HRQU -- Blogmeister

In science class we went on a field trip to UNH. We took tours of their labs and saw some very cool inventions. We had an assignment afterwards to make an animoto of the trip, and this is how it came out. This animoto was made by KJZA and I.

			*STOCK MARKET SPREADSHEET*

Company	Shares	Price	Price	Total Price	Total Price	Gains
		Week 1	Week 23	Week 1	Week 23	Losses
Hershey's	32	$47.54	$53.75	$1,521.28	$1,720.00	$198.72
Netflix	14	$168.84	$236.73	$2,363.76	$3,314.22	$950.46
Apple	11	$307.43	$332.42	$3,381.73	$3,656.62	$274.89
Panera Bread	29	$94.23	$123.42	$2,732.67	$3,579.18	$846.51
			Total	$9,999.44	$12,270.02	$2,270.58
HRQU

Stocks: Bull or Bear?

HRQU

In Math Class, we did a project where we were given a fake $10,000 to spend on shares of stocks from three or four different companies. I chose to invest in Netflix, a company in which you subscribe to have DVDs sent to your house of your choice, or you can watch them on your TV or PC.

I chose Hershey's, a chocolate company, Apple, a successful computer developing company, and Panera Bread, a chain of bakery-cafes that specialize in bread products. We kept track of the stocks' prices each week, then sold them at Week 24 to see if we made good investing choices. I made about $2,500. This project was fun and informative.

I picked the companies I did for my stock project because I had heard from a friend that they were doing well or expected them them to do well because of their new products or innovations in the near future. I chose Hershey's because they are a very popular chocolate company, and it is bought by kids as a snack and many adults for cooking, and is a very popular consumer product. This stock did well, but made the least money of my stocks. My family recently subscribed to Netflix, and it is very useful and entertaining. It is also becoming more popular as new movies are released. This stock made me the most money. Panera Bread tastes very good, and I heard from a friend that it was doing well. It was one of my medium stocks. Apple was going to release the iPad and iPhone with Verizon in the near future, and my family has some very useful Apple products. This made me some money, but it is hard to move such a big company's value. I think I made some fairly good investing choices.

I would make a few changes to my stock portfolio that would increase the amount of money I made. I would invest in a different company besides Hershey's, because it did not make me very much money. I would also keep my stocks for longer, but especially Netflix, because it is continually growing. I would also like more time to research my stocks, because I didn't know very much about the stocks' pricing history and their upcoming products, and I think that would've improved my investing choices had I known. These are things that I would make sure to do if I was to invest in stocks like this again.

As we did our stock project, I learned some things that might help someone investing in stocks for the first time. One of my pieces of advice would be to research your stocks a lot, so you know about their financial history and what they are doing in the future that could affect the stocks' prices. You should even out your shares, because if you have all of your money resting on one stock and it crashes, you will lose all of your money, but if they are even you will still have other stocks. Don't invest in all of the same type of company, invest in a variety, because if you invest in four seafood companies, and the ocean gets polluted and the market for fish crashes, you will go broke. These pieces of advice would help anyone who is investing in stocks.

Investing in stocks can be risky, but if you are careful about it and have reasons for your investing, you will earn money. Netflix ended up earning me the most money, because as more movies are released they are in higher demand, and people are quickly converting to home theater systems. Hershey's hasn't released any new products recently, so it didn't make me very much money. This stock project was educational, and I suggest that anyone simulate stock investing before doing the real thing. This project has been very educational for me and will help me if I invest in stocks in the future.

In science class, we had an assignment to make a flag for Antarctica, since it is owned by many countries and has no flag. My idea was to find out the meanings of different colors and then create a flag based on those, and using cool colors, the way many flags are just three or four colors arranged in a certain way. I chose to make a three bars, one of white, to represent snow, one of blue, to represent peace, and one of turquoise, to represent calm and tranquility. The two bars of ivory and beige in the middle of the flag together represent the unity of the countries owning Antarctica.

In science class, we made spreadsheets that represent the maximum distance possible for Antarctic animals to go underwater and their breath span.

Walking on snow is like walking on a cloud. You are bundled in layers of thick, warm clothing in an attempt to stay warm in a blank, white world. The huge snowbanks flatten when you step on them, compressing into thick icy layers. Touching the snow with your bare skin is invigoratingly cold. A burst of energy compels you to leave the snow, but it is so amazing that you can't. Picture your school, your house, your friend's houses, and any other places you visit frequently. Now imagine all of them covered in huge, white hills and dripping spears of clear glass. When you bring a dog out into the snow, they will dash around, nuzzling and jumping through the snow. That may be just a natural reaction to snow for everyone, to have fun in it. People push snow together into balls and throw it each other, laughing and smiling. You and your friends can build a fort out of snow that is cold to the touch but very fun to play in. It can also serve as good protection from snowballs. Sliding down hills covered in snow is very fun, and you leave a big track in the snow. You can take sleds, which come in many shapes and sizes but are made for sliding down snowy hills on, and descend large hills with your friends. When you fall in the snow, you laugh a lot and are completely cushioned by the fluffy cloud-like substance. Snow is a beautiful and amazing thing.

Snowstorms are exhilarating. Waking up late and discovering you don't have to go to school will make you very happy, and when you look out the window and see that there are huge flakes of white dropping from the sky and transforming your neighborhood makes you just as happy. Before a snowstorm, the air is very moist and you can feel the snow coming. Sometimes you can see the dark clouds approaching, which is very exciting. When people talk about school being canceled the next day, you begin to get excited. When there is a snow day, you have a day in the middle of the week to relax, hang out with your friends, and just have a lot of fun. Everyone gets excited on snow days, and you don't usually have to do much work. Sometimes there is a little bit of schoolwork to do, or you may have to shovel your driveway, but none of it is usually a hassle.

After a snow day, everyone is a little bit tired. Returning to school is a little bit of a hassle, but there is still a lot of snow. You can still play even after the snowstorm is over, and when you come back to your house, your yard is covered in white. You can still see the snowflakes covering the ground, and the icicles hanging off of your roof. You still need your snow clothes walking home, and the air remains very cold. A few days after a snow day, you put away your sleds and your boots and wait eagerly for the next one.

In LA and Flex class, we selected a Greek word part from nat, cogn, sign, loc, and ped. We were then to do a drawing that represented a word that had the word part within it. I was given nat, and drew the word natural.

In Art class, we took an image of ourselves in a certain pose and then photoshopped it into a picture of a certain place in the art room. This assignment was called "Hiding in the Art Room". In this picture, I am being printed out of the printer in the art room.