The Health Care Reformation

On Tuesday, March 23, history was made when President Obama's health care overhaul was signed into law.

A victory like this for Democrats certainly couldn't have been gained easily. It cost a year of antagonism and may cost the seats of Democratic lawmakers.

This new law, priced at almost $1 trillion, will make it so that by 2014, every American will have health insurance, or be fined if he doesn't, and will include the 32 million who now lack it. Medicaid will cover more people and insurers won't be able to deny service, but Medicare will be sacrificed.

According to the health care law, starting this year, insurers cannot cancel someone's insurance, if he gets sick or injured. Children will be insured up to age 26.

Many oppose this new law because of its great expense and are accusing it as a "government takeover."

Below is a video from the White House's website showing the President signing the health care bill. You can also read a post about how a bill become a law on The Hillwood Herald.



source: SFGate
by: Brigette W.

Yearbooks for Hillwood? Let's decide!

Wow! 2009–2010 was and is an exciting year! More students enrolling in Hillwood, The Hillwood Herald, and reading classic novels in class. Now, we have an idea of making a yearbook for the school.

Yearbooks are annual books that record the school year's highlights, popular past-times, and photos of the students. Most yearbooks have pictures of every class and also the graduating class of that year. There are also pages filled with major trips, projects, and school spirit weeks.

For Hillwood, the yearbook will be slightly different from other usual yearbooks. Of course, there will be the class pictures, but we will also include past blog articles, the history of our school, interviews with students, and teacher comments.

For the lower-graders, we can include popular singers, movie stars, lego updates, and sports news.

Hillwood Yearbook Publishing Ideas

Some ideas for our yearbooks include:

~The Stock Contest for 7th to 8th graders; write down the chosen stock companies

~A staff page with names, ages (optional), position at school, and something personal about them

~Graduating class and attending high schools in fall semester; include names, ages, etc. under picture/photo of student

~Kindergarten graduating class. Include photos of field trips, events, etc. on page.

~Achievements for "Person Who Read Most Books," "Honor Roll," "Best Halloween Costume," "Most Athletic Person," "Top Student in Blog Class," etc.

~List of Top Field Trips

~Favorite Singer/Movie Star

~Muir Woods Overnight

~"Traveling Around the World" page where kids can send in articles about going on vacations

~Ideas of summer activities

~Favorite sports and games

~Funniest moments in each class

~Most memorable moment in each class

~Book reviews

~Favorite lunch at Hillwood

~Favorite pet/animals

~Top books read in class this year

If you have any more ideas, please comment below =).

Credits go to Irene, Brigette, and Anya

Strunk and White Is a NCAA Strategy

Cornell University's professor William Strunk wrote a book about the rules of grammar that Cornell's Big Red basketball used for their Sweet Sixteen game versus Kentucky wildcats.

Cornell's coach Steve Donahue says that "we won't just hold the ball because they are very athletic but then were just gonna loose." To win Cornell needs talented players like Ryan Whitman. But Whitman also pulled some guiding principles for the team from The Elements of Style. You can hear more about the book and the team at NPR.

Strunk and White wrote a book on the rules of grammar. This book is usually given to High School and College students for their classes. It was was originally published in 1918 and called The Elements of Style. It has a list of misused words to help people write better.

Incrédibox, Bow Chicka WOW WOW!

Do you have a sudden urge to make a bunch of little people beatbox? Well, now you can!

Thanks to this random french Flash site called Incrédibox that used a bunch of recorded beatboxers to turn some graphics into little people that you can mix and match make your own perfect beatboxing mix. When you keep mixing and matching you unlock three bonuses where this random big guy sings for about 5 seconds then it goes back to your beat. The website uses Adobe Flash Player for basically the whole website.

If you ask me, I think it's pretty cool, but could be better. This video is of the incredible polo recording.

Gymnastics on a Horse?

Have you heard of gymnastics? On a horse? I'm a gymnast and haven't ever heard of that!

Miranda Marcantuno is a gymnast. But instead of gymnastics in a gym on bars, beam, floor, or vault she does gymnastics on a horse. So, she doesn't do floor on the horse, bars, or beam vault. Pretty much, it's like ballet on a horse. Miranda's team is called the Vaulting Visions. Miranda is 11 and in 5th grade. Her team is a national champion team. I wouldn't do this because gymnastics on a moving thing just doesn't seem safe.

Gymnastics is a hard sport and dangerous because you can break bones falling off the beam or bars. I saw someone who dislocated her shoulder just by putting her hand in a slightly wrong position when doing a roundoff-back-handspring, a flip-flop. So, no matter where or how you do gymanstics, you must be careful.

