Rhode Island and Providence Geography

Rhode Island Geography

*** UPDATE *** Geography of Me Example

Below is the link to my presentation.  Feel free to use which ever program you are the most comfortable with.  Any questions at all - feel free to email me at richard.pearson@ppsd.org

Thanks



Geography of Me - Pearson Edition


***UPDATE***

A great source!  Plenty about each of the neighborhoods in Providence.

https://www.providenceri.com/ONS/neighborhoods

Geography of Me

Geography of Me

Students will use the “Geography of Me” graphic organizer and the information they gather to produce a Power Point, Google Slide, or poster board presentation. Along with the information that is on the graphic organizer, students should also include maps of where they are from and pictures that represent their neighborhoods.  Students should choose to write about the neighborhood they know the most about, or are most comfortable researching.  Included in the grade for this project will be a 2-4 minute presentation. 

	4	3	2	1	0
Map	A detailed map showing the neighborhood that is being written about is included in the presentation.	X	X	X	No map is included in the presentation
Pictures	Pictures are used throughout the presentation to enhance the story of the neighborhood.  10-12 pictures included.	Pictures are used throughout the presentation to enhance the story of the neighborhood.   8-10 pictures included.	Pictures are used throughout the presentation to enhance the story of the neighborhood.   6-8 pictures included.	Pictures are used throughout the presentation to enhance the story of the neighborhood.   4-6 pictures included.	A few pictures were used throughout the presentation. Less than 4 pictures are included.
Responses	All of the questions from the graphic organizer are answered.  The responses are well thought out and display an excellent understanding of the neighborhood.	Most of the questions from the graphic organizer are answered.  The responses are well thought out and display an good understanding of the neighborhood.	Some of the questions from the graphic organizer are answered.  The responses are well thought out and display an understanding of the neighborhood.	One or two of the questions from the graphic organizer are answered.  The responses show a limited understanding of the neighborhood.	None of the questions from the graphic organizer are included in the presentation.
Presentation	Student presented their project in front of the class for 4 or more minutes.	Student presented their project in front of the class for 3 minutes.	Student presented their project in front of the class for 2 minutes.	Student presented their project in front of the class for 1 minutes.	No presentation was made in front of the class.
				____________/16	=_____________

All projects must be shared with Mr. Pearson by Friday December 2^nd.  Late assignments will have 5 points deducted for each school day that it is late.  Pleas share with -> richard.pearson@providenceschools.org

Rosa Parks Project

Here is a link to the "Textbook" that should be rewritten for your Rosa Parks project.


Textbook


Good luck!

Election Quiz

Quiz

1.       Based on information in the article on Hilary Clinton, which of these statements is TRUE?

a.       Hillary Clinton was first active as a Democrat, then a Republican.

b.      Hillary Clinton wants to make universities lower the cost for a college education.

c.        Hillary Clinton broke the law when Christopher Stevens was killed in Benghazi.

d.      Hillary Clinton has run for president two times.

2.       Select the sentence from the section “Campaign Issues” that BEST shows how Clinton changed her ideas about some issues over time.

a.       On her campaign site, Clinton talks about many issues that are important to her.

b.      She wants to lower student debt, the amount of money students owe for their college education.

c.       For example, she used to be against gay marriage, but now she supports it.

d.      She is also in favor of the death penalty but says it should only be used in rare cases.

3.       What effect did Marin Luther King, Jr.’s speech have on Hillary Clinton?

a.       It motivated her to work in politics.

b.      It encouraged her to be active in Republican groups.

c.       It inspired her to run for senior class president.

d.      It made her want to run for president after college.

4.       According to the article, how did the FBI react to Clinton’s email scandal?

a.       It decided that her staff members committed a crime.

b.      It decided that she had been reckless with her responsibilities.

c.       It decided that she should leave her position as secretary of state.

d.      It decided that she should be punished for using her personal email.

5.       Which selection from the article BEST reflects a main goal of Donald Trump’s campaign for president?

a.       Several of his campaign events became violent and some people said he did not try to stop the fights.

b.      He would also reduce taxes and cancel President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, which is called Obamacare and gives health insurance to millions of people.

c.       He became the first Republican candidate to talk about lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual Americans at the party’s convention.

d.       He asked why Mrs. Khan stood silently at her husband’s side while he spoke.  Trump suggested that her religion, Islam, forbids her from talking.

6.       Which tow of the following are the main ideas of the article?

                                                               i.      Trump built a business empire by working on large real estate projects.

                                                             ii.      Trump’s fortune is probably less than the $1.5 billion he claims.

