The Mile Run

The finish line was coming closer. I was completely out of breath, and the cramp in my side was getting as bad as if someone put a sword through me. Nevertheless, I knew I had to keep going. I would make the record. Now the finish line was just a quarter of a lap away. I gathered air, and let it out of me in a powerful, terrifying roar, at the same time propelling myself forward at speeds never before reached by me. This was the big day. This was the mile run.

I had started out preparing for the event long before it was actually supposed to happen. I knew that if I practiced, I would think up new strategies to finish faster. I spent about an hour a day running – and scootering, biking and rollerblading – around several blocks near my house. It was tiring, and I ended up with aching muscles when I woke up, but I knew that it would pay off. I have a friend, called Charlie, whom I once took out on one of these runs with me. Usually he would run faster than me, but this time I left him behind in the dust. I knew I would succeed in the running event.

The great day had come. I was hardly able to keep my mind focused on my other classes. I was repeating over and over again in my head all the strategies my teachers told me, and that I have thought up. I had eaten lots of food during breakfast and had a small fruit snack during brunch that was supposed to give me lots of energy quickly, like Mrs. Zacanti told us before. At brunch I ran around the school grounds to warm up, but I didn’t run too far, because I had do conserve energy before doing the actual run.

As I got into fifth period and ran the mile, I realized how much P.E. and Health had helped me. If I didn’t go to these classes, I would never have gotten my seven minutes and forty-five seconds! I learned that practice is not always fun, and sometimes can even be boring, or annoying. However, if you practice enough, and have faith in you when you do what you have been practicing for, you can do it very easily, easier than you have expected.

Both P.E. and Health have contributed to my learning about running to run the mile. In P.E., I found out about proper technique, how and when to practice at home. In Health, I have learned how to apply proper nutrition, how to get power fast, and many other super important things. If I keep applying these things for the rest of my life, I will definitely turn out more physically capable than I thought I would ever be. I will always be trying to find new strategies, but along them, I will remember this day when Health and Physical Education mix. This was the big day. This was the mile run.

Mohandas Gandhi

The movie I watched is called Mohandas Gandhi, and I think that that is a very influencing biography of the Muslim leader. Although it has a very sad end, I saw that what this stubborn man did will not be forgotten ever. Gandhi freed all of India from the British Empire, making it an independent country, but he did not do it by war, he did it peacefully. Therefore, I think tat this movie would be great to watch for anyone.

Magic Tricks Essay

Science is my favourite class, but I never thought that this period that is already fun, would teach magic tricks whose fun goes over the border! And they’re not just tricks, but they’re science filled too! Here are a few of them: The spinning gyroscope in a swivel chair makes it spin; a coin is on top of a card on top of a cup. Flick the card – the coin stays in place & falls in the cup; A water bottle has a hole in its side, if the top is closed, the water doesn’t come out. If it’s open, it does.

The gyroscope tick works like this. When a gyroscope is spun (like the wheel of a bike) and then is spun horizontally (like the steering wheel of a bike connected to the wheel) and is placed on a spinning platform (like a swivel chair) and the steering wheel is pointing horizontally – then the chair with anyone inside will spin also. This is caused by the spinning forces created by the gyroscope. As we know, if a spinning gyroscope’s axle is pushed down, then the gyroscope will go left/right (depending on which way it is spinning) instead of down. Therefore, since the axle it will turn left/right on when pushed down is the swivel chair, when one of the gyroscope’s sides is pushed down, it will push at a 90° angle, causing the chair to turn.

The “Flick the card” trick goes as follows: When a card is placed on a plastic cup, and then a coin placed on top of the card, a person can flick the card with his/her finger. Then the card will slip away from underneath the coin and fly away, while the coin stays in place and falls into the cup. This happens because the inertia of the card does not transfer fully to the coin, because the coin wants to stay in place, like stated in Newton’s first law of motion. The friction between the card & coin is not strong enough to create an unbalanced force that could keep the coin moving at the same speed as the card.

Finally, the water bottle trick is explained this way: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, when the water is pushed out of the hole, something else must come back into the bottle. Since the entire hole is used for going out, the top hole is used for coming in. That says that if we close he top hole, then nothing could come in, and if nothing could come in, then nothing could come out. Therefore, the water stays in the bottle.

All of these tricks are breathtakingly interesting, but since we know how they work, science has made them very simple. However, if we think of the tricks and the science behind them separately, then they seem as amazing as the creation of the first DNA! Science is my favourite subject, but the magic tricks involved make it just amazingly amazing. These tricks will stay in my memory for long to come, and I will teach all of them to my friends and relatives. Thanks for the wizardry, Mr. Weitz!!!

Course Description Essay

I wish to learn about the Celtic culture, because I am interested in a lot of their ways, for example: I’d like to know about their warlike habits, what kind of shelter they lived in, and what their religion was. I also really admire their bagpipes.

Another thing I wish to learn about is the Russian beginnings. I moved to America before I could learn anything about it in Russia. Since I am Russian myself, it is self-explanatory why I lounge to know more about it. I think I would like to know about the development of the cities, the Russian Empire, and culture.

I also really hope to improve my note-taking skills. Although we have started on those already, I am still very bad at it, and it is vital for me to know those. So you can see that it is important to me.

Pencil Project

Function

The pencil is a writing instrument that can also be used for drawing, but unlike the pen, it writes with graphite. The eraser on the back erases the graphite marks that the pencil makes by rubbing it off of the paper.

Major Materials

The major materials that make up a modern pencil are:

· Wood, used to hold the writing core can be Incense-cedar, tropical rainforest wood, or can be made of plastic.

· Graphite, the writing core. It makes a dark black mark on paper, and wears away pretty quickly. It is very breakable, so it has to be in a protective holder.

· Clay, a substance that pencil-makers mix with graphite to adjust the pencil’s hardness.

· Rubber eraser, today's pencil erasers are made from either a synthetic rubber compound or from vinyl. Pink erasers are made from synthetic rubber blended with pumice (a grit that enhances its ability to erase), and vinyl is a type of durable, flexible plastic.

