Kiki: Blog Of The Day

chameleon

I picked the chameleon.  Chameleon's have not evolved for 26 million years. Scientists have found
fossils of them in Madagascar.  We think that they evolved from agamids.  Agamid lizards like hot places and can change colors like chameleons can.  Agamids are still alive today too.

agamid

Daddio: 5/10/11 Blog of the Day

Where do we come from?  You have learned enough about evolution to know that humans didn't really evolve from chimps like the one in the picture above.  Instead humans and chimpanzees both evolved from the same common ancestor that lived 7-8 million years ago-- known only as the CHLCA (Chimpanzee-Human-Last-Common-Ancestor.

For today's blog post, I want you to pick a type of animal-- any animal that is currently alive (no extinct animals) and research what types of animals it evolved from.  For example (and you obviously can't use this example for your own post), the kangaroo evolved from a creature known as a Nambaroo gillespieae:

For your post, I want you to: (1) provide the animal you chose to research; (2) an ancestor that the animal evolved from; and (3) information about the ancestor- like what environment it lived it, how long ago it lived on earth, and how it was both the same and different from the animal that evolved from it.

Kangaroo

Nambaroo

So, in my example above, I would post:

I chose to research the kangaroo, and learned that it evolved from a nambaroo gillespieae.  The nambaroo lived in Australia nearly 25 million years ago and lived in dense forest. Scientists think it ate mostly a diet of fallen fruit and fungi from the forest floor. Modern kangaroos eat most shoots and leaves from shrubs and grass.  Unlike kangaroos, the nambaroo were only the size of a small dog, had canine fangs and ran around on all fours.  Kangaroos are much larger and primarily move around using only their back legs.  Like modern kangaroos, though, the nambaroo had strong paws and were active climbers of trees.

If you need help researching your animal, go to google and search for "[your animal] evolution" and see what you can find out.

Gabe: Word Challenge

Max is belligerent about  going to his room.
The man bequeathed  his teddy bear to his baboon.
Gabe beseeched   a pig for its eyeball.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

The Day Time Stopped

By Connor M. Jones

One hot Summer day, in New York five nuns had headed toward a clothing shop.  They stood there waiting for the shop to open, for it was almost nine o'clock on a Tuesday.  Suddenly time started to stop and the five nuns froze in place, eternally waiting for nine o'clock Tuesday morning to come.  Time had frozen all over the world.  Only some people were exempt from the effects of the sudden stop, but shops still didn't open for anyone.  I was one of those unaffected by the sudden freeze in time.  I walked down the blocks and saw people glaring at the stores and shops as if they were mannequins.  Eventually I saw a man with a big white beard and he said "Time has been frozen we must report to Asgard!"  I looked at the man and said in a rude tone "Don't you dare tell me what to do, OLD MAN!"  The old man left me alone and I traveled further away from the town.  I eventually came across a man and rabbit having tea.  The man asked "What day is it, my good man?" as he pulled out a pocket watch.  I said "I don't really care.  Time stopped and it doesn't matter what day it is!"  After that I walked away.  I ran my fingers through my black hair and looked in a window to see my reflection.  I was still as perfect as always, my green cloak was perfect with the green cape.  I turned and saw my stepbrother, his blond hair shone like lightning.  He said "Brother why are you here of all places?  Return home this instant or father will have your head!"  There was much panic in his voice as well as his face, I said "I am not returning to that dump.  Father will never find me.  Anyway how is it being a carpenter?  You seem to enjoy carrying that hammer everywhere you go."  He responded with "I like being a carpenter.  Let's get back to the topic at hand, I am going to tell father where you are."  I refused to go home, I liked my true home more.  I walked away into the forest where my stepfather and stepmother wouldn't find me.  My red eyes were hurting from staring at the sun and my conscience was telling me to play a practical joke, one that will end the world.  I decided to have a little fun by turning myself into a dragon and going to free my kids.  First I had to free Hel The ruler of the underworld.  This made sure that the dead would have nowhere to go.  Next I freed Fenrir who had been chained up unable to escape until the world's end.  Finally I had to free The World Serpent who held Midgard in place while holding his tail.  All that complete I reflected on the pranks I previously pulled, including the prank of freezing time.  Now the mortals wouldn't be able to escape my wrath.  My stepbrother came to me and said "Loki, you vile, ugly, accursed jotun, how dare you end the world!?"  I replied "Shut Up, Thor and watch as I enjoy the last hour that we gods have left.  Watch as we all die.  Ragnarok has come and now we shall all die!"

Marney: Blog Of The Day

One day there were nuns at a cool looking fruit stand. The fruit stand had tons of fruit  they also gave coke to people and the people liked the coke. The nuns never stopped talking about the fruit stand. They thought it was funny. Then one nun said, "The seats are cool too because the stand for the seats are legs". Then one other one said "The seats are lame so who cares about them. I think they should have a pattern, that would be cool".

