Arthur's Highs and Lows (full thing)

This year has been very interesting, especially in grammar! I have had very many highs and lows. It seems like it will be impossible to remember three highs AND three lows. Some general things I may include are sports, projects, and classes. These have both highs and lows. This year has been different than previous years in many ways. Here are a few things.

I will start off on lows, so I can end in a high note. One of my lows is ongoing. It is Mr. Shute's science class. Don't worry, it's not because of Mr. Shute, but because the students are so incredibly disruptive! I cannot tell you enough that people in my science class do not want to learn! No matter what; they are always talking! They always make excuses to not do work or to put off tests. Mr. Shute, I think, should punish those who excessively talk out of turn. Then we could get something done.

Another low is the fairy tale project. It was not all that hard, but I am not much of a writer. I thought my story was terrible, ( It is in the back of my portfolio ) and so it wasn't very fun. The Imovie project coming after it was okay, but I don't think I did a very good job. Alec did great, but you know how it is, your own work never seems as good as another person's. It was fun, though. One low to go!

My last low is the SACS track meet. First of all, I did terrible. I didn't get anywhere near placing. Second, after one of my races, I hadn't been breathing enough during the race, so I was hurting terribly in my chest. Lastly, It took forever. They were trying out a new way to time people. It sounded great at first, but they had to reset the computers that timed us, which took forever. It ended around two a.m.! The meet mostly took place on thursday, but it continued on until Good Friday! Overall, it was miserable!

My first high is the Auction Gala. StuCo set it up,which was significantly fun. What was even more fun was after setting it up. We played dodge ball, variations of it, Mafia, putt putt, talked, and other random things. I love serving, so it was extra fun for me! I had trash duty, so I did not have to deal with cranky little kids! At one point, one of the stations did not have someone on it, so I took it over for about twenty minutes. Two more!

My second high is the track meet at Round Rock. It was a high school/middle school meet. I did okay running, but I had loads of fun with my friends! I got sixth on the 2,400 meter run( two miles). On the mile I got eighth place, which isn't really placing, but I beat Len! When I had nothing to do, I would watch other peoples events, talk, and do other random things! Over all, I had fun. One more!

My last high is band. I love music, so it was very fun. I had lots of fun learning new music. My favorite song during contest was Kingsbury March. Sleigh Ride was my favorite song during the Christmas Concert. We play it every year in middle school, so I remember it from last year. For the Spring Concert, my favorite song is Jazz Band Jubilee. That's all folks!

In all, I had a pretty good year. Track was fun, as well as boring. Band was only good, along with STUCO. This year was better than last year, for it was easier for me. The good times made me happy and the bad times built character. Have a good last week of school! God is great! Live long and prosper.

Alec's Highs and Lows

Looking back on the past school year, there are a few ups and downs that I'd like to share with you in this post. When good things happen, that's great, but I try not to let a few bad things ruin my whole day. Back in elementary school, I learned that to make it a good day or not was my choice and I've tried to carry this attitude through middle school. Over all, I have loved my experiences at this school and enjoy learning anything and everything. I have grown physically, mentally, and spiritually. What more could my parents want for their money?

This year I got an awesome locker! Last year, I had a bottom locker and had to wait for others to move out of the way before I could get to mine. If I didn't, books or a football helmet fell on me (you know who you are!). I was literally in a danger zone. This year I got a top locker, on the very end of the row. It is amazing how quickly I can get something out or put something away. I actually have time to get a drink or whatever. As an added bonus, the seventh graders also got to get the bottom lockers because there are so few of us. It just kept getting better and better. *Thumbs up*

Another positive thing was when NBCA came out with the box lunch. Some days I didn't like what was being served at lunch. Now, whenever I don't like the main lunch choice I always have a backup. The box lunch comprises of a healthy grouping of vegetables, pasta, a sandwich, H2O, a bag of chips, and a cookie. It contains more food than the normal hot lunch choice, which makes it a better value for your $4.00. Last year I kept forgetting to pick up a lunch menu and was forced to blindly order. The chicken burger or the sloppy joe were the worst. This year I can always count on the box lunch and I never go hungry.

