Mapping America Through the US Census

The census from 2010 had been recorded and put into a multimedia package by The New York Times. If you go onto the website, you can type in your address, city, zipcode, or you can type in someone else's. Say you type in your zipcode, when it finds your zipcode, it shows different colored dots that indicate what different ethnicities live in your area. You can also fnd a different map, and it would show how may people went to a certain school, like universities, private schools, or elementries.

What I found interesting is that in my neighborhood, there are more different ethnicities than simply a white population. I compared my neighborhood and street with Quileuete Street in La Push, in Forks, Washington. There was a HUGE difference between the two streets, for instance. In La Push, there is a population of 1,639 people, according to the 2010 US census. The Quileuete tribe is a Native American tribe that originates in the western Washington state. Which is why there are a 21% of an "other" ethnicity.

Even though this article comes from The New York Times, the source of the article is from the US census. What is also very cool to look at is an article called "America By The Numbers," where it lists a bunch of things like, how many pounds of meat the Untied States ate in 2010, or how many marriages occurred, how much veggies we ate (which is low, eat your veggies!!), and how many men or women didn't rest well in a certain amount of days.

"Mars Needs Moms"

Today, Friday 11th, the adventure film "Mars Needs Moms" came out. "Mars Needs Moms" is about a 9-year-old boy named Milo, played by Seth Green, whose mother, Joan Cusack, is suddenly abducted by Martians who want to take her motherly instincts to raise their own children.

In the making of the movie, the actors wore red dots on their faces and special suits. These things were needed to make the sharpness and the definition of the image. The crew spent three days fitting the actors with costumes, creating head cameras that captured and recorded their faces, figuring out where to place the performance-capture dots and having the actors perform a multitude of expressions as extremely as they could. If the directors, Robert Zemeckis and Simon Wells, had not done this, the image would have had a kind of mushiness, that would not capture how the facial muscles really do work.

To read more about "Mars Needs Moms," go to the New York Times.

Making the Kinetic Sculpture Move

Today, Faryn and I made a kinetic sculpture, which is one of the DESIGN SQUAD challenges. It took a lot of brain power, but we somehow managed to make a sculpture that only somewhat failed.

We started out not knowing how in the world we could make something that could spin by just blowing on it. At first, we had an idea with pipe cleaners until Faryn had one of her famous ideas and we decided to use paper cups. It didn't look so pretty, but it worked. Also, it took a lot of time and effort. Typically, challenges that look easy to make are not so easy!

At first I thought maybe we should cut out a swirly type pattern out of colored paper, but Faryn had an idea that we could maybe use the metal washers to hold up something that could spin with the power of wind. We tried to connect the paper cups to the metal washers, but it just wouldn't stick. Then we tried colored beads around two centimeters long to attach the washers to and, well let's just say they worked and our sculpture includes colorful beads.

Design Squad is made up of two engineers named Judy and Adam (see photo to the right) who help kids create their dreams through engineering. On their website at PBS Kids, Judy and Adam have lots of different challenges that you can try and plenty of videos for you to watch. You can read about The Hillwood Herald interview with Judy and Adam here.

You can watch the latest episode of DESIGN SQUAD on the website. Also, don't missing seeing Judy and Adam in person at the nearby Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of Berkeley.

• WHAT: Meet Design Squad Nation hosts Judy and Adam, watch sneak peeks of new episodes, and try engineering challenges inspired by the show!  
• WHEN: Saturday, February 26th  from 11:00 am-4:00 pm 
• WHERE: Lawrence Hall of Science 

For more information, visit www.lawrencehallofscience.org.

Photo credits: PBS Kids (top and bottom photos), The Hillwood Herald (middle photo)

Dance Pad Mania: The Revenge (and Challenge) of the Lightbulbs

Today, February 18th, Faryn and I made a dance pad for the DESIGN SQUAD Challenge. This challenge is one of many that The Hillwood Herald has done as part of the PBS Kids television show. As reporters, we interviewed Judy and Adam at Hillwood, the engineers and starts who lead the show and design all the different challenges. (Click here to read our coverage about the show and Judy and Adam.)

Our dance pad consisted of only a battery and a lightbulb, as some buzzers were missing and the rest were being used. Even though our challenge creation does not sound and look like a lot, it took a while to figure out how exactly we were going to connect the wires with the lightbulb and how we were going to trigger it to work.

