Mr. Ardito’s Classes

82 responses so far ↓

• 1    monkey girl // Feb 7, 2007 at 1:08 pm

  Eat out, eat smart
  By Emily Sohn

  I found this article at:
  http://www.croton-harmonschools.org/default.html

  This article is about how some restaurant food is high in calories and fat and how some restaurants will be forced to put nutrition facts on their menus.

  I was vary surprised to find out that “a BK Double Whopper with Cheese has 990 calories. An Arby’s Broccoli & Cheese Baked Potato has 536 calories. And a medium chocolate malt at Dairy Queen has 760 calories”

  All tougher this was weary surprising and rather disturbing

• 2    monkey girl // Feb 7, 2007 at 1:08 pm

  sorry rong file

• 3    Svogthir // Feb 7, 2007 at 2:39 pm

  Weekly Science Report
  “Pumping up Poison Ivy” by Emily Sohn
  http://www.sciencenewsforkids.com/articles/20060607/Note2.asp

  This article is about how increased CO2 levels can increase the productivity and virility of plants such as poison ivy that we do not want to flourish. This is yet another impact of global warming that I had not thought of before: how it would affect ecosystems, other than the general idea that it would be a bad thing.

  I think this article was not very well written, probably because it is meant for younger people, but I thought it was reasonably interesting anyway. I knew nothing about how global warming would affect forest ecosystems before, but I know now why I don’t usually get articles from this website.

• 4    opac1 // Feb 7, 2007 at 3:24 pm

  Svogthir:

  I agree with your opinions that “Science News For Kids” is meant for people younger than we are, and that the article was interesting. However, I thought you were a little harsh when you said that the article was not well written, but that did not deteriorate from your report’s quality. Good job.

• 5    mr.coolguy // Feb 7, 2007 at 7:38 pm

  This comment is for Svogthir:

  I never thought that poisen ivy, let alone any other type of plant would benifit from global warming. If we do the things that Al Gore suggested in his movie and the CO2 levels go down, maybe populations of lant life will go down as well. I think you did a very good job.
  Also, if you are looking for challenging articles, check the Science times in the New York Times. It comes on Tuesdays.

• 6    dusty schmidt // Feb 7, 2007 at 7:59 pm

  The Great Ketchup Mystery
  http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/mysteries/the-great-ketchup-mystery-page-1-1_1352.html

  This article was about how liquids can change; How they can start thin and end thick, and vise-versa. Ketchup, along with whipped cream, paint, and blood, all share a property called “shear thinning”. Shear thinning is really big in paint, because paint starts off thin when you take it out of the can and ends up thick becuase it dries and doesnt run off of what you painted. The change from thin to thick happens at the “critical point”, where a combination of temperature and pressure results in the fluid exsits as a liquid and gas simultaneously. Also, at the critical point, the liquids “shear-thin” just like ketchup does.

  This was the first article I’ve picked that hasn’t been from Science News For Kids. The theme this week was to pick either a longer article, a more difficult article, an article you know nothing about, or a combination of any. I chose a more difficult article, by not picking Science News For Kids, and that I knew the article was just a harder topic when I saw it. I’m going to start looking for longer, challenging articles. To have this as a theme was a good idea. I also thought the article was very intresting.

• 7    kenny24 // Feb 7, 2007 at 8:42 pm

  Mind if I eat you and than Borrow your Toxin?
  David Tenenbaum 2/1/07
  http://whyfiles.org/shorties/226snake_toad/

  This article is about the Bufonidae toad family and the Asian snake (Rhabdophis tigrins). The Asian snake has the capability to take toxins from the Bufonidae toad and somehow move the toxins into glands in its neck. The toxins make the snake poisonous itself. The snake will actually use the poison to fend of predators. It sticks its neck out in a way of warning or daring the predator to take a bit out of its neck. If the snake is pregnant when it eats a Bufonidae toad it will pass on some poison to its offspring. The poison seems to be working because no one has ever clamed to see one of these snakes eaten.

  This article really amazed me. I have never heard of an animal that can take poison from something it eats and use it for its one good, let alone live. If humans could take something from things they ate, humans would be entirely different. I think it is a good thing we don’t gain anything from what we eat. Our culture has enough problems already we don’t need to worry about mutations. This article was very different from what I usually use for these reports. I normally try to use something short and simple. I liked the way the author wrote this article. It was a little longer than usual but it had lots of detail. I think I will use this website again instead of science news for kids. These articles have more detail and seem to be written for an older audience.

• 8    kenny24 // Feb 7, 2007 at 9:27 pm

  this comment is for dusty schmidt

  You did a really good job writing this report. I liked your summary paragraph.

• 9    kenny24 // Feb 7, 2007 at 9:28 pm

  this comment is for Svogthir.

  i liked the way you wrote this report. i do think you could have put more detail in it. good job.

• 10    kenny24 // Feb 7, 2007 at 9:30 pm

  this comment is for monkey girl

  i liked your report but your conclusion needed a little bit more i thought. good job.

• 11    moi171 // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:08 am

  Mit has made optics on a chip, a new advancement in nanotechnology and communication. The new streamlined chip combines imaging with fiber optics, and combined with other technology such as coding, writing and faster processers, information can move from place to place at a speed almost not imaginable to land lines and copper wire. The new device will allow computers to have better links with internet services and sites and help scientists conduct remote testing and spectroscopy. Those kinds of options would be great news for probes on Europa or other spacecraft the chips will be introduced onto the mass-market production lines within five years if demand is large enough. I think that the author of the article was way to short, and the author could have spent more time adding more details to the article.

