Avery: Weekly Blog #1

       Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean, near Africa.  It also has little, tiny islands around it. The capital of Madagascar is a small (but still the largest in Madagascar) city called Antananarivio.  The population in Antananarivio gets only as high as 2,001.
       The most common language used in Madagascar is called Malagasy.  There is Eastern Malagasy and Western Malagasy.  For the very educated in Madagascar, some can speak French and English.  The main language used to be French when France took control of Madagascar for a while.  But that was a while ago.
       There are many games played in Madagascar (and I do not mean video games).  The most popular is Moraingy, a type of hand-to-hand combat.  It is mostly played men.  But lately women have been getting more interested in it.  It is a lot like kung fu, but a little bit different.
       There are many animals in Madagascar.  But the one with the biggest population there would be the lemur.  There are thousands of different types of lemurs.  For example; Bamboo Lemur, Black Lemur, Dwarf Lemur, Mouse Lemur, Ringtail Lemur, etc.  One that I found interesting is the Brookesia Chameleon. It is one of the worlds smallest reptiles.  It is just a bit bigger then an inch.  About and inch and a half.  There are very many interesting things about Madagascar.

Connor: Blog of the Week #3

The  Case of the Banana Gun

By Connor M. Jones

       My name is Albert, a monkey at the local zoo.  I was born and raised to understand sign language in the zoo.  I got my start as a detective soon after I turned four years old.  The case was the smoking banana, or banana gun.  If you had told me before the case started that a banana could be deadly, I would have laughed at you.  Now it seemed my favorite food had become a weapon.  The zoo was located in London, not far from the scene of the Jack The Ripper murders hundreds of years ago.  I looked for my stuffed animal, a toy the zoo keepers named Watson.  Watson was a reward for solving the mystery of the missing animals which I solved earlier.

     I got to the scene of the crime in a few moments.  It didn't take long considering that the crime scene was in the zoo itself.  I saw a corpse of a Galapagos Tortoise, the murder weapon was lying a mere walking distance from the body.  It was a gun, but it seemed more like one the user would have to hold in its mouth.  After all I was the only animal in the zoo to have thumbs and hands.  I looked around at the different animals with large canines and mouths.  I talked to the dingo first and added him to my list of suspects.

      Almost no one had an alibi, and when they did it was a hard one to believe.  I went into researching the gun some more.  For it might have been able to tell me something about the culprit.  Unfortunately the gun helped none.  Thus I had to go under cover into the zoo's bar, for "adult animals"  in order to get the truth.  I heard the leaders of three gangs.  Leon, the head of the lion gang,  Baskerville, leader of the canines gang, and Alucard, leader of the flying mammal gang.  Alucard was a bat, a vampire bat to be more precise.  Baskerville was a black furred wolf named for a Sherlock Holmes story.  Baskerville and Alucard were the best known criminals in the zoo.  Alucard was rich, making money by selling blood donated by the weaklings of the zoo.  Although he could not stand cold blood or a waste of blood.  Baskerville on the other hand was known for selling furs and shells and even teeth on the black market.  A dog whose very path was coated in blood, he lived up to his namesake by murdering the folks he hated and selling their fur and teeth.

        It wasn't either of them though.  After I left my spying plan I returned to my cage where he was waiting for me.  He wasn't anyone who was in the bar to begin with.  It was my archenemy Ludwig  the Puma.  Ludwig hated my guts only because I was the only monkey who stood up to him.  I said to him "Well Ludwig.  I'll admit I didn't suspect you at first.  Although I will admit when I put it together it made since."  He smiled a grin of triumph, like a cat catching a mouse. I knew that he was a freelance criminal, he peddled objects to and from different gangs to make a profit.  He was wearing his usual monocle and still grinning stupidly.  I grabbed the tire swing and threw it in his face.  He fell to the ground hurt, but not damaged too badly.

