April 30

Pine Wood Derby

Hello! We are going to tell you about the annual boy scout’s Pinewood Derby. The Pinewood Derby is a wooden car race. Connor and I are boy scouts and our  troop is competing in this annual competition. We had to design and build our own cars for the competition.

First, I drew a sketch of my design. I made it thin at the point and wide at the back. I thought this would make the air go over it and it would be faster. The inside of my car is hollow. Next, I took a block of soft wood and carved it into my design. After that, I stained the wood light brown. Finally, I put wheels on it. It was ready to race.

At the Derby you take you car to the track and race. The track is slopped. It’s about fifteen feet long. You put your car at the top of the track and let go. The force of gravity makes the car go down the track. If you win your race you go to the finals and if you win that you go to the San Diego tournament which is outside of Qualcomm stadium. If you win that…you ROCK. Connor went to the finals in our area and he came in eighths place.

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April 30

The Secret Within

Hi, our names are Haley and Devon. We are each going to give yo five secrets that we think are hidden in the forest. But the thing is there is only one secret hidden in the forest and we are trying to figure it out. But you never know. We might find The Secret Within.

Hi, I am Devon. The first thing I think the secret in  the forest is a secret underground tunnel going into a gold mine. The next thing is a invisible secret smurf village. It is possible right. The third thing is a secret trap that transports you to the permuted triangle. Another thing I think is a spot in the middle of the forest were the dinosaur extinction happened. The last is a secret hideout for Tasmanian devils. Okay lets hear What Haley thinks.

Hi, I’m Haley. I think there are maybe secrets like animals like the Tasmanian Devil or a special type of bird. I also think there could be an underground rail road or tunnel. I think that there might be also be dinosaur bones. Another thing I think is there might be a secret tree house. The last thing I think is there could be a secret village.

Well thanks for visiting our post.

Category: Edublogs Challenge, Student Posts | 3 Comments on The Secret Within
April 19

San Diego Museum of Art

On Thursday, April 11,  Mrs. McKelvey’s class went on a field trip to the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa park. We saw a lot of beautiful paintings and sculptures. They inspired us when we made our own art. We got to make our own “rip” art in the museum. We ripped small pieces of paper to make landscape collages.

One of the paintings was called the “Young Shepherdess.”The Young Shepherdess” was the most liked painting by the tour guide and the museum visitors. Another painting was called, “The Hands of Dr. Moore.” The “Hands of Dr. Moore” is a very disturbing picture. Our class did not like it that much.

The museum was very interesting and fun. We saw lots of different paintings, pictures, and sculptures. We hope we will get to go again.

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

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April 19

Sprouting seeds

What do seeds need to grow? Water? Soil? Light? Heat? This week we started an investigation in science that asks,  “Will seeds grow if we just give them water?”

We set up our mini-sprouters wSeeds in a small tub.ith four kinds of seeds–beans, peas, sunflowers, and corn. We soaked the seeds for a little while (maybe 5-10 minutes) and then drained them. We added a tiny amount of bleach to the water (5 mL to about one quart). The bleach will stop the seeds from getting moldy. We set them on a bookshelf. We also decided to put one in a dark cupboard but we still added water to the mini-sprouter. Will these seeds grow too?

We are now waiting and watching to see what happens. Do you think the seeds will grow?

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April 18

Our Amazing School Garden

Our school has three gardens–the Waterwise Garden, and another one next to our school library that we call “the garden”, and the Garden of Discovery or Butterfly Garden. Today I am going to tell you about a special garden called The Butterfly Garden. It is one of the places where monarchs stop in spring for a break, and lay their eggs. That is why it is called The Butterfly Garden.

Monarchs are large, beautiful colored butterfly that are easy to recognize by their orange, black, and white wings. Monarchs migrate from North, Central, and South America, Australia, and some Pacific Islands, India, and Europe,  all the way to Canada.

1111-Monarchs-10
Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Devon Christopher Adams via Compfight

The wingspan of a full-grown monarch can reach nearly five inches or 13 cm. Most are about four inches though. A Monarch’s bright colors tells predators, “Don’t eat me! I’m poisonous.”

Every fall the Monarchs leave Canada and the United States and start flying back south. They keep going until they reach their homeland. That’s more than 2,000 miiles or 3,200 km.

In the beautiful butterfly garden we have lots of Milk Weed plants, bushes with flowers, and of course monarchs and other beautiful butterflies in the spring. I hope you like our amazing, beautiful Butterfly Garden.

Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

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April 18

Some Secrets of the Secret Forest!

