Fairy Tale Unit Study: Enchanted Feathers

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Enchanted Marble

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Enchanted Spoon

Powerhouse: Water Desalinization

This week in science we have returned to studying the Powerhouse!  We worked with this kit last summer but never finished, so now that the temperatures are up in the 100's again we thought it was the perfect time to try it out again.  The Powerhouse is all about how to use the environment to your advantage to save on energy in various ways.

In this lesson we learned all about water desalinization: the process for removing salt from water to create clean drinking water.  First we created a small thumbtack scale from tea light cans so that we could measure our salt in grams.

Next we measured the salt out (10 grams=40 thumbtacks), added it to our water and mixed it up to create our salt water.

Then we took everything outside and poured the salt water into the greenhouse area of our Powerhouse and closed it all up.  We inserted a thermometer so that we could keep track of the temperature in the greenhouse.  We started out at 30 degrees C (86F).

Two hours later we had a small amount of fresh water and some dry salt.  The temperature in the greenhouse went up to 122F during our desalinization process.  Next we learn more about cooking without a kitchen.

Avery: Weekly Blog #1

       For my report I looked at the top ten biggest attractions in London, England.  Number one being The Tower of London.  The Tower of London has been many things before.  It has been a prison, jewel house, place of execution, a royal palace and even a zoo!  When you walk through it you go through exhibits full of crowned jewels.  Big and little ones, crowns, things of gold and silver.

       Another very popular thing in London would be the London Eye.  It is like a giant ferris wheel in a way. You are in a small pod and you can sit on the benches they have on the sides of the pod, or you can stand up and look down below you.  They have a tinted glass that you can look through that covers the whole entire pod.

       The London zoo is said to be awesome by many tourists.  It opened in 1847 as a scientific zoo and is still that today.  They have over 720 different species living in their giant zoo today.  They have a ton of exhibits.  The Butterfly Paradise is a big sized green house full of flowers, cactus and beautiful butterflies.  The most popular exhibit is called "Into Africa".  It is full of unusual animals from Africa.
       One really cool place to visit in London is the Chislehurst Caves.  The caves continues for a full 20 miles and you can take a tour of the full thing or just half.  The Chilslehurst Caves have been there for 8,000 years. The tour shows you how the people of England kept it together for so many years.  These caves have also been featured in TV shows such as Doctor Who and Randall and Hopkirk (decreased).
       That is what I found interesting in London, England.

Avery: Weekly Blog Post #2

The Gymnast Gods

By Avery Jones

       There once was a little group of gymnasts.  But not just any gymnasts.  They were gymnast gods.  They had the powers to do any yoga pose, flexible trick and anything from gymnastics.  They would compete in all  the national competitions. 

       One day while they were practicing for the state competition, they got a good look at all the other competitors.  There was a large man with long shaggy hair and short stubby legs.  A tall, fit woman with crystal blue eyes and a weird shaped face.  She was very nice, yet very competitive.  Like most of the people there.  Last there was a 3 year old who had crazy flexibility skills and has won some of the biggest competitions. 

       When it was time for them to go onto the stage they were upset.  They didn't want to let the little girl down.  She was very sensitive and was said to pout for 2 days straight.  They went on and did their normal routine.  A few flips, tricks, spins and bends.  They got to the point where they all had to stand on each other's shoulders.  The person on the bottom purposely slipped and made everyone fall.  They were out of the competition.

       The next day they had heard that the little girl had won and was rewarded with a huge golden medal.  The goddesses were happy to hear that, but were very, very sore from falling.  They healed strangely fast though.  That being because they were goddesses of course.

THE END

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Character Resume- Rapunzel by Gabe and Kiki

Harry J. Towers ( Stage Name: Rapunzel )
1408 Lettuce Lane,
Thorny Fields

Employment History
    When she was in her mid-twenties she worked as a hair trimmer for 4 years at Quick Trim.  She cut hair off of 158 different people.

    Later on in life she worked as a thorn picker for 18 years at Thorn Be Gone. She pick 50,000 thorn plants.

Special Qualifications
Great Hair
Her hair is long and nice and wavy.Her hair is great to fight with.

Magic Eyes
Her eye water can save people’s lives.

Education
Homeschooled by an evil witch until college.

Went to University of Towers for college.

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Character Resume- Little Red Riding Hood, by Mason and Avery

Razzy Red (Stage name- Little Red Riding Hood/Lil’ Red)
1414 Pine Tree Rd.
The Forest

Employment History
Worked at Ready Freddy’s clothing store as a children’s fashion designer.  Judging children’s clothes and finding better (expensive) clothing.

Delivered bread and cookies to the senior center on Big Bad Lane.  Making the elderly feel safe and happy every day.

Worked at Hairy Wolf’s Country Club as a rapper.  Amusing customers with her fast singing voice.