    As I placed him in handcuffs he was only able to say "Round and round the merry go round the monkey chased the weasel."  I guess he thought he could weasel his way out of this one.  I turned him over to the zoo keeper who took him to a solitary cage.  A big cage all his own with no other animals to harm.  The End

Gabe: Weekly Blog Post #1

     Madagascar  is off the coast of Africa.  Madagascar was called Malgalsy Republic.  It is now called the Republic of Madagascar.  It is the fourth largest island in the world.  It split from India 88 million years ago.A nickname for Madagascar is Great Red. During the summer in Madagascar it is hot and really rainy.  
      The first Austronesian people came on canoes from Indonesia.  They are one of the poorest countries in the world.  Most people in Madagascar only earn 1 US dollar a day.  They have a lot of vanilla beans and vanilla is one of their main sources of money.
     There are 200,000 types of animals in Madagascar.  Ninety percent of the animals there aren't found anywhere else in the world.  The animals that were on that part of India came on the island and grew in isolation. That is why 90% of the animals aren't found anywhere else.
     Lemurs are one of the main wild animals in Madagascar, they only live wild in Madagascar.  An Aye Aye is an animal that resembles a house cat and they only live in Madagascar and it is an omnivore.  A Fossa is a carnivore and is like a Bobcat.   A Tenrec is a herbivore and is like a Hedgehog.

Mommio: Art Class- Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Art that makes a BIG impact...land art....environmental sculpture!  That was our focus for our Artistic Pursuits class today.  We learned a bit about a famous European art duo, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who have traveled the world creating amazing, large scale, temporary art installations.  We looked at three of their installations by watching videos from youtube.  The first one is Reichstag done in 1995, the wrapping of the German parliament building in Berlin, Germany.

Next we look at The Gates, an installation of  7, 503 bright orange gates in Central Park, New York City in February 2005.

And then we watched one more video clip of the artists discussing The Umbrellas, in installation that took place in both California (1,760 yellow umbrellas) and Japan (1,340 blue umbrellas) in 1991.

After being inspired by the couple the kids split in to two groups and developed plans for their own environmental sculptures, including sketches, written plans and material lists.  We'll be taking time to install these next week.  Here are the artists and their plans:
The Spoon Forest
By Connor, Gabe and Kiki

The Idea: Hang 150 orange, red and yellow plastic spoons from Nana and Popo's fish deck trees.
Supplies:  150 plastic spoons (orange, red, yellow), string (LOTS), red electrical tape, scissors, ladder
Steps: 1. Throw ball of string over branch.
2. Cut to height.
3. Tape both ends of the string to the spoon.

Walking Up The Trees
By Mason, Avery, Marney and Max

The Idea: Put big footprints going up the trees in Nana and Popo's backyard.  The prints will be made out of hot pink and baby blue poster and then attached to the trees with staples or nails.  Each tree will have five sets of footprints.
Supplies: foot patters, hot pink (10) and baby blue posters (15), scissors, staple gun, staple, ladder
Steps: 1. Cut out the foot pattern on the posters.
2. Attach the footprints to the trees.

Connor: Blog of The Week #2

Merin's Haiku

By Merin The Bunny

I hop all day long.

Through the morning and the night.

I love to hop here.

I feel hungry now.

Oh look some delicious food.

Now I would like out.

I wish to be held.

Let me out of this cage now!

First put the dogs out!

Mason: Weekly Blog #2

Merin
By Mason


My name is Merin

Carrots are my favorite

I want out right now 

Family is good

They let me out of the cage

They like to play now

My house is so great 

I am about two months old 

I love my new home. 

Mommio: Art Class- Calder

Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was the subject of our Artistic Pursuits class today.  

Calder is one of the most famous American modern sculptors and was the creator of the mobile- a kinetic hanging sculpture that is moved by air currents.  He was also well known for his stationary sculptures and work with wire.  His kinetic mobiles remind us all of much of the artwork we have seen at the Benini Sculpture Ranch in Johnson City.

He began his career in 1923 while he was attending art school in New York.  He was inspired by a circus that he saw while there and started to make small models out of wood and wire portraying the circus.  We watched this interesting video of Calder "performing" his circus in 1955.

