Monday, November 1, 2010

Science Lab Report

INTRODUCTION
Egyptians originally created candles in about the year 3,000 B.C. Even so historians have found out that other early civilizations also came to use the candle by using available plant that had wax in them. One of those countries was China. For most of history, white candles have been used and made, because the ancient civilizations did not have the technology to create red, blue, purple…candles. The major thing that people should understand about colored candles is that the only thing that is added to it to make it colorful is food coloring or dye. Candles consist of wax and a wick. For this experiment the colored and non-colored candles should be the same brand, shape and size.
Have you ever been at home and lit a candle that smells so good? Don’t you hate it when it burns out fast? Or are you one of those people that hate the smell and wants the candle to burn down or else you will shut the thing off yourself? Whatever your opinion is about candles, here you will learn what type of candle you will most likely want to use more. In this experiment what is going to be tested is if white candles burn faster than non-white candles. It is believed that both candles will burn at the same rate, because the only thing that is added to non-white candles is food coloring or dye. There is no apparent reason to believe that colored candles will burn faster, because then that would mean that one candle has more or less substance than the other.
THE PROBLEM
What is the effect of white candles burned compared to non-white ones burned?

HYPOTHESIS
If white candles are the same shape and size as the non-white candles, then they will probably burn at the same rate as each other. This is believed because the only difference will be a color, and according to many resources the way to add color to candles it to melt wax completely and then add drops of dye to the candle and find a mold. Because of this, there it is known that if you have the same type of candle, the rate at which it burn will not be affected because the only thing added affects color not how fast it will burn.
VARIABLES
 The independent variable in this experiment is the non-white candle, because it is not the one typically used in most occasions. The dependant variable in this experiment is the rate that both of the candles burn, because we are to testing to see if the fact that it is colored or not affects the way that it will burn at.
 To measure how fast each of the candles burns it would most likely be most convenient to use a stop watch
 The equipment that is needed is the stop watch to measure the exact time at which is burns at and the candles
 In this experiment the control group is the white candles because as mentioned before they are not typically used. Also the Experimental group is the colored candle because they are not usually use and are the cause for this experiment.
 The variables that will be kept constant in this experiment are the brand,shape and size of the candles, the time at which the candle are lit and the stop watch is started and lastly where the candle is lit.
MATERIALS
 3 white candles
 3 non-white candles ( has to be the same brand, shape and size as the white candle for accurate results)
 1 stop watch
 Matches
 Piece of paper
 Pencil and eraser
PROCEDURE
1) First gather all of your materials
2) Then make sure that what ever base you have for when the candle is lit have something like aluminum paper for the wax. Once wax dries it will be very hard to take out.
3) Aluminum foil is not the most resisting foil in the world, but it can resist large amounts of heat for large amounts of time
4) Take out the white candle and place it on the base which you have prepared
5) Before you light the match on the candle, make sure that your hair is far away form the candle and there is nothing dangling from your hands or else it might catch on fire.
6) Also make sure that the piece of paper is not close to any of the candle that will be lit because it will most likely turn on fire
7) You should also make sure that where ever your candle is it will be safe from any water or air that might turn it off
8) Light the match and set the wick on fire
9) Be carful that the flame of the match does not bend backwards because it might burn you then
10) As you light the wick on fire try to start the stop watch at the same time, it is very important to do so because it could change the whole entire out come of the experiment
11) Make sure that while your candle is burning not to leave the room in case that it burns out and you will have no way of knowing how long took to burn
12) You have to wait until your candle is fully burnt to write down what results you have on your piece of paper or else your results will not be reliable
13) Repeat steps 1-7, 3 times for the white candle and 3 times for the colored candle
14) Three times per candle because this way you have more accurate results because you have tested it more than 2 times
15) Every time that a candle is brunt make sure that you write on the piece of paper how long it took to burn and what type of candle it is.
16) In the end you can compare the data that you have collected and see which type of candle in effect will burn faster
17) Since each type of candle was burnt 3 times then when you finish writing your results, you should make an average to see about how many minutes it total did each candle take to burn down and this will give you a good , accurate and easy to see result
VOCABULARY

Wick- Is a string that is inside of a candle and that holds it up. The wick is also the part that is set on fire in a candle.