  My source was: http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070206-10473800-bc-us-chipoptics.xml

• 12    moi171 // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:09 am

  I think that the advantages of having an unusually large brain size for our body is that we have a lot more processing power. Some animals, example cats, have a brain the size of a walnut, and look how advanced they are. I think that we developed a larger brain because as we evolved different skills to survive, like speech to coordinate hunts and information, and inventiveness to make new weapons, home designs, and other things that would protect us and help us live our brain had to create more space. Some of the skills and advantages that came with it are stated as follows. We can speak, we have the ability to eat different food, and we can have extremely complex thought processes, and have individual personalities. We also communicate with complex verbal skills, have the ability to advance and better ourselves, and also have an understanding of time and space. Included are the skills of invention, art, and emotions. The bad parts of our large cranium are that we create technology that pollutes, damages, and generally destroys the space around us. What I find unusual about our brain is that even when we use every one of our brain functions, we only utilize 17 percent of it. That means that 83 percent of our brain is never used, and is just empty space. Scientists have no idea of what or why that space is there, so there are some things we don’t know. Those are the advantages of a big brain.

• 13    moi171 // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:09 am

  Tumor killing virus

  Source was http://www.sciencedaily.com/

  In the UK, a team of scientists and doctors have been performing injections that supposedly can eliminate brain cancer. An injection containing a mutant herpes virus was given to a man with brain cancer in 1997. The man had 4 months to live, but after the injection he is still alive with no tumor. Doctors had the idea of using a mutated virus after a report from 1912 that a woman had been bitten by a dog, and when doctors gave here a dose of weak rabies vaccine, her cancer tumor shrank. So researchers genetically mutated a herpes virus so it only attacked cancer cells and not the human body. Doctors that used the drug on patients reported that patients lived up to eight or ten years when they were only supposed to live a few moths. Some patients are now living normal life. Viruses seem to be the best defense against cancer. You can alter them to infiltrate the cancer cell and implode it, make it commit suicide, and can kill them in thousands of other ways. They are so effective that they kill up to 4000 cancer cells per single cancer cell, compared to the 14:1 ratio of chemotherapy. I think that this weapon shows a great potential for becoming an effective cure, and I hope that more people get to use it. I think that the author of this study did a great job of explaining this new technology.

• 14    Hero kid // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:13 am

  Science Article
  Eat out, Eat smart
  2/8/07
  scienceforkids.com
  Emily sohn

  This article is about how New York restaurants need a thing on their menu that says high calorie or low (food section). The city will also heart damaging Tran’s fats from restaurants and bakeries. Nutrition’s and doctors are supporting this move all the way. It’s called restaurant labeling. Nutrition directors say that this will greatly decrease the calorie intake in New York.
  I think restaurant labeling can help a lot of people because it tells you how many calories are in that food. The article says that the average teen and adult needs about 2000 calories a day so you can see like if the food says 600 calories then you get something that has 1400 calories then you know you got your daily calories for the day. It can also help people with diets by showing them how much calories their eating.

  

• 15    Hero kid // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:16 am

  Comment for Svogthir:

  I bet there are hundreds of way to impact global warming you could find out but the increasing of CO2 levels is very abd for the many ecosystems. Good summary.

• 16    Hero kid // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:20 am

  Comment for dusty schmidit:

  I wonder if ketchup liquid or whipped cream liquid would taste better than when it was thick….

• 17    Svogthir // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:54 am

  Comment for Hero Kid:

  It sounds like an interesting topic and you did a good job. However, I reccomend that you learn better use of the apostrophe :P.

• 18    uberpwn // Feb 8, 2007 at 11:57 am

  This week i read an article on Huntingtons Disease. Ms.Sweeney recommended the topic to me, because she closely knows people who have it.
  Before i read this article I knew nothing about Huntingtons Disease [often called HD]. HD is a disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and causes uncontrollable movements and twitches, dementia and then death. It is a death sentence, it is certain you will die.
  In the article it talks about how scientists have found a principle to reverse the effects of HD. It has not been succesful on lab mice, but efforts still continue.
  The article was very well written and very interesting. It challenged me because I knew nothing about the topic and ventured into a new area of science. Overall I’m glad I will take HD into consideration and see what I can do to help.

• 19    opac1 // Feb 8, 2007 at 12:03 pm

  Hero Kid:

  Your report had some typos and should have been longer. However, you did a good job explaining what the article was about and I really liked your use of numbers.

• 20    opac1 // Feb 8, 2007 at 12:07 pm

  Dusty Schmidt:

  It sounds like you put a lot of hard work into your report and it paid off. I really enjoyed reading your report. Good work.

• 21    opac1 // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:01 pm

  : )

• 22    opac1 // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:01 pm

  

• 23    room217 // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:12 pm

  I got this article from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/03/science/earth/03climate.htmlThis artlce is written by Elisabeth Rosenthal and Andrew c. Revkin. It is about global warming. the artilce talk about the rising in temperature and rising seas and shifting weather patterns. The article says that Febuary 2 will be remembered as the date when uncertainty was removed as to whether humans had anything to do with the climate change on this planet. The article also stats that the global climate is likely to warm 3.5 to 8 degrees of Carbon Dioxide. I think that this article was very well written becuase tha artilce talks about real life problems and why it is a problem. Also it was really good becuase New York time writers wrote it and that is why this article is so good.