Then the kids created their own Calder mobiles.  They cut shapes out of cardboard and painted them in bright primary colors.

While those were drying they connected two wire hangers for the top of their mobile.

Then they poked holes in the colored shapes, tied yarn to them, chose their placement on the mobile hangers and tied them on one at a time.

Then we hung them up- we'll be enjoying these for a few weeks in our school room!

Mason: Weekly Blog Post #3

     The Case of the Banana Gun

By Mason

     In New York there was a murder and the police called Detective Connor.  Connor looked at the body and saw that it was shot with a gun in the chest.  Then he talked to the witness.
      The witness said that he saw shadows of two people.  One of them shot the other with a gun that looked like a banana.  The detective looked around the crime scene and found some more clues to who it was and where he will strike next.
      The name of the killer was Josh and he was going to strike at the mall at 8:30.  The detective got there at 8:20 and he saw Josh and tried to stop him.  He chased Josh but Josh shot him with the banana gun and killed the detective.  The End

Phineas and Ferb Science: Build A Beach

Today we finished up our Phineas and Ferb: Build a Beach science class by doing this model beach experiment we found on Science Buddies.   

Step 1: Cover the bottom of a paint roller pan with 5 cups of sand.

Step 2: Build a small beach with most, but not all, of the sand at the shallow end of the pan.

Step 3:  Slowly pour 5-6 cups of water into the deep end of the pan.  Let the water and sand settle for 5 minutes.

Step 4:  Take a picture of the beach so that you have a record of how it looked.  Note where the shoreline is.  The shoreline is where the beach and the water meet.

Step 5:  Lay a pencil horizontally so it is floating in the deep end of the water, along the beach.

Step 6:  Set a timer for 2 minutes.  Start timer and quickly bob the pencil up and down in the water with your fingertips to create waves.  At the end of 2 minutes, take a picture of the beach and compare to your first picture of the shoreline.  Repeat wave procedure for 4 and 6 minutes, taking pictures and observations each time.

After 2 Minutes-

After 4 Minutes-

After 6 Minutes-

Step 7: Empty and clean pan, then repeat steps 1-3. 

 Step 8: Make a mound of 2 cups of gravel in the middle of the shoreline to create headlands.  The headlands should be partly in the water and partly on the beach.  Take a picture to show your shoreline.

Step 9:  Measure your shoreline to the edge of the pan and record measurement. (10 inches)

Step 10:  Place pencil in pan and repeat step 6.  Measure the shoreline each time.
After 2 Minutes- (11 inches)

After 4 Minutes- (10 1/2 inches)

After 6 Minutes- (9 1/2 inches)

***What did the kids learn from this activity?***
"The longer the waves hit the beach the smoother it becomes."
"Waves form beaches."
"The waves take sand back with them into the ocean, changing the shoreline."
"When there are headlands the waves go higher up on the sides of it because the water goes around the headlands."
"Waves eventually wear down the headlands and make it more even with the shoreline."
"The waves cause tide pools to form on the beach."

Avery: Weekly Blog #3

The Case of the Banana Gun

By Avery Jones

       I was sitting in my office at my desk.  It was a slow day, nothing happening at the time.  There were a few interviews I had done earlier that day, but they were for interns.  I was bored, tired, and had nothing to do for the rest of the day.  Until three o'clock p.m..  There was a loud boom coming from the break room. Sounded like a gun going off, but not exactly.  I had my gun in my hand and my hat on my head as I slowly walked into the break room.  There, laying on the floor, was a banana.  Gun.  That's right, a banana gun.  It wasn't a real banana of course.  It was metal.  It looked new, but dirty and worn down at the same time. Next to the gun was a man that I have not met before.  His head was shaved and large.  He looked to be around six feet tall and near two-hundred pounds.  He had been shot in the shoulder.  I assumed with the gun next to him.  He was knocked out on the floor.  He seemed to have fainted when he was shot.

