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?