Mr. Ardito’s Classes

57 responses so far ↓

• 1    FuNkYy MoNkEy // Feb 5, 2007 at 7:36 pm

  The article I read is called “Flying the Hyper Skies” by S. McDonagh. I found this article at http://sciencenewsforkids.com/articles/20040407/Note3.asp

  This article is mainly about a jet called the Hyper-X that was just made and it broke the record for air-breathing jet planes. The jet can reach 5,000 miles per hour which is seven times the speed of sound. The Hyper-X is unmanned and only 12 feet long. It also runs by a special engine called the scramjet that engineers have been experimenting with since the 1960’s. The scramjets special design lets it take oxygen from the air.

  I tried to read an article in an area I knew nothing about. I chose technology and engineering. The article I read about the Hyper-X jet was really interesting. An interesting fact I learned was that the engine the jet runs on (scramjet) can only work if it is flying at five times the speed of sound. I would like to know how the test runs of the jet went. Maybe if anything went wrong or if the engineers had to repair something last minute. Overall I really liked learning about somthing I am usually not interested in.

• 2    Maniac Leprechaun // Feb 7, 2007 at 11:39 am

  For this weekly science report, I have chosen to write a response to an article which I know very little about. The topic I have chosen is the oil drilling in the Arctic. The article can be found here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9984545/
  Re-Tell: Many environmentalists are against the drilling for oil in the Arctic, and so far, they have succeeded in being able to keep people from drilling there. Recently, the need for oil has increased. Plus, with most of the government being controlled by Republicans, who are mostly in favor of drilling, the effort to keep drillers away has been a difficult one. But, a bill which would call for drilling in the Arctic was recently stopped, because of higher concerns that the bill needed to address. So, Arctic Drilling was removed from the bill, meaning no drilling would take place, at least for a little while. The House of Representatives has called for drilling five times, but each time the proposition has died out in the Senate. So for now, the Arctic is safe from drillers.
  Response: I really loved this article. It started out saying that the fight for anti-Arctic drilling is a losing battle, then it introduces hope that it will never happen. Bush really wants to drill there, but I swear it is a horrible idea. All the animals will be homeless, and the ice will break up even quicker then what is already happening because of global warming. We are totally killing the environment, and this drilling will be another development in the ever going process of humans consuming the environment. I am so glad that the Senate keeps on turning down the bill, and the habitat is safe. Polar Bears are already endangered, and the drilling would force them over the edge into extinction. I say that Bush should be extremely ashamed that he would even suggest such a thing. People have been completely blind to the cruelty and utter indifference to the suffering of others that our beloved President has been doing ever since he was put into office.

• 3    Maniac Leprechaun // Feb 7, 2007 at 11:42 am

  This comment is for FuNkYy MoNkEy
  I think you did a great job describing the article, and you really told the reader everything there was to know about the topic. Your response was also very interesting, and I loved hearing about the engine technology. I really think you did a great job. Keep it up!

• 4    maniac Leprechaun // Feb 7, 2007 at 11:45 am

  So sorry, I commented in the wrong class
  geez, sorry

• 5    Vote Jon // Feb 7, 2007 at 4:21 pm

  Citation: My article is called China Sweats in Warmest Temperatures on Record and it’s written by Dan Martin. I found my article at http://www.seedmagazine.com.

  Summary: The article is all about how China has broken the record for warmest winter on record since 167 years ago. Right now they have closed down their ponds so people can’t go ice skating on the melting ice, Magnolia trees are blooming two months earlier than usual and people have but away their winter coats. It’s warmer than it was in 1840. It’s 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

  Reflection: I chose this article because it was from a different website than I usually go to and it is about global warming and since we watched then movie I thought it would connect to the movie. In the movie, Al Gore said that all the ice caps are melting or starting to melt. China has its record for the hottest winter since 1840. He was talking about how many countries (including ours) have made records for hottest summer but he never said anything about the hottest winter. China also set a record for hottest summer. And this winter, it only snowed 3 times around here. It was pretty warm out until holiday break. This just goes to show how global warming is already affecting us.

