CSGR -- Blogmeister

These are the conclusions of our Roadkill project at school. We recorded the number of roadkill in our town from March to May and made hypotheses about a variable connected to the roadkill.

Overview of Assignment

What you were asked to do:

We were asked to write an essay explaining the differences between the culture of the Romans and the early Germans. The essay was 5 paragraphs long. The first paragraph was our introduction, the next 3 were main ideas, and the final, a closing paragraph.

Germanic and Roman Comparison 5 Paragraph Essay

    The Romans and the Germans once lived at the same time long ago, but were very different in many ways. The Germans were more people that were split up into groups called tribes, then split further into clans. They had paganistic gods of war and nature, and had very different and unorganized ways of attacking. They also did not have big cities, civilizations, and widespread laws. Their laws were for smaller groups of people. Both of them had separate ways, that were unlike the other, of living.

    When it came to battles and fighting, warriors were fighting mostly for personal honor, bravery, and status. They expected their warriors to win or die fighting. They worshipped gods of war and even thought that after they died, they would feast and fight forever. On the other hand, the Romans were fighting to expand, and or keep their land. Also, while Romans had disciplined fighting techniques, and follow strict orders, the Germans were ruthless people who attacked wildly, with no guidelines or ways to fight. They would fight in bands, small groups that fought alone and usually made surprise raids on passing enemies.

    The daily life of a Roman was very different compared to a Germans. The Romans only really had to do one job to live a good live. They could easily trade and sell their goods or services at markets for supplies like food and shelter. The Germans, though, could not. They had to grow their own food in fields, build their own thatched huts, make their own tools, etc. They were a very agricultural society. They even slept with animals on the other side of their house. This was the same with sewers and water. The Romans could get water from public fountains and had sewer pipes around the city, but the Germans had to get their own water from lakes and streams and dispose of their waste personally.

    The law of the Germans was very much less widespread. It was more of a localized thing that impacted the community, instead of Roman law, which affected everyone there all over. For example, the Germans would want to stop things called blood feuds, where a fight occurred, and then quarrels would ensue, in which the families of the original fighters seek revenge. Those were things within the community, not something that a whole city would put to a trial. Also, in Roman law, trials in court were fair, while the the Germanic ones weren’t. The size of the punishment depended on how important or wealthy you were, not the seriousness of the crime. You could have been fined a small amount for killing an older woman who could not bear a child, but a larger sum for killing a young girl. Plus, the court could not make people pay these fines, only the public opinion could.

    As you can see, the Romans and the Germans had many differences, though they lived in the same area and at the same time period. The law, the daily life, and the way they fought were all unlike the Romans way of doing so. In the end, the Germans just lived a different culture and lifestyle from the Romans.

This is my Valentine's Day card, but translated into Science! Hope you like it and happy V-day!

This is my animal poster for a recent project we did about NH animals. I got to make it about the moose. It has basic facts, diet, life cycle, habitat and more.

In Social Studies, we just finished up on our Roman Gladiator unit. For the unit, we did a project in which we wrote a journal from the veiwpoint of the Gladiator. It showed information about the Colosseum and everyday life in Rome.

Gladiator Journal Excerpt

Arcanius was given to a ludus gladatorius, or school for gladiators. Once you entered, there was no escape and the doors were locked. His owner thought that he could make some money off of his slave by entering him in the gladiatorial games. At the ludus, slaves, Roman volunteers, wealthy forced to participate, vandals, and Romans in debt would train each day to become a fit gladiator. They were fed a high energy diet of fruits and vegetables, various animals and some soups. They also would practice with wooden swords on sacks of straw because they were not trusted with weapons yet. A lanista would be their trainer and would punish them if they did not train hard enough. When Arcanius mentions volunteers, he means people who were born free, but decided to be part of the games. Mostly, these people would do it for the down payment that they got after accepting an oath. The oath would make them slaves to the owner. Wealthy Romans would only be part of the games if they were forced to by their emperor. If they were not payed for being a gladiator, their title as a gladiator would vanish after the fight. The Colosseum is the most widely know amphitheatre in all of the Roman Empire. It is a great ellipse shaped stadium of death and victory. There were 4 parts to it. The seating, the arena, the substructure, and the circulation system. When it came to seating, there was a room for 50,000 people. The seating depended on rank, gender, and even marital status. The arena was filled with sand so blood would easily soak up. It was also more of an indent in the ground so the people in the front row seats were never in danger. The substructure contained all the animals and gladiators before the battle began. When it did, a lift would winch them up to the arena to start. The circulation system was meant to organize the spectators into their respective seats by adding staircases leading up to their seats. Also, there were different entrances. The one from the north was used by the emperor and his party. The one from the south was for the consuls. The one in the west was for the performers and the one from the east, where the dead bodies exited.

When I say lazy, what do you think of? Do you think of a fat person sitting on their couch doing nothing? Try looking at it from another angle. How about someone who’s inventing something like a flying car? Or someone making a teleportation system? That’s what I think of. Have you ever heard someone say, “Things take the path of least resistance?” That means that things are lazy. They want to do the easiest thing possible. When people invented the things like the lightbulb, the wheel, or spell check, they were trying to make their lives easier, or be lazy. When you are lazy, you discover things that turn life into something better and you help make things happen. These things help improve others lives. To be lazy is to be creative, inventive, and in need of doing something in a less stressful way. Let’s say I wanted to print something out from my big desktop computer but, I had to plug it in to the printer thats in another room. I am too lazy to move the whole computer and bring it over there to plug it in, so I establish a wireless connection between it and all the computers in the house. Now I can print from anywhere and so can everybody else. See? Laziness isn’t all bad. Without it we wouldn’t have much at all. No washing machines, no cellphones, no lights. The world would be a very different place if we weren’t lazy. Your family wouldn’t own a car and you wouldn’t have a computer to send email, print out things, and calculate math problems. I want people to think about the things that are too tough for them to do, and find a better way to do it. It will help create new ideas and creations. What I’m trying to say is, that doing something the easy way can help make the world a better place. You can help, by being lazy.

This is the White Island Lighthouse that some friends and I went out to last Wednesday to see the walkway get rebuilt.

This is the helicopter that was picking up pieces of wood for the walkway of a barge and on to the island.

During our time on Star Island we saw two seals off the edge of the dock. This one particularly camera friendly.

Here's the Rye Harbor where we departed from.

When we went to Star Island, we got a side view of White so I got a second picture.

This is the part of Star where we ate our lunch at as we looked at White. We sat in front of that gazebo.

Have you ever looked your eye up close? Try it sometime. It tells you a lot.

7th grade is here! Looking forword to meeting L.A. teacher and learning about the Eye in Science. Excited! It's gonna be a great year.