The Sound of Wonder

By

Melisa Kreismanis

The room was filled with peaceful music fluttering all around. I was playing the piano. I have an upright piano, with 88 all keys perfectly glazed on. The color of the piano is jet black. Whenever I play the piano I always wonder… basically what is the history of the piano?

Who are some of the world’s famous pianists, and are they different from me? Not only do I wonder how different the pianists are, I wonder how different the pianos are too. Who invented invented them? I craved to know answers to these questions, so I started at the beginning, with the precursor of the piano. The Psaltery is the one that started it all. This instrument is a flat hollow board with stings stretched delicately between 24 pegs. Its shaped like a rectangle with a flat hump on the side. When you pluck the instrument with a finger or operetta (a small chip), it sounds sharp and long like something scraping against metal. The Psaltery doesn’t have keys, so it’s a start but definitely not a finish.

The clavichord’s keys are nice and easy to play. When a key is pressed the clavichord sounds quiet and gentle, like water currents flowing. It’s shaped like a rectangular box with an exquisite painting on it. When a key is struck a blade called the tangent strikes a string. In the 15^th century it was the first type of keyboard instrument that people learned how to play. Clavichords were nice but didn’t sound as good as other pianos, and their sound was too soft. So they are not played any more.

It’s louder, its bigger, its better, it’s the harpsichord. One by one, two by two… all at once, each key sounds like it has its own mind. The harpsichord has two sets of keys which is kind of cool, but harder to play. The harpsichord usually sounds graceful, cheerful, faster, and happy. Each sound sounds like a tinkling in your mind. To make a sound, the strings are carelessly plucked by leather quill points. The more keys struck the louder the sound.

The less keys struck the quieter the sound. The harpsichord is wonderful, and is still played today. The quill plucking sound was limited and didn’t sound as good as pianos that had hammers. So it was a last to the quill plucking.

It’s all so DIFFERENT! I still can’t believe something so simple could go through this whole gigantic, complicated process. Like the precursors of the piano, it starts out like a little seed, and then gets better, better, better, and better until it’s a flower, or in this case a complete piano.

The precursors are definitely different than the pianos today because of the quill plucking, how they look, and other characteristics, but they are still part of the piano family. I’m so glad that someone invented better pianos that we have today. Wait, who did invent the pianos that we have today?

Cristofori took a big step with pianos. He was the man who made the first true piano, called the pianoforte. Three hundred years ago, before all of the pianos had quills, Cristofori’s had hammers, (it was called the hammer action). When pianos had quills, the sound was limited and was very quiet.

Cristofori’s piano, that had hammers, helped a lot because the sound was much richer.

Cristofori’s piano, that had hammers, helped a lot because the sound was much richer. The harder you hit a key the louder it would be and the softer you hit a key the quieter it would be. Pianos that had quills couldn’t do that.

Of course as the years go on, many people improved the hammer action. For example, Henry E. Steinway improved the hammer action in 1825. Thanks to Cristofori and other inventers, we have what we call today the piano.

The pianists must have adored Cristofori. He wasn’t the one who invented the first piano, the psaltery, but he was the one to invent the first real modern piano, the pianoforte. My piano isn’t probably much different from the pianoforte. (My piano is very old!)

Since I play the piano I just wanted to see how different other pianists are from me, for example, was piano their only passion?

His hands are trickling like raindrops on the piano keys. “Franz you are the best pianist in all of Hungaria!” exclaimed Franz List’s apprentice. “Yes my apprentice, but I‘ve been studying and playing the piano all my life. I don’t just want to play music, I want to be a composer and make music of my own.” said Franz with a big sigh. “Well you’re still young, how about you just stick to teaching new pianists to their success for a little while more. Now come, you have a concert to be going to.” So they both strolled off into the gloomy streets of Hungaria.

I never knew that piano wasn’t List’s only passion. You’d think that one of the most famous pianists would only like piano, but Franz wanted to be a composer too. I would feel the same way too.

About feelings, pianist’s lives back then must have been boring. Well, were they?

Inside Johannes Brahms he was happy, encouraging, and bright, but outside he was lonely, dark, and silent. In the cafés he played music on the piano that sounds just perfect, like one puzzle piece that makes a puzzle complete.

Johannes Brahms was one of the best pianists in the 19^th century. He was a shy and sensitive man, yet he was one of the most esteemed pianists too. Johannes had shown his true colors through his work and his emotions.

He was definitely NOT boring! Johannes Brahms had various emotions. He would be down, and happy at the same time. I don’t think that I ever felt like that.

All different kinds of forms of music changed my feelings. What are some of the forms of music that pianists played?