Letter to Julia Alvarez

Dear Ms. Julia Alvarez,
In my school we have been reading texts by Hispanic authors and identifying the identity traits and the craft in them. Out of all of those texts that I read I specifically liked yours the most. I think this because you made reading a few pages something worth while and entertaining, and also I found many things that automatically stood out to me as something that has to with me and my identity. And so I am writing this letter to explain how much I enjoyed your story and also talk to you about one, that I found some similarities with. This text is called “Barrio Boy” by Ernesto Galarza and is being compared to one of your stories “Names/Nombres”.
In your text I found one important metaphor that seemed to say a lot about your story. “… they were just being curious I knew, but I burned with shape whenever they singled me out as a “foreigner” a rare, exotic friend”(Page4, paragraph5) .One of the things that I think is most important about this quote is how you feel about being singled for your identity, who you are. Also the way that you write this quote tells me your anger for people who don’t understand who you are and how they make you feel secluded. This quote also has something in common with another metaphor in a story called “Barrio Boy” By Ernesto Galarza. “…off the school grounds we were traded the same insults heard from our elders. On the playground we were sure to be marched up to the principal’s office for calling someone a wop, a chunk, a dago or a greaser…” (Page 5, Paragraph 6). I believe that this quote also has to do with being singled out because it is saying that the most that foreign parents could do was use and teach their children insults. But I do think that unlike your quote this one is harder to understand because of the way that he describes how they insulted each other, like he has no feeling or mood in this story.
Some of the main things that I noticed that were different about your text and Ernesto Galarza’s is that, first of all, your text to me is more about how Latin people can be singled out in others countries. Also I got the feeling that what you were trying to do was to try to explain how we kind of can’t accept others for who we are so we try to fix them to be like us, like when you change some ones name from Julia to Judy. I mostly found this form parts in your text like “How could anybody get Elbures out of that orchestra of sound?”(Page 1, paragraph 1) and “At the hotel my mother was Missus Alburest” (Page1, paragraph 1). On the other hand, Ernesto Galarza’s piece is more about what is expected of immigrants. Like in the quote “Off the school grounds we traded the same insults we heard from our elders. On the playground we were sure to be marched up the principles office for calling someone a wop, a chink, a dago, or a greaser…” (Page 5, paragraph 6), he mentions what words were mentioned in the playground, but what it seems like is that the teachers were already trained to makes immigrant kids go up to the principals office. This all leads me to think that one very main difference that I found in both of your texts is that you want to portray how ones identity is the same as ones name but while reading Ernesto Galarza’s piece I noticed that his is more about explaining his life in school than showing his identity.
Also I would have to say that in your text I found certain quotes that relate to me and what I consider my identity. One of those quotes that I found in your text “Names/Nombres” is ““Say your name in Spanish, oh please say it!” I had made mouth drops one day rattling off my full name, which according to Dominican custom, included my middles names, mother’s and father’s surnames and four generations back…”(Page 3, paragraph 6) One thing that you say here that has to do with my name and how long it is. Being from Spain and Cuba my name is, “Sofia Helena Caraballo Frutos….” And so on. I think that it is very interesting because I know that the scene of “Come on say your full name in Spanish” IS repeated a million times. Also in your text I feel that in your text you have mentioned various times how you pronounce your name and the Dominican rrr. These things make me realize how I take all the things like being Spanish and pronouncing the rrr like an everyday thing without importance. So with your details I realized that to the eyes of others I might be considered exotic because I am different.
All in all, I would have to say that in your story you showed your point about how important identity is to you, but also by not making it too tacky. I believe that when I compare you to the text by Ernesto Galarza, I came to the conclusion that you know how to make a text or a story easy to read but interesting at the same time, and that I could easily feel what you felt in that moment of your life, because of the details that you had added. I hope that we get to read more of your stories in the mere future, because they are easy to enjoy and have a lot to say not only about you, but they can even teach us things of other people’s point of view and lifes. Lastly, I would like to say that one of the first things that I noticed when I was reading your story was how real you made it seem, like when you were embarrassed by your family, and how you might have grown out of them. You really made a story written on paper alive scene for every word, sentence, paragraph and page.
Sincerely,
Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxx

Monday, May 24, 2010

Fork in the Road

A FORK IN THE ROAD
In a very small town in the state of Ohio there was a man named Phillip. Phillip was a very important business man, and owns many things all around Ohio. He might of seemed like he had everything and “everyone”, but instead he was a very lonely person, and had grown to be extraordinarily mean to every single person he could ever meet. This fact made him a very good person in business, and he was very successful.
Unfortunately once in a while he would feel a very deep pain, such a pain that he felt the urge to go to the doctor. But every time he went to a doctor the doctor would look at Phillip as if he had gone insane, because there was nothing wrong with him. So eventually he stopped going to the doctor, because it made him feel very insecure, and that turns up very bad for his business. So Phillip was thinking to visit a psychiatric, but before he decided it was time to buy himself a new Mac (he always did these types of compliments to himself before anything like going to the doctors or in this occasion a psychiatric). He went to the nearest Computer store to see if they have a Mac, and as he was walking through the ales he hears a very loud gunish type of sound, but he keeps on walking; it probably was nothing bad, so he keeps on walking until he finds the laptop section. When he got there he was startled, every one was running all over the place saying “WHERE IS HE!”, and still Phillip kept on walking. He had been practicing to avoid sidetracks since he became twenty (he was now 45). From far away he sees the lap top he was waiting for, so he went sort of running, but walking towards it and he went down to look for the box, then he saw the HE everyone was looking for. And to him HE did not really look dead hardly had blood around him! He was about to scream for everyone to come, when he felt a gun shape on his head, and then he slowly turned around and saw a man completely dressed in black ( just like the uniform of the store). The man said “DON’T YOU DARE SCREAM ANYTHING TO ANYONE DO YOU UNDERSTAND”
“Yes, Sir.”
“JUST LET HIM DIE HERE”
“But what did this man do to you?”
“A LOT OF THINGS AND NOW YOU MUST LET HIM DIE OR YOU WILL TOO”
Phillip thought to himself…
“What do I do? I don’t want to get killed but I just can’t leave knowing that a man might die because I never told anyone where he was! I mean I know how this man feels but how do I know if he will really kill me or not? I mean he might even kill me even if I don’t tell any one, just for the fun of it! I think I will not tell any one and live my wonderful life with no family to care for me, no wife, and 7 Macs! No that sounds too bad! If I tell I will get kill, if I don’t then I get to be haunted for the rest of my life. What do I do? I know I’ll…”
“Hey everyone the man you’re looking for is here”
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”
“LET’S GO, “BUDDY” YOURE COMING WITH ME”
“But...”
And boom, Phillip got killed for the good deed he had just done. He was later known as a hero, but that one little decision had made a big difference.

Cuba

INTRODUCCION
Cuba es un país hermoso y también un país muy reconocido por el resto del mundo por su historia, política y economía. Los cubanos están muy orgullosos de su país y su historia. Espero que este proyecto les ayude a entender un poco sobre Cuba.
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La bandera Cubana fue adoptada oficialmente en 1902. Esta bandera se basó en un diseño hecho por Narciso López, venezolano. Su diseño incluía el triángulo rojo. Los colores blanco y azul representan la libertad, igualdad y fertilidad. El rojo representa la sangre perdida en la revolución.
...
HISTORIA
Se sabe muy poco de la gente que originalmente vivía en Cuba (los Tainos y los Siboney). En el siglo XVI España vino a colonizar Cuba, pero con eso también trajo guerras y enfermedades que en poco tiempo acabaron con todas las culturas indígenas. En los 1700, el gobierno de España trajo a los esclavos africanos a Cuba para trabajar en las plantaciones de caña de azúcar.
La primera cosa que hizo Cuba para tratar de librarse de España les llevó a la abolición en 1886. José Martí, una persona muy querida por los cubanos, ayudó a empezar la segunda guerra contra los españoles en 1895. Esta revolución indujo a la guerra hispano-americana del 1898. Una vez que España perdió la guerra contra los americanos, Cuba se convirtió en un país “libre”. Sin embargo, los militares de los Estados Unidos tardaron poco en ocupar Cuba en 1902, cuando Tomas Estrada Palma se convirtió en el primer presidente votado de Cuba.
Obviamente la libertad de Cuba gracias a los Estados Unidos iba a venir con un precio. Ese precio era que los Estados Unidos podían intervenir con la política y la economía de Cuba. Del 1902 al 1959, Cuba estaba apoderado por dictadores corruptos, incluyendo a Fulgencio Batista, que estuvo en poder desde el1933 al 1952. Cuando Batista volvió a la política mucha gente se empezó a enfadar. Una de esas personas era Fidel Castro.
En 1953, Fidel Castro y un grupo de revolucionarios atacaron una base militar. Ese día pillaron a Fidel Castro y lo mandaron a la cárcel. La mayoría de los revolucionarios que mandaron a la cárcel, fueron matados. Cuando libraron a Castro de esa prisión en1955, él formó otro grupo llamado el Movimiento del 26 de Julio, con su hermano Raúl y Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Por cuatro años este grupo fue una guerrilla contra el ejército de Batista. Al final, Batista huyo del país el primero de enero del 59 y entonces Fidel Castro se convirtió en el jefe de estado.
Desde 1959, Cuba se empezó a conocer como una isla socialista. Cuando Castro trató de ampliar el socialismo por los países de América del Sur, los Estados Unidos mandaron soldados para pararlo. Al poco tiempo la Unión Soviética empezó a ayudar a Cuba, eso causó mucha tensión entre los Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética, pero cuando la Unión Soviética se acabó en el 91, la economía de Cuba también. Fue entonces cuando Fidel Castro le dijo a la gente de Cuba que se quedasen, a pesar de los malos tiempos que iban a venir.
...
ECONOMIA Y RIQUEZAS
Cuba todavía está sufriendo con su economía desde que la Unión Soviética los dejó en el ’91. Y los Estados Unidos añadieron más problemas cuando no le mandaban ninguna ayuda, el bloqueo, e hizo que los estadounidenses no pudiesen ir a Cuba. Hoy en día los cubanos se enfrentan con poca comida y poca gasolina, aunque la medicina todavía funciona bien.
En Cuba la gente trabaja para el estado, no para ellos mismos. La mayoría de la gente tiene dos trabajos, porque con uno casi no tienen para comer. Una persona puede ganar lo equivalente a $20.00 y eso con dos trabajos. Otro ejemplo que puede llegar a molestar, es que un portero, por ejemplo, puede llegar a ganar más dinero que un doctor.
El turismo es lo que ha estado ayudando a Cuba más que nada. Entre las playas de Cuba y edificios con mucha historia en la Habana, hay “los suficiente” para sobrevivir un tiempo más del turismo.
Una de las riquezas más conocidas del país es el tabaco y la caña de azúcar que es una parte vital en la economía de Cuba, pero eso si, nadie hace mejor el tabaco que los cubanos.