Special Qualifications
Joy Keeper
Bringing joy to families in need and children who are bored.

Delivery
Being able to deliver foods and drinks in under two minutes.

Crime Fighting Kid
Can destroy anything in the way, so not distracted from jobs..

Education
Little Helpers Service Club (Grades K-6)
Grandma Lilly’s High School (Grades 8-12)
Big Wolf College for 5 years of pure education in cooking, running, karate, english and the language of the animals.

Fairy Tale Unit Study: Character Resume- Alice in Wonderland, by Connor and Marney

Alison Q. Hearts (stage name Alice)
550 Madhatter Drive
Wonderland

Employment History
Worked five years as a rabbit hunter, captured several criminal rabbits and turned them over to the Queen.  

Worked ten years as a salesperson at the Mad Hatter hat shop.  Went door to door selling the craziest hats in Wonderland.

Special Qualifications
Curiosity. Keeps asking about things she doesn’t or never will understand no matter how stupid.

Falling in rabbit holes.  Persistently keeps trying to capture rabbits who break the law using their front doors.

Education
White Rabbit Elementary (grades k- 5)
Cheshire Cat Middle School (grade 6-8)
Queen Of Hearts High (grades 9 - 12)
Wonderland University. Major in Psychology, minor in WonderLand Logic.

Connor: Weekly Blog #2

    It all started in 2355 when European scientists decided to build a deity.  The lab was soon cluttered with plans for the god's name and powers, unfortunately no one could figure out if they were making a god or a goddess.  Due to arguing between the scientists the deity was never finished until two centuries later.  That was when the Goddess of Yoga appeared to a young Frenchman named Louis.  Louis taught the goddess to speak French, and the goddess later learned more languages on her own.
   Louis had chosen to name the goddess Geneva.  Geneva was named for a group of war laws called the Geneva conventions.  This goddess, however, changed her name to a word that no human could possibly pronounce.  Her new name sounded like a combination of Krypton and Sodium, but people just called her "Queen of Yoga."  The goddess was almost always meditating and knew no such thing as violence, but she was a lonely deity and needed friends.
     So the goddess went to work to create more deities.  The next eleven deities to come out of the machine named themselves Aqua, Doom, Past, Future, Present, Inertia, Pain, Combat, Terra, Pyronus, Flower.  Aqua loved the ocean and treated sailors to bountiful sea food feasts.  She also liked to throw hurricanes and large waves at those who polluted her kingdom.  Past and his sister Future loved to write prophecies together, for history repeats itself and they both had interesting stories to tell.  Pain, Combat and I occasionally hung around to decide the fates of the humans, like who would die when and while doing what.  I was Doom and I would transport into bed rooms and buildings to take away those who should pass away. Inertia and I rarely spoke to each other and when we did she would soon leave.
     Suddenly we were all called to a meeting by Queen of Yoga.  During the meeting Pain was picking on Flower and Pyronus was setting fire to anything in sight.  When Queen of Yoga spoke everything ceased, our jobs, time and all else just froze.  No one died, no one moved, no one caused someone else pain.  Queen Yoga said "We shall be more responsible with our power or the humans will overthrow us!  If they stop believing that we exist there is little we can do!"
       Meanwhile on Earth, directly below our meeting hall the humans were making plans when time froze.  When time unfroze the humans had unanimously decided to go to war with the gods.  Present caught wind of their plans first and warned the rest of us.  Future told us of possible outcomes and very few of them seemed good for either side.  Combat put on his armor, I grabbed my scimitar and a lot of armor and transported into battle.
     My fury was the most powerful weapon on either side of the war.  The mortals knew that if they convinced me that my own allies would turn on me I'd fight alongside them.  I wouldn't allow myself to be trick by the mortals and as such I slew each soldier with my godly weapon.  I looked across the battlefield and saw Inertia get stabbed from behind.  She died and soon most of the gods were dead as well.  It was just Pain, Combat, and I fighting against the mortals.  I killed several more and then it was only Pain, Combat  and I the only mortals left alive knew better than to mess with the gods.  Pain and Combat looked at the areas in which each deity had fallen.  Combat stood longest over the area where Aqua died and cried for hours.  Pain and I made tombstone for those who were killed by the mortals and for the mortals we killed.  We put each deities body into the graves and mourned the losses.
      Suddenly Combat walked up and glared at me "This is all your fault!  Doom if you hadn't been carrying people to their graves this wouldn't have happened.  Besides I don't think you liked any of them!"  I snarled at him and drew my scimitar.  He grinned "I don't have anything to live for anymore.  So I'll indulge in a little revenge for the woman I loved!" He shouted again.  I ran at him and the sword went through his chest and came out the other side.  I had killed one of my only friends, but it didn't matter.  If I didn't kill him he would have died anyway.
     Pain and I looked over the many graves and sighed, we were the last of our kind.  We had been alone for weeks now and it was starting to seem like all to much for Pain to take.  Pain looked at me and said "Doom I want one last duel, no armor and the battle ends when I give the word."  I agreed and we picked up our weapons and ran at each other.  I felt a sharp katana in my chest poking out my back.  As I died I watched him bury me next to Inertia.  I smiled as I died, he understood everything as a friend should.  After that Pain killed himself and his body disappeared.

