Schools over

SCHOOLS OVER!!!

summer '08<3

Arctic Tale [Class Response #2]

Recently in science, we watched a movie called "Arctic Tale". Although the Arctic is home to hundreds of animals, this movie only follows Nanu, a polar bear cub and Seela, a walrus pup through their life in their natural habitat. The movie captures the two young animals as they grow up and face life and its many problems. As the world around them gradually melts away due to Global Warming, the two animals must find a way to survive and adapt to their changing world. Nanu and Seela encountered difficult situations throughout their lives, but in the end they both learn and adapt.

This movie is touching as well as informational. It gives us a glimpse of Nanu and Seela's tough life in the Arctic and shows us how our actions (Global Warming) greatly affect the Arctic and many other areas.

Weather Poem [Extra Credit]

Who Has Seen The Wind?
by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
but when the leaves hang trembling
the wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
but when the trees bow down their heads
the wind is passing by.

This poem is called "Who Has Seen The Wind?" by Christina Rossetti. It is a short poem based entirely on weather, specifically about wind and without the mention of wind in the poem, it simply would have no meaning. Through the poem, the poet tries to imply that wind may be invisible, but if you look around, you can easily see it. In regards to weather, personification, a literary technique is used. The line "..but when the leaves hang trembling" & "..but when the trees bow down their heads" both show personification as living/human qualities, such as trembling and bowing, are given to non-living things. This poem did not further my knowledge about the wind, but it was a very descriptive and well-written poem.

SOURCE:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/education/primary/students/poems.html

Kites [Class Response #1]

Recently in science, we have been learning about weather. As an activity to help us learn some concepts in weather, we made kites and took it outside to fly. The first part was to make a kite, which we thought would fly, with construction paper that was at least 20cm on all sides. Then we decorated it with an original title for the kite that was related to weather and 5 weather symbols such as hail, rain, sleet, wind speed, etc. We also wrote a paragraph about why we think kites fly.The second part was going outside. During class, we went outside to fly our kites. There was very little wind so our kites did not fly very well. Afterwards we were given a worksheet and had to answer the questions. We learned how the local winds, mostly the sea breeze affects us and why kites fly better by the beach.This activity, which was fun and interesting, really helped us learn about the different types of winds and what it affects.

Social Studies Project

Technology has no doubt changed our world in a large number of ways. Now that we have so many technological resources and tools available to us, life is so much easier. But what about 30 years ago? Back then, people were not as advanced as we are now. For example- they did not have cell phones, mp3 players, dishwashers, digital clocks, etc. Out of all the things that were not available to them but are now to us, I feel that the internet has made the greatest impact on society. The internet is used for so many reasons. You may be sending an email to someone living thousands of miles away from you, you may be browsing websites, you may be playing games, you may be on your blog. Whatever the case, the internet is extremely useful. It has helped to connect billions of people all over the world, provides information, keeps people aware about the current events and so much more. As you can see, the internet has changed our lives in numerous ways. How does the internet affect your daily life?

Algebra Extra Credit Blog #3

^In dividing this cake, A marks the cut where
you think the two pieces have equal value.

B shows the division where your friend thinks

the two pieces are equal. By a new method, you'd
get the leftmost piece and your friend would get
the rightmost piece, and the two of you would
share the middle section.
-- E. Roell

Have you ever wondered what mathematicians really study? And where they develop theories? Well, you have probably never heard of this one......

An article states: "Sharing can be hard. Every kid knows that, and mathematicians do, too. So mathematicians have spent a lot of time thinking about how to make sharing easier." Now we know how they spend most of their time :) (Just kidding!) This particular article tells us how we should cut a cake in equal parts so that each one of us is happy with our piece. An old solution was known as "I cut, you choose", which implies that you decide on how to cut the cake, and the other person chooses which piece they prefer. Steven Brams of New York University does not agree with this theory and says, "...a division should be considered fair only if two people think they both got pieces of the same value." So Steven recommends that you and your friend ask someone else (an elder) to cut the cake where you want to, and then both of them would be happy!

SOURCE: http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20061220/Note3.asp (Article)

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20061220/a1327_239.jpg (Image)

White Killer Whale Spotted

My blogs for the trimester are already done, but I felt like doing this one anyways...

A white killer whale has been spotted! It's true, after years of speculation and rumors about this "mythical" creature, it was finally seen last month on the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, captured the top part of the whale on camera, which is quite a rare sight. The whale appeared to be a male, in healthy condition, about 20-35 feet long and wighing more than 10,000 pounds.