· The metal ring, or ferrule that is used to hold the eraser is made up of zinc and copper to create a strong, but bendable brass holder.

· The last and least important part of the modern-day pencil is paint. It is made up of a synthetically prepared material.

Why these materials were chosen

Wood is chosen to hold the writing core in place since it is very strong, yet easily sharpened. Plastic has all the same features, and it is also bendable. Wood can easily break and plastic is not that easy destroy. The plastic material though sharpens less easily than wood, though.

Graphite was picked because when the Romans used lead for the core, it caused a lot of health problems, so when graphite was discovered, it appeared the more safe way of writing, and left a darker mark.

Clay is hard, and doesn’t leave that much of a mark. So if you add it to graphite it can adjust the hardness and color intensity of the pencil.

Synthetic rubber can be made for the eraser because it has an ability that allows it to erase very easily and quickly, and vinyl is very durable and flexible, and also erases pretty neatly, although not as neat as the synthetic rubber does.

The zinc ferrule was chosen, because of its high flexibility and incredible strength. It is probably the best material to hold an eraser.

Paint protects the wood from decomposition and gives the pencil a nice modern look.

Origin of one of the materials

Probably the most important material in the pencil is the writing core, or graphite “lead”. Graphite came into widespread in the 16th century, following the finding of a large graphite deposit in Borrowdale, England. As people say, a passerby found bits of shiny, black graphite sticking to the roots of a fallen tree. The whole countryside was talking about this mysterious mineral, which soon was called "plumbago" or, more commonly, "Blacklead."

History of the object.

In ancient Rome, scribes wrote on papyrus (an early form of paper) with a thin metal stick called a stylus, which left a light but readable mark. Other early styluses were made of lead. Today we still call the core of a pencil the “lead.” Even though it is made from nontoxic graphite.
Graphite left a dark mark, making it perfect for use by writers and artists. But it was so soft and brittle that it required a holder. At first, sticks of graphite were wrapped in string. Later, the graphite was inserted into wooden sticks that had been hollowed-out by hand! The wood-cased pencil was born.

The first mass-produced pencils were made in Nuremberg, Germany in 1662. Until the war with England cut off imports, pencils used in America came from other continents. Early American pencils were made from Eastern Red Cedar, a strong, splinter-resistant wood that grew in Tennessee and other parts of the southeastern United States. Soon pencil manufacturers needed extra sources of wood, and turned to California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. There they found Incense-cedar, a species that grew in large quantities and made superior pencils. California Incense-cedar soon became the wood of choice for domestic and international pencil makers.

Bibliography

The pencil pages. Doug Martin, Web manager. 2002

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Pencils. The Cumberland Pencil Museum, museum staff.

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Petroski, Henry. The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance. New York: First Scholastic Printing, 2000.

Dr. A.S. Bailey, “Graphite.” Family Encyclopedia. 1997 1^st ed.

Arthur Van Der Kar, “Pens and Pencils: Pencils” The New World Book Of Knowledge. 2000 ed.

Polymer Clay Pencils. Heaser, Sue, web manager 14th October 2002.

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The Past at Sumter

What did Walt Whitman really mean when he said “All the past we leave behind at Sumter?” When before in the South agriculture was prevalent, after the War they changed to manufacturing. States could secede from the Union before, and, even though this law has not changed, the idea brings terror into people’s minds. When there was slavery in the South, now there are no black slaves, and no slaves at all for that matter, in the United States. The South has changed dramatically after the Civil War, which started at Fort Sumter.

First, the South lived off of agriculture in the past for a very long time. White owners managed plantations which provided food, cotton, tobacco, and other grown items useful for mankind. These plantations were virtually the only way the South lived. Yet, after the War ended, many Southerners realized that agriculture is not as profitable as manufacturing, and thus switched to this new and more advanced way of living.

Second, the Confederate states formed because a good number of states in the South seceded from the union. This created a great Civil War, as Lincoln Described it later, in which so many people died that the casualties weren’t even counted to the exact number. This all happened partially, or even mostly because of secession. Now people understand the losses caused by this terrible act, not one politician dares to mention, or even contemplate secession.

Finally, the South’s economy was based on the concept of slavery. This terrible idea played an important role in actually starting the Civil War. When the Union won, and even before that, slavery was completely and totally abolished. Now, not only slavery, but most of its aftereffects are gone altogether. Discrimination by race sex, and many other things is utterly abolished by the Constitution itself.

All of these changes have played a role in the gradual and sometimes sudden reconstruction of the south. Agricultural production was ultimately replaced by manufacturing; secession of individual states was replaced by national unity; enslavement of innocent African-Americans has been replaced by an equality unique to the U.S. So when Walt Whitman mentioned his infamous phrase, he was speaking the absolute truth: the past is all left with the Civil War and Fort Sumter.

St. Etienne Essay

While Spain and France tried to achieve their objectives in North America, they both had to deal with the population of Native Americans they ran into. While the two countries both had similar goals of money and religion, both countries had different opinions on how these goals should be achieved, and how the natives should be treated. By the end of the seventeenth century, Spain’s policy toward the Pueblo tribe proved to be more profitable than France’s policy toward the Huron and Algonquin tribes, but by no means the nicest.

