11-10-09, Art Core

Today we went to the glass factory, I thought it was very cool especially the part where the guy made the animals. The work place was quite big the people there seem to be very kind to us and to their fellow workers. It was very hot in the beginning but once we walked in there, there was fans to cool the people down because the procedure of making the glass requires a lot of heat. It feels like we see glass every day, but the procedure of making it glass we don't see everyday. There were times when I saw the machinery I feel like it might be dangerous but the people who work there doesn't seem to get hurt from it. But maybe its just because they are very cautious. When we were walking through the finished glass museum it was very cool, because there were different shapes and sizes. Even the glasses they dispose of was very cool. I wish i could also make an animal out of the glass but i know i would never be able to because it must be super hard. What makes Hsinchu such a great place for making glass is that it has silicon and natural gas. I enjoyed my time at the glass factory it is a very memorable experience for me.

The Last Samurai:Reflection

One of the theme of this movie is Traditional ways(samurais) vs. modernity(emperor). I wanted to chose this theme because i feel like in this movie this it what it was all about. To me i think that they shouldn't have a war just because they wanted to stay traditional or be more advanced, especially they shouldn't have a war against their own country. It was sad to see people fighting against their own people. I think that they should just keep some of the traditions because traditions are the ones that started the whole thing. And some traditions are really cool. But they should also have some modernity because if they always stay in the past then they will never be advanced. And when other countries try to invade them they would probably die pretty fast. The modern equipment can protect them, so that is why they should be more modernized.
I think this is a great movie because it was educational and there were some action in it so i wasnt bored. Normally when i watch educational movies i tend to fall asleep, but not this one because it is very awesome.

Newton's 3 Laws and Amusement Park

1 example of Kinetic Friction and 1 example of Static Friction

I went on a water ride(the one where you go down the steep thing twice). It is and example of Newtons 1st law, static friction, and kinetic friction. This is an example of Newtons 1st law because in Newtons 1st law it tells us "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon an outside force," and when i was going downwards it was going really fast but when it suddenly stop I flew forwards. Which is also known as inertia.
This is an example of static friction because static friction is the friction that prevents a object to set in motion, so you need a greater force to get the object to start moving. When the ride was about to start it started very bumpy and slow and then eventually it moved more smooth, because the friction was preventing the ride to start, but once it was set in motion it started to move more smoothly.
This is also a example of kinetic friction because, kinetic friction is the friction that goes against the motion of a moving object object. So when it was getting to the end of the ride where it was beginning to stop, it didn't stop immediately it stopped very slowly. It was this way because kinetic friction was slowing it down, and eventually brought it to a stop.

Climate Change

Global Warming
The release of carbon dioxide and some heat trapping gases, tailpipes, and burning forests are the major role in the rise of the temperature. The Earth's surface has raised by more then 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900. I feel like if we keep doing this the Earth will keep heating up and heating up causing a lot of droughts, and later on when it gets very hot it will melt the polar ice caps which will cause a lot of floods maybe another ice age. This is like what we studied in Humanities about how civilizations fall. In Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Indus River Vally Civilizations it all collapsed because of climate change and soon there were droughts. So it means one day our world might collapse too.
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=climate%20change&st=cse

Climate Change

Greenpeace: China should attend UN climate talks

The Green Peace is telling China to attend to the conference about climate change because China is the biggest producer of green house gases. China says developed countries bear most of the responsibility for climate change.
Even though i heard that China is the biggest cause of global warming but i was not sure if that was true. And I am not really surprised to see in the news that it says China is the biggest producer of green house gases.

2 current events

Australian wildfires death toll rises to 200

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/australia.bushfire/index.html
These forest fires are threatening some of the water supply. Because some of the fires are burning some major reservoirs that hold billions of liters of water.As the amount of forest fire keep rising the amount of death had also raised.The fires have destroyed more than 1,800 homes and displaced about 7,000 people.

SPECIES PROTECTIONS RESTORED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA
http://web1.audubon.org/news/pressRelease.php?id=1360
Because of global warming and habitat destruction more and more animals are on the brink of destruction. And then Obama said he was going to help restore it.

SMASH day tooth pick tower blog

Why is a drawing a sketch an important part of the scientific method and why do you always neglect this step!?!?
Drawing a sketch is important because you can have a better idea of how your final thing will be looking like. And if you drew a sketch you won't be taking as much time during the time you are making the project, on what you are going to do. I think we neglect this step because we feel like it takes too much time, and we just want to experiment it our selves.

