Niraj's Post

Cricket

by Niraj

The 2010 Cricket World Cup is coming this February! Many cricket fans all over the world are getting excited. Let me tell you more about this game.

Cricket originated in Britain and it soon spread to all the countries ruled by Britain. Today this game is played all over the world. Some of the top cricket teams are: India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and England.

Cricket looks similar to baseball but there are some differences. There are two teams of 11 players each. One side starts with the ball, the other with the bat. There are two batsmen and 11 players from the bowling side on the field. The two batsmen stand on two ends of the bowling pitch. Just like a catcher in baseball, there is a wicketkeeper behind the batsman. There are three wooden sticks behind the batsman which are called stumps. The bowler(like the pitcher) bowls to the batsman and tries to get him out. There are four ways to get out. 1)The ball hits the stumps 2)The ball is caught by one of the fielders 3)The batsman cannot reach the other side of the pitch while trying to get some runs. 4) The batsman moves away from the crease(home plate) while hitting the ball and the stumps are hit by the wicketkeeper. The batsmen try to make as many runs as they can by 1)running between the stumps 2)by hitting the fence to get four runs 3)hitting over the fence to get six runs(like a home run). One inning is considered complete when 10 batsmen get out. The two sides get to play 2 innings each with a maximum of five days of cricket. Since this takes too long, nowadays they also play a shorter version of a one-day cricket game.

I enjoy this game a lot, especially the one day version. Do you know about any other games that are not so well known in USA but played elsewhere?

Umair's Post

How Animals Survive in Winter ?

By: Umair

Winter already started here and its really cold.Last week the temperature was in the range of thirtees ! We use sweaters, jackets, quilts and heaters in home to protect ourself from cold weather.

In arctic the temperature in winter can go about 29 degrees below zero! It is freezing cold! Still animals in arctic survive the cold and harsh weather.Many animals have several layers of thick fur coats.

The polar bear is one of interesting animal in arctic which can survive the cold weather of arctic.All summer long polar bear eat as much as food they can.When winter starts, polar bears go into their dens and sleeps for the whole winter.This is called hibernating.Hibernating saves the polar bears lots of energy.The heart beats slows down and their body temperature lowers.This is how they can survive the winter.

Can you think of other animals that protect themselves from cold and survive the winter ?

Anita's Post

 



 UFO Sightings 
By: Anita

In November 2010, at Colorado, Denver, people thought they spotted a UFO. It was like bright lights moving across the sky in a special kind of pattern. Another one was spotted in Brazil at daytime, but it was a bright cylinder and cigar-shaped object. Multiple daytime UFOs were sighted in Seoul, South Korea and looked like small, black objects moving back and forth in the sky. One UFO was seen at Ecatepec in South Mexico which was like a tiny, white object moving very quickly. The last sighting was like a white, shining star except bigger and a little brighter. Scientists think that the UFOs are some different kind of space ships. What do you think they are? Do you think there is anything in them? What?

Rohan I.'s Post

My Favorite Sport

By: Rohan I.

There are many sports in this world but my favorite sport is basketball. I like this sport because it is a team sport. This game is played with a ball and 10 people on the court. There will be 5 people from each team. The object of the game is to score the ball into your opponents hoop. Each time you score inside the 3 point arch you get two points. If you score outside the 3 point arch you get three points. The positions that people play in basketball are :
1. point guard
2. small forward
3. shooting guard
4. power forward
5. center
All of these positions are really important. The point guard is the person who makes open lanes for there team mates and the main passer. The small forward position is for people who can layup and shoot from far distance. My favorite player LeBron James is a small forward. A shooting guard is the person who takes most of the layups. Next, the power forward is a player that usually shoots from close distance and gets rebounds. Last, the center is usually the tallest person on the team and gets the most rebounds. As you can see, basketball is my favorite sport what is yours and why?

Ryan M.'s Post

A Severe Storm

By:Ryan M.

You all know about storms. Right? Well a severe one happened on Wednesday. Winds whipped across the East Coast. The area suffered heavy rain and severe weather that knocked out power to thousands. There were also many floods that happened in the unexpected weather.Thousands of people without electricity suffered to the extreme weather. Some schools even delayed openings! The storm brought tornadoes to several Southeastern states. If you lived in the area where this happened, what would you do and why would you do that?

