lit. poems

Hans
Caring, helpful, and loving
Who loves to help and bring joy
Who feels hatful about the war
Who needs to know his family is safe
Who shares his home and everything he has
Who fears the Nazis finding Max
Who'd like to see his best friend again
Who dreams of the end of the war
Who ends up loosing almost everything he loved

Himmel
average boring
working surviving earning
bleach poor rich luxury
spending living having
big beautiful
Grande Strasse

Aquarium

In order to expand our knowledge of water dwelling cnidarians and anthropods our class took a visit to the aquarium. The aquarium was our first trip so far this year but it was so much fun that it was worth the wait. Our group had a lot of fun looking at fish and just hanging out, plus it was cool to not do ant school work. We had a great time and had some cool experiences toughing sharks and jellyfish. The shark tunnel was a really cool thing to walk through. The whole trip was great from the small interesting creatures to just being with people who accept me. I only wish we had more time to see all that the aquarium had to offer.

The Aquarium

Recently my class took a visit to the aquarium to expand our knowledge of cnidarians and anthropods that live in the water. The aquarium was quite fun and was also very worth my time. My group and I had a great time pointing out cnidarians and other aquatic animals. I had a great time hanging out at the aquarium with my friends.

Collapsing Can

A soda can can collapse in cold water if this activity is done right. Boiling water needs to be in the can then the can needs to be inverted and placed in cold water. This should make the can collapse, but why? The water vapor in the can pushes the air out of the can, then when placed in cold water the water vapor condensates. That doesn't make the can collapse however, the air pressure on the outside of the can does, the water vapor condenses and becomes a liquid, a liquid's molecules are closer together than a gas, which the water vapor was. Since the water condensed there was unfilled space in the can and the air crushes the can.
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Is Air There?

Air is there, this can even be proven by a simple experiment. I had the chance to try this easy and very interesting experiment. The experiment is a jar with a plastic bag over it and a rubber band holding the bag to the jar. When you press the bag down it resists because the air pressure inside is increasing as stated by Boyle's law. Boyle's law is pretty much when pressure increases the density of the gas increases. Air is a gas and your hand in this activity is the pressure. Because air is there you are not able to press the plastic bag in without pushing the air out of the jar, pushing air out is only possible because the the jar and bag are not air tight.

poppin' corn lab

This week in science we are learning about the weather, to help us understand we are doing different labs and activities. One of these activities is popping popcorn in a microwave. The lab showed radiation which is one way for heat to travel, the microwave sends microwaves to heat the objects inside the machine hence the name microwave. Heat causes little traces of water in the kernel to move around really fast, because the heat energy is making the water molecules to move around. The water needs more space to move around in so it makes the kernel explode and the outer shell of the kernel breaks.

Weather!

So I was sick for two days and came back to school to find we had jumped from biology to weather. One day we were taking a frog practical then a weekend and two sick days later i was learning the hydrological cycle. I'm not sure if I missed anything important like learning to tell the difference between two clouds, but I'm sure I didn't miss too much. For the start of the water cycle part of the weather unit we watched a Bill Nye video, which was educational and humorous. I didn't get much from the video because the water cycle is pretty basic. All in all, I am pretty happy about starting the weather unit.

Cnidarians

In science we are learning about animals, but this week we are focusing more on sponges and Cnidarians. Cnidarians interest me more because they don't just sit there and inhale water for food. Cnidarians use stingers to capture and poison prey. Cnidarians are either a medusa or a polyp. Polyps anchor down to a hard surface and use their stingers to capture prey that gets too close. Both have a central body cavity and expel waste through their mouth. Medusa cnidarians can move around to capture their prey with their stingers. Polyps create coral reefs which is really cool. Polyps grow hard exoskeletons that stay after they die, creating new space for new polyps to grow, and after a few generations a beautiful coral reef is born.

Food and Flavor Chemistry

Food and flavor chemistry is good for everyone and can help YOU make some money in these hard economical times. http://omegapride.podomatic.com/

Flying Corks

To help us understand chemical reactions our science teacher set up a lab to help us understand what a chemical reaction really is. I helped set up the lab with my friends. The lab was a shooting range where we shot corks at a window. To shoot the cork we mixed baking soda and vinegar to create a chemical reaction in the test tube and the chemical reaction made carbon dioxide, the newly formed carbon dioxide created pressure in the test tube which shot the cork. Our teacher split us up into groups and together we had to shoot the corks and find the best way to shoot them. This lab was both fun and educational. I learned a lot about chemical reactions, like how new substances are formed and how much of each substance changes the reaction. The fun part was shooting the cork, however the notes and records of past shootings took a lot of writing because all the groups made twelve shots. After each shot all of the variables had to be recorded and new ideas on how to make better shots had to be made.