                                                            iii.      As Trump has run for president, he has said a lot of things that people disagree with.

                                                           iv.      Trump did not try to stop the fights that happened at his campaign events.

a.       i and ii

b.      i and iii

c.       ii and iii

d.      iii and iv

7.       What effect did Khizr Khan’s speech have on many Americans?

a.       They felt happy about what happened with the Khan family.

b.      They decided to support the Democratic National Convention.

c.       They agreed with what he said about Trump.

d.      They were mad at the Republican National Convention.

8.       Based on the article, which of the following statements is TRUE?

a.       When Donald Trump took over his father’s company, he built a real estate empire that made him a lot of money.

b.      Trump Shuttle was Donald Trump’s most successful business.

c.       Donald Trump said that a wall is needed to keep the LGBT community away.

d.      Donald Trump wants to continue Obama’s healthcare law that gives health insurance to people.

9.       Which of the following sentences from the article BEST explains how the Electoral College works?

a.       As a result, the votes of millions of people who cast their ballot end up not counting.

b.      Due to the Electoral College, voters cast their ballots not for a candidate but for a slate of electors – party activists, including friends and allies of the contender – who will support their choice.

c.       Alexander Hamilton worried about giving power to the people because “they seldom judge or determine right.”

d.      By contrast, Ohio – the jewel in the crown of swing states, because tradition has it that no Republican can win the presidency without winning there – is well trodden by the candidates.

10.   Which of the following aspects of the article is NOT thoroughly discussed?

a.       How the Electoral College works in relation to the popular vote

b.      Why the Senate picks the vice president if no one wins 270 Electoral Votes

c.       How “swing” states affect an election

d.      Why the Electoral College was created by the founding fathers

Donald Trump

Synopsis: Donald Trump was born in 1946, in New York. In 1971, he began making big money building skyscrapers. He became New York City's best-known builder. In 2004, Trump began starring in the NBC reality TV series "The Apprentice." Trump next turned his attention to politics. In 2015, he announced that he was running for president of the United States. On July 19, 2016, Trump became the Republican candidate for president. Republicans and Democrats are the two main political parties, or groups, in the United States.

Early Life and Education

Donald John Trump was born on June 14, 1946, in the New York City borough of Queens. His parents were Frederick and Mary MacLeod Trump. Frederick Trump was a builder and real estate developer. Donald had much energy and behaved badly. When he was 13 years old, his parents sent him to the New York Military Academy, which was a very strict school. They hoped the school would teach him to use his energy positively.

Trump did well at the academy. He became a star athlete and student leader. After graduation, he entered Fordham University, in New York. Two years later, he went to the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1968.

New York Real Estate Developer

Trump followed his father and decided to work in real estate and be a builder. He had much grander goals, though. As a student, Trump worked with his father during the summer. He joined his company, Elizabeth Trump & Son, after graduating from college.

In 1971, Donald Trump took over the company and renamed it the Trump Organization. He started to get to know important people. Trump soon became involved in large building projects that made him a lot of money.

Expanding His Empire

Trump got into the casino gambling business. He either built or bought hotels and casinos in New Jersey, and Las Vegas, Nevada

Ups And Downs Of Business

Trump expanded his business empire. He bought a small airline company for $365 million. He called it the Trump Shuttle. The business did not last long.

In 1990, Trump claimed that he had a fortune of about $1.5 billion. Forbes magazine showed that he owed a lot of money and his fortune was really closer to $500 million. In September 2016, Forbes said Trump is now worth $3.7 billion.

Personal Life, Politics And Reality TV

Trump married Ivana Zelnickova Winklmayr in 1977. She was a New York fashion model and a competitive skier. The couple had three children.

In 1991, he and Ivana divorced. He got married two more times and has five children.

In 2004, Trump began working on the TV reality series "The Apprentice." The show was so successful that he also starred in "The Celebrity Apprentice." His catchphrase "You're fired!" became popular.

Presidential Contender

On June 16, 2015, Trump said he was running for president as a Republican. There were more than a dozen other candidates. Trump boasted, "I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.” He said many things and some were not very nice.

Trump was an unusual candidate from the beginning. He insulted Mexicans, women, disabled people and Muslims. He said he would stop Muslims from moving to the United States. He said they were responsible for terror attacks. Several of his campaign events became violent and some people said he did not try to stop the fights.

GOP Presidential Nominee

On July 21, 2016, Trump became the Republican choice for president at the Republican National Convention. Trump spoke about the problems he would deal with as president. They included violence, the economy, immigration, trade with other countries and terrorism.

