Marisa Ziegler

    Today in class we took a test. It was on ancient Greece and went over some material we covered awhile ago. I was a little confused on why we spent the last "review" days going over material that was barely on the test, when we really should have reviewed the information we haven't talked about for three weeks that was on the test. I struggled with some of the test questions that went back to the beginning of the unit. We already took a test on the beginning of the unit, so I figured we were past that information. I struggled with the questions on the generals and wars. I was mixed up the names because a lot of the Greek names sound alike. I also messed up on the mathematician/astronomer question because I forgot to study the names more in depth. The question asked what astronomer estimated the size of the earth. I said it was Aristarchus, but it was actually Eratosthenes.

    Today in class we discussed Hellenistic culture. Hellenistic culture is a blend of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian culture. The language Koine was spoken and was a direct result of cultural blending. It allowed the people in the Hellenistic world to be able to communicate. Alexandria became the foremost center of commerce and culture/civilization. The commerce enabled the city to grow and prosper. There was half a million diverse people inhabiting Alexandria. The attractions to the city were Alexander's coffin (which didn't exactly contain Alexander), Pharos (lighthouse), and the library, which had 500,000 papyrus scrolls. There were many advancements with Astronomy and technology. Aristarchus found out that the sun is at least 300x bigger than the Earth. Also, he figured out that other planets revolved around the sun. Ptolemy said the Earth was in the center of the universe, and was taught for the next 14 centuries. Eratosthenes estimated the real size of the Earth an

    Today in class we found out that we would be having our test on Wednesday. We still needed to talk about Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great conquered Persia and Egypt and went all the way from Macedonia to the Indus River. His conquered area extended across a nation with many cultures. King Philip first ruled over Macedonia in 359 B.C.. Philip built a Macedonian empire. Macedonia is north of Greece and has a rough terrain and cold climate. King Philip became king at age 23. He was a brilliant general and politician. King Philip transformed peasants into a well-trained army and organized the phalanx and fast moving cavalry. He invaded Greece and won. He was going to conquer Persia but he was murdered at his daughter’s wedding. His son Alexander claimed himself king and was tutored by Aristotle. He relied on the Iliad for his learning. Alexander had a military background and defeated the Thebian rebellion which stopped ideas of rebellion by others. In Granicus, Alexander was ou

    Today in class we didn't do much. Ryan presented his project on Homer, and gave facts on the Odyssey, the Iliad, and facts on Homer. I learned some new things about how long both stories are. At the end, he did a poll on how many people think Homer actually existed. People would write yes or no on a sheet of paper and put it in a box. Ryan calculated the totals and determined there was 17 yes' and  6 nos. About 68% of the class said yes, and 32% said no. I said yes because I think Homer existed. We also talked about the snow we will be getting. We determined that we would have 14-22" of snow by Thursday morning. I think we will have off tomorrow and either a 2 hour delay or off Thursday. We are getting out at 12:45 today. So far, we probably have about an inch of snow, and it should continue today, tonight, and all day tomorrow.

    Today in class we read in the textbook and did the questions on page 149. The questions and answers are below. Hellenistic: The Hellenistic culture was a new vibrant culture that was made of a blend of Egyptian, Persian, and Indian. It allowed the people to speak a similar language throughout the Hellenistic regions, and cities were able to communicate. It united the people and region.  Alexandria: Alexandria was a city with a Hellenistic culture and became the foremost center of commerce and trade in a Hellenistic civilization. It was able to become a thriving city because of its commerce, and was international. Also, it had a strategic site on the Nile delta. Euclid: Euclid was a mathematician who taught in Alexandria. His book Elements is a basis for geometry courses still used today. He helped make many advancements in the academic component of the Hellenistic world.  Archimedes: Archimedes estimated the value of pi, and he also explained the law of the lever. He also

    Today in class two more groups presented their projects. One project was on democracy, and another project was on a trireme. The democracy project talked about the definition of democracy, and how the United Staes compares. t was very interesting because there was a list of the most democratic countries in the world, and the U.S. wasn't even in the top ten. For the trireme project, it talked about the components of the ship and how it was made. They also made a model of it. They explained how it can hold up to 170 men, and contains 3 levels, hence tri. Also, I learned that on the front of the ship there was a part made of brass that was used as a battering ram. Also, the ships were made of carious types of wood and would absorb some of the water making it very heavy. A certain type of wood called green wood could not be used because it started out moist then became dry and would crack causing severe damage to the ship.

