Day 106

7 x7 Seven Subjects & 7 things I learned Day 106

1.       Math

a. In math today, I did 6 problems with two problems in them, the only difference between the problems was the placement of the parentheses, I did the math to figure out If the answers were equal or not. A is whether the answers are the same or not, b. is the answers.

b. 3 + (5 x 2) and (3 + 5 ) x 2 =?

a. no b. 13 and 16.

c. 7 + (2 + 1) and (7 +2) + 1

a. yes b. 10

d. (6 – 2) + 4 and 6 – (2 +4)

a. no, not equal b. 8 and 0

e. 5 x (1/2 x 6) and (5 x ½) x 6

a. yes b. 15

f. 6 + (2 x 3) and (6 + 2) x 3

a. nope not equal b. 12 and 24

g. (8 / 2) / 2 and 8 / (2/2) (/ means divided)

a. no b. 2 and 8

 

2. Science

a. Following Death, Isaac Newton got his wish to be one of history’s most prominent scientists, and one of the most famous people who ever lived.

b. I saw the monument for Isaac Newton at Westminster Abbey, It has a globe, and some angels holding it up, making a reference to his discovery of gravity.

c. Newton's is now known as the “Father of Physics” because of his great ideas about the three laws of motion and the discovery of gravity.

d. Albert Einstein himself acknowledged Newton for his influence on Physics, Newton was “ a shining spirit who pointed out, as none before or after him, the path of Western thought and research” Albert Einstein quoted.

e. In 2005, the Royal Society held a vote for the public to choose, “The greatest scientist that ever lived.” 61 percent said Newton, 39 percent said Einstein.

f. Newton's “Death mask” is placed next to his original copy of “Principia.”

g. Thank you Isaac Newton for discovering physics so young students like me can learn about it today.

3. History

a. World War II mini timeline: 1939

September 1: Germany invades Poland

September 3: Britain and France declare war on Germany.

b. 1940: April: Germany invades Denmark and Norway

May: German blitzkrieg overwhelms Belgium, the Netherlands, and France

June 22: France surrenders to Germany

July to September: The Battle of Britain

September: London Blitz begins; Italy invades Egypt.

c. 1941:

June 22: Germany invades the Soviet Union known as Operation Barbarossa

September 8: Siege of Leningrad begins it will last 872 days.

December 7: Japan attacks the U.S naval base at Pearl Harbor Hawaii

December 8: U.S declares war on Japan.

d.1942

January-April: Japan invades the Philippines, Singapore, Dutch East Indies, and Burma

May 4-8: Japan retreats after the battle of the Coral Sea.

June 4-7: U.S defeats Japan at the battle of Midway

August 23: Battle of Stalingrad begins

October 23-November 11: Allies defeat Germany at the Battle of El Alamein

e. 1943

February 2: Battle of Stalingrad ends with a Soviet victory over Germany

May: Axis surrenders in North Africa

July: Allies invade Sicily; Mussolini is removed from power.

July 5-August 23: Soviet defeat Germany at the battle of Kursk.

September: Allies invade Italy; the Italians surrender; German troops move in to Italy

f. 1944

June 4: Rome falls to the Allies

June 6: Allies invade Northern France on D-Day

June 15-July9: Allies defeat Japan at the Battle of Saipan

December 16: Battle of the Bulge begins

g. 1945

February 19-March 26: U.S defeats Japan at the battle of Iwo Jima

April 1- June 21 Allies defeat Japan at the Battle of Okinawa

April 28: Mussolini is executed in Italy

April 30: Hitler comits suicide in Berlin

May 8: Germany surrenders

August 6: U.S drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan

August 8: Soviets enter the war against Japan

August 9: U.S drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan

September 2: Japan formally surrenders

September 3: WE WON!!!

 

4. Language

a. What are they doing? In Spanish today, I learned how to describe what someone’s doing.

b. To describe what a person is doing, you use the verb, “estar” (to be) followed by the present participle of another verb.

Esta corriendo, She/he’s running

Esta montando en bici. She’s riding a bike.

c. To talk about sports you use the verb, jugar (to play) followed by a preposition.

Esta jugando rugby. He’s playing football.

d. You sometimes use the verb hacer, (to do) followed by the sport: Esta hacienda gymnasia. She’s doing gymnastics.

e. Mom and I played a game where we cut out pieces if paper with six action sentences on it, and the other person had to guess what you were doing.

f. Some of the other sports and actions I learned are:

 Estan jugando futbol.

They’re playing soccor

Estan nadando

They’re swimming

Estan bailando

They’re dancing

Esta jugando tenis

She’s playing tennis.

Esta corriendo

She’s running

Estan jugando basquetbol

They’re playing basketball.

g. What you would say to ask what are they doing? ?Que estan hacienda?

5. Reading

a. In Reading today I read a story about a young boy who moved to Mexico for two years and was troubled by the plight of the poor.

b. I learned about describing a character. Wesley was an easy character to describe today.

c. Choose three words to describe Wesley:

Compassionate, caring, and young.

d. What is Wesley’s main goal since he moved to Central America?

To help the less fortunate by volunteering at a local food shelter.

e. Do you think Wesley agreed or disagreed with the trainer at the orientation workshop telling them never to give food to a beggar?