All silent, until one drop of music, then another then another, until it formed a masterpiece. That was another one of Frederic Chopin’s romantic pieces. Many people in Poland admired Frederic for his elegant music. He was a fantastic composer and was great with piano works. When Frederic wrote a piece of music, it was always well written, like his piece of music called the “Walzer”. Frederic was great with music and was a very romantic pianist.

Ooh romantic, now that is one form of music that I would like to hear. Although when I play piano I like to play pop music, and I bet it’s different from the pop music that they had.

It’s so interesting to see how different some of the pianists are from the pianists that we have today. Today when someone plays the piano, it’s recorded, edited, and changed so it sounds almost like a whole different song. Now once the song is recorded it usually goes on “I Tunes” and then people can download the song from their own home. Back then people just played the songs at a café or a concert, and the person just had to trust her/himself that they would do well. Also, to hear the music you had to go to a café or concert, you couldn’t just hear the music from your home. In ways it’s different, and in ways it’s the same.

or

Things have really changed over the years. They are also very interesting changes, like the pianists. They were very interesting people with their emotions, passions, and forms of music. The precursors where also interesting with so many changes it had. To the final change of the precursors was all thanks to Cristfori. He was the one who really made a change. Compared to other instruments, the piano is superior. It’s… the sound of wonder.

This guy was amazing. He had so many accomplishments that it's hard to count. But that is what I'm here to do. Are you wondering who this is? Well of course you are. He was the first African American in the Major Leagues and the first African American in the Major League Hall of Fame. Also, he had 197 steals, 137 homeruns, 734 runs batted in, and lastly he had 1518 hits. Maybe, now you can figure out who it is.

It is weird that he was not known in sports as a kid because he ended up being the superstar he was you would have thought he would have been known early on. Okay I'll tell you now this person is the great Jackie Robinson. Jackie's dad left him when he was baby so his family had to move to California to live with his uncle. Jackie wasn't known in sports as a kid until Jackie's brother Mack let him play in a baseball game with him and his friends. Jackie was in a gang of all races called the Pepper Street gang. They threw rocks at cars and houses got into fights. Basically they just got into a lot of trouble. But a priest helped Jackie out of

Jackie was the first person in UCLA history to get varsity letters in four sports. Jackie was going to school at Pasadena Junior college until his brother Frank died. Out of all his brothers he felt closest to Frank so he transferred to UCLA to be closer to Frank’s family. Jackie confused them with his moves on the basketball court leading his team in scoring. Also he amazed them with his speed and hops in track and field. He won the 1940 NCAA Men’s outdoor track and field competition in the long jump. Jumping 24 feet 10 and a half inches. But he mesmerized the defense with his moves on the football field. He was the nation’s leading rusher and punt return yards. Last he broke there eardrums with the crack of his bat in baseball at PasadenaJunior college then did terrible at UCLA. He batted 0.97 but went 4-for-4 and stole home twice in his first game. Jackie was a great player with good sportsmanship. As Jackie was in his senior year at UCLA he dropped out to help support his family and became an athletic director. After that he played for the semi pro Honolulu Bears football team. He left to go home on vacation but three days after he got home Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and he was drafted into the army.

When he was in the army he was sitting on a bus with one of his private’s wife. She was light skinned but black. The driver of the bus didn’t like it and thought the girl was white so the driver told Jackie to go to the back of the bus but he didn’t because you didn’t have to in the army. The driver pressed charges on Jackie but they were overruled and Jackie was honorably discharged from the army. After Jackie was honorably discharged from the army Jackie started wondering what he should do for a living. Then he thought I'll play baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs. He wanted to do this because he liked baseball the best out of all the sports he had played and he had been playing baseball his whole life. When he was playing for the Monarchs conditions were tough. The team had to eat and sleep on the same bus in most towns because the owners wouldn’t let blacks eat in the town’s restaurants or sleep in the town’s hotels. Then came the time when Jackie went into the major leagues. People called him every mean they could think of. The crowd threw trash at him and even put a black cat on the field. You probably know how people were superstitious about black cats so they wanted to be mean to Jackie. They made it seem that it was bad for a black person to walk by on to the field like a black cat.

Jackie admired Martin Luther King Junior who believed in nonviolence because he had such moving speeches. About how blacks were equal to whites and whites are only equal to blacks. After Jackie had finished baseball he went and started giving political speeches. Jackie would go around and protest like every body else. But he wasn’t like everybody else. Jackie didn't agree with Martin Luther King Junior because Jackie had a fiery streak. Also there was Malcolm X. Jackie admired him because he had the drive. Also Malcolm X believed in a lot of violent actions. He made the whites believed blacks were just as good. Which Jackie liked. But Jackie only believed in a small amount of violence. Jackie sometimes sided with Martin Luther King Junior and sometimes with Malcolm X. Jackie helped the rights of blacks but he didn’t he got a lot more people to join.

