Wii Games - Bloom Blox

A few weeks ago, in class, we played the Wii game Bloom Blox. Bloom Blox is not just any video game, it's a fun and educational game that exercises one's problem solving strategies. This game was created by Steven Spielberg. This honorable man created this game because he wanted a fun and useful game for his kids. We learned that he didn't like what was available for his children for the Wii so he created his own game.

Playing Bloom Blox is not a challenge - except for when you have to solve the problems. What you have to do is throw something to knock down all the blocks in the fewest amount of throws. Sound easy? Not really. Some blocks that you hit will be helpful and they might blowout the entire field of blocks. Others, however, might not do anything for a few throws only to end up wasting your throws. In addition, some blocks might be unbreakable by themselves. You might have to break them by breaking other blocks that might end up breaking the unbreakable. In other cases, you might only have two throws to destroy the whole field of blocks.

In conclusion, I really liked Bloom Blox. It was challenging yet fun. I really want to buy it for my Wii too! All I know is that Bloom Blox is definitely going on my Christmas Wish List! =D

Smart Board

The Smart Board isn't just any type of board, it's, well, a SMART board. The smart board may look like the dry erase board with an eraser and four different colored markers, but it's much more than that. The Smart Board is an interactive board that is connected to a computer or a laptop. To make the Smart Board work, there needs to be three main parts. The projecter, the computer, and the Smart Board itself. Of course, there are many other wires which are very important. The projecter projects content from the computer on to the Smart Board. The Smart Board then needs to be alligned with the projector and projection. After, the Smart Board acts like a touch screen computer. Additionaly, the Smart Board is also a dry erase board. The markers and the screen are all digital therefore, the writing is also digital. The writing is captured on to the computer. This has its own advantages because if a student is absent, the teacher can easily print out the notes the next day.

In conclusion, the Smart Board proves how technology has advanced over the years. We went from chalk to digital. Just imagine what tomorrow will bring...

Scotch Ray

Who: UCLA
What: Scotch Tape and X-Rays
Why: To make X-Ray taking cheaper.



In one word, you can summarize the whole new meaning to Scotch Tape.

X-RAY

Who would have ever thought that something that's in our pencil cases or that lets posters and pictures cling to our walls could have such a high meaning? Scientist Juan Escobar said that "The power you could get from just peeling tape was enormous." Mr. Escobar has suggested that with some cleaning, we just might be able to make cheaper X-Ray machines so that places where electricity is expensive or rare to get.

But after the whole process, the big question is for these tape-peelers, is this not safe for the naive people that do this? Don't take this the wrong way! You may continue to use Scotch Tape to tape everything from pictures to your 3 year-olds toy together.

To learn more about the process, you can click on the word X-Ray!

The Latest iPod Nano

The new iPod is here and better than ever! This new iPod has many features. One of the first things you will notice is the RAINBOW of colors.This is the first time that there have been nine different colors.


There are so many fabulous things about the new iPod Nano other than the color factor. First of all, there is a new software called "Genius". Genius is.... well, a Genius! It will create playlists of songs that will go great together. Genius can also be found on the new iTunes on your computer.

The next thing you can do is find your favorite song a lot quicker! Why search from A to Z for hours and hours when you can view Cover Art and not have to read a thing? You can also press and hold the center button to browse in different categories like album.


What if you tilted your iPod and a whole new experience could be experienced? When tilted, you can see everything in a wider screen. You can view pictures, movies, TV shows and music videos in a whole new way! You can view more Cover Flow with the vertical screen.

Moving and shaking your iPod can do SO MUCH! You can shuffle your songs. During a game like a maze, you can tilt your iPod from left to right to navigate your way through the maze.

The new iPod is most likely something that will pass by soon. Soon Apple will come up with something bigger (or should I say smaller) and better! Can you remember the first time that the iPod was shown?!?! But for now, this is better than the best. With all these features, may come a few defects, but WHAT IS PERFECT NOWADAYS? I personally don't have any experience with this iPod but I've heard it is really great! If you have used it, leave a comment with your opinion.

For more information, click on this!

A new year...

It's a new year and everything is going in awesome... Halloween is coming... Thanksgiving is coming... and how can we forget??? CHRISTMAS IS COMING! (AND 2009 in coming!)

Write more later... be on the look out for more posts coming up!

a PoEm AbOuT cLoUdS (aNd A lItTlE wInD)

Clouds
White sheep, white sheep,

On a blue hill,

When the wind stops

You all stand still.

When the wind blows

You walk away slow.

White sheep, white sheep,

Where do you go?

~Christina G. Rossetti

In this poem, weather was used by description. A form of weather was described. The poet used her knowledge of weather by describing how the clouds are. She drew a picture in the readers mind. The reader would picture the clouds. The author also uses her knowledge to show how the clouds "act". To support all of this, the type of weather that is discussed are clouds. In the poem, the poet describes clouds. Also, there was wind mentioned in the poem.