• 6    Silverwolf // Feb 7, 2007 at 10:01 pm

  “Orbiting Junk, Once a Nuisance, Is Now a Threat”
  By William J. Broad
  New York Times 2/6/07

  Summary: Space debris is becoming a huge problem. More and more junk is getting stuck in our planets orbit including satellites, spent rocket stages, a camera, a hand tool, and lots of other spacecraft debris. On January 11 China sent an anti-satellite rocket into space to destroy an old satellite as a test. When the satellite exploded it sent hundreds of pieces of debris into space that were larger than 3 inches in diameter. “Within a day, the debris had encased the Earth…” The increase of debris in the atmosphere will soon (and inevitably unless we do something immediately) cause a chain reaction of explosions of debris that will surround the entire earth in objects that rocket through space. Soon we will not be able to launch space shuttles into space without putting more plating on them to keep them from being destroyed. In 1960 there was about 125 pieces of debris that were 4 inches or larger in orbit. Within 47 years we have reached 10,000 pieces of debris that are orbiting our planet. Because of orbiting junk the Hubble Space Telescope’s solar panels got pelted 725,000 times with space debris, 5,000 of which left holes in the panels (some were visible to the naked eye).

  Reflection: I thought that this article was long but it was packed full of interesting information that made me want to keep reading. I had never thought that space debris is such a huge issue. It also had a lot of interesting pictures and graphs that, after I finished the article, had to go back and look at closely. It seems like there is nothing out there but there is really almost enough stuff to continually collide into each other until it is all just shards of objects.

  (I used a longer article than usual)

• 7    chattychicka // Feb 7, 2007 at 10:02 pm

  Europe Compromises With Automakers on Carbon Limits
  By Dan Bilefsky
  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/business/worldbusiness/07carbon.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=science&pagewanted=print

  *Note: This article is longer and has more challenging vocabulary.*

  My article is about the European Commission’s new proposal on “limiting emissions from new passenger cars”. The commission is planning to “endorse a watered-down blueprint” that would make a limit on carbon dioxide emissions averaging at “130 grams a kilometer by 2012.” However, both environmentalists and carmakers both have objections to this plan.
  Environmentalists say that this plan will do little to stop high-gas users. The plan only encourages carmakers to find ways to reduce emissions. Some ways to do that, proposed in the article are educating drivers about fuel-efficient ways to drive, using biofuels and improving tires and gear boxes.
  Carmakers argue that the proposal will make car making more expensive. They say the emissions limit will “shift thousands of jobs overseas”. Some argued that it would make it difficult to make smaller cars.
  The proposal is to be announced on Wednesday.
  I really enjoyed the article after watching “An Inconvenient Truth” today during school. It shows are people are unwilling to change because they are afraid of what could happen. The article was very well written and had quotes from various people. I would encourage the author to put most statistics in so that people could truly understand the effects of the plan. I hope the proposal works out: it will only be one step to a better world.

• 8    Jamie // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:58 am

  Stanford team repairs India’s Smallest hearts
  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/08/MNGC5O0KOJ1.DTL
  After Shikhar was born in December, his parenets took him home thinking he was a healthy baby. but soon after he arived home, he began to turn blue. His appaled parents rushed him to the hospital for care. The doctors dignosed him with blue baby syndrome.
  The doctors , with the help of some travaling surgens, they preformed a 76 minute surgery on Shihar’s haert, along with 9 other babies. The doctors still belive they need to save more in India.

• 9    Jamie // Feb 8, 2007 at 12:05 pm

  This comment is for chattyChikka,
  I really like how you wrote about limiting car emmisions. It really ties in with An Inconveinent truth.
  &hearts

• 10    clark // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:04 pm

  Weekly Science Article Report # 11
  by clark
  The article I read is called “Robots on the Road, Again” by Emily Sohn. I found the article at sciencenewsforkids.com

  The article is about the “Race for Driver-less Vehicles”. It is a race for any type of vehicle, as long as it can drive on its own without a passenger or remote control. The vehicles have to drive across a 142-mile desert. The article compares the ending results from two of the races. One of them took place in 2005, the other took place the previous year. On the first race, not one vehicle finished. On the second one in 2005, 5 out of the 23 racers finished. That is around 22%!