SOURCE:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/03/07/white-killer-whale.html (Article)

Algebra Extra Credit Blog #2

(This may not be considered as a current event)

The 49th International Mathematical Olympiad is taking place in Madrid, Spain from July 10th to 22nd, 2008. Students and mathematicians from around the world meet at a certain location every four years to share and exchange theories and ideas and to take part in the competition.

SOURCE:

http://www.imo-2008.es/

Algebra Extra Credit Blog #1

A 140 year old math problem has finally been solved! Professor Darren Crowdy at Imperial College, London discovered the solution to this tough problem. The problem dealt with conformal mapping, which is translating information from a complicated shape to a simpler circular shape so that it is easier to analyse. For these type of problems, the Schwarz-Christoffel formula was developed in the 19th century. Professor Crowdy, after solving this problem, found some flaws in the formula and added to it so that it is more helpful and efficient.


This article was was published on March 4, 2008.

SOURCES:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303110214.htm (Article)
http://www.sandomenico.org/uploaded/photos/Library/blackboard_math.gif (Image)

Matter (Class Response)

In science class we are learning about matter. Matter makes up everything around us. All matter has the general properties of mass, weight, volume and density. Physical properties are characteristics that distinguish one type of matter from another and can be observed without changing the identity of a substance. Chemical properties are properties that describe how a substance changes into a new substance.


There are 4 forms of matter-- solid, liquid, gas and plasma.






Solid...
A solid has definite shape and volume. Its particles are packed very close together, so solids can't move, but they can vibrate. Solids are made up of crystal shapes, which is the regular repeating order of particles (except for amorphous solids).


Liquid...
Liquids have definite volume but not definite shape, since it takes the shape of its container. The particles that make up liquids are close together, but not packed. Liquids have the ability to flow. Viscosity is the resistance of a liquid to flow.


Gas...
Gases have neither a definite shape or volume. Their particles are spaced far apart and they are able to move freely.


Plasma...
The particles of plasma are very far apart. It also has very high energy, which makes it quite dangerous. Although it is rare on Earth, it is the most common phase in the universe. The sun and stars are made of plasma.

Phases of matter also change into different forms. A physical change is a change that changes the substances physical appearence but not its identity. A chemical change is a process by which a substance becomes a new and different substance.

Solid --> Liquid = Melting
Solid --> Gas = Sublimation
Liquid --> Solid = Freezing
Liquid --> Gas = Evaporation
Gas --> Solid = Deposition
Gas --> Liquid = Condensation

Interesting Facts-
* A new phase of matter was discovered in 1995 called the "Bose-Einstein condensate" by two scientists Satyendra Bose and Albert Einstein. I didn't know there were 5 phases of matter.
*Matter is also related to light and electromagnetic radiation. I never thought matter was connected with light or electromagnetic radiation.

SOURCES: http://www.astro.washington.edu/larson/Astro150b/images/phases_matter.gif (Image)
http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_intro.html (Interesting Facts)

Extra Credit

An informational science website I found was "Extreme Science" at http://www.extremescience.com/. It was created by Elizabeth Keller, the only sponsor for the site. Extreme Science is about the greatest and most extreme science, but it also focuses on all types of sciences. A positive aspect is that it has various types of information available throughout many different fields, such as Earth Science, technology, animal kingdom, space science and more. Also, the website provides videos relating to the topics and is attractive. I don't think there is any negative aspect to this site! This website offers information on world records in natural science, resources for help on science projects, and more! I would recommend this site because of its sufficient information on many topics.

SOURCE: http://students.usm.maine.edu/rachel.frost/extremesci.gif (picture)

Big Rat Little Rat

Recently in Foja Mountains Rainforest, located in Indonesia, two new species of the Rattus norvegicus were found. Considering that discovering new species is quite rare in this century, this is good news. The "giant rat" is about 5 times the size of an average city rat, whereas the tiny possum was described as "one of the world's smallest marsupials." (a type of mammal) This just goes to show that if we discontinue to destroy forests, we can discover hundreds of new species which will help us improve our study and progress quicker. I absolutely agree with Bruce, an expedition leader, when he says, "It's comforting to know that there is a place on Earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature."



SOURCES:
http://www.ananova.com/images/web/1193422.jpg (Pictures)
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/17/giant.rat.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch (Article)