Have you ever did really well on an assignment but forget to turn it in? Well, I have done that, and the outcome can really hurt your grade point average. I have finished the assignment on time, or in some cases early but forgot to turn it in. It might take the teacher two days to post it on Renweb, and all the while I assume I turned it in. By the time I noticed I forgot and turned it in, it will be three days late. It's torturous to see how quickly your grade can plummet. It has happened to me more than twice and all I can say is: thank God for extra credit.

One day late:	Two days late:	Three days late or more:
20% reduction	40% reduction	100% reduction or 0

Being a member of student council was a definite highlight of the year for me. I was able to participate in a lot of fun activities with a great group of people. We visited an elderly care center and took the residents to the Comal County Fair. We worked hard in the game room at the Auction Gala and painting the middle school hallway. We were also responsible for implementing the Chick-Fil-A lunch days and Movie Nights. All of these activities required raising money, which we did by selling poinsettias, ice cream sundaes and movie tickets. Driving out to the poinsettia farm and loading a plethora of flora, was a favorite of mine. We got to talk all the way there and back on the bus ride. We also got to go to the Bisque Bistro, Olive Garden for lunch, and next week we get to skip school to go to Austin Parks & Pizza. Thank-you Mrs. A for a fun experience on Student Council. I hope I can be on it again next year.

Another thing in school that annoys me are the laptop computers. In the first place, about a third (or more) of the laptops are dead, so you have to have a charger plugged into them to keep them going. If the charger gets knocked out, you have to restart the whole laptop. Several of the rechargers are also broken. When I'm trying to load a page, the laptop takes so long that scientists could dub an epoch for it. Sometimes there aren't even enough of them to go around. On occasion, the hard work you typed mysteriously disappears and your forced to rewriting your paper, or whatever you were working on, all over again. And don't even get me started on the mac vs. PC argument.

This year I got glasses and braces. Yes, the glasses help me see better, but at first I didn't want to admit my eyesight wasn't that good. Braces I especially dislike. Soon after I got them on, I felt like I had something stuck in my mouth that I needed to pull out. The only thing, though, was I couldn't! My braces also restrict me from eating certain foods. Following a meal, I often get bits of food stuck between my braces. When I have to go get my braces tightened each month, my mouth is sore for the next few days. I will have to endure this long-suffering for the next two years.

To sum up this post, my seventh grade middle school year was mostly great. Though the lows I've been forced to remember for this assignment follow me as close as my shadow. I would recommend NBCA to everyone contemplating public school. I have learned a lot and made some really great friends. I'll miss everyone, teachers and classmates, who aren't coming back next year. Maybe some of you will decide to come back for high school. Have a fun summer.

-Alec

Assignment #6 The P-40 "Flying Tiger"

The P-40 has had many names. It has been called the Tomahawk, Kittyhawk, Warhawk, and Flying tiger. It was the put into production in 1939, just in time for WWII. It was very maneuverable, it could out-turn the Japanese Zero. It could go 583 km/hr., not very fast but fast enough. It was very heavily armored, it could take multiple direct hits and still be fine! There were over 14,000 made by the end of WWII! It was used at Pearl Harbor, in Africa, and in China, as well as in various other places of conflict. It was not as good as the P-51, which came into service in 1942, but it was still a good, strong, land-based fighter. Enjoy the blog!
-Arthur

Fibonacci Sequence

The Fibonacci Sequence is a pattern of number that is as follows: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 ... Each two previous numbers added together equal the next number. For example: 3+5=8, 5+8=13, 8+13=21 and so on. This seemingly simple pattern appears in many natural things like phi (the golden ratio).

Now, if I were to take two numbers next to each other on the pattern and divide them by each other, I would get an answer approximate to phi. The further the two number are on the pattern, the closer they are to it. For example: 21÷13≈1.6153 while 144÷89≈1.6179 (phi≈1.61803).