  The article was really good. I enjoyed it because I had no idea that people were capable of creating a vehicle that can drive on it’s own. That kind of invention would be a great advantage. The article said that it would allow us to use tanks without any drivers being put in danger. It could also make delivering products across the country, or even oversees much easier. This article was different from the articles that I normally read because it was really long. I also had no knowledge of driver-less vehicles before i read the vehicle(I didn’t even know that such a thing existed!!!). Also (If you didn’t notice), I tried to write more in my report. I rate the article 8.5 out of 10!

• 11    clark // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:08 pm

  This is a comment for Jamie:
  I didn’t know that such a disease existed! That is really upsetting. Now I am depressed. I never would have picked such an article, but thats just me. I think that you did a good job.

• 12    clark // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:10 pm

  This is a comment for FuNkYy MoNkEy:
  That is really cool! A jet that can travel 5 times the speed of sound! You picked a great article, and you did a good describing it.

• 13    clark // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:15 pm

  This is a comment for Vote Jon:
  I really liked your reflection of the article, and how you related it to “An Inconvenient Truth”. I hate global warming though…. I think China should take control of their environment, it could help them as well as the rest of the world. Good report!

• 14    wise-weasel // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:26 pm

  “Wizardry at Harvard: Physicists Move Light” by Kenneth Chang from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/science/08quantum.html?ref=science on Thursday, February 8, 2007

  Harvard physicists have recently developed a method of slowing, stopping, and moving light, using an extremely cold cloud of sodium atoms. This process has many implications. Controlling the movement of light could be put into use in future computers to process information that would be encoded in pulses of light. It has also been suggested that it could be applied to quantum cryptography to encrypt information.

  I found this article extremely interesting, but the way it was written sometimes seemed almost awkward. There were a few lengthy almost run-on sentences, and sometimes words seemed to be put into strange places. Other than my moderate dislike of the author’s writing style, I found the article quite enjoyable. It was a little longer than an article that I might normally read, and it was also slightly more challenging because of some of the scientific terminology. By using that particular article I did indeed “stretch myself.” If one were to compare my summary with the article itself, they would notice that I left out some of the science behind the process. I figured that some of that information would be unnecessary in a summary, and I hope that I was correct.

• 15    wise-weasel // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:32 pm

  Comment to “Silverwolf”—
  It is amazing that space debris could be a threat to us! It is also sickening that we do not clean up after ourselves on earth or in space. I very much enjoyed reading your report, and I now feel compelled to research this matter myself!

• 16    wise-weasel // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:52 pm

  Comment to “clark” —
  It is quite remarkable that vehicles can drive without a controller, but I would not want to ride in one. I would be in constant fear that the vehicle could somehow malfunction and cause harm to me as a result. Personally, I believe that your report was written in a slightly sloppy manner. I hope that you are aware that I do not mean to offend you, but only to offer constructive criticism. I suggest that before you post your article you proofread it. You wrote, “I also had no knowledge of driver-less vehicles before i read the vehicle(I didn’t even know that such a thing existed!!!).” Besides the fact that you did not capitalize your “i,” and failed to put a space between a word and the parenthesis beside it, you also claimed to have “read the vehicle.” I do believe that you meant “read the article,” but there are many who do not have as much common sense as I, and they could very well be confused by the statement that involved reading a vehicle.

• 17    wise-weasel // Feb 8, 2007 at 6:00 pm

  Comment to “chattychicka”—
  I found your reflection to be particularly magnificent, because of the way you related the article to “An Inconvenient Truth,” and the way you said that “people are unwilling to change because they are afraid of what could happen.” Your reflection did, however, contain one small typo that you should probably be aware of. You wrote, “It shows are people are…” The proper way to write such a thing would be “It shows that people are…”

• 18    The music man...woman!! // Feb 8, 2007 at 6:58 pm

  The article I’m writing about is called “Lives of a Mole Rat” by Emily Sohn.
  I found this article at http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org , and at the specific site, http://www.sciencenewsforkids.com/articles/20061206/Feature1.asp .

  My Summary: This article was about the lives of a mole rat and how fascinating they really are. Naked mole rats are creatures that a lot of people think are not very nice to look at. This article explained how naked mole rats actually have so many things that are very perplexing. For example, in the article, Nigel Bennett states how the rats are like teenagers. They will eat and sleep like the rest of the rats, but otherwise, they don’t do much work. Naked mole rats also have teeth that are directly connected to the rat’s brain. The rat’s brain depends greatly on the teeth because it sends the brain most of its messages because the mole rat is blind and does not have fur.