As we were trying to figure out how we were going to trigger our devices, I thought back to how Judy and Adam triggered their initial challenge through cardboard. I also recalled how last week, Jake, Erion, and I used duct tape and cardboard. Faryn and I had trouble making a cardboard trigger at first, but we finally got the wire to stop moving out of place. From there, we were able to press the cardboard and trigger the lightbulb, so that it would glow. If you would like to try this challenge yourself, start by reading the directions on the DESIGN SQUAD website. All the needed materials are easily found, either at your home or Radio Shack or your neighborhood hardware store. While a lower-grade student might need help with this project, an upper-grader can do it on his or her own.

Other classmates made Rubber Band Cars, which is also a DESIGN SQUAD challenge from Judy and Adam. (At the end of Judy and Adam's "Apache Skateboard" show, you can watch them build a rubber band car -- it's actually more difficult than it looks!)

DESIGN SQUAD's purpose is to help regular kids make their dreams come true through engineering. On the DESIGN SQUAD Website there are plenty of videos that anyone can watch showing Judy and Adam helping kids and doing challenges together.

The latest DESIGN SQUAD show is a two-part series about Adam and Judy designing clothing in New York. When they spoke to The Hillwood Herald, both explained how this was one of the more stressful challenges. Of course, if you are more into learning all about worm juice and engineering a bike to transport fresh produce in London, watch the previous episode, titled "Garden to Go."

Also, don't missing seeing Judy and Adam at the nearby Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of Berkeley. 

WHAT: Meet Design Squad Nation hosts Judy and Adam, watch sneak peeks of new episodes, and try engineering challenges inspired by the show!

WHEN: Saturday, February 26th  from 11:00 am-4:00 pm 

WHERE: Lawrence Hall of Science 

Judy and Adam will be launching their giant catapult! Watch the stage shows at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm for some super-sized fun! There will also be an Ingenuity in Action exhibit and the Ingenuity Lab, where you can build and test rockets, ping pong ball launchers, bridges, and your own flying things.

You will have to pay to get into the museum, which costs $12 for adults and either $9 or $6 for children. But once inside, all the activities are free. For more information, visit www.lawrencehallofscience.org.

Here's a video clip that highlights their show:

The Ant Dance Pad

Today, Erion, Jake, and I created a prototype for "Dance Pad Mania" from DESIGN SQUAD.

The prototype turned out pretty good, although it looks like it was made for ants... Because we only had one light bulb and one buzzer we made it smaller than we had intended, turning it into a prototype. The next question is if we can take our dance pad for ants into a dance pad a that's more than a teeny bit bigger.

For me, I think the challenge was kind of easy, although I don't really do challenges with electrical thingy-ma-bobbers. The light bulb only made a dim light, and when we tried a super battery it didn't work any better than a 1.5 volt. The buzzer didn't work on some occasion, and Jake drew a button on it...

The process of the project was very fun.

DESIGN SQUAD makes plenty of other different projects like Dance Pad Mania on their website on PBSkids. DESIGN SQUAD is made up of two engineers named Judy and Adam.

Judy and Adam do plenty of different projects that are sometimes challenging but always fun to do.

Construct A Cake on PBS Kids's DESIGN SQUAD

Today, I went on PBS Kids and had a chance to sketch a cake. On the website, you can log on and pick a wish that says, "I wish I could make a cake that moves." You can then sketch a cake that you think might be able to move. You can be as creative as you desire. Like I did, my cake was a cake that an alien had crash-landed in from mars. Other people took a more literal approach -- and like Judy and Adam of DESIGN SQUAD -- actually used some engineering know-how to make theirs.

DESIGN SQUAD is made up of Judy and Adam.

Judy and Adam were the two who helped engineer a cake that could move. Judy and Adam also have lots of other videos where they construct other things that are loads of fun.

Judy and Adam's main purpose is to help regular kids construct their dreams through engineering.

Here at The Hillwood Herald, we had the awesome opportunity of meeting Judy and Adam. We also got to talk to them about how they got the ideas to make all of their amazing creations. You can read my post about their in-classroom visit and the Herald interview here.

The First Session of the 112th Congress Kicks Off

Wednesday was the first session of the year of the 112th Congress. And now in the House of Representatives, there is a new power. The Republicans, after winning the majority of seats in the November election, will now control the House. Republican John Boehner, from Ohio, took over the title "Speaker of the House" from Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. The House Minority Leader is now Nancy Pelosi, a neighbor of Hillwood's when she is not in Washington D.C.

Boehner has sworn in 94 House members. The Congress has also been joined by thirteen new senators.

"We gather here today at a time of great challenges. Nearly 1 in 10 of our neighbors are looking for work," Boehner said to the new Congress after taking the Speaker of the House gavel. "Health care costs are still rising for families and small businesses. Our spending has caught up with us, and our debt will soon eclipse the size of our entire economy." 