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LA GENTE Y SU ESTILO DE VIDA
Desde la revolución del 59, Cuba se ha convertido en uno de los países mas unidos del mundo. Los niños de Cuba tienen las mismas oportunidades en las escuelas, y muchas mujeres pueden tener buenos trabajos.
En Cuba la mayoría de la gente es o negro o blanco o “mestizos” o “mulatos”. Mestizos son la gente con mezcla de los indios nativos y los españoles, y mulatos, una mezcla de negro y blanco.
De los ciudadanos que viven en Cuba, la minoría son los judíos y los chinos. La mayoría de los chinos que antes vivían en Cuba se fueron con la revolución del 59, pero la Habana todavía tiene una “China Town”.
Con diferentes clases sociales y sin capitalismo, los intereses de los cubanos han cambiado desde querer hacer más dinero a querer ser mejores en otras cosas, como por ejemplo en la educación y el atletismo.
La mayoría de los latinos suelen tener más de dos hijos, pero en cuba con uno o dos les basta. También en la mayoría de los barrios cubanos las familias se tratan todos como una familia entera. Las mujeres no solo se limitan a quedarse en casa, desde la revolución del 59 las mujeres empezaron a tener casi todos los derechos del hombre. Hoy en día 42% de las mujeres trabajan en Cuba. Con tantas mujeres trabajando, los padres y los hijos han aprendido a hacer los deberes de la casa.
Muchos cubanos viven en apartamentos llenos y pequeños. A pesar de las condiciones, la mayoría disfrutan de los beneficios. El gobierno le da a cada cubano seguro medico gratis, seguro los niños gratis, y una educación gratis. Una costumbre de los cubanos es que a una edad como a los 13 o 14 se van los estudiantes por una semana o dos a campismos. Pueden quedarse ayudando a algunos campesinos o trabajando en las plantaciones de plátano o tabaco.
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EDUCACION
Toda la educación en Cuba es gratis. Los niños desde los 45 días a 6 años van al parvulario. Ya en el parvulario aprenden a leer, matemáticas y ciencias. Después de un año de lo que nosotros llamaríamos Kindergarten, van a una escuela elemental por ocho años (o hasta octavo grado), y después van a la secundaria. Los estudiantes de la secundaria tienen que estudiar historia, matemáticas, biología, física y química (pero también tienen que estudiar todo esto en la universidad).
Debido a que la educación en Cuba es gratis, los estudiantes necesitan ser muy buenos estudiantes y sacar muy buenas notas para poder entrar en las universidades. El sistema de educación de Cuba incluye práctica en tecnología que ayuda a los estudiantes a conseguir trabajo rápido.
Las escuelas de Cuba ofrecen muchos programas, como deporte, baile, karate y trabajo voluntario. Para todo esto los estudiantes tienen que pagar 1 CUC al mes, un CUC es equivalente a 1 dólar y 20 centavos.