7/30/12 Weekly Blog Post #2

Wow.  Uh... I don't.  I don't even know what's going on in that picture.

But that's what's going to make this blog post fun!  Because YOU get to decide what's going on there.

For today's post, I want you to write a mythological story.  In other words, a story about ancient gods, ancient times or ancient heroes.  You know what a myth is.  But here's the deal-- it CAN'T be about a real mythological set of gods.  So no stories about the Greek gods, the Norse gods or the Hindu gods.  It has to be about a pantheon of gods that you make up yourself.

Your story should be at least four paragraphs and should be relevant to the picture above.

7/30/12 Weekly Blog Post #1

Okay, for those of you that saw the opening ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics-- I know that it was really boring and sucked.  But that being said, London is one of the largest, most densely populated cities in the entire world.  And it's really cool and full of British people with awesome accents!

For today's blog post, I want you to do some online research about London and write a short report on it.  You don't have to do a history of London (but you can if you want)-- instead you can pick a cool aspect of the city and just write about that.  For example- is there some cool event that occurs in London every year?  Is there a section of London that's famous for having a certain type of people or market or something like that?  You can even choose to write about a famous landmark in London (there's a ton of them).

Your report should be at least four paragraphs long.

Gabe: My Blog

Please go check out my blog. It is called Gabe and Nature . I will post on it every day about nature and thing we do in nature.

Marney: Weekly Blog Post #2

Christo and Jeanne

By Marney

      Christo and Jeanne were famous artists.  They were trying to come up with an idea for their next public art work.  Christo could not think of anything, but Jeanne thought of a perfect idea.  She said, "Christo, I know what we should do."
      Christo was sleeping because he stayed up all night trying to think of an idea.  Jeanne went over to Christo and shook him until he woke up.  Then Jeanne said " Christo I know what we have to do."
     Then Christo said "What?"
     Then Jeanne said "We need to make three Chinese men that are 15 stories high in the middle of Austin."  Then Jeanne got out a piece of paper and started drawing a picture of what it would look like.
     Christo looked at it when she was done and he said "Why are there three men, why not just two?"                                                  
     "Because I like three."  So they both got out of their chairs and ran outside and pictured it in their yard.  They went back inside their house and made a list of things they would need for their big Chinese men.  Here is what their list looked like

1. Wood 
2. Sheets of fabric 
3. Metal
4. Three cars 
5. Stairs 
6. Windows

     They firured out that, that was all they really needed for the men that were going to be 15 stories high.  Christo went to the store that they always get stuff at because they don't need normal things, they need giant things like 15 feet high planks of wood and things like that.  He got everything that they needed and went to the main part of Austin.  He got out his cell phone and called Jeanne and said that she should go to Austin now because he was there.  Jeanne got out of the house and ran to her car and drove to Austin.

2 hours later

     Jeanne got to Austin, got out of her car and started building the men.  Christo went to random cars and put keys in them and parked them where the men's feet were going to be.  He got out of one of the cars and Jeanne was done making the people.  So they both went home.  They thought that the giant men were normal and they were not going to do anything so they went back to their home and went to bed.  

     Then in the middle of the night one of the men moved its arm and its eyes were flashing bright red. It started to walk around the city.  It smashed a lot of houses and killed over 2,000 people.  When the second one started to walk, the third one fell over and smashed all of the cars.  Then the last one got up and went to their house and killed them.  Everyone kept saying that Godzilla was finally here.    

Mommio: Art Class- Open Spaces

A lot of the modern art we have been studying in our Artistic Pursuits class has involved working with open spaces and abstract forms.  Today the kids had fun making their own free form fish sculptures.  First they mixed up some plaster of paris and poured it into a quart size plastic bag, tying it closed but leaving a little space to move the plaster around.

After about 10 minutes the plaster had hardened enough that the kids could start giving their sculpture more form by squeezing the bag with their fingers to create eyes, mouth, fins and a general shape.

Thirty minutes later the plaster was completely hard and they removed the plastic bag.  They used knives to trim away any unwanted parts and to clear around the eye area while it was still damp.

When the surface was dry they painted their fish with tempera paints.  

Here is our school of abstract fish!