• 24    bmw x5 girl // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:13 pm

  Why Is He Limping?
  By H. Lee Kagan
  Discovery Magazine

  The article I read is about a man who thought he broke his hip. The doctor didn’t see how the man was walking on the hip with it broken. He asked the man what he ate because he saw some odd things in the way he stood and his discoloration. The man said he ate Brussels sprouts, almonds and water. The doctor concluded that the problem was that the man was not getting any calcium and his minerals from his skeleton were going into the bloodstream. When he told the doctor about his hip the doctor concluded after many x-rays that the man needed to get hip surgery because he fractured it spontaneously. After awhile the man was eating normal food and becoming healthy.

  I choose to do this article because I wanted to expand my horizons and wanted something a little more intelligent. Most of my article were on monkeys, a fun subject. I also thought it was odd how the man could really live on eating just those three simple foods. I wanted to read an article that really makes you think. I found the magazine and was drawn in to the oddness of the article. I thought the article was really cool and didn’t actually think one’s body would take minerals like that from itself. I would think that would eventually kill someone by all the minerals out of the bones. I like how the author knew so much about this type of stuff; I assume that it takes a while to gain all this knowledge.

  BMW x5 girl

• 25    mr.coolguy // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:28 pm

  Hey Look, Earth Has Rings!
  Broad, William J. “Orbiting Junk, Once a Nuisance, Is Now a Threat.” New York Times, February 6, 2007.

  From parts of rockets to destroyed satellites, the Earth’s continuing build up of space trash is now being regarded as a big threat. Just recently (Jan. 11), a Chinese satellite ran into an older satellite and shattered it into hundreds of small fragments. By that time this month, those pieces will be scattered across the globe. All those peaces could cause a chain reaction in which the remains of the old satellite bang into something else in space, have that explode, then those pieces will destroy other things. Even the Hubble Space Telescope has tons of holes in its solar panels.

  I found it interesting how much damage all that space junk can cause. Say a space shuttle is heading for the International Space Station. If a piece of space junk hits it, it’s goodbye for the ship and its crew. Yes, there are theories of ways to fix the problem, such as ground laser beaming up and destroying the junk (wouldn’t that make more junk?), but if we keeping throwing stuff out there that we know won’t last five years, then why do we do it. There is no way that you will be able to use old rocket boosters again. My plan, have an unmanned space probe go into space, deploy a huge net, trap a lot of junk, and bring it to Mars. No one is living there, right…?

• 26    mr.coolguy // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:31 pm

  This comment is for BMW x5 girl:

  I also find it very odd that that man could only live on those things. Was he poor. You did a very good job

• 27    mr.coolguy // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:33 pm

  Hey Hero Kid!

  I’m sure that restaurant labeling will mean that obesity in NYC will go down! You did a good job on your article.

  

• 28    brooklynmavis22 // Feb 8, 2007 at 5:45 pm

  Perceived Gender Attribution, Self Esteem and General Self-Efficacy in Female Horseback Riders
  Bente Traeen and Catharina E. Wang
  Journal of Equine Veterinary Medicine

  Barns and stables represent a social ground for people of all age groups who love horses. Horseback riding is good physical exercise, and it is said that riding may have a therapeutic effect on people who are disabled, suffer from physiological problems or are handicapped.
  Riders often use the word partnership to describe their bond with their horse. In this circumstance, compatibility, mutual respect, confidence, trust, and close interactions are all significant components.
  In a Norwegian study among a group of riders, interacting with horses seemed to give the riders a perception of security, self-confidence and responsibility. The female riders felt that by riding, they have learned about leadership and making decisions. Also, the females were more occupied with taking care of the horse and feeling close to it than the men.
  The interaction aspect may make horseback riding different from any other sports or hobbies. Interacting with horses requires development of communication skills, such as being clear and unambiguous.
  However, riding stables are much more populated by women than men. This related to gender identity. In the composition of gender identity, masculinity and femininity appear largely at conflict with each other. During adolescence, gender specific expressions are learned and internalized, reproduced and accustomed.
  The fact that boys are practically absent in stables is said to provide girls with greater freedom in their ways of behaving. They experience a sense of self-efficacy they probably would not have experienced if the stable was dominated by males.

  This week, I chose a more difficult article to reflect on, and I thought it was very fascinating. As someone who is interested in equine sciences, and an avid horseback rider, I can understand what the author was saying. I have been riding for eight years, and throughout all the barns I have rode at, there have only been, in total, a handful of males. Coincidently, some of the very best riders in the world are males. This is a fact I find interesting.

• 29    eyesticker03 // Feb 8, 2007 at 6:15 pm

  Paying Attention- January 4, 2007
  David Tenenbaum Feb. 8, 2007

  http://whyfiles.org/shorties/224attention_brain/

  In this article the author explains that when you pay attention to one object your brain ‘lights up’ or reacts very distinctly. The author says that when you are focusing on one point you “may make a given stimulus …” Stimulus means a response to something or a detectable change in the internal or external environment. So when focusing in on one thing the stimulus sends neurons through your brain faster and more alert. The author of this article showed experiments to show you examples. These experiments were very interesting to see.