You can read more of gymnastics on a horse on The New York Times.

How a Bill Becomes a Law?

With all of the commotion concerning the new health care law, it leads one to be curious. Some are start asking, "How does a bill become law anyway?"

If the public wants a certain law, they call on a representative. Before passing into law, the rule starts out as a bill. A bill that would affect the nation (if passed) is debated on Capitol Hill in Congress. If it is approved by the House of Representatives, it moves on to the other house, the Senate. If passed with amendments, it's sent back to the House of the Representatives; without amendments, it's passed on to the president. When and if the bill is passed and agreed on with amendments, it moves to the president's office. The bill, if not vetoed, will most likely become law by January first of the next year.

Now, read about The Herald post about the health care bill.



sources: Wikipedia, http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bil2lawd.html School House Rock
by Brigette W.

Oui, Oui! Make a Beat

incrédibox is a site where you make beatboxing beats or sounds. You have 14 choices to choose from to play to make a cool beat. You get to unlock 3 bonuses but to get them you need to get switch up your sound track and use all of the beats. You have 7 people to sing your track which means you can only use 7 beats at a time. When the people are wearing black, it means that they have a beat already. The people in the white shirts are the people without a beat. You drag the beats to the people in white t-shirts to give them a beat.

This game is fun and i like the graphics. I also like the bonuses and how funny they are. This game does get boring but you should check it out. I would give this game 3 stars out of 5 stars.

The Terracotta Army

The Terracotta army are guardians to Shi Huangdi. Terracotta means clay soldiers, and Shi Huangdi means first emperor. Local farmers from Xi'an ,Shaanxi were drilling a water well 1.5 miles east of Lishan or mountains. The archeologists found warriors, chariots , officials , acrobats , strongmen , and musicians.

The Terracotta army is a form of funeral art with the first Qin emperor Shi Hungdi in 210-209 BC. The purpose was guard Shi Huangdi in the afterlife. The Terracotta army was moved to a British museum in London. They display the Terracotta army as "The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army." It was display September 13,2007 to April 2008.

I find this interesting because I am Chinese and I like history. You can watch a video with the photographer who took the first pictures of the army on Kids National Geographics.

By Brandon

Build your own kaleidoscope

If you go to Zefrank.com you can have fun. When you read the word kaleidoscope you think "pah, a kaleidoscope" Well if you try making one you will see that it is very fun to make one. A kaleidoscope is a group of patterns. I made some kaleidoscopes but I couldn't put a picture of it on in this post. If you go to Zefrank.com you can really make a pretty kaleidoscope like many people did. All you have to do to make one is to look in the black circle and draw in the black square.Zefrank was the man that made the site where you can make these kaleidoscopes. Frank was raised in the suburb of Albany, New York.

Beware the Ides of March

Nope, it's not "Ideas" but " Ides." This day is on March, July, October 15, and the thirteenth of any other month. It marks the day when Julius Caesar died and based on the Roman calendar. The word "ides"is a Latin and means "halfway."

There is a play written by William Shakespeare called "Julius Caesar," and in the play there is a line that tells Julius Caesar to beware of " The Ides of March." The Ides of March, apparently, was a popular phrase at the time when Shakespeare lived. That is why he had that line in his play. The Ides of March is very special to many people. Some people really honor the Ides of March.

Written by Rubina H.

Poetry - In Reverse? Part 1

In 2007, Jonathon Reed created a poem called "Lost Generation" for the AARP @50 Video Contest. The poem, when first read, is very negative and violent. It talks about how one will behave in the next thirty years: celebrating divorces, work before family, and increasing the risk of global warming. But read to the end -- it will inspire.

Below is the poem, followed by another one, written in a similar fashion. I feel that this is a very unique way of poetry. It can be negative but still be positive when reversed.




Source: YouTube

Art and Technology Helping in Life

By simply moving your eyes, the EyeWriter can help artists handicapped by Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), aka "Lou Gehrig's Disease", or other paralyzing diseases, draw. ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, paralyzes its victims, disallowing artists to create their design.

The EyeWriter is a result of the collaboration of Free Art and Technology, OpenFrameworks, Graffiti Research Lab, Ebeling Group communities, and ALS sufferer Tony Quan.

Tony Quan, a graffiti artist, hadn't drawn in years due to his disease. But then came Zachary Lieberman, the head of this project and friend of Tony Quan, with his new EyeWriter.