Connor: Sir Sinister: A Short Story

    There I stood gazing at the ground.  I saw the gigantic puddle of blood underneath the body.  I frowned, for I knew the victim, my best friend had been murdered.  I felt as though the blood were on my hands as well as the criminal's.  Still I stood there, the end of my cane was beginning to get drenched in blood.  I moved my gaze from the body toward the city.  I knew the killer would be there, I had spoken with him before.
        Meanwhile, in a seemingly abandoned factory in downtown the murderer sat waiting.  His name was Nathan, he owned the local pawnshop.  Nathan sat at his desk rummaging through his cash register to find his money.  He kept more in that register than cash, sometimes he stored stolen items in there so the cops wouldn't catch him.  Suddenly the door opened and in walked Zelda, the mayor and a frequent customer at the pawnshop.  Zelda had been searching for some unusual items, namely rifles and shotguns.  It just so happened that Nathan had such items, although wasn't legally allowed to sell them.
    I was now in my house preparing to take revenge.  I reached behind myself and grabbed my cloak, hood, and stabbing weapon.  I was known by two names, my real name Tiberius and Sir Sinister.  By day I seemed like an average guy, but by night I was the shadiest criminal the city ever knew.  No one knew my secret identity nor my previous work as a hero.  I and I alone knew why I had switched to a life of crime and murder.  I walked out the door with my motive in mind and broadsword in my hand.
      As I walked into the pawnshop Nathan stared dumbfounded.  "You're Sir Sinister!  Please spare me I beseech you?!"  I glowered at him, he could only see my eyes, and raised the sword.  "Sir Sinister you will be arrested for your crimes!" Nathan cried as he sidled toward the phone and attempted to dial the local police.  I grabbed a throwing knife out of my pocket and threw it directly at Nathan.  I missed him, but hit my target.  I cut the phone line before he could contact the cops.
       Nathan grabbed one of his many rifles and attempted to shoot me.  "Sorry Nathan." I said in a deep voice "Unfortunately I know you committed a murder without my permission.  You know the terror I am capable of Nathan, you wretched buffoon, yet you still raise a rifle and try to shoot me.  I am greatly offended by this gesture of disobedience!"  I moved closer to him and cut his left hand off, he was holding the rifle in his left hand.  Then I walked closer and said "You have angered me Nathan.  That is a mistake that no one ever makes twice!"  With that I decapitated him and left the pawnshop after taking all the money in the register.  After that I went on to commit even more heinous crimes all over the city and was eventually hung in town square.

Marney: Weekly Blog Post #1

June

By Marney Reese Jones

June is the 6 month of the year 

You can swim in the lake

People hate the heat it is their fear

it is when you get to dance and shake

It is when you can harvest you food

People have pool parties 

it is when there are not Christmas trees

And when things are in good moods

People use their umbrellas

it is when there are a bunch of blue jays 

it is a month to celebrate flag day

and there are much more cars on the highways  

Avery: Weekly Blog #2

The Giants

By Avery Jones

       One Tuesday afternoon a tall, skinny man named Jeff was in his apartment studying for a test in kung fu. He had to have his kicks and punches perfect for the test.  Jeff didn't normally practice so much for a test. But this time his Aunt Martha was going to be there to watch him.  Martha used to be his kung fu teacher when he was three years old.

        When it came to the day to preform at his test he got a letter in the mail.  He looked at who it was from. He recognized the name from somewhere, but couldn't remember at the moment.  It said to meet them at the Chinese men.  Jeff had no idea what the letter was talking about, but he knew it was important.  He got in his car and looked for the Chinese men.

          He stopped at the visitors center to ask about it. Before he asked he saw a picture of a giant statue of Chinese men.  That had to be what the person in the letter was talking about.  He took the poster and looked for it again.  He stopped near a Mc Donalds and saw the statue.  He found a ladder on the side of it and climbed up.

        At the top there was a short man with blue eyes and short hair dyed purple.  He walked up to Jeff and looked into his eyes with an evil stare.  He said his name was Dave Fielder.  He was Jeff's bully in high school.  He pushed Jeff to the edge of the giants and waited for him to fight back.  Jeff knew he was only allowed to use kung fu as self defense.  Dave shoved him and he almost  fell off the giants.  Jeff hit him back and ran jumped down ten feet onto the nose of one the statues.  Dave followed and kept trying to hurt him. But Jeff just kept running and throwing back random items from his pockets.