Without the mentioning of the weather, there would be no poem! It would just be a bunch of words that didn't make any sense put together. A literary technique that is used to describe the clouds is rhyme. The poet uses rhyme which creates a rhythm. This poem, however, does not increase much knowledge about weather. It is mainly common knowledge for most. Some may learn something new.

CLICK HERE... if you can

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Arctic Tale

Arctic Tale was a movie about the the Arctic. It was two major stories about two animals who were born in the arctic. The movie showed the animals growing up. The movie also showed Global Warming in action. The movie followed two main animals; a polar bear and walrus.

Did you know that polar bears are among the biggest predators in the world? There are 20,000 to 40,000 polar bears roam the arctic. Female polar bears can start having babies at around the age of four or five? They usually have two.

Did you know that the scientific name for walruses is Odobenus rosmarus? It means tooth walking sea horse in latin. Walrusses eat carnivores. They weigh about 1.5 tons! That's a little less than 2,000 pounds!

PLEASE WATCH ARCTIC TALE, IT'S TOUCHING AND GREAT!

Blow yourself around some global winds!

What exactly ARE Global Winds? Global winds are winds that blow from a specific direction. They usually cover long distances. There are many types of Global Winds. These include the Trade Winds, the Prevailing Westerlies, the Polar Easterlies, and the jet streams. The diagram to the left shows where winds are located and the direction that they move. In other words the diagram shows the Global Wind Belts.

The diagram shows something called the Hadley Cell. What IS the Hadley Cell? The Hadley Cell is when a direct thermally driven and zonally symmetric circulation under the strong influence of the earth's rotation. The Hadley Cell was first proposed by George Hadley in 1735. It was an explanation for trade winds.

On the side is a quick list of words worth knowing about Global Winds! Take a look at it! =)

Social Studies: Technology: Internet

The Internet is an amazing advancement in technology. The Internet has made a great impact on us humans. The Internet provides so much for us. Communication, information and fun are only small pieces of what the Internet gives us. Day by day, the Internet is updated. Additionally the Internet is also getting bigger and better day by day. With the Internet, you can do things like chat with your friends and family, get the latest celebrity gossip and research stocks. All this is beneficial because the Internet gives the whole world a lot of things. Without the Internet, how would you know to sell your stocks and gain money? How could you keep up with friends and family? The Internet lets us gain much more than knowledge or money. It pulls us together. I believe it has made a great "footprint" on society because the Internet provides us everything we need. There are many online stores to shop from, there is communication, and there is so much information. If we wanted to, I bet we could just stay at home with the Internet and have everything we wanted. Today we can even order food online and have it delivered to our door. What is there that we can't do with the Internet?

Almost the END of Break!!!! =(

Hey everyone,

It's almost the end of break!! I had a GREAT time but I just wish it would last a couple more days.

Bye!
glowriter54

Math: A PRIME NUMBER RECORD

There will never be the last number. You can add a zillion zeros and there will still be a greater number. Recently, a computer search, gave a prime number that was 7,816,230 digits long! Can you believe it? Even if you wrote very quickly, it would take you over 9 days to copy it! That itself tell you how big it is!

It's hard to tell when a very big number is prime. It takes a long time even with all the shortcuts that mathematicians have figured out! This number was found as a result of Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS). Many people around the world have gave sometime to find it. 250,000 computers are involved in GIMPS. This number turned up on Martin Nowak's computer. This number was about 500,000 digits greater than the previous one.

Yum! It's Gum!

Next time your teacher says the infamous line ("Spit out your gum!"), you may want to throw in t that gum is healthy. Scientists are learning that chewing gum is beneficial. Gum may also help you get better grades on tests! Companies are trying new ways to enhance their gum. One way they are enhancing their gum is putting vitamins, medicines, and minerals. They also are adding ingredients that can cure headaches. Some gum may also fight serious diseases.

Making gum is an interesting process. Gum producers mix resin, wax and polyvinyl acetate. This is a gum base. Next, bins of melted gum base with sweeteners, syrups and powders. A different machine rotates the goo sticks. It also may press them into pellets. Lastly, the gum is packaged.

Now the million dollar question is the question WHAT CAN GUM DO FOR YOUR HEALTH? Plenty of studies show that gum-chewing after you eat will fight cavities. How? It stimulates the saliva produced. Saliva is a helpful part in the process of washing away harmful bacteria. The bacteria may hurt our teeth. Xylitol is added to some gum products. This gives an extra dose of cavity fighting power. Researches are showing that having healthy oral health decreases the risk of many serious diseases. Other studies show gum-chewing might be good for the brain. One study showed that gum-chewing enhanced the blood flow to the brain up to 40%! When blood is traveling, it carries oxygen. Oxygen carries brain cells. Memory tests are often better scored on while chewing gum than those who don't chew gum! A study showed that those who chewed gum did 25% better that those who did not chew any gum.

