I Wonder About The Statue Of Liberty - Curiosity Topic - English

The Statue of Liberty

 For this week's topic, I want to know more about the Statue of Liberty. Like, when was it built? Why was it built? What's the meaning of it? How tall is it? Where is it located? I wanted to know a lot about, so I researched all of those questions and wrote them below.

When Was The Statue of Liberty Built?

The construction of the statue was started in September of 1875. But it officially opened on the 28 October 1886. 

Did you know over 4 million people visit the statue every year?

Why Was It Built?

In 1865, a French anti-slavery activist named Edouard de Laboylaye said that a statue representing liberty should be built. This statue would honour the United States' centennial of independence and the friendship with France.

What Is the Size of It?

The Statue of Liberty is 93 metres tall. It is located in New York, United States of America.

What is it made of?

The Statue of Liberty is made of Copper, Steel, Gold, and Wrought Iron. 

 

Hummingbirds - Curiosity Topic - English

~Hummingbird~

My new curiosity is hummingbirds. For quite a while, I've wondered about them. How can they flap their wings SO fast? What is their job? How many of them are there? I wondered about these small creatures, and I found my answers.

Basic Information

Hummingbirds are very interesting animals. They get their name from the humming sound they make when they flap their wings. It must sound like a swarm of bees. They collect their nectar by rubbing their forehead in each flower, pollinating them.

Hummingbirds' Wings

Did you know that the Giant Hummingbirds can flap their wings 10 to 15 times a second? The most recorded amount was 80 beats per second! It was an Amethyst Wood-star hummingbird. North American hummingbirds have an average of 53 beats per second in a normal flight.

They flap their wings so fast so they can fly up, down, sideways, forwards and backwards. But they don't flap their wings as fast as a bee, bees can flap their wings up to 230 beats a second!

If you see a hummingbird, their wings appear as a blur.

Hummingbird Species

Hummingbirds are only found in the Western Hemisphere. From southeastern Alaska to southern Chile, there are more than 300 species of hummingbirds. 12 of which live in North America in summer, and winter (in tropical areas).

How Long Do Hummingbirds Live For?

The life expectancy of a hummingbird is 3 - 5 years. 

Predators of the Hummingbird

Hummingbirds have a quite a few predators, all listed below:

• Sharp-shinned Hawks
• Praying Mantids
• Largemouth Bass
• Green Frogs
• Bull Frogs
• Orb-weaving Spiders

All of these predators have killed or eaten the hummingbird. That's a lot of predators to watch out for little hummingbird! 

How Fast Can Hummingbirds Fly?

Hummingbirds have been known to fly up to 79km/h while diving. For a little bird that's fast.

They can also fly BACKWARDS at 30mph! 

 

The reason hummingbirds fly all of the time is that their small little legs are so weak they prefer to fly. I would too if I could fly all of the time. Hummingbirds give of the effect they are excited all of the time. They zip around in all different directions all the time they must love smelling flowers. Lol.

I enjoyed learning about hummingbirds, THEY ARE JUST SO FLIPPING CUTE! Look at it!

Realise - My Creative Writing

My creative story I wrote below was something I'd been thinking of last night as I fell asleep. It calmed me.

She watched as the clouds drifted across the sky. She acknowledged every shape, size, curve and blemish. They slowly made their way towards the horizon, like a businessman coming home from a long day at work. She noticed a pink and yellow tint had been added to the sky's colours. She saw the tip of the sun peeking out, slowly disappearing from her view, the rays beaming ever so slightly. As the city awaited slumber, the sun fell asleep, the clouds disappeared, and the moon and stars awoke. She felt the cool breeze twirl around her body as she laid there in peace, succumbing to the night. She looked closer at all of the shining pecks scattered across the sky. She saw the moon, a slice of light in the darkness that surrounded it.

I'm Wondering About Egypt - English - Curiosity

Egypt

My new curiosity topic is Egypt. I wonder how many pyramids are in Egypt and how they were built? How many people live in Egypt? How much money do they make from tourists? I needed answers and I got them.

I found out that there about 80 pyramids known in Egypt. But, Egypt isn't the country with the most pyramids. Sudan actually has more. There are around 220 extant (surviving/still alive) pyramids in the nation of Sudan, yet a lot of people believe Egypt has more. That's because Egypt is known for their pyramids. Egypt is known for their ancient monuments such as pyramids and the Sphinx. Below is a picture of some pyramids and the Sphinx.