         They both ended up in their cars chasing after each other.  Suddenly Jeff noticed why Dave was so mad at him.  When they were in college Dave thought Jeff killed his mother.  He didn't hurt anyone, he never did.  But he was in the building at the wrong time.  When the cops arrived at Dave's mother's house they saw Jeff sitting next to his mother.  She really died from a heart attack.  But Dave is very stubborn and would never change his mind about Jeff.  He wanted him dead.
        Jeff saw him pull out a gun.  He started shooting at the car.  He popped one of the wheels of Jeff's car. Dave got out of his car and pointed the gun at Jeff.  Jeff closed his eyes and stood still outside of the car.  He quickly kicked the gun out of Dave's hand and then kicked it under the car.  Dave started running and Jeff darted after him.  Suddenly the cops appeared and had them both stand still.  They were taken into the station.
        When all the truth was told, Dave was sent to jail for 3 years for trying to kill an innocent person.  Jeff walked out of the building happy and started to hear a ticking noise.  It sounded like a bomb.  He ran as fast as he could and then the cop station exploded.

THE END

Avery: Weekly Blog #1

November

By Avery Jones

I chose November because it is nice.

and we make piles from leaves

It's so cold we don't need ice

That is the month we get out the long sleeves.

The dogs will play outside

It's not too hot for the dog

But gets too humid when there is fog

But in the yard there are no rules applied.

It is my favorite

I love how falls looks

The beautiful trees

you can't even describe in books.

7/23/12 Weekly Blog Post #2

What the heck is that giant thing?  Do you see how big it (or maybe "they") are?  Those cars look like toys at their feet.  For today's blog post, I want you to write a four paragraph action story.  You know what an action story is-- lots of exciting activity and... well.. lots of action.  Have fun with it.

7/23/12 Weekly Blog Post #1

By popular request, today we're going to practice writing with different types of rhyme schemes.  I'll take it easy on you, though, and give you only the rhyme scheme, the actual length or syllables in each line is up to you.  So it's basically a free-form poetry, as long as you stick to the rhyme scheme.

For today's post, pick a month of the year and then write three stanzas about that month (or a day that occurs in that month, or what the weather is like, etcetera).  Each stanza has to be exactly four lines long.  The rhyme scheme of the first stanza must be ABAB.  The rhyme scheme of the second stanza must be ABBA.  And the rhyme scheme of the third stanza must be ABCB.

Mommio: Art Class- Christo and Jeanne Claude

Friday in our Artistic Pursuits class we installed our environmental sculptures that were inspired by our study of Christo and Jeanne Claude.  The kids all quickly learned that when you get out in the environment to start your art project there are often changes that need to be made and adjustments to the plan.  This was a little frustrating at first, but then they worked together in their teams to come up with new plans that they were all very happy with.  

"Walking Up Trees"

By Avery, Marney and Mason

"The Spoon Forest"

By Connor, Gabe and Kiki

Gabe: Weekly Blog Post #2

     One day there was a deer and a fox.  The fox was a very rude animal.  The deer was a very, very nice animal.  The fox was walking by Ms. Ladybug's house and she said "Could you help me fix my bike?"  The fox said, "No.  Why would I ever do something like that?"  Then the deer was walking by Ms. Ladybug's house and she said "Can you help me fix my bike?"  The deer said, "That would be great!"  Later, the deer said "Can I have help repairing my car?"  Then the fox said, "Can I have help repiaring my roof?"  Then everyone went to help the deer.

Moral- The memory of a good deed lives.

Gabe: Weekly Blog Post 3.

Sleep    

By Gabe Jones

     It was a normal day for Anne Coonie.  She had just gotten home from her working at Dairy Queen.  She lives in San Diego.  She lives with her two youger brothers, her older sister, her mom and dad and her boyfriend.  She had just gotten home and was ready to go to bed.

     She had slept all night and when she woke up lying next to her was her boyfriend with his head cut off. She immediately ran downstairs and called her mom, her mom was at work.  When her mom answered,  Anne just started crying and her mom said "It's okay, call the cops."
     When she called the cops they came and said "You guys can stay in the house but we will be outside at all times."
     She went to bed that night crying and hoping everything will be better.  When she woke up she was lying on the floor.  She got up and went to her mom's room and her dad was dead on the floor with no legs.  So the cops put cameras in their house to figure out who is killing them.
     She didn't go to work that day because she was sad.  That night she went to bed hoping everything would get better.  When she woke up she had one leg but she was alive.  The cops looked over the tape and it turns out that Anne was sleep killing.  They arrested her for ten years.

Avery: Weekly Blog #3

   Sad Story

By Avery Jones    

     It was a rainy day and I, Haley Morgan, was sitting in my room doing nothing.  I never did nothing, even if there was a blizzard I would try something creative.  My nothingness had something to do with the weather.  The rain, I found it depressing.  I never liked rain, smells bad, makes my cat hide under the couch. I found it very annoying.. 

        I got up and went down to the kitchen to make a bagel.  My parents were out for lunch.  My dad just got back from the military.  They wanted to celebrate, but not with me for some reason.  I walked into the living room and sat on the couch, trying to calm my cat, Snickerdoodle.