Researchers are learning that gum can work better to distribute medicine compared to a pill. The lining of our cheeks can absorb certain substances more rapidly than our intestines and stomachs. Studies show that people take in three times more while chewing gum compared to a pill. 40% of the medicine got to the bloodstream through the cheeks of the gum chewers. This specific discovery could do so much! There could be gums that relive headaches to curing bad breath. All of those breakthroughs may take a while. We can be sure that they will happen. There already is a gum that will help us stay awake! It's called Stay Alert. In each stick of this gum, there is an equal amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. This will only take a few minutes to kick in its effect. Whereas coffee takes an hour. This gum isn't in stores. It is only for the military. If you do find a caffeine gum in stores, chances are, it's not as well tested as Stay Alert.

For today, chew with care! Plenty of chewing may damage the jaw joint. Don't chew too much gum with vitamins or caffeine! This may cause and overdose. This is what Gayl Canfield says. He works at Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Aventura, Fla. There, she is a dietitian. She also says no matter how healthy gum-chewing shows itself to be, it will never be competition for a good lifestyle! "Nothing like a gum or a vitamin is going to cure a bad dietary habit or a bad exercise habit," Canfield says. "It's not a magic bullet."

To get more information, you can read the original article right here.

Math: Heads and Tails isn't Fair! (Probability)

Think back to a game during gym when you had to flip a coin to see who wins the tie-breaker. Remember when the other team won? You probably yelled "That's so not fair!" at the top of your lungs. Then, you were most likely didn't really think about what you said. What if you were right?

Mathematicians at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Cruz have been researching this. They came to decide that to get accurate results, the coin needs to be spun the proper way. Sometimes, when the coin is flipped it may not even be spun the right way! It may just go into the air and come down. During experiments, researchers learned it is impossible to tell from just watching the coin to see if it flipped or not.

To see the coin move, the coin was video taped. They learned that the coin has a 51% chance of landing on the side it began with. To sum it all up, coin tosses aren't worth it so don't bother to do them!

To learn more about this topic you can go here!

Math: How to Slice a Cake Fairly for two People (Fractions)

Imagine: There is a big cake on the table. One side has nuts along with the usual and the other side has coconuts along with the usual. You and a friend want to split it: EQUALLY. You would like to split it so that you each get some nuts and some coconuts. WHAT DO YOU DO?

What do you do? Look at the picture. Can you see the lines 'A' and 'B'? 'A' would be cut where you think two pieces would have an equal value. 'B' is cut where your friend thinks the two pieces are equal. You would get the piece on the left and your friend would get the piece on the right. Now, you have the middle section leftover. What about the middle? You would have someone spit the middle. You each would get a piece from the middle. This is an idea. Although does it really make sense?

You can go here to get more information about this topic.

Science News For Kids

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/

Q: Who are the sponsers?
A: The sponsers are "The Shell Oil Company" and "The Willis Harlow Shapley Education Fund". In the past, the sponsers are American Honda Foundation, the Dow Chemical Company, and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

Q: What is the site about?
A: The site is about all different types of science news for kids. Some topics are animals, chemistry and materials, food and nutrition, physics, and weather.

Q: What are the positive and negative aspects of this site?
A: The positive aspects of this sites is that it is kid friendly, it makes learning enjoyable, and there are great activities for science fairs. One negative aspect is the site is not that atractive (it needs brighter and more exciting glow to it). Other than that it is great and very informational.

Q: What would this site be used for?
A: This site would be used for research. It could also be used to know what is happening in the science world with reliable information and an easy to understand read.

Q: Would you reccomend this site for future use?
A: Yes! It is very easy to view and explore. It is a great place for research. Infact, you can use this site for your current events blog!

To go to this site you can click here!

Gravity

Imagine this: There's a really skinny guy and a really obese girl. They have to be partners for a ballet performance. In one scene, Mark (the skinny guy) has to lift Olga (the obese girl). Mark doesn't know how he'll practice with Olga . He decides on three possible places to practice. Mark believes that he can go to the practice room on the 30th floor of their building, the tip of Mount Everest, or to the moon. After doing some research mark decides he'll go to the moon. He rents a rocket from NASA, makes some calls and invites Olga to the moon. Olga is confused but she agrees. So the two go to the moon. On the moon, Mark is able to lift Olga as if she's a feather. He can even spin her around on her pinky! But the only problem with this is, Mark needs to arrange for the play to be on the moon!

Why is this? Why can Mark lift Olga very easily on the moon but not on Earth? It's actually not that hard to understand once you are able to understand gravity. Gravity is the force of attraction between two things. The reason that we stand on the Earth and don't float around is because we share a gravitational pull with the earth. The moon has a different gravitational pull than the Earth. Gravity determines weight. The stronger the pull, the more weight. The truth is that you will weigh less on Mount Everest than you do in a mine, underground!