In 2016 the estimated population of Egypt was 95.69 million people! That's a lot of people. In 2010 the peak was estimated by the sector and 12% of Egypt's workforce was serving approximately 14.7 million visitors and an income of $12.5 billion dollars. 

Did you know that the Ancient Egyptians drank beer daily!? The wine was for the rich and the beer they drank provided the water they lost through sweat and it also provided calories. The food that they mostly ate was bread but they also loved to eat garlic, they ate green veggies, lentils, figs, dates, onions, fish, birds, eggs, cheese, butter and more. 

If you travel to Egypt you should try their food. Ful Medames (broad beans in sauce), Koshari (lentils, macaroni, rice and chickpeas), Shai (mint tea) and Baklava, Lemon and Garlic Potato Salad, Gebna Makleyah (oven-fried cheese), Bamia (sweet and sour Okra), 'Irea (cinnamon beverage), and more. They sound good.

Did you know that most ancient pyramids in Egypt were tombs built for pharaohs and their families? The afterlife was also very important to Egyptians, they believed preserving the bodies through the process called mummification would let their soul live on in the afterlife forever. 

Did you know that the bandages mummies were wrapped up in can stretch up to 1.6 kilometres!? Wow.

There are a lot more facts about Egypt and I think they're very interesting. I think you should go and research Egypt too, it was fun finding out about the history.

Image of a Dictator - Social Studies - Term 2, 2018

Dictator Characteristics (in my opinion)

• Self-absorbed
• Selfish
• Idiotic
• Crazy
• Controlling
• Mental
• Powerful
• Thoughtless
• Insane
• Foolish
• Self-centred
• Psychotic
• Delirious
• Greedy
• Disturbed
• And many more

Who Was a Dictator?

Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany's Nazi Party, was one of the most powerful dictators of the 20th century. He was in power from 1934 - 1945. He committed suicide in his underground bunker. He consumed a cyanide capsule and proceeded to shoot himself in the head. He died on the 30th April 1945. 

Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and many more were all powerful dictators and they all died of natural causes, suicide or murder. 

Health - Resilience

Resilience

What is Resilience

In Health we've been learning about Resilience. We learned about what it means in general and what it means to us. I learned that Resilience means to get back up again if you've been knocked down and not let anything get to you. Not to let a bad situation mess up your day. Resilience is important because if you don't use it you won't try your hardest, and if you don't do that you won't get anywhere in life.

A way I could use resilience in my own life is if I absolutely can not do something, say to myself I can do it and try my best. Below is a link to the video of 'Who Moved My Cheese?' It's the video we watched to learn what resilience means and how we could use it.

Who Moved My Cheese?

 Relaxing

Another thing we've been learning about is relaxation. We learned that you should take time to yourself and relax every now and then. It's important to relax because if you don't you'll be stressed and tense all of the time and that isn't very good for your health.

A way I could use it in my life is if I come home from a bad day at school and feel stressed and angry, I -personally- can sit down and relax by watching Netflix or YouTube and having a cold drink and a snack. Anger is another thing, relaxation helps you calm down, a few ways some people relax is going for a run or exercising, some people do yoga or Zumba, there are many ways for you to calm down.
 Also if you are relaxed you become more aware of your senses and are able to bounce back easier.

Below is something I wrote, we had to become more aware of our senses:

I can see all of the colours lighting up my Chromebook,
I can see everyone working away,
I can see all of the colours on the walls from all of the posters,
I can hear my teacher playing wave music in the background,
I can hear everyone murmuring about their work,
I can hear everyone tapping away at their Chromebooks,
I can feel my fingers gliding against the keys of my Chromebook,
I can feel the cold table under the palm of my hands,
I can feel the carpet scratching beneath my shoes.

Body Clues/Cues

Body clues tell a lot about one person. If you've got sweaty palms, you have butterflies in your stomach or your heart rate speeds up you, that could mean you're nervous. If you are feeling tense and built up, or if your chest feels like it's tightening, that could mean you're angry. If you're smiling and have a lot of energy, or if you're jumping around, that could mean you're happy or excited. How you feel emotionally. Body clues also tell if someone is listening or not. If the person is nodding and concentrating on you and what you are saying, they're listening. But if they are looking around the room and not paying attention to you, they probably aren't. 