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COMIDAS TIPICAS DE CUBA
En muchos países existe una variedad muy grande de comidas, pero en Cuba la comida se limita a arroz, carne de cerdo y de pollo, yuca, frijoles negros y aguacates.
Para entender la razón de esto, también tendrías que entender que hace muchos años Cuba estuvo colonizada por España. En aquella época todos los cubanos tenían que comer algo que les hiciese fuertes para trabajar, pero que fuese barato para que los españoles lo pudiesen comprar para toda la población. Esa es la razón por la que hoy en día Cuba come arroz, frijoles negros y carne a diario, aunque últimamente la carne apenas se ve en su comida.
Hoy en día, cuando compras arroz por ejemplo, ya viene procesado, es decir, que ha sido limpiado. Pero, en Cuba las personas que compran arroz, tienen que quitar todos los bichos y las piedras, y después empaparlo con agua para que el arroz se limpie.
También la carne no se compra en paquetes ni en supermercados. La carne que la mayoría de la gente puede comprar es la que se vende en puestos callejeros y está al aire libre. Te la cortan y te la ponen en una bolsa que debes llevar tú. (En Cuba las bolsas no te las dan, las tienes que comprar tú mismo y usarlas para comprar.)
En Cuba los supermercados son caros (para los que viven en Cuba), en realidad los supermercados son sólo para los turistas y estos no son muy grandes ni están muy, muy llenos. Los “supermercados de barrio apenas tienen comida, aunque está todo más limpio que en la calle.
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RELIGION
Cuba tiene una religión “especial”, llamada Santería. La Santería es una mezcla de las religiones del oeste de África y prácticas católicas. La santería vino de los esclavos africanos que eran paganos. Hoy en día hay por lo menos 4,000 cubanos que practican la santería, pero la mayoría de los que practican la santería son negros, mulatos y algunos pocos seguidores blancos.
La mayoría de los blancos en Cuba son católicos. Cuba tiene 260 curas católicos y sólo dos son negros. En los 60 el gobierno cubano no apoyó la religión católica, protestante y judía. Pero todas estas religiones lentamente están volviendo a Cuba, pero la mayoría de los cubanos, casi media población, no son religiosos.
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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

when my tooth broke

When by tooth broke


It all started one Saturday morning at my house. I was doing my first grade homework in the kitchen, and even though my mom had just mopped the floor, I was standing on the floor and gliding on it pretending to skate. Not really doing my H.W. My mom had gone to the living room to finish writing her lesson plans.
“Ring, ring.rrrring”the phone was ringing. “Sofia, can you get the phone for me?!” “Nop” I answered. But the phone kept on ringing, so I decided to run for it. I started to run fast, and then when I turned right… Boom!
I had slipped and fell, it hurt so much. All I noticed was that my lip was bleeding. I started to cry, and cry till my mom came all alarmed not knowing what happened. “Sofia, Sofia, what’s wrong? What happened?” I told her, still crying, that I had gone to get the phone, and I had fallen.
She simply said,”Sofi, I was going to get the phone, because you said you wouldn’t” She opened my mouth a little to see(it really hurt!!) then she spontaneously screamed ”AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH” Where did your tooth go????!!!!?”I had a look on my face like “What tooth?” “Oh no, you broke your tooth Sofi”, and that when it hit me I had half of a front fully grown tooth.