  At first when I saw this article I thought it might be interesting and it was, for the first few paragraphs, but then I realized that the article had become very repetitive. The author made a mistake by explaining the information different ways but all including the same material. I did, however, like how he gave example experiments that had been preformed to convince you. I didn’t think that this article was new news to scientists because, in my opinion, it is obvious that if you focus on something your brain becomes more alert.

  Since this week’s assignment was to stretch our selves I decided to read an article from a new source. I usually would get an article from Science Daily and they were well written but not always about topics that would interest me. This article sounded interesting but was not that well written.

• 30    eyesticker03 // Feb 8, 2007 at 6:16 pm

  This comment is for dusty schmidt.

  I thought your reflection towards this weeks article report was well written and the topic you read about sound interesting too. Good Job!

• 31    eyesticker03 // Feb 8, 2007 at 6:19 pm

  This comment is for Hero Kid.

  I agree with mr.coolguy when he said that because of the labeling it could mean obesity would decrease in New York. Very interesting report!

• 32    eyesticker03 // Feb 8, 2007 at 6:22 pm

  This comment is for Svogthir.

  I was trying to find an article relating to global warming because that interested me too! I ended up choosing something else but your report was very well written!

• 33    opac1 // Feb 8, 2007 at 6:37 pm

  Sniffing Danger - - Sandia Tests Explosive Detection Portal At Airport

  Sandia National Laboratories

  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/09/970925041956.htm

  The article states that over 2,000 at Albuquerque International Airport were requested to walk through a “portal” that test for explosives. The “portal” uses chemical preconcentrator technology, made by Sandia, to identify nuclear weapons and other explosives. It took three years to perfect. The airline wants to get used to this contraption that “puffs” them and then sees if something happens with the “puff” that would lead to the belief that the person is carrying an explosive of some sort and then that person would have to have security called on them. Also, this “portal” will cause a large improvement in airport security efficiency nationally as well s security in buildings, and could be used to test for drugs.

  The article itself was very straightforward in its delivery. It informed the reader instantly what the article was about and it provided details about the invention itself, which I thought really improved the article. One thing I really thought was missing from the article was quotes from the leading scientist for Sandia in inventing and perfecting the machine. However, I really liked that the author thought as to how this invention could be used to detect drugs and could be used in buildings. As a matter of fact, I predict that this technology will eventually be used in buildings, but I think that drug detection is slightly behind that.

  Overall, I thought the author wrote the article well, but it could have been better.

• 34    HiMan // Feb 8, 2007 at 7:39 pm

  Science Article Report

  The name of this article is Cool clouds turn light to matter. It was written on Thursday, 8 February 2007 but it doesn’t say who it was written by. I found it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6343311.stm.
  From what I understand the article was about how scientists found a way slow down and even stop light from moving. The article says that in the late 1900s a team of people at Harvard shined a beam of light into a cloud of sodium atoms cooled to -273 degrees Celsius. As the beam was passing through the cloud the speed of the beam went from 299,792km/s (186,282mps) to 61km/h (38mph). Then in 2001 the same team of people shined a beam of light through two clouds of sodium atoms cooled to -273 and the beam of light was stopped completely. To restart the stopped beam they had to send a second beam of light into the clouds to give the light a jump start. This recent experiment could lead to an improvement in the speed and power of our computers in the future.
  I liked this article and found it very interesting that we are now able to stop light from moving. I also find it interesting that this experiment happened five years ago; I wonder what we are able to do now with light. I think that if the article wasn’t so difficult to read I would have learned a lot more.

• 35    n00b51ay3r // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:08 pm

  i read an article about the violence in video games (which i love, G.O.W. is the best game ever!!!). I strongly disagreed with what they said. ok, some kids are really, really, really stupid and do stuff they see in video games, but only some. it’s very rare to happen, i mean do you see me running around with a Lancer (a gun in G.O.W. with a chainsaw on it) and killing people, very unlikely.
  these scientist guys did some research and found that if you play violent video games games, you’re more likely to punch, hit, yell, or push someone. i’ve been in fights, but that was when super mario was around. every single kid, not an adult that doesn’t pwn n00bs (play video games) , but kids that do pwn n00bs, said that they do not attack kids or are more likely to get into fights. i use to play GTA, did i ever steal a car? NO! i think that the adults just want us not to play G.O.W. and other sick games so they can have them all to themselves. except for my dad, he asks before he plays.

• 36    n00b51ay3r // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:09 pm

  this is for n00b51ay3r

  you are super sweet and are tghe coolest kid ever.

• 37    rosie13 // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:10 pm

  Title: Experts Predict Polar Bear Decline
  Author: Blaine Harden
  URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/06/AR2005070601899.html

  I can’t say i enjoyed reading this article, because I didn’t. The thought that because of global warming, polar bears are drowning while swimming in the ocean is incredibly sad.

  Experts predict at least a 30% decline in population over the next 35-50 years. They decline of polar bear populations is caused mainly by global warming. Since there aren’t as many icebergs/ice floes in the oceans anymore, some bears are reported to have drowned while swimming long distances. Over the past 10 years there was a 17% decline in polar bear populations.

  Because of the low ice packs, polar bears are finding it increasingly difficult to find food, reproduce, and survive in general. Some bears are even going in to town dumps, where they come into contact with humans. The bears are sometimes shot.