Project Cornerstone Survey

Project Cornerstone Survey

By Naren

Every month a topic about self-esteem, bullying, and other stuff an average kid should know is involved. Every school does it. 60% of kids get bullied or are bullies. Let’s try to help. If you are a victim then pay a close attention in Project Cornerstone. 
Our teacher in Project Cornerstone is Anita’s mom. She and other members read us stories. I like Simon’s Hook. What Project Cornerstone book do you like the most? Anyways, there is the "looking at" problem. Parents do not look at the sheet that we get. Do your parents look at the sheet? Do you like Project Cornerstone? Be honest, loyal, truthful, and all those other things!!!! Anyways, Project Cornerstone is good for you and I agree to keep on doing Project Cornerstone.

Julie"s Post

Black Friday

by: Julie 

Last Friday, as many of you know, was Black Friday. My parents woke me up at around 7:00 to eat breakfast, and we drove to JCPenny to shop. There were LINES of cars in the parking lot. We had to park on the top level and take the elevator down. When we reached the store, there were crowds at every corner and turn. We had to squeeze through crowds to get where we wanted. My parents weaved around the store to look for stuff they need. They came back with nothing. We walked down to Sears and looked. Still nothing. So, my parents drove over to Target and shopped. My parents found nothing they need again. I suggested we buy Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and my parents agreed. They know I am very into magic. So we went home with a single movie that cost us hours of shopping. My mom and I made a joke on the way home: What if we found lines of people in front of our house?

Did you go shopping on Black Friday? What did you buy? If you didn’t shop, what are you looking forward to on future Black Fridays?

Jamie's Post

Global Warming 

By: Jamie 

        While people enjoy the luxury of food and shelter, global warming is effecting the world and the environment around us. Some lazy people don't care and might say it doesn't matter. But ice is warming and melting even more than usual.
    More and more Polar Bears can't reach land and drown. That is because the ice is melting and there is the pollution that we cause from fuels we use need to drive cars to the trash we litter. Also people are cutting down the rain forests where a lot of antidotes and remedies can be made from. By cutting down the rain forests, we are destroying some species that lives there, and when we do that, we are also upsetting the balance of nature.
    Doing this also will destroy us in the end. First we pollute the air and water, which causes birds and fishes die or get sick. Then we eat the sick fish and we don't feel well. A lot of other animals eat fish and birds and will feel bad. Many things will eventually be eaten by us. Then they might all die of sickness or us eating them.
    Now we have new electric cars. When we grow up, the roads will probably be filled with them.


When you are an adult will you drive an electric car and try to save nature? What are some ways to stop global warming or at least slow it down? Why do you think it will work?

Andy's Post

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

By: Andy

Every Friday after Thanksgiving, shoppers flock to stores around the country to take advantage of the big sales of Black Friday.  Black Friday is a special day when stores offer extremely low priced items so many customers will shop at their stores. Since there are big crowds at stores at Black Friday, people wait at the entrance of a store in the early morning so they can be the first one in the store when it opens. Some people are now using their smart phones to help them shop. You can now download apps on to your phone that can tell you how to navigate a complicated shopping mall or to help you see in which store an item is the cheapest.

Most stores are now offering online websites which you can buy items on. Since a growing amount of people are now buying online, there is now Cyber Monday which is the Monday after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday is the same thing as Black Friday but you buy all the cheap items online. An example of a great Cyber Monday deal is the Lost Hero for 48% off at Barnes&Nobles. What did your mom, dad, or family members do on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

Sammy's Post

Taiwan

By: Sammy

As most of you know, I have been to Taiwan recently. The time there is different from the U.S. time. The time at Taiwan is nine hours before U.S. time. Do you know why? The reason why Taiwan is nine hours before U.S. time is because that it has a different time zone. For example, if it's 2:00 at night in Taiwan, people in the U.S. are eating lunch! If in Taiwan it is 11:00 in the morning, it is 8:00 in the afternoon for U.S. people. Have you ever been to a place out of California that had a different time zone? If so, how much hours was that time ahead or before U.S. time? Why do we have time zones?