I think he disagreed. Wesley didn’t want to see those poor people to starve and die on the streets. An example to support my answer: Wesley says that he does not believe giving the beggars money will make them greedy, but will make the grateful.

f. What does Wesley see when he goes out to eat with his family? The beggars lined up on the street hoping for food.

g. If you were Wesley’s older brother or sister, what suggestions would you make to help him with his concerns? I would tell him to maybe smile at the beggars once in a while to let them know that you care.

6. Writing

a. I chose to write a fantasy story for my final writing project.

b. I chose to write the story idea of the clone of a wizard family.

c. My main character is named Reagan Johnson, her brother is Garret Johnson, her mother is Louise Johnson and her father is Steve Johnson. At the beginning of the story, they are just a normal family in San Francisco.

d. Appearance of your main character: Reagan has long blonde hair, brown eyes, and she is about 5’5.

e. Special qualities: She is a clone of the wizard family of the Prescott’s. Reagan is also a wizard.

f. How he/she talks: Reagan talks with a normal American city accent.

g. Other details: She is 15, she has a younger brother, she is in 9^th grade, and she is a good student.

7. Art

a. In art today I learned about OP art, which is short for optical. The style is based on optical illusions. Most OP art paintings are based off of abstract geometric patterns. They exist mainly to fool your eyes. Some OP art patterns are so confusing and vibrant and dynamic, that they make your eyes hurt!

b. OP art was most popular during the late 1960s in the United states and Europe after an exhibition of Op art paintings appeared at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1965.

c. What are some of OP arts most important characteristics? Movement,

Vibration,

Warping,

Bulging,

Flashing

d. The effects above are achieved through the use of: repeated geometric shapes and patterns

perspective

contrasting colors

or black and white.

e. Some of OP art’s most famous artists are:

Richard Anuszkiewicz, United States, 1930-

 M. C. Escher, Netherlands, 1898-1972

Bridget Riley, Great Britain, 1931-

Victor Vasarely, Hungary 1908-1997

f. Victor Vasarely’s painting Composition with Red Squares is a good example of OP art because it fools your eyes when you look at it and it is an optical illusion.

Day 105

7 x7 Seven Subjects & 7 things I learned                                March 6, 2013          Day 105

1.       Math

a. Today in math I worked with the Order of Operations again: Pandas eat mustard on dumplings and apples with spice

b. (7 x ½) x 2 =? Explain below:

c. To make this problem easier, I moved the parentheses over so it now looks like this: 7 x (1/2 x 2) I know that ½ x 2 = 1 so then I multiplied 7 x 1 to equal 7.

 (7 x ½) x 2 =?

d. -39 + (39 + 58) = 58 for this problem I knew that -39 and +39 would equal 0 so I assumed the answer was 58.

e. (9 x 2) x 5 = ?

f. For this problem above I changed the parentheses so it looks like this: 9 x (5 x 2) = ? I multiplied 5 x 2 to equal ten and multiplied it by 9. 9 x 2) x 5 = 90

g. 3 x (1/3 x 8) = 8

 

2. Science

a. Today in Science I learned about Samuel Pepys, one of England’s most famous writers, but he didn’t know it at the time he met Isaac Newton.

b. Pepys nickname was the “armchair scientist.”

c. Pepys became president of the Royal Society and came to bring Newton’s book Principia into publication.

d. Samuel Pepys created an eye witness account of how the city of London burned down in 1666.

e. Christopher Wren was another famous member of the Royal Society, Wren was a gifted mathematician, astronomer and architect.

f. Christopher Wren was one of the main architects that helped rebuild London after the great fire. 

g. Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke built the Great Fire monument that I saw in October.

3. History

a. For history today I watched a video documentary about the Normandy invasion.

b. I learned more about the three phase plans of Operation Overlord. The plan was that Canada would go to Juno beach, and Great Britain would go to Gold beach and Sword beach, and America would head to Omaha and Utah beach with their ships. At midnight they dropped their paratroopers inland and had them come from behind the enemy, while thousands of bombers bombed enemy targets, and then thousands and thousands of troops came in on the beaches and attacked the enemy, and making the enemy trapped.

c. The reason why the Normandy Invasion worked so well was because the Allied forces were able to trick Germany on the exact location of the invasion, so there were less troops on Normandy beaches then there were supposed to be because of the successful trick.

d. The battle of Omaha beach was the worst battle of D Day, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. The bombers missed the targets so the men had no craters to hide in, and the water was much deeper than they anticipated. In total, at Omaha beach they lost 2,500 men differing immensely from the loss of 197 men on Utah beach. 

e. The Normandy Invasion was successful but it did have some drawbacks. Some of the paratroopers got lost and had to fight for much longer than they were supposed to.

f. The Omaha beach battle was successful at the end because the Americans improvised and used their tanks to shoot down Germans and create a path for the men to get by.

g. I learned that the Allies liberated Paris on August 25 1944.