Trump promised that he would defend the right to own a gun in the United States. He would also reduce taxes and cancel President Barack Obama's healthcare law, which is called Obamacare and gives health insurance to millions of people. Trump also said he would build a wall between the United States and Mexico to stop people from entering the country without permission.

He became the first Republican candidate to talk about lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual Americans at the party's convention.

Trump made many people angry when he said cruel things to Khizr Khan. He is the father of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq. Khan had spoken at the Democratic National Convention. He criticized Trump for many things, including his promise to keep Muslims from entering the United States. His speech was emotional and many Americans felt support for the Khan family.

Trump then said unkind things about the Khans on TV. He asked why Mrs. Khan stood silently at her husband’s side while he spoke. Trump suggested that her religion, Islam, forbids her from talking.

Electoral College

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anyone watching the United States’ presidential race needs to understand that national opinion polls do not provide an accurate picture of how the election might turn out. Thanks to America’s Electoral College, it’s not who wins the most votes nationwide that matters in the end, but who wins in which states.

Each state is awarded a certain number of votes in the Electoral College, depending on the size of its population. The candidate who crosses the threshold of 270 electoral votes wins the presidency.

In almost every state, a candidate who wins 50.1 percent of the popular vote is awarded 100 percent of its electoral votes. (Only Maine and Nebraska don’t follow the winner-take-all rule; they divide the Electoral College vote by congressional district.) As a result, the votes of millions of people who cast their ballot end up not counting. If you’re a Republican in New York or California, which are dominated by the Democrats, or a Democrat in Wyoming or Mississippi, which are reliably Republican, you can forget about your vote for president mattering.

One peculiar result of this peculiar system is that a candidate can win a majority of the national popular vote but lose in the Electoral College, by losing narrowly in populous states and winning in some smaller states. It doesn’t happen often, but whenever it does, the U.S. goes through a paroxysm of hand-wringing over this seemingly undemocratic mechanism. In the most recent case, Al Gore won a majority of the popular vote in 2000, but George W. Bush won the presidency.

Due to the Electoral College, voters cast their ballots not for a candidate but for a slate of electors – party activists, including friends and allies of the contender – who will support their choice. The role of the electors is a brief formality; they meet in their state capitol and cast the vote. But we already know how it’s going to turn out, because the presidential election results are reported at the time in terms of who won each state.

At this point, the national vote count is meaningless. Congress convenes and “counts” the electoral votes; but this, too, is a mere formality. (The Bush-Gore contest was unusual in that it wasn’t settled until December 12, more than a month after the election, when the Supreme Court, in a partisan and highly controversial decision, voted 5-4 to end the recount in Florida, handing the presidency to Bush.)

Now, here’s where it can get convoluted, and possibilities for mischief arise: if no one wins 270 Electoral College votes, the election goes to the House of Representatives, where each state delegation casts a single vote, regardless of how many voters the delegation represents. Wyoming (population 585,000) and California (population 39,000,000) each get one vote. And the delegations aren’t bound to vote for the candidate who won the most votes in their state.

Then, after the House elects the president, the Senate picks the vice president, with each senator getting one vote. It’s theoretically possible that Congress could elect a president and vice president from different parties.

This labyrinthine system for choosing the president reflects the ambivalence of America’s founders about popular democracy. They were suspicious of the rabble – the public – having its way on the basis of misinformation or a lack of understanding of the issues. The United Kingdom’s vote in June to leave the European Union – against the advice of experts and allies – appears to validate this concern.

From the outset, America’s founders were aware of the dangers of government by plebiscite. Alexander Hamilton worried about giving power to the people because “they seldom judge or determine right.” Fearing “an excess of democracy,” they interposed institutional buffers between the popular will and government decisions. Until 1913, senators were chosen by state legislatures, not directly elected by the voters. And they gave us the Electoral College.

This system has an enormous impact on the actual campaign for the presidency, because it determines where the candidates spend their time and money. Only about 10 states are considered “swing” states that could go for either party; the rest are considered “safe” states for one party or the other.

Of course, sometimes the political wisdom can be wrong and a state bounces out of its category. But these 10 “battleground” states are the ones to watch for clues as to how the election will turn out. They are much more indicative of the final result than national polls.

For example, California and New York are so routinely Democratic that the only reason candidates turn up in either one is to raise money. By contrast, Ohio – the jewel in the crown of swing states, because tradition has it that no Republican can win the presidency without winning there – is well trodden by the candidates. The other states considered most important to victory for either side are Florida and Pennsylvania.

