A Challenge to Blow in the Wind!

Today we made another sculpture, as part of the DESIGN SQUAD challenges that engineers Judy and Adam put together. The kinetic sculpture is a challenge where we try to make a sculpture move when we blow. But mine didn't work that way! To make mine work, you need to grab it and spin it with your hands.

To help us today, Lindsey (a friend of Mrs. Moorhead's) came in with her parents from Kansas and gave us a speech about what she does and how she is now part of San Francisco's Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy. She works for a IDEO, which is where Judy and Adam work when they are not filming DESIGN SQUAD for PBS Kids.

The company is where people are employed to help other companies design products and services. Lindsey even knows about how the company, with its designers and engineers, helped create the mouse with a rolling ball inside it. Lindsey also talked about this society where you pass on an 100 dollar bill to people in need. Her friend gave the 100 dollar bill to her and told her to pass it on. This seem to be like the movie "Pay It Forward." The society most likely didn't even start here in San Francisco, and it has groups of people donating 100 bills in Greece and New York.

As kids, we could do something similar, but with much less money. Right now, we are doing a Hillwood bake sale to raise money. We also collect change for the Pennies for Patients program, which is also about making a little bit of money do more than you might think possible at first. Lindsey is giving her one hundred dollars to Ms. Woods for the Hillwood upper-grade class.

Wordles...What?

A Wordle is a website where you create a picture

made out of random words.

Let's say you wanted to make a Wordle about dogs, in a little box you type in a bunch of words or adjectives about dogs, you can also put in a bunch of different breeds of dogs.

You can use any amount of words.

When you're done, you press go. After that you see your picture. Underneath that, there is a button that says "randomize." When you press on that your picture changes font color style and the way the words are arrange.

Making pictures out of words is fun!

My wordles are about the Constitution and some of the states in America.

The Constitution was made to keep people free. The first part of the constitution was called the preamble.It went like this:

We the people in order to form a more perfect union,

Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
           Provide for the common defense,
Promote the general welfare and
Secure the blessings of liberty

To ourselves and our posterity
Do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.

2010: State of the Union Speech — One Student's Angle

In our president's State of the Union speech, Mr. Obama tried to reinstate hope in America's working class, as was so prevalent when he was inaugurated last January.

The main points of Pres. Obama's speech covered economic recovery, Afghanistan, education, clean energy, and how we need bipartisanship to solve our problems.

For the economy, our president proposed billing banks for bailouts, prolong unemployment benefits, lower the cost of health care, tax cuts, composing Obama's Recovery Act, or Stimulus Bill. To encourage small businesses, community banks across America will be given $30 billion from Wall Street banks to lend to these businesses. They will also receive tax credits and dismissal from capital gains taxes.

To take steps to a cleaner America, we will invest in clean nuclear power plants, advanced biofuels, and clean coal technologies.

Another topic I will focus on is education. As an eighth-grader aspiring for college or university, I was very taken aback to hear that after 20 years, college debts will be relieved. Many also have realized that in order for America to become a "more perfect nation," we need an educated and innovative work force.

sources: nytimes.com, NPR
by Brigette W.

History of Berlin Wall

After World War II's end in Europe (1945), Germany was divided into four sectors, each one controlled by one of the Allied Powers, which included the Americans, French, British, and the Soviet Union. Conflict between the Soviets and the other powers split Germany in half, the East and the West, even splitting the country's capital, Berlin into East and West Berlin.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who occupied the eastern side of Germany, prevented foreign help from other nations to fly into West Germany with supplies, the Berlin Blockade. Other nations wanted to help, so the Berlin Airlift was devised.

In the 1950s, West Germany benefited from economic success, so East Germans were looking to live in West Germany.

Construction of the 87 mile long Berlin Wall started in 1961, funded by the GDR and closing crossing points. Many Berliners were cut off from jobs. Money changed, the economies changed, and ideas changed between the two sides. The rift between East and West Germany remained, that rift separating families. Several died trying to cross the wall.

President Kennedy and President Reagan pleaded with the GDR to take down the wall.

Under international pressure, the GDR allowed travel between the two sides in 1989. In 1990, the Wall of Berlin fell.

Sources: Wikipedia, Cold War Flies, New York Times, German Missions in the United States

by Brigette W.

A Visual Story of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

On November 9, 2009, was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wall was knocked down at the end of the cold war. The wall was about 100 miles long, and about 136 people died trying to cross it.

I got these photos from The New York Times and Google images.

The New York Times ran a special interactive package in which people could submit their own photos from the fall of the wall.

Read Brigette's story about the history of the wall.

The Making of the Berlin Wall

Construction of the Berlin Wall started on August 13, 1961, which fell twenty years ago and was anywhere from 20 to 100 feet some places.

The wall had a lot of security. It had a watchtower, and everything from spike mats and vehicle ditches to, to tank traps.

This graphic from The New York Times show that the Berlin Wall was no regular wall.

Below are some close-ups that I found interesting.

The President's State of the Union Address: Education

Student: Faryn

Read the following excerpt from the State of the Union by President Obama. What does President Obama say about education? What does it mean to you? Remember to include images, links and labels with your post.

Your goal this week is to complete your post by the end of class.

What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea -– the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. That’s why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like “What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?” [...]

The future is ours to win. But to get there, we can’t just stand still. As Robert Kennedy told us, “The future is not a gift. It is an achievement.” Sustaining the American Dream has never been about standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age. And now it’s our turn. We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. (Applause.) We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business. We need to take responsibility for our deficit and reform our government. That’s how our people will prosper. That’s how we’ll win the future. (Applause.) And tonight, I’d like to talk about how we get there. [...]

Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success. But if we want to win the future -– if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas -– then we also have to win the race to educate our kids. Think about it. Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us –- as citizens, and as parents –- are willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a chance to succeed. That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair. (Applause.) We need to teach them that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.