What Happened to Jaguar Paw

Jaguar Paw ↑



















Later on Jaguar Paw will enter the forest and meet some Mayan people, and some of the kids that were left behind and survived. When Jaguar Paw saw them he told them"I am Jaguar Paw, son of Flint Sky. My Father hunted this forest before me. My name is Jaguar Paw. I am a hunter. This is my forest. And my sons will hunt it with their sons after I am gone. " Then one of the person who seems like a leader of some of the people told Jaguar Paw " Our lands were ravaged. We seek a new beginning."
They all decided since Jaguar paw was the person who knows this forest the best, they wanted him to be the leader. Jaguar Paw wanted to create a place where people can live together in peace, and make friends. Just like when their village before it was invaded. Later on Jaguar Paw and his family then creates a place of their own, and they became the leaders of that place. Years later when his son grew old Jaguar Paw teaches his sons how to hunt and how to get around the forest without getting lost. And he taught the rest of the children and people how to hunt.
At night he would tell of his stories about the cruel people of the other tribe how they sacrificed people to please their gods. Every time when he tell his story people will listen carefully to him. Sometimes after he told his stories people would ask him question sometimes Jaguar Paw will answer but sometimes he can't because doesn't understand it either.
After a few years they started to face a crisis, their crops will not grow it has become dry. And there is no longer water in the well. A lot of people because of some weird sickness. Because there was no water a lot of the children and elders grew weaker. Jaguar Paw sometimes sends people to find water, he could not do anything now because he had grew weak from the sickness. Sometimes he insists on going but the people did not agree to this. And things went on and on like this, eventually people kept dying and dying and there was nothing they could do, Jaguar Paw himself also died from the disease. It was a sad day for the people when he died.
Everyone was in sorrow that day of his death. And then his first son then became the leader of the forest. When people passes by he would introduce himself saying "I am Turtles Run, son of Jaguar Paw. My Father hunted this forest before me. My name is Turtles Run. I am a hunter. This is my forest. And my sons will hunt it with their sons after I am gone."

Describe the whisky incident in a blog posting. Why do you think that Orwell chose to make this scene somewhat humorous?

I think he tried to make the scene funny because he wanted to show that the pigs have traits of humans. They drink beer and then they go all crazy, and he showed that the pigs are not actually all that great. And maybe he wanted to add a bit of humor so the readers will keep reading the book.

Climate Change

Russia: Global Warming to Cause Droughts, Floods

Because of global warming a lot of places are getting hotter, Russia is one of the places that are suffering from global warming. The climate changes resulted in Russia having more forest fires, droughts, and floods. But the benefit is that before Russia has brutal winters now with the temperature warmer there will be less snow and ice. Siberia and the Far Eastern region of Chukotka had a decrease in winter snow, resulting in the volume of river water increasing. The scientists had measured the soil, and they say there is a increase in climate. ( climbed by 1.8 F)
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2009/02/19/98043.htm

Mayan Technology vs. Egypt Technology

Similarities
Both of the civilizations had built temples for the rulers. And both of the temples were very structured. The two civilizations both had hieroglyphics to record their writing and important events. Both of the civilizations had a calendar counting the days of the years accurately. And they both had a math system.

Differences
Even though both the civilizations had math but they used different ways. The Mayan and they Egyptians used different calenders, meaning the Mayans had three different kind of calendars. The building styles of both the civilizations were kind of different.

Submarine SMASH Day Reflection

2/10/09
Today during smash day we were trying to build a periscope. Our mission was to use the periscope we made and see what things was in the box on a table. The only supplies that we are allowed to use was card board, paper, 4 mirrors, and scissors.
I am not sure how many times we had to modify our designs, because we kept changing it. Our group knew we had to change the design because we kept experimenting and when it did not work we knew we had to change it. We didn't exactly know what to do when we modify it we just went through trial and error. We communicated to each other by showing each other what we thought would work.
If someone was doing this for the first time my tip to them is just keep going through trial and error. Because i didn't succeed in this either.

Current Event Blog

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2008/12/today-climate-t.html
POZNAN UPDATE
This paragraph is talking about China and India wanting Obama to show some more commitment on the climate happening right now. And Obama has pledged to do something about this and the top US representatives held a conference on some plans on this event. There is bias in this article becasuse it said China and India wanted Obama to do something about it, maybe some people didn't want to do anything to help the world. I think it is good they are doing something about the climate change, becasue right now there is a big climate change happening resulting in global warming.

Current Event Blog

Gaza 'looks like earthquake zone'
After the attack of Gaza city it looked just like an giant earthquake had hit Gaza city. The attack happened 3 weeks ago and now the Gaza city is completely destroyed. The houses of this city was mostly flattened and the bodies are still being recovered. The significance of this article is saying that because of the difference of religion the Israels attacked Gaza city, and therefore resulting in a flattened city. I believe there is bias in this article because the people in Gaza city said it was terrible and it is an opinion since some others might be glad that the city was destroyed. I agree with the people from Gaza city, it is a terrible thing to do, I mean they just destroyed another place just because they believed in something different.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7838618.stm

Reflection on video

1.How do Paiwan people show their respect to the animal they hunted? Wear their tusks and teeth on their head.

2.Why archery is so important to Bunun people? How did fathers train their children to be an archer? Archery is important because it is the most efficient weapon for killing animals and they use pig years to train their archery skills.

3.Why are bats welcomed by Ancient Chinese culture? But in western societies, why do people regard bats as nuisance?The bats are welcomed by the ancient Chinese because they chase away evil and they were the sign of good luck. They are a nuisance because they are considered disgusting and dirty.

4.This video shows a lot of living extinct animals in Taiwan. Please choose one animal that impressed you the most and describe its habitat and its way to survive in the natural environment?The black bear impressed me the most, this bear can thrive on some things on the tree and they live in the mountains.

SMASH Day Reflection

I was being a critical thinker and problem solver because I was thinking about how the marble can reach the goal with high score a long with the team. It was actually hard to think about the ways to get a high score and get the marble to reach the goal because sometimes you exert different amount of energies so the results won't always be the same. I showed I was being a community contributor because I was sharing my ideas to the team on what I thought would work, and I was participating in the group discussion.