In math class, over the past few months, we have been tracking the progress of three stocks of our choice.  We were given 10,000 metaphorical dollars to spend on our stocks.  During the few months we were doing this project, we checked the stocks we invested in weekly, and recorded how much money we mad or lost.  The following is my thinking on why I chose the stocks I did, what I would change in retrospect, and my advice that I would give about investing in stocks based on my experience.

The three stocks that I invested in for math class were Verizon, Unilever, and A123.  I chose Verizon to invest in because it is one of the leading phone and internet service providers in the country.  I also knew that Verizon would soon be a provider for service for the I-phone.  The reason I chose Unilever to invest in was that Unilever makes many products in many different areas including food, home care, personal care, nutrition, health, hygiene, and beauty.  I thought this would make Unilever a successful stock because it has many areas that it sells in, and all of them are part of everyday life.  The last stock I invested in was A123.  I invested in A123 because it makes electric batteries for automobiles.  I think electric automobiles are becoming very important and are becoming a big part of the automobile industry.  After making my stock investments, then I had to wait to see how it would turn out!

            After seeing how my stocks did over the time I was investing in them, there are some things I would do again, and some things I would change.  I would have invested in Verizon knowing the results because I made almost $4 per share.  I also would have invested in Unilever knowing the results because I made almost $3 per share.  I would not, however, invest in A123 for a short term investment again.  A123 went down over $2 per share.  I think that in the long term A123 will do well, but during these past few months it did not.  Even though two out of three of my stocks went up in price per share, overall I lost $1427.87.

            If you were to be buying a stock, I have a few pieces of advice based on my experience.  It would be a good idea to invest in Verizon for a short term investment like mine, if the company was about to make a big marketing deal like adding the I-phone to its inventory.  However Verizon is already a well established company, so I don’t think it is likely that it would make any dramatic climbs in the stock market, so Verizon would not be a good long term investment.  Unilever is a company that I would not invest in again based on how it did over the few months that I was investing in it.  Even though I made money from the original price per share, Unilever was up and down a lot during those few months and I just happened to be selling it on the upswing.  I think that it would be a good idea to invest in A123 for a long term investment.  Over the next many years, I think A123 will do very well considering the business it is in, and the way the car business is moving right now.  A123, however, is not a short term investment that I would recommend using, as it is not an established company yet, so it would not make a large climb in price per share in a short period of time.  Those are my recommendations based on my experiences, and I hope they can be a help to you!

            This project has taught me a lot about how the stock market works, and how to be a part of the stock market.  It also has showed me how investing in the stock market is a gamble and you never know how things will turn out.  I have enjoyed learning about the stock market a lot, and participating in it in a fun and informative way.

In science class we have designed a flag for Antarctica's because Antarctica does not have a flag.  On my flag, I did a drawing of the continent in the middle, with penguins surrounding it.  Penguins are one of the few animals that live in Antarctica, so I think that they are a nice symbol for the continent.  My writing was in blue because Antarctica is very cold and I think of blue as a cold color.  I left the outline of Antarctica white because most of Antarctica is covered in snow and ice.

Dear Jamie,

My love for you is indescribable, its bigger than a red giant.  I'm ready to explode!  Although my love for you is infinite like the universe, I feel like I'm an AU away from.  You are impossible for me to get!  You shine like the sun on Mercury.  You are so hot, you're 800 degrees!  If I was the eye, you would be my capillaries that give me oxygen, as without you I couldn't live.  I love you all of the 238,000 miles to the moon, and all the way back!

Love,

NHJA

Recently in Art Class we had the assignment to "hide ourselves" in the art room.  What we did was we took a picture of any spot in the Art Room where we wanted to hide.  Then we took a picture of ourselves in a certain pose that we wanted.  The last step was to edit the two pictures together so that it would appear as if we were actually in that spot in the Art room.

As the chair climbs the steep snowy slope below me and approaches the unloading station, the squeak of the old, worn down chairlift gradually gets louder. When I reach the top, I push off very quickly and duck from the chair that whips around behind me. I've been hit by it before, and it does not feel good! The view at the top is nearly 360 degrees of beautiful Maine mountains that surround me. The small portion of the view that is block by densely snow covered pine trees, is right where I'm heading. I take my skis off, then walk up the steep slope. Every step I almost fall over because of my clumsiness in ski boots. At the top of the small hill, I enter the densely wooded forest that drops down thousands of feet to a lonesome valley. But the view in front of me is the reason I came here. Nearby the land is filled with rolling hills and mountains covered in pine trees, but the most incredible part is in the distance. The eyecatching snow capped mountains of the Presidential Range are truly breathtaking. The presence of them makes me feel small and unpowerful. Then my dreamlike stat ends as a friend launches a snowball right in face!

