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?