  I think that the thought of a world with no polar bears is perfectly awful. Reading this article really inspired me to try to make a difference. I’m not exactly sure how I plan to go about this, but I would really like to help the polar bears.

• 38    n00b51ay3r // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:10 pm

  the*

• 39    n00b51ay3r // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:13 pm

  this is for rosie13

  your article was very sad an now you made me cry. it really smells that the polar bear population will go down 30% in the next 30-35 years. thats like 1% every year, not cool.

• 40    n00b51ay3r // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:13 pm

  and* (i am so out of it)

• 41    n00b51ay3r // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:16 pm

  this is for HiMan

  your article confused me with all of the experiments and stuff. it was very good though. thats cool how they can stop light from moving.

• 42    n00b51ay3r // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:20 pm

  this is for room217

  i just read a article on global warming and how it makes polar bears drown. now im crying again. your article was really good. thats scary how the carbon dioxide levels will go up from 3.5 to 8, very scary.

• 43    rosie13 // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:20 pm

  this is a comment for HiMan

  Your article sounds really interesting! I can’t believe that they managed to beam light into a cloud of sodium atoms! That’s so cool!

• 44    rosie13 // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:22 pm

  this is a comment for n00b51ay3r

  Your article sounds interesting. I agree with you, not many kids run around with guns just because they saw it in video games! The ones that run around with guns usually have other reasons

• 45    rosie13 // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:27 pm

  brooklynmavis22:

  hmmmmmm, nice article!! I’m not suprised to chose, it :)It sounded really interesting, especially the fact that more girls ride than boys.

• 46    rosie13 // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:37 pm

  oops… to should have been *you*

• 47    brown eyed girl // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:39 pm

  Getting SAD is More Than the Blues
  January 25, 2007
  Science Daily

  This article is about a disorder called SAD. People who have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) are gloomy in different seasons. Surprisingly, this is a real disorder and is a form of depression. Like depression, if you have SAD you need to go through treatment. SAD is under-diagnossed, also like depression. University of Rochester recently performed studies to see if SAD, is connected to ADHD and proved it true. Although not all people with SAD have ADHD, it is very common. If someone has ADHD and their symptoms get worse in the winter, it is a sign of having SAD. As I said before, if you have SAD you need to go through treatment. Treatment includes light therapy, antidepressants, and cognitive behavior therapy.

  While reading this article I thought it wasn’t true. It shocked me that the environment can have medical impact on our emotions. I had never heard of SAD before. I thought this article was pretty well written. If I wrote it, i would give more background knowledge about SAD and more information about the experiment University of Rochester performed.

• 48    a is for awesome // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:49 pm

  Usually, people think that bad kids have reasons to be bad, that they can’t help it. They think that it’s something about the environment around them whether it be at home or school or anything. These reasons are true. But that’s not the case in the article I chose this week. It was called “Naughty Kids Can Blame Their Genes”. It was written by Amy Norton. I found it at http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1842929.htm, a sight I’ve never been to. Since I was trying something new, I decided to come to this site, and found lots of articles that looked really interesting, but this one caught my eye. I wanted to see what it was about. It turned out that it was really interesting. The article talks about how new and recent studies show that not only does the environment around them effect kids and make them be bad, but it is also possible that some kids have it in their genes. It’s not like there’s a specific gene for being a bad kid, but some kids inherit traits from their parents, whether dominant or recessive, having to do with arguing and doing bad things. I found this article really interesting because I’ve never heard anything or anyone proposing that naughtiness is in some kid’s genes. Even though kid’s genes can effect them, this “does not mean that children are unaffected by parents’ disputes”, says Dr. Robert E. Emery. Emery is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. I thought this article was very well written. I think that it could have contained a little bit more information about the topic, though maybe they just don’t have it yet. This article makes me want to learn more about what kinds of genes kids do inherit and if there are more things like this. By saying more things like this, I mean traits that people think are acquired by the environment around them, but can also have to do with genes. This article did a really good job of supporting its idea. Now the phrase “born to be bad” can really apply literally.

• 49    polaroid gangsta // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:50 pm

  Study raises hope for Rett syndrome cure, by LAURAN NEERGAARD, Washington Associated Press - February 8th, http://dwb.fresnobee.com/24hour/healthscience/story/3549250p-12767917c.html

  The rare disease Rett syndrome has left approximately 1 in 10,000 girls unable to walk or talk. Rett syndrome is similar to autism, and develops at an early age, from 6 to 18 months, and the patients often die of infection. It’s been said that Rett syndrome is incurable, but scientists’ research proves that there may be a cure. The experiment was done on female mice, using the gene MECP2. What happens in Rett syndrome, is that the MECP2 shuts up, the victim’s brain cells stop developing.

  The experiment was done on mice, and they could give the mice medication that would turn the gene on and off. When the gene was turned off, the baby mice were unable to move and died off quickly. At the first attempt of turning the gene on, there was too much MECP2, and it inundated the cell. On the second attempt, they tried to increase gene activity gradually, and, except for one case, all of the mice were cured! When they tried the experiment on female mice, the results were just as great. An amazing aspect of the result is that it didn’t even just reduce the psychical symptoms, it nullified it. The only major downside is that it did not have any effect on the vocal symptoms. Knowing that these experiments worked out, doctors and people who have relationships with Rett syndrome victims are pushing scientists to keep trying to find a cure.

