Science: Class Response

Three Facts :

1.) Electromagnetic Spectrum is the complete range of electromagnetic waves placed in order of increasing frequency.

2.) Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves with longer wavelengths and lowest frequencies.

3.)Infrared Rays are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths shorter than those of radio waves.

4.) Visible light is electromagnetic waves you can see.


My opinion on this is that it's fun to learn about the electromagnetic spectrum. I didn't remember a lot about the spectrum, and it was a nice brush up on it. I also learned that an example of infrared rays is a heat lamp because it gives off infrared rays. An example of a radio wave is not only a radio is when a broadcast station sends out radio waves, and we can hear it on our radio or television. Below are websites about this topic:

http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/index.html

http://www.physics4kids.com/files/light_visible.html

Social Studies: Inauguration Of Obama

A brief summary of this topic: The topic being shown in my blog is about President Barack Obama's inauguration. I have found two articles including different pieces of information concerning the historical event. This year thousands and I all around the world are going to be able to witness how our nation has evolved, forming extreme togetherness. Below, I am going to show the two articles I read.

Article #1: In this article the brief summary is the journalist is describing the how the first lady and our President are very excited about finally reaching their destination: The dream of the first African American president of our nation. In the article I found the first paragraph appealing it says, ""At Last" may have been just what President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were thinking Tuesday night as they glided through their first inaugural dance to the Etta James classic." I found this quote appealing because it shows how long the Obama's had waited for the moment to come where they could transform the nation into a more developed one. My overall thoughts about this article is that it was interesting to read about the excitement that went on after Obama was officially inaugurated, and this article also shows me how much his family means to President Obama.

Article #2: This article is describing the actual inauguration. The inauguration was extremely exciting and a heartwarming situation, after all, this was history in the making. To stand and watch an African American man take oath to lead our nation was simply emotional and, to some, unbelievable! In fact in the article it states, " In his speech, Mr.Obama acknowledged that the changes his presidency represented describing himself as a 'man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served in a restaurant.' But although the crowd and the podium around his were full of elated African Americans, Mr. Obama, the first black to become president, did not dwell on this in his speech." It is so shocking to know that our nation was once a nation full of prejudice people, yet it is very comforting to know that our nation has come a long way. So long that it is now being led by an African American.

My overall thoughts on this topic is that I am exceptionally inspired by this movement in history, and although we cannot ignore what had occurred in the past it is soothing to know that we can get passed the prejudice and racism and form a nation where everyone is known to be equal. I wonder how these four years will be like, and what will happen. I also wonder if our new President will carry our nation out the financial crises. I predict that his four years of presidency will change America forever.

Class Response: Waves

Three facts I have learned in class:

1.) A transverse wave is a wave that move the medium at the right direction in which the waves travel.

2.) A longitudinal wave is a wave that moves the medium parallel to the direction in which the wave travels

3.) The high point of a wave is called a crest, the low part is called a trough.

4.) A medium is the material through which a wave can travel through.

My opinion on the subject of waves is that it is interesting to learn about. I didn't know that a wave that needs a medium to travel through is called a mechanical wave. Examples of a medium could be water, air or any type of solids like a rope. I didn't know that light from the sun can carry energy through an empty space. The opposite of a mechanical wave is a electromagnetic wave which doesn't need a medium to travel through. Below is one website that includes the definition and plenty examples of waves, crest, and troughs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/physics/waves/wave_definitions_rev3.shtml

Class Response #2 = Food Chains, Food Webs, Competition

During the study of Ecology, these are three facts I learned in class:

1.) Competition is when animals fight for food, they fight against each other to keep themselves alive.

2.) A food web is a model that represents many overlapping food chains and shows the energy flow to the group of organisms.

3.) A food chain is a diagram that shows energy being passed form one organism to another. For example: Grass -> Zebra -> Lion.

My opinion based on these three facts is that I didn't know the difference between a food chain and a food web before and didn't know that they each gave different pieces of information. I did know about competition and how animals fought each other in order to stay alive. Sometimes I relate competition to how people may fight or argue about who gets the last cookie in the cookie jar, in the same way as animals they are fighting for food and survival. The websites below are examples of food chains and food webs:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/ecosystemsresourcesrev1.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_aqa/foodchains/foodchains1.shtml

Class Response!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three facts learned in class:

1.) There needs to be a balance between predators and prey.

2.) Commensalism is when one organism benefits and the other is not harmed.

3.) Mutualism is when both organisms benefit.

4.) Parasitism is when one organism benefits and the other is harmed.

The topic of the unit we are studying is ecology. My opinion on it is that it is fun to learn about how nature works. I may have known about predators and preys but I didn't know about the need for balance between the two. I also didn't know about the forms of symbiosis, and how many of each kind is around me. Information about the four facts can be found at the two websites below:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/20/AR2008072001591.html?sid=ST2
http://homes.jcu.edu.au/~zljes/bz1002/lecture8.htm

One in Four Mammals at risk of Extinction!!!!

Who: Mammals

What: One in four of the world's 5,487 mammal species going through extinction.

Where: Asia, where developments are being done. Such as population and economy growth.

When: Mammals are going through extinction right now (present day)

Why: The mammals are going through extinction because of many of accidental deaths such as being caught in fishing nets that were meant for other species. Also, Asia, a growing region is causing many habitats to be lost. That is being caused by the the increasing of industrial crops, development of roads, and critical landscaping.

My opinion on this article is that humans aren't the only species on Earth, so they shouldn't only think about themselves. Humans should limit fishing because it's causing mammals to go extinct. If we choose to be less selfish and think about the other species on the planet then maybe we can prevent the greatest of species from going extinct. I really hope that we could all try and not ruin the habitats of the mammals by not making so many drastic changes. Population is growing everywhere and clearly there is nothing that can stop that, but hopefully humans will take the mammal's habitats into consideration when doing any construction work or anything.

I found the article here:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081006-mammals-extinction_2.html

Global Warming Threatens Australia's Iconic Kangaroos!!!!

Many people have heard that global warming is doing bad to the polar bears in the Antarctic,but do they know that it is also affecting the kangaroos in Australia? Some may not know but sadly it's true. The kangaroos may be extinct this century. But why the kangaroos? If there is a change in the temperature by two degrees Celsius then the kangaroos could be in a lot of danger. Because of the changes of temperatures, kangaroos maybe affected very badly and seriously. Surprisingly, even the smallest change of temperature could the shrinking of the kangaroos geographic ranges. Six degrees of temperature rising could cause 98 percent of shrinking in a kangaroos geographic range. Unfortunately, the increasing of temperatures also causes a change in the kangaroos habitats. A very vital way global warming can affect a kangaroos habitat is that kangaroos need water because it may cause starvation, maybe death because of dehydration, or not being able to reproduce. Therefore, if global warming could cause the waterholes to dry up the kangaroos will die. Since kangaroos are only adapted to wet, and tropical climate they wouldn't be able to even create a new habitat and adapt to new vegetation and topography. It's really sad to know that another animal may have to suffer the consequences of extinction due to global warming. What makes this tragic information even more depressing is that the next century's people won't be able to see the iconic Australian kangaroos. Hopefully everyone can help out the environment and stop polluting and cutting down trees so that we can help the kangaroos live just a bit longer.

I found this article on the website below: http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/40939/Global_warming_threatens_Australias_iconic_kangaroos.html