A very bizarre way that the Fibonacci Sequence can be shown is in honeybees. Each female honeybee has a mother and a father (you might say, "duh"), but male honeybees strangely only have a mother ("what?") since males are produced from an unfertilized egg. Below is a family tree of a male bee: (The circle with the arrow means male while the plus means female.)

So to start out with, the bee here has one parent, a mother.
He has two grandparents.
He has three great grandparents.
He has five great great grandparents.
Is this pattern starting to look familiar? Yes, it is the Fibonacci Sequence.

The sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) is a plant that also demonstrates the Fibonacci numbers in its branch numbers and leaves.


On a lot of flowing plants (not all), the flowers' petals tend to be a Fibonacci number (or the average of the number of petals is a Fibonacci number). In my yard, I had a hibiscus and an african violet both with five petals. Clovers would be a Fibonacci flower even though they can have four leaves because the average amount of clovers have three leaves. Other Fibonacci flowers include buttercup (5 petals), delphiniums (8 petals), ragwort (13 petals), black-eyed susan (21 petals), and plantain (34 petals).


— Alec

The desert of Iraq can get up to 110 degrees on occasion and is filled with Muslim extremists, thirsty for the blood of Americans and Christians. It is a place no man wants to go. Rather, it is a place where some people feel they must go to protect innocent civilians and fight their country's war. One of those people was Dan.

Flying through the air at hundreds of knots per hour, the A-10 spotted its kill. Narrowing in on the target, Dan locked on and pulled the trigger. The Iraqi desert lit up with the explosion of an excellently aimed air-to-ground missile. All that was left was scrap metal. The intense heat of the sun beat down on the scene below. Thankfully, Dan was in an air conditioned cockpit. "Redlight, seven bogeys southbound, coordinates 237 684, E.T.A. at downed AH-64 six minutes. Take them out, the choppers' crew's lives depend on it," the radar officer commanded in a matter-of-factly tone.

Further ahead, five lone tanks steered across the wasteland. Their steel exoskeletons glistened in the daylight. Two anti-aircraft followed them close behind. They never had a chance. The A-10 came screaming over the horizon, its deafening jet turbines on full speed. From half a mile away the plane started firing its gau vulcan cannon, sending deadly chunks of lead the size of your forearm at the first tank, leaving it devastated. Upon espying the A-10 nearing, the anti-air-vehicles started firing back with their AIM-9 sidewinder missiles. The plane barely dodged the missiles dashing past it and exploding in the distance behind. Hephaestus' power fell upon the fleeing enemy like cinders of an exploding volcano. The sky darkened, yet the flames continued while the A-10 circled the scene. He was waiting there in case a foreboding enemy arrived.

Dan was a vivacious, stalwart man of noble character. His great combat skills impressed many in his squadron. He was dubbed "Redlight" because his "need for speed" in both aircraft and automobile inevitably led to his record of running three red lights in his first two months of owning a driver's license. Just three weeks ago, for the umpteenth time, he was forced to spend his Saturday at a drivers' safety course.

Back at the air force base, Dan was watching a T.V., showing the rescue teams picking up the crews of the AH-64s which had crashed in the desert. The interviewers would be there not too long from now, asking him how he destroyed all of those terrorists. As he watched the rescue, he noticed that behind the plane in the distance was an enemy tank closing in on them. They needed immediate support, or all would be lost. He had to have clearance to take off, but no one would give it to him. He knew he had to go now. He hopped into the A-10 and flew off the runway.

To be continued...

--Art'n'Alec

The Battle Of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was maybe the harshest battle of World War Two. It is also one of the most crucial battles of the war. The battle took place between the Russians, commanded by Zhukov, who were defending the city of Stalingrad against the Germans led by Paulus, who were invading. The Germans were originally going to capture the oil fields of Caucasus, but they sent about half of the army to capture Stalingrad. Hitler wanted to capture it mainly to wipe the name Stalin, the Russian dictator's name, off of the face of the earth. There were also some other minor reasons to take the city, but those were not very important. Here is the battle for Stalingrad.