  I think the article was very well written. It was easy to understand, and showed a lot of convincing evidence. It was written in an easy-to-read manner, with lots of quotes, examples, and explanations. It was a good length, and had a lot of information packed into it. It gave me the straight facts and didn’t leave me wondering.

• 50    dancingintherain102 // Feb 8, 2007 at 9:28 pm

  In the article “Girl or Boy? As Fertility Technology Advances, So Does an Ethical Debate” is written by Denise Grady, and published in The New York Times.
  In this article it talks about different peoples opinions and feelings about people being able to chose to sex of their baby. There are now procedures having to do with either of the parents that can decide the sex of the baby. For many years there have been ways for people to decide the sex of the baby. It use to be that the procedure was almost exclusively done for people who had genetic or other medical reasons that made it necessary. For example, if you had a genetic disease that was more common in boys and you didn’t want your child to suffer you could have the procedure done so that you would have a girl. Now that it is becoming more popular for people to chose the sex of their baby people are starting to claim that they want to do it to even out their families. People are afraid that if people who do have kids of the sex they do not want could cause the child to be in a potential abusive environment.
  The article really makes you think about how different culture is in this country compared to some other countries in the world. In a country like China people really want boys, yet in the United States it is much more fifty-fifty split on wanting boys or girls.
  There is a lot of controversy on whether or not it is ethical to chose the sex of your baby. Many people wonder and suspect that being able to chose the sex of your baby would encourage sexism.
  Being able to chose the sex of your baby for any other reason, but for medical reasons is wrong. It would make it so that people could be really picky and cause a lot of sexism towards one sex or another. I don’t think it would be as much of an issue in the United States because it is split pretty evenly. I would mainly worry about a place like china where everyone wants to have boys and not girls. It has gotten so bad to the point that people would be abandoning baby girls to die or live horrible lives in orphanages. This also has to do not only with the fact that people want to chose the sex of their baby, but what do you do and where do you draw the line when people want to pick the eye or hair color of their baby. Suddenly you would have certain genes becoming extinct and certain recessive illnesses and diseases would become prominent in society. Then what would we do?
  No one for any reason other then medical and genetic reasons should ever be able to chose the sex or anything else about their baby.

• 51    iheartj&js // Feb 8, 2007 at 9:28 pm

  Stressed fruit may be better for you
  Jennifer Viegas
  Wednesday, February 7th 2007
  http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1841991.htm

  Summary- This article was about how fruits can be better for you if they have been through stressful times. Fruits contain a pigment called flavonoid, which is linked to disease prevention. The amount of flavanoid in a plant is determined by the amount of stress it has endured. The total flavonoid in each plant varies even if you compare two of the same exact plant. Plants produce more flavonoid and other useful things when they are in stressful situations. Some examples that this happens through are bad weather, insect attacks, and an inconvenient harvest time. While plants are going through these times, they produce these useful things. One other important thing about plants producing flavonoid is their color. The color of a plant has a lot to do with how much it produces flavonoid and antioxidants. Antioxidants are also beneficial to the health of humans. They help keep us healthy and defend our cells from many harmful things. A green apple could have more or less antioxidants than a red apple. Something that reduces the amount of antioxidants in most plants is cooking them. The difference in antioxidants and flavonoid in a plant can vary largely. For example, a raw plant that has been through hard times will have much more flavanoid than a cooked normal plant.

  Reflection- I think that this article was very interesting and taught me a lot of things that I didn’t know. It was very cool for me to learn that something so unusual could actually have an affect on our bodies. It is amazing to me that the stress level of a fruit can impact how much nutritional value you get from it. I would have never thought of exploring that idea, which leads me to the question, how did they find this out? How would someone have the idea to test if the stress level in a plant has something to do with the amount of flavonoid it produces? Before this article, I didn’t even know what flavonoid was, but after reading it, I was very familiar with it. Jennifer Viegas did a very good job of making the article clear and understandable. It was complex, yet I could understand it without having to repeatedly re-read a section. I liked the fact that even though this article was not written specifically for kids, I still knew what she was talking about and didn’t get lost in the middle of it.

• 52    Hungry Man // Feb 8, 2007 at 10:20 pm

  Weekly Science Report
  Bug ‘zoo’ living on your skin
  http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/1841094.htm
  By Will Dunham

  This article is about little tiny bacteria species living on everybody’s skin. This is not serious and cannot harm you, they actually help your body. This bacteria has been living on our skin for a while now we just haven’t noticed. There is 182 species of the bacteria but there is probably 250 of them on your body right now as an estimate. The person who has discovered these species is a professor named Martin Blaser who is a US microbiologist for the New York University School of Medicine. These bacteria do not cause diseases but they do clean up around your body.

  Response- I think that this article is quite interesting because it is so weird that there is something on my body right now that I can’t see which is also kind of scary. What I think is cool about these bacteria is that they don’t carry a disease but they do helpful things on your body. I also think that it is good that all of the bacteria stays on your body because some of them come on to your body and then leave without doing anything which is what the microbiologist explains. What I think is bad about these bacteria is that what happens if one of the bacteria starts to carry a disease and then starts to spread all over your body and then it is contagious and gets to someone else and then it escalates to lots of people and we can’t stop it. I think that it is a bad thing because of that reason but other than that I think they are pretty harmless supposedly to these scientists believe. I have never heard of this author in any articles I have read so this is a first time reading his work. I think that he did a good job and that I could possibly be reading and reporting on more of his articles.

