Founding of the Ming Dynasty, The Early Reign, The Golden Age of the Ming Dynasty, The Decline and Fall of the Ming Dynasty, The Economy of the Ming Dynasty, The Great Wall of China
LANGUAGE ARTS: Braille
The History of Braille, Derivation, How Braille Works, Reading with Touch, Grade II Braille, Grade III Braille
MATH: Angles
What Is an Angle?, Different Types of Angles, Complementary and Supplementary Angles, Measuring Angles, The Trigonometric Functions, Positive and Negative Angles
SCIENCE: The Solar System
What Is the Solar System?, The Planets, The Sun, The Asteroid Belt, The Milky Way, Dwarf Planets
FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Dutch
The Origins, Dialects, Changes to the Language, Polder Dutch, Dutch Today, Useful Dutch Phrases
LESSON 12A
THE MING DYNASTY
Founding of the Ming Dynasty The Yuan Dynasty, led by Mongols, left the economy and state of agriculture in shambles. A group of peasants, the Han Chinese, who were discriminated against during the Yuan Dynasty, rose up and revolted. Zhu Yuanzhang came to lead the group of rebels, and as the last Yuan leader fled north, Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty. Zhu took control of the capital city, Yuan, officially ending the Yuan Dynasty.
BRAILLE
The History of Braille Braille was invented in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. The system was originally based on a military code created by Charles Barbier that Napoleon had ordered so that soldiers would be able to communicate at night in silence. Barbier’s code was rejected as too difficult. In 1821, Barbier visited the National Institute for the Blind in Paris, France, and it is there that he met Louis Braille. Braille simplified Barbier’s code and created the six-dot cell, which would turn into Braille.
ANGLES
What Is an Angle? Angles are used in geometry. An angle is formed when two rays, an order of points in a line, share the same endpoint. The size of an angle refers to the value of the arc between the two lines, or the value of the rotation. There are five basic types of angles to know: acute, right, obtuse, reflex, and perigon.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
What Is the Solar System? The solar system consists of the Sun, the Earth, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, the moons orbiting the planets, dwarf planets, and the asteroid belt. The solar system has an elliptical shape and is always in motion. The largest object in the solar system is the Sun, which all other objects in the system orbit around. The solar system is believed to be about four billion years old.
DUTCH
The Origins Dutch is a part of the West Germanic dialect, and more specifically, it is a West Low Franconian language. Dutch can be traced back to a.d. 500, when Old Frankish was split by the High German consonant shift. The Dutch language is broken down into periods: Old Dutch, which lasted from 500 to 1150; Middle Dutch, which lasted from 1150 to 1500; and Modern Dutch, which began in 1500 and is still spoken today.
LESSON 12B
THE MING DYNASTY
The Early Reign When he came to power, Zhu Yuanzhang instituted a series of policies aimed to reduce the burden on the peasants, and placed great attention on punishing court officials involved in corruption and ending corruption. When Zhu Yuanzhang died, his son came to power; however, his son was soon overthrown in a coup led by Zhu Di, who would come to be known as Emperor Chengzu. The reign of Emperor Chengzu would be considered the most prosperous time in the Ming Dynasty.
BRAILLE
Derivation Braille was derived from the Latin alphabet, and the points were positioned according to the positions of letters in the alphabet. For example a has one dot, b has two dots, etc. The numbers also follow this pattern. Braille is the first binary encoding scheme that represents the characters of a system of writing.
ANGLES
Different Types of Angles As angles increase, their names change. Acute angles have values that are greater than zero but less than 90 degrees. A right angle is exactly 90 degrees. An obtuse angle is any angle greater than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees. A reflex angle is larger than an obtuse angle, and it is any angle that is more than 180 but less than 360. A perigon is a full rotation that equals 360 degrees exactly.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Planets There are eight planets in the solar system. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are known as rocky inner planets. These are smaller and denser, contain less gas, and are primarily composed of rock or metals. In fact, Mercury and Mars do not even have atmosphers. The other four planets, known as outer planets, are larger, with dense atmospheres and small cores.
DUTCH
Dialects Dialects in Dutch are extremely diverse, and there is said to be about twenty-eight distinct dialects. Flemish is the term used for the type of Dutch spoken in Belgium, and in Flanders there are four types of Flemish: West Flemish, East Flemish, Brabantian, and Limburgish. Flemish is considered a softer dialect, and it favors older words. Netherlandish Dutch, in contrast, is considered to be harsh and even hostile sounding. In the east of the country, Dutch Low Saxon is spoken, and in Holland, Hollandic is spoken.