  My Reflection: I think naked mole rats are truly fascinating. I also think they’re kind of weird. The article says how the teeth go and attach to the rat’s brain. I didn’t think that was possible and would be dangerous for the creature’s brain. I also thought it was interesting how Nigel Bennett even thought of associating naked mole rats and teenagers. I would think that when most people think and see the mole rats, they would think of something that they thought was gross or ‘naked’ with wrinkles. Nigel Bennett really thought out of the box and I really liked this article because of it. I was thinking, and I also wondered why people know so little about the naked mole rat. Is it because a lot of people think they are gross because of their teeth and their skin? Or are people just not interested in what is actually a really amazing creature? (If anyone comments on this, please help me answer. Thanks!) I wonder if people would start to think about naked mole rats and be more interested if there was more information around. It was a well written article and I think the length was just about perfect. If wasn’t too long, or too short. It was interesting and made me think too. I had almost no idea of what naked mole rats were like and if someone asked me something like where they lived, I wouldn’t have know. Now I will say Africa, Southeast Asia and South America!

• 19    Tracker // Feb 8, 2007 at 7:36 pm

  “Action-Packed Video Games a Sight for Sore Eyes” by Lisa Stein
  Scientificamerican.com February 8, 2007 http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=A2B11F10-E7F2-99DF-395CA5E198A96C7D&ref=rss

  This article is about two scientists who did a study on video games and what they do to your eyes. They found that testers, who played at least 5 hours a week for 6 weeks of a quick-paced first person shooter that causes you to make split second decisions, could read out a central letter in a group of closely nestled with 80% accuracy. The letters that were nestled next to each other were closer that in the first test. The testers that played 5 hours of Tetris for 6 weeks showed no improvement from the first test. The results from this test contradicted what used to be thought about the adult visual cortex. Originally it was thought that to change or teach new things to the adult visual cortex was hard.

  This article will probably send some of you going to tell your parents that you should play more video games (I know I am). But Daphne Bavelier, the study’s author, says that “There’s more to life than vision,” and that obsessive play will not lead to benefits. She also says that “It needs to be done properly,” or it will not be beneficial.

  This article was partially boring, although I learned about how video games affect your eyes. This article is definitely different that the Science News for Kids ones, those are written in simpler language. Next time I would look around at different articles, because this one was uninteresting. As a science article however, Lisa Stein did a good job.

• 20    Buddy // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:27 pm

  Saturn’s Moon’s Ice Geysers Create “Cosmic Graffiti”
  By: Brian Handwerk
  From: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070208-saturn-moon.html

  This article was about how Saturn’s moon Enceladusn is shooting out huge geysers of ice that have sandblasted some nearby planets. This made them some of the solar system’s most reflective objects which research shows. Last spring NASA’s Cassini spacecraft showed pictures of what looked like geysers flowing out from Enceladus’s surface. There were a few theories of what created this “cosmic graffiti”. Encelandus reflects more of the sun’s light than any other body in the planet. Encelanduses neighboring moons are nearly as bright as it because of the sprays of ice they receive from Enceladus. If you take a look at the website they show a really interesting picture of the sun reflecting off of Saturn’s moon Enclandus.
  I thought that this article was really interesting. I never really knew that Saturn had a moon that shot out big geysers. This article was also kind of hard for me to understand because the author used a lot of scientific vocabulary which I did not know. I also stretched myself on this weekly science report by using a different web site.

• 21    I've been caught LEFT handed! // Feb 8, 2007 at 9:05 pm

  The Article I read was called: It’s a Math World for Animals
  By: Emily Sohn
  #11
  Summery:
  This article was about how scientists found out how any animal can probably do math especially dogs, cats, dolphins, horses, and monkeys. Scientist also figured out that nature new math before humans did.
  Reflection:
  I found this article really interesting because of all the facts I didn’t know, and things I have never really noticed. One thing I have never noticed was how dogs, when running to a ball they want to fetch or just get, run at an angle to see if they can get to it faster. I know this from what Tim Pennings was saying. He used his dog Elvis to test, by throwing a ball in the a water (which would make it easier to see cause in the water you run slower than usual) he watched Elvis turn to a weird angle. The type of math Elvis was doing was called calculus. In the article Tim said that the way Elvis jumped was perfect to get the ball and how dogs just kind of naturally know where the right spot is to get the ball.
  This was a fun article because I love math and dogs. All of the facts swarmed into my head at once!
  NOTE: ¡¡I DID A LONGER ARTICLE!!

