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Over the course of this unit, we learned about human geography. We discussed important topics such as demographic patterns, refugees and immigration, and lastly, population growth. Today, we had a different geography class. Mainly because we had a guest speaker that came and talk to us about the Syrian Conflict and how it impacted their life. The guest speaker was a young man who's job was to help refugees flee from war. But before he talked, we watched a video about a young girl that was kidnapped by ISIS and escaped. We found out that she is now living in Canada and was in the same room as us! This was such a cool experience to have a young hero attend our school and even be in the presence with you while you are discussing important topics about global conflict. I wanted to talk about this experience because in my previous blog I explained how war can negatively impact people's lives. This relates directly to my message for this unit: war doesn't solve anything. I believ...

Over the past few weeks, we have been learning about human geography. We also discussed global conflict and how it impacts lives; specifically, the Syrian War. Firstly, the Syrian War affects people's lives by making them displaced. Over the course of the past few years, over 11 million Syrians became refugees and over 6 million Syrians are internally displaced; meaning that they are still inside Syria but still had to leave their home for another safer city. People who still remain inside Syria are facing other threats such as uncertain futures with lack of job and educational opportunities. Now, when I think about the Syrian conflict, I mainly think of the children and their families. Families sometimes have to witness the loss of their loved ones due to bombings/harsh living conditions. They have to walk in the blistering heat on foot for days. They may even die on their way to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. There have been many cases of death due to fatigue and lack of ...

On Thursday, October 18th, we went on a geography excursion to Downtown Toronto in Cabbagetown and Regent Park. We learned about the gentrification and revitalization of Toronto.  I saw many interesting things. For example, there were buildings that were being rebuilt and there was a lot of construction work happening. I noticed that the neighborhoods both had features that increased people's well beings. As well, these factors lead to higher life expectancy and many more benefits. For example, Regent Park had a community center with a pool; a lot of people were enjoying their time at the pool; most of the people there, were moms with their toddlers. So, it's clear that the planners of the Regent Park community, wanted some activities for families. Seeing the community center was important to me because these small things increase people's mental and physical well being. Regent Park had a park filled with different types of playground "equipment". There were swing...

Throughout our first geography unit, we learned about climate change, natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes tornadoes, etc..,), protecting Canada's biodiversity, and many more. This week, we watched a documentary by star actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. The documentary was titled "Before the Flood"; it discussed (in my opinion), important factors/causes of climate change and how to stop the issue. For instance, how burning fossil fuels negatively impacts the environment and leads to rising sea levels and pollution. The interesting part of the documentary was about the pollution; many countries around the world have air pollution. In some places, the air pollution is so severe that people have to wear face masks to go outside. Additionally, the residents are at a risk of developing cancer and other health related issues. When I heard about this, I thought about how lucky Canada is to have something as simple as clean air. My favourite part about this unit was...