LESSON 12C
THE MING DYNASTY
The Golden Age of the Ming Dynasty Emperor Chengzu’s reign was known as the Yongle Period, and is considered the Golden Age of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Chengzu launched a series of five wars against Mongolia, and most notably, it is during this time that the Forbidden City was constructed. Relations with minorities and different nationalities were strengthened, and Chengzu was the first to make Beijing the capital, a title it would hold for 500 years.
BRAILLE
How Braille Works There are a total of six dots that can represent a letter or number. The first ten letters of the alphabet only use the top four dots. The next ten letters are identical to the first ten, except an additional dot is added. Letters u, v, x, y, and z are like letters a through e, only different dots are added. The w is the only letter that is not in an order like this because the language was originally written in French, which didn’t have a w.
ANGLES
Complementary and Supplementary Angles Complementary and supplementary angles involve combining two angles. Complementary angles are any two angles that when added up, the sum is equal to 90 degrees. This means that if you put them together, they will form a right angle. A supplementary angle is the sum of any two angles that equals 180 degrees. This means that when they are added together, they make a straight line.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Sun The Sun is the center of the solar system, the closest star, and the largest object in the solar system. It makes up 99.8 percent of the mass of the solar system. The power of the Sun is produced through nuclear fusion reactions. The energy from the nuclear fusion travels into space in the form of light and heat. The surface of the Sun has a temperature of 5800 Kelvin.
DUTCH
Changes to the Language Pronunciation has changed over the past century in Dutch. Voiceless pronunciation with some letters — meaning saying hard sounds instead of using one’s voice — has started to become the standard for the language. This change mirrors a movement to make the spelling of Dutch words as phonological as possible. Another change that has not been declared an official change to the standard language, but rather has begun appearing in the younger generation is known as Polder Dutch.
LESSON 12D
THE MING DYNASTY
The Decline and Fall of the Ming Dynasty The Ming Dynasty began to decline under the reign of Emperor Shenzong. When his chancellor, Zhang Juzheng, died, state affairs began to be neglected, and later, his army was defeated by the “Latter-Jin” regime. The last ruler was Emperor Weizong, whose reign was defined by corruption and extreme hardship due to natural disasters. In 1628, rebel forces began attacking. In 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army. Emperor Weizong hanged himself, thus ending the Ming Dynasty.
BRAILLE
Reading with Touch Braille relies on the sense of touch rather than the sense of sight. While reading, you
move your index finger from left to right over the text with one hand, while the other hand searches for the next line of text. The text is a series of raised dots arranged in cells, and there are sixty-four possible combinations for one cell.
ANGLES
Measuring Angles The angle is defined by the theta symbol, θ. The length of the arc is represented by the lowercase letter s, and the radius of a circle is represented by the lowercase letter r. The lowercase letter k is used to represent a scaling constant, and that depends on the units of measurement in the problem. The basic formula for finding the value of an angle is:
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Asteroid Belt Asteroids are bits of rock that were left over after the formation of the Sun and the planets. These asteroids are most often found orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. This area is known as the asteroid belt, and more than 7,000 asteroids have been discovered in it. The total mass of the asteroids found in the asteroid belt is less than the mass of the Moon.
DUTCH
Polder Dutch Polder Dutch is a variation of Dutch spoken by the younger generation. In Polder Dutch (a term coined by Jan Stroop), diphthongs are pronounced with a wider mouth, and are pronounced lower. Polder Dutch seems to have begun around the 1970s, and originally it was middle-aged women and the upper-middle class who were pronouncing these diphthongs in this way. It has since spread.
LESSON 12E
THE MING DYNASTY
The Economy of the Ming Dynasty The economy of the Ming Dynasty showed an end of feudalism and the beginnings of capitalism. From the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang and onward, porcelain making was the major source of finance, and there was a wide interest in foreign commodities from both Europe and America. Urbanization and commercial metropolises also arose during this time in cities such as Beijing, Nanjing, and Yangzhou.
BRAILLE
Grade II Braille Grade II Braille is an extension of Braille used in English. Beyond just letters and numbers, it includes punctuation marks, composition signs, single-cell words, contractions, short-form words, and abbreviations. Whereas Grade I Braille used a cell to represent each letter, symbol, or number, in Grade II Braille, a single cell can represent whole words.
ANGLES
The Trigonometric Functions In trigonometry, sine, cosine, and tangent are used to find the relation of the angles of a triangle to the sides of the triangle. The basic equations are:
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Milky Way The Milky Way is the spiral-shaped galaxy that is the home to our solar system. Whereas the solar system revolves around one Sun, the Milky Way contains at least 400 billion other stars (with their planets and other objects in orbit). The Milky Way is just one of 200 billion galaxies that have been observed from Earth.