So now you know as much as I know. Well at least about Jackie Robinson. Even though I just taught you a lot you can never stop learning. Jackie had mentors that helped him through his life and they really helped him to be the best he could be.

I think Jackie was a great man. He had an outstanding amount of perseverance. He survived all the jeers, trash and yells. I feel Jackie has a special place in my heart because all the things he went through. It makes me realize how easy my life is compared to his life. I think Jackie was one of the greatest men I have ever learned about.

By

Henry

A Best Friend

Crowds of people, staring, fascinated, amused by what lies in front of them, but I only see a glimpse of a blue-gray piece of the sky dashing through the water moving at high speed. Its body glistens in the sun; its skin is slippery and wet. It’s shining like light is actually in it. But suddenly it leaves fast, keeping my eyes staring at the empty crystal clear water. But then, I see another one going even faster than the previous flash. I wonder what this is and what is happening? It suddenly comes to me. They are not sky pieces, they are dolphins playing chase!

I started wondering about how dolphins interact with the world when I went to Sea World and saw a dolphin show. They flipped, jumped, gleamed, and shined. It was so amazing and a big surprise to learn that when a dolphin gets into a fight with a shark, the dolphin will usually win!

Dolphins will swim alone. We are going to find out if that is a good idea. Even though dolphins will most of the time win a conflict with a shark, they are always very protective to one another. Imagine you’re a dolphin and decided to lead your own trail and stay by yourself. So, you are swimming alone in the dangers of the sea. That was not a very wise decision, let me just tell you that. So, while swimming, you hear a rustling through the sea grass. Shocked, you stop, spin your tail, and see nothing. For some reason the water seemed to get a bit colder. Whoosh, another rustle and another spin, but this time you turn even faster than the spin before. You see a shark, and just barely survive. I told you it wasn’t a wise decision. You swim away as quickly as you can, and that is the reason dolphins swim in groups. There is a better chance of survival. Now, another dolphin somewhere is a little smarter than you. He lives in a pod with his mom, dad, and other dolphins that are the same species. That same shark comes around to attack them, but they see the shark coming and mothers and babies dart to the middle of their group, while males and females without babies head to the outside to act as a wall of protection. What a perfect system for dolphins that want to survive.

It’s not all about surviving. Dolphins have playful and fun behavior. I think the exact definition for a dolphin is that they love to play with each other. They don’t just play with each other; they play with things like pebbles and seaweed. Dolphins can actually play with prey without killing them, so they can play fish. Well, other than playing with fish, dolphins do other things like chasing each other. Why it’s like tag that kids play in school but instead it’s in the water. Dolphins will practically swim across their whole area of the ocean in about 1 minute. You would be very surprised at how fast they are it’s like they are always racing. Jumping in the air is fun too, and there are many reasons for doing it, like to show off. This is one of the ways you become popular and more known in your pod, but that is not the only reason for jumping. Dolphins also search for food. While up in the air, they look around to find fish and when they are in the air they know which direction they should head for lunch. Also they like to splash their tails and roll as a fun activity to do with their friends and… ENEMIES!

Dolphins give sounds to communicate and give signals. How do they do all this? The sounds are created by blows of air going through one of the paths of their nose, and when the blow is through, out comes the sound of a click or squeak. Each dolphin has its own whistle or call to communicate, and the call identifies one dolphin from another. So when a dolphin is talking to you the receiver will always know who it is.

Everyone thinks humans love, love, love dolphins, but this line does not reflect all the care humans give to dolphins. Even though most humans find dolphins to be amazing, in some areas dolphin population is low. Why? Of course, people are actually killing dolphins, and being very cruel and selfish. People kill dolphins for all sorts of things, like food, fertilizer, and even pet food. Some people are mean, but others are so kind to dolphins, that when humans swim with dolphins the humans should not wave their hands. It is not bad at all to wave your arms a little, just don’t do it very obnoxiously. People usually don’t do this because dolphins will feel as though that person is saying, “Ha, I have arms and you don’t!” That is being mean to the dolphins because they have no arms and will not come to people who seem to be teasing them. Humans are so connected to dolphins because of their gentle friendly character. This has made people love dolphins and dolphins love them back just as much.