Liquids Like You've Never Seen Them Before

Ever wonder why certain liquids move more slowly than others? I know i did until the liquid density lab in science. In science we tested the density of liquids to see which ones would float on each other. Things that float have less density than the liquid underneath them that is why something may sink in water but float in ketchup. In this lab we worked with five different substances, none of which were water. Before this lab we learned how to measure the density of a liquid so we would be able to calculate which of the substances was more dense than the others. In order to calculate the density of a liquid you must first find out how much the container weighs once you have done that you can put the liquid in the container. Then weigh the liquid in the container then take the weight and subtract the weight of the container. However, thats just the first step to calculating density, after that you must find the volume of the liquid, and since liquids have finite volume and are the shape of it's container just find the volume of the container. Lastly, perform the formula "density=mass/volume" to find the density. Once my group did this to all five sustances we put them in our cup in order of most dense to least dense. The smell was horrific, but the learning was great. This lab was a great chance to learn about the density of liquids and get practice finding density.

Wherever you live there is always the risk of an earthquake. If you live in the city the risk of death is even higher because the building could topple over. This new method of construction makes buildings flexible so they can withstand an earthquake. This new method of construction also will save a lot of money because buildings will not be destroyed. This new system survived a simulated magnitude 7 earthquake larger than the Northridge (in the Los Angeles area) earthquake in 1994. Greg Deierlein led the project at Stanford University, and their new system is practical because it uses common construction materials and is not too costly. This new system uses flexible steel tendons that shake the building with the earthquake to prevent damage and help the building to back to its original form. It also has fuses that break during an earthquake so the building is no longer held down to it's foundation to further prevent damage. The best part is it can be installed to a preexisting building so no new buildings need to be made.

http://www.livescience.com/technology/090908-earthquake-buildings.html

The Earth's mantle-plasticity

In science class we are reviewing earth science from sixth grade. To help us understand why the earths tectonic plates are able to move on the mantle our science teacher set up an experiment. The experiment was a huge mess but now the earths mantle is easy to understand. My conclusion for the experiment was that: The mixture was a solid, it was like a rubber ball, but when pressure and heat was not applied the mixture turned into a liquid. When in liquid form the liquid felt like melted rubber. This mixture was not a liquid or a solid I believe it should have it's own group. When I pushed my finger into the mixture fast it quickly turned into a solid then back into a liquid. When i pushed my finger in slower the mixture stayed a solid longer. This mixture is similar to the earth's mantle because both have plasticity, meaning it is not a liquid nor a solid.

October Sky

During homeroom last week my class watched the movie October Sky. October Sky was based on the true story of Homer Hickam, who dreams of leaving his small town of Coalwood. Homer, with the help of his his friends, manages to build rockets and win a science fair. Homer almost ended up staying in Coalwood as a miner like his dad. Despite all odds Homer was offered many scholerships and won the science fair. Homer and his friends were blamed for a forest fire and were no longer allowed to launch rockets, however using trigonometry Homer was able to prove himself innocent. This movie was a perfect example of math in the real world and rocket science. Homer uses a series of complicated equasions and calculations to determine how far a rocket would travel and where it would land. Homer even determined where it would land after wind effects the rocket in his head. Using a book his teacher gave him Homer was able to build rockets that could fly over 3000 feet in the air. This same book taught him the trigonometry that proved him innocent. From the start Homer tried to use aerodynamics to build rockets, but when that wasn't enough he was forced to use science to find a stronger fuel and a stronger metal.

Understanding Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) Response

My response to comedian54's Understanding Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). His Blog.

Thanks for the information comedian54, now I understand ALD. Before seeing it on your blog I have never heard of ALD before on my life. Thanks to you I know that Adrenoleukodystrophy leads to adrenal failure and brain damage. I feel sorry for anyone with this genetic disease because people diagnosed with ALD only live 1-10 years. However, despite your elaboration I failed to understand if this disease only effects boys because you always used the pronoun "boys". Anyways, thanks for the helpful information on ALD. It must be hard to live with seizures, degeneration of visual and auditory function, ataxia, Addison's disease progressive stiffness and neurological abilities. Great job explaining your facts. It's weird that the more rare a disease or disorder is the worse it is. This genetic disease must be really painful, I feel bad that people have to deal with these problems every day, people living with this must really go through a lot.