 

4. Language

a. Today in Spanish I learned things you would say if you were at the doctors. “En el doctor”

At the Doctors.

b. To describe most illnesses in Spanish you use “Tengo dolor de” followed by the part of the body that is hurting. “Tengo dolor de cabeza” I’ve got a headache.

c. You can also use Tengo (I’ve got) followed by a noun without the word for “a” or “an”

Tengo tos. I’ve got a cough.

d. You can sometimes use the verb “Estoy” (I am) followed by an adjective

Estoy refriada.

e. You can also use “Me duele” (it hurts) followed by the part of the body that hurts. Me duele la pierna.

My leg hurts.

f. I learned that “?Que pasa?” means “What’s the matter. If I was at the doctors because I had broken my arm, I would say, “Tengo el brazo roto.” I think I’ve broken my arm.

g. Other expressions:

Tengo dolor de estomago. I’ve got a stomach ache.

Tiene dolor de garganta. She’s got a sore throat.

Me duele el pie. I’ve got a sore foot.

Tengo tos. I’ve got a cough.

5. Reading

a. In Reading today I read a story about a World War I soldier who wrote a letter back home to his mother.

b. From What point of view is this letter written? From the first person, the letter writer, Frank.

c. Choose three adjectives to describe Frank, and explain why you chose them: soldier, bored, and homesick.

d. I chose soldier because Frank explains that he was fighting against some Russians in France. I chose the adjective, “bored” because Frank says that he is bored guarding the stockpile and he is looking for some excitement. I chose “homesick” because in the letter Frank says that he misses Brad, and he said that “it gets lonely out here staring at nothing but snow.”

e. What words and phrases does Frank use to describe the white Russians? Frank says that they are heroic, and bravely fighting.

f. What words and phrases does Frank use to describe the Bolsheviks? He describes them as turncoats, and says that Lenin as them pretty well, “under his thumb.”

g. Write a brief description of the article in the third person point of view:

Frank is a soldier in World War I who has traveled from Archangel, to France, to Russia, and guards a stockpile all day. He says that he wishes to see more fighting, but we never find out what happens to Frank.

6. Writing

a. In writing today I thought about the difference between realistic storys and fantasy stories. Today I put in some ideas for fantasy stories:

Fantasy story idea #1

Characters: Reagan and Melissa

Setting: The city of Seattle, Washington

Plot: Melissa is a wizard, and when she was young she duplicated her and her family and sent them off to live their own completely separate lives, but when the two families meet, Melissa and Reagan (Reagan is Melissa’s duplicate) try desperately to keep their parents from meeting each other, and along the way, Melissa and Reagan become very good friends.

Fantast story idea #2

Characters: Matthew Bender and his father

Setting: 17^th century England

Plot: Son of an evil sorcerer, Matthew struggles to find his calling and later falls in love with the enemy’s daughter, magical princess, Clara Devine.

Fantasy Story idea #3

Characters: Knight Edward

Setting: medieval England

Plot: Edward, a knight of the round table, gets lost on the way to Camelot and goes on a dangerous and heroic journey to get back to King Arthur. 

7. Music

Practice time—Voice, Piano, & Guitar—I hour total

Day 104

7 x7 Seven Subjects & 7 things I learned March 5, 2013    Day 104

1.       Math

a. In math today. I learned about adding and subtracting “fancy integers” which are integers like: -1/2 and -0.5

b. The trick to this is to get rid of all the extra marks and make the problem simpler so I can understand what I need to do with the problem, and then add the marks back in later.

c. -1/2 – (-4) – 5/2 = ? first I changed all minus signs into plus signs so I could “add a negative.” I understand that a positive number and a negative number together, mean you have to subtract. The bigger one is positive so we will end up with a positive answer. The answer is 3/12. Then I change 3/12 to an improper fraction by multiplying 3x2 + 1 = 7/2 Then I subtract 7/2 – 5/2 = 2/2 which is a copycat for 1. -1/2 – (-4) – 5/2 = 1

d. -1/2 – (-3) – ½ = 2

e.  43.3 – 56.9 + 2.6 = -11

f. 43.4 – 56.9 = -13.6

g. 5/2 – 7/2 – (0.5) + 0.5 = 0k

 

2. Science

a. I learned in science, that forces always work in pairs. If a soccer goalie blocks a ball with his chest, the goalie is pushing the ball away.

b. This force pair thing makes sense when you think about it. If there wasn’t a force keeping you stationary if you are leaning back in a chair, then you would just fall over, but since you are pushing back against the chair, the chair is pulling you up so you don’t fall backwards.

c. A similar process of pulling and pushing occurs when you stand on the Earth, your body pulls back, although you can’t feel it at all.

d. Mass is different from weight because, mass is the amount of matter in an object, mass is the measurement that describes how much an object resists being moved. The greater the mass of something the more difficult it is to, move into a new position when it’s standing still.

e. Weight describes how much gravity is pulling on you. On the Earth, if you weigh 100 pounds, it means gravity is pulling 100 pounds of you toward the Earth.

f. When an object moves, lots of things resist them, we call this “friction.” Solids, liquids and gases which are the three states of matter, cause friction when something moves against them or trough them.

g. Air, water, other objects, and the Earth itself cause friction to resist a body motion.