This has always been a question people ask, Dolphins are intelligent and smart. How intelligent are they? Because dolphins are very intelligent and playful they can combine those characteristics and create great mimics of human behavior. When dolphins want to, they can do it so easily and so good! When a human raises an arm, dolphins will raise a fin. Humans spin, dolphins turn/roll. Dolphins have a lot of intelligence and a lot of smarts. So are they smarter than humans? Well, in your brain you have folded parts that consist of your memory, thinking, and speech. Dolphins have more of those parts than humans, but humans have more tissue to protect your brain. To make it easy humans are smarter than dolphins, but not by much because the only reason humans are smarter is because whenever a dolphin gets hit in the head they don’t have as much tissue to protect all their smarts, but when the same thing happens to a human they are definitely more protected. Even if dolphins were very secure, they still would not beat the smarts humans have. Another way we can tell that dolphins are intelligent is because when Louis Hermann threw a ball for a dolphin to catch nobody expected the dolphin to get it correctly, but the dolphin did get it correctly! Dolphins love to be fun and one way they do this is by riding on the backs of the waves on a human ship. This is a great opportunity for dolphins to have fun and for humans to get a good picture.

For a very long time people have told stories about dolphins saving lives, and about dolphins rescuing people. This is not a myth, but the real fact. Yet again, you are a dolphin and see something falling with no care at all into the depth of the ocean. This time you come over to it, but very, very slowly and carefully. You don’t know what it is, and as you get closer you see that it is a human drowning! With no thought you pick up the person gently, and then carry them back to the nearest shore. After the person is laid down on the sand you wait and wait in the water except for the occasional check, the gold ball in the sky has almost set when you hear the sound of, “Where am I,” and with a sigh of relief you dash back into the deep waters. Just think, you saved someone’s life by helping them and putting the person on shore. Do you remember that sky piece dashing through the water? Well hopefully he is not a confusion anymore, but fitting back in the sky. Instead of only seeing a glimpse of something blue-gray, now you can call him your beautiful, amazing, enchanting friend in the sea!

A Melting World

By Jillian

Imagine that you’re a polar bear and you have been traveling the coastline for days and days but, you can’t find ice to hunt on. “The arctic looks different today,” You think, “it looks smaller. It’s not as big as it is supposed to be”. Finally, you give up. You think to yourself, “How am I going to find food now? What do I do? How do I save my cubs?”

The melting of ice, which is part of a polar bear’s natural habitat, happens because of global warming. Global warming is causing all of the ice in the arctic to melt. “The science,” says Christine Todd Whitman, former administrator of the Environmentalist Protection agency (EPA), “now is getting to the point where it’s pretty hard to keep denying the effects of global warming! Scientists don’t make up all of the bad things that happen because of global warming. People can’t keep denying the effects of global warming!

Global warming happens when gas is released into the air by factories and pollution. A lot of the gas is carbon dioxide. Too much of this gas can be bad for the earth. It can cause some major damage not to mention big effects on the weather. It can cause more serious hurricanes to happen, which can be devastating to all polar bears in the world. It can cause glaciers to melt, which threatens many polar bears habitats, food sources and population. Did you know polar bears are almost on the endangered list?

Polar bears never would have to suffer if it weren’t for global warming. Ice is a platform for hunting seals, to a polar bear. If they can’t catch seals, they can’t eat any thing! If all of this ice goes away, polar bears could be in great danger of starvation and even worse; extinction! Ninety-seven percent of all of the ice that was in the arctic originally has already been lost. In ten years, it will be hard to imagine what the arctic will look like. The arctic is the only habitat cold enough for polar bears to live in naturally. What will they do if it all goes away?

If the arctic gets warmer, polar bears won’t be able to survive. Can you imagine a world without polar bears in the arctic? There wouldn’t be small, cute, cuddly, fuzzy, baby polar bears anywhere for anyone to see.

Will the children of the future ever get to see polar bears in their natural habitat? There is a good chance that they won’t, unless scientists and everybody else begin to reverse the effects of Global Warming. Otherwise, the only place that they might get to see polar bears is in the zoo. But, are polar bears really happy there? The answer is no.

Some other problems that will happen are that all of the ice in the arctic will disappear. That could cause polar bears to become extinct, and humans will suffer because of changes in the weather, such as hurricanes that are getting stronger and STRONGER. So we have to take action, and fast!

There are so many things that we can do to reduce global warming. One is buying a new and improved car. It’s called a Hybrid. This new car can run on half battery, half fuel. It is very efficient and very “green”, which means good for the environment. If you don’t want to buy a new car, you can donate money to an organization that supports stopping Global Warming from happening.

Other ways to cut down on Greenhouse Gases are to use florescent light bulbs, use recycled paper, take shorter showers, don’t idle in your car, and hang your clothes on a clothesline, instead of using a dryer. I know that we aren’t willing to do all of these things all of the time because it might be a sacrifice to our regular lives, but we can make a difference by making small changes today that will influence the world now and into the future.