According to an article written by Kelli Plasket in Time for Kids, "The Speaker of the House leads the House of Represenitives in dealings with the President and the Senate, and often speaks to the public giving the views of his or her party. The Speaker is second in line to take over as president, behind the Vice President. Represenitives elect a new Speaker at the beginning of each new Congress, which occurs every two years. Boehner is the 61st Speaker of the House."

John Boehner has ideas about how to change the House altogether. He has already changed the meetings of the House schedule so that the Represenitives can be given more time to spend in their home districts. He is now asking for smaller committee budgets, and he has also reduced the people on House committees. "Hard work and tough decisions will be required of the 112th Congress. No longer can we fall short." John Boehner says.

The Republicans have decided to use their new power to try to cut government spending, government programs, and taxes. And they're not letting any time go to waste. Today, January 7th, 2011, the Republicans will begin to debate about the repeal of the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act. President Obama had signed the health care bill into law last March. President Obama had said that the law would help give the millions of Americans without health insurance good and affordable health care. This law called for more government involment with health care.

The Republican critics have said that this law will only lead to higher taxes and poorer quality in health care services. The House Republicans have decided to, on January 12th, to repeal the act, althought it probably will not go through once it reaches Democrat-controlled Senate.

"Both parties have promised to focus on creating more jobs and reducing the amount of money the U.S government owes during this session of Congress."

Source: Article by Kelli Plasket, Times for Kids

The Hillwood Foundation: What It Is and How it Came to Be

The Hillwood Foundation gives scholarships to the graduating eighth graders who have had a "outstanding academic records" at Hillwood school. The scholarships help the graduates create their college funds. The Hillwood foundation also donates to charity groups. The nonprofit also donates to Salvation Army and the trust for public lands. Alysen and I interviewed Mr. Grantz about the foundation.

Q:Who started the Hillwood Foundation?

A:"My grandmother. She started it to help the Hillwood students with their high school and future careers."

Q: When did the Hillwood Foundation start?

A:"on February 6-1967."

Q: Why did your grandmother start the Hillwood Foundation?

A: "She thought it was a good idea at the time and wanted to help students."

Q: How has it evolved over the years?

A: "We have more money than we did at first but in general it hasn't really evolved in the sense that its goals still the same."

Q:"How is the Hillwood Foundation funded?"

A: "The funds for the Hillwood Foundation come from contributing parents, staff, and any other generous San Franciscans. "The Hillwood Foundation is a nonprofit volunter organization."

If anyone would like to contribute to the foundation, parents can write a check for 5 or 10 dollars, or whatever amount of money they please. If anyone would like to write a check, make it payable to the Hillwood Foundation, and send it to school with their child. This year, especially, the need for the contribution is great. Thank you!

By Clara and Alysen

Behind the Scene with the Production of A Harry Potter Scene

When you watch Harry Potter movies, you probably only watch the movie and not think about the production behind it. David Yates is the director of many of the Harry Potter films, and he put a great deal of his time into every scene, most of which are only a couple of minutes long. Today, for The Hillwood Herald, I am going to watch -- and annotate -- one of the scenes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, where David Yates turns a coffee shop into a tense battlefield.

You can watch this scene, with Mr. Yates narrating it, on The New York Times. Throughout this whole scene, there is a coffee machine running in the background to make the setting sound more suspenseful.

In this part of the scene, Mr. Yates tries to make this part of the scene feel uncomfortable, cold, and harsh. He positioned the cameras to be above the characters' heads to make the room feel awkward and claustrophobic.

As the men approach our heroes with wands, the coffee machine grows louder to indicate a battle arising.

In this part, a.k.a the battle, the director tries to remind the audience how dangerous magic can really be.

And, finally, in this part of the scene, Mr. Yates tries to make it as moving as possible. We are seeing the three wizards that we watched grow up throughout all of the movies do something very invasive. They're obliterating the death eaters' memory. He says that the whole movie is basically about all of them breaking out of innocence.

Harry Potter in a Hillwood-Made Video

This video I made was about the new Harry Potter movie, Deathly Hollows Part 1. I decided to make it because I was very wrapped up in the description of the movie. You can read my post about the film's director's efforts to create a tense moment here.

Also, here is a link to Animoto, so you can make your own video about Harry Potter or about anything else.

The Big Cats, A Closer Look

When I was deciding what I should do with this video, my cats popped into my head. So I looked for tons of picture that had to do with all the cats' habitats and what all of them look like. The lions look innocent, some are sleeping, and some are curious about the nature around them.

They are all Big Cats, except for a little kitten looking through a water glass.