3. History

a. Today in history I got back to my World War II projects book and I learned about spy gadgets! I learned some spy vocabulary words too:

Espionage: a fancy word for spying

Surveillance: to observe or watch someone

Saboteur: Someone who tries to cause problems for the enemy

Decoy: A fake that tricks someone into going in the wrong direction.

b. I learned about a double agent named Juan Pujol Garcia who was British spy and a “spy” for the Nazis. Garcia was famous for giving false information to the Germans and sending them in the complete wrong direction on D-day.

c. I learned that A deck of playing cards could conceal a map to safety, This is one thing that the OSS provided for the agents in case they needed to escape enemy lines.

d. I learned that the American spy agency was known as the OSS, which evolved in to the CIA which is in use today.

e. The SOE was the British Spy agency that specialized on espionage and sabotage.  The Abwehr was the German spy agency, but Hitler did not always trust the Abwehr so he created the Gestapo, a secret police force known for its violence, and torture, that they used on people when they needed them to confess something.

f. I also learned more about the holocaust and a story about how in Denmark when they heard news of Hitler coming to round up the Jews they sent, mostly all their Jews to Sweden so that they wouldn’t get captured. However at some point when Hitler went to Sweden to collect all the Jews the Danish Jews were found, but not sent to a concentration camp but a Terezin Ghetto in Czechoslovakia, which was not a death camp.  

g. I learned that after the war, 22 Nazi Germany’s leaders were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Twelve were eventually sentenced to death in the Nuremberg Trials.

 

4. Language

a. In language today I learned how to describe what people are wearing here is what I am wearing today: Llevo vaqueros y camiseta azul y rosa sueter y botas café. I am wearing, a blue shirt, jeans, a pink sweater, and brown boots.

b. I learned how to name iteams of clothing in Spanish:

la camiseta

T-shirt

Pantalones

Pants

La faldda

Skirt

El abrigo

Coat

El vestido

Dress

Los zapatos

Shoes.

c. Now for the boys clothes:

la gorra

cap

la chaqueta

jacket

los vaqueros

jeans

el sueter

sweater

los calcetines

socks

las zapatillas

sneakers

d. I also learned how to say the alphabet in Spanish:

A B C CH D E F G H I J K L LL M N N O P Q R RR S T U V W X Y Z

e. That is Ah,, bay, say, chay, day, E, Effay

Hay, Echay, Ee, Hota, Ka, Ellay, A yay, Emmay, Ennay, En yay, Oh, Pay

Coup, Erray, Errrray, essay, Tay, Ooh!, Bay?, Doblay? Ooh!, A Kiss? E-gray-ga, Sata!

f. I learned that whenever you are talking on the phone in Spanish you say !Hola! Followed by Soy….

Hola, soy, Sofia.

Hello it’s Sophie

g. I learned that all items of clothing are either masculine or feminine. La falda, la vestido.

Skirt

And

Dress

5. Reading

a. In reading today I read a story about a very valuable baseball card. From what point of view is the article written? Third person.

b. Is the point of view omniscient or limited? Omniscient. This is because the reader “hears” the thoughts of both characters.

c. What is the first clue that the baseball card is valuable? When Mark tells himself that he has to keep his hand from shaking.

d. What is the old man’s worry about Mark? That he may not have enough money to pay for the card.

e. Describe Mark as a character: What are some of his main characteristics: He is knowledgeable, honest, and young.

f. Describe the old man: poor, worried, grateful (at the end.)

g.  How would this story be different if you were unable to read the thoughts of the characters? You would not know the value of the card or anything about the difficulty of Marks decision. You would also not know why the seller of the card needed the money or why.

6. Writing

a. In writing today I learned about story ideas. I also learned the difference between realistic stories and fantasy stories.

b. Realistic story Idea #1 : Characters: A southern family with a mother, a father, an older son, twin daughters, and a young boy.

Setting: In the Ozark Mountains of Missouri

Plot: This family lost all of their crops during the drought of the 1920’s and had to move west to California and try to fit in with all the glamour of the early ‘30s Hollywood.

c. Realistic story idea #2:

Characters: A retired football player and his wife

Setting: The city of Boston

Plot: When the New England football team starts going downhill, they hire this 80-year old coach to come and get the team into shape.

d. Realistic idea #3

Characters: A young British actress and her family

Setting: London 2000

Plot: This young girl is trying to make it big as a British actress but when their house burns down they have to work to try and earn a little extra money to pay for acting fees.

7. Voice

a. In voice today I practiced my songs for the audition using hand gestures and facial expressions.

b. I also practiced changing the tone of my voice depending on how the character was feeling at the point of the song. Like In “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” I sang the bridge in a hopeful voice because Eliza Doolittle is hoping for a better life.

c. When I sang, “Castle on a Cloud” I sang it in a pitiful voice kind of looking up at the ceiling like I was looking for my castle on a cloud and sad during the chorus and I was practicing decrescendo at the end.

d. We practiced controlling vibrato on, “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” because I guess I don’t notice it, but I do it on every half and whole note.

e. I learned how to play my warm-ups on piano and also I learned how to do them accapella so that I can do them right before I sing at my audition next weekend.   

f. I learned some mouth exercises to do before I sing too. Some of them include rolling my tongue, saying the vowels, and reciting sentences very staccato.

g. I think that I am really for my audition and that I know both of my songs really well.

