Hero Project Reflection

1. I think a hero becomes a hero when they do something for someone that not everyone could or would do. For example, almost everyone could probably save someone from drowning but not everyone would take their time or be brave enough to do it. A hero can also become a hero by doing something really important or significant for someone although not everyone sees that person as a hero. A hero cares about others and not just for themselves.

2. Project Description: In the Hero in My Eyes project we had to choose a hero but it couldn't be any hero, it had to be someone we could be able to interview and take pictures of. After we picked a hero we had to write a character sketch describing how they are heroic to us or just writing about a heroic moment of our hero. We had to have with the character sketch two black and white pictures of our hero.

3. Process: First, I had to choose a hero and write possible questions I could ask my hero in the interview. Then, I had to interview my hero, which was my sister Ana. Then, I had to write a manuscript of the interview. After that, I had to write the first draft of the character sketch. Then, in class we looked at other people's draft and made corrections. Then, I included in my character sketch the corrections I received and wrote the second draft. I had to then turn in the second draft so Ms. Charlotte could make corrections on my paper. After she gave me back my paper I had to include the corrections and write the final draft. After I was finish with my character sketch I had to make a template which had to include my character sketch, two pictures of my hero, and a hero blurb, where we had to tell why that person is a hero to us in less than 50 words.

4. Reflection: In this project I learned how to make a manuscript and how to conduct an interview in a better way. I learned how to make a character sketch and write a blurb. I think the only challenge a encountered in this project was trying to make my character sketch shorter but keeping the necessary parts. I solved that challenge by taking a few little parts that I thought weren't really important. I think this project went really good and if I had to do it again I wouldn't change anything. I think this will help me later if I have to write a manuscript or write a blurb.

5. Habits of Mind: I think I used the ownership habit of mind in this project because in my final draft I kept asking myself "Is this my best work?" because I wanted it to be really good so I kept adding showing not telling and literacy devices and description to make it better.

6. Artifact: http://cristina-michel.blogspot.com/2009/11/little-white-shoes.html

7. Picture:

The Origin of Zero

What stroke me about the articles was how the number zero didn’t exist a really long time ago and the people would use symbols to represent zero. For example, “the Mayans used an eyelike character to denote zero. The Babylonians displayed zero with two angled wedges. The Hindus depicted zero as a dot. The Chinese started writing the open circle we now use for zero.”

In both articles it doesn’t say who really discovered zero it just says where it came from. I think the person that first brought up the concept or the idea of the number zero could be named the person that discovered zero. “The first evidence we have of zero is from the Sumerian culture in Mesopotamia, some 5,000 years ago. There, a slanted double wedge was inserted between cuneiform symbols for numbers, written positionally, to indicate the absence of a number in a place.” I think the whole world got to know about the number zero by probably people who traveled and told others about recent news and then that person told another and another.

Little White Shoes

“I heard something small fall in the water but I didn’t think it could be you. I decided to turn around anyway to see what you were doing. As I turned around I saw part of your little white shoes coming up from the surface. At that moment my mind became full of thousands of thoughts.” Ana’s small brown eyes grew bigger and her mouth opened wide. She breathed harder than usual as if there was no more air. She held her hands up like she wanted me to come over to her. She ran as fast as she could with her bright red shirt, her jeans, and her black Converse. Her long, soft and curly black hair moved wildly with the fresh wind. The sun brightened her face making it lighter. Her face was as if she had seen a ghost and looked more worried than someone who hadn’t studied for a test.

“You were really small. You were almost completely in the water. I could just see your little shoes but your head and all your body were in the water, which made me more worried.” She pursed her little red lips together and tightened them. “I was really scared that I might not be able to save you but at the same time I felt hopeful and tried to be positive and think that you were going to be alive when I pulled you out of the water.” As she sat there she brought the whole memory to life. She ran and thought “Will she be alive? Will I be able to save her? What if I’m too late and I don’t save her?” She was thinking about all the bad things that could happen but also that I was going to be okay. As the words flowed out of her mouth and entered my ears I traveled back to that day at the river.

