General Robert E Lee

So we missed a couple days of famous Americans so I got to read a couple different stories.  I wanted to tell you all about Robert E Lee.  Lee is was born in Virginia.  His family was a very old and famous family in Virginia.  He was even married to George Washington's one of great Granddaughters.  When he was 18 he went to West Point.

What makes him cool is that if he had been born in a different place or time, he probably would have been President. Because he was born in Virginia during the Civil War he ended up going to the Southern Army.  Lee loved being in the United States Army and was really sad when he had to leave because he wouldn't fight against people from his own state. I think that might have been a wise choice. I wouldn't want to fight against my neighbors either.

Another thing that is interesting is that his horse  "Traveler" is almost as famous as he was.  It got buried at Washington and Lee College alongside Robert E Lee.

Biology

So science for third graders doing Calvert pretty much sucks if you know anything about science.  So mom and dad got me a different curriculum for science.  I wanted to study Physics but I couldn't do multiplication good enough to do the problems in a book that had science ideas I hadn't seen yet.  My next choice was Biology.

Today in Biology we studied about what makes something alive, and the Scientific Method. I think that the section on what makes something alive sucked compared to other books I've read.  What was cool was that it listed the six elements that must be present for something to be considered alive.  Those are Hydrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Sulfur, and most important CARBON.  Here's an interesting idea though, by most definitions of what makes something alive Fire is alive.  The part on the scientific method was much better.  I thought is was cool though that it talked about what happens if you don't do the process all the way, or don't like the results you get from your experiments.  Dad said he hadn't seen a text book yet that admitted that researcher bias exists, but this one does.  It makes me wonder how often people publish the actual honest data without changing it to make it fit their hypothesis.

AHHH SPOKANE

So, I took some time off from my blog because I was reviewing for a unit test, and then we had to get ready for Thanksgiving.

I went to Spokane this Thanksgiving!  We got to stay at my friend Kim's house in downtown.  Kim is one of my three best friends from Spokane.  She's the only one that I still hang out with after the move.  So I got to go on walks around downtown Spokane with Kim every night we were there.  We went to some pretty cool places, but mostly it was fun to run around with my friend Kim. The picture at the top is of the Looff Carousel.  Kim and I got to walk around it at night.  Then, the day after Thanksgiving we go to ride it a couple times!

So I went over to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving lunch.  I got to eat my weight in biscuits and a few pieces of turkey.   So dad's biscuits are pretty good, but Grandma's are amazing.  They make dad's taste like sawdust.  So if you get the chance you have to eat as many as you can.  What was also cool was that Grandma let me watch some MacGyver.  What was also cool was Old Guy's physics toys. He has a remote controlled air plane and these rocket-launch helicopters.

Adinkra Cloth

Reading this week is a story call the "Talking Cloth".  It's a story about a girl who's aunt has collected wonderful things from her travels around the world.  The girl in the story likes to go to her aunt's house to hear the stories about the different things.  This story explains about a type of Adinkra Cloth.

Adinkra Cloth originally was only worn by Royalty and Religious leaders.  It is the richly dyed and printed cloth from the people of Ghana.  Most of the shapes are symbols with special meanings.  Also the colors were important.  White meant Joy, while Red meant Sadness.  Blue meant Love and Green meant Growth.  The shapes were put on the cloth by putting a wood cutting into ink and stamping it on the cloth.  This meant that they could say lots of things based on the color and symbols on the cloth.  I've included a picture of some of the different Adinkra Cloths.

One of my projects for reading application and art was to come up with an Adinkra Cloth of my own pattern. I'm still working on what symbols I'd have one it, but I know I would want it to be green.  I think I would change what green means though.  I want green to mean Excited!  I also have been thinking about the shapes. I think anything with a square outline should mean sneaky. Circle shapes should mean Joy or happiness.  I also think that I would want to have metal string woven or embroidered into the cloth like in some of the really expensive cloths written about in my book.

Mitosis

This week for science I'm waiting on a new book.  The one for third grade is way to easy for me.  So Dad is teaching me about different types of cell replications.  The first one we learned about is Mitosis!  In Mitosis there are a whole bunches of phases.  There's Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase, and Cyto-kinesis.  I want to tell you what happens in all the different phases.  But that would take WAY too long.  So I'm going to pick my favorite phase and tell you all about it.  If you write back and ask questions about the other phases I'll tell you what happens there too.

