INAUGURATION '09! :D

Last week on Tuesday January 20,2009 Barack Obama made history by become our first African American president. Millions of Americans watched in Washington D.C. to experience the magic while others watched from their hometowns. So many interesting things happened that day. We had the Inauguration, the Inauguration Luncheon, and the Inaugural Balls. Among many other exciting activities. One of the main issues, although, was the tunnel leading to the Inaugural activities.
Leading up to the excitement, around two million people gathered at our nation's capital, Washington D.C. Many of these people came and slept on sidewalks because there was no room left inside hotels. To get into the area, there was only one tunnel to get people through. Crowds waited in that tunnel for over four hours! A hand full of people were extremely frustrated at first, but their spirits were lifted when a random group of people started to sing our National Anthem. After this happened, many moods lightened and the wait became a little more pleasurable. Although this is one event that happened that day, there is more excitement to come.
After the big day Barack Obama had, he had to attend ten Inaugural Balls. Many celebrities like Beyonce, Jay-Z, Faith Hill, Shakira and Alicia Keys attended these balls, singing for our new president. These balls were; the Neighborhood ball (open to the public), the Homestate Ball (Illinois and Hawaii in honor of President Obama), the Commander-In-Chief Ball (for the military), the Youth Inaugural Ball (for ages 18-35), the Homestate Ball (Delaware and Pennsylvania in honor of Vice President Biden), the Mid Atlantic Ball, the Western Ball, the Midwestern Ball, the Southern Ball, and the Eastern Ball. By the time President Barack arrived at his last ball, it was later than 12:35 am. Each of the balls were special in their own way. By the end of the night (morning), I would presume Barack's day was extremely fun filled.
This particular day shows that our country really is ready for a change. We can tell by the millions of people who attended this spectacular event, and the balls. Waiting in a tunnel for over four hours, shows patriotism. Attending those balls even if our President was there for just five short minutes, also shows a great deal of patriotism. It is amazing that our country is so large, but we can all come together to share an event so powerful, that it brings tears to all of our eyes.

For more information go to:
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/23/inaugural.tunnel/index-htm?iref=newssearch
and
www.cnn.com/POLITICS/01/20/inauguration.balls/index.html?iref=newssearch

ELECTROMAGNETiC SPECTRUM! (:

Another topic we have been recently been studying in class is the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum is all of the electromagnetic waves that are put in order of smallest to largest frequencies. The electromagnetic spectrum consists of infrared waves, radio waves, visible light, ultraviolet rays, x-rays, and gamma rays. Radio waves have the longest wavelengths and lowest frequencies. An example of something with radio waves would be a microwave, or a television. Infrared waves are waves with shorter wavelengths than radio waves. An example of something that uses infrared waves would be a thermogram (a device that shows the heat of an object using colors). Next, is visible light. Visible light is the colors you can see. The light has shorter wavelengths with higher frequencies. An example of visible light would be the rainbow! After visible light, comes ultraviolet rays. Ultraviolet rays are electromagnetic waves with wavelengths a little bit shorter than visible light. If you go tanning, you are using ultraviolet rays to change the color of your skin. X-rays have wavelengths shorter than ultraviolet rays. People use x-rays to look at bones, to see if there is anything wrong with the structure. Lastly, there is gamma rays. Gamma rays have the shortest wavelengths, but the highest frequencies. Sometimes to kill cancer cells, gamma rays are used. I find it pretty interesting to learn about the electromagnetic spectrum to get a better understanding of things on our planet.

Wave Lengths!! (:

In class, we have recently been studying waves. A wave transfers energy from place to place from a disturbance in something. For example, if a human jumps into a pool, their body (being the disturbance) makes the water move in up and down motions. Those up and down motions are the waves. Each wave has a crest (the highest point of the wave) and a trough (the lowest point of the wave. Each wave has a wave length, a frequency, and a speed. The wave length is how far the wave can go before it reaches its end. Its frequency is how many waves pass a point in a certain amount of time, and the speed is how fast it goes. In society, waves are important because although you cannot see them, they are everywhere. Sound waves, waves in the ocean, etc. etc. Even if you cannot see them, they are always there.

OWLS!! :)

In class we are learning about owls, and we are dissecting owl pellets. Owls are the type of bird that swallows their prey whole. After they swallow their prey, the owl digests the softer parts of the body, and then it regurgitates the bones into pellets. During class, every pair of students got an owl pellet to dissect. My partner and I had a hard owl pellet. The dissecting takes over an hour, and you find plenty of bones. Our particular owl had two types of animals the time it regurgitated our pellet. My partner and I suggested that the two animals were either a mole or a rodent. At first, the dissecting is a little gross, but once you get over the fact that it is regurgitated food, you come to find that the remains of the animals an owl eats is very intriguing.

Symbiosis.

Recently in class we have been studying symbiosis. There are three types of symbiotic relationships. The three types are commensalism, parasitism and mutualism. Commensalism is when only one species benefits while the other is not harmed. Parasitism is when one organism benefits, while the other is harmed. Mutualism is where both of the organisms benefit. An example of commensalism is regular ivy grown on a tree. An example of parasitism is poison ivy growing on a tree. An example of mutualism is when a bee takes pollen from a flower. This study is important to society because without things like parasitism the world might be overflowed with plants. Without mutualism we might have enough. Without symbiosis, there would be no cooperation, or or cooperation with any organisms on Earth.

Diabetes

Have your eyes ever hurt while you were reading? Wonder why? Studies have shown people with headaches, eye aches, double vision (etc. etc.) have some sort of eye disability which is referred to as convergence insufficiency. Doctors say this is not a very hard diagnosis to treat, but takes roughly 12 weeks. Many students who go untreated may have an extremely hard time in school because of these head aches, eye aches, double vision (etc. etc.). Doctors also so these treatments can make a huge difference in children who do not like to read. After these treatments studies have shown that many more kids are reading for fun. Without the treatments kids start to become frustrated, and this could affect how they do their homework, if they do it. If kids get the help they need with this, it can make life a whole lot easier.

For more information go to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27404581/

The Wonders of Monkeys

Recently, scientists have discovered that monkeys can physically be able to use a paralyzed muscle just by using a single brain cell. These monkeys were taught how to play a computer game, and it helped with paralyzed wrists. Scientist say that these certain findings may also be a help to human patients who have had a stroke or a spinal chord injury. This can also mean that many paralyzed people may be able to do things such as grip a hair brush or or a tooth brush and be able to live a somewhat normal life again, says some scientists. This research is led to believe that people who can no longer walk, use their hands or arms (etc. etc.) may shortly be able to by just one brain cell. Studies even say that this research can enable people to posses certain talents that they didn't have before like wiggling ears, or noses. Imagine what it would be like to no longer have some of the senses you have this very minute. If you could suddenly get those back, it would mean the world to you! The human mind can do incredible things, and this is just the start of great, new findings.



For more information, go to: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/10/15/bypassing.paralysis.ap/index.html