While colonizing America, the Spanish had three general purposes: God, which meant christianizing all of the Indians they found, Gold, since they wanted to find deposits of this precious mineral in North America, and Glory, because they thought that they would get glorious from all of the profits they made in North America. The Catholic Church played an important role in helping Spain achieve these objectives. When the first conquistadors explored new lands, they usually brought priests with them. King Phillip II issued the Royal Decree in 1573. This document said “preaching the holy gospel … is the principal purpose for which we order new … settlements to be made.” This is why many dedicated priests started establishing the first missions. The Spanish economic policy toward the Pueblos was the Encomienda system. This system gave Spanish settlers the right to tax local Indians or to demand labor from them. In exchange, these settlers were supposed to convert the Indians to Christianity, protect them from attack, and teach them various skills. However, the settlers were not really supposed to enslave the Indians under this system. But while the system was taking place, however, many Spaniards forced the Indians to grow crops, mine for gold, or herd cattle. It was taking on really hard for the Indians, so many died of diseases, or fatigue. When the Spanish Padres came to America, they wanted to colonize, and christianize the land and its inhabitants. However, instead of building their missions next to the Indian settlements, the conquistadors would tear the villages down, and build on top of the cleared land. The Spanish would also subdue and enslave the Indians, while they were not capable of doing all of what the Spanish commanded. Therefore many would die from being overworked. However, not all of the Spanish mistreated the Pueblos. The Padres had benevolent intentions towards the Indians. They tended to the welfare of the Natives, by treating anybody that was not feeling well or injured, and instead of beating the disobeying Indians like the conquistadors, they would treat them as miscreant children, and punish them as ones. Yet, since the Spanish carried many diseases that the Indians were not immune to, and since the Spanish lived in such close proximity to the Indians, the Indians often got ill, and died of something as simple, as perhaps a common cold.

The French, while colonizing America, had many similarities to the Spanish, and many differences. Firstly, the French, like the Spaniards, wanted to establish good relations with the Indians that they encountered, and christianize them. When they met the Huron, the French tried to be friendly with them, and get them to help the French to catch beavers, meanwhile trying to persuade the Natives to convert. The French also tried to achieve as much wealth and power in America as they could in their minds. They, like the Spanish, also carried diseases along with them, and wanted to colonize America. Their purpose for coming to America was to achieve wealth through trade, and this would be easy for them since beaver fur hats were popular at that time. They also wanted to become the dominant European nation by becoming the biggest country with the most colonies – and people. The French economic policy toward the Huron and Algonquin nations consisted of the French and the Natives being partners in trade, meaning the French would help the Indians and vice verse; the French agreed to form alliances against the Indian’s common enemies to keep the Indian’s friendliness with them. Because they were so much around the Indians, the French started learning and accepting their cultures and customs, which greatly pleased the Indians, as the French were not so odd anymore. There was also no land competition between the Indians and French, since the French felt that if they fought the Indians for land, they would loose their company, and the Indians were crucial given that they grew corn for the French. The French, like the Spanish, also tried to convert the Indians, but unlike the Spanish, they did not force-convert them. The Black Robes were the French version of the Spanish Padres, yet they were completely different. The French priests were under compulsion to persuade the Indians gently, and not force-convert them. They also tried to understand Indian culture by learning the Native’s languages, eating their foods, and trying to understand their religions. There were some examples from the movie Black Robe that show these different attempts of the priests to teach the Indians their own skills, and understand the Native’s. The priest in Black Robe did many of these things. He slept in the Algonquin’s tents, and traveled in an Algonquin canoe. He honoured the Algonquin’s beliefs and customs, like when he said when he was parting with the Algonquin man and woman, he said “Dreams are true,” which a French priest in France would have definitely not accepted. He tried to persuade the Huron and Algonquin to learn something the French usually do, like when he baptized the baby and the Huron village people, or when he showed a Huron man what writing could do. Additionally, the French church, built on Huron ground next to Huron huts, looked like the rest of the Huron buildings, except for the cross at the front. This showed how easy the French were with the Indians, and how different they were from the Spanish.

If I were an Indian, I would probably like France’s rule more. If I were a Pueblo, and lived under Spain’s rule, these would be the good factors: I would be taken care of, I would be more protected against attack, and I would have better shelter to live in. If I were under France’s rule, these would be the good factors: I would be free, I would have strong allies, and I wouldn’t have to convert to Christianity if I did not want to. The winner is France, because on balance, I would rather live there because I wouldn’t be enslaved like in New Spain, and I could keep all my previous customs if I wanted, without much interruption.

However, France was actually less successful than Spain, even if I would rather live there. First, the Spanish missions were great, sturdy, and could work on their own, and the trade was much more successful than France’s since the Spanish exported not only beaver furs, but many other quality products that they obtained from the Indians. France, on the other hand, had feeble missions that required Indian help to run, and the settlers couldn’t even grow their own food. All they were concentrated on was exporting beaver furs, when they could have gained much more if they exported more different items. The factors favouring neither countries are: they carried deadly diseases, they interfere with Indian customs, and they try to take land for themselves, and because of this, wars broke out between Natives and Europeans, which killed much of the European population. On balance, the winner is Spain, because even if they were much more harsh than the French were to the Indians, they were much more successful in establishing missions and thriving trade. Yet if I were an Indian, I’d still like France better, because I would not care about their trades.

Salem Witch Trials

How would you feel if you were a person, accused of being a witch, and being held a trial against, in 1692? The main question behind that would be whether the procedures followed by the court in the Salem Witch Trials satisfy the requirements of due process. I neglect to say yes for the following reasons: The suspected witches were not given the proper warnings, they were punished for answering both “yes” and “no”, and most importantly, confessions were beaten out of the ones that said they were not witches.

First, the accused witches were not given the Miranda warnings, which say that they have the right to remain silent. In The Crucible, when the judge walked up to Tituba, he started asking her questions right away, without telling her that she didn’t have to answer them. This is a completely unfair thing to do, considering that the accused servant would have been able to not be guilty. The judge should have given her the warnings before asking her if she was a witch or not, which would satisfy due process more than what he originally did.

Second, the accused witches were punished if they protested their accusation, and if they agreed to it. Since they were accused of being witches, it would be reasonable to punish them, because it was considered a crime. However, if they said that they were not witches, the judges said they were lying, and, without evidence, punished them anyway. One of the girls in The Crucible said that she had not seen the devil and was not a witch, but the judge kept on pelting her with questions related to “why are you lying?”, so the girl had to admit she was a witch so she would be put in jail, not something much worse. I think this is wrong of the judge, because you cannot get out of the “mess” you get into when someone accuses you of being a witch. If the Judge would have let the accused explain themselves more thoroughly, and provide evidence, this would be a much more just thing to do towards the person.