        Suddenly I got a call from my mom.  Most likely she was going to ask what I wanted her to bring home for me.  I answered and she did ask.  I told her to bring me back chili fries and rootbeer.  She sounded worried.  She said nothing was wrong, but in her voice I could tell something was happening.  I told her I was going to meet them at the restaurant.

         When I got there I had to look around for them.  I found them sitting in the back.  I sat down next to my dad and across from my mom.  They didn't say anything.  I asked what was wrong and they just stared at me.  I looked down at myself and nothing seemed wrong with my clothes.  They said they wanted me to wait in the car.  They needed to talk about things I couldn't hear about.  I got very worried about my mom.

         I went back to the front desk and asked for my own table near them.  They couldn't see me, but I could slightly hear them.  They said something about my cat and Grandma.  I walked back to their table and they came to a complete silence.  I left the restaurant and called Grandma.  She didn't answer, so I called my aunt who lives next to her.  Grandma needed someone to take her places, she wasn't allowed to drive.  She didn't answer either.  I got a call from my friend, Nichole, right after I hung up.
       "Did you see the news this morning?!"  she asked with terror in her voice.

       "No, my electricity is out.  What happened?"

       "Your grandmother...," I interrupted her.

       "My grandmother what?!  You don't even live near her.  How did you see the news?  The electricity is out all over town."

       "She died.  Someone murdered her last night.  No one knows who, but we are looking for clues and answers."
       Tears started running down my face. "She was like my best friend.  The only person that would do pinterest projects with me."
       "Hey!  I did some with you once.  But it was only because I needed to pass art class.  But it still counts!"
       I hung up and went to my room.  When I walked I found my grandmothers wig sitting on my bed.

THE END

Kiki: Weekly Blog #3

The Crying Lady

By Kiki Jones

One day a girl named Molly was talking on her phone and she heard a big crash.  She went to go see what it was.  She saw that her best friend was in big car crash and she went to see if she was ok, and she was dead. She went back inside and she went to sleep.  The next day she had to go her friend's funeral.  When she got to her funeral she stared to cry, she was so, so sad.  A week later she saw that her dad was in the hospital. She went to go see her dad in the hospital and she talked to her dad about how she is.  She said she was upset.  She went home and tried to sleep but she couldn't, so she called one of her friends and talked to her all night.  The next day she went to go see her dad but she couldn't because her dad had died.  She went home and stared crying again.

Connor: Weekly Blog #2

The Canine and the Serpent

By Connor M. Jones

           There once was a serpent and a canine.  They were the best of friends, always chasing each other and playing in the park.  Serpent had been a nice and often harmless fellow.  Although Serpent did occasionally lose his temper.  One day Serpent and Canine were playing tag in the park.  Canine was running like crazy to avoid being tagged.  When Canine went through a door Serpent was upset.  Serpent could not go through doors, lacking arms and legs.  He told Canine that he gave up.  Canine exited the area in which he had hid and asked Serpent what was wrong.  Serpent said "I can't slither through that door."  Canine looked back at the door and noticed the door had no room for Serpent to slither through.  Serpent, angry because he thought Canine had cheated, struck at Canine with his fangs.  Canine whimpered in pain and said he did not want to see Serpent again.  Every time Canine sees Serpent he just walks away and ignores his old friend.

                             Moral: Injury is never forgotten in the presence of he who caused the injury.

Connor: Weekly Blog #3

The Murderer's Woe

By Connor M. Jones

     It was but an average day in the life of Janet Adams.  She had finished her assigned project on time and was about to return to her office.  She worked in a big building, in London across the street from Sherlock's place of occupation.  Sherlock was her best friend and a rather tall man as well.  He was named for a fictional and very famous detective, although he chose to work as a playwright.  Unfortunately something had occurred an hour prior to Janet's showing up to work.  There was blood in the alley way next to the building and no one was in the office.  This was strange because lunch had finished an hour ago and no one got any breaks aside from lunch.

     Exactly an hour before hand Sherlock stood in the alley, his orange silk suit stained with blood.  He looked down upon his victim, a man of about twenty nine with blue eyes.  Sherlock said in a dark tone "No one came to save you.  You're death shall be in vain."  The man's eyes shut tight the corpse was already starting to reek.  Sherlock walked out toward Janet's humble abode where he stashed the bloody gloves and the murder weapon.  He then walked off to avoid being caught with the red blood stain on his suit.  Sherlock stopped in his house to wash the suit.

     The victim was Janet's boss, a hateful man who was abusive of all his employees.  Janet looked out through the window in her office and saw the body.  She was flabbergasted at the sight of it.  She despised her boss, but never attempted to kill him.  Janet looked in the paper and saw the police were calling this the Devil Murder.  Janet was stunned, it was obviously a human crime not a supernatural one.  She went home to try and relax, only to find out that the police just found murder evidence.  Unfortunately the evidence was found in her home and she was a prime suspect.

