The Jungle Book

The 12th book that I have read is The Jungle Book, written by Indian-born Englishman Rudyard Kipling. It has 5 parts, 3 of them can be one story, while the other two can be separate stories. The overall book has the usual rating: 5/5!

Here is the summary of the story:

Parts 1, 2, and 3
It starts when Mother and Father Wolf finds a man-cub in the bushes. Shere Khan, the menacing tiger, argues about the ownership of the man-cub with the wolves. However, the wolves claim ownership of the man-cub, which they named Mowgli the Frog. At the meeting at Council Rock, Shere Khan once again argues about who should own Mowgli. Akela, the leader of the wolves, asked which two non-parent members would speak for the cub. Baloo, the brown bear, and Bagheera, the Black Panther, had spoken for Mowgli. Shere Khan was dismayed that Mowgli was not handed over to him.

After 10 or 11 years, Mowgli had learned the Law of the Jungle, as well as how to hunt. Baloo and Bagheera both taught him how to do these things. Later, however, he is kidnapped by the Monkey People. Baloo and Bagheera called Kaa, the Rock Snake to help them rescue Mowgli. Chil the Kite helped spread the word in an effort to get more creatures helping in the rescue. Mowgli was later saved by the three, but later, the pack had cast him out. He was forced into the human world and after a while, gets punished for interrupting a story. The punishment, however, was herding the cattle. Mowgli heard that Shere Khan was coming back to kill him. Along with Akela and another wolf, Rama, they plotted a plan to trick Shere Khan. He was later killed and his skin was placed on top of Council Rock for all time.

Part 4
This part is about a mongoose that saved a human family from snakes--three times! Named Rikki-tikki-tavi, the mongoose was adopted by a family. Darzee, the Tailorbird, said that Nag, a snake, ate one of their babies. The mongoose fought Nag and won, saving the family for the first time because another snake had attacked the son. Nag and his wife had plotted to attack the family once more. But once again, the mongoose attacked Nag, saving the family for the second time. When Nag’s wife, Nagaina, was preparing to attack the family, the mongoose attacked the snake, saving the family for the third time. Before that, Darzee had distracted Nagaina while the mongoose crushed Nagaina’s eggs. The mongoose has been feared by snakes ever since.

Part 5
Kala Nag, “black snake”, was a large elephant that had served in the Indian government for about 50 years. He is nearly 70 now, and memories of past events filled his mind. Whenever the elephants ran wild, the men had called on him to tame them. A young boy named Little Toomai had been punished for trying to be an elephant hunter. But one night Kala Nag took Little Toomai into the jungle. Little Toomai got to see something that the other elephant catchers couldn’t see: the dancing of the elephants. At the time, the term “when the elephants dance” meant never but his experience proved it otherwise. However, because of this, Little Toomai is widely known around the community and is a great help in the elephant-catching business.

-End of Summary-

Alice in Wonderland

The 11th book that I have read is Alice in Wonderland by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll), which, despite its title, is suitable for both genders. Like all the other books I have read, the story is filled with adventure. 5/5!

Here is the summary of the story.

A young girl named Alice finds that a white rabbit is rushing to some kind of event. She follows him down the rabbit hole and finds that she is too small to enter a door she wanted to enter. She finds a key for that door and finds a drink that would shrink her. She realizes that she left the key on the table and eats a cake that makes her nine feet tall! She soon sees after a few moments that she is now in a forest and keeps on changing sizes throughout the story. She also finds out that everyone in the forest is insane. After a tea party with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, she enters the small door from earlier into a garden. The Queen of that land offers Alice to play croquet, with flamingos as mallets, hedgehogs as balls, and two playing cards with heads, arms, and legs as the arches. She executes many players to settle the arguments. Afterward, they are in a trial where the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the tarts (obviously from the nursery rhyme). Alice soon snaps out of her daydream.

-End of Summary-

Side note: the “1 in 45 chance” from the previous entry/review involves a mathematical concept called factorials.

Here’s how it’s done:

___n!___
(n-r)!r!
With 10 as n (number of items), and 2 as r (books I didn’t like), this is the new structure:
___10!___
(10-2)!2!
We can simplify further:
___10!___
8!2!
Solving for the factorials by canceling out the factorials, we get:
___90___
2
90/2=45. It is a 1 in 45 chance.

Because I have read 11 books, the chance becomes less likely (1 in 55).

If this is too confusing, ask me to explain it further. J

Cola Cans of Coland

Disaster struck when the Cola Cans of Coland took over Fridgeville, a booming megalopolis with many areas such as Door City, Chillville, and Sauce Town.

It all started 2 or 3 miles away at a grocery store when a pack of 36 soda cans manufactured in a place called Coland were bought from the huge colony dubbed “Grocermania.” They were then transported by automobile to an apartment complex in which Fridgeville was located. Next, they were carried up the stairs to a second-floor apartment. That’s when the bad news started.

Later that day, the soda cans started raiding Fridgeville with no mercy. They would be hiding in any spot you’d imagine: the door, the freezer, the compartment, and the shelves.