Finally, if any witch said that she is not a witch, they were beaten with whips, clubs, etc. until they agreed to say they were witches. When Tituba was first seen in the movie The Crucible, a lady said that she was witch, Tituba kept saying “no”, but the judge started beating her with a club, so she had to confess to doing it. I think this I completely inhumane, because people should not be forced to tell lies about themselves, especially by government officials. That is what the mafia does. If people were given the chance to argue their case, then that would more or less satisfy due process. We would also have much less corpses to swim between in the lakes.

The measures followed by the court did not satisfy due process in the Salem Witch Trials. Miranda warnings were not given to accused witches, these witches were punished for both accepting and rejecting the accusation, and confessions were beaten out of them, so that they agreed that they were witches. Today, all of the accused are given Miranda warnings, and more than once, whether they want it or not. Also, no one is permitted to beat anybody else, unless it is self defense. That is why today, the court is much more just to the accused, than it was back in Salem when they held their Witch Trials.

My Year in History

What would America be like if the freedom of speech did not exist? The freedom of speech would not be there if America was not an independent country. Independence from England was granted to us by Thomas Jefferson, and gave us freedom of speech. I enjoy many liberties with the freedom of speech. The constitutional Freedom that I enjoy is the freedom of speech.

First, there would not be a freedom of speech if America was not independent from England. The people who first came from England could not criticize the government. This had a bad effect on the population, because people could not show what the government should fix in order to make it better. This forced the founding fathers to create the Declaration of Independence to allow the people to affect government policy. Independence from England today allows people to affect the government, which is why the freedom of speech is so important.

Second, Tomas Jefferson created the declaration of Independence, which gave us the freedom of speech. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he promoted the freedom of the people to criticize the government. This freedom stays to this day a right that all Americans enjoy. Without Thomas Jefferson, this freedom would not exist, and people would not be able to criticize the government, which demotes American liberty.

Finally, the freedom of speech allows me to do many things today. For example, with the freedom of speech I can tell the school officials what they should change without being punished. Or, better yet, I could say that the government should not do something, and not be guilty of treason. These things are important to me, because they allow me to make changes that could benefit the country. This proves that the freedom of speech lets a man in America live more like what he wants to, instead of what the government tells him to do.

The freedom of speech is the most enjoyable and historic freedom in the constitution. If not for Independence from England, we wouldn’t have the freedom of speech. Thomas Jefferson, an infamous character, led us to Independence from England, which gave us the freedom of speech. I could do much more with the freedom of speech than without it. If the freedom of speech did not exist, America would be a poor, disorganized, suffering country.

Lewis Morris

Lewis Morris’s life is very patriotic and wild. He was born in 1726 in Morrisania, New York, and was the eldest of four brothers. He was well educated, and at the age of sixteen was ready to go to college. He was an outstanding student, and graduated Yale college with a reputation of good scholarship and a strict morality. After he returned from college, right away he got absorbed in agriculture. He grew up to marry a person named Miss Walton by whom he had six children.

As the colonial troubles began, Mr. Morris knew that many of his privileges might be taken away, and not many were to be added. Yet he was a very devoted patriot, too devoted to let these thoughts stop him. He approved that the British King was a tyrant, and too much of a tyrant to possibly ignore. He desired to battle with the English, although he felt that bloodshed is not a good choice at so early a stage in the troubles of the country. However, he was too independent and bold to join the first congress of New York, which was not a completely intelligent decision.

As the battles of Lexington and Concord revealed the truth behind the British friendliness, the American Legislature now considered it necessary to obtain men of a zealous, bold, and independent nature. Lewis Morris of New York, of course, possessed this quality, thus joining the Second Continental Congress with out much rejection. At the close of the session he was sent to the western country to assist in the difficult operation of detaching the Indians from their British allies, and inducing them to make common cause with he colonists. He remained at Pittsburgh until the following winter, and maintained a constant correspondence with congress on the subject of Indian affairs. Later, he resumed his position in the Congress, and there, in this congressional gathering, he signed, as did few others, the acknowledged Declaration of Independence.

He did so knowing that a large British army had just arrived within artillery range of his domestic property. Yet he yelled something like “Damn the consequences, give me the pen,” and Signed the Declaration. Soon after, more than a thousand acres of woodland were burned, his house was ransacked, his family driven away, his livestock captured, his property and occupants isolated, and the entire property laid waste and ruined. For the six years that followed, he and his family suffered in poverty until the evacuation of New York City.

Lewis Morris is a bit odd in my point of view, since he left his family and property to what could be their deaths, in order to sign some important piece of paper. I wouldn’t have done it. Family would have been more important to me. Even if the whole issue of independence rested on me. But he did. This shows that he is a determined, but slightly careless man. Yet he was greater a patriot than any of us, and America must remember him for the rest of time.

Bibliography.

http://www.virtualology.com/lewismorris/

http://www.colonialhall.com/morris/morrisl.asp

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nnnotables/zlem.html

Hamilton’s America

Who would America choose if there was no one to lead it after the Civil war? Hamilton’s Ideal economy was more beneficial than Jefferson’s, and he viewed the Constitution more optimistically. Hamilton’s relations with England would bring more profit than Jefferson's with France. Jefferson’s view of human nature was less prejudiced against the common folk. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were both great men, but Hamilton would have been the one who would lead America after the Revolution.

First, Hamilton had a better idea of ideal economy, and a looser view of the constitution. Hamilton was a loose Constitutionist, and thought that what the constitution did not restrict could be done. Jefferson, however thought that if the constitution did not grant it, he could not do it. Hamilton’s view of the Ideal economy included businesses, manufacture, and trading. Jefferson’s Ideal economy consisted mainly on unproductive agriculture. Thus, Hamilton could make much more progress than Jefferson.