Mason: Blog Of The Day

One day in Marble Falls there were five old ladies.  They wanted to get new pairs of pants and new clothes and some high heels. So they tried to find an open store but all the stores that they went to were closed. So they went home and  the next day they went to the store and got new pants and clothes but the high heels cost a million dollars.  So they got jobs and got enough to get the high heels. They bought the high heels and went to church. The End

Avery: Rock pics! : D

This time I took pictures of rock I got from the slab, but this time I also took the pictures inside instead. Here are my 4 favorite pics I took today: : D

 Here are all of the rocks together!

 I like this one a lot cuz it's shaped like a banana

 Here is a picture of most of the rocks. I took this picture from the side.

I like this one cuz it's a giant rock and it's chunky.

Connor: Word Challenge

The troll was belligerent because he felt the Billy Goats Gruff had tricked him into letting them pass.

Fredrick D. Egg bequeathed his scientific equipment to the eggs of the world.

Thor beseeched Loki to help get his mystical hammer back.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

Wax Ladies

By Gabe

One day there were five old ladies who wanted new legs because they thought theirs were ugly. So first they tried to use robot legs for their new legs. That did  not work so they thought of fake legs with springs in them. But that did not work so they tried to use leg lamps. But that did not work because it almost set them on fire. So then they tried to wax their legs but it waxed too much and it made their legs thick wax and they were happy.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

One day there were 5 nuns. They were unlike most of the other nuns, they liked to try new things. They like new foods, drinks, websites, books, and some magazines. But on Friday they also like go to church like in their outfits, but with something new added. One Friday they had fancy fish earings and big bangles on their wrists. The next they had on face paint. But this week they decided to wear tights and high heels. They wondered how people would think of them. After church, on Friday, they went to a juice bar to have some water and orange juice. Everyone that walked past them had a confused or mad face. The nuns looked around at the people staring at them. They noticed people taking pictures too! They became really embarrassed, and went to their homes and stayed there for the rest of the day

Avery: Word Challenge

James was belligerent because he did not earn much money at his bake sale.

Julia's Father bequeathed his military uniform to her.

David beseeched his mother for a new phone.

Kiki: Blog Of The Day

There were girls that  go to church. They were  wearing tights.

Marney: Word Chalenge

Gabe is belligerent to not do school. 
Granny bequeathed her jewelry to us 3 girls. 
Jack beseeched to Mom for some m and ms.

Daddio: 5/6/11 Blog of the Day

Write a story about the following picture:

Mommio: Art Class- Rembrandt

Today in art class we learned about Rembrandt van Rijn, a famous Dutch artist during the Baroque Period 

 who lived from 1606-1699.  

We read a short biography about Rembrandt in an old issue of Art a Facts Magazine and learned that he grew up in a big family too, with eight brothers and sisters! Rembrandt was an artist's apprentice for many years before becoming an engraver and printmaker.  Later on he focused on painting and is known for his use of light and shadow to convey a mood, a technique known as chiaroscuro.  Rembrandt also painted more self-portraits than any other famous artist.

After learning about Rembrandt we used this art lesson to find out more about chiaroscuro by looking at different paintings and identifying the light source.  Finally, the kids worked on their own light/shadow pictures using two different methods.  We set up a still life, darkened the room and used a candle for lighting.

First the kids used ebony pencil to sketch the still life on paper and practiced using shading to 

show the darker areas.

 Then they used chalk pastels on colored construction paper to portray the same still life and show the reflection of the candle with light colors.

 Next week we will study another Baroque artist, Johannes Vermeer.

Mommio: Word Challenge

Write a sentence for each word.  

Anyone who can come up with a complete sentence that makes sense for each word gets a dollar!

 

belligerent- (adjective) hostile, tending to fight
The angry customer was extremely belligerent despite the manager's offer to return his money.

bequeath- (verb) to give or leave through a will, to hand down
Grandpa bequeathed the house to his daughter and the car to his son.

beseech- (verb) to beg, plead, implore
She beseeched him to give her a second chance, but he refused.


*all words, definitions and sentences are from the Kaplan SAT Vocabulary Prep Level 1 book

Mason Blog Of The Day

McCune Albright is a disease that affects the bones.  How you get it is while you are being born your genes mutate.  The  symptoms are breakable bones, deformities of the bones in the face and abnormally large growth.  The ways that they treat McCune Albright syndrome is surgery and medication.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

McCune Albright Syndrome is a disease caused by a mutation of the GNAS1 gene.  The symptoms of McCune Albright Syndrome include: easily broken bones, precocious puberty, fibrous dysplasia, and sometimes a facial deformity caused by bone problems in the skull.  The disease is not hereditary at all, so my children will most likely not have the disease.  There is no treatment for McCune Albright Syndrome, according to what the websites say.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

The disease that Conner has effects your bones and skin color. That means you can have breakable bones and  it means you have to have surgery.  You will have different color skin some times on the back of your body.  How you get it is by mutation when you are being born. That means that your kids will not get it from you. It did not come from anyone else.  There is no way to treat it but you can get surgery.

Avery: More Nature Pics! : )

Here are two more macro nature pics I took today! It took a little while. But they turned out great!

 Here is a rose from L.D's garden. Notice the little puddles of water.

Here is one of Nana's yellow flowers. Notice all the detail.