Day 103

7 x7 Seven Subjects & 7 things I learned                                Day 103                March 4, 2013

1.       Math

a. Today I learned more about integers and adding negative numbers. I also learned that when two minus signs are right next to each other they create a plus sign. Just trying to fin ways to “add the negatives…”

b. -3 – 4 – (-9) = ? First, I added -3 + 4 to equal -7 and then I turned the – (-9) into -7 + (-9) to equal 2/ -3 – 4 – (-9) = 2.

c. 2 – 4 – (-8) = 6

d. -3 – (-7) = 4

e. 1 – (-2) -1 = 2

f. -1 -1 – (-1) – (-1) = 0

g. I’m really starting to understand the concept of adding negative numbers. Thank you Danica!

 

2. Science

a. In Science today, I learned that people of the 15^th century did not understand Newton's laws or idea about Physics, they still believed in old medieval notions.

b. I learned how Newton's laws apply to the moon: Inertia keeps the moon in a straight path, gravity attracts the moon towards Earth’s center.

c. Gravity could attract the moon all the way to Earth, but inertia keeps things in balance, all the time.

d. Newton described a simpler story about his discovery of gravity to a dinner guest one time; he said that he watched an apple fall from a tree to the ground, as always the apple fell down. Newton sensed that whatever pulled the apple down from Earth also pulled the moon towards the Earth.

e. Newton called the law of gravity the inverse square law… It looked like this:

Force = 1/d2 (“d” stands for distance)

f. Einstein and other philosophers had an idea about a force keeping the moon and the Earth aligned and together, but nobody could fully explain quite as well as Newton did.

g. Gravity was considered Newton's most famous and greatest discovery.

3. History

a. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/sunday-review/the-holocaust-just-got-more-shocking.html?ref=nazipoliciestowardjewsandminorities   In my history books and research online, there have said to be 8,000 concentration camps in Europe. They have been doing a big study at the holocaust museum since 2000 to finally discover that here were over 5 times more camps then they thought…In fact, they have found that there were about 42,500 camps across Europe. When I read this my mouth literally dropped open. But, It does make more sense considering that they killed over 8,000,000 people.

b. I did research on my States government: In your state, who is the governor? The lieutenant governor? Paul LePage, Maine does not have a lieutenant governor. How many representatives does you state house of representatives have? 151 representatives. How many senators does your senate have? 35 senators.

c. Where is your state capital? Augusta. Who are the representatives from your state in the United States senate? Angus King and Susan Collins.

d. Who are the representatives from your state in the United States House of Representatives? Chellie Pingree and Mike Miachaud.  When did your State become a State? 1820

e. When was your constitution passed who wrote it? March 4, 1820, a convention of delegates. In your state, what is the state motto in Latin? In English? Dirigo, “I lead.”

f. What is your state bird? Chickadee What is your state flower? White pinecone with tassel What is your State tree? White pine tree.

g. Name any other state symbols you have: moose, lobster, blueberries, pine tree. Name an interesting fact about your state: Our state is the biggest in New England, yet only has 1,000,000 people.

 

4. Language

a. Today In Spanish I learned how to describe an animal in Spanish and then have other people guess what it is:

 

b. Es larga y delgada It’s long and thin

No puerde corer It can’t run.

Puerde subir a los arboles. It can climb trees.

No tiene patas It doesn’t have legs

!Es una serpiente! It’s a snake!

c. Es alta y delgadaIts tall and thin.

Tiene el cuello largo It’s got a long neck.

Es amarilla y café It’s yellow and brown.

Puerde corer. It can run

!Es una jifara! It’s a giraffe.

d. Es pequeno, It’s small,

Es negro y blanco, it’s black and white

Puede nadir It can swim

No puede volar It can’t fly

!Es un pinguino! It’s a penguin!

e. ES café Its brown

Tiene la cola larga. It’s got a long tail

No puede volar. It can’t fly

Puede saltar. It canjump

Es un canguro. It’s a kangaroo

f. Es grande y gordo It’s big and fat.

Es gris. It’s gray.

Puede nadir. It can swim

NOpuede volar. It can’t fly

It’s a hippopotamus.

g. Es rojo y verde. It’s red and green

Puerde hablar It can talk.

No puerde nadir. It can’t swim.

Puerde volar. It can fly

!Es un loro! It’ a parrot.

5. Reading

a. In reading today I read a story about Venice Italy: In what point of view is the article written? First person

b. If this article had been written in the third person, it would most resemble a personal account of traveling to the city.

c. Who is the most likely speaker in the story? A student traveling with her family to Italy.

d. How do you know that the speaker appreciated Venice? The speaker talks of the city’s strange beauty.

e. What is a vaporetto? A water bus

f. What is the most unusual aspect of Venice? It has canals instead of streets.

g. How do you know the speaker does not live in Venice? She says in the first sentence that her and her family were traveling there, and she is nervous the first time she gets in a gondola.

