Natural Disaster Post

  I recently read this article on the web about Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.  The government gave 16.7 billion dollars to housing for some 800,00 citizens forced to live outside of their homes.  This is kind of like the monsoons in the India with the book we are currently reading.  The monsoons have the ability to destroy homes just as hurricanes do.  Hurricane Katrina also forced people to leave their homes and completely change their way of life.  In India, an entire year's crop could be destroyed solely by nature and force people to possibly go without food for days on end.  Both hurricanes in America and monsoons in India can have grave effects on the populations.  The problems with both of these disasters is that it is hard for people to prepare for them.  That is one of the main reasons that makes them both dangerous.  In America, people are at least warned about a hurricane before it strikes.  Many casualties come from warned citizens who refuse to flee their homes.  It is always hard to leave your life when you may not even be hurt.  "The First Year After Hurricane Katrina: What The Federal Government Did."  Homeland Security.  16 Oct. 2008.  FEMA.  30 Jan. 2009.  <http://www.dhs.gov/xfoia/archives/gc_1157649340100.shtm>

Class Activity

This post is about the class activity today. The activity was interesting, but not necessarily surprising. The card I held on to for the longest time was the outdoors card. I know that I would dislike to give up anything, but it would be awful to live inside your whole life. I think that boys got rid of their male cards faster than girls got rid of their female cards. The minority adjectives also were harder for people to give up than the majority adjectives. When you are the majority, you do not feel like the card describes you as much as if you were the minority. In conclusion, I think the activity is a good one for the classroom because it forces kids to think about other cultures and the effects they can have on each other.