Because the residents weren’t warned that an army would be intruding their rightful land, they started suffering against these “aliens.” Death threats, invasion of private property, and even massacres such as the Sauce Massacre of October 2007 all put them into either poverty or prison.

There were many famous events that happened during this quarter-year era. The first was the Milk Rebellion.
_______________________________________________________
FRIDGEVILLE GAZETTE…….…..October 23, 2007.…..…....MILK REBELLION
Two gallon jugs of milk were unhappy about these red and black cans spying on private conversations that they actually fought against the main cluster of CC soldiers with the assistance of clubs/gangs such as the Three-Cheese Club, the Marinara Mafia and the Lone Wines. They were literally crushed and the milk jugs were escorted out of the area.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next event was the hunt for C.O. Lacan, one of the best agents of the CC force.
_______________________________________________________
FRIDGEVILLE GAZETTE….October 24, 2007.….THE HUNT FOR C.O. LACAN
Over 1,000 police forces including the Food Bureau of Investigation, the Cooked and Uncooked Criminal Correction Force and the Donut Detective Agency participated in the hunt. They searched everywhere for the agent but found no trace of Lacan because other agents smuggled the insurgent out of the megalopolis only to be crushed by the two milk jugs from the previous Milk Rebellion as a form of revenge. In other words, the search failed but succeeded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A third event led to the tragic massacre of many sauces fighting for justice.
________________________________________________________________
FRIDGEVILLE GAZETTE……….October 26, 2007.……….SAUCE MASSACRE
Many sauces including ranch dressing, marinara sauce, B-B-Q sauce, and ketchup all participated in the violent event. There were 29 laid to rest and 47 injured on the sauces compared to 3 deceased and 8 injured on the CC’s. Kit Chup, a survivor of the fight and an expert at aiming for the Allies, said, “It was a hardship for both sides. There was not only a lack of supplies but a lack of hope.”

Club Penguin

There is only one website that requires a user name and password that I was satisfied with—Club Penguin.

Club Penguin is a free website where you can travel around places, play mini-games, and communicate with other penguins. There are eight major rooms plus three hidden ones. Here is a list of all the rooms in Club Penguin.

Beach
Dock
Town
Plaza
Snow Forts
Ski Village
Mountain
Ice Rink
Dojo
Mine Shaft
Iceberg
Lighthouse
Beacon
Coffee Shop
Book Room
Nightclub
Dance Lounge
Gift Shop
Pet Shop
Pizza Parlor
HQ
Mine
Cave
Boiler Room
Ski Lodge
Sport Shop
Lodge Attic
Ski Hill

You also get to buy pets, but they’re not like the ones in the real world. The pets are called puffles, which are almost round-shaped, and come in six different colors. Each type of puffle has its own personality, but they will run away if they are not properly treated.

The mini-games are really fun. You get coins playing every game except hockey. 

The games where you earn the most coins are Ice Fishing and Jet Pack Adventure. Other games you can play are Sled Racing, Bean Counters, Puffle Round-up, Ballistic Biscuit, Mancala, Find Four, Astro-Barrier, Thin Ice, and Cart Surfer.

You can also read newspapers, become a tour guide (if your penguin is 45 days old), or become a secret agent (if your penguin is 30 days old). You get to buy items, but most of those items are for members only. To become a member, you have to pay $72 a year. But if you want more info, go to http://www.clubpenguin.com/ and click Help.

There are changes to the website everywhere, so stay tuned for updates about new features. 

EDIT: The April Fools Day party is over, and the previous three pins are:

Cardboard Box (Dock)
Pot of Gold (Lodge Attic)
Shrimp (Dance Lounge)

The Easter egg hunt takes place April 5-8. Get a special gift if you find them all.

Quarter War

At Chormann Elementary School in Michigan, there is a contest between teachers and staff members called the Quarter War. The amount of money raised goes to a charity. Students put quarters in the respective milk jugs of the staff members. You can put a quarter in any milk jug that you want. The person/people with the most quarters agrees to do a wacky thing. Here are some examples:

two teachers are going to do a re-enactment of a sumo wrestling match
a teacher’s class will get to cover her with ice cream
the principal will eat a live grasshopper
the janitor will eat a dog biscuit
four different teachers will dress up like the Village People and sing the song YMCA The person with the most quarters as of Feb. 13, 2007 is the school principal. The jugs are at the lunchroom from 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM EST.


It will continue until late March, so stay tuned for updates to see who won.

UPDATE: The four male teachers that were going to sing and dance to the YMCA won, with the male teacher dressed in a tutu and the cricket-eating principal tied for second place.

Class Report

Good morning.

My name is Kenji and I am going to tell you about the Periodic Table of Elements. You may not know it, but there are elements all around us.

The first two, hydrogen and helium, are used in the process called nuclear fusion (from the Sun section of the Solar System unit). Some basics of hydrogen is that it is a colorless gas, and history would tell us that the hydrogen-filled German Hindenburg blimp exploded over Lakehurst, New Jersey, in May 6th, 1937.