6. Writing

a. In writing, I learned that words such as I, me, and my tell the reader that the story has been written from the first person point of view.

b. Readers see words such as he, she him, her, his, they, and them in stories that are written in the third-person point of view.

c. I wrote the next conversation that Max would have with his mother after Jeremiah offered him green eggs. In the first-person point of view:

“Hi, mom” I said as I walked in through the door, carrying my backpack and leaning over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. “Hello, sweetie” she said reading her magazine without glancing up. “I’ve got some eggs for you” This time she looked up and nodded, “Put them in the kitchen,” she said, pointing at the kitchen even though I obviously knew where the kitchen was. Then she said, “Did, you get them from Jeremiah?” I nodded, trying to think of what I should tell her next, But all that could come out was, “Yeah.” “He wanted me to ask you something.” Startled and confused, mom nodded once again as if to say, “Go on.” “He wanted to see if we wanted to try some green eggs, I wasn’t sure what he meant by green eggs, so I told him I would check with you.” “Oh, well, tell him that we would love to try some green eggs, next time you see him,” “Oh…and also tell him thank you.” Confused and surprised I walked to my room wondering about those green eggs!

 

7. Art: Abstract Expressionism

a. After World War II American artists wanted to remind the world of common humanity. Their attempt to express emotions that anyone could relate to was the art of Abstract Expressionism.

b. Abstract Expressionism is consisted of many different styles but it all seems to relate to express the way people feel about fast pace and confusion of modem society.

c. Abstract Expressionism was popular in New York City, and in other cities in America.

d.Some of the most famous Abstract expressionism painters are: Willem de Kooning, Netherlands, 1904-1997

Barnett Newman, United States 1905-1970

Robert Motherwell, United States, 1915-1991

Jackson Pollock, United States 1912-1956

Mark Rothko, Russia, 1903-1970

Clyfford Still, United States, 1904- 1980

e. Some of Abstract Expressionism’s most important characteristics are:

large canvases

abstract

all areas of the painting are equally important

emphasizes the physical process of painting

loaded with emotion

spontaneous

f. Jackson Pollock’s painting, “Enchanted Forest” is a good example of abstract expressionism because it shows commotion and confusion and the emotion of being rushed, and upset, and in a crowd.

g. Here are some abstract expressionism paintings:

Days 99--102 Unexpected FUN trip to NYC for Sophie!

Days 99-102    February 66—March 1, 2013

Paragraph: Summarize what you did this week

This week I went on a trip with my friends to New York City. This was an amazing opportunity that I could not pass up. So, since I went on this one day trip to New York was not able to get much, “real school” done…but I did learn a lot while I was in New York and I will tell you about that later. Last week counted for school also, because I went and visited Gamma and Bo at the farm for farm school which I haven’t done in a long time. Bo, worked with me about stuff like grammar, and alliteration and fun language stuff like that, while Gamma and I talked about the artist Matisse and set up for our art project.

Paragraph: Voice

For Voice and piano last week, I learned a new song on the piano and a bunch of new chords. The new chords I learned were, B, E, G, and Fm. The song I learned was, “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera. In Voice, I practiced everything for my audition, I practiced little hand movements and face expressions to go with the songs. I also practiced choosing breathing points in the song so I didn’t run out of breath but it didn’t sound so breathy.

Paragraph: AWANA group

Before I went to New York last week, I went with Cecilia and Jasmine to a group she does called, AWANA. First we played a game, a bean bag relay race. Cecilia, Jasmine, and I were on a team with an older girl named Katherine. We were the yellow team. The idea of the game was to put the bean bag on our head and walk, not run around the circle trying to pass the other teams without the bean bag falling off your head and taking it to the next person. We won 3 out of the four times we played it. Then Cecilia went to go practice her verses and Katie and I helped the little kids with their verses. It was pretty fun, but when it was over…I was glad.

New York:

Bright and early Wednesday morning, Katie Kusturin, Cecilia Kusturin, Meg Kusturin, Bridget Kusturin, Jasmine Margel, and I, Sophie Calderwood hopped in Meg’s minivan on the way to Boston. Now, when I say bright and early on a Wednesday morning, I mean 2:30 in the morning, yes, 2:30. We arrived In Boston around 5:30 to catch a bus that left at 6:00 from Boston to New York City! I was so excited to be going to New York City again! Cecilia, Katie, Jasmine, and I are really good friends and had plan to have, “The most wonderful awesome one direction loving, Harlem shaking, video starring, ice skating, Night of the museum, fashionable, cool, stupendous trip ever.”….yes, that’s what we called it.

When we got to New York around 11:00 on Wednesday we arrived in the fashion district and went to the fashion museum while Meg went to go get fabric for costumes for the skating show. We had so much fun looking at all the crazy shoes and outfits and when we met up with Meg around lunchtime, it was time for me to try something new… Greek food. We were planning on grabbing a quick bite at Gyro II before catching the subway to the Museum of Natural History. I tried it, and actually quite liked my gyro sandwich! After lunch we went to the Museum of Natural History, and were super excited because we watched, “Night of the Museum” the night before. We were pretty upset to see it wasn’t the same museum, but we still had a LOT of fun! My favorite room was the “Ocean Life” room with the big whale hanging from the ceiling.