You may think that you need to be an important adult to do something that can be effective to help polar bears, but anyone can begin to stop Global Warming. Both grown-ups and children can achieve anything with inspiration and determination.

Do you really want a cute polar bear to suffer because of us? Imagine a polar bear starving on the frozen tundra not having seals or anything to eat. Let’s save the polar bear today!

The Slave (Journal)

The dark clouds opened up and revealed a clear blue sky as the captured slaves with heads down and tied hands were walking up to the wooden podium. The slave seller came up and shouted, “Who wants this fine man, he’s 25!” Several people glanced at one another until one man raised his hand. “I’ll buy him”. The boy was pushed along by a soldier. “This way” commanded the soldier. “Over here.” The old man sneered and said in stern voice, “We’re going to have some chores when we get home”. The boy gave one last glance to his mom who was thrashing out to him like a bull, but the guards held her back. Dear Journal, You’re not much of a masterpiece with stains and ripped edges, but you’re the best I could find for the job. As you probably guessed, I’m not the richest man in the world.Actually I’m broke. I got nothing, zilch, zero. It’s not that I’m Jobless. No it’s definitely not that, I have plenty of those. I’m not homeless either. No it’s not that. The truth is, I’m a slave. A slave of war. Yep, that’s the sad truth of my life. I’m a nobody, a guy with no life , what a Greek man would call his servant and what a peasant would call an expensive treat. Sorry, but I got to stop now! My stink’ in owner (who obviously needs a makeover) needs help and guess what, I need to help him! The sad life of a Greek slave starts out like our poor little fictional person here where they are forced into slavery as wartime slaves .it was either slavery or death so the option of slavery was a bit more appealing than the other alternative for a captured soldier. If you thought a Greek slave had it hard, just put a Greek slave’s life next to a slave in Rome. Surely lives for the woman and children slaves were just as hard for Greek slaves, but the Men had a different situation. The men were put in the Coliseum in Rome and would spend their time as a gladiator. This was the most horrific and bloodiest job in the world. Being a gladiator was a tough job, and required a lot of physical strength. You would be put up against lions and other dangerous animals .you would be forced to kill your cellmates or be killed by them. If you surrendered, the crowd would decide to let you live or DIE! Dear Journal, Ever since I was sold at the market my meals have been plain and basic. Rice and beans are common and sometimes I can even get lentil soup. I can’t call myself unlucky because all that the Greeks eat are just as plain as my meals. There’s no meat around here! Or at least there isn’t any meat for me. Meat around here is rare unless you are counting fish as meat. Meat is the best part of the meal. It’s the cream of the crop the king of food! And without it my meals seem pointless, bland, and boring. Despite the tasteless food, there is one little snack I am obviously never going to share; honey. As you can imagine meat was expensive due to its rarity. But there were some meat available that weren’t REALLY expensive for one example, chicken. The chicken wasn’t in the form of chicken tenders or your chicken fillet, but never the less there was chicken. Dear Journal, The houses here are strange. All the rooms surround a courtyard that has a fountain at its center. It’s kind of weird, but there are separate rooms for the children, the men, the woman, and me. For some reason the women are kept further back and private in the compound. But the weirdest thing about the houses is that people just go in and out of it as they please. They don’t even ask! They just walk on in and fit their old plum bottoms down and think that they’re welcome! It’s outrageous! Anyway last night the weirdest thing happened. I saw this cloaked figure try to jump into our window but smacked his head on the edge and fell down. I’m not sure who it was but by his dark black cloak he didn’t look friendly. Good thing for me we have high windows or else the mysterious person would make it in! High windows back then helped keep out the people that wore cloaks at night and jumped into windows (AKA crooks) and the dust of the streets. Earlier in the journal entry he said, “The houses here are strange”. He sort of said in the sense of that all Greek houses were like the one he lived in. Of course he was wrong! What about the EXTREMELY rich emperors I suppose they live in the exact same homes?! And what about the peasants and the poor I guess they live in a high class house that costs a lot of money?! Dear Journal, By now you’re probably wondering what I do all day. Work, work, and more work. If I could choose to swap anyone’s schedule it would probably be my owners. He just walks around all day talking to people and watching comedies, dramas, and plays at theatre. Man that old man has it easy! Not all men lived in Greece the way that man did. Some young men had to do labor in the army or if you were at home you would most likely be writing poems, enrolling yourself in the art of philosophy, or studying science. The old man has probably retired and is just enjoying the last 20 or so of his life. Dear journal, Today when I had a little free time on my hands I saw this arena from the top of a building. And then and there I got my first taste of sports in this place. It’s the weirdest thing! These macho men run around in circles, what’s the fun of that?! Then there are these guys doing the same thing the previous guy did but on horses. But then is wackiest thing of all! This wide muscle man throws this disk thingy and the crowd actually loves it! They chant and scream for the guy and he just flashes a smile and throws the disk thing again and again until he starts sweating like a pig then he just sits down for a while awaiting his gift for first place. I heard a little bit more about it at home when he announced that the so-called “Olympic games” was the best it had ever been. He’s all “The Olympics was fantastic this year”, “I haven’t seen anyone so fit in such a long time”, “my favorite sport had to be the discus this year” and “This year the people ran 4800 yards in full armor, amazing!”. He’s really getting on everybody’s nerves, I even saw his wife roll her eyes! I hope his babbling stops soon because I really want to catch some sleep. Have you ever thought how we got the Olympics? The answer is in Ancient Greek history. Like the Greeks, us Americans have discus, running, and javelin. But some of the sports in our modern day Olympics have came out of the more recent sports like basketball and swimming. No one participated for fame or prizes they simply competed in order to honor Zeus. Dear Journal, I find it hard to believe that my owner’s children are so nice. I mean their father is a man who buys people to do his work yet his children are something different. They tell me stories about their friends in Sparta and how they never got caught stealing. They talk to me like I’m someone! They tell me all the awful things that their dad had done and how they hated him. But I still can’t believe how they have his boiling blood yet they are so different! I wonder if they get it from their mom. I would never know because she’s never talking to people socially and she never invites friends over. She seems to be trying to be private in some way… Most of the time boys would be in school for the whole day sunrise to sunset. No break! Some certain schools trained students in war and took pride in it. Surprisingly girls didn’t go to school, but instead learned from their mother what to do at the house. The Greeks had no pride in their girls and as crazy as it seems women were considered “less important” than boys. Shouts rang through the streets like “I think I saw him” or “this is useless!” Dozens of signs were being nailed on the stone walls. A small little cloaked boy walked up to the sign. He read it. It said $50 will be given for the finding of a young slave about 4 feet and 9 inches an extra $30 dollars will be given if he is alive. He is supposing holding a small book probably a journal. Please contact an official if you see or catch the little slave. Thank you. The boy gave a groan. “He’s onto me”. He looked up at the sky. It was getting dark out. He pulled out his book and wrote. Dear Journal, I’m afraid this might be my last journal entry. My owner seems to be very infuriated at my escape. He has a ransom for whoever gets me. He included that I had you at my side so there is no way I’m risking having you along with me. I can’t tell you where I’m going seeing that sooner or later they’re going to retrieve you and spill out all my secrets to the police force. I guess I’m gonna go now. I hope you make it into the right hands. BYE