Having different emotions are important otherwise you'll be the same, boring old person forever. Also, listening to people is very important. You need to listen to people and respect them if you want them to respect you.

Below are drawings of some emotions I drew.

Angry, Worried, Nervous.

Happy, Sad, Scared.

Sick, Embarrassed, Silly.

Empathy

We have also been learning about empathy. We learned about the difference between empathy and sympathy. Sympathy is when you pity someone or feel bad for them, but empathy is when you know what someone is feeling and you've been through what they have. It's important to show empathy because if you don't, people in the world feel alone and that can lead to much worse things. I've used empathy in my life before. It was when my friend had lost her dog, and I knew how she felt because one of my cats had died when I was little, and my other one ran away.

We also had to find a video on empathy and the one in the link below is the one I chose.

Link

Conflict Styles

People have different conflict styles (style meaning reducing), you can show the opposite person you care, choosing your battles meaning you can choose what arguments to join in on, communicating meaning you listen to them and they listen to you, creating consequences, so if you argue you can warn yourself not to by accepting the consequences, and respecting their opinions meaning if you two are arguing about something, accept what they said and let them finish and hopefully they'll do the same for you. Also look them in the eye and nod, showing you are listening to what they said. Talk in a confident voice and talk about fun things. Pay attention to when you aren't talking and when you are. Ask them how their day is, and what they did over the weekend. Pay attention to them and don't interrupt them. Wait until they've finished and then add in what you have to say. Speak slowly, clearly and with a calm voice. Respect their opinion even in you don't agree with it. And NEVER assume or ask questions! 

Reducing conflict is important because if you don't, everyone will be fighting all of the time and relationships will be ruined. I could use this skill in my life when myself and someone else get into a disagreement. 

We learned a lot on Resilience in Health lately, and it was fun learning all of this new information.

100 Word Challenge - Part Two

For English, we've been doing 100-word challenges. You either have to include different language features or -like we've just done- include words given to us by our teacher.

My challenge is down below, the words I included was magnetic, guilt, exclude, cute and daughter.

I used to feel like there was a magnetic pull on me. A strong force pulling at my feet, dragging me into trouble. I felt the need to exclude others to feel better about myself. I have no idea why, but I did. I felt the guilt, I did, I really did and it felt horrible but I still did it. It wasn’t cute, not at all. No one thought so. But my daughter helped me to recognize that it’s wrong. I love her for that. You should include others, and make people feel good about themselves. Because I did.

(This story is made up and in no way have I done something like that to someone)

If you have any feedback or ways I could improve my work -on other posts as well- comment your opinion below and I'll try my best to use your help.

I Wonder How The Brain Works? - English - Curiosity

I Wonder How The Brain Works?

For quite a while, I've wondered how the brain worked and whats inside. For starters, how many cells are in the brain? How many cells are used to control our bodies?

Well, the answer is 100 BILLION CELLS. There are 100 billion cells inside of an average adult brain, 100 billion freaking cells! Unbelievable. Every cell is connected by synapses, every cell can connect to tens of thousands of brain cells. To explain it a bit easier, think of yourself as a brain cell, you have a long rope connected to ten thousand other people, and then those people have a rope connected to another ten thousand people and it goes on and on until every person in the world is connected and more. Imagine that! Another word for a nerve cell is a neuron. The image below is a picture of a neuron.

Another thing I learned was that a skin cell lives for about two to three weeks, a Colon cell lives for about four days, but brain cells live for an entire lifetime. Also, if one of the cells in your brain die, they aren't replaced.

I also learned that if your heart stops, the brain survives for about six minutes after. If you go without CPR for six minutes you can't be brought back to life. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) needs to be started before the six minutes are up to bring the human back and the brain usually survives the lack of oxygen. But after the six minutes are up the brain begins to die.

Did you know that your brain has the ability to heal itself? People thought after a stroke the brain had very little ability to heal itself. But some people regain function after the stroke and survive, so the brain is definitely a fighter when it's damaged and can heal itself.

I learned a lot about the brain, and there is much much more to discover.