• 22    GuMmi PiGzZ // Feb 8, 2007 at 9:18 pm

  The article I read is called Wizardry at Harvard:Physicists Move Light by: Kenneth Chang. I found this article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/science/08quantum.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

  This article is about how physicists at harvard have found the ability to catch, store, move, and release light. In 1999 Dr. Hau and his team of scientist slowed light from 186,282 miles per second to 38 miles an hour. Then two years later with a team of physicists they brought light to a complete hault! They did this by slowly turning off the laser light, and when they turned it back on the trapped light flew out. They believe transforming a light signal into a clump of atoms could be a way of storing information.

  I found this article really interesting because I have never heard about this before. I also think its really amazing how they found this out. In 1999 we slowed the light, in 2001 we brought it to a complete hault, and now we can store it, catch it, move it, and release it. Imagine what we can do in a couple more years I can’t wait to find out. I liked “stretching” this week because I probably would have never found this article, and the article was very interesting and i hope to find out more about it.

• 23    progress report // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:36 pm

  Weekly Science Report #12
  8th p.d., “E” Day Lab
  Science Ardito
  progress report

  Citation:
  Author: Kelly Hearn
  Publisher: National Geographic News
  Publication: January 11, 2007
  Site: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070111-new-lifeform.html

  Summary:
  The article talks about a group of tiny marine algae, newly discovered in the Arctic Ocean by a team of European researchers. They were looking at some DNA sequences in some samples of seawater. While analyzing their samples, evidence showed the presence of an unknown type of micro-algae, which is now called picobiliphyte. Fabrice Not, a marine biologist at the Institut de Ciencies del Mar in Spain, said the discovery didn’t exhibit any relationships with other groups of organisms currently known. The team used various techniques to see and count the tiny micro-algae and tried to grow it in a lab. The scientists believe the micro-algea live far and wide in the northern seas.

  These tiny micro-algae contain pigments called phycobilins that give off an orange fluorescent glow when put in blue light. The researchers think the organism at one point, had another organism living inside it, providing it with its energy source in the form of light absorbing pigments. According to Not, this discovery is huge for the field of biodiversity, although Not believes it has very little commercial value. Another scientist, Robert Andersen from Maine, says the discovery has a “considerable value” commercially. Andersen explains that other algae producing phycobilin are commercially grown for their pigments, which are used in products such as cosmetics. They are a rich source or protein. If the new picobiliphyte can be grown efficiently, they could be of real value.

  Reflection:
  It’s interesting to see how scientists have doubts about the commercial use of the picobiliphyte, yet they both believe that it is an amazing step in the study of biodiversity. The first time I read this article I found it hard to comprehend. I never gave much thought to algae, nor realized how diverse it was. I never really thought of algae living in the moving ocean (compared to slow moving or stagnant bodies of water). It never occurred to me that one could find DNA strand in samples of water. With such diversity and so many unknown types of life in water; think of all the DNA strands that they could find in a tiny sample.

  One thing I had trouble with was naming the picobiliphytes with the prefix “pico”. Pico means (as stated in the article) a trillionth of something, but the picobiliphyte is one of something. The picobiliphyte was named for its extraordinarily small size, but I still find it an inappropriate name. I would expect a scientist or a group of scientists to be more exact with their name of an organism.

• 24    sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:46 am

  http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/technology/microscopic-robots_10755.html

  This article was about robots that are small enough to enter the human body for experiments and surgeries.