Friday, February 26, 2010

My Greek Myth

Choose Wisely

The war of troy had been going on for many years, 8 to be exact. This story takes place in one of the many battles of Troy. In his battle, there were two hopeless warriors in need of a way to win the battle. They asked Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, for help.
Athena grants the two warriors their wishes in the form of two women. One is very beautiful, and the other is very ugly. Athena lets the two warriors choose one of them.
But, she does not make that easy. "First, I'll tell them a riddle, the smartest one out of the two will know which one to choose." Athena gathers up the two warriors and the two women. Once Sir Sandae saw Arymith, the most beautiful woman he ever saw, and the chose Arymith. Sir Sandae didn't even want to hear Athena's riddle. For a fact, Athena was red with fury.Sir Hugo on the other hand was smart enough to hear the riddle. And so, Athena "Cooled Down," and told Hugo the riddle. Athena riddle went like this,"
A lovely Flower
Last one hour
Then leaves an empty space
A weed grows
And always knows how to win the race." At first Sir Hugo did not know what Athena meant. But slowly he really started to think about what Athena meant when she read the riddle. Then he remembered Athena's red face when Sir Sandae walked away with the beautiful women. So obviously she would be the lovely flower that lasts one hour. Perhaps the ugly one was the weed. Maybe even though she was ugly, she might have something better inside, so then he finally decided which one to choose.
"I will choose that one" Sir Hugo said. (Pointing at Olimvia)
"Her name is Olimvia, but good choice. You are a good man indeed" said Athena.
Slowly but gradually Sir Hugo's warriors and him were starting to need food, and many men were starting to die of hunger. Sir Hugo was starting to get really worried and since most of his men were ill, he decided to ask Olimvia for help.
"Olimvia my darling, is there any hope to win the battle anymore?" said Sir Hugo.
"Of course Hugo in fact I have been thinking of something that may help us win the battle" said Olimvia.
"Please tell me we are at the edge of the cliff at this time."
"Well let me see, how many animals do you have left?"
"Just one cow ma'am."
"Good, do you have any weed, and grass........................."
"Only a few Olimvia, now can you please tell me what you are planning!"
"Now, now Hugo don't be impatient for this plan might take a while. You must feed the cow with all the food we have and the left over too. Once the cows become fat, come to me."
"How long should his take Olimvia."
"No more then a week." And so as Olimvia had said Hugo spent the week caring and feeding the cow with practically all the food they had left. After a week had passed, Sir Hugo came back to talk to Olimvia.
"I have bought the cow, all fed up and cleaned up" said Sir Hugo.
"Great to know that I can count on you. Now you must set the cow free, and make it reach Sir Sandae warriors" said Olimvia.
"I will do as I'm told Olimvia." So Sir Hugo let the cow go, not expecting much to happen. Once the cow reached the other side, Sir Sandae's warriors where starting to get worried.
"Don't worry you'll be fine Sir."
"What are you talking about?!"
"All Sir Sandae does is flirt with that girl of his, what is she called again" said warrior 2.
"OH, you must mean the most beautiful girl in the world called" said warrior 1.
"What! All I am saying is that Hugo has all his powerful army set up, while we are all practically dying."
"Oh come on! Don't say that! Look, all I am TRYING to say is that they probably let this cow go on our side to show us how hopeless we are. I mean look at this, nobody who was hopeless would let a cow like this run off."
"He is probably right. Already starting to sound hopeless."
"Who is right."
Sir Sandae said,"Hugo sent us a cow to show us how hopeless we are against them.
"What should we do?" said idk (fill in)
"We? Excuse me, by we do you mean I because I am the only on that can do anything OK" said Sir Sandae.
"Here comes the stuck up brat than can only flirt with Arymith," One of the soldiers managed to murmur without getting his head chopped off.
"Men don't worry I have a perfect solution."
"And that would be..............."
"We (coughed) I will ask my lady."
"Great! Lets see where that gets us!"
"I don't know all I am supposed to do is be pretty."
"Arymith, can you tell us anything?"
"What you asking me for huh?"
Then a warrior asked Arymith,"What is two plus two?"
"Um............... is it 800?"
"NOPE"
"321"
"NOPE."
"12"
"NOPE"
"I really don't know!"
"WOW" said Sir Sandae's warriors.
"STOP! Warriors I have made up my mind, we will leave today for any more time being spent here would be useless" said Sir Sandae. As soon as the warriors herd this they were instantaneously caught in a net of furry, so they started to throw rocks at him, some even lunged their swords at Sir Sandae. By the time they were finished he was more than mutilated, and Arymith was next.
Mean while Olimvia had called for Hugo to come to see her.
"What do you want Olimvia" said Sir Hugo. In a very annoyed tone.
"I just wanted to tell you that we have won the battle!" said Olimvia
"YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" As soon as Athena herd that shriek of joy she came down to celebrate with Hugo.
"I am very pround of you" said Athena.
"You have won the battle for using your brains, GOOD JOB!!!!!"
P.S.150Q Sofia Caraballo
6-419 10/1/09

When by tooth broke


It all started one Saturday morning at my house. I was doing my first grade homework in the kitchen, and even though my mom had just mopped the floor, I was standing on the floor and gliding on it pretending to skate. Not really doing my H.W. My mom had gone to the living room to finish writing her lesson plans.
“Ring, ring.rrrring”the phone was ringing. “Sofia, can you get the phone for me?!” “Nop” I answered. But the phone kept on ringing, so I decided to run for it. I started to run fast, and then when I turned right… Boom!
I had slipped and fell, it hurt so much. All I noticed was that my lip was bleeding. I started to cry, and cry till my mom came all alarmed not knowing what happened. “Sofia, Sofia, what’s wrong? What happened?” I told her, still crying, that I had gone to get the phone, and I had fallen.
She simply said,”Sofi, I was going to get the phone, because you said you wouldn’t” She opened my mouth a little to see(it really hurt!!) then she spontaneously screamed ”AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH” Where did your tooth go????!!!!?”I had a look on my face like “What tooth?” “Oh no, you broke your tooth Sofi”, and that when it hit me I had half of a front fully grown tooth.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