We spent about 3 ½ hours at the museum and then took an absolutely gorgeous walk through Central park all the way to FAO Schwartz. That’s when we started our video star. Jasmine videoed Cecilia and I on the big piano at FAO Schwartz dancing to One Direction…Oh yeah! That was a lot of fun. After FAO Schwartz we walked to Rockefeller Center and saw the NBC studios. After that, we went to Time Square…. And went shopping! We went to a lot of souvenir shops by Broadway and in Times Square and it was amazing! We went to Forever 21, and the Disney store and it was super cool! We also videoed us on the red stairs and when we were dancing, a woman behind us started dancing too….It was hilarious! We walked to Bryant park and went skating after Times Square…. And boy did we show off! We had like 8 feet of ice to do freestyle on in the middle, and we made the best of it. We practiced our solos and our thriller number and at one point everyone else skating stopped and watched us when our music came on and we couldn’t help ourselves from dancing! It was SOO much fun and a great experience! Thank you mom, Dad, and Meg for making this possible!

Love,

Sophie

Paragraph: Farm school

At farm school, we played the new “Earthopoly” game that Bo got us for Christmas and it was really fun. Gamma won at the end, but I came in second place. The game taught us about recycling, and how much it costs to keep a nice place with carbon credits and clean air going! I also did Daily Spark with Bo which was a lot of fun because he never has done Daily Spark before so he thought it was cool. He helped me with Shakespeare and History about taking it to the next level and making sure I completely understood what the book was trying to say, and at the end I did, so that was good.

Days 97 -99

7 x 7  Days 97-99    February 25-27, 2013

1.       Math

a. In Math today, I started my new algebra book by Danica McKellar, “Kiss my math” I learned about integers,, changing subtraction to, “adding a negative” when you need to. 9 – 15 + 7 = ?. First I rewrote the problem so there was no subtraction. 9 + (-15) + 7. Then I focused on the 9 + (-15) part. I know that I will get a negative answer because the -15 is stronger than the 9. So I subtracted 15 – 9 = 6. So = -6. So our problem becomes -6 + 7 = 1. So the answer is 1. 9 -15 + 7 = 1

b.  3 – 5 + 4 = 2.

c.  -3 – 5 + 4 = ? First I got rid of the subtraction, -3 + -5 = -8 + 4 = -4. Answer = -4.

d. -3 – 5 – 4 = ? Change into “adding negatives.” -3 + -5 + -4 + -12. (Easy!)

e. Then I listed integers from least to greatest: -5, 3, 0, -12. To: -12, 5, 0, 3.

f. -4, -7, -10, 6. To: -10, -7, -4, 6.

g. 7, -8, 2, -1. -8, -1, 2, 7.

 

2. Science

a. In Science today, I learned that in 1684 the questions of “Why the planets orbit the sun? and “What keeps them from flying off wildly into space? Were considered.

b. Newton believed that there was some sort of force keeping the planets connected to each other, he just wasn’t sure what.

c. Newton turned his book about his idea of the force into one of history’s greatest books, “ The Mathematical principles of Natural Philosophy.”

d. Edmond Halley and Sir Issac Newton became partners by the year of 1684, they worked together to discover the force. Newton and Halley worked together to create the book, “Principia” which explained Isaac Newton greatest discoveries the three Laws of Physics.

e. Definitions of Physics:

Matter- anything that takes up space,

Mass- the measure of a quantity or amount of matter,

Momentum- the quantity of motion, which is the product of velocity and mass,

Inertia- the power by which an object , if it is at rest, stays at rest, or if in motion, will travel in a straight line.

Force- an action applied upon a body

Centripetal Force- an attraction toward the center of something, (as in gravity)

 

f. After Newton set these definitions, he established the three laws of motion: The Law of Inertia: An object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. An object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

 

Law of acceleration: The rate at which the momentum of an object changed is proportional to the force acting it.

Law of Action and Reaction: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

g. The three Laws of motion served as a stepping point to the Universal law of Gravity.

3. History

a. I learned today in Government about State Governments.

b. What is federalism? The dual system of state and federal government systems.

c. How is a state government like the federal government? The state government is a lot like the federal government because it has the three branches of government, executive, judicial, and legislative. And the State government has an elected official for the executive branch called a governor, which is like the president.

d. If there is a disagreement between a state law and a federal law, which one wins? The federal law, because the federal government of the nation overpowers the government of the state.

e. What is a motto? A sentence or phrase used as a guiding principle.

f. Give some examples of state symbols, State flag, State flower, State tree, State bird, State motto. Maine’s symbols are: State flower: White pine cone and tassel, State tree: Eastern white pine, State bird, chickadee, State motto, “Dirigo.”

g. Why do states have state symbols? Because the plants and animals could be native to the state, while others could be rare to find in the state. 

 

4. Language

a. In Spanish today I learned about the weather: ?Que tiempo hace? What’s the weather like?

b. ?Que tiempo hace? What’s the weather like? Hace frio. Hace sol. It is cold. It is sunny.

c. There are several ways to talk about the weather in Spanish. You can use “hace” followed by an adjective. Hace callor. It’s hot.

d. You can also use “hace” followed by a noun: Hace sol. It’s sunny, Hace viento. It’s windy.

e. Sometimes you can use a vern: Esta lloviendo. It’s raining. Esta nevando. It’s snowing.

f. You can also use “esta” followed by an adjective. Esta nebulso. It’s foggy.

g. OPther words and expressions to describe the weather are: Las estaciones. The seasons.