Black holes

Ka boom! A star explodes with different color streaks of light. Cerulean blue, red, and yellow light streaks burst in different directions. They look brighter and prettier than the 4th of July. The scientists look on their radars and see unusual sightings. Then, they realize that a black hole is being formed. You are in space investigating this black hole. Your partners send you out to investigate, but you look out into space and see light from the stars getting sucked in. You think if your rope snaps you will never see your partners again. There is a queasy feeling in your stomach. You hear the encouraging voices of your partners and you stop for a moment, and finally you decide it has to be done. You carefully tie your rope around your waist. You think this day can’t get any worse, but it does. After taking some pictures you realize that you’re going further than you were suppose to. You turn around to see that your rope broke. You panic, you scream, you shout, but it’s no use. No one hears you. You might appear out of the other side of the black hole –a white hole- or you could appear in another galaxy you know they’re theories. No one can prove it’s true. As you’re speeding through space you get closer every second towards the black hole until you are in it, because of gravity you get stretched until the human race has lost another human being. Black holes are really strong vacuums, which is because of the amazing gravitation pull. Nothing known to man can escape its grasp; not even light. If you think about it carefully, black holes are pretty cool things. In a way black holes are ghost stars because black holes are “dead” stars. Black holes are formed when a star dies, that takes a while but it happens. Hydrogen pushing against the gravity eventually runs out which causes an explosion. The explosion is called a supernova. If it is a giant star and it explodes it will sometimes turn into a black hole, but it could turn into a dwarf star. If the star was a little bit bigger than our sun or smaller than our sun it would turn into a dwarf star. This process is kind of the separation between alive and “dead” stars. If the star was about twice the size of our sun it would probably turn into a black hole another way to explain this would be called the Chandrasekhar limit, this limit says that stars greater than 1.4 times the mass of our Sun will have to go through supernova and eventually turn into a black hole. But there are much more amazing things about black holes like supernova. - Chandrasekhar MThe explosion is called supernova. After the supernova, if the star is big enough the star will turn into a black hole as it is getting smaller it will start to pull gas, dust and asteroids, soon it will be able to pull in larger things like light from stars and humans. Spaghettification is the process of a person getting stretched in a black hole. When you’re in a black hole you get stretched miles long until you snap in half. You will stretch like a long piece of spaghetti. Scientists don’t know it’s true that people get stretched in a black hole, but they are pretty sure of it. Spaghettification happens because the gravity on the per son’s feet is stronger than the gravity on the person’s head. This difference causes the person to stretch. This process is pretty quick, but other processes are long. Black holes die, but it takes billions and billions of years for it to die. It takes a black hole about twice as long to die as it takes a galaxy to die. Since a black hole takes that long for it to die, scientists have rounded it to never. If a black hole was formed when a galaxy was formed it would take a black hole longer to die. Black holes will die when they get really, really, really, tiny. Then they will evaporate, but that takes billions of billions of years. Black holes have a definite life. They get smaller when gravity compresses on them until they evaporate. Like the astronaut that died. This is a picture of a black hole taken by NASA Theories: · black holes are the pathway to other galaxies’ · Stephen Hawking suggested that mini black holes should be exploding right now · We may be living between black holes Citations Rau, Dana. Black Holes. Minneapolis, MN: Print. Couper, Heather, and Nigel Henbest. Black Holes. 1st ed. New York, NY: Print. Black hole diagram Black hole picture By Charles and Zach