  Before the nano-robot,doctors had problems with teeny surgeries like repairing blood vessels,transplanting tissues and reattaching limbs. Thse nano-bots are made almost to the exact size of a grain of rice. In Japan a scientist called Kazushi Ishiyama has made little screws that can swim through veins in the body. These screws are so small that they are transmitted into the body by a needle and the screws distribute drugs to the organ,limb or tissue thats injured.Kazushi Ishiyama uses a magnetic 3D field supply to control the screws when inside the body. Kazushi Ishiyama believes that one day these robots could remove brain tumors. More scientist figured out a way to control the nano-bots without the 3D magnetic field. Scientists like Dr.James Friend have made mini motors(the size of a salt crystal) that go in the mini-bots and help out with the surgeries. COOL RIGHT!

• 25    FuNkKeY MoNkeY // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:47 am

  Comment for The music man…woman!!:

  I really liked the aricle you picked and thought that it was really interesting. I liked the connection that was made that naked mole rats are like teenagers. I liked the response that you wrote to the article. I agree with you, Nigel Bennett did look out of the box with naked mole rats.

• 26    sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:48 am

  This comment is to gummi pigsz. I really like your article. I wonder If you have to have all that scientific equipment to catch light, isn’t light every where? (besides when its dark ..lol)

• 27    FuNkKeY MoNkeY // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:49 am

  Comment for sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz:

  Wow. The article that you picked was really really interesting. I think it is really cool that scientists can make a robot that small. I would feel uncomfortable having a robot swim inside of me. I wonder if you feel it at all or if it hurts?

• 28    sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:52 am

  This comment is to i got caught LEFT handed. I really liked your article. That’s cool how they’re trying to figure out if animals can do math. But my bet is on the monkey… they rock (the monkey probably taught the dolphin…lol)

• 29    FuNkKeY MoNkeY // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:53 am

  Comment for GuMmi PiGzZ:

  I really liked your article and I think it is really cool how scientists can do that. I don’t really understand how they figure it out but it is cool that they do. I agree with you… I wonder what will happen in a few years if scientists can do this now.

• 30    sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:54 am

  This comment is to the music man…women!. I love NAKED MOLE RATS. I’m rufus’s biggest fan(rufus from kim possible) I always love learning about new animals. Especially ones that I love period.

• 31    Vote Jon // Feb 10, 2007 at 1:04 pm

  funky monkey-

  I really liked your article. It was really interesting how there’s a jet where you can fly 5 times the speed of light! And it’s really cool how it takes oxygen from the air. Good job!

• 32    Tracker // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:28 pm

  To Progress Report,
  I find it really exiting when something new is descovered. You did a good job on the article. I also agree with you about the “pico” of picobiliphyte, but the scientists might have a good reason for naming them that.

• 33    Tracker // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:35 pm

  To Funky Monkey,
  It is good to learn about things you don’t know. If you did not know, scramjet stands for: Supersonic Combustion Ramjet. Ramjets slow the incoming air to subsonic speeds, while a scramjet can run on air entering the combustion chamber at supersonic speeds.

• 34    Tracker // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:39 pm

  To Strawberry Mentos,
  That is very cool that nanobots are becoming more advanced. Hopefully the will be in use and be able to cure diseases soon. Next time though, please make the summary longer than a sentance.

• 35    Silverwolf // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:46 pm

  This is a comment for sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz,

  I thought that your article sounded really cool. I’m going to go and check about that myself because it sounds like something I would enjoy looking up! Good report. (and interesting).

• 36    Silverwolf // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:50 pm

  This is a comment for I’ve been caught LEFT handed!,

  I think that your report was interesting and informative. Some of the information in your reflection should have been in your summary but it was perfect besides that. Good job.

• 37    Silverwolf // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:54 pm

  This is a comment for wise-weasel,

  I think that it is fascinating to read that the “speed of light” is no longer precise. I think that it will be facinating to find out what kind of things they will do with this new discovery. Interesting read, and good job.

• 38    rorofosho // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:21 pm

  I read the article “In Niger, Trees and Crops Turn Back the Desert,” written by Lydia Polgreen. I found this article when I told my mom about the assignment. She told me about this article and I decided that since I knew nothing about agriculture in Africa, I would try it. The article is about how over the past thirty years, trees and crops in Niger have increased in amount. This is due to better conservation to the environment. In the 1970’s and 80’s there were many droughts that lead to the death of trees. Also trees were getting cut down by the government of Niger, despite environmental laws. These trees were made into firewood and other things, but recently, farmers have been taking the ownership of trees. These farmers keep great care of their trees because they are so valuable to them. The can sell their branches, feed their animals the pods, and sell or eat the leaves.