Zachary Lieberman is a computer programmer who specializes in computer graphics, human-computer interaction, and computer vision. He combines his skills in fascinating projects, some of which he profiled in a recent lecture now available online courtesy of PopTech. To learn more about Zachary, read this Herald article.



To learn more about this project, visit: http://www.eyewriter.org/
Sources: www.eyewriter.org, wikipedia, PopTech
By Brigette W.

Zachary Lieberman: An Artist's Biography

Zachary Lieberman is an American artist and software programmer. He combines computer graphics with human computer interaction. He recently helped a graffiti artist named Tony Quan, who was diagnosed with Lugarics disease. He created these glasses using cheap glasses, copper wire, IR LED's, and a micro CCD cam. This allowed Tony to project his Graffiti on the walls of buildings. “That was the first time i’ve drawn anything since 2003! It feels like taking a breath after being held underwater for 5 minutes.” –Tony Quan aka Tempt One.

Zach also created this car font where he hired a stunt driver to drive a smart car around and create letters using computer graphics. One last thing that Zach created is "Drawn," where he draws pictures that come to life.

Make a beat

Some how Europe has passed the United States to become the beatboxing center of the world. But don't be sad — Europe is sharing its fun by making a website called increbox. On this website you can make these animated people sing, beatbox, make a chorus, etc.

This is a picture that I made. In my opinion, I really like this website. The people who made increbox used Flash to make it. Flash is a program to add animation and interactivity to videos. Here is a video of a boy beat boxing but in real life. The are the sounds head in the program.

Anya the Swedish Hero

Have you ever been a hero? A Swedish hero? You can be a Swedish hero just by going to this website.

I think I could help the world by planting trees, picking up trash, recycling, helping animals, and walk or ride my bike. I'm going to help animals by cleaning up oil spills, volunteering at animal shelters, and rescuing abused or injured animals. I asked Rubina what she would do to save the world and she said she "would not waste paper." Brandon said he, "would turn off the T.V. when he was done watching." You can also help by doing these tasks and if you have more ideas post a comment below.

They used Flash Player to make the video. Flash Player is a software to view animated videos. In this video, you upload or use the website its one to take a photo of yourself. It is then automatically put into the video -- and you become the world's hero for 60 seconds!

My Top Picks

This article is about different kinds of germs on your hand. Researchers in the US have found out there are many different kinds of germs living on our hand. They found out by swabbing on someones key board and match the bacteria of the computer owner.

Even on the most clean person have 150 different kinds of bacteria on our hands. Each person leave different kind of bugs on there daily lives. A team of scientists led by professor Noah Fierer from the University of Colorado in Boulder, US was able to match samples of bacteria in 3 computer keyboard. You can wash your hands, use your your arm when you sneeze, brush your teeth, and take a shower.

By Brandon

I would reduce ,reuse ,and recycle.

When I grow up I will be a video game tester.

My favorite science posts are the The Engineering of Ok Go , Animal Myths Heres the truth , and Pierre's Wetsuit Works.

I like the Golden Gate Bridge because people use their time to make the bridge China town because I can see my grandma , Six Flags because that was the first amusement park I went , and The A and T stadium because that was my first baseball game and it is home of the Giants.

What I like in Hillwood is going to the parks , the field trips , and the field trips.

Hillwood is a good school , they have nice teachers , you can go to the park , the upper class has a computer class , you can play chess , and on Friday after 3:00 you use your electronics.

In 20 years will have cars that can fly , cars that run on solar energy , and have flying shoes.

We can put the lower-grade's picture , they can take pictures , or they can put a story that they wrote.

Thomas Edison: His Biography

Thomas Edison, was born on February 11, 1847. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. At the age of 12, he was a victim of ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Edison then became a scientist.

In the years of 1863 to 1868 he was a telegrapher. He then invented the light bulb, the first electric vote recorder, motographer,and an automatic telegrapher. One of his inventions, the light bulb, is used in every home today.

To find out more about Tomas Edison, visit this Wikipedia page about Edison or this one about his inventions.

Book Review: Persepolis, Volume 1: The Story of a Childhood

A refugee of the Islamic revolution, Marjane Satrapi, has her own series of graphic novels that compellingly describe her upcoming. Her first book, the one I read, is Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, and the second one is Persepolis 2 : The Story of a Return. There is also an animated movie based on her comic books, Persepolis.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a moving, but humorous, account of her life from ages six to fourteen. Through a child's eyes, we can witness, in comic strips, the overthrow of the Shah's regime and the Islamic revolution that followed. Not only do we learn about some of Iran's colorful recent history, we see how it all affects an outspoken individual in the most unique and original way.