       I called for help, but no one answered my yells.  I walked out of the break room and closed the door behind me, leaving the lights on.  I didn't want anyone messing with the man until I knew he was okay.  I yelled one last time for the nurse.  She came running towards me with fear in her eyes.  She signaled for me to keep quite.  So I did as she said, believing something was wrong.  I took her to the break room and as I opened the door I saw no man in the room.  The gun was moved to the counter next to the fridge.  There was small drops of blood around the floor and on the handle of the gun.  The blood wasn't there before.  I looked around the room, checking every corner for clues.  But there was nothing but the gun and the blood to help us.  I called the sheriff, who had left for lunch an hour ago.  He answered with a laugh.  I told him what had happened and that we needed people over there as fast as possible.

       I took the nurse to her home and let her off of work for the rest of the night.  She was traumatized after what happened.  She was a very paranoid person.  She watched very many horror movies and shows.  She would check around her house every day to make sure no one was going to get her.  Everyone thought she was insane, but after what happened that afternoon, I would understand how she felt. 

       I went back to the office to find policemen scattered throughout the building.  Searching and blocking off rooms and halls.  I went to talk to my friend who helps me with my cases I get.  He was short and skinny. Very young for a detective.  His name was Johnathan, but I called him Joe.  His hair was thick and curled.  I thought of it to be strange, how he looked.  But he was a very nice boy, and never pulled any tricks on anyone.  He told me they found a dead man in the interview room and didn't know who he was.  I thanked him for the information and left to see the man.  He was one of the interns I interviewed that morning.  He had short, flat hair that was colored black.  He was tall and wide.  He had an arm that had been removed two years ago.  I looked at him very closely and found a bullet hole in his left leg and in his chest.  I propped him up and looked in the pocket of his shirt.  There was a note.  I unfolded it and read away.

3:30
Bring the weapons.

---J

     For a second I thought this so called "J" was my helper Johnathan.  But I knew that he was gone at three thirty.  He was at lunch with the others.  I took the note to my desk and studied the hand writing.  I didn't recognize it a single bit.  Every other word had a different font.  I gave it to Joe for him to study.  He didn't get too many jobs around here.  He mostly went on coffee runs and helped me out every now and then with the littlest things.  He seemed happy to have a big job for once.  I went to examine the banana gun.  There were little finger prints.  They seemed to belong to a person with small fingers.  I took the blood before it dried and it turned out to matched Johnathan's.  I didn't believe it, I couldn't!  I had to bring Joe in.  I talked to him and it turned out he did kill the men.  He had a list of things that upset him.  One of them being tall people.  When he was a child he was bullied and made fun of for being short.  We put him behind the bars and ended his madness.

THE END

Marney: Weekly Blog Post #2

Merin
by Marney


I am so happy 

I just got here it's so cool

But those stupid dogs 

I can sleep all day 

And hop around at night yeah

 I can drink water

I am Merin and 

That's why I am a bunny

I'm loving it, bye

Gabe: Weekly Blog #2

   

Merin
by Gabe

I wish I had food.

I really really want hay.

Look at those carrots.

Can you get me out.

Hey I would love to come run

That carpet looks fun.

Run Merin run run

I can't stop running around

Don't put me away

Avery: Weekly Blog #2

My Good Life
By Merin Jones

I run in circles

and tear up the newspapers,

it is kinda fun.

I am so social

I want out of my small cage

I want to play too!

I like to wonder

what's in the cage above me,

I have no idea.

Kiki: Weekly Blog Post #2

Merin Says

by Kiki

I'm super hungry

I want some hay and carrots

Fill my food bowl

I want to get out

So I can hop everywhere 

Hopping is so fun

The dogs are scary

They are big and so furry

They try to eat me

7/9/12 Weekly Blog Post #3

For today's blog post, I want you to write a detective story.  A detective story is a story with a mystery in it that gets solved at the end.  The only rules for your story is: (1) it has to be a mystery story; and (2) the title of your story needs to be "The Case of the Banana Gun."  You can have the characters in your detective story be anyone you want and the story can be as long or as short as you want.

