Sana's Post

Three Random Things 

 By: Sana Pandey

Do you sometimes just have random things that pop into your head?  Things that don’t seem to be connected at first thought but then your mind keeps thinking and you realize they may not be so random after all? If it does happen, you’re just like me. Here are three random things that have just popped into my head: sea otters, friends and hands. Don’t really make much sense together right, but if you think about them, you just might see the connection.

Did you know Sea otters are the biggest member of the weasel family, and the only ones in the family who spend their time underwater? Sea otters live around ten to twelve years, but can live up to twenty-five.Sea otters are shallow and coastal water swimmers, and stick together in groups, called rafts. And, funnily enough, sea otters link paws to stay together when they are near a big wave.

Think about your friends now. You confide in your friends and help each other. You trust each other and have fun in each others company. You reach out to them in need and help them when they need you. you hold hands when crossing the road or playing together or watching a scary movie in the drive in theater. Kind of like the sea otters right? Friends are family that you choose.

Did you know there are 29 major and minor bones, at least 123 named ligaments, 34 muscles which move the fingers and thumb, 48 named nerves, 29 major joints, 3 major nerves,24 named sensory branches and 30 named arteries? All these numbers to show that hands are really special and important.  Not just for the day to day tasks of working, lifting, writing, eating but also for universal gestures of friendship and greetings. You can pretty much raise you hands to show surrender in any language of the world or offer your palm up to ask for stuff. And holding someone’s hand or squeezing it gently almost always means a sign of support or friendship. Even sea otters know that !

So you see, not so random after all. Your brain sometimes just pull together some information it may remember and you may not be able to immediately see the connections but they are there. And you can train your brain to link things to see how they are related. Kind of like Sherlock Holmes. Maybe you can use this trick to get your brain to do some fun investigations... like a detective.

Sana's Post

 Summer Break!!

By: Sana P.

     When I think of summer, I think of bright green grass and long days. I think of tank tops, flip flops, shorts, and lots of sunscreen. I think of movies and picnics in the park and eating out. I think of running through the waves of the ocean and building droopy sandcastles on the shore. I think of lazing around. I think of sunglasses and lemonade. Summer is clearly a time that everyone is waiting for, even if it’s only for the ice cream you get every other day.
Most people have a ton of plans for summer. Some people might be visiting or having over friends and family. Some people might be going for summer camps. Some people might be going for vacation. I happen to be going to New York and Washington D.C. I am also going to a summer camp called ‘Summer Express’, a camp that keeps you entertained by four classes everyday. I have chosen: rollerblading, swimming, mad science, and jewelry making! It sure is going to be a lot of fun! Are you going on vacation or to a summer camp?
The best part of summer is that it is the same for almost everyone all over the world. My parents grew up in India and they remember their summers, like mine, as being lazy, hot, and full of lemonade! What I really love about summer is that it is the only time that my parents let me have back to back play dates and sleep-overs! Although, if your parents are like mine, they probably will make you study at least one hour on a daily basis. That truly is the worst part of summer!

Now, what do you like about summer? Are you going anywhere, or do you just want to chill out? Do you think summer break is fun, or do you miss school?

Who Wants To See Venus?

By: Nick B.

      On Tuesday, there is an event happening that you have probably never seen before. Do you want to guess what it is? It’s the transit of Venus! On Tuesday, June 5, you will be able to see Venus pass in front of the sun. It will appear as a little black dot moving across the sun. Transit means to move through or across. Are you excited to see it? Because, if you aren’t, this won’t happen for another 105 years!
    Venus is second in line from the sun, after Mercury. Hopefully you already know this, because if you don’t, are you practicing the play songs?
What is interesting about Venus is that it is the hottest planet in the solar system. Why not Mercury? The reason is that Mercury has no atmosphere, so there is nothing to keep the heat in. Venus has an atmosphere, and that keeps the heat in. Ooooh, she’s hot! Venus appears very bright in the night sky because  it’s clouds reflect a lot of light. Venus can only block out a little part of the sun, so even if you can’t see it, it’s still there!
    German astronomer Johannes Kepler first predicted the Venus transit in the 17th century. That was a long time ago. He found out that close to every century, the Earth’s and Venus’s orbit lined up perfectly with the sun. Only six transits have been observed in history. Only two people were said to have seen the transit of 1639. The 1882 transit was said to be more popular. Thousands of people jammed the streets of New York City to see it. What do you think is best and safest way to view Venus as it is crossing in front of the sun? Why?

Sammy's Post

Synesthesia

 By: Sammy L.

    One day, my mom and dad started laughing and called me over. “What?” I asked. They showed me one post on Facebook that looked something like this: “7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17,B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15.” I read it and my dad and mom clapped. “We couldn’t do it!” my mom said. I was intrigued and did some reasearch. I found out it is called Synesthesia, and that how it works is that one person might have a sensory muscle which is activated, and leads to automatic motion or abilities. They said that if you can read this, you have a strong mind.

Have you ever experienced this sensation? What was it like, and what did it make you do? By the way, if you can read this, type it with your comment. No cheating!:)

It's a Boy!