Anika's Post

October Break

By: Anika

     This October Break was fun and relaxing. For the first week on Monday I was home with my mom and playing with my goldfish. From Tuesday to Thursday I had a friend come over to my house and either we played shopping, board games, or restaurant with real food and water. Next, on Saturday I went to my friends house who sadly was going to India for good on that Monday. On Sunday we went to my friends house again to say goodbye and we stayed home. Then Monday through Friday Me and my mother were cleaning the house for a festival that was coming up called Diwali that is the festival of lights. During those two relaxing and fun weeks was a festival called Navratri. Navratri is a festival where my parents were fasting for nine days but only eating sweet potato with milk and my brother and I only eat vegetarian and we have to eat a special type of salt. This October break was fun and such a relaxing time. What did you do in your October break? What did you like the most and why did you like it?

Anita's Post

New Dinosaur Species

By: Anita

Two new dinosaur species have been discovered by scientists in Salt Lake City, Utah. The dinosaurs are closely related to Triceratops, and they are named Kosmoceratops and Utahceratops. The Kosmoceratops has 15 horns and a big head, while the Utahceratops has five horns and it is the larger dinosaur. The Utahceratops has a large horn over it's nose and short eye horns that look similar to a bison. Its skull is about 7 feet long, it is about 6 feet high and was 18 to 22 feet long. It is believed to have weighed about 3 to 4 tons. The Kosmoceratops has similar features as the Utahceratops, but has 10 horns across it's frill that point downward. It has the most decorative head in all the dinosaurs. It weighed about 2.5 tons and was about 15 feet long. I think this is an amazing discovery because the scientists found such huge dinosaurs and there are many fascinating facts about them. Do you think these dinosaurs are interesting? Why or why not?

Shaan's Post

The New iPod Touch

By: Shaan

The new ipod touch seems to be a big hit! Almost everybody I know has one and they say it is awesome. This fourth generation ipod touch is equipped with a camera and a microphone. Why the change? There is an app called Skype where you call people from your ipod but you need a microphone. I think that is why apple equipped the ipod with a camera. Apple was probably thinking that parents would buy the ipod so they wouldn’t have to buy a phone for their children. Why do you think Apple equipped the ipod with a microphone?

Bridge to Terabithia

1.  What finally brings Jess and Leslie together in friendship?

2.  What is Terabithia? Why do Leslie and Jess create it?

Sammy's Post

 A Bad Experience

By: Sammy

     When I was seven years old, a car crashed through my garage.When we looked inside the garage, there was smoke everywhere! My family called 911 and the firefighters to come over. Then a nice woman said that me and my sister could come into her house and stay there for a little while because there was still smoke in the house. When we went inside the house, the woman let us watch TV. Then we met her kids, and it was time to go home. I felt bad when the car crashed because we had to stand outside at 9:00, but felt better when the woman let us inside. If you ever had a bad experience in your life, what happened to make you a little better? If nothing happened to make you feel better, what do you think could make someone feel better who was going through a difficult time?

Cody's Post

Should McDonalds Happy Meal Have Toys?

By: Cody

Every time you get a Happy meal at McDonald, you get a toy. But some people want a Happy meal, but don't want the toy. People are getting a toy but don't want one! It's makeing them get annoyed! Some people get annoying toys like this! And some people get what they wanted. This Is getting frustraiting for some kids. People want this to stop, but do you? This is getting annoying! People over town is argueing about this. Do you want to get toy like this?