World War II Story

Jacques, Jacob and Pierre, were having a friendly reunion with each other on a peaceful Sunday night. Jacques and his friends were dedicating the night to talk against the Nazis, and how they invaded their country, France. It was June 29 of 1940; just one week after the Germans occupied France.
“This is the end for our country!”
“Jacques, don’t talk like that, we still have hope, maybe other countries like The United States will save us”
“Don’t get your hopes up Jacob, if it were so then they would have never let the Nazis invade France”
“Ok gentlemen; let us stop talking about this. Do you want to hear something funny? What is black and white and red all over?”
“What?”
“It’s a newspaper”
“That makes no sense Pierre”
“Really Jacques, the paper is white, the ink is black, and it’s red all over. As in every one reads it all over the place”
“Oh! Okay” said Jacques laughing
Suddenly, there was aloud noise almost as if the door had been knocked down, (which it had been). The men got really scared and froze in place. Then, they saw a group of soldiers; it appeared to be Nazi soldiers. That couldn’t mean anything good.
“Which one of you is Jacob Levi?” Ask one of the soldiers while the rest of the group where searching for something in the room.
“Jacob came out of the “croud”, and said “I am that Jew you are looking for”
Immediately the soldier said “Get your stuff”
But Jacob was not in his house so he had nothing to pack, instead he pretended to go to one of the rooms in the house. Very quickly he wrote a note for Jacques:
“Please tell my wife that I love her very much. Jacques, I know you will not see me again, but for my sake let the world know what is happening, write an article against the Nazis. Don’t let them destroy our country. Wish me good luck, I will need it”
Jacob walked out accompanied by the soldiers. Pierre and Jacques witnessed his exit. After that the room went silent, neither Jacques or Pierre dares to speak another word, they were in shock.
Jacques spent many days trying to write an article that would make the Nazis look bad and mad, but that was hard. He didn’t want to get arrested for it.
Days passed, and this idea was getting tiring, so he finally decided that Jacob was his friend, and he should be brave, for his country and for his friend. He finally came at with something good, it was something like this:
No more Nazis

After we’ve seen what the Nazis have done, and are still doing in my country there is only one think that comes to my mint, NO MORE NAZIS. People of France we should fight together, fight for our country, fight for our freedom, fight for our children. Let’s demonstrate to the Nazis that we are not afraid of then…
His friend Pierre was a journalist in Le Monde. Jacques showed him what he wrote. Pierre read the article, he was horrified, but he knew he had no other choice, so he decided to publish it.
One day after the article was published, 10 soldiers came in bursting into Le Monde building. They were looking for the person who wrote the article. 30 minutes later the Nazi soldiers stomped through the door of Jacques office, and took a screaming Jacques Dubois out. Everybody in the neighborhood saw his exit.
When Jacques wake up he could not remember anything, except being pulled out of his office, and being hit so hard by so many men that he closed his eyes. Now he found himself in an irritating smelling pitch black, and over filled wooden cart. Everything looked horrible. There were kids crying madly, people standing up and vomiting and the stink of necessities against his own face. This was a nightmare, he loudly asked if they where all Jews. Everybody looked up him, but nobody answer. The trip took about two more days. During that time there were no food, or drink for anybody.
Jacques closed his eyes and dreamed with the fresh air of the forest, and the wonderful smell of the spring. But when the doors opened, he got the horrible smell of burning flesh. An officer made them line up in a straight line.
“When you enter we will take anything of value you have with you, any one found with gold or silver amulet will be kill” said the officer screaming to all of them. Jacques gave his watch and a gold medal, but did not give in his journal and pen. For the tree days that he spent in Auschwitz, he wrote about was happening to him:
July 5th, 1940
I am stuck sleeping on the dirty, bad smelling floor with very sick people around. I keep asking me if I did the right thing. While I am writing this two more people die. I hardly feel anything.
Jacques Dubois


July 6th, 1940
Today the officers wake me up at about 6:00 a.m. They asked us to take all our cloth of, because we were going to take a shower. This would of been my first shower since the day the Nazis captured me. But unfortunately there was no soap, and we ended putting on the same clothes.