As she finally got to the river she submerged her hands in the warm water and grabbed my little white shoes and kept pulling me until my whole body was out of the water. She held me in her big, warm hands. I was more scared than a little kid going to school for the first day and I was really surprised that I was still alive. My clothes were wet and felt sticky and uncomfortable on my skin. My face was without expression just standing with my eyes closed. My whole body was shaking. At that moment, I didn’t know what to think or what to say, I wasn’t even sure if I was really alive. When I was drowning I kept trying to think that I was going to be okay but at the end I just thought I wasn’t going to make it and now I was just here standing. As I stood there all of my thoughts and feelings were out of place. I didn’t know if I should be happy, sad, confused, surprised or even what to do.

“I kept on saying ‘Cristina! Cristina! Are you okay?’ because you didn’t open your eyes but as soon as you opened them I said, ‘Oh Cristina, I’m so happy your okay! Are you cold? Do you need anything? How did you fall? What happened? Are you hearing me? Are you listening?’”

“Y-e-s,” I muttered under my breath. I was only five years old. I could not believe I was standing here with my sister. I could not believe I was even alive. The whole scene played over and over in my head. I was listening to my sister but I was thinking about what happened and how this all happened so quickly. I didn’t want to talk I just wanted something warm. I looked into my sister’s eyes and the more I looked at them the more I felt like that moment was real, that I was alive.

She carried me in her arms and tried to keep me warm. I put my head on her shoulder as the scene kept repeating in my head over and over. I was shaking a little but then I stopped when she put her hands tighter around me. It smelled like sun block combined with flowers. That smell made me feel comfortable and secure like if nothing had happened. As she carried me in her arms she looked really happy that she had been able to save me from drowning. “I was filled with joy and happiness. You were alive! I actually saved you!” I looked and observed the big smile on her face, her eyes shined like the sun, her hair was moving as the wind blew. I kept looking at her and thought, “This is how a hero really looks like.”

The Question

Catching the signal from one of her friends, Angela brushed her skirt, took a deep breath and walked towards where he was sitting. Her blonde straight hair hung besides her elbows. Her eyes were two long blue rivers. Her lips were pink like a rose. She wore a wavy black and white skirt that was above her knees and a white tank top. She walked slowly.

“Hi! Angela,” Daniel screamed. He had short brown hair. His eyes were blue like the sky and his lips were red as blood. He was wearing jeans and a black shirt. He smiled as he looked into Angela’s eyes.

“Hi! Daniel,” Angela replied as she smiled back. They both looked at each other as the wind blew making their hair move from one side to the other.

Angela remembered a year ago when she asked a guy to go with her and her friends to the beach. She remembered how happy she was when the guy said yes. Now she was about to ask Daniel if he wanted to go with her and her friends to the movies, hoping that he would say yes.

“Would you want to go with my friends and I to the movies tomorrow?” Angela asked.

“Yes! Thanks for inviting me.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow,” she smiled.

“Bye,” he stood up and walked to his class.

She walked towards her friends and started telling them what happened.

The First Day of School

I was a little scared but at the same time I felt as if my heart was beating faster than usual. I felt like I was shivering and I could not stop. The wind was cold and fresh in my face. My stomach felt as if I was going down a rollercoaster. My mind thought so much things that I walked slower than usual.

I finally got to the door. It was blue in the corners and in the middle it was kind off like a mirror because you could see yourself. My face looked pale and scared when I saw it in the door. The door felt warm in my hands as I pulled it open. As I walked slowly inside I felt the warm air in my face. It was the delicious and mouth-watering smell of fresh popcorn. The delicious smell traveled through my nose and made me hungry for a moment.

