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)