        She grabbed her phone and called her friends and family.  She told them she was going to be arrested for a crime she didn't commit.  She had a trial, but the evidence stacked against her and Sherlock even testified against her.  As she held the phone she cried, they couldn't take the phone from her during the trial, it would have made things worse.  The judge announced the sentence, she was to be hanged for her crime of murder.

        As they tied the noose to the wooden beam Sherlock grinned and thought to himself "They think she's the Devil Murderer!  Just as well I want to remain in this century for a while.  I should wait until later to go back to hell."  Janet stood still paralyzed with fear, knowing that she didn't commit the murder and was dying for something she didn't do.  As the noose was placed around her neck Sherlock was standing next to her, the rope in his hand.  He whispered to her "I had fun with this.  The killing was simply to DIE for.  See you in hell, and say 'Hi' to my master for me."  With that Sherlock pulled the rope down and once she was hanging he connected it to a nail on the back of the stand.  He hid his smirk of satisfaction as he walked past the chief of police.

Connor: Madagascar

       Madagascar is an island off the coast of Africa.  The first settlers of the island were most likely from the country of Borneo.  The animals at this time included the giant fossa, which was bigger than a modern fossa.  It was also home to the Madagascan Hippopotamus, which was almost exactly the same as a regular hippo. Unfortunately these animals were probably hunted and, in the case of the giant lemur, went extinct.
      Eventually Portuguese sailors had landed on the island.  The French had some trading posts on the island as well.  The island off the coast of Madagascar is thought to have been a pirate utopia.  Although anywhere that pirates have complete control would be a distopia.  Many sailors had been shipwrecked on the Madagascan coast.  Then came the kingdom of Madagascar, which existed until 1897. At that point the french took over the entire island, after starting their invasion in 1883.
      The island was the sole property of France until 1960.  Until that point it was treated as a colony, kind of like how the British treated America.  Malagasy troops fought for the French in world war one.  In world war two the Nazi's thought of sending the prisoners to Madagascar, where they would have been tortured no doubt.  There was also an important, but lesser known battle of world war two fought in Madagascar.  

Avery: Weekly Blog #2

The Nice Boy

By Avery Jones

     There was a little boy who always made promises to do things for others.  And he kept those promises, but went through them one at a time.  He would always promise to help cook, clean, build, and hunt.  One day he promised his friend he would help him prepare for a festival.  When it came to that day he had also promised his mother he would bake the bread for the festival dinner.  He decided to bake the bread first and then take it when he had to set up.  While making bread his father asked him to help clean house as a gift to his mother.  He said yes.  But when he was about to he remembered that the bread was going to burn and he would be late too help with the festival.  He didn't want to upset anyone.  He helped clean and then took the bread, slightly burnt, to the festival. It seemed he was late and didn't make it to set up. People were upset and he promised he would make it up to them.

Moral: Do not attempt too much at once.

7/16/12 Weekly Blog Post #3

Oh man.  What's going on with her?  She looks pretty upset.  For today's blog post, I want you to write a tragic story about the picture above.  A tragedy is "a drama or literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances."  Your story should be at least three paragraphs long, but of course you can make it longer if you want.

7/16/12 Weekly Blog Post #2

Read the following fable:

The North Wind and the Sun: by Aesop

THE NORTH WIND and the Sun disputed as to which was the most powerful, and agreed that he should be declared the victor who could first strip a wayfaring man of his clothes.  The North Wind first tried his power and blew with all his might, but the keener his blasts, the closer the Traveler wrapped his cloak around him, until at last, resigning all hope of victory, the Wind called upon the Sun to see what he could do.  The Sun suddenly shone out with all his warmth.  The Traveler no sooner felt his genial rays than he took off one garment after another, and at last, fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in
his path.


Moral: It is better to use persuasion than force.


Aesop wrote a bunch of fables, which are very short stories meant to teach an important lesson or moral.  Often, the characters in the fables would be animals or -- in the example above-- forces of nature.  You can read some more examples here.


For today's blog post, I want you to write your own fable.  You should think up a moral that you want to write about first, then find a way to make a story to show the importance of that moral.  Like Aesop, your characters should be animals or forces of nature.  If you're having trouble thinking of a moral, reference this list.

7/16/12 Weekly Blog Post #1

For today's blog post, I want you to write a report explaining who Anne Bonny was.  I'm not going to give you any information other than the picture above.  Use your regular sources to try to research her background, then write a four paragraph report on some aspect of her that you find particularly interesting.