  The article to me was very interesting, even though at I didn’t understand some parts. I re-read the article, and it made more sense, although I still needed to look up a few words that I didn’t know the meaning of. I liked that we had to choose a harder article than we usually do because it opened us up to different topics, ones that usually aren’t written for children. The article had many pictures, and had a video which helped me understand it. There were many quotes from experts and farmers who lived in Niger.

• 39    rorofosho // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:23 pm

  to sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz - you picked an interesting article that you seemed to enjoy, I was wondering if you wrote a reflection

• 40    rorofosho // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:25 pm

  to progress report - Your report is very professional and your article seems very hard to understand, I’m suprised you could read it. I dont have any advice for you

• 41    rorofosho // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:27 pm

  to GuMmi PiGzZ- your article seems really cool. I never new that stopping light was possible. You explained your article very well but I think you could have put in a little more information in your summary

• 42    Buddy // Feb 11, 2007 at 5:11 pm

  Comment for Vote Jon
  I liked how you talked about Al Gore and Global Warming and how they connected to the temperature in China. I also liked how you gave facts and specific details on your article.

• 43    Buddy // Feb 11, 2007 at 5:20 pm

  Comment for GuMmi PiGzZ
  Thats really cool that the physicits brought light to a complete hault. Your article was really interesting and I was amazed that people can move, stop, and store light.

• 44    Buddy // Feb 11, 2007 at 5:26 pm

  Comment for Silverwolf
  Just like you said your article was packed with information, your report was packed with information too. This was helpful because it helped me understand what you were saying. I really liked the subject you chose to report on too.

• 45    GuMmi PiGzZ // Feb 11, 2007 at 5:37 pm

  This Comment is for Funkeyy Monkey:
  Your article sounds really interesting. That jet can go really fast! Was the jet made by american scientist or people from different countries? I would like to know how it works, because you said it only works if its flying at 5 times the speed of sound. Good Job your article seemed really interesting.
  -GuMmi PiGzZ

• 46    progress report // Feb 11, 2007 at 5:58 pm

  This comment is for “Silverwolf”,

  I never truly thought about the debris orbiting our earth. I suppose I have given the thought a minute or so of my time to think “what happens to the debris up there…” or, “could it have any properties of which to hurt us…” I’d probably shrug it off and get back to my work. Your summary told me a whole other side to this problem. 10,000 pieces! I can only expect it has (and will) multiply even without our help.

  Once again, we as those who can both destroy and save what we have will create yet, another problem we can’t fix without everyone pitching in – even that may not help. I’d hate to believe that the people of the world are going to put this off till the last few moments.

  I believe, personally, that space exploration is important to peruse as to learn, know about and further understand about the things bigger then the vast planet of which we live. My question is, how can we go on without leaving things such as debris and satiates in space? So much is based there: the internet, TV, long distance and even calling your mom to pick you up on the cell phone. Of course we use land-based connections but the quality and efficiency is not the same. To some that means a great deal.

• 47    progress report // Feb 11, 2007 at 5:59 pm

  This comment is for “chattychicka”,

  Your report was good, but I agree, more statistics would be very much welcome to portray the tension that this commission is causing.

  I find it so amazing. People want one thing but are unwilling to faces the consequences that the desire requires. How can we as a planet go on like this? How can we tell the world to stop something if we cannot stop ourselves? Besides, we are all guilty of this crime — myself included — the easy way out is more efficient and makes everyone happy until they get a report telling them the dangers and problems caused. Then we yell scream about why to stop. Then we get to work because we don’t know or we wish not to.

  More expensive cars will make buyers unhappy. Carmakers do not wish to see that happen. Environmentalists make a good point, too. Once you get a car it doesn’t stop how much you use it. This seems to be where money makes the world go round — is it the healthy choice or speed is worth the money? That seems to be the point where everyone spontaneously becomes unresolved.

• 48    progress report // Feb 11, 2007 at 6:00 pm

  This comment is for “rorofosho”,

  The report’s summary nice and basic but I think it should be separate from the introduction where you told us how you came across this article.