My favorite part of Mitosis is actually not considered part of Mitosis.  I like Cyto-kenesis the best.  I like it because after the new nuclear envelope has formed and all the chromosomes are turning back into chromotin, the cell is pulled apart into two daughter-cells, that are EXACT COPIES!  I also like this because the name makes sense after my study of Physics.  Kenesis comes from the same word we use for Kenetic Engergy.  So it makes sense because the cell is actually moving during this phase.

If I had to choose a different phase as a  favorite where something was actually happening to the DNA,  I would choose PROPHASE.  I like Prophase because the nuclear envelope actually blows up in this phase.

So Dad and I got to watch this amazing video on youtube about Mitosis.  I'm going to share it as a link and hope you all can watch it.  It's great.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGV3fv-uZYI

Veterans Day !!

                                                            HAPPY VETERANS DAY
  So today is my favorite non-religious holiday of the year.  I like it because it celebrates all that the men and women who are in the military have done to keep us safe, and give us freedom.

   I want to thank some of the veterans I know.  First I wanna thank Jeff Dobson.  Most of the time when my dad talks to his friend Jeff, he spends some time talking to me too. Jeff is in the Army and gets to do all sorts of cool stuff.  He can't tell me what he does, but he can tell me what it's like to be in Army, and use different weapons.

  Next I wanna thank my Great Grandfather.  Great Grandpa Zemke was INVITED to be part of the Army in World War II.  Thankfully for him he got to build the Al-Can Highway.  I didn't get to meet Great Grandpa, but I get to hear fun stories from Dad and my Uncles about him.  Somehow I get the idea he wasn't as excited about the invitation as the Army was.

   I saved some of my favorite Veterans for last.  Capt. Vance and his wife Meghan are both in the Army too. I want to thank them for all they do to keep our country safe, and keep us free.  I also want to thank Vance for keeping me on track while I'm at school.  I have a picture of him at my desk to remind me to get my work squared away.

   Thank you to everyone who has served in the military and has fought to keep us safe and free.

Chariots of Fire?

Today I learned about the myths of Apollo and Artemis, and why the Greeks believe they were special.  They were special because the Greeks believed that they got to drive the Sun and Moon Chariots for the god Helios.  I think this would be a very interesting job.  This was extra special because they weren't gods, but they got to do a god's job.

I think this is just another time where the Greeks got it wrong and makes it hard to believe what they say. We orbit the sun, and the moon orbits the Earth.  That's what makes them rise and set, not someone riding on a chariot.  I wish the Greeks could have had a telescope maybe we'd get better myths, or know more about space than we do now.  But this does explain why NASA used Apollo to name all their early space-craft after.  My favorite Apollo mission is Apollo 13.  Partly because it's the first I learned about (thank you OLD GUY!!!) and partly because they had to fix the machines and computers while they were in space.

Veterans Day!

My favorite non-religious Holiday is Veterans Day.  I love the fireworks from 4th of July, but I like Veterans Day better.  When I grow up I want to be in the Army like my Cousin Cpt. Vance.  Although I wanted to be a Civil Engineer.  Now I'm thinking that I might want to be a Special Forces Medic or Nurse.  So I noticed that tomorrow is the Marine Corps birthday.  I thought I might take a moment and tell everyone when the different services birthdays are.

The United States Navy's birthday is on October 13th.  They've been around since 1775.
The United States Marine Corps Birthday is on November 10th.  They've also been around since 1775
The United States Army's birthday is on June 14th.  They've also been here since 1775
The United States Air Force's Birthday is on September 18th.  They're new and have only been around since 1947.

That means that the Army has been around the longest and is the oldest.  I knew it was best for a reason.  So in closing I'll leave you with a little music. One for the Army and one for the Marines (since it's their birthday).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSsya6IgrwM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJlNw0myBG4&feature=related

Government at work part II

  So last night I went to the Central Committee Meeting of the Cowlitz County Democrats.  I found out that they are having trouble with keeping their budget strait.  Most of the talk was about the election today.  Lots of the talking about about schools and buses. They were also talking about that elected officials don't like it when people e-mail because they get TONS of e-mail.  So if you really want to talk to an elected official send a real letter to them.