Get That Koala Out of the Road! By Alice G “♬ I had the time of my life ♬ and I never felt this way before ♬ and I swear this is –” “Be quiet Jessie,” said Julia as we drove to the mall on our family vacation in Australia. My mom and dad had gone scuba diving on the famous heart shaped reef. So, that left my older twin sisters, Jessie and Julia, and of course, me, Chloe. Right now I am stuck in the back seat listening to them bicker. “I wish you would just turn the radio off so we can hear the story we got from the library. Chloe will read it to us. Right Chloe?” inquired Julia. “Ah, if you want control of the radio then let me drive.” Jessie snuck in cleverly. Not likely. Julia loves to drive. But, while they argued, I realized that Julia forgot to watch the road and just in time shouted, “Look out, the car ahead just stopped!” then I scrunched my eyes shut and said a prayer. It must have been answered because I am still alive! And I think I am going to be deaf from the horn beep beep beeeeeeeeeping away at the car ahead. “Nice save Chloe. Without you I would have hit that car,” complimented Julia. “Yeah, but why isn’t this guy moving!!!” shouted Jessie, as she reached over and slammed on the horn. “Let’s get out and see,” I suggested. “Yeah, I need to stretch my legs too,” added Julia. And so we got out to see what was the matter. At the front of a long, long line of cars we saw the cause of the traffic jam. It was a koala, sitting in the middle of the road! As I stared at the beautiful creature in the road I remembered the Koalas description plate at the zoo. Koalas have thick, soft fur. Their big, round ears have long, white hairs on the tips. They have a large, dark, leathery nose and beady eyes. Their small mouth opens very wide. And the paws are very complex in order to climb. Saying Koalas climb is not a rumor. People start rumors about Koalas around points of confusion. Some say Koalas have no tail. Some say they smell of cough drops. Are these true or false? What do you think? Picture yourself in a small space that squeezes you to a sticky surface. Suddenly you feel like you are flying. You swoop up then down. And then, thwuck. You hit something hard. And you wish for the billionth time, “Would my mom STOP jumping? It hurts!” This is the life of a baby Koala. They live in their mothers pouch for months then just decides to move to her back. Brand new baby koalas are the size and shape of a jellybean, and will grow to 25-30 inches in length, weighing about 15 pounds as an adult. So how do their parents keep track of where they are when they are small? Simple! They keep them in their downward opening pouches, as apposed to a Kangaroo. Theirs open upward. But why do Koalas open downward? A mother koalas’ pouch is like a mitten, it opens at the bottom so your hand can go in, and is sealed at the top to keep out the snow and cold. It is made of a rough texture and is elastic so the baby stays in place. But why not open upward? It would be just as easy. Or would it? It would actually be less convenient. In the seven months a baby spends in the pouch it is still quite small when it leaves. After 30 weeks of drinking its mother’s milk, it still can’t digest its own food so the baby feeds off of pre-digested food called pap. Pap is a pre-digested substance that comes from a small opening directly underneath the mother’s tail. It is easy for the baby to pop its head out and have the food right there. When I first saw a mother Koala feeding its baby and I couldn’t understand what the mom was doing. I was clinging to my mom’s leg and begging her to take me away from this cage! Once she calmed me down and explained to me what the mom was doing I asked why I saw a baby on its mothers back in the last cage. Shouldn’t this baby be on the back? My mom told me this; “One reason is more obvious than the other, sweetie. The more complex reason is the temptation of the scent of the eucalyptus leaves. The baby Koala just can’t resist! The babies are ready to eat food that is not already digested. I know this probably makes no sense.” (I was only 5.) She continued, “The other reason I think you’ll understand better. The pouch is on the stomach and, since koalas tend to jump from tree to tree, the pouch (and baby) gets the first bump! See? ” Then she demonstrated with my stuffed Koala from the gift shop. The baby on the back has a good deal. Much better than a baby in the pouch. A gentle ride and a bug free life! Koalas’ thick fur tends to be a popular flea and fly attraction. But eucalyptus, the meal