This book, definitely a page-turner, shows us a heartwarming, yet heartbreaking story of wit, told by an intelligent girl with a different view. This child is dis-unlovable. It's impossible to not love her.

It's rare to find such a book so inspiring, brilliant, and fresh, and I'm giving it five stars.

Sources: Persepolis : The Story of a Childhood, Wikipedia, Google Books
by Brigette W.

Peeps The Treat

There is a contest to take pictures of peeps, and judges pick the best. (Peeps are my favorite candies in Easter time.) Anyone, anywhere can enter with their parents help at the Shot Page on the National Geographic website. This contest is called Peeps in Places.

If you want to see last years photos click here. (There is also a photo gallery on The Washington Post'sinclude website. Thes images, showing homemade scenes, with peeps, were probably made by artistic adults.)

My favorite photo is the one in Yosemite because it reminds you how pretty the world really is. Last year's winner was taken in Hollywood, which is cute because they hold it up so the bunny is the Y in Hollywood.

Sources: National Geographic Kids, The Washington Post

Google Books!

Google Books is a place on Google where you could find books and reviews. For example, if you look up The Pigman, it opens up the whole book. It also will show other versions or related books.

If you look up Romeo and Juliet, it will open the play. And so it is with all the other books you look up. All you have to do is to go to google.com. If you need to look up something, go to Google Books and you can read the first chapter or the whole book. They highlight the key parts and words, and you can easily search for words and phrases in the book.

Hamlet visits San Francisco

Hamlet, by Willam Shakespeare, is visiting San Francisco on Sunday, February 14, at 2 p.m. It will be played at the Ingleside Library (Ocean Ave. and Westwood Park).

To find out about Hamlet,visit Spark or Wikipedia.

Review of the book The Pigman

The Pigman is a story about a boy name John and a girl named Lorraine. John and Lorraine were once with other teenagers named Norton and Dennis and make prank calls. But the game was to call a random person and try to keep the person on the phone the longest. When it was Lorraine's turn, she picked Angelo Pignati. When she was on the phone with Angelo Pignati, she said she was from a fundraiser called the L&J fund. When they came to Mr. Pignati's house they say they came to collect money from the L&J fund. Mr. Pignati welcomed them in and wrote a check for 10 dollars. When they left Lorraine felt sorry for stealing from the old man. Lorraine and John started coming back to Mr. Pignati's house and spent more time with him. The reason Mr. Pignati is called the Pigman because his wife collected fake pigs.

I didn't really like this book, but it was okay. I would recommend it to people from the ages ten to fourteen or if you like pigs.

You can read this story on Google Books. Google Books is a website that allows you to read books. It is useful for students in high school or college because you can find different books for reading and research, especially when getting information for footnotes.

Nicolaus Copernicus: Why He Still Matters

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in 1473 and died in 1543. He was 70 years old. He was born in Torun, Poland. His parents were German.

He became a astronomer and proved that the planets orbited around the sun. People thought the planets orbited around Earth. He did not speak out about this too much because he was Christian and the Christian Church at the time would kill or punish people who spoke against the Church and God.

His word is still known and important to people because we continue to study outerspace and want to learn more about the universe. He also gave us a huge head start or source of information to begin with.

Leonardo Da Vinci, a Life Remembered

Leonardo Da Vinci was born in 1452 and died in 1519, at the age of 67.

He was originally an apprentice to a painter, in Florence, where he is from. Then later he became a scientist and engineer.

He painted the Mona Lisa and invented many inventions even though he did not make them. Some things that he invented but never made include the airplane and the tank.

And his name Da Vinci, simply means from Vinci.

He is still remembered today because we still use his inventions, such as the airplane, in day-to-day life.

Bay Bridge Update

This website, "BayBridge360.com," lets viewers find out the lastest updates and news on the building of the bay bridge.

The website is a Flash-based site, which makes it very interactive to move around on it. It shows all the different parts of the bridge and all the parts that they are still building.

There are videos on this website of construction on some of the beams that are being built in Hawaii.

The Pigman and Google book

This book The Pigman is about a two high school sophomores named John and Lorraine prank calling a a man named Angelo Pignati. John and Lorraine pretend they are charity people called The L and J fund. So John and Lorraine went to Mr. Pignati's house to get 10 dollar from Mr. Pignati.