Harsh's Post

My Labor Day Vacation

By: Harsh

General Sherman

During the Labor Day vacation, I went to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park with five other families. We started our trip at six o’ clock in the morning. After everybody got ready, we jumped into the car and headed out. After a long drive, we finally reached Sequoia National Park. We first drove to the Kaweah River and got off. We hiked down to the edge of it and waded in. It was freezing! I would have swept into the current and have fallen down a waterfall if my dad hadn’t held on to me. We finally reached the other end of the river and took lots of pictures. There was a small creek that flowed away from the river and then eventually flowed back. We started building a dam with rocks that blocked the creek, but even after we built it, some water flowed through, but not as much. Then we crossed the river and got back into our car and started driving again. Our next destination was The General Sherman Tree, which is the largest living tree in the world (by volume). It was huge! I felt like an ant standing next to it and I couldn’t even see the top! After that, we drove to Moro Rock. We weren’t allowed to drive up to the top, so we hiked a mile up to the top. What a view! You could see for miles, but I was freaking out because, as some of you might know, I’m afraid of heights. Now I’m not saying the 13th floor of a hotel high. I’m talking 6,000 feet in the air and just three feet away from a sheer drop, only protected by a fence. What things are you afraid of? Anyway, after we hiked down, we drove through the tunnel log, which is technically a fallen tree with a tunnel through it. Then we drove to our hotel in Fresno. After a good night’s sleep, we took off to Kings Canyon National Park, which had sheer drops on the side of the road 5,000 feet high. Our first stop was Grizzly Falls, a beautiful waterfall with many rocks and boulders in it and surrounding it. For a while, we hopped around on the stones, trying not to get wet. After that, we decided to climb the waterfall. We got halfway up, but then decided it was dangerous and so we stopped. We sat there for half an hour, enjoyed the view, and then climbed down. Then my dad spotted some smoke. Wildfire! We drove towards it, but then discovered that it was a controlled fire, so we drove to another waterfall. After parking our car, we hiked down to the waterfall and took lots of pictures. While we drove back to the hotel, I spotted the fire. It wasn’t much, but it created lots of smoke. The next day we drove to the St. Louis Reservoir and climbed down to the water. There we found many flat rocks, which were perfect for skipping. Between the kids, I held three records, farthest, highest, and most number of skips, which was ten. that we called it a day and drove home. I had always wanted to visit Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, and I finally did. Where have you recently gone to? Which places do you want to go to and what will you do there?  

Anika's Post

Gas Explosion

By: Anika

There was a terrible disaster in the bay area. How did the gas get out of the under ground tubes? No one knows but what we know is that there was a neighborhood next it and there were many that were injured. Some people were able to get out of the fire but were badly burned. Also, there are a few people that lost their lives. There were many firefighters from every neighborhood that came to help calm the fire down. The fire shot up to at least fifty feet high in the air and there was so much carbon dioxide that some people could hardly breathe. This underground natural gas tube is owned by PG&E. They are the ones that give us our electricity and gas. The big question now is if PG&E is to blame for all of this? Or, was this just an accident that they could not have prevented? What do you think? If PG&E is to blame, what should they have to do as a consequence? Let me know what you think.

Himanshu's Post

Hurricane Katrina's 5th Anniversary

By: Himanshu

Did you know that it is Hurricane Katrina's 5th Anniversary? In case you didn't know, Hurricane Katrina was a huge hurricane that hit Louisiana, Texas, and Florida in 2005. It caused lots of destruction and devastation. Many people got injured. Most
people became were homeless. In the end it costed $81 billion dollars to recover and it is still recovering. They saved many people and gave them food, shelter, and water. Many countries came in to help and gave tons of money, food, aid, and other help full things. How would we help if an unexpected natural disaster came and how can we be prepared for that?  

Joshua's Post

New iPod Coming??
by: Joshua

In September 2010, Apple has scheduled a meeting for a new iPod. The name is unknown, but it is related to music. They are thinking about preparing a service that lets people stream music over the Internet, without needing to first download over slow wireless connection. This iPod now contains a camera. Apple is not a 100% sure that this new "iPod" is going to come out or not. This are just updates for the meeting in September. If you could go to this event/meeting, would you want to go or not? Why?

Joshua's Post

Desktop iPad

By: Joshua

      Apple is having great income. You saw the new model of iPhone, the iPhone4. They just keep the stocks rolling. But this time they got the new model of iPad, the desktop iPad or known as the iMac Touch. The iMac Touch is half iMac which is a type of computer and the other half is iPad which is touch screen pad. The only difference between iPad and iMac Touch is that iMac Touch has a base and is also works like a computer. The iMac Touch has full sized keyboard with a on-screen mouse. It is also has a high-resolution mode. Would you want an iMac Touch, an iPad, or a regular iMac and why?

Himanshu's Post

The Summer

By: Himanshu

      This summer was awesome. First of all my Grand Parents came this summer. The first place we went to was Las Vegas. We went to many places like the Eiffel Tower casino, The Statue of Liberty, and a casino called Belagio. We also went to Lassen National Park. It is a national park with lots of volcanoes. We got to see Mt. Shasta and the Shasta Caverns. In the entrance was a small rattlesnake. It was right behind the tour guide! Last, we went to the Redwood Forest. We saw lots of huge and old trees. We even got to ride through two different trees. As you can see that my summer was a great adventure!!! How did you spend time in the summer break?

Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging with Ms. McPheeters' classroom. Here, students will be able to share ideas and opinions in a safe and respectful way. Your blog post can be about you, something you have accomplished, or my personal favorite...current events! Make your blog even more interesting and exciting by doing a little research and including a picture. You want to make sure that you know what you are talking about. Have fun commenting on each other's blogs and I can't wait to find out what we'll be talking about this year!

Please leave a comment below to practice. Tell us something about yourself, what you did over the summer, and what you are looking forward to in Rockhopper Village. Be sure to only use your first name and last initial in the Name box.

- Ms. McPheeters

Pallavi's Post

Oil Spill

By: Pallavi

On April 20^th, in the Gulf of Mexico a big explosion occurred in a Oil Rig which was the biggest oil spill in the history of the U.S. This was 5,000 feet below sea level. The explosion also caused all the oil to spill into the ocean. It also caused 500 fires in the oil platform which caused a few deaths and serious injuries to all the workers. As you know oil is bad for animals and this oil might endanger animals in a big way. This Oil well in the Gulf of Mexico called the "Deepwater Horizon well" is said to be leaking around 5000 barrels(200,000 gallons) a day. The oil spill has reached the shores of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi & Florida.  The dolphins, sea otters, mussels, clams, shrimp, birds & hundreds of other animals are dying. The oil spill has a huge environmental impact and is also affecting the fishing industry. BP, the owner of this oil rig, and the coast guard are involved in the clean-up of this oil spill. What would you do to try to save the animals and clean up the mess?How do you think we can prevent things like this from happening in the future?

Brandon's Post

Immortal Jellyfish

By: Brandon 

 

     We briefly learned about the "Fountain of Youth" in social studies and how it did not exist. Scientists have recently discovered a type of jellyfish that may be the only animal that has discovered it. Some animals, like salamanders, can only grow back limbs, but the jellyfish, turritopsis nutricula, can turn back into a polyp once it gets hurt in adult form. A polyp is the first stage of the life of a jellyfish, so this means it can repeat its life over and over again. Turritopsis nutricula used to only be native in the Caribbean. Because they are immortal, they can now they can be found oceans all around Earth. Luckily, this species of jellyfish can't repeatedly multiplying because it can still die. It may have the potential of being immortal, but another a predator can just come and swallow it in one bite. This type of jellyfish is only 0.18 wide and almost the same in height. Although it is very small, the turritopsis nutricula can develop up to 80 to 90 tentacles in adult form. When it is young, it only has about eight tentacles. So, you can clearly see almost anything can eat this type of jellyfish. What would you want to do if you could possibly live forever like this type of jellyfish? Please explain why.

Dilip's Post

Unhealthy Foods
By: Dilip 

In the past, kids would go on a regular Sunday to get their Happy Meal from McDonalds. They would chomp down their greasy Big Mac and french fries while playing with their toy. Little did they know, their "delicious" sandwich was packed with calories, fat, oil, and sugar. Due to this, the Santa Clara County officials are making a law against McDonalds and other restaraunts to sell toys attracting kids to eat unhealthy foods there. They held a meeting in Silicon Valley debating the subject. County officials believed that toys that come with, for instance, a "Happy Meal" from McDonalds, are like magnets for children who are getting obese. McDonalds say that they will start selling healthy foods with their Happy meals, for example salad and fresh apple juice. Now at days, parents are worrying about their children getting obese and want them to learn to avoid those unhealthy foods. After a vote on Tuesday, 4/25, the official law has been made that "the ban would prohibit restaurants from giving away an incentive item, like a toy, with a meal that contains more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of sodium and excessive amounts of fat and sugars".

Do you think that Santa Clara County has made a correct decision on this law? Why? And if you were the owner of the McDonald's restaurant, what changes would you make in their store (foodwise)?

Kimberly's Post

Iceland Volcano

By: Kimberly

Did you hear about the volcano in Iceland? It exploded! The ash went up into the air which stopped planes from flying to America! Even Ms. (Mrs.) McPheeters got to school a day late! The airports

canceled all flights. People had to sleep outside on cold concrete with pickpockets roaming around! Can you believe it?!