Down syndrome

 For science I got a genetic disease assigned to me. My genetic disease was Down Syndrome. I leaned a lot about Down Syndrome during my research. I learned that people with Down Syndrome have leaning difficulties, mental retardation, and poor muscle tone.P ossible complications of people with Down Syndrome are: Risk of heart defects, digestive problems, hearing loss, and low activity of the Thyroid gland. There really is no cure for Down Syndrome but people with this disease can deal with their Down Syndrome through physical therapy, surgery and speech therapy, treatments depend on the patient's physical problems. Many people will die early in life because of Down Syndrome. 75% of Down Syndrome Infants die before birth, only 85% live to age one, and only 50% will live to age 50 and above. These are the chances of survival For people with Down Syndrome. The chances of having a baby with Down Syndrome is 1 in 800, however the chances are higher for older pregnant women. The cause of Down Syndrome is that there is an extra copy of chromosome 21 in the body.  I feel that people should work harder towards a cure for Down Syndrome because it is a horrible condition and so  people living with it can finally live a normal life.

For science I got a genetic disease assigned to me. My genetic disease was Down Syndrome. I leaned a lot about Down Syndrome during my research. I learned that people with Down Syndrome have leaning difficulties, mental retardation, and poor muscle tone. Possible complications of people with Down Syndrome are: Risk of heart defects, digestive problems, hearing loss, and low activity of the Thyroid gland. There really is no cure for Down Syndrome but people with this disease can deal with their Down Syndrome through physical therapy, surgery and speech therapy, treatments depend on the patient's physical problems. Many people will die early in life because of Down Syndrome. 75% of Down Syndrome Infants die before birth, only 85% live to age one, and only 50% will live to age 50 and above. These are the chances of survival For people with Down Syndrome. The chances of having a baby with Down Syndrome is 1 in 800, however the chances are higher for older pregnant women. The cause of Down Syndrome is that there is an extra copy of chromosome 21 in the body.

For science I got a genetic disease assigned to me. My genetic disease was Down Syndrome. I leaned a lot about Down Syndrome during my research. I learned that people with Down Syndrome have leaning difficulties, mental retardation, and poor muscle tone. Possible complications of people with Down Syndrome are: Risk of heart defects, digestive problems, hearing loss, and low activity of the Thyroid gland. There really is no cure for Down Syndrome but people with this disease can deal with their Down Syndrome through physical therapy, surgery and speech therapy, treatments depend on the patient's physical problems. Many people will die early in life because of Down Syndrome. 75% of Down Syndrome Infants die before birth, only 85% live to age one, and only 50% will live to age 50 and above. These are the chances of survival For people with Down Syndrome. The chances of having a baby with Down Syndrome is 1 in 800, however the chances are higher for older pregnant women. The cause of Down Syndrome is that there is an extra copy of chromosome 21 in the body.

My genetic disease: Down Syndrom

For science I got a genetic disease assigned to me. My genetic disease was Down Syndrome. I leaned a lot about Down Syndrome during my research. I learned that people with Down Syndrome have leaning difficulties, mental retardation, and poor muscle tone. Possible complications of people with Down Syndrome are: Risk of heart defects, digestive problems, hearing loss, and low activity of the Thyroid gland. There really is no cure for Down Syndrome but people with this disease can deal with their Down Syndrome through physical therapy, surgery and speech therapy, treatments depend on the patient's physical problems. Many people will die early in life because of Down Syndrome. 75% of Down Syndrome Infants die before birth, only 85% live to age one, and only 50% will live to age 50 and above. These are the chances of survival For people with Down Syndrome. The chances of having a baby with Down Syndrome is 1 in 800, however the chances are higher for older pregnant women. The cause of Down Syndrome is that there is an extra copy of chromosome 21 in the body.

Human Ancestor

In Kenya footprints of what is believed to belong to a human ancestor were found. Evidence shows that 1.5 million years ago the ancestor walked like us. The footprints belonged to a species called Homo erectus. Some of the footprints appeared to have belonged to a child. The Homo erectus, scientists estimate, were between five and nine feet tall. The ancestor's footprints show many things and will further help us understand human past.