Second, the relations with England that Hamilton had were more useful that Jefferson’s with France. England is a very rich country, and very good to trade with. France not only has a revolution going on, put is pretty poor too. England has a very good military and Navy, while France has a poorly organized, halfway dead army. Thus, Hamilton’s idea would have given more revenue than Jefferson’s.

Finally, Hamilton’s idea was less friendly to the common man. He thought people were selfish and they were Knaves. Jefferson thought that they were faithful people that could make good decisions. Hamilton theorized that people were out for themselves, which is not what a good president should ever think about his subjects. This shows that even though Hamilton had a lot of good qualities, his bad side showed pretty clearly, also.

Hamilton would be the man to lead the U. S. of A. even though Jefferson was a very close competitor. Hamilton’s view was more positive and free than Jefferson’s, and his Ideal economy was more helpful to our country than Jefferson’s. Jefferson had less fortunate alliances with France than that of Hamilton’s with England. Jefferson, however, had a better Idea about human nature than Hamilton. Without Hamilton, America would remain leaderless after the revolution.

Dear Johan Schmidt,

Greetings. I am glad I got to write to thee, my dear friend, for I have some issues of grave importance to discuss with thee. I have just signed the Declaration of Independence, and I think that we should declare independence from England at all costs. There are a few reasons why.

I think that the rightful form of government that can rule the united States of America is a government that defends the rights of all humans, among which are the self evident rights that all men are created equal, and the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and property. If the government fails to do so, then we should have the right to kick it out and get a new one. Because government was created by man, man has right to abolish it. Furthermore, government cannot make laws, decisions, and so forth, without the consent of the governed. This would be called tyranny, which is what our independence is all about.

One grievance is that the King has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. When he bestowed upon us the Intolerable Acts, and we requested a lift of these acts, we sent for his permission. He disregarded this request, needing a plea to persuade him. A true governor may not, should not, and cannot do so unless he desires a revolution. If George III had desired one, he made the right choice. Otherwise, he may be called a tyrant. I henceforth declare that such an act of untruthfulness is important to me because it is intolerable by the American peoples, thus meaning that it should be eliminated of its current position.

Another grievance I have against King George III is that he has made Judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. An example is that the judges of the vice admiralty court are appointed by the king and serve at his pleasure. How many times did the Vice Admiralty Courts accuse innocent people and send them off to jail merely to please their benefactour to the king? Additionally, how much chance does the accused have of leaving free of charge? As you might have guessed, none. This is of concern to me because during the course of the history of our not yet independent nation, the King has repeatedly tried innocent people and sent them off to jail – some of which have been close to me – without a fair trial where the accused has other persons fighting for his or her cause aside from him or herself.

I intend to support battle with the British for our country’s well being by any means I possibly can. I will go to any degree with this promise. I will give my property, family, and life to win this nation’s independence, because I think that if we continue living under such rule as we are now, we are sure to collapse. We are going to keep being angry with your King, which will lead to more battles and destruction, and death. Then it will bring devastation not only to us, but the British, too. That is why I will pay any price to free ourselves from this British burden. I hope you understand me and do not take offence from me. I write this from my heart, and as truthfully as I can. Please burn this after you’ve read this. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Antony Zhukovskiy

Columbus vs. Erickson

Europe reacted differently to news of Columbus’s discovery in 1493, than it did to news of Leif Erickson’s discovery around the year 1000. There are several reasons why.

During Leif Erickson’s time, Feudal Europe was unconcerned with his discoveries. First, the Europeans had no interest in the natural world. Second, because many wars were going on, which drained the little money the princes had, and because Europe was into agricultural economy, which needed no trade route, the Europeans had neither the means, nor the interest to head out on explorations. Finally, because no one knew these trips would be profitable, there were no risk takers, because the trips were thought to be not profitable.

However, during Columbus’s time, Europe decided to take action on these western routes for several reasons. First, the European scientists’ interest in exploration grew. Second, governments were actually able to invest in these trips, or afford them, for they were bigger and had lots of money. Finally, since Portugal showed that profits, when using a route other than the Silk Road, were huge, Spain and the rest of Europe had the more reason to go and explore the routes by sea.

But the most important fact was that since the Ottoman Turks had taken over the Silk Road and Portugal had taken over the sea route to Asia around Africa, Europe couldn’t go east, so they had only one other option – west! Additionally, since Columbus volunteered to go west, the Rulers did not even pause to think.

These are the reasonable reasons why Europe acted so differently to Columbus’s discovery in 1492, than to Leaf Erickson’s around the year 1000.

The Masters of Science

As an eighth grader I have learned many things, and science is a large contributor. I have discovered that I could be much more productive if working with a team on a project. I also figured out that if I pay attention in class, do all of my homework, and study, I will not only get better grades, but appreciation from my teacher and classmates. Additionally, I have learned to appreciate the environment, which is an important factor in my life. My semester with Mr. Schneider has greatly improved my capability to become an educated scientist.

First, teamwork is very beneficial for me if there is a big project that requires working on. For example, when we did the disinfectant lab, I could not have possibly accomplished such a thing all by myself not only because it is so big and lengthy, but also because the project requires many ideas. As a single person, I would probably quickly run out of these crucial items, but with a team, the work would go much quicker since everybody contributes. Another example is the Brassica Rapa lab, in which our team had to grow plants, make many observations and make a creative poster that describes your observations and progress. Would I have been able to do all that on my own? I think not. Teamwork is a very important aspect that is a helpful milestone on the way to success.

Second, I found that paying attention in class, studying and such, will bring more good than I bargained for. On the day before the test about the flowers, I answered very many jeopardy questions and after that everyone kept calling me to make sure that what they thought they knew was right. I aced the test, and so did others, thanks to my help. Mr. Schneider congratulated me, and I felt very special and important. After that incident, I have learned to listen more often, take notes, and study at home.