Basic facts about helium is that it is also a colorless gas. Helium is also the result of nuclear fusion. The gas also makes your voice sound high-pitched and squeaky. The next element is lithium, which is commonly used in batteries. Beryllium, boron, and carbon are the next three elements in the Periodic Table. Carbon’s atoms are the most common in chemical compounds (which are element atoms fused together).

The seventh, nitrogen, is the most abundant (which means the most common) element in our solar system. The next, oxygen, is the air that we need for life on Earth.

Fluorine is the substance that is made into fluoride, which is contained in toothpaste. Neon, the tenth, is used in lights all over big cities, as well as businesses and restaurants.

Sodium is found in salt, and is also a substance in toothpaste. Magnesium is used in many forms, such as foil, ribbon, and rod. Aluminum is used in kitchen foil and for industrial purposes. Silicon is found in the sun and the stars. Phosphorus is found in many different colors, such as white, yellow, red, black, and purple. Sulfur is a yellowish color, and is sometimes broken down into smaller pieces.

Chlorine is what is added to swimming pools to keep it clean. Argon is a gas similar to neon. Bananas are rich in potassium, the 19th element. Calcium is found in milk, cheese, and other dairy foods. It also helps to strengthen teeth and bones.

We don’t know much about the next 16 elements, but we know that iron and copper, the 26th and 29th elements, are mined in Michigan’s one and only Upper Peninsula.

We also know that arsenic, the 33rd element, is poisonous, just like thallium, the 81st element, and lead, the 82nd element.

The 38th, strontium, is a chemical used in fireworks. We don’t know much about elements 39-54, but what we do know is that technetium is a radioactive element used in the field of Medicine for ex MRI.

We also know that silver is used in jewelry, even though it isn’t true silver (because other chemicals were added to prevent the silver from turning black), and that tin is used as foil, and iodine is used in medical equipment. Elements 57-71 are lanthanides, named after the 57th element, lanthanum. Only one out of these 12 elements is radioactive (promethium, 61st element). The 74th, tungsten, is used for many things, such as wire and foil.

The 78th and 79th, platinum and gold are primarily used in jewelry. The 80th, Mercury, is used in thermometers, and in naturally occurring samples, is a liquid.

Radon, the 86th element, is used for the numerals of 1950’s clocks. Radium, the 88th, glows a red light when used in a filament, and was also used to paint the hands of some clocks and watches.

We know that elements 89-118 are radioactive and that uranium is the most commonly used in nuclear fission (when uranium atoms are split by free neutrons in a reactor to conduct energy).

Americium, the 95th element, is now used in smoke alarms. Americium and 17 other elements were man-made.

Elements 104-118 has been discovered in the last 50 years. Elements 116-118 haven’t been discovered until 2005. The formation of ununoctium is when Krypton 86 and Lead 208 molecules fuse together into a compound nucleus. Then a nitrogen atom is removed. Now we have Element 118. Here’s an equation to explain it:

Kr86 + Pb208 = Uuo293 +n1
294 = 294

There are a lot of questions about elements right now, including:

Will we discover a new element?
What will the new element look like?
Will they ever change the names of the elements? (Unununium was changed to Roentgenium recently.)
Why do scientists “make” some elements? (There are 18 man-made elements.)
If they find another natural element, will they put samples in the Elements Collection? (a sample of all 92 natural elements in glass containers)

Amazing element facts!!!
Hottest boiling point: Rhenium (5,596°C)
Coldest boiling point: Helium (-269°C)
Liquid in natural phase: Bromine, Mercury
Most common in crust: Oxygen (461,000 milligrams per kg in crust)
Least common in crust: Krypton, Xenon, Rhenium, Francium, Radium, Radon, Promethium, Polonium, Astatine, Actinium, Protactinium
(<0.001 milligrams per kg in crust)

You can find out more about each element at www.webelements.com.

Field Trip #1

On the 8^th of November 2006, it was about to be a day of adventure, excitement, fun, as well as interesting facts and feats. Only one place has it all: the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. Even the night before, I was excited about the field trip. We also had to wake up early, since the school bus that was going to take me there would leave at 8:10. During the long ride, we played games associated with cars, such as looking for yellow cars on the road. When we finally got there, we watched a film about simple machines.

Here are some examples of simple machines:

• wheel
• axle
• pulley
• lever
• wedge
• gear
• worm gear

Then my group (Kameron, Shane, Shawn, Justin, Daniel, and Khaire) made a model car made out of LEGO® bricks. We also had to sell it. Ours cost $65.00 per month. After we left, I took a picture of the Viper crew (Ethan, Curtis, Christian, and Dylan). We also visited exhibits about how much power it takes to make the lights shine on an alternator and a generator, parts of an engine, and a replica of Walter P. Chrysler’s workshop. I also found out some of the differences between a 1902 Rambler and a car built at a later date. Here are some of them:

• A retractable roof
• Windshield
• More seats
• Doors
• Steering wheel
• More storage space
• Battery-operated starter   

It was a fun field trip. I am looking forward to the next field trip.