I think the video is really pretty, and leaves viewers with an impact. Many of these cats are endangered and in need of help. Of course, the cats are cute, especially if you love them, like myself, Faryn, and Angela.

Brazil Elects a Woman as the President

On Sunday, October 31st, Dilma Rousseff was elected president of the country of Brazil. She defeated Jose Serra, the former governor of Sao Paulo, with 56% of the votes, while Jose Serra had only 44% of the votes. Dilma Rousseff is joining the democratic wave of female leaders from the past 5 years, the wave of democratic female leaders includes Michelle Bachelet, elected in Chile, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, elected in Argentina, and Angela Merkel, elected in Germany.

Although the people of Brazil still voted very strongly for the continuing of their former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff won the title in the end.

"[Mr. da Silva] hand-picked Ms. Rousseff to be his successor, campaigning tirelessly for her." (Source: The New York Times; In a First, Brazil Elects a Woman as President) "He treated this campaign like a re-election campaign." Demetrio Magnoli, a sociologist, says on the television on Saturday night.

"But Mr. Serra struggled to articulate a consistent campaign message and, with Mr. da Silva in her camp, Ms. Rousseff, a twice-divorced grandmother who opposed and was imprisoned by the military dictatorship in her early 20s as part of a militant group, proved too tough to beat."

Personally, I think it was a big deal, since women are being elected as presidents of different countries instead of men; and women were never thought of as authority figures, in the early years of election to now. Even though women have the right to vote, some people think they're not fit to be in the presidential race. So it is a very big deal.

Source: The New York Times

Brazil Elects a Woman for President

On Halloween, Brazil elected Dilma Rouseff as the first woman president in Brazil, in place of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva!

Rouseff, who is sixty-two, was up against José Serra. Serra is the current governor of São Paulo. Serra ran for president in 2002, and he has a history in politics. He said that he promised to improve schools and communal health.

Rousseff guaranteed to build millions of affordable houses. She also said that she would expand a communal-arranging agenda started in Rio de Janeiro. It is designed to better the features of schooling and communal health care.

In spite of the active fans of the old president da Silva, the election went on to another round when Marina Silva, a Green Party contestant and current nature-loving preacher under Mr. da Silva, got 19 percent of the votes. A lot of voters appreciated Ms. Silva’s protocol on sustainable development.

To learn more go to The New York Times.

By Alysen

Judy and Adam's Visit with The Herald

Today, on the celebration of Halloween, Judy and Adam, who have been creating design challenges for PBS Kids' DESIGN SQUAD,  took time out of their day to come and talk to us! Judy and Adam are both mechanical engineers who also have a show for kids where they make experiments and film them to show kids everywhere how to build all of the projects they made on the video. As I've written before on The Herald, these projects have been pretty fun. As reporters for The Herald, we asked  Judy and Adam about their inventions, and we showed them the inventions we made. We also interviewed them to figure out some of their favorite times on the show. (Their actual show on PBS airs in January, with a confetti launcher, but many of their challenges are already online at the DESIGN SQUAD website.)

It was very interesting to hear about all of the projects they made and all the places they got to visit to make the projects. Both Judy and Adam went to New York, where they got to make dresses for a fashion show. The dresses were made with mechanics inside of the dress to make the dress shorter.

They also got to go to Nicaragua to help build a playground for a school that had a jungle in front of it instead of a play structure. They even went to Boston to made a cake that got up and actually walked around! It was seriously mind-blowing.

President Obama Hosts the White House Science Fair

At the White House on October 18th, President  Barrack Obama hosted the White House Science Fair, celebrating the winners of science, technology, engineering, and math competitions.

 The White House Science Fair fulfills the president's commitment that he made at the beginning of his Educate to Innovate campaign.

At the White House Science Fair, Mr. Obama viewed all of the winning projects that the champions had created. From basic research breakthrough projects to new inventions, president Obama gave remarks congratulating the students on their projects, and their hard work to brainstorm and create the genius inventions that they were showing Mr. Obama.

The president also announced his upcoming appearance on the December 8th, 2010, episode of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters, for those of you who do not know what the show "MythBusters" is... it is a popular television show that uses science to figure out if the myths that people tell are true or just plain made up.

President Obama's speech to the students who have won past and present science fairs, and he encouraged for students to try and win future science fairs, and to keep pursuing in the kind of science or math that you have put your heart into.

The next video shows Mr. Obama walking through the Science Fair, held in the West Wing. The fair includes a soccer-playing robot and specially geared-up cars (or contraptions that might someday be made into a car.

Our Magazine Buzzer — Success!