Marney:Weekly Blog Post #3

     The Case Of The Banana Gun

By Marney

     I was taking a break from copying papers about a murder.  Then it hit me, a rock, it hit me through the window, it really hit me.  When I looked out the window no one was there, then that's when I got worried.  I ran to my boss who was sitting in the coffee room, which is where he always is.  I told him about the rock hitting me smash in the face story.  So he got really mad.  That I was bugging him at his coffee break but he still went outside to see if something happened.  I went with him because I was the guy that got hit in the face, not the guy that threw the rock.  Then a monkey ran out from behind the building and started hitting us with rocks.  I noticed that the monkey had a banana gun in his pocket and I reached to grab it but I just couldn't.  Then me and my boss started running up the stairs to go to the coffee room.  I think my boss was very scared.  I told my boss that I saw a banana gun in his pocket and that I did not know if it was fake or real because it looked real.  Then we both heard a gun shoot off.  We need to figure out who that monkey really is.
      I ran back home and got all the copies put in folders and wrote more about banana guy because I thought I knew who he was.  Then I looked online to see who the banana guy was and it had a whole page about him but no real name or his name could be banana guy because that is all they are saying online.  Then I went to the office and went outside to where we got hit, I did not see the monkey but I did see the banana gun.  I picked it up and said to myself, this will be a piece of evidence.  When I got back in the office no one was there so I sat in the coffee room and looked at the gun.  I was thinking why would it be a banana gun, why would it be a monkey, this is all very crazy.  Then I heard a tapping like a little girl running everywhere.  So I went walking around the office.  I saw the monkey.  I put my hand in my pocket to grab the gun and it was not there so I ran as fast as a turtle and I grabbed the gun, cocked it and then said, "Do not make me shoot!  Take off your hat and tell me who you are."  Then the monkey ran away.  I saw him again, shot him and I saw who it was.  No big deal, the guy who murdered someone last week,  I do not care about him.  Then I go home and start reliving a normal life.

Gabe: Weekly Blog Post #3

    The Case of the Banana Gun

by Gabe

      It was late at night in Central Park.  A man in all dressed in black walked up to another man in black in the dark and took a banana gun from him.  Then the man walked up behind a lady who was jogging and shot her in the head.
     Detective Jeff Jerry was having a good morning until he got a call about a murder in Central Park.  He called his partner, Detective Chris Smith, and they met at the crime scene.  When they got there they saw Ms. Ken Joneses dead body.  There was a bullut hole in her head.  There was a Banana Glock siting next to her.
     They talked to John Jen, a  witness, he said he saw her at the Apollo last night.  They got in their car and poorly drove to the Apollo.  When they got there they talked to the ticket guy.  He said that the night was all normal.  She was there and went in with nobody came out with nobody.  The detectives drove to the gun shop to see who bought the gun.  When they got there they asked and the man said it was Chief Tommy who had bought the gun, he was their chief.  When they heard that, they drove over to the police department.
     When they got there the chief ran out the door in to his car and drove.  When they caught up with him they bonked into him with their car.  That didn't work so they had to shoot his weel out.  When they caught him they charged him for murder and sent him to jail.

Phineas and Ferb Science: Training Termites

Today we watched episode 3 of Phineas and Ferb,   The Magnificent Few.  In this episode the boys wrangle a cattle stampede and while we really couldn't think of any cattle science we were interested in trying out, the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz was also busy in this episode training termites to eat everything in site.  That brought up the question of whether termites can actually be trained to do something...and guess what...they can!  We ordered this great termite kit from Carolina science supply and got to work learning about termites and how we could train them to follow a set trail.  We learned that termites communicate with each other through the use of pheromones, chemicals they secrete that leave behind a scent.  This is how they follow each other to find food.  We also found out that the ink in common Bic pens contains a chemical that will trick the termites...so we used that to train the termites to follow trails.  First we had to get the little bugs out of the container they came in and into a small cup.  This was NOT easy.  But eventually we had enough in the cup to use for our test.

For the first trail test we traced one side of the Y shaped trail with a Bic pen and the other side with a crayon.  Then we let the termites free to roam on the paper.  After a little confusion they picked up the scent and starting to walk on the Bic trail...they paid no attention to the crayon trail at all.

For the next trail test we made two right angles, one with a Sharpie and the other with a Bic.  The test was to see if they would follow the Bic trail and also to observe whether or not they could/would take a 90 degree turn. They did!  We also learned from this one that some of the termites pick up the scent better than others, those ones tended to follow the line more exactly.

The final test was all in Bic ink, but the trail was broken.  Did the termites manage to follow the trail even though there was a gap in it?  Yes, after a few tries they did!

So today we learned that termites CAN be trained, and with a little work we think we could train them quite well to go anywhere we want.  Avery's advice to Dr. Doofenshmirtz for next time- gather all the Bic pens in the tri-state area and start drawing!