Economics Journal* Brit

So far in this economics unit I have learned many things I didn't know before such as definitions that are important. Words such as, opportunity cost, choices, cost, and scarcity never occurred important to me until now. I learned that there is always an alternative when making choices. For example, when we did the lesson on surviving in Alaska with very few things available, we had to learn that there is more than one use for everything. It was interesting to know that when making decisions, you have to consider the most important things, what can you produce with the things you have, how will you make things such as food and shelter with what you have, and how will you share everything with the others evenly. Throughout the past few weeks I have learned many different things about economics. Some of the things I have learned include, how Communism collapsed, about the silver market, how equilibrium prices vary with equilibrium quantities, and also many new vocabulary words.

Whenever we learned about Communism collapsing we did a worksheet which included two subjects. Market economy, and command economy. We took notes on each and compared how they were different. Market economy consisted of private property which meant that individuals owned the means of production. On the other hand, command economy consisted of public ownership which meant the government owned the means of production.

When we learned about the silver market we did a fun activity which included trading cards with other students. I learned that when I sold to the buyers I could sell for more than my card asked for. I learned throughout the process that my incentive was to earn more money than my card sold for. I learned that a lot the trades were not made at the equilibrium or market- clearing price because the prices vary with the number of buyers and sellers. As the game went on I lowered my prices and gained more money.

With doing all of these interesting activities, it helped me learn and understand economics better.

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

I think the most persuasive argument is the Ethos approach. I think this because it is very direct and right to the point. It tells you what they think or want they want to do. For example John McCain said "we're not going to do that in my administration" he is telling you that its something that WILL NOT happen and you get the point. Barack Obama says " We need to cut the business tax rate in america, and we need to encourage business" He gets his point across very well by using the key word needs. This is why I would say that the Ethos approach is the most effective.
*Justine

Final Blog* Brit

When we first started talking about politics and the election, I wasn't too fond of them. But after spending so much time researching and learning so many things about them, I am a little more interested than I was before.

Throughout the past few weeks I have learned a lot about the two candidates running in the 2008 election, John McCain and Barack Obama. After researching information about the election, I have changed my views about the candidates. Before I researched anything about this topic, I supported Barack Obama because of his positive outlook on Iraq. I was not aware of all of the other things Obama supported. He also supports in reforming the No Child Left Behind, he believes in investing in childhood education, and he too wants to make college affordable to all Americans unlike John McCain wants to do. John McCain believes the parents should push their children to to their best in school. He also does not believe in No Child Left Behind, and thinks we should no longer accept low- standards from some students and should only accept high-standards from the other students. I do not agree with John McCain on this issue. I found out that I support Obama on this issue along with many other issues such as, the economy, health care, and civil rights.


After I heard Barack Obama won the election, I was very pleased. I am glad I did more research on him because now I know exactly what he wants to do with our country, and what issues he supports.


When we had the mock election, my job was an exit pole person. I thought it was neat being able to participate in the mock election because I learned how a real election worked.The mock election helped me learn more about the candidates in the 2008 election. For this mock election, I researched the two candidates running in the national election, Barack Obama,John McCain, and our state senator, Ed Rendell. I chose to research the issue, employment and I retrieved facts about how each Representative wanted to improve or change employment in America. I learned that John McCain would like to create more good American Jobs, Barack Obama would like to raise minimum wage to help workers maintain a living, and provide for their families. And I also found out that Ed Rendell would like to increase funding for state job training programs. After finding out this information, I learned a lot more than I ever knew about the Representatives. It helped me make a decision in the mock election.

I thought this unit was very interesting because I got to learn about so many new things I didn't know before, and I am now more educated on politics. Also with learning about these things, it made me change my behavior on the way I look at politics. I used to look at them as boring and pointless people, but now I view them differently. I now understand that politics are important and each and every issue is important to our country no matter what that issue is.

-Brittany

Final Essay

In the beginning of this lesson i was bored to death with what we were doing didn't think that i cared anything about the election or the candidates. As we worked more and more in class i started to learn what was going on and took some interest in politics not a lot but some. Looking backing on everything that we did in class with the election I have learned so much. From the issues of Barack Obama and John McCain to the way that I now see the candidates. And how views on issues are very different form one another.

We looked at many different things in class. We took a survey on how we see other people as in color. I did not see a difference with myself but some people were the complete opposite. When they saw a different color skin they thought that they are very different from white people. This test was not to tell you if you were raciest or not but to see if you thought differently when you saw a person of different skin. Also we looked at the electoral college. We had to look into it then blog and say if we thought it was good or bad. In class we took a survey type of thing that got you to think and sometimes got people to change there mind on what they thought about the electoral college. Lastly we looked right at voting. We got hands on stuff to do. We did a mock election we got to vote, campaign, and do polls this was a very fun and interesting event that we did.

Looking more into the issues with John McCain, I have learned much more about him than what i knew in the begging McCain is for war. I thought at first this was a bad thing but then i looked more into the people who are actually fighting the war and they agree that we need to be there longer and not to just leave the war the way things are. Also McCain is not for abortion unlike Obama, McCain does not think that it is right to kill a baby rather it is 3 weeks or 9 months into the pregnancy. John McCain also supports the no child left behind, which means's we will probably be keeping the law. Barack Obama is against guns he doesn't believe that a person should not be aloud to carry a gun for protection. John McCain I would say is kind of like George Bush this in not good usually and i do think that we need some change in the way things are done! and i think that Barack will be able to help us make that change. Now that it is all said and done Barack Obama is now our president. I'm sure there will be changes lets hope they are for the better and things straighten out.
Justine

Lesson 2.4- electorial college - Brit

Now that I have read everything about the electoral college, I am more educated about it and know a little more about the topic. After comprehending what electoral college was and reading a little about it, I thought it should be changed because Americans votes were being filtered into the electoral college. I also found out that the winner of the popular vote usually wins the electoral college vote too. At first I didn't think this was fair. After reading this, I still thought the electoral college should be reformed. But after reading everything I realized the electoral college increases voter apathy, it creates political stability by encouraging the two-party system, and it also holds the intention that we live in a constitutional republic and not a democracy.With these statements said, I believe they are very important and I have reason to believe the electoral college should not be reformed. If I wouldn't have read into this subject, I don't think I would have changed my opinion on the electoral college.
- Brit