Finally, science has educated me to value the environment, and to try to help it in any way. After we learned about evolution, I suddenly realized how incredibly long it took everything to come about. Then I looked at the human population next to the timeline, and saw how small it is compared to everything else. Yet, we’ve had enough time in that puny fraction of the earth’s life to ruin most everything that took so long to create. I had no idea, but I will do anything I can to stop this horrible idea. I would not have realized this without going to science this year, though!

I have become much more educated in science this semester because Mr. Schneider’s class was so beneficial. I learned that working with a team on a project greatly increases your capability to make powerful results. I now know that if I study more, and listen and take notes in class, I will get more attention from my class, and better grades. I now know that I shouldn’t take nature for granted, and I should protect what ever is left of it. For attributes such as these, I wouldn‘t mind doing science all over again.

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Disinfectant Lab

I. Question: Which disinfectant will destroy bacteria best.

II. Purpose: To find out which disinfectant will work best against two types of bacteria – E. coli and B. cereus.

III. Hypothesis: I think that, since Betco and the school cleaner are not meant for to be used in cuts and wounds, and the others are, these two will be more powerful.

IV. Procedures:

A. Written Procedures:

1. Decide at your table which subgroup will use E. coli and which will use B. cereus and subject these pure cultures to different disinfectants.

2. Label your dish.

3. Record the names of the disinfectants and their color on you data chart.

4. Using the sterile swab, wipe some of the bacteria from the pure colony, and then wipe the swab again on your new sterile petri dish.

5. You will need to collect the different disinfectants and water onto your petri dish by doing the following:

a. Dip the coloured circle in the antiseptic you choose, letting the paper absorb the liquid.

b. Remove the excess substance from the disk by gently tapping it onto the side of the container. If the disk is dripping when placed into the dish, the excess water will blow to the next disk and mix, thus ruining your experiment.

c. Place the disk gently into the dish, near the side. Close the lid after each disk is added to minimize the amount of outside bacteria floating in.

6. Incubate the dishes for two twenty-four hour periods.

7. Observe, draw, and label the results for both species.

8. Measure the zone of inhibition and record on the data table

9. On the last day, rank the antiseptics from best to worst.

10. To write the results for both species, you bill need to share with the other subgroups at your table.

11. Answer the remaining questions on the data sheet.

B. Materials List:

· Sterile petri dish and agar

· Pure colony of both species.

· Sterile swab

· Coloured paper disks

· At least six kinds of disinfectants

· Sterile water

· Tweezers

· Data sheet

· Incubator

V. Observations/Data:

A. Day one: The Betco did the best on the B. cereus, with a whopping 9 mm. The E. coli exhibited no growth.

B. Day two: The Betco is still leader in the B. cereus; other disinfectants’ effects have greatly diminished. The E. coli has grown, and the Betco is also leader there.

I. Conclusion and Analysis: The data I collected supported my hypothesis: in each of the species, Betco worked the best. However, the school cleaner did not have any effect. This fact is terrifying, because that is the stuff the janitor uses to clean the classrooms with.

II. New Questions: Do these disinfectants work similarly on fungi? Are some bacteria more resistant to these disinfectants than other?

Portfolio Reflection

One of the most beneficiary attributes that this semester of science had in my mind is happened at my table. There is a student called Marc Goupil who sits at the table next to me. He went to Almond with me, and when I saw him, I saw what a nice guy he was. However, I could never get to him, because he was in a different class and had many other friends. The same thing happened last year. This year though, when he sat at my table and realized that I was interested in a lot of the things he was interested, he readily became my friend. If I hadn’t gone to science with him, then maybe this friendship would never have occurred.

An exceptional activity we did this quarter is the labyrinth assignment. I really enjoyed this because I like mazes and a labyrinth is a close relative to a maze. I built a very complicated labyrinth out of foam core board, which took me a long time to make. It was messy, but fun and when I had finished with it, everybody was amazed. We were supposed to make a labyrinth that you could fit your finger in, but I messed up with the measuring so it was twice as small as my original plan. This triggered ideas running through my head, and I used this one: I had once found a pile of ball bearings spilt all over the floor. I found the bag they were in, picked one out, and tried rolling it around in the labyrinth. It worked! I created a working model of one of those plastic mazes on soap bubble bottle caps. Both my parents and my teacher were excited to see this masterpiece. I am glad we did this project, because now I have something to show off to my friends that they don’t have!

Overall, I think that this semester in science was very fun, and I hope that when I move over to Mr. Schneider (or will it be Weitz?) it will be just as fun, or even better. As a new teacher, I think Mr. Heroux improved greatly since the beginning of the year, and I thank him for his time and patience with our class.

Science Portfolio Reflection

One of the things that stood out in my mind is the spectroscope activity. Because I am really interested in chemistry, and spectroscopes are greatly related to chemistry, I spent a lot of time looking at different light with my spectroscope. Then I went on to different websites to find out more about how spectroscopes work, what they are used for, and many different activities concerning spectroscopy. In fact, I got so interested, that I decided to make a chart of more elements than we had already graphed. I found more electric gas tubes, and made more graphs, which are now hanging on my wall.

Another thing I really liked was the Constellation Project. It was a project where you got to pick a constellation and do a report and an overhead map on it. I spent hours and hours studying all of the stars from my constellation, and found out that there were actually much more stars than I originally thought there was. The original maps I had from books showed only about fourteen stars. I found out using the useful program “Celestia” that there are actually about sixty of them there, all mostly obscure. I made an extremely detailed map of my constellation on white paper, which depicted all of the stars, their sizes, and properties. Then, using this map, I made a less detailed, but still very fine map of the constellation on aluminum foil. I got the lines connecting the stars, the names of the stars, and some other important facts to fit onto the foil. I do not wish to brag, but I must say that my map was the most detailed map of my class, and I am pretty proud of it. Additionally, while doing the project, I found out that the dimmest star ever known in human history was recently discovered in my constellation, Eridanus.

Overall, I think that this semester in science was very fun, but I am very unhappy of the large amounts of homework we receive in our class. If only our teacher could improve on that, this would be the most awesome science class in the world!!!