• 53    iamnotjosh // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:39 am

  Bald Eagles Forever

  By Emily Sohn

  http://www.sciencenewsforkids.com

  This week I read a topic I barley know anything about. The population of Bald Eagles. Basiclly the only thing I know about Bald Eagles is that they are close to extiction. But not any more, according to scienctist’s in the 1960’s the Bald Eagle population use to be around 400. Now they say that 1,000’s of Bald Eagles are flying around and there popultion is suppose to keep growing. Bald Eagles have recoverd so well that the U.S. Congress may soon remove them from the endangers species list. In the 1960’s one of the causes for the Bald Eagle popultion to go down was a chemical called DDT, which protected crops from insects but also killed birds. The U.S. government banned DDT in 1970 and the bird population started to increase again. In 1973 they made another law that helped called ESA. It said it was illegal to harm a animal or plant which was on the endangerds list. Even though the eagle population has went up sciectist think that they shouldnt be taken off the endangerd list.

• 54    sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz // Feb 9, 2007 at 11:43 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!

• 55    brooklynmavis22 // Feb 9, 2007 at 7:43 pm

  rosie13

  Your article was very sad. If we don’t try to make a difference soon, the polar bear population would probably become extinct!

• 56    brooklynmavis22 // Feb 10, 2007 at 4:41 pm

  dancingintherain102

  Your article seems interesting. I never knew it was possible to choose the sex of your baby. Is it through artificial insemenation?

• 57    iheartj&js // Feb 10, 2007 at 6:59 pm

  This comment is for hungry man

  Great job with your article, I found it very interesting. It is also surprising to me that there are so many things living on and in our bodies that we don’t even know are there.

• 58    iheartj&js // Feb 10, 2007 at 7:02 pm

  This comment is for bmw x5 girl

  Your article seemed very interesting; it is amazing that someone could survive only eating those three plain foods. Great job!

• 59    iheartj&js // Feb 10, 2007 at 7:06 pm

  This comment is for brown eyed girl

  The topic you picked was very unusual; I have also never heard of SAD. My article is somewhat similar to yours. It is about apples who go through stress producing more helpful things for your body. They are both odd a topics that are interesting.

• 60    brown eyed girl // Feb 11, 2007 at 2:43 pm

  This comment is for Hero Kid

  That is actually a pretty smart idea. It might be able to help obesity levels in New York.

• 61    brown eyed girl // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:13 pm

  This comment is for Svogthir

  Yet another thing global warming has contributed to.Your article made me realize how global warming can effect plants as well as humans.
  Good Job

• 62    brown eyed girl // Feb 11, 2007 at 3:27 pm

  This comment is for dancingintherain102

  I saw a tv show about how poeple in china want boys rather than girls. China banned people from aborting babies just because of their gender. Allthough China made a law against it, people would still have abortions.
  good job!

• 63    Hungry Man // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:01 pm

  This comment is for iheartj&js:
  I really liked your article it was very interesting because I never knew that if we ate food that was stressed like us it is better for us. Great job.

• 64    a is for awesome // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:04 pm

  This comment is for monkey girl.

  That’s pretty crazy that restaurants and fast food places would sell foods with that many calories. I never knew that those foods had so many calories. I bet if they have to start putting the nutrition facts on the menu, they might try to develop healthier foods.

• 65    Hungry Man // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:07 pm

  This comment is for polaroid gangsta:
  I really liked your article because I have never heard of Rett syndrome before so it sounded interesting. What I found out was that it is like autism which I never knew before and a lot of other facts about Rett syndrome. Great job.

• 66    a is for awesome // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:10 pm

  This comment is for dancingintherain102.

  I’ve heard about people choosing the sexes of their babies, but I never really thought about it. Now that I think about it, I don’t think it’s necessary for parents to choose what gender their child is. I think that they should let it be and have it be the way it naturally would, unless there is some genetic disease, like you said. You had a lot of really good detail. I really liked it.

• 67    Hungry Man // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:11 pm

  This comment is for kenny24:
  Your article was very interesting and I also saw you pick it out thank you very much. The article is really cool and you did a good job on responding on it. Great job.

• 68    a is for awesome // Feb 11, 2007 at 4:13 pm

  This comment is for brown eyed girl.

  I’ve never heard of SAD. That’s so weird, I never thought that there could be a disease like that. That must be really scary to have it.

• 69    dancingintherain102 // Feb 11, 2007 at 7:10 pm

  This comment if for bmw x5 girl.
  I think it is good that you want to expand your horizons, and go outside of your normal zone.
  Also, the article you picked was very interesting it seems.

• 70    dancingintherain102 // Feb 11, 2007 at 7:13 pm

  This comment is for brown eyed girl.
  I think it is cool how you found an article that was about something that most people had never heard before. I also liked how well you discribed the article.

• 71    dancingintherain102 // Feb 11, 2007 at 7:17 pm

  This comment is for HiMan.
  I think that it is always interesting to see, and read about what new things scientists are dicovering everyday. Good job!

• 72    brooklynmavis22 // Feb 11, 2007 at 10:47 pm

  This is for BMW x5 girl

  I agree with you, it is odd how a person can survive on just brussle sprouts, almonds and water. Wouldn’t you need fruit or protein in your diet?

