October Sky

     In class we watched a movie based on a true event called October Sky! To give you more insight, in the movie, the main character was Homer Hickam and he was astounded by the Russian sattelite Sputnik. He was extremely facinated by rockets after he saw Sputnik and with the help of some friends he makes his own homemade rockets that amaze the town, especially their teacher Ms. Riley. Although, some people didn't approve of this and the boys were forced to stop making their rockets because of a forest fire they were accused of starting. However, they proved their innocence by calculating where their rockets had landed using math. Fortunetely, because of their great efforts, the Rocketboys won the science fair and were able to go to college! This allowed them to escape the coal mines which have many health dangers(cave-ins and diseases)!

    All the topics in this movie had many science/math connections. For example, Homer's Father's coal mine related to health science because it presented the danger of black lung disease. Also, Homer was able to build rockets by using scientific method and math to build his rocket and also to prove his innocence using complex mathmatical equations. Without the sciences physics and engineering all this would have been impossible for Homer to do.

    On the other hand, character education traits were shown throughout the movie. The Rocketboys all showed cooperation because without it they would never have been able to live out their dreams. They each did their part! Homer exercised self-control when he didn't get mad at the people who didn't believe in his dreams. Also, Homer's teacher, Ms. Riley, showed respect for the Rocketboys because she never stopped believing in them and always supported them.

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Response to Cystic Fibrosis

The blog I read was Crazy4coke091. This blog was about the genetic disorder of Cystic Fibrosis and it left me very sorry for those with this disease. People with this disease die very, very early--an average age of 37. Sadly, most children and adolescents are more vulnerable. How would like to hear that your child's life span is cut in more than half when s/he is only at the age of two? I feel like we should have more funding to find the cure of this disease because many people are dying. People should do their best to give people with this disease the best lifestyle than can have and to try to find ways to cure it. This disease make me sad, but now I'm educated about this disease which is one step forward to helping people with this disease.

FRAGILE X SYNDROME!

Fragile X syndrome is a genetic disease. This disease was discovered in the late 1970s and patients with this disease suffer from learning disabilities to more severe cognitive or intellectual disabilities. Sadly, there is no cure but antidepressants, anxiety medications, sleeping medications, and depressants provide patients with the best quality of life and independence that is possible for people with this disease. Also, occupational and speech therapy are often prescribed. Unfortunately, the average age of death is twelve years lower than normal. This disease occurs in about one in three thousand six-hundred males and one in four thousand to six thousand. As you can see, this disease is more vulnerable to males. The genes of this disease are mutated. We should know about this disease because we might be able to find a cure and prolong the lives of the people who have it and help them have a normal life they otherwise would not have. Also, we have to be informed of this disease because it will help us better understand how to help those who have this disease and that people actually suffer from this disease. Click here to learn more and help the cause!

My Roller Coaster Website

King Da Coaster

Science Blog:Current Event!!

Chickenpox in your childhood can lead to oral health problems later in life. Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus which caused 4 million people to have the infection before the vaccine was given out in 1995. If you have had chickenpox, the varicella zoster virus can still be present in yuor body and can lead to horrible oral health problems. Lesions, herpes zoster and bone damage are examples of these problems. 1 million americans are affected my herpes zoster and 50% of the cases happenen over the age of 60. I think that this an important study because it helps prepare dentists and doctors for this occurance. Also, the doctors will help people who have this problem.

Here is where I found this information! 

Social Studies Blog:State News

Barack Obama is in New Jersey! A high school in Plainfield, NJ has been renamed the Barack Obama Acedemy for Academic and Civil Development. At first, the school was named the Plainfield Acedemy for Academic and Civil Development. This high school was made for students who couldn't handle the regular hgh school programs. A student started a petition for the changing the name of the school and most people signed it. The schools goal is to try and become roll models for others. The school believes it get students to believe in change and believe in themselves.

Class Response:Rollercoasters

For the past two days, the science classes have been working on rollercoasters! These rides are made of toilet paper tubes, tape, cardboard, and a marble to test it out with. We are currently learning about forces, Newton's laws, and energy. These elements help us greatly with the task at hand. To make the task even harder, we only have a few class periods to complete our coasters. For our marble to go up hills and do loops we used the acceleration of a slope. This represents the first law which is that a object at rest will remain at rest until acted upon by an unbalanced force. The unbalanced force in this case is gravity. To find out even more information, I went to this link.