7/9/12 Weekly Blog Post #2

Haiku time!  I want you to write a three-stanza haiku poem in honor of Merin the Bunny, but with a twist.  Each of the three haiku poems need to be from the perspective of Merin-- like she wrote the poems. Remember, the syllable count for a haiku poem is 5-7-5.

7/9/12 Weekly Blog Post #1

The map you see above is of the country Madagascar.  Unlike what the movies would have you think, Madagascar is not just a home to crazy talking animals.  It's actually a real country with a real economy and its own issues.

For today's blog post, I want you to write a short report on Madagascar.  You can focus on any aspect of it you want: the culture, the history, the economy, the people, etc.  Your report should be four paragraphs long.

Use wikipedia, factmonster and/or google to find links.

Avery: Weekly Blog #2

        The French and Indian war was mainly fought between the colonies of British America and New France.  Both of the sides had some of the military in it.  Although just a little bit later on, the Native Americans joined in with the french people.  The people from the British America had a few Native Americans, but not very many.   They were using them as slaves.  The Indians didn't like the British because they were trying to take their land too.
        The war was fought over land (like most wars).  The British wanted the French  and Indian land in North America.  They also wanted to take over other little things in their land like the fur trade.  Of course the French didn't want them taking their land, so they fought back with what they had. It didn't go very well and lasted for seven years.  That would explain why some call it the Seven Year War.
        The war ended when the British Major General captured Quebec.  In 1763 they signed a peace treaty and the British got most of the french land in North America.  They also took the Indian's land. Ending the French and Indian war.

Marney: Weekly Blog Post #2

France and Britain were the main countries in the war but there were also some other countries like America and a bunch of native tribes.  Some of the native tribes in the war are called the Iroquois and the Algonquian.  Those are some of the important Indian tribes in the war because they were the main native tribes in the war.

     People were stealing other land that are not theirs.  People wanted their land back but no one would give each other land back.  So the country that did not get their land back would take the countrys land that took theirs and it keep going on like that.  So they started a war.

     England won the war and became the one that is in charge of north america.  So that meant that the person that won got to chose who they wanted to have as land then England won and chose America.  

     Some important people in the war are George Washington, William Pitt, James Wolfe and William Johnson.

Connor: Blog Of The Week #2

      The French and Indian war was actually part of the Seven Years War.  This war was France's attempt to conquer the British colonies.  The native Americans on the other hand were fighting on both sides.  This war in America was named after the enemy instead of King George.  This was because there had already been a King George's war.  The countries involved were Britain and France, Spain and Prussia.  America was also involved, albeit split betwixt both sides.  The native tribes, which were in a way like little countries all their own, were fighting each other.
     The war was primarily fought for rights to North American soil.  The British wanted control of all of North America.  The French wanted control as well and had already made colonies in Canada.  The British had their colonies in what would later become the United States.  Spain had it's colonies in Mexico and that would be the target in last two years of the war.  The war with the French lasted seven full years and then two years after the surrender of Canada to Britain the treaty of Paris was signed.
      The war went on for seven full years.  Starting in 1754 and ending in 1761.  In 1754 George Washington, the man who would become president twenty nine years later, had  ambushed some of the French soldiers. Between America and Britain, France was getting their butt kicked.  The end of the war came when France had surrendered most of Canada.  America had stopped fighting, but the British wanted to defeat Spain and Prussia.
     After defeating France Britain set its sight on Spain and Prussia, France's allies.  Spain owned the Caribbean and Louisiana, for a short while. It took only two years for Britain to defeat Spain in Europe.  However Spain still had control over a bit of America, Mexico to be more precise.  The result of the war was that Britain needed more money for the war had cost a lot.  Britain would not have enough until the tea tax was put into place in eleven years.  That would eventually lead to the American Revolutionary War in which the British colonies would become independent from Britain.