July 7th, 1940
I am really hungry and about to die of thirst. I am also so tired; I hardly get a chance to sleep. I keep thinking that this probably will be my last day. I don’t know how long I will last. Soldiers keep on taking people from my cabin that are never seen again. I wonder what they are doing to them. In France some people where talking about a gas that can kill many called Zyclon-B gas. And this smells…
Jacques Dubois died in July 7th, 1940. He was sent to a gas chamber. His journal was one of the things that the soldiers from the United States found when the war was over.
Anya:
“What do you mean you can’t accept checks? You should have told me that before! (Breath)Oh..! Don’t put that face on me, I came from Manhattan, and I am here for my tickets, do you think I should be wasting my time like this! (Breath)Well then, I demand to see the manager immediately!
People these days, they do not know how to attend an old woman. Who on Earth wouldn’t accept checks?! I can only give in the money in checks; after all I don’t get much money from that rotten social security check from that husband of mines. Only 700 $ a month, who is able to live with that? I would definitely like to know. That is the only reason I have to go to Russia anyway! I don’t even want to imagine how things in Russia will be! After all this time living here I have to go back! Not only with my selfish sister be there to complain as she always does about me, but I will have to live with her. I swear if I would have had children when I had the chance to! All of this nonsense would of never happen, and now they would be taking care of me, and I would be talking care of my grandchildren. But of course, that would have never happened because my husband had enough children from his other marriage! Who will take care of me on those days that I get sick? I don’t have anybody, not even a friend. The only person that I had, had to die before me, now what? What I am supposed to do all by myself? I only have that sister of mines, we hate each other so much that we haven’ talked in 20 years. She always complained that when she needed money to live in Russia, I would never send her any thinking it wasn’t necessary. I mean, I really needed that fur coat! She could get all the money she needed off of begging in the streets, that’s all they do in Russia! Hey where are those tickets? It’s been half an hour already!
Worker: We accept checks ma’mm, and here are your tickets to Russia.
Anya: Finally!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

is the water you drink in school clean?


Is the water you drink in school clean?

Is the water you drink in school clean?
5 students said yes, 22 said no. Some of the students don’t like the taste of the water, while others simple don’t know why they don’t drink school water.
Most people actually know about how clean our school water is, but some apparently don’t. This really shows how people who actually know, and have proof that this is true, are letting parents and children know that they can’t drink school water. But nobody has made the effort, especially knowing that certain amounts of water that contains lead can do severe damage to the kidneys, the brain and the circulatory system.
In most schools the levels of the lead in water not exceeded the EPA recommended level of 20 ppb.
According to the Department of Education, every school must test the amount of lead in the water. The results of the test have to be sent to the school principal. Then, the school has to post in the main office. The results are posted and available for review are sent to the president of Parent’s Association, chairperson of United Federation of Teacher (UFT), school custodian, and unions for the custodians and firemen.
The following is an interview with one of the member of the PTA about the water in our school.


Q: Do you Know what lead is?
A: I think that it is something found in water, also it toxic for the human body.
Q: Do you think that the school water is clean?
A: For the most part I think that the water is. Now what I think is not clean are the water fountains. First of all no one cleans it so it must have a lot of bacteria.
Q: Has the school done any test to prove how clean our school water is?
A: I do not know , but I do know a guy that works in the in the DEP that for a living, check a box that is outside of the school that connects to a water fountain that connects to a water in the water in the school.
Q: Have you received any results about the lead in the water at PS 150?
A: You can receive results, but you have to request it. I think we have though.

Here are some tips to make the water we drink cleaner:

Sadly, buildings that were built before the 1960’s are more capable of providing water with lead in it. So if you live or go to school in a building that was built before the 1960’s follow these tips to make your water cleaner.
1. Run the water until the water is cold, once it is clean use for boiling and you will not have any germs. Do not use hot water to cook, always cold water.
2. If you have not used your sink water for days or hours, let the water run, that way it will slowly clean it self.
To find out more about drinking water in NYC public schools you can call or find website information at the following:
• Department of Education Drinking Water Hotline at (718) 482-3777
• Department of Environmental Protection
• United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Call 311

El explorador y el leon

Había una vez un señor que enseñaba clases de ciencias en la muy reconocida escuela Ecole des Sciences, en Francia. Esta escuela se especializaba en ciencias. El señor se llamaba Jacques Reglan. El estudiaba y enseñaba sobre las ciencias místicas del pasado. Todos los que iban y trabajaban en la escuela pensaban que estaba un poco chiflado. Más que nada porque siempre estaba presumiendo de que era un explorador científico y de que había ganado muchos premios. Muchos también pensaban que una broma bastaría para que aprendiese, pero nadie se atrevía.

Un día uno de los chicos que llegaron a la escuela no lo dudo ni un momento en hacer una broma, pues sabía que Jacques estaba chiflado. Ese chico junto a otros, mientras los demás estudiantes estaban en clase, fueron al baño. Allí, se metieron atrás y sacaron un teléfono para llamar al profesor Jacques. Por teléfono le dijeron medio en francés, medio en español: “Tenemos aquí en la calle Andrade un animal místico, ¡Buena suerte!” El profesor se alegró mucho al saber que se había encontrado un animal místico y rápidamente se despidió de todos y se fue.

Nadie supo nada más de él, hasta que un día en el periódico Le Figaro salió una foto del profesor Jacques Laglan aguantando un león con pintas raras y debajo de la foto ponía: “Jacques Laglan el famoso domador de leones del circo Ringling”.

Por: Sofía Caraballo