First, the Germans were going to try to make a pincer movement, but they realized Stalingrad had a river running through it. A pincer movement is where two sections of the army go partially behind the enemy and sandwich the enemy. The German's equipment, such as artillery, were far more advanced than that of the Russians. The Russians needed to find a way to make the artillery useless. They knew that if they were close enough to the enemy, the artillery would hit them and the Russians. They used this tactic commonly referred to as hugging the enemy. They decided to mainly engage mainly in hand to hand combat. The two armies were so close, there were many Russians and Germans on the same floor in a building! The Russians were much better at hand to hand fighting than the Germans were. Even so, the Russians were steadily being pushed back to the river at the middle of the city.

The Russians were surrounded and were greatly outnumbered. They were using artillery type rockets on German groups secluded from fellow Russians. Things were seeming hopeless, but the harsh Russian winter kicked in. Thousands of Germans were dying everyday from the cold. In the past, Napoleon tried to invade Russia, but about 410,000 out of 422,000 French died of the cold. For the Germans, when it rains, it pours! Long anticipated Russian reinforcements came in behind the Germans and made a pincer movement! Poetic justice was in play. All throughout the war, the Germans had been using the pincer movement over and over again. Now it was being used against them! The Germans knew they were going to lose one of the most decisive battles of WW II. Paulus was a Field Marshal, a very high rank, no Field Marshal in the German army had ever surrendered. Hitler wanted to keep that reputation pure, and the only way to do that was if Paulus committed suicide. He did not want to kill himself, so he just surrendered. The Germans lost the most gruesome battle of WWII, and Hitler was furious. Thousands of civilians living in Stalingrad died, but they, along with the brave soldiers, will always be remembered.

P.S.- Zhukov wins!

~Arthur

Phee, Phi, Pho, Phum

Have you ever been playing with your calculator, typing in and stumble upon the fact that no matter what number you put for "x", you end up with the same number? (Ok, I seriously doubt you have, but if you did that, you would always end up with a number called phi.)

Phi is a very interesting irrational number usually represented by the Greek symbol . Like pi, phi continues on to infinity with its first several digits as follows: 1.618033988749. This peculiar number can be found in the makeup of people, animals, nature, and geometry. By many Christians, phi is also know as the divine proportion since it seems to be the building block of nature used by God. Phi is most commonly called the golden ratio, but it is also known as the golden mean, mean of Phidias...


On a person, if you take the length of their shoulder to their fingertip divided by the length of the elbow to the fingertip, you get phi. For example, I took a measure of myself: the length of my arm was 27.5 inches and the length of my elbow to my fingertip was 17 inches. Then if I divided the lengths, I got approximetly 1.6176 inches which is very close to phi. Other parts of the hand, face, and body can be divided by each other to equal phi also. This is a fun thing you can try out too, but try to measure as exact as you can.


An example of phi in geometry can appear with a regular pentagram:
Red ÷ green, green ÷ blue, and blue ÷ pink all equal phi.

Mathematicly, phi is also the only number that its square equals one plus itself:
This is very different from any other number. At first glance, this might seem impossible, but on closer inspection, with the help of a handy-dandy calculator, this equation works.

Phi can also be used in these equations, which no other number can:
and .

This one looks really cool, but sadly, I have no earthly idea of what it means:
.

Yet another way to show phi is by looking at this simple pattern: 1, 1, 2 , 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584...
Can you see the pattern? Each previous two numbers in this pattern added together equal the next number. Now for phi to come in. Divide two numbers next to each other. The result is a number approximate to phi. The further you go down the pattern and divide the two numbers, the closer the quotient is to phi. This addition pattern is known as the Fibonacci Sequence.

The pictures following are examples of creatures who exhibit phi: .

In our world, phi isn't just a random number made up by some guy, rather is a number that God chose to build His world with.


"Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so."
--Galileo Galilei

For more information, go to http://goldennumber.net/.

~ Alec

I hope this was interesting, if you have any questions, please feel free to comment.