Popov

In the Ural industrial north, in the settlement of Turinsk mines of Bogoslovsk, in the family of the priest Popov, on March sixteenth, 1895, a boy was born, called Aleksandr Stepanovich Popov.

At ten years of age, Popov was sent to a religious school. After two years, he moved to Ekaterinburg, where his older sister lived, and transferred to the Ekaterinburg Religious School. After finishing many other schools, he went to work in one of the first electric power plants in St. Petersburg. In 1882, after defending his dissertation on dynamos and other electric generators, finally finished his last university.

After so many years of studying electromagnetism, Popov was inspired to make a wireless transmission device. Of all the people trying to make such a thing, Popov was the only one able to switch from abstract electric theories to building a practical working apparatus. Even earlier in his life, he had the idea that one could use radio waves for wireless communication, and this idea he brewed upon until everything became clear to him. After creating the first radio, he gave a well-known speech, the date of which, May seventh, 1895, is remembered as the day of the birth of the radio.

Popov’s main interests, as I have mentioned before, were generally electromagnetism and electro physics, which made him one of the greatest electrical engineers of his day. Popov received many awards in universities, praising him of his dedication to study. He rejected most of these, however, because of his religious education.

One of Popov’s unique qualities was the ability to constantly move from place to place, adapt to the new environment, and gain new friends and knowledge two times faster than the regular human. His ingenious creation baffled mankind, and is still in use today. He wrote a number of tomes with unbelievable patience, until he had all of the facts down that he needed. Today, as one might guess, he is called the Father of the Radio. In general, Popov began his life as a religious learner, continued to physics and mathematics, and finished with electric concepts, from which he derived a device that transmits wireless messages and greatly benefits humanity.

364 words © 2003

ERIDANUS

Phaethon, son of Helios the Sun God, pestered his father to allow him to drive the celestial chariot across the skies one day. (The sun was seen as carried daily on a chariot driven by Helios.) Phaethon was encouraged by his sisters and even his own mother. But Helios always refused, knowing that his son was far from ready to assume such an awesome responsibility.

However under the constant pleading by Phaethon, Helios eventually relented. So one day Phaethon climbed into the chariot, drawn by two white horses. He grasped the reins and set off across the skies. But it was soon apparent that Phaethon was incapable of controlling the horses, which galloped so high in the sky that the earth was close to freezing, then plunged so close to the earth that the fields were burnt.

Zeus quickly had enough of this nonsense and sent a thunderbolt, killing the young driver. Phaethon fell into the sacred river Eridanus while his sisters, for having encouraged him in this foolhardy adventure, were changed into poplar trees which stood along its banks.

The evenings of October are a good time to see most of the night sky's water world, a region in which all the constellations relate to water: a river, Eridanus, a person who carries water, a shore bird, and six critters who live in the sea. It's a huge region stretching from Capricornus, which is next to the summer sky's Sagittarius, to Eridanus which is next to winter's Orion.

Although one of the largest sky regions, it's also one of the faintest, composed mostly of stars that can be seen only under very dark skies. The entire region contains but one bright, 1st-magnitude star visible from our latitude.

The star Achenar is the brightest star in the constellation, but by far not the best means to notice it. In the night sky, locate Orion, by its belt and Rigel. The line between Rigel and the middle star in the belt makes a line. This line is one side of a trapezoidal square shape. Cursa, the second brightest star in Eridanus, makes up one of the adjacent corners of the square. The last star is irrelevant.

Achenar is the star with the lowest magnitude in Eridanus, thus being the brightest. Its apparent magnitude, as seen from earth, is 0.45, and its absolute magnitude is –2.77. The constellation Eridanus contains the faintest know star, a brown dwarf. A team of scientists who were looking for dim stars, just happened to find this star, which was soon decided o be the dimmest star ever discovered. Also, it just happened to be in the constellation Eridanus.

UV Bead Lab

I. Question: Will ultraviolet light go through wax paper?

II. Purpose: To find out if wax paper can be used as a sunscreen.

III. Hypothesis: I think that wax paper will not let ultraviolet light through it, because it’s slick texture and opacity make it look similar to sunscreen.

IV. Procedures:

A. Written Procedures:

1. Make sure all of your beads are not being exposed to UV light

2. Cut out a square piece of wax paper about the size of your hand.

3. Position five of ten ultraviolet beads onto a smooth surface, such as a table.

4. Cover these five beads with the square piece of wax paper.

5. Place the five remaining beads on top of the wax paper. But not on top of the other five beads.

6. Expose the beads to UV light. Record the results.

B. Materials List:

· Ten UV beads

· A roll of wax paper

· Scissors

· A source of UV light.

V. Observations/Data: When I exposed my experiment to a black light lamp, to my disappointment, all ten of the UV beads turned different colors. However, the beads under the wax paper turned colors slightly slower than those on top of it.

VI. Communication:

A. Illustration:

B. Graph:

VII. Conclusion and Analysis: The data I collected did not support my hypothesis. This lab proves that wax paper does not serve as sunscreen. However, because of the last statement, we can suspect that the more layers of wax paper there are, the more UV light the wax will block. But you would rather put on a thin coating of sunscreen than walk around with a hundred layers of wax paper looking like Neil Armstrong on the moon.

VIII. New Questions: Can different types of wax paper block UV light differently? What will happen if the wax paper is at a distance from the beads it is trying to block?

Scoliosis Interview

================|INTERVIEW|================

Q: When does scoliosis begin?

A: Usually, either you’re born with it, or you get it when you’re growing up. My scoliosis began when I was seven, which is the common age to get scoliosis for everyone else at this period of age. There are a few stages to scoliosis, during which it slowly progresses, I had third stage in eighth grade.

Q: What symptoms did you have when you were experiencing scoliosis?

A: You sit at your desk in a crooked manner.

Q: How is scoliosis diagnosed?