Today, October 15th, Clara and I did the Hidden Buzzer Challenge (designed by Judy and Adam for PBS Kids' DESIGN SQUAD). We decided to "hide" our buzzer in a magazine so when someone touched the magazine the buzzer would go off.

Of course we needed a little help with the circuits, and our buzzer had a mind of its own. But on the other hand, it was pretty fun creating our buzzer.

As some people know Judy and Adam are coming to talk with The Hillwood Herald next Friday, and of course we have questions for them!
When Judy and Adam come, the first five questions that I will ask them are going to be well thought out. Since I want to make sure I get them down, I'll write them here:

1. How long does it take for you guys to actually make the experiments?
2. What made you want to become engineers?
3. Do you two have fun making the experiments or is it really hard?
4. Do you two usually get it right the first time, or do you have to keep trying at it?
5. Do you sometimes want to give up on the experiments you're making?

I bet it's going to be a great time when Judy and Adam come to talk to us about all the experiments they have made and how they get the ideas and things like that. But until then everyone can go to their site on PBSkids and try all the expirements we've been doing the past few weeks.

Our Visit to City Hall

The whole upper-grade class went to City Hall to protest about putting toys in unhealthy Happy Meals from McDonald's. We helped to try and replace the unhealthy choices with healthy choices in Happy Meals, so that kids could be rewarded with toys when they choose healthy things, so that they'll eat healthier.

When we went to City Hall, there were plenty of people who wanted, and did, protest against putting toys in unhealthy meals. I think it helped since we were so cute... We stood in front of City Hall for about three minutes with our signs, getting interviewed. We also got interviewed inside.

I believe by all of us going to City Hall to protest, we really made a point that not only do adults care, but so do kids. From that day to this one I, and probably everybody else, am still wondering when it will pass. We hope that it will so that when parents are in a rush and need a quick meal, it can also be a healthy meal for their kids.

Pop Fly Challenge — More PBS Kids DESIGN SQUAD Experiments

DESIGN SQUAD is made up of Judy and Adam who create challenges and see how they work out. They have challenges like the Kick Stick Challenge and the Roving the Moon Challenge.

They show more challenges on the website PBS Kids.org that are fun, but challenging. Judy and Adam are going to actually take some time out of their day to come to Hillwood, so we can interview them! We're going to be able to show them all the projects we have made with their neat ideas.

Today, Clara and I did something called a "Pop Fly Challenge." We created a device to launch ping-pong balls into the air, using: cups, duct tape, and paint stirrers. When we launched our ping-pong into the air we caught it usually every time.

For our project, we had to make a cage out of a part of one of the cups to keeps the ball in place.

Our project resembles a see-saw because when we hit one end, the ball flies up on the other. We also were able to catch our ball in a cup, much like basketball.

On PBS Kids Go there are plenty of challenges, including the Pop Fly Challenge, which we were doing this week.

Picnik Photos

Picnik is a cool photo-changing website that I tried out today. Picnik is where you can upload a photo and change it to make it appear better for Halloween, (muahahaha) or just to look better or to look funny.

Like my picture here, you can do a demo picture, or upload your own picture. You can do special effects like sepia, or add a spiderweb or an eyeball or blood...

I am the first, and proud to say it, to try out Picnik.

It is probably the most fun I've had creating photos out of photos.

Picnik is cool for all ages, I guarantee you'll have fun with this really cool photo maker.

How to Make a Paper Table

In October, The Hillwood Herald will be interviewing two people, Adam and Judy, who have just helped with the PBS series DESIGN SQUAD. Over the next few weeks, we will be doing their challenges during our Hillwood Herald work sessions. DESIGN SQUAD, according to PBS Kids, is "high-energy, high-drama reality TV" that lets kids like you show off your smarts when designing and building working solutions for real-world clients—people who are hungry for clever ideas from a new generation of innovators.

Today, I did the Paper Table Challenge from Judy and Adam (you can see it and more on the PBS Kids site). I used the following materials:

• Newspaper 
• Masking tape
• and a piece of cardboard

I must say, it is kind of hard, but my table could hold two small books weighing altogether a few ounces, (which is a fail), but if you brainstormed a little bit more, it could hold a couple pounds.

For this project you need to: First, plan carefully. Second, think of how much weight it can hold, and third...wish for the best.

This project, I have to say, was actually pretty fun to do. Yet, at some moments pretty challenging! All I have to say is, my table wouldn't exactly win a beauty contest...

On PBSkids go!, you can find this project, along with instructions, and more creative ideas and videos.

Watch Erion and Nikita building their Table Top Challenge. Then, scroll to their post to see if it worked.