Because such populous states, along with a handful of others, routinely go Democratic, the Democrats have a built-in advantage in the Electoral College. So Donald Trump is widely believed to have more limited options for accumulating 270 votes.

Maybe the Electoral College isn’t such a peculiar idea, after all.

Elizabeth Drew is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and the author, most recently, of "Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall."

Hillary Clinton

Synopsis: Hillary Clinton was born on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. She has a law degree from Yale University and married Bill Clinton in 1975. After her husband became president, she served as first lady from 1993 to 2001. She became a U.S. senator in 2001 and secretary of state in 2009. In 2016, she became the first woman in U.S. history to be chosen by a major political party as its candidate for president.

Background

Hillary Clinton was born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were Hugh Rodham and Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham. Her father was a wealthy fabric store owner.

As a young woman, Clinton was active in Republican groups. Republicans and Democrats are the two major political parties, or groups, in the United States. She was inspired to work in public service after hearing a speech by the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. She became a Democrat in 1968.

Education And Early Career

Hillary Clinton attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She was was elected senior class president. She then attended Yale Law School in Connecticut, where she met Bill Clinton. She graduated with honors in 1973.

Hillary Clinton taught at University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Her Yale Law School classmate and boyfriend, Bill Clinton, also taught there.

Marriage To Bill Clinton

Hillary Clinton married Bill Clinton on October 11, 1975. In 1980 they had a daughter who they named Chelsea.

In 1976, Hillary Clinton worked on Jimmy Carter's campaign for president. Her husband was elected attorney general, the top lawyer for the state of Arkansas. Bill Clinton then became governor of Arkansas in 1978 at age 32.

Hillary Clinton worked as a lawyer in Little Rock, the capitol of Arkansas. In 1988 and 1991, The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in America.

First Lady

Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992 and was elected. Hillary Clinton was an important part of his campaign. As president, he named her to head the Task Force on National Health Reform. It came up with a complicated plan that was never used.

Senate Win And Presidential Run

In 2001, Clinton became a U.S. senator from New York. She was the first wife of a president to be elected to a public office. She won reelection in November 2006.

In early 2007, Clinton announced her plans to be the first female president. In 2008, Clinton dropped out of the race when it became clear that Barack Obama would be the Democratic choice for president.

U.S. Secretary Of State

After he was elected, Obama named Clinton secretary of state. In this role, Clinton traveled around the world. She emphasized women's rights and human rights.

As secretary of state, Clinton was in charge of the the State Department. In 2012, an attack in Benghazi, Libya, killed U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens. A committee investigated the attack and found many problems at the State Department.

Clinton left her position on February 1, 2013. She had previously said she only wanted to serve one term.

Campaign Issues

In 2015, Clinton announced that she would once again run for president. 

On her campaign site, Clinton talks about many issues that are important to her. She wants to lower student debt, the amount of money students owe for their college education. She wants to improve health care. Women's rights are also important to her.

In the past, Clinton has changed her positions on some issues. Some people think she changes her mind too much. For example, she used to be against gay marriage, but now she supports it. She has changed her mind about the rules for how we should trade goods with other countries. She is also in favor of the death penalty but says it should only be used in rare cases.

Email Scandal

In 2015, it came out that Clinton had used her personal email account for official government business while she was secretary of state. The FBI investigated this. The next year, the FBI said that Clinton should not be charged with a crime. The director said that she and her staff members were "extremely careless" in handling secret information, though.

Making History

In July 2016, Clinton became the Democratic candidate for president. It was a historic achievement for women in the U.S. Clinton is the first woman in the 240-year history of the country to be chosen as the presidential candidate for a major political party.

Election Webquest

Election 2016 Webquest

Visit http://www.isidewith.com/elections/2016-presidential-quiz

1)       Before taking the quiz, which candidate do you support for president right now? (ok to say you are not sure…)_____________________

-          Take the quiz.

2)      Which presidential candidate does the website indicate that you side with?  

3)      Does this surprise you?  Why or why not?

4)      Which issue do you share the most in common with your candidate from this quiz?

5)      What do you think the odds are of your candidate winning the 2016 election?

Visit http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/2016_elections_electoral_college_map.html

6)      What state or states are –

a.       Solid for Clinton

b.      Leans Clinton
c.    Solid for Trump

d.      Leans Trump 
e.      Toss-Ups

Visit https://vote.sos.ri.gov/   Be sure to be on the “Lookup General Voter Information” tab. Enter your address information.

7)      Where is your polling place?