 

Are airports doing the right thing by canceling all flights? If you were an airport manager, would you cancel all flights or would you make flights go to one place (say Alaska), then go to America?

Julie's Post

 Hay Fever

By: Julie

Achoo! You might have heard of hay fever. About 40 million people suffer from hay fever each year, and over one billion dollars are spent each year treating allergies. Spring and fall are allergy seasons. They are allergy seasons because they both have a lot of wind and pollen and dust get blown everywhere. You may wonder how hay fever occurs: your body’s immune system has an extreme reaction to airborne particles that are normally harmless. Most people have been experiencing these symptoms: sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose, postnasal drip, nasal congestion, coughing, facial pain or pressure, or fatigue. Some people prefer to go to their primary physician or allergist. I much more prefer natural remedies or medicine to the over the counter medicine like Clariton. You can try natural remedies if you like. Make sure you get the right medicine! Do you have allergies? If so, what are you allergic to? Does anyone in your family have allergies?

Harsh's Post

Toyota's Big Problem

By: Harsh 

    Toyota is second in the U.S. in automobile sales, behind General Motors. But recently, Toyota's cars are having many accidents. When Toyota was notified, it blamed the accelerator, or the gas pedal because it sticks, which may cause the car to speed up unexpectedly. In January, the car company announced that it was stopping the sale of eight models of cars. It as also recollected cars that already had been sold. That news influenced more than 5.3 million cars in the United Stated, Europe and China. “Toyota has always prided it self on building high-quality, durable cars that customers can depend on,” said Jim Lentz, the head of Toyota in the U.S., “and I know we’ve let you down.” Do you think that Toyota has made a mistake that will affect their business? Explain.

Joshua's Post

Sunken Section of South Korea Naval Vessel Found

     By: Joshua

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/03/205_63162.html

     You probably haven't heard of the South Korea Vessel, but it is actually related to US and South Korea. It happened when the vessel exploded into two parts and sunk to the seabed of the sea border of North Korea. All 46 crew members may be alive, but trapped in air pockets of the vessels. Military divers are searching for survivors. They did not find anybody, but the vessel's stern. The stern holds the sleeping compartment which is thought to be the most likely place the survivors could be. Now it is a race about time before the air pockets would soon run out of air. Scientist say that the crew members are not likely to be alive. If you were part of the search team for US and Korea, what would you do to help search for the survivors? Do you think they should give up the search?

Danhee's Post

  California's New Laws About Smoking

By: Danhee

            I'm pretty sure everyone at least saw one person smoke in parks and the beach right? Well, well, well now California is the only state to ban smoking from parks and beaches. I think California made the right choice because if California did not make that decision, then the country will be polluting more of the world. Now since a little bit of the pollution is gone, it will be less polluted and even maybe the other states will make the same decisions of the smoking ban. California may even change the world to "Smoking Free Of Parks and Beaches!" And if it actually does happen, California will make a big part of it. California is actually making the air better for everyone though. You see, children go to parks often and usually see people smoking. The air will be horrible for the child and it won't be very good to the smoker either. The smoker can even get lung cancer if he/she smokes too often. Now since the new law gave the smokers a chance to not smoke as much as before. I am actually very glad that we now have this new law because now California has a good environment in parks and beaches. Do you like what California has decided? Why or why not?

Project Cornerstone Feedback

Expect Respect

http://www.saferstart.com/images/children-holding-hands-sm.jpg

As you all know, we have been enjoying our Project Cornerstone activities since the beginning of the school year. We would like to have your opinion about the books we have been reading and how it has affected your experience at school, your friendships, and outlook towards life. Have you learned anything? Do you think this type of information is helpful for students? We would like everyone to respond to this blog and share a few thoughts. Don't forget to be specific. Your comments will help Portal enhance this program for future penguins!

