to farm are big, plant eating mammals (elephants)
• to domesticate:
• shouldn't be carnivore
• have to be social
• easier to have leader
• can control leader --> can control the rest
• work well w humans
• zebra = ideal to domesticate that super nervous bc of predators
• 14 domestic animals
• goats
• sheep
• pigs
• cows
• horses
• donkey
• bactrian camels
• arabian camela
• water buffalo
• llama
• reindeer
• yaks
• mithuns
• bali cattle

Pop Quiz

Today, in Western Civilization, we took a pop quiz on the Guns, Germs, and Steel video. Before we took the

pop quiz, we reviewed most of the important topics from the video. Then, we took the quiz on those topics. I got
a 4/6 which is ok, but I wish I did better since it is the beginning of the year. I hope my blog grades will bring my
grade up. Before the the pop quiz, Mr. Schick also told us the format of the quiz. We took the pop quiz with a pencil
on the scantron sheet. He read us the question and the multiple choice answers and that we only had 10 seconds
to answer the question. After the quiz, he told us that he would give us our one and only "mulligan" which is one
free chance and is a term used in golf. By a mulligan, he meant a free chance to do our blogs in class. So, that is
what I am doing right now, writing my blog for today in class. Overall, we only took a pop quiz today.

Guns, Germs, and Steel Video Notes

• Jared Diamond
• author (video inspired by book)
• professor in ULCA
• biologist in training
• real passion: study of birds
• specialist in human physiology
• expert of birds in New Guinea
• the haves = have money, power, food
• the have-nots = do not have money, power, food
• story begins in Papua, New Guinea
• people have been living in Papua, New Guinea for over 40,000
• poorer than most Americans 
• most diverse culture
• "why you white men have so much cargo, and we, New Guineans, have so little?"
• cargo (defined by New Guinean) = material goods that Western Americans brought and evidence of white mans power
• colonist believe power determined by race (ex. making New Guineans carry colonists across water to avoid becoming wet)
• all great civilizations have something in common (ex. Greek, Romans, Egyptians)
• advanced technology
• large populations
• a well organized work force
• pre-history = before we started to write things down
• New Guineans still live like in pre-history
• 13,000 years ago everyone in the world lived the hunter and gatherer lifestyle
• no tribes, villages, groups
• ate --> once everything was gone, moved on to new area
• most of gathering is done by women
• most effective, but not a lot of calories and nutrients
• sago = main food of New Guineans
• low protein, high carbs, hard to store
• fills you up, easy to process
• grains that grew back then
• barley and wheat --> could be stored for years
• draa = one of earliest permanent villages
• granary = enclosed area to store food
• people are growing own food
• planting where they want
• controlling food --> don't have to keep moving

First Day of Western Civilization

Today was the first Western Civilization class of the second semester. I met my new teacher, Mr. Schick.

I was nervous at first to enter a new class with a new teacher, but after the first day, Mr. Schick seems super
engaging, fun, and quite funny. I am very excited to start this new class. However, since it was the first class,
we didn't take any notes and Mr. Schick just talked about the blog requirements and the class structure.
Mr. Schick told us all of the guidelines for the blogs. Some of the requirements are at least 150 words,
turned in that night before midnight, and need to include notes and what we did in class. At first, I was really
nervous and worried to write a blog for homework every time we had class, but now that I am writing, I don't
think the blogs will be difficult. Then, for the class structure, Mr. Schick said that we will need a composition
notebook because we will be taking notes most days in class. I am very happy that the class will be simple,
but I have heard that there are not many presentation projects in Mr. Schick's classes and that would be my
only suggestion; to have some partner or group presentation projects. Overall, I am very excited to be in Mr.
Schick's Western Civilization class.