    So here's something else I learned.  It was kind of boring when some of the people talked.  It seems that the more boring what they're talking about is, the longer they talk about it.  Maybe that's why nothing happens in the real Government they're all too bored to listen to each other talk.

Government at Work?

As part of studying Social Studies I'm learning how Government works. My Uncle Landis and Aunt Carrie like to go to the Cowlitz County Democrats Central Committee meetings each month.  My mom usually goes with them.  She says it's fun to see Landis and Carrie, and to see how the government works.

I'm excited, because mom says I can go to this meeting.  I can't wait to see where it is, and see how the government is set up.  I'm hoping that the talking tonight is going to be really interesting.   I think I'm going to hear about the election tomorrow.  I hope I get hear about how everything is going in the Judicial Branch in the government and maybe state congress. I'm tired of seeing and hearing about these traffic cameras.  I bet they're going to put cameras on the Nutty Narrows Bridge before too long.  I think they should work on making Longview a better and safer place for bicyclists.

Winter Snacks.

I'm going to keep writing about topics I talked about for winter for my blog post today.

   I want to talk about cookies and snacks that we have around the winter time.  There are two different types of Gingerbread.  I like gingerbread men and houses better than the actual bread type of gingerbread.  What I like most about them is that you can dip them in Egg Nogg.  I also like decorating them.

   I also like Winter because Christmas candy comes out into the stores. I like Candy Canes, but my favorite type of candy are those plastic candy canes filled with different types of candy.  The ones with Reeces-minis are my favorite.  Dad likes these things called chocolate covered cherries, which I think are disgusting.  They remind me of chocolate dipped caramels, which I love, but then you're stuck with a nasty cherry and this goo that squirts out into your mouth.

Sledding

So as part of the composition process, I'm supposed to take one of the ideas that I talked about in my last post and talk about it more.  I chose sledding.

    Sledding is an awesome activity in the Winter.  I used to have a bullet shaped sled that was yellow tie-die.  When you go sledding you climb to the top of a hill, sit on your sled and ride down.  To go faster you lean backward.  To slow down you lean forward.  Sometimes when you go to fast you fly off and crash.  It might sound scary but this is an important skill to learn.

    When we went sledding before we moved Dad thought I was too little to steer my sled by myself.  He always sat in the back of the sled to help me steer.  Now that I'm big enough to steer myself I'm sad I live in a flat valley that never gets any snow.

    I have big plans for later this winter.  I'm going to see if I can get my Mom and Dad to take me up to Old Guy's house so I can go sledding.  Maybe if she wants to come I'll take Ezri with me.  If not it'll just be me and Old Guy...maybe I'll let Dad come too.

My Favorite Season

I love the season of winter.  I love the snow because of all the things you can do in it.  You can sled, or ski/snowboard.  You can have snowball fights.  And you can even build forts.

I also really like the food from winter.  I LOVE EGG NOG!  I also love hot cocoa and Christmas Cookies too. Also there are holidays in the winter and people always make good types of meat that that I like.  My favorite is Ham...well really it's bacon, but no one seems to make bacon in large enough quantities for my liking.  So ham is wonderful and turkey is pretty great too.  It's way better than the summer meats, people always make hamburgers (which have NO HAM) and hot dogs (which I HATE) in the summer.

The last reason I like the winter is my birthday is in the winter.  This means that I get presents and I get to stay older than Hoodie!

I miss winter in Spokane.  Winter in Longview only gives you two days of snow and rain everyday.  It's so warm that you can't even have a slush-ball fight, because it melts before you can make a ball.  I'm including a picture of how winter is supposed to be, like winters back up in Spokane!

Hermes

Today I studied about Hermes.  He was the Greek God that was supposed to do everything for the Gods. Hermes had the best stuff though.  He had winged shoes and a hat with wings on it that could make him fly.  He could also change shape when he wanted to, and he had an invisibility cloak too.  Sometimes it sounds more like he's Harry Potter than a Greek God.  I wonder if J K Rowling got some of her ideas for magic and wizards from the Greek Myths.