Living in space is a big adjustment from living on Earth, from zero gravity to the way astronauts take showers. The area where the astronauts live is very small, with 3-7 people in every mission, so it’s crammed in their! In the living quarters there's no gravity, so the astronauts just float around carelessly. When they come back to Earth it takes a while to get used to because they do not have to use their muscles in space. As you can imagine, astronauts need a break at times, so even though they work hard they get the weekends off of work too! While in space astronauts have a big agenda of work. They do things like perform science experiments, release and take back satellites, and help assemble the space station. Astronauts also work on making medicines for humans, as some of the medicines we use were made in space! Before the International Space Station existed people could only stay in space for a few weeks, as the space shuttle cannot stay in space for longer than that. The astronauts work very hard in space, but also they must sleep! Astronauts can sleep in any direction because there is no up or down, but they must be tied in while they are sleeping so that they don't bump into something. One thing remains the same in space, people get hungry! Astronauts eat three meals a day, just like on Earth. Some foods are eaten normally, while other foods you have to add water. An oven is provided in space, but there is no refrigerator so food must be prepared properly. Food in space comes in packages just like Earth, and the packages help to keep it from floating away. Food amounts needed in space are similar to Earth; a small woman 1,900 calories a day, and a large man about 3,200 calories per day. Clothing that the astronauts will wear in space is chosen months in advance. In the space station clothing is worn for about 10 days before it is changed, or 3 days of exercise. In the space shuttle, clothes are changed daily. Outside of the space shuttle or rocket, astronauts wear space suits. The clothes that are worn in space get burnt when the rocket reenters the atmosphere. Taking care of your personal hygiene in space is very different than on Earth. Showering is done by using rinse less shampoo. The astronauts are allowed to bring their own products that they prefer to use, like toothpaste, shaving cream etc. When astronauts need to go to the bathroom they must be tied to the toilet, which has a vacuum to suck in the waste. Even though astronauts in space, they still get time to relax and do what they want too. The astronauts in space get weekends off just like on Earth. They can look out the window at Earth below, play games, watch movies, or talk to their families on Earth. In addition time is scheduled for astronauts to exercise in space too! Living in space would definitely take a while to get used to, but everything is planned out to astronauts get what they need!

Recently we had the Moon rocks in our classroom.

Hibernation:

My house is my shield

It protects me from outside world danger

Like my cave that I spend my endless hibernation in

My winter sleep lasts much longer than a bear's does

I am always awake, just not fully there

I am detached from other people

Always in my house, shielded from the war zone beyond me

Spring:

As I slowly start waking up from my sleep

I become less distant

I put my shield down

I've slept through the war

The flowers are blooming

Spring has finally come. . .

            I started my long journey through the rock cycle as magma deep below the Earth’s surface.  Down there I was surrounded by rock, and because that rock was so dense, I decided to leave.  When I left, I started to cool down.  When this happened, I started to form crystals.  That caused me to turn into an Intrusive Igneous Rock. 

The main types of Intrusive Igneous Rocks are Granite, Gabbro, and Diorite.  The reason they called me intrusive is because I was taking over the space that some of the older rocks had been occupying.  Meanwhile part of me shot up to the Earth’s surface in a volcano.  When I reached the surface, I started to cool and crystallize.  As I cooled, I hardened, and turned into Extrusive Igneous Rock.  Some types of Extrusive Igneous Rocks are Basalt, Rhyolite, and Andesite.  Igneous Rocks are called that because they come from hot magma, and Igneous means fire or heat.

            When I was up on the surface being an Igneous Rock some of the elements were pretty harsh.  After fighting the conditions for a very long time, they eventually took over and started transporting me.  When they were done moving me around, I made myself comfortable and settled in.  This part of me turned into Clastic Sedimentary Rock.  This means that I was broken down by weathering, into pebbles, sand, or clay.  Types of Clastic Sedimentary Rocks include Conglomerate, Breccia, Sandstone, and Shale.  The other part of me turned into Nonclastic Sedimentary Rock.  That part of me had been formed by chemical reactions that usually happen in the ocean.  Gypsum and Limestone are two different types of Nonclastic Sedimentary Rock.  When Sedimentary Rocks are in water, the sediments build up into different layers.  Sedimentary Rocks are the only types of rocks that turn into fossils, which are key for scientists to study so they can learn about thing in the Earth’s past.

