A Poem

Time 

Walking backwards I can see the future.

It is clean and bright as snow.

Wishing I could see the past,

but backward's all I know.

Roundabout again I walk.

Until I reach the sun.

You may say the day is over,

but tomorrow's yet begun.

Lost in a maze of flowers,

I wish I knew a tune,

Of yet I know I still must walk,

backwards from the ruin.

Forward and back away I walk,

To the shallow moon,

The tide is ebbing like a map,

The present is abloom. 

                                                       -Jesseca M. Kusher

A Scribbled Note

Today I found a piece of paper, long forgotten in the piles of notes left over from 8th grade last year. On a slightly crumpled piece of paper I found the scribbled words done in haste,

"...(There are two ways that Maxwell's remote could have done this.  The first would be if the remote fired a beam of light at the front of the TV to a panel that would in turn connect the circuit.  The second would be [the cooler way] if the remote control fired a radio frequency at a panel on the TV that would do likewise and connect the circuit).  A circuit is loosely defined as a path that carries electrical current."

These notes explain how Maxwell, our class mascot squirrel, could have turned on his TV.  While at the time this was merely a scribbled note on a small piece of notebook paper, now it is a reminder of how great my science class was last year.

The Call of the Wild - Fight or Flight

Here in Spartanburg the leaves on the trees are just starting to turn yellow around the edges.  Some crisp leaves already lace our yards and driveways.  Before we know it the trees will be aflame with vibrant shades of red, yellow, and gold.

As the leaves change into their new personas of warm tones and hues, we as mere mortals in comparison to these great giants, are asked by the trees to take time to walk among them and wonder aimlessly.    

Personally, I find it a very meditative process.  And there must be something to it because recent studies have shown that walking in nature actually improves mental memory and concentration.  However, I think that these studies simply state a fact that I have thought about for quite some time now: humans' prehistoric ways of life were those that we evolved to fit, therefore the human brain functions better in that nature than it does in cities.

In other words I believe the human brain works better in survival situations in "the wild" in comparison to survival in a city.  When in a stressful situation in nature I feel that the human body pushes itself beyond its normal capabilities more so than it would within the walls of a city, because humans' earliest ancestors lived in the wild and learned to survive there.

For example: if a group of hikers were out scaling a mountain and suddenly there was an earthquake which resulted in part of the mountain beginning to collapse, then the hikers' bodies would begin to pump adrenaline into their systems thus enabling their primitive instincts to go on overdrive.  The hikers would automatically have a fight or flight reaction and would decide wether to stay on the mountain and "rough it out," or flee to the safety of the forest below.  In the city however, when placed in a stressful situation: my theory is that the human body (while still under adrenaline) is not capable of making as quick and precise decisions that it is able to make when placed under a stressful situation outside the city walls.

In the end no mater where the human body is, it is still able to do truly amazing things when put in a stressful situation.

 I suggest that you read the link that I have bolded above, because of this subject's fascinating nature.

I'm Back!!

Recently after some time away from posting here on Tree Frog Science--- I'd like to point out that I am now back by popular (cough, cough Mr. Harrelson) demand. :)

Hmmmm.  Now where do I begin?

As of September 14, I have given in to the horrors of social networking sites and joined Facebook.  In the past I have considered social networking sites a huge waste of time because people spend too much time virtually communicating rather than communicating in "real-life."  To be fair it is very easy to fall prey to social networking sites through the media and peer pressure, however it does not mean that is cannot be done.  Like I said before it wasn't until earlier this month that I finally gave in.

I choose to join Facebook as an experiment.  I wanted to see how long it would take for word of my joining the community to catch on. The news spread like wildfire, which truly impressed me.

Now that I have covered that small bit of news, I hope to continue posting on this blog----- next time with something more interesting.

I Won!

     It took me a while, but I beat the Hunger games Tribute Trials! Here's a link in case you want to give it a  try: ...  http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/games/index.htm

Socrates

<---Socrates, the spotted cat with vivid blue eyes.

Great name huh?

Where are the Squirrels?

      
                                        Ohhhhh the sadness!

SUMMER

The Last Week of School is Coming to a Close

          Only a few hours left before its, "Goodbye Day School, hello summer!"  Suddenly it all feels dreamlike.  Yes we actually graduated last night, and yes the Yellow Briefcase is now currently sitting in a place of honor in my room. Wow.  I can't believe how fast it has all happened, now I've been at the Day School for nearly a year (a school year at least) and I'm proud to say that I am part of the community.


                    
                                           Today I will participate in my first field day,
                and allow me to apologize ahead of time, I am incredibly competitive.  This should be fun!

No, I'm not putting off studying for world cultures...

Wow: 252 facts and then 65 countries.  I think I may have to try some of that coffee substance that I despise so much this evening.  :)

At least I haven't waited until the last minute to study, and I have all of the flashcards sitting beside me... It's just that I would so much rather be blogging than mindlessly memorizing (incredulously interesting) facts.  I'm not being sarcastic------ I really do enjoy these facts.  I'm sure the feeling of relief after it's over will be overwhelmingly relaxing.  I look foreword to that.

Anyway here I go. Wish me luck.