It says that if you went at the same speed you would only feel the force of gravity. If you were to accelerate you would feel inertia pushing you forward or back. When you are going down a hill with the forces balanced you would feel weightlessness which I think is very fun. I think this project will help have a better understanding of forces and what we are currently learning through a fun and exciting way.

International Blog:

In Afghanistan, there are many unfortunate events going on. War, terror and desolation is everywhere. Sadly, many children live here. About 1 in 5 people are school age children. To help the children cope with these events Oliver Percovich is determined to open the first Afghan skating school, Skateistan! Most children have never played a sport in their lives and waste no time learning to skateboard. Lots and lots of children are finding this as their first sport. Percovich has raised the money to build Skateistan, but is still waiting for permission. The Afghan children say they have found their strength with skating. For Afghan girls the opportunity for skating is short because when they reach puberty they cannot come in contact with men outside her family. Many people are poor and use skatingboarding to improve their lives. I think this is a very great thing Oliver has done because it is improving the lives of many people and making people happier. Also, I think it is letting people make money and its a new way of travel. Tons of opportunities are formed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/sports/othersports/26skate.html?_r=1&ref=asia

Class Responce:Electromagnetic Spectrum

In class we have been studying the electromagnetic spectrum. All electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed in a vacuum, but they have different wavelengths and different frequencies. Radio waves, infrared rays, visible light, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and gamma rays are all part of this spectrum. In class we had this project where we were assigned a electromagnetic wave. I recieved the infrared wave. Infrared waves can be used in heat lamps, night vision, infrared cameras, thermograms, and ect. We made an advertisment to show what our waves can do. According to Nasa's Imagine the Universe, the spectrum is made of different waves of radiation.  The hotter and more energetic an object or event is can create a higher radiation then colder objects. http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/emspectrum.html  I think it is important to understand the electromagnetic spectrum because it has already led us to very useful inventions and it could certainly bring more.

Inauguration of President Barack Obama!~!

On January 20, 2009, President Elect Barack Obama was inaugurated president! Approximately 1.5 million million people gathered on the National Mall to watch the historic event. Joe Biden took the oath of office after Aretha Franklin sang the song "My country 'tis of Thee".  Obama used the Bible used by the legendary Abraham Lincoln and recited the oath of office. After, he became the 44th president and said his meaningful speech. The article used quotes from Obama's speech which was "Greatness is never a given. It must be earned." he said" This article says that an amazing, barrier-breaking man has been inaugurated president of the United States of America. Hundreds of thousands of people are inspired by this man and believe that he will bring change to this country.http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama.inauguration/index.html

The first African-American was inaugurated president. At 12:00 George W. Bush transfered his power to Barack Hussein Obama. Arriving in a heavy, armor clad limousine, Mrs. and Mr. Obama walked along Pennslyvania Avenue. The new president made a 18 minutes long speech and every sentence was meaningful. Barack Obama now as many issues to solve from the economy to the killings in Gaza. "Unlike most predecessors, Obama takes office with his agenda in many ways set for him." This sentence from the article is very true in many ways. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_rdp
I think Obama will make an excellent president and make many Americans lives easier. He may have a long way to completing the tasks at hand, but I am confident he will succeed. 

Current Event

Genecists from Italy say that the first Americans crossed a land bridge connecting Asia and North America(more specifically Alaska) almost 17,000 to 15,000 years ago. Also, even more people with discernable genetic signatures may have walked across a land bridge called Beringia. Investigators say that this explains the mitochondrial DNA difference that Native Americans have. Native Americans still have this difference in there DNA. Skepticists say that a ice-free part of Alaska wasn't passable until 12,000 years which makes this quite harder for the New World migrants. Scientists say they still have much to learn about human migration. I think that this article is very interesting because it shows us the ideas of how the humans migrated to America. Also, this shows that the himans are very good travelers because they are supposedly from Africa.http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/39781/title/Migrants_settled_New_World_in_tandem