            When I was done compacting into a Sedimentary Rock, I began to slip back into the Earth.  The amazing pressure of this provided me with death defying pain.  As the metamorphism occurred, I started to change shape.  My shape changed because at times there was more pressure in one area than in another.  As this happened I turned into Foliated Metamorphic Rock.  Some different types of Foliated Metamorphic Rock are Slate, Phyllite, Schist, and Gneiss.  Another part of me was being compressed in an area near where igneous intrusions occur.  That part of me was under much less pressure.   Also the pressure was not in just some places, it was even throughout my body.  During this step some of the minerals in my body recrystallized and became larger.  This crammed together the atoms inside me, and caused me to become denser.  This part of me was Nonfoliated Metamorphic Rock.  Some major types of this are Quartzite, and Marble.  After that I either got uplifted towards the Earth’s surface, or started to melt and turn into magma once again.

            During the different stages I was in, many other things could have happened.  In the magma stage, I could have uplifted towards the Earth’s surface.  When I was an Igneous Rock I could have gone through metamorphism.  This would have caused me to become Metamorphic Rock.  When I was a Sedimentary Rock, I could have been uplifted and gone through the steps to return to being one again.

            The rock cycle can take thousands to millions of years just to go through just one stage.  Rocks are always being formed, worn out, or changing.  They appear almost everywhere on Earth, from mountain tops, to the deepest trenches in the ocean floor!     

The seasons occur because Earth is on about a 23.5 degree tilt. When the Northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, and the sun is directly above the tropic of capricorn it is the winter solstice (winter). When the Northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, and the sun is directly above the tropic of cancer it is the summer solstice (summer). During the winter the days are shorter than the night, and during the summer the days are longer than the nights. When the sun is directly above the equator after the winter in the Northern hemisphere, it is the vernal equinox (spring). This means that the night and day are the same length. When the sun is directly above the equator after the summer in the Northern hemisphere, it is the autumnal equinox. Which means the day is again the same length as the night. When one season happens in one hemisphere, the opposite is happening in the other (e.x. Northern hemisphere-summer, Southern hemisphere-winter).

Science: For a science project, I made a poster on the Impala, an African animal. On this poster I included a labeled drawing of its physical features. Also I included a map of Africa, and the areas it lives in, shaded in. I included a food web with labeled drawings of what it eats, and what eats it. Lastly I also included its common name and its complete Scientific Classification. On the back of the poster I had a paragraph on the meaning of its Scientific name, what its status is, and how it lead to this status, and a third paragraph on its interaction with its environment. I also included 10 glossary words from my three paragraphs and a proper work cited.

Social Studies: In Social Studies class we got assigned a country in Africa. My country is Algeria. Then we researched our country so that we could make a map of the country, draw a flag of the country, find the exchange rate between the United States and our country, and make a brochure about our country that includes a separate column for each of the five themes of geography except Location/Region on the same column (Place, Location, Region, Movement, HEI). Also we are working on a journal entry as if we are travelling in the country. We will be researching at least 1 other country of our choice, and doing the same work as we did for our assigned country.

Language Arts: In Language Arts class we have been learning about folktales, from Africa. We have learned about famous characters from different countries, and about some traditions people have, to participate while listening to stories. Another thing we have learned is about how different folktales are classified. Then we took this information and used them to write our own folktales. We are currently in the process of editing our folktales, so we can add them to our portfolio.

Math: In math class we are working on the expense part of our "trip" we are taking in Social Studies class. We are keeping track of all of our daily expenses (hotel, food, daytime activities, and transportation) and deducting them from our total of $10,000 we were given to spend. We are writing our own checks, and keeping track of our money in a ledger. This helps prepare us for a real life experience.

Technology Education: In our Technology class we are making African instruments called an M'bira. They are about half a foot long, and 4" wide. They are a wood instrument that is hollow with a circular hole on the top of it, and have small medal panels attached to a piece of wood about an inch of the surface of the instrument. When you strum the medal it makes a musical sound. Another name for this instrument is a "Thumb Piano."

Art: In Art class we are making clay whistles. Before we sculpted the whistles, we made African patterns that we will be painting onto the whistles. The whistles are hollow so they make an owl-like sound when you blow on them. Music: In Music class we have been learning about music from all around the world and our latest area of the world we have been learning about is in Western Africa. We have learned facts about the type of music they listen to, and listened to some of the music from there. We have also learned about and been allowed to play traditional music from Western Africa, the majority of the instruments being types of drums.