Mrs. Dominguez is having a baby and it is a BOY! The baby is doing a lot of kicking right now (as you can see by the big leg he's showing in the picture) and seems like he will have a lot of energy when he finally arrives in September. The hard part now is trying to figure out a name for this cute, little bundle of joy. Do you have any ideas? Mr. Dominguez and I are looking for both a first and middle name to go along with Dominguez. If you have any ideas of good boy names, leave a comment and who knows, we might choose that one! Leave two names that go together, if you can think of two, one for the first name and one for the middle name. My little niece thinks we should name him "muffin". I love her, but I think we can do a little better than that. Come on guys, help me out!! :0)

Summer is Coming!

By Edward

 Summer is coming closer and closer! There are lots of things you can do during the break: having fun in the pool, going on vacation, sleeping in, playing video games, and many more things. I will go on vacation to europe this summer instead of playing video games and sleeping in. I will get to see the London Eye and the Eiffel Tower. I’m also going to see many other cities during the days I’m off. After that, I have a lot of math tutoring I need to attend 3 times a week! Even though I have that much math tutoring, that math tutor makes math fun. After that, the new year of school begins! What are you going to do during the summer? What do you think what the next schol year will be like? Do you think it will be good or bad? Why?

Grow!
 By Edward

   Grow is a series of very challenging games. They include Grow Nano, Grow RPG, Grow Island, Grow Valley, Grow Tower, Grow Cube, The Life Ark, and the original, GROW. You start off with with someone or something that is completely plain. On the bottom bar, there are many different items. You randomly pick each one and each one of those makes the plain thing more decorated, make it have life, or to help someone. After you pick them all, the the bar will flip over for what level each one got to. Your goal is to get each one of those items to get to max. There are only 1 combination to get all the items max. Each one also has a  secret ending called UFO. UFO is very different from the original ending. If you don’t use the walkthrough, you can spend hours trying to solve just one Grow game! If you ever played a Grow game, which one is your favorite? Why or why not? If you never played a Grow games, Do you think you would like to try one?

Jeremy's Post

Summer Vacation
By: Jeremy

     As the school year ends, everyone’s excited about one thing: summer. This year, the last day of school is on June 26, and summer vacation ends at August 13. This year for the 47-day break, I am going to visit my relatives at Taiwan, like I do every year.
     Three days after summer vacation begins, I will go on a flight to Taiwan, where I will stay for many weeks. Last year, my family went to other countries for about 10 days, then went to Taiwan to see our relatives for many weeks. There were many fun things I did there. The day we arrived at Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, the thermometer said the temperature was 33° Celsius(91°F). Then, we traveled to really sultry places. We went around the country in some high-speed train. When we arrived at another city, I saw how high the temperature was, and I was glad that we lived in California so that the weather wasn’t that extraordinary at home. Its normal temperature in summer there was 40° C or 110° F. Don’t ask me how the residents lived there. The only comfortable place was the hotel. I finally know why air conditioning costs that much now.
   90 degrees seemed comfortable after we came back to Taipei. After visiting other parts of the country, I attended several go lessons and one competition. I earned $500 Taiwan money, or about $16 US.
    After coming back from a 1-month trip, I finally came home, but only for a few days. My dad drove me to Santa Barbara for the annual US Go Congress. Even though the Congress only lasted one week and the Taiwan trip lasted a month, I thought, and still do think, of the Go Congress as the main highlight that year. Each morning when I woke up, I had to get to the campus (UCSB) by about 8:45. At 9:00 every morning, the biggest competition in the US, the US Open, would be played with one round a day, with a break day in the middle. I won 3 games and lost 3 in the competition, and got 7th place in my division. The games took a really long time. Some of the better players needed to think more, and even got a lunch break. They took about 5 hours to play a game. In the afternoon, there would usually be a few tournaments. The events usually started at either 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, or 7:00pm. There would also be teaching games with pros and many youth tournaments.

     Last year’s summer vacation was really fun for me. This year, I plan to go to Taiwan just three days after the last day of school. I will not be back home until August 1st, and on August 4th I will go to Go Congress. The plane back will be on August 12th, so I’ll probably be really tired for the first day of school, which is just a day after I come back. Basically, I only get about five and a half days to rest at home, so that might be a little too much for me. I hope to be fine on the first day of school and win a few prizes at Go Congress. What are you going to do for summer, and what do you hope to do?

Jasmin's Post

Summer Vacation
 By: JasminW.

  

About one more week until summer vacation! Are you excited? I am. My cousins are coming from Shanghai, China on June 29th to visit us. I didn’t see them in a long time. After that, we will go on a 7-day cruise to Mexico . The boat’s name is Carnival Splendor. Before I went on a cruise to Alaska when I was 6 years old, but I don’t remember a lot about it. I’m hoping this time will refresh my memories. I’m super excited!

     After the cruise, we plan to go to southern California for about a week. We are going to see San Diego, for places like the US Midway Aircraft Carrier, Zoo and Safari Park. We also plan to go to Los Angeles city for sightseeing. I’m not sure where exactly we’re going to, but it must be a fun trip. For the rest of our vacation, I’m just hanging out with my cousins, sleeping, eating, reading, etc. Some people think it is unfair that we get less than 6 weeks of summer vacation. But I think it is fair because our breaks make up for it. Do you think it is fair and why? What are you going to do for summer vacation? Are you going anywhere special?