Owl Regurgitation

Earlier in the month of December, the entire participated in the act of taking apart an owl pellet, and seeing what bones were contained inside. This was a very interesting lab to take part in. We began by learning about owl's and their pellets, which is really regurgitation. The owl eats animals whole, the basically throws up their bones in a pellet. The pellet, covered in fur, is able to be taken apart, and you can find out which animals the owls have eaten. We had to find out what prey had fallen into the owl's grasp, and put a skeleton back together. My group, consisting of Scott and I, had found a full vole skeleton. It was very cool seeing how different animals body structure and bones looked like compared to ours. I enjoyed this lab very much, and would like to do it again.

Symbiotic Relationships Project

In science class, we produced a symbiotic relationship project. For the project we were required to find and photograph any type of symbiotic relationship, as long as it was located in South Brunswick. We were also required to write a paragraph about the relationship that explained what it was, were it was found, and why its important. This project was not a very strenuous one for the most part. The most difficult aspect was finding the symbiotic relationship. I decided to do my dog, since she has fleas, and that is a parasitic relationship. Lastly, Mrs. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is going to be creating all of the classes pictures into a book.

I-Phone $$Cha-Ching$$

We all the the I=Phone is one of the most state of the art phones on the market. Many people also use that device as their own personal entertainment system. With the countless number of Apps availible, its no suprise one man was able to capatilize on this oppritunity. Steve Demeter created the game "Trism". He came up with the software for the game and pitched it to Apple last year. Priced at $5.00 dollars a piece, Demeter has made more than $250,000 in the past two months. Demeter is very happy about his success and he remains living in the San Fransico Bay Area.

SMARTboard Pwnage

Early in October, a new piece of technology arrived in Mrs. Rousseau's classroom. It... is... a... SMARTboard! This is board is better than the average board. It connects to a computer and a projector to create the images on the board. Since it has special programming, you can touch it and it will also change on the computer! It is very fun to use in class, and it is a helpful learning tool. But if it isn't used properly, it can break and then we wont have it. So, it needs to be taken care of and used in a nice manner.

Comets Double-Header

Earlier this year, comet Tuttle passed Earth. However, this comet is different from any comet we have ever seen. This comet has two chunks instead of one, and are held together by what seems to be a very thin material. Scientists are unsure at this time how this structure was formed, but they believe it is a form of contact binary. Tuttle could have broken apart before, and somehow the pieces reconnected to each other. I think that could be highly possible due to the fact that one portion is 5.4 km, and the other is 2.4 km.

Digging For Oil

Today, in science class, we learned how oil is formed, found, and acquired. It is a very long process, and is made of of fossils and sediment at the bottom of the ocean. It is kept in a reservoir and sealed under water or the ground by a trap rock. After we learned and took notes on oil, we started an activity were we had to dig for oil. Although it costs a lot of money, we were successful 50% of the time, and our recovery rate was okay, but our reservoir wasn't that large. Overall, it was a fun learning experience.

Water Cycle Activity

Today, in science, we learned and did a fun activity about the water cycle. There are three stages in the water cycle; condensation, evaporation, and precipitation. To get a better understanding of the three stages, we put water in fake reservoirs. We first started with just clouds taking water from one reservoir and then it precipitated in another. Then after a couple minutes we added the human role in the water cycle. Some of the reservoirs went into a drought, while all of the human occupied areas, there were floods. That just goes to show that we use up more water than the Earth may be able to supply one day. If you ask me, that is a pretty scary thought. But, we don't need to look that far into the future. OVerall, I enjoyed learning about the water cycle and the activity was enjoyable, except when people were pouring water on me.

Technology Advances: Computer

Throughout the years, we have made many scientific discoveries. The one technological advance i could not live with out is the computer. I need the computer because it helps me do research faster than a book or encyclopedia. Also, talking with friends is made simple with email or IM if anyone is on vacation or not with you. Music is also accessible easily by the Internet or music providers. Its much easier than having to go get a CD from the store. Lastly, the computer can help you do homework, and let you type neater with its keyboard.

Podcasting Project

I think the podcasting project will turn out to be great. This is the first time I have ever podcasted and i also think other groups projects will be funny. Max, my partner, and I intend on making on making ours funny and at the same time teach people about Geraldine L. Richmond. Using GarageBand also should be fun because I have played around with it before and it seems like a lot of fun. Lastly, this project should make science easier and more fun to learn.

Republican Race Getting Shaking up in Michigan

John McCain sought to keep his momentum going strong. Mitt Romney looked to keep himself in the Republican race. And Mike Huckabee simply wanted to keep defying expectations. No matter the winner, the Republican presidential primary in Michigan on Tuesday promised to add another wrinkle to a nomination fight that has defied a clear favorite.