Cathedrals of the Middle Ages and Something Special

Hey Grade 8's,
As promised, here are some pictures of famous Cathedrals from built during the Middle Ages. As you can see they are mazing structures to behold. The first pictures are from the Cathedral in Lincoln England and the the famous Cathedral of Canturbury.

Lincoln Cathedral

                                     Canterbury Cathedral Enlgand         Inside picture of the Cathedral

Now, this next Cathedral is currently in production in Barcelona Spain. La Segrada Familia was commisioned in 1882 and is still being built today. They say it has 5 more years until completion. The architecte of this amazing structure is Gaudi. He died in 1928 but his vision continues. This Cathedral is in full working order and holds daily masses and is visited by millions. It is the most unique cathedral in the world.

Exterior shots of this mass structure. Each pillar represtents the apostales.

Areal shot of the Cathedral in downtown Barcelona

If you want more information on La Sagrada Familia go to http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/ and push the "eng" button or you will be reading everything in spanish.

Enjoy

Stonehenge: Aliens or Druids?

Stonehenge is located in England, in a county called Wiltshire (same name of my complex that I live in). It was built around 2500 B.C by what many believe are Druids. There is speculation that humans could not have moved these stones, but the question begs who else could have done it?. No one knows exactly what is was used for, but people believe that it was a burial ground, a ritual (prayer) site, an astronomical observatory (basically, a place to watch/measure stars and the sky), or some combination of all three. If you want to know more do google search to find out more. Next class, I want all of you to tell me what you learned about Stonehenge and how it relates to the Druids.

What were the People in Pompeii like?

These are frescos-wall paintings-found in Pompeii after the destruction of the city and its peoples and found my archeologists during a dig of the ruined city many centuries later. They were preserved due to the immediate cover from the volcanic matter. As you can see they give  an idea of what life was like for the people of Pompeii. Your assignments is to comment here on the following questions: What do you think these people were like? What were some things that the people of Pompeii value? Why is it so important for us to find such beautiful and intact ancient works of art? Enjoy looking at these frescos and I cannot wait to hear your comments on the questions.

Roman City of Pompeii and the Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

This is an image of the Roman city of Pompeii. Pompeii is located in the Naples region of Italy. In 79 CE, the local volano, Mt. Vesuvius erupted without warning covering the city with soot and lava. The eruptions was so quick that the people were killed instantly. Because the laval and soot covered quickly, many of the people were petrified in the same place they were when the natural disaster happened. Bellow I have added some pictures of these people. They are still in Pompeii.

Person just getting up from a night of sleep

Young couple sleeping in each others arms

Family sleeping in their home in the early morning hours

Tell me what you all think of these images. These were real people doing their daily work, most of whom were still sleeping in the early morning hours when the eruption took place. How do you fell looking at these photos of these people? Comment on these photos.

Welcome to a New Year for some of you it is your last Year in Hight School

Well, Its a new year and I am excited to start. This year I will be teaching Law 12, AP Psychology 12 and Social Studies 8. I am also the AP/Scholarship Coordinator and so if you are a grade 12 you can find information for Scholarships and AP news. This year I am hoping to have some great home learning activities for all of my students. For many of my units, Students will have the opportunity to come to this blog and comment on in class readings and dicussions . You may have pictures to anazlyse or primary documents to comment on. It will be a great place to express you learning in my classes.
Hope you are all ready and lets get learning.