of a koala, is like bug spray! The oil of the leaf rubs off on the koala’s fur, and it not only keeps the fur in top condition, but also gives it a cough drop smell that is nauseating to bugs. Their meal is their food supply, moisturizer, and pest control! If only I could use a certain shampoo that kept my hair silky and mosquitoes away too! Speaking of fur, its dappled appearance is a technique called camouflage. The dappled colors blend in with the shadows of the leaves so predators looking up would see nothing but leaves. Their fur is grayish red and dappled. The farther north they live the thinner their fur is and the farther south the thicker. During the trip to the zoo we went to the Predator Defender Center at the zoo. They were doing a program on koalas. The person, Mary, said this. “Since they do have to worry about predators, koalas need a keen sense of smell and hearing to figure out where the predators are. They must position themselves and their young in order to be camouflaged. Their ears and noses are so large so that they can sense danger. Their sense of smell is so good that they can tell where the nearest food tree is and how many koalas are already there. This skill is helpful because Koalas are solitary animals so they do not like to share their tree. The only way there could be three or four Koalas found in a tree is if it is great enough in size. They can still stay far away from each other. But more than 5 is two many. So if a mother smells 4, then she knows she and her child will not be welcome and should keep moving.” I raised my hand, and once I was how many are there? Is it just their incredible sense or something more?” And Mary explained, “The Koala has a scent patch on its chest and each Koalas scent is different. So when a Koala comes to a tree it rubs its scent patch on it so passing Koalas can tell, ‘There are already 4 Koalas in this tree. I must bring my baby to a different tree to feed.’ Do you understand?” Living in trees is not easy. You want to fit into nooks and crannies. So, a tail like monkeys just won’t do! But they need a tail for balance. If there was a store for tails then the Koala would be looking in the small, short and stubby section. I would too, the shorter the better in my opinion. I wouldn’t want to start chasing it or accidentally bit it when I eat. A Koala also needs good grip to be hanging in trees all day. So their hands are properly set up. The front paw is divided into two groups, 2 thumbs and 3 fingers, handy for climbing and grasping. The back paws have two groups as well, but with 1 thumb and 4 fingers instead. The thumb is for holding things. The second and third fingers are joined together for grooming, and the fourth and fifth are for climbing as well. Both paws have rough pads on the bottoms for griping and to soften the landing when the koala leaps. The huge, sharp claws sprouting from the koalas toes are used to help grip, climb, and defend it from predators. Suddenly a cold breeze blew the flashback away. I focused on what my sisters were saying. “Hey, did you know koala means, no drink?” Jessie asked as they stared at the unmoving koala. “Yeah, because the eucalyptus leaves they eat provides all the water they need, right?” replied Julia. “Right, and they eat 11 pounds of it a day, from what I hear. That’s plenty of water.” Jessie countered. It was becoming a fact war. “Koalas aren’t bears but marsupials!” Julia shot back. People were staring. “A marsupial is an animal that carries its baby in its pouch” she challenged. “Like kangaroos.” People were rolling down their windows. “Sitting in the road is an adaptation!” Jessie stopped and gulped, “They get tired of crawling through thick bushes and grasses so they like the road. And it is always a good place to warm up with no trees to block the sun!” “A baby is only 2 centimeters at birth!” “They sleep for 18 hours a day!” “When they’re not sleeping their eating!” “Their food is poisonous to any other animal! They can eat it thanks to their complex digestive system.” People were getting out of their cars, taking pictures, videos, even the koala was watching! “A koala can run as fast as a rabbit!” screamed Jessie at the top of her lungs. That was it, all out of facts. But I had one more. “There are koala crossing signs in Australia,” I barely whispered, pointing to a sign by the road. Everyone turned to look at me, followed my finger, observed the sign, and burst out laughing. Me, my sister, the crowd, and even the koala was making a laughing-like noise (its true, they can.)