    Today in class other groups presented. There was a group that did pottery, and a group that did Greek advancements. When we presented, there were two other groups that went. One group did armor, and the other did the Olympics. The projects have been very interesting so far. For example, the pottery project had many good stories behind it. The Greek's would paint stories in their pottery to commemorate a specific event. The people in the group made a pot with a story about Hercules on it.  Another interesting project was one with a map of Greece and specific things in specific parts. For example, the Spartan army was located in Sparta, and same with Athens in accordance to the map. This project was interesting because you could really see the geography and advancements on the map. There are a few groups left, and I am excited to see what they did their projects on because the projects so far have been very well done.

    Today in class we started our presentations. My group was first so we had to get all of our food together. First, we went through and gave everyone plates, utensil, napkins, etc. Then, our powerpoint was up so we went to present. Our first slide, the introduction, was read. I wish more of the information was presented by the speaker, but the point of the slide was gotten across. The next slide was the pita bread, then spinach pies then baklava. After the spinach pie slide, the food was beginning to be passed out. People got their pita bread first, then spinach pies, then baklava. Everyone loved the spinach pies and baklava. I think we should have warmed up the pita bread and it would have tasted better. I think we got a good grade overall because we didn't just read our slides word for word; we knew what we wanted to say and summarized the slides. We also had pictures at the end to show our process of making it.

    Today in class we continued to work on our projects. We finished our presentation, and we organized our list for making the food. We are getting together tonight and tomorrow to make our spinach pies, baklava, and pita bread. We need to write our paper still, but we will do that after we cook and will incorporate things that went on while we were cooking. On our presentation, we added:  Baklava is a classic Greek dessert that contains nuts, butter, sugar, dough and cinnamon. Sugar was not available during ancient Greek times, so their sweetener was honey. Baklava originated in Mesopotamia and Greek merchants brought the dessert recipe back to Athens. The Greeks changed the dish for the better by creating the phyllo dough that was as thin as a leaf. The phyllo dough is still used today, and we added it in our dish. We are all excited to share our topic with the class, and we hope they learn something.

   Today in class we worked on our projects. My group continued our powerpoint and added some new things. The information includes: Pita bread is made with yeast, flour, salt and olive oil. Bread was very easy to make, besides the fact that there was a very little grain  in Greece due to their minuscule amount if farmland. When woman in particular were making the bread, a flute player was setting a work tempo for them. Bread was a very big part of their diet; by 400 B.C., they had about 50-70 different types of bread. The Greek warriors were considered to be heavy bread- eaters,  instead of meat- eaters. Fun Fact: Socrates did not like whole grain bread and considered it pig’s food. S pinach pies are a prime example of “don’t knock it till you try it.” Although it sounds a little odd, it contains delicious, savory ingredients. Spinach pies have spinach, salt, eggs, feta cheese, pepper and olive oil. Greeks have made pies since ancient times. The pies can be sweet or salty, and

    Today in class we took notes on Alexander's Empire. In my notes I included: Macedonia was located north of Greece. It had a rough terrain and a cold climate. Macedonians lived in mountain villages and were looked down on by Greeks. In 359 B.C. King Philip became king. He was a brilliant general, and built a well- trained army out of almost nothing. He used a phalanx and cavalry. Demosthenes warned Greek's of Philip's attacking threats. In 338 B.C., Thebes and Athens united, but it was too late. Macedonia invaded and defeated Greece in the battle of Chaeronea. However, nearly 2 years later, King Philip was stabbed to death, and his son Alexander took power. Alexander shut down the Thebian rebellion, and began to invade Persia in 334 B.C. He defeated the Persians at Granieus and Darius III became alarmed of Alexander's growing power. He got an army together, but was defeated. Alexander marched into Egypt in 332 B.C. and was anointed Pharaoh. He later went to Mesopotam

    Today in class we worked on our projects. My group is doing food so we planned out what we are going to make, and we added some points to our powerpoint presentation. Here is some of the points we added. Ancient Greeks ate a variety of foods. Their appetite consisted of olives, bread, fish, wheat, cheese (feta), and they even created spanakopita, a type of pie. They used goats for milk and chez. Chez was very big part of their diet. Greeks believe that Aristaios was sent by the gods to teach cheese making. Feta has been known since Homer’s time. Olives were not only a big part of their diet, but also a major trade item. Olives could be used to eat, to be put in dishes, and to be turned into oil (WHICH IS DELICIOUS).  Greeks’ food advancements still stick around today, and many people who are not Greek eat and enjoy the food and get a taste of the ancient times.