DUTCH
Dutch Today Dutch is currently the native language of Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Republic of Suriname. Dutch is said to be somewhere in between German and English; however, it most closely resembles German. It is spoken by 22 million people worldwide and was standardized in the seventeenth century. The Dutch of today has started to sound more like the dialect found in Holland.
LESSON 12F
THE MING DYNASTY
The Great Wall of China The majority of the Great Wall of China that exists today is from the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368 to 1644. The project took over 100 years to complete, and the wall was made in an effort to protect the citizens of the Ming Dynasty from outside Yuan tribes such as the Wala and the Dada.
BRAILLE
Grade III Braille Grade III is the last system of Braille, and it allows for reading shorthand. Grade III has not yet been standardized and is typically used for the convenience of the person reading. In Grade III, a lot of the vowels are omitted, and the spacing between words and paragraphs is much smaller. Sometimes, combinations of punctuation symbols are substituted for words.
ANGLES
Positive and Negative Angles If an angle is counterclockwise, the angle (θ) will have a positive value. If the angle is in a clockwise motion, then the value of θ will be negative. θ equaling -50 and θ equaling 50 do not mean the same thing. Angles have degrees of rotation and directions of rotation. Even though both of those numbers have the same degree of rotation, their directions are the opposite, making them different angles.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Dwarf Planets Until fairly recently, Pluto was referred to as another planet in our solar system; however, it is now referred to as a dwarf planet. Dwarf planets orbit around the Sun, have a mass that gravity has turned round, cannot be satellites to other planets, and have a mass that is larger than an asteroid but not large enough to be considered a planet. Dwarf planets are not categories of planets, but rather different objects entirely. There are three dwarf planets in our solar system: Pluto, Ceres, and Eris.
DUTCH
Useful Dutch Phrases Here are some helpful phrases to use when traveling in a Dutch-speaking country:
Hello. Hallo.
Good morning. Goedemorgen.
Good afternoon. Goedemiddag.
Good evening. Goedenavond.
Have a nice day. Nog een prettige dag.
I don’t understand. Ik begrijp het niet.
Excuse me. Neem me niet kwalijk.
How much is this? Hoeveel kost dit?
Thank you. Dank U.
Where’s the toilet? Waar is de WC?
Goodbye. Tot ziens.
LESSON 12 QUIZ
One of the achievements during Emperor Chengzu’s reign was:
Trading with Europe and America
Defeating the “Latter-Jin” regime
Reducing the burden on peasants
The building of the Forbidden City
Which of the following
occurred during the reign of
Zhu Yuanzhang?
A major source of finance was in porcelain making.
There was wide trade with Europe and America.
Urbanization and commercial metropolises appeared.
The burden on peasants was reduced.
In Braille, how many possible combinations are there in one cell?
89
64
46
98
Which of the following is true?
Grade I Braille uses a cell to represent each letter, Grade II Braille sometimes uses a cell to represent whole words.
Grade I Braille uses a cell to represent words; Grade II Braille uses a cell to represent letters.
Grade I Braille uses a cell to represent each letter; Grade II Braille uses a cell to represent numbers.
Grade I Braille uses a cell to represent each number; Grade II Braille uses a cell to represent letters.
What are complementary angles?
Two angles that add up to 180°
Two angles that are obtuse
Two angles that add up to be greater than 90°
Two angles that add up to be 90°
Which measurement is an example of an acute angle?
91°
90°
89°
100°
What is the largest object in the solar system?
Jupiter
The Sun
The asteroid belt
Ceres
Pluto, Ceres, and Eris are examples of:
Outer planets
Inner planets
Dwarf planets
Galaxies
What type of language is Dutch?
West Slavic
East Germanic
West Germanic
East Slavic
How many distinct dialects of Dutch are there?
16
28
7
12
ANSWER KEY: d, d, b, a, d, c, b, c, c, b
Lesson 13
HISTORY: Columbus and the New World
Columbus Decides to Travel to the East, The First Voyage, The Second Voyage, The Third Voyage, The Fourth Voyage, The Impact on the Native Americans
LANGUAGE ARTS: Dialects
What Is a Dialect?, Standard Dialects, Social Dialects, Geographic Dialects, Interlingua, Focal and
Relic Areas
MATH: Pythagorean Theorem
What Is the Pythagorean Theorem?, Proof with Triangles That Are Similar, Euclid’s Proof, Algebraic Proof, Proof with Differentials, The Pythagorean Triple
SCIENCE: The Big Bang
From Nothing to Something, The Universe Expands, Evidence for the Big Bang, Misconceptions, Other Theories, Does God Have a Role?
FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Swedish
The Origins, Old Swedish, Modern Swedish, Contemporary Swedish, Dialects,
Useful Swedish Phrases
LESSON 13A
COLUMBUS AND THE NEW WORLD
A Ton of Crap Page 13