  I’m glad the farmers are taking the initiative to save trees. There are so important and poses as such a valuable resource. I expect more droughts to happen in the years to come. Conservation of these trees and understanding just how resourceful they can be while living is going to become more and more intensified.

• 49    I've been caught LEFT handed! // Feb 11, 2007 at 6:12 pm

  This comment is for Buddy!
  Buddy, this was a really interesting article you chose. I read it because in your essay you said to look at the picture so I read the whole thing. Oh my…… that picture is really cool looking! One last thing… It seems only this weekly science article you have a short essay is that because you didn’t really understand the article you chose?

• 50    I've been caught LEFT handed! // Feb 11, 2007 at 6:22 pm

  This comment is for sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz!
  sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz, your weekly science article DOES sound really cool!! It sounds like the screws can act like little doctors inside a body running to the rescue (like super heroes).
  (P.S. I think that Monkey taught us how to do math after the dolphin)!HAHAHAHAHAHA

• 51    The music man.. woman!!! // Feb 11, 2007 at 6:29 pm

  this comment is for sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz: WOAH! i really like the article you picked. I think it would be awsome if people with brain tumors and other things that needed small surgeries can now be fixed because of this robot. I wonder how long scientists have been working on it and why people didn’t think of this before. Nice job on your reflection!

• 52    The music man.. woman!!! // Feb 11, 2007 at 6:33 pm

  This comment is for I’ve been caught LEFT handed: Nice job on your reflection! I think you picked a great article, but I wonder if “Elvis” is actually doing the math or thinks it’s just common sense. Like we know that if we just farther then we’ll reach something faster, or does Elvis actually know that he’s doing math. It would be cool to find out. Nice job though!

• 53    The music man.. woman!!! // Feb 11, 2007 at 6:40 pm

  This comment is for GuMmi PiGzZ: I think that’s so cool! I never really thought about how we put a hault to light and that would be awsome if we could store information in light that is already stored! I think your reflection was great and it was an interesting topic to write about.

• 54    GuMmi PiGzZ // Feb 11, 2007 at 7:22 pm

  This Comment is for Strawberrymentosz:
  Your article was really good. I didn’t know they used robots for things like that. They must be really tiny. I wonder how the scientist put them together if the robots are so small. Good Job.
  -GuMmi PiGzZ

• 55    GuMmi PiGzZ // Feb 11, 2007 at 7:25 pm

  This Comment is for I’ve been caught LEFT handed:
  That is really interesting, because i have always wondered that. Not just them doing math but if they can speak or learn in their own language, and it would be really cool if we figured out their language so we could like talk to our pets. Good Job.
  -GuMmi PiGzZ

• 56    I've been caught LEFT handed! // Feb 12, 2007 at 7:36 am

  This comment is for GuMmi PiGzZ!
  GuMmi PiGzZ, That sounds really interesting how we can catch light but why do we have to do that (catch light)? Wow over the years it sounds like we did a lot wit h light and now we can finally do more! I wish that we could help more out with global warming like that. If we progressed more over the years with global warming we could maybe stop it!
  Great Essay!

• 57    GR1MR34P3R // Feb 13, 2007 at 10:18 pm

  G-Tunes with a Message

  Author: Emily Sohn
  Founded: Science news for kids
  Date Founded: Jan. 10, 2007

  Summary
  This article was about how apes can communicate threw sound more specifically singing tunes. Gibbons are the names of these apes and they are located in the forests of Southeast Asia. Psychologist Klaus Zuberbühler of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and his colleagues studied 13 groups of white-handed gibbons in Thailand’s Khao The Gibbons communication system is simple, but it’s the first evidence that apes use something called syntax, which is an early step toward human like language.

  Reflection
  I think the system of communication that was and still is used for the Gibbons is a very interested and well studied system. I think it is interesting because they communicate threw singing and that is kind of a different way then most humans are used to. I also think the technique they used was smart. The researchers heard a very different sounds between when there is danger near by them and also when there is no danger at all. For some reason the Gibbons that were receiving these messages took two minutes to respond which I also thought was interesting and should be researched more.

Leave a Comment