John and Lorraine called Mr. Pignati the Pigman because his wife collects faked pigs. After that Mr. Pignati asked John and Lorraine to go to the zoo. So John and Lorraine ditch school and went to the zoo with Mr. Pignati. Mr. Pignati showed John and Lorraine Mr. Pignati's friend named Bobo who is a baboon. After that John and Lorraine loved Mr. Pignati better than their parents. John and Lorraine discovered that his wife is not at vacation they discovered that Mr. Pignati's wife is dead. On December John and Lorraine told Mr. Pignati that they are high school sophomores. Mr. Pignati had a heart attack and then died.

Google Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of all the books that Google scans. Google Books can help students to find the full text of a book and it is good for researching information for book reports.

By Brandon

Hippocrates of Cos: The Western Father of Medicine

Each semester (two in total of one school year), the upper graders write a report about a designated topic. During the fall semester, we wrote reports about countries. This time, we are reporting on scientists.

For my semester report, I have chosen Hippocrates of Cos, an ancient Greek Physician. He learned medicine from his father and grandfather, as they were also both somehow connected to those fields of study. Little is known about his childhood but studies show that he had two sons, Thessalus and Draco, along with a son-in-law, Polybus. According to Galen, also a Greek physician, Polybus was Hippocrates' true successor and he also became a physician. It is not know when Hippocrates passes away. Some say 83, some say 90 while others believe he lived to be beyond 100 years old.

All sources and picture from Wikipedia

The Great Romantic: John Keats

How many of you out there try to court the opposite gender with something romantic? Why not quote a poem written by a great romance poet, John Keats.

Born in 1795 on October 31, Keats was the eldest of four children (one dying in infancy). He was born in central London, but there is no clear evidence of where exactly. At the age of eight, Keats was sent to the Clark school in Enfield Town of North London. Around that same time, Keats' father died of a skull fracture from falling off of a horse. His mother took her children to with her mother-in-law. But not soon after, Keats' mother also passed away.

When Keats was 21 years old, he was betrothed to Frances "Fanny" Brawne who at the time, was 18. He started composing romantic poems to send to her. At another time, Keats was also involved with Isabella Jones. A poem by Keats is called "Bright Star" :

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art-

Not in lone splendour hung alot the night

and watching, with eternal lids apart,

Like Nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,

The moving waters at this priestlike task

Of pure abulation round earth's human shores,

Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask

Of snow upon the mountains and the moors-

No - yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,

Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,

To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,

Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,

Still, still to hear her tender taken breath,

And so live ever - or else swoon to death.

The poem above was composed for Isabella Jones.

In 1820, Keats started showing signs of tuberculosis and lung haemorrhages. He passed away on Febrauary 23, 1821.

The Genographic Project: Following Our Genetc Footsteps

To help us learn about our ancestry and how they migrated, National Geographic has created the Genographic project. The Genographic Project is a non-profit and non-medical five-year-long anthropology study, led by Spencer Wells, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and a crew of renowned international scientists and IBM researchers. The program collects and analyzes DNA samples and charts human migration routes. Collaborating with traditional and indigenous peoples around the world, its main goal is to "understand our human genetic roots."

As you may know, all of our ancestors came from Africa. About 60,000 years ago, groups of Africans left their homeland. From there, they crossed land bridges and traveled to foreign lands.

These DNA studies are derived from Charles Darwin's On Origin of the Species, explaining that all humans are traced from common ancestors. The Genographic Project is going even into more depth.

For US$100, you can find out about your own family's ancestry with a self-testing kit that includes a buccal swab and it is analyzed on an Internet database. More than 300,000 have already purchased theirs.

Sources:
The Genographic Project, Wikipedia
by Brigette W.

The Engineering of OK Go

The band OK Go is an old band from Chicago, Illinois. They are now in Los Angeles. The band has four members, Damian Kulash (lead vocals and guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and backing vocalist), Dan Konopka (drum and percussion), and Andy Ross(keyboard, guitar, and backing vocals).

In 1998 OK Go released 2 albums and "Here It Goes Again" won the band a Grammy Award. In 2007 they got "Best Short-Form Music Video."

The band came to be by meeting when they were 11 years old. They called the band OK Go because their art teacher would say "OK Go" when they were drawing. They kept in touch after camp and sent each other mix tapes. They met Andy Duncan in high school and who was replaced later by Andy Ross. They met Dan Konopka (a drummer) in college. OK Go formed in 1998.

The following video shows a lot of science and engineering in their work. Do not be afraid of the red-splattered band member at the start -- he's been splattered by paint. As you'll see, the band members all get splattered by different-colored paint.

