What exactly is Empiricism?

For this discussion, I decided to choose question #1: What exactly is Empiricism?  Please provide specific examples to support your answer.

From my understanding of the lesson on Empiricism, I can relate it to the saying "Never judge a book by its cover". Like it was stated in the history of Empiricism, appearances can be deceiving and they usually are. Having an actual experience of something or someone will show you it's/their true colors and/or give you a more accurate understanding of it. If anyone knows this, I do because there have been many instances where I judged something or someone based off looks from a distance or other people's opinions instead of my own. People have even told me that their first impression of me was completely different than when they actually got to know me. 

Empiricism is knowledge based solely on experience and observation (sensory perception). I can also use this as an example as to why I had my opinion on the last lesson we covered on Descartes and his belief in there being a God. You can never really KNOW or understand something until you can trace it back to something you have experienced. John Locke came up with the conclusion that the mind is an "empty slate" and that all knowledge comes from experience over time. It makes sense because a few examples to think about would be: How would you know that snow is cold without actually touching or feeling it? How does a child know that fire is hot until they touch it?