Social Studies Blog 3 (international news)

Wildfire in Australia!

During the weekend of February 7, in Australia a horrid wildfire took the lives of 210. This fire will continue to kill more if the nations arid, dry conditions carry on in the southeast of Australia. So, what this means is that unless Australia receives some rainfall this wildfire will continue to blaze on. In fact Stuart Ord quotes, "This is how it will be until late March-early April unless we get some rain."

Following is the damage done by the wildfire:
2,029 homes were destroyed recently
Previously this number was 1,800.
Reparing this damage would cost in US Dollars about $504 million.
1.1 million acres have been destroyed since November.

A repeat of February 7 is what Ord called a "worst case scenario." Temperatures would rise up to 115.5 degrees Fahrenheit and wind speeds would pick up to about fifty miles an hour. However the next "major challenge" was Friday which would present temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit and wind speeds of thirty-one miles per hour.

"We have to do our very best to manage both the fatigue amongst our crew but keep going hard enough so we can contain these fires and prepare for Friday," says Russel Rees the County Fire Authority.

Hopefully Australia will be ready to take on these challenges.

Link to Original Article:
Australian wildfire danger looms for months: officials.

Roller Coasters and A Website!

Recently in science class, we have been building roller coasters and setting up small business websites for these roller coasters.

Building the coasters:

During the process of building the roller coasters we discovered more about the physics of roller coasters and the necessity life skill of money management. The physics was taught by forcing us to label the highest potential and kinetic points and having to answer inquiries about the following:
-Newton's laws of motion
-friction, mass, and acceleration

Sample Website Question:

How is Newton's first law of motion used?

The cart will stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force. The cart will remain at constant velocity unless friction acts upon it.

Making websites for the small business roller coasters was a good experience. We learned how to add pages, upload pictures, and even add extras onto the website. Though there were a few problems in the process of creating the website, we had figured out how to solve it by simply switching browsers. I think that creating websites is an important skill that we should all have the opportunity to learn.

Money Management

While building roller coasters, we needed to purchase certain parts to build them with. So, we had to use none other than the fabulous currency of OMEGA MONEY. We had to learn how to earn enough and how to use it wisely so that we would have enough money to buy the parts that would make a superb roller coaster. We unfortunately did not have much money. However, with what we were given we learned how to purchase just the right amount of parts with money to spare.

Overall, the roller coasters combined several skills that all turn out to be useful. We used some creativity, common sense, money management, and learned how to make a website!

My Roller Coaster Website

Mt. Seeker 

Summer Lunch Program (Social Studies Blog 2)

(TRENTON)
More than 663,000 students receive lunches throughout the school year. A good percentage of those students cannot receive nutritious lunches during the summer, when they are away from school. Several students cannot because their families are not able to afford nutritious lunches. So, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture are offering the Summer Lunch Program. This article provides the following fact:
"In 2008, only 12 percent of the 663,000 children participating in the National School Lunch Program had access to nutritious meals in the summer."
This program began in 1976. It applies to the following people:

-those who are age eighteen or younger who have are not in the best financial situation.
-persons of age eighteen and older who have mental and physical disabilities.

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture also has The Emergency Food Assistance Program. This program distributes food to soup kitchens and food pantries.

Governor Corzine earmarked* a total of 7 million dollars in funds for feeding New Jersey's hungry.


*earmaked funds are those that are dedicated for a specific prorgram of purpose.

SOURCE: http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/news/press/2009/approved/press090130.html

SUPERBOWL XLIII

The Physics Of Football
Yesterday February 1, 2009 SUPERBOWL 43 took place. This great American past-time is full of Newton's Laws of Motion. For example throwing the ball is an example of Sir Isaac Newton's first law. This law states that an object in motion will remain at constant velocity unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This law also states that an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. When the football is thrown it eventually stops because the friction of the air stops it.The friction of the air is called resistance. When the football rests it will stay where it is. Throwing a football is also an example of Newton's second law. This law shows the relationship between force, acceleration, and mass. The amount of force the football player will put into throwing the ball will equal is mass multiplied by its acceleration. Or, the acceleration of the football is equal to its mass divided by the force. Newton's third law is demonstrated when football player's tackle. As one is running down the field the opposing team will attempt to tackle. This action of them tackling causes an opposite action of the other player falling down. Football is full of physics!

And I am very happy to say the Steelers won!

Special thanks to D.R.