Indexed Science Notes

          Here is a list of all of the subjects I have taken notes on since the first day of school last fall.  I currently have over fifteen "booklets" composed of this information.  Let this offer stand into the distant future (and I may someday regret it):  if any of my current classmates or  any students of Mr. Harrelson in the future would like help or in depth information on any of these subject areas I would be happy to help:

Physical Science

Atoms

-Valency

-Dot diagram

-Electrons needed to be stable

-Atomic Number

-Chemical Symbol

-Neutrons

-Protons

-Electrons

-Ions

-6 types of Quarks

¤Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Charm, Strange

-Chart of relative sizes (see parts of the atom)

-We can only see about 41% of the universe

Chemical Balancing

-Start with the smallest  chemical

¤Think: CHO

Forces

-Contact forces

-At a Distance Forces

-4 Forces of Nature

-Newton's 3 Forces

¤Inertia

- F=ma

¤Velocity

~ Change in Distance/Change in Time or Delta d over Delta t

¤Acceleration

~Change in Velocity/Change in Time or Delta v over Delta t

¤Measured in Neutons

-Speed=positive momentum/motion

¤ 3 ways to Accelerate:

~Change Direction

~ "Speed up" acceleration

~ "Slow down" = deceleration -acceleration (when you go around the corner of a track you accelerate)

~1 Horsepower= 764w

Energies

Solutions & MIxtures

Intro to Bonding/Earth Metal Characteristics

History of Science

-Einstein

-Newton

-Tesla

-Electromagnetism

-Olmec (1400BCE-400BCE)

-Baghdad Battery

-Xian Jiang (1031CE-1095CE)

-Peter Peregrinus (1200'sCE)

-Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1573CE)

-William Gilbert (1544-1576CE)

-Thomas Browne (1627-1691CE)

-Robert Boyle (1627-1691CE)

-Leyden/Leiden Jar (1700CE)

-Benjamin Franklin (1752CE)

-Aepinus (1724-1802CE)

-Volta (1745-1827CE)

-Has Christian Oersted (1777-1851CE)

-Ampere (1775-1836CE)

-Ohm's Law (1827CE)

-Michael Faraday (1791-1867CE)

-James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879CE) [Einstein's hero]

-Mendeleev (1868)

-Dates

¤1969=Gatorade invented-->Clemson switches to white jerseys for home games (1968 or '69) [this is because they discover that the white shirts reflect more of the sun's heat]

Waves= particle or duality of matter and energy

-Electromagnetic

-Mechanical

¤Transverse Wave

¤Longitudinal Waves/Compressional 

-Parts of the Wave

-Newton vs. Hook

¤Newton believed light was particles, Hook believed it was waves

~Light is composed of particles AND waves

¤Slit Light Experiment

-Resonance= When the amplitude of a wave increases because another frequency or wave has 

¤Think: Harmony

- 3 Ways waves interact

¤ Reflection

¤Refraction

¤Derefraction

- 4 Properties of Waves

-High and Low wavelengths

Light

-Light can not travel without medium

¤Light is electro magnetic energy

-Intensity=how much energy or brightness (a.k.a. amplitude)

-Frequency= color- perceived by humans as the color of light (a.k.a. wavelength)

-Polarization= angle of vibration (angle of the light hits you) which is not perceptible by humans under ordinary circumstances

Sound

-Travels with a medium

¤Sound is mechanical energy

Neptune/Uranus

-Messed up magnetic fields

-May have diamond seas

¤ Could have diamond icebergs

¤ May have "water" cycles like that of Earth

-Air pressure=11 million times earth

¤ 10% Carbon make-up

¤ 50 thousand degrees Centigrade

Black Holes

-Schwarzschild radius

-Cosmological Geometry

¤Time and Space are warped as if on a twisted graph

¤ Cabai Yau Manifold 

- 3 dementions

-Primordial Objects

-Big Bang, Big Crunch, Big Chill

-Drake's Equation

Quotes:

-"All of our science against rarity is primitive and childlike and yet it is the most precious thing we have."

-"There is nothing new to do in Physics now, all that remains is more precise measurement…"

Laws/Properties

-Columb's Law= K[(Qa*Qb)/r^2]

-Measurements

¤Centigrade- (created in?) 1940

¤Lord Kelvin

~Freezing point=273K

~Boiling= 373 K

~Absolute Zero= -273

-Ohm's Law= Volts=IR or Volts=Ampere/Current times Resistance

¤Think: Light switch

Electricity

-Induction, friction, and conduction

-Electric force= attraction or repulsion between electronically charged particles

-Electric Fields

¤Inverse Square Law

-Voltage= difference in electrical potential

-Current= rate of electrons through a given point

-Resistance= measure of the change of flow of electrons

¤Measured in Omegas

Work done this year

-Balloon Cars

-Lesson Plan/Teaching

¤"Quiz" results

-Song Remix

-Camera into Space

-Google Science Fair Project

Nuclear Fission Basics

-Enrico Ferming

-Slow Neutrons

-Bonging and Repelling Forces

-Little Boy

-Deep Thought Questions

The Ear

-Labeled Diagram

Periodic Table basics

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!

MS Girls soccer won against Oakbrook Prep. today at the MRCA tournament.  My one of my favorite parts of the game was when Alexa (a Day School 6th grader) made the winning penalty shot that won us the game.  Overall it was an amazing, aggressive, intense game, and I am overly proud of the Griffin cheering section that showed up. :) Thanks GrifFANS!!!

More details in a minute----

Sincerely,

              The Right Defensive Player

Look, My House is Flying!!!!!

Dolphins!

Summer Draws Near...

Summer Approaches...