• 73    HiMan // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:32 am

  This comment is for Svogthir:

  I think your report was a little bit short but it was just as good as a long one. I found it very interesting that CO2 can increase the amount of plants such as poison ivy.

• 74    room217 // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:41 am

  This comment is for HiMan
  I think your report was really well written. I liked how you wrote your report on your artilce you did a good job.

• 75    HiMan // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:41 am

  This comment is for sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz:

  I liked your report and I think that nano-bots could be very useful in the future in doing more things than sugery.

• 76    room217 // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:46 am

  This comment is for sTrAwBeRrYmEnToSz
  I think your report was really well written. I think that its really cool that they have nano robot to go in to the human body to see what the problem is before going through surgery.

• 77    mmhmm // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:49 am

  Sea birds deliver arctic pollutants
  By Emily Sohn

  This article was about how the north Canadian artic seabird was carrying dangerous chemicals around and into the ponds where they live. But some of the chemicals found on the bird have been found in the arctic. These chemicals are slowly affecting the animals living there and are also greatly affecting them. The chemicals found are building up with fish, humans and other animals. These chemicals are also affecting the people who live in the same area as the birds.

  I thought that it was horrible that the birds have been spreading around this bad chemical and that it’s still not their fault. I think that humans should be more careful about these things because it’s not only the animals being affected it’s us too. This only adds onto global warming it’s the same problem, humans not caring enough about the environment. I thought this article was good but needed more facts, it was interesting either way.(sorry it is late)

• 78    HiMan // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:50 am

  This comment is for room217:

  I liked your report but you forgot to put the date it was written. I disagree with you about the fact that you think that just because the New York Times wrote the article it’s automatically a good article.

• 79    room217 // Feb 12, 2007 at 11:51 am

  this comment is for rosie13
  I think that your artilce was well written. I think that its sad for alot of the polar bears are dieing because we are causing global warming. Good job on your report.

• 80    acex2inurface // Feb 21, 2007 at 9:22 pm

  This article was from the New York Times Magazine

  The article “Unhappy Meals” was a very long article, but it was also a great article. The author is writing an article about how people these days are eating a careful diet. In other words, people are looking at the Nutrition Facts on what they are eating. But can you actually trust the Nutrition Facts on the foods that you eat?
  In the article, it tells us how the whole food industry started. The author of this article says that food and “nutrients” are not the same. These “nutrients” started replacing foods in the 1980s. Words like “cholesterol”, “saturated fat” and “vitamins” came up on the nutrients. The words pointed out what was inside the foods. In one period of time, Saturated Fat was the enemy for the Americans. Just because there was the word “fat” in it, people started avoiding foods that had fat in them. When heart disease, cancer, and diabetes became common to Americans after World War 2, nutritionists told America to cut down on red meat and on dairy products. This was the beginning of The Age of Nutritionism.
  There were different happenings in the Nutrition times. It was a very good business, saying which food was healthy and all that. In 1988, it was The Year of Eating Oat Bran, a new kind of diet. The media influenced this and it was a new kind of diet for people. It was easier to buy nutrition food because it says what is in that type of food. Regular foods like bananas don’t have a way to change their nutrition types. Even though nutrition is good for business, is it really good for us?
  Americans goes through a lot to have a healthy diet. They even eat like some other cultures do, thinking it is healthy which is somewhat true. This causes problems because copying other culture diets doesn’t mean that Americans are living the same way as the people from the other nations do. In the end, the author suggests how we should eat and how to choose the right foods for the goodness of our health.
  I think the author really wants to tell the truth about the foods that we eat daily. He should have made the article easier to read, but he almost wrote the article as if he’s talking to the person. The author did write the main points to the story so he did do a good job at explaining the article topic. The author put in a lot of knowledge and research into this topic to make this one, big, article about how America eats.

• 81    acex2inurface // Feb 21, 2007 at 9:26 pm

  This comment is for mmhmm

  I can’t believe that the birds are spreading bad chemicals to other environments! I’ve heard about chain reactions about how if one does this, the other does that. Spreading bad things must be stopped, but I still couldn’t believe that it was the birds that is doing this.

• 82    twinkletoes // Mar 11, 2007 at 4:51 pm

  “Earth-Friendly Fabrics”
  Emily Sohn
  http://www.sciencenewsforkids.com

  This article was about how scientists are learning how to make chemical-free and environment friendly fabrics. It was actually very interesting, and I learned a lot of different facts. For example, I learned that bamboo pulp, which can be extracted from bamboo, can be turned into a soft fabric. Since bamboo is a very fast growing plant, this is not very hard to do, especially since pesticides don’t need to be used. Another thing is that chicken feathers can be woven into a fabric that is like wool. They can also be made into a coat or vest, which would be very thermal. I also learned that in some knitted and dyed fabrics, there is 50% cotton, and 50% rice straw fiber. There are also socks that can be bought that are made from rice stalks.

  I never knew that all of these byproducts could be made into fabrics. I find that really cool. Vegetables being made into clothing? That is really awesome, in my opinion. The byproducts can be made into a silky material, and a wool like material. Being a person who wants to save the Earth, this is something I like a lot. Especially if it becomes something that gets into fashion, then it will become very big. People follow trends, and if one well-known person wears it, so will everyone else who follows them. It can help the Earth.
  The way that this was a challenge for me was because it was very long. Even though it wasn’t very hard to understand, it still took a long time to read because it was so long. I liked the article a lot and I also learned a lot from it.

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