Rohan's Post

My 2nd trip to Hollywood 

By: Rohan

      In Thanksgiving break, we decided to go to Hollywood again. This time, we decided to go to Universal Studious. We first went to the House of Horrors. The only parts that were really scary were when a monster jumps out of nowhere and startles you. They show you all the scenes from all the horror movies.
      Next, we went to Shrek 4d. It's a pretty funny show, though I liked Lord Farcua's Torture chamber best. The magic mirror said pretty weird stuff like “If your glasses are too big for you, please change the size of   your head!” and “Please don’t wear your glasses yet, unless you like bumping into other people!” etc.
      After that, we went to Terminator 2-3d. It was my favorite part of Universal Studios.  In parts of it, the real actors perform part of it, though most happens on screen. In another part of it, they actually drive into the screen! The screen actually opens for them, and they drive inside on a motorbike. The fact I liked was that we could see real live actors in person.
      After that, we went to my second-favorite show-WATERWORLD!! (Applause, please!). It consists of 100% real live actors from other movies.
      Okay, the rides are more interesting, I guess. Let’s start with the Revenge of the Mummy ride. It contains moving forward and backwards, sudden jolts left to right, half-loops, and pitch-black darkness. It is the fastest roller-coaster I have ever been to in my life (Yes, I have been to Topgun and The Demon in Great America.).
      On to the Simpsons Ride, which was AWSOME!!!!!(Yes, I put this many exclamation marks for a reason). I can’t exactly describe it, though it was just simulation. Till, it was just AWSOME!!!! What is the best vacation you ever went to?

Jasmine's Post

Budget Cuts

By: Jasmine

 

      We hear about budget cuts almost everyday. You may think they are not as important or serious as everyone says they are, but these cuts will impact many areas in schools. Kindergarten classes will be expanded to 30 students per class, many teachers and other staff will get laid off, and many schools will simply be shutting down. You may think that this will not affect you directly, but it will. Budget Cuts will affect everyone, from staff to students. I don't think any of it makes any sense. Why would you take away money from education? Children are the future of this country, as they will grow up and lead this nation. Do you want a to  have a group of uneducated people leading our nation? Do you think it is right to take money away from education? Where do you think money should be taken out of instead? Please explain.

Ria's Post

Earthquake in Chile

By: Ria

         There was a huge earthquake in Chile with a magnitude of 8.8. It was even worse than Haiti, Haiti's was 7.0 and that was even huge. More than 700 people died and 1,500 were injured. The earthquake took place on February 27, 2010 at 3:34 a.m. The aftershocks have been much more powerful than what Haiti faced. Many buildings and homes have been destroyed, two-million lost their houses. People are in Chile looking for survivors and helping the people out there. Chile is a long, thin country on the west coast of South America. The earthquake generated a tsunami which traveled through the pacific ocean. A tsunami is a very large sea wave which is usually caused by a sea quake.This caused a tsunami warning for Hawaii and Alaska. Do you think another earthquake will take place and will it have a bigger magnitude than the last one? Why?

Katherine's Post

Winter Olympic Athletes

By: Katherine

    As you all know, the Winter Olympics is taking place right now, at Vancouver, Canada. Many exciting events are occurring, along with famous athletes and exciting fans screaming in the balcony. So far, the United States is taking the lead with the most medals! Some famous athletes that are helping Team USA earn medals are Shaun White, Rachel Flatt, Lindsey Vonn, and Apolo Ohno. Even though Yu-Na Kim is part of Korea's team, I am still rooting for her. She is the Olympic athlete that I would like to meet to the most, along with Sasha Cohen and Rachel Flatt. Yuna Kim's figure skating is very graceful and astonishes me with triple jumps and all the other hard moves. Figure skating is my favorite Olympic sport to watch, so I admire many athletes that figure skate.
    What Olympic athlete do you want to meet and why? What is your favorite sport to watch?

Jeffrey's Post

Winter Olympics 

By: Jeffrey

Have you watched your favorite winter sport? I have. The winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canada this year. It started on February 12th and will end on February 28th. The winter Olympics is held every four years. My favorite winter sport is either skiing or snowboarding. There are four types of skiing; Alpine skiing, Cross country skiing, Freestyle skiing, and ski jumping. My favorite Olympian is Shaun White. Shaun White has won seven gold medals in total. I like the sport skiing and snowboarding because I like the feel of the wind in my face and rushing down a mountain the other reason is that it takes a long time to master and is hard to control the skis or board.

Have you been watching the winter Olympics? What is your favorite winter sport and winter Olympian?