A: When a person stands normally, one of his shoulders may be higher than the other shoulder, and this can be literally a few millimeters. A normal person wouldn’t be able to notice it, but a specialist would. Usually, the easiest way to check for scoliosis is to stand a person straight, make him hang his arms, make him stand straight, and not barefoot. Then you watch for the cavity between the waist and the arm. For example, if a person doesn’t have scoliosis, the distance between the arm and the waistline will be the same on both sides. That’s why it’s so easy to tell when a person has scoliosis. Scoliosis becomes dangerous when you are twenty-five or so, because pain begins, rapid breathing, etc., and the spine looses some of its flexibility. They also did X-rays to check for spinal deformities. In addition, they could use this other method: the person bends over, so all of his/her vertebrae are visible, and the doctor circles these protruding vertebrae with a pen, and when the person stands up, the drawing of the spine shows if it’s straight, or curved.

Q: Did you have any pains when you were experiencing scoliosis?

A: No.

Q: Did experiencing scoliosis have any effect on your daily life?

A: The curing did, because I had to go to a specialized school, where I had to learn and do work while being in a laying down position. We were in these special plaster beds, and we didn’t sit in front of desks, but we lied on special couches that had triangular props so that you could look at the black board with ease. This way all of the stress on the spine is removed, thus retarding the progression. However, after I got out of this special school, my classmates did not treat me badly. In fact, they were jealous because I had a special slip so I could skip kolkhoz trips when I felt like it.

Q: Are there any new ways being developed to treat scoliosis?

A: When I was being treated, some surgeries in Russia went as follows: they cut the back open, then they take rods about 2.5cm by 4mm by 20cm, and they bolt it to your spine. Afterwards, you go back to the surgery place, and they remove them. Then you have to lie in bed for half a year. It’s really quite awful.

Q: How expensive was having scoliosis during your treatment?

A: It was free, aside from the gas my mom had to buy for her car when going to the special school.

=======================END OF INTERVIEW======================

Three Great Skills of World History

There almost is a sign hanging in front of the World history class: “Come in knowing nothing, come out Archimedes.” I have improved greatly in these three skills this year: thinking, writing, and reading. A terrible thinker I was in the beginning of the year. I could barely figure out why an American Indian would want to kill a buffalo. World History has greatly increased my abilities in this skill, I could easily write down why Columbus would want to cut off Indian’s hands, not speaking of the buffalo I mentioned earlier. When I came to Egan first, all I could write was a plagiarized copy of a children’s book. Now, as the year comes to an end, I can write big five paragraphed essays, like this one. During my first month in world history class, when Mr. Smith told us to read something from the A.T.C., I read so slowly that I had to take an extra book home to catch up. Today, when I read it, my eyes whizzed past the pages, yet still collected all of the needed facts.

First, I improved in my thinking abilities. I had to think critically while answering questions for “The Diary of Lady Murasaki.” When the page asked me: “What do you think was the main point Lady Murasaki tried to make when she wrote this in her diary?” Since all the people said reading is bad, and she wrote that they were wrong, I said that she meant that women should be well educated. I thought that it was kind of st#pid of them to hate reading, because reading is education, and education is one of the most important things in life! The question clearly requires the person to use critical thinking to answer it, and I think that I answered it most dramatically convincing. I learned that you can’t just answer this kind of question as a simple fact – you need to weave in some of your own opinion in order for it all to be clear. For example: I mentioned that I thought that it was not a good idea to disapprove of learning. That isn’t a fact, but rather an opinion. However, it is mostly true, which communicates the idea that I understand the question clearly, and can answer it thoroughly. I am proud of this assignment, because it made me realize how important critical thinking can be, and generally, I am proud that world history has helped me achieve so much in the thinking area.

Second, I greatly improved as a writer. This shows in the Personal Choice Pages of the Reference section. I had to basically write anything about my life, but it had to be a well-organized, pretty good report. I couldn’t always wander off topic, and had to stay on-task. For instance, when I started explaining about my mom, I wanted to start saying about how nice she is, how much I love her, etc., etc. However, I forced myself to stop, and explain shortly about the rest of my family members, since the report could only be thus long. I learned that when writing a report, you always need to stay focused and on-task, otherwise, it will be very hard for the reader to understand your main point if you meander in different directions all through the report. They might start thinking, “What does ‘blah blah’ have to do with ‘yodel doodle’?”, and that’s not a good thing. I am very proud of my Personal Choice Pages of the Reference section. Since I have written them so long ago (at the beginning of the year) when I looked back upon them to write this reflection, I thought to myself “Wow, did I really Write that?” That is because I have improved so much in writing, that the things I write teach me when I find them later. Now, when I have read over these two pages, I remembered a few of my old effective techniques that I have recently forgotten.

Finally, my skills in reading increased significantly. In general, all of the Study Guide’s increased my ability in reading, but for the sake of time, I’ll refer to a particular one called “The Golden Age.” I had to answer many questions about the text in the A.T.C., and this helped me to improve my reading skill because I had to read over the text again to find answers. A question – The new capital became a center of international trade because of developments in business such as:. Instead of answering simply “tax” as I probably would have before I came to Egan, I explained my answer, and added some additional helpful information that I got from reading the A.T.C. I learned that when you need to answer questions from text, if you read through it and then go back, it’s less effective than if you read the questions first, and then read through the text, to have an idea of what you’re supposed to be looking for. I’m really proud that I figured this out, because if I accidentally forget to answer all the questions, I remember some of the facts that I put into my head when reading to answer all the questions, instead of just the dumb old school-book gobbledygook.

I learned a great deal of things about these skills this year. I learned that you could use some of the bad things involved in doing the work that includes these skills to your advantage, and that reading and writing can be combined to do work at double rate, and many more that I couldn’t possibly list on this page. I became a better thinker, writer, and reader, and they will help me always in my life, because they can be used in many ways to decrease the amount of time spent on work and increase the amount spent on entertainment. I learned that I can be much more than I expect myself to be, but when I think that I’m less, it’s still okay, because it’s enough to satisfy others. The world isn’t perfect, and I’m not either, but I am pleased with myself anyway.