La primavera. spring.

El verano.  summer,

El otono. Fall

El invierno, Winter,

El arco iris. Rainbow,

Hace buen tiempo, The weather’s fine

Hace mal tiempo, The weather’s bad,

Hace 54 %f It’s 54 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

5. Reading

I just finished reading the World War II scrapbook of Louise Krueger’s called “Best Friends forever.” This book is about two fourteen year old girls, Louise Krueger and Dottie Masuoka and they were best friends. Dottie and her family were sent to a Japanese Internment camp in 1942 and Louise started the scrapbook to save all of the letters and drawings Dottie sent her. As well as putting all of Louise’s own activities in it. She started the scrapbook with the News headline of the Pearl Harbor attack and the Poster for Japanese Americans to be rounded up and evacuated to camps. Good thing this was only done in the Western part of America, but it was still awful.

The first letter Dottie sent, explained where she was sent to, an abandoned fairground in western Washington state. She said that she felt like a horse, because their “houses” were inside long stable like structures and she was rooming with many other people as well as her whole family. She told Louise that the “stables” were so close together that she could hear every word that her neighbors were saying clearly. Dottie also explained that when she told her grandfather that she was not just Japanese, but Japanese-American, he got very angry with her and didn’t speak to her for almost a month! But it wasn’t just Dottie who got treated badly…so did Louise. Louise’s “ex-friends” as she called them, didn’t speak to her because she was nicknamed, A “Jap-lover” because she still was friends with Dottie.

Since, Louise was bored without Dottie to hang around and she had no other friends, just “ex-friends” she decided to volunteer for the Junior Red cross. One of their assignments was to go to the hospital and find a War survivor that was handicapped and write letters to their parents telling them that he was ok. Louise was going to interview a soldier named, Nick Rossi, a soldier who lost both of his eyes in the war. She wrote the letter and came back to the hospital and visited him often. But, Louise was still bored, she convinced her dad, the journalist, to do a story on Camp harmony and let Louise go to visit Dottie. She did get to go visit Dottie, but only behind the fence, with guns shooting at her the whole time. Louise was confused why they thought we would harm the Masuoka family, if they were already harming them by locking them up in this prison-like camp.

Louise Krueger, sounds like a German name right, why didn’t they lock their family up too? They didn’t, but other terrible things happened. The Krueger family got Rocks thrown through their windows with notes attached to them saying things like, “Go back to Germany, Nazis” it was awful. Same thing happened to families with Italian last names, and even French last names. Sometimes I think the Americans were almost as bad to their people as the Germans treated the Jewish people, and handicapped, but I know nothing was as bad as that.

Dottie and her family got transferred to another camp after a year or so, and Dottie’s cousin was let into the military. I thought to myself as I was reading this, “So they let Japanese people fight for the American army but they don’t let them live freely in it?” I think the Americans were being a little bit too cautious here. Dottie and her family got transferred to a camp in Wyoming. The book didn’t say when they were coming back it ended before the end of the war. But it did end with the notice of Louise and Dottie always being best friends forever. This book taught me all the history of World war II from a normal American’s life and A Japanese-American in an Internment camp.

6. Writing   Email to Danica McKellar

Dear Danica,

I am Sophie Calderwood, a seventh grade homeschooler from Brunswick Maine. I have just finished reading your first book, “Math Doesn’t Suck.” I am writing to tell you that I enjoyed it…A LOT and it has helped me understand math so much better! Since, I am homeschooled, I don’t take tests or have homework, but, every day I do a 7x7 blog called Ihomeschool to show my readers and family what I learned that day, 7 facts, 7 subjects. My readers said that it looks like my math has really improved thanks to your tricks and techniques. I have also been doing this thing I call, “Math posters,” where I illustrate the ideas and methods you have for each chapter and use them the posters for my blog. My favorite posters were the birthday cake method, the order of operations, and “a choreographed routine.” You have helped me so much! I’m looking forward to reading, “Kiss my Math.”

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Sophie <3

Slideshow of Sophie's Math Posters --Final Project for Math Doesn't Suck

7. Current Events : Follow the links, read the story, watch the videos, and provide two points of interest in complete sentences.

a. FTL: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/07/us/asteroid-approach-earth

b. On February 15^th, An Asteroid came on a close path of 17,100 miles near Earth. This article explains that there are a lot of asteroids that have a route of coming this close to the Earth with a probability of an impact which is very, very low.

c. Scientists have been studying another asteroid called, Apophis which shows small indications of it hitting the Earth in 2029, or 2026. I also read about the first asteroid ever discovered, the asteroid Cerus discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801 actually being a dwarf planet.

d.FTL: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/02/19/russian-meteor-was-largest-in-century/ 

e. In Russia, a large meteor hit injury over 1,000 people. But that’s not all this meteor is famous for. The meteor has been recorded as the largest such object to hit Earth in over a century.

f. The meteor was about 55 feet in diameter and weighed about 10,000 tons! People said that the meteor was like “a fire in the sky” as it blinded many people as it impacted.

g. FTL: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-one-last-appearances-says-pray-next-pope-113139215.html