What are some of the secrets of the Forest? It might be a secret underground cave that is filled with gold that can make you rich! There maybe an invisible force field that leads to the smurf village. There might be a teleporter that takes you back in time. There might be a secret kingdom in the sky and the only way to get up there, is to climb to the top of the highest tree in the forest. Maybe there’s a secret underground place were the king Tasmanian Devil lives.There might be a type of portal that makes monsters come into the forest. There might be a magic tree house in a tree. Maybe there might be a huge sea monster called Big Mama. Wait, that makes no sense.  There might be a key that can teleport you to a another world. There might be an entrance to the Gods that takes you to Mount Olympus. Or maybe it’s just…a rock…a really big one.

White Water

The mysterious forest.

Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Kuyan Redman via Compfight

 

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April 16

My Family

Seoul Gyeongbok Palace

Seoul Gyeongbok Palace, Korea

Photo Credit: Bridget Coila via Compfight

My family is from Korea. My family is mom, dad, and sister.

My mom is good at cook. She is also help my homework. My mom is in Korea. She is come to San Diego in summer vacation. I glad mom is come here quickly. My mom is also like shopping. My mom is pund manager in work place.

My dad is good at English, He is help my homework always. My dad is learning English in UCSD. My mom is not here, so my dad is cooking. I like my dad’s cook. My favorite food is kimchi butter rice.(It’s kimchi and butter mix rice. It’s my dad’s recipe.)

My sister is older then me. She is my older sister. She is good at drawing. She have silver prize in picture contest. My sister is like to play with me. My sister’s favorite subject is art. My sister is in Standley Middle School. She is 14.

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April 16

South bay power plant implosion

Detonators going

By Pierce and Jackson

On February 2nd 2013,we both watched the South Bay Power Plant implosion in person.  Pierce said, “Me and my mom woke up at 5am.  We got coffee and donuts and went to see the power plant on San Diego Bay in Chula Vista blow up.  I was in my pajamas.”

The South Bay Power Plant was built in the late 1950s and first began producing energy in 1960.  The plant was blown up because it was old and they wanted to use the space for different stuff. To bring the plant down, they used 200 pounds of detonating charges to set off more than 300 pounds of dynamite.   Pierce said, “I could feel the concussion from where we watched the explosion.  The air pressed against my body, it felt like I was in a mini hurricane, pushing me around.  The explosion was loud to my ears.  It was not a pleasant feeling, but seeing it was worth it.  It was exciting.”

Check out this video SoBayImplosion (3)

Attribution: Picture and video taken by Monica and Pierce Curry.

 

 

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April 16

My Talented Wonderful Family

My family is really talented and I am going to tell you about all the members my family.

My Dad- My dad makes the best food in the world. His meatballs pasta is the best. He used to play in a band. He played the drums in hi band. He used to be in the army until I was born. He is really funny. I am so thankful that I have him as dad.

My Mom- My mom is a therapist and I am so happy because I am sensitive an she helps me also and she is very smart. She likes to take us places during the holidays like she took me to Disneyland for Easter. I am so thankful that I have her as a mom.

My sister- She is really cute. She puts non outfits that no one can pull of. She looks so cute in then though. She is the younger sister in the family.She makes me giggle when she giggles. She and me Tap Dance together and we are doing a duet.

Me- I dance a lot and I am really talented. I love my family. My friends are really nice to me. My friends love fashion inducing me even my friend at school she loves fashion. I’m in Girl Scouts. I also like to have fun with my family.

I hope you enjoyed my post! What is your family like?

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April 14

Too Many Toys

According to an article we read in Time for Kids, kids in the U.S.A. have too many toys and here is how I know.  The archaeologists of UCLA (stands for University of California, Los Angeles) found mountains of toys in most of the houses they looked at. Most of the toys are made in China.

So here are five ways to lower the amount of toys you have:

1. You can donate your toys to an orphanage.

2. Make a yard sale and sell all the toys that you never play with.

3. give some of your old toys to your cousins that are poor or give some to your friends.

4. Give them to Goodwill or Children’s Raid Hospital.

5. Give to a needy classroom. 

Do you have too many toys? What could you do with the toys you don’t play with?

 

Category: Edublogs Challenge, Student Posts | 5 Comments on Too Many Toys
April 12

Kumeyaay Indians Field Trip

Last month we learned a lot about the  Kumeyaay Indians, such as how they survived using natural resources, what they ate, what they did, what they wore, and where they lived.  We went on a field trip to the Kumeyaay Ipai Interpretative Center which is a museum. 

How did the Kumeyaays live? They survived by hunting for food and making their own tools, such as a rabbit stick, baskets, pots, bows and arrows, cloths, and toys for children.  They ate a lot of deer, nuts, seeds, and other types of animals. The Kumeyaay children liked to make their own toys and games to entertain themselves. The Kumeyaays boys ran around naked, while girls wore skirts and painted there face like parrots. They lived in giant e’waa or huts.

It was a very fun field trip and we leaned a lot. Here are some pictures from our field trip.

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

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