A Giant Landfiil in the Water and Tips on How to Help

Did you hear of the giant landfill in the Atlantic? Did you know it is almost the size of Texas? This is barely a landfill but more like an island of garbage. This could kill many animals like seabirds because their necks can get caught in garbage. Fish or mammals may get tangled in it the trash. To help, students went out on boats and cleaned up the trash in the ocean. Every square mile students found 520,000 of trash.

Above, is a picture of the landfill.

You can help by cleaning the beaches or your neighborhood, so animals can't eat the litter. You can also plant trees and plants. You can also put up a sign saying clean up trash. Like in Bridgette and my neighborhood, there is a community sign in a parking lot. The sign even has the Hillwood card on it, showing Rubina and me!

On the right, is a picture filled with dead fish.

Below is a video I made about this story. You can also watch it at Animoto.com.

Animal's Myths: Here's the Truth

There is a myth that ostriches bury their head when they get scare. But the truth is they can't bury their heads because they won't breathe -- and they know not to do that.

Opossums have a myth that they can hang on tree branches. But the truth is they can't swing on tree branches because adult opossums are too heavy and baby opossums can only hang on for a second.

Toads, too, have a myth that if you touch a toad's wart you will get warts. But the truth is toads don't give warts when you touch a toad.

Birds have a myth that if you find a bird on the ground, having fallen from a nest, it will be disturbed. But the truth is some birds have a sense of smell.

Penguins have a myth that when penguins see a plane it will fall backward. But the truth is the penguin will be fine, but if the plane is too close the penguins will leave their nest.

By Brandon

Steel Saddle Casting for the Bay Bridge

To build the bay bridge you have to have a main cable saddle, right? Well, yes, if you are building a suspension bridge. Bart Ney and his crew flew into Japan to make the main cable saddle at Japan Steel Sorks. The following a video of how this is made:



Saddles are large devices that hold, or "carry," the main suspension cables on the bridge. They are usually made of steel because they must be incredibly strong.

The process of making the main saddle takes about one to two weeks. What people do is use sand to make molten, and they have cranes that pick up one 90 ton and 70 ton containers of molten steel and drop it into a big bowl. The drying process takes about a week and a half. This is a site that you could go on to see other parts of the Bay Bridge that are being built, http://baybridge360.org/ and http://baybridgeinfo.org/

How do we know what we know?

Detectives aren't the only ones who use clues. Scientists need clues to find out about the past history. Just like people have found out that dinosaurs existed, by using clues like fossils and bones. just by having one fossil it id already prove that the creature in the fossil exists. On the site www.exploratorium.edu they have a lot of stories of interesting discoveries. When scientists collect evidence, they say that it is the easy part of science investigations. In the past years, advances in genetics have allowed us to solve mysteries that at first seemed impossible to solve. Where did humans originate? When did they start originating? Why can humans only speak? First of all, how do scientists know that animals don'y speak. Second, humans are animals. People can not know if animals speak or not. The repetition of black and white lines on electrophoresis gel hold some of the answers. Electrophoresis is a technique that allows us to record and compare patterns of genetic material found in the PNA of every living thing. The gel that I am talking about is very special. It is spacial because it reveals the genetic make up of a Neanderthal who lived 38,000 years ago.

written by : Rubina H.

Vampire Squid -- Needing Our Help

National Geographic shows a vampire squid who lives from 330 feet down into the ocean to 6 miles down. The vampire squid is dying off because of human activity off shore. The squid could also turn itself inside out to protect themselves from enemies.

This is a video of a giant salamander who could grow up to 5 feet long and weighs up to 80 pounds.

This video shows you a short documentary on the vampire squid.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/latest-news/squid-vampire-threatened-vin.html

Visiting California Academy of Sciences

Visiting the Academy of Sciences is a fun thing to do on a rainy day. Inside you can discover and and learn a lot of new things.

A few things I did was go to the planetarium, go in the aquarium,and go in "Rain Forests of The World". I liked everything except the the planetarium. I didn't like the planetarium because it was only about how the world was going to end, and because I didn't feel like i actually was in space. Otherwise, I liked the academy of science.
The academy of sciences is a "all day" trip. I went in the planetarium, the "Around The World Rain forest", and the aquarium. I was at the Academy of Sciences for about 4-5 hours and I only looked at about 1/3 of the Academy of Sciences.

Below is a video that I made about the Academy of Sciences. You can also watch it on Animoto.com.