The walls were smooth and were the same color blue as the door and at the bottom they were orange. There were a lot of different colored backpacks on the floor in the right side. I kept walking slower and slower. As I walked I heard things like “OMG I love your hair!” or, “I haven’t seen you in a long time,” and “How was your summer?” Probably that is what I would be telling my friends if I wasn’t here. Everyone’s faces were bright as the sun and their smiles as big as the earth. They looked as happy as a person who won the lottery and as excited as students waiting for summer. Their eyes brighten more than a diamond but my eyes didn’t even shine. I didn’t want to be here. I did not know anyone here and I was going to go to 8th grade. Almost everyone had been in that school since 6th grade. My heart was beating faster and faster with every step I made. At that moment, I wished I had not moved school but it was too late I had already moved to High Tech Middle.

Suddenly, I started thinking everything out and I realized how much I loved my school and my friends and how much I was going to miss them. As I thought more about my old school and friends I felt more and more pain in my heart. My mind was full with thousands of thoughts about everything. My face was still pale and looked as if I had seen a ghost. My hands hung beside my body like nothing. My eyes were open big and brown as a shiny coffee grain. My stomach felt as when you see someone you love or like. I stood there like a statue looking around. I was still shivering and my skin felt cold as ice. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Sensory Detail: Sound

Click here for audio The Toy Choral Top

It first started like a really soft sound that you could barely hear. It made you feel like you were on another place alone without anything or anyone around you. Then it was a little louder but still soft and calm. It sounded like the songs movies play when something sad happens or when someone dies and everyone is crying. In the beginning it also sounds like when someone is in a really dark room alone and a ghost is behind them and that person is turning around to see what is behind them. It was a sound that was calm and peaceful but at the same time sad and a little scary. It sounded like a train going through a lonely forest on a cold, dark, and stormy day. Going without direction just going forward to see what it finds. In some parts it also sounds like a train going through a city when the sun is going down on the afternoon. This sound makes you think about sad things but it also makes you a little sleepy. This sounds fills you with hope. This sound made me think of someone alone in their house playing an instrument while it was raining outside. That person was playing how he felt and what he felt through that sound. That sound made that person express all of his sadness and loneliness. At last, it also sounds like a carousel but a little softer.

The Locker Problem

My group and I found out that there were 31 perfect square roots in 1,000. Then we connected what we got to what other groups got and came out with the answer that when 1,000 students follow the pattern with the 1,000 lockers, there would be 31 lockers open. The lockers that would be open would be the ones that have perfect square roots. For example, 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, and until you get to 961, which its square root is 31. These lockers are open because only perfect square roots have numbers that multiply by themselves. For example, locker number 4 is open because it has been changed the state of, 3 times. It is 3 because you can make 4 with only three numbers, which are1, 2, and 4 because you don’t count the numbers twice. So 1*4 and 2*2. Only perfect square roots have odd amount of factors because they have numbers that multiply by themselves and you just count them once. Locker number 4 is open because student #1 opened it then student #2 closed it, then student #3 didn’t do anything to it, and at last student #4 opened it, so it stayed open like shown in the diagram below. Each factor corresponds to the student who touched the locker. The perfect square roots have to have odd amount of factors to be open because if they had even amount of factors they would be closed. Odd amount of factors mean open and even amount of factors mean closed.

Student #1:

The first student goes along the row and opens every locker.

Student #2:

The second student then goes along and shuts every other locker beginning with locker number 2.

Student #3:

The third student changes the state of every third locker beginning with locker number 3. (If the locker is open the student shuts it, and if the locker is closed the student opens it.)

Student #4:

The fourth student changes the state of every fourth locker beginning with number 4.

Locker #1:	1	2	3	4	5
Students that have opened or closed the locker:	1= Open	1=Open 2=Closed	1= Open 2= Closed	1= Open 2=Closed 4= Open	1= Open 5= Closed

M.W.B. Character- What I Did This Weekend

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was Saturday. I stayed in Uncle Tommy’s National City apartment. I was bored of being there but I could not come out. I was really sorry for what had happened to Uno’s little brother. It was all my fault. Why did I have to let go off the bat? I wish I would have just said that day that I did not want to play. I also did not want to come out because I didn’t want to see Uno. I was scared that he would hit me again, but I understand why he hit me last time. He was protecting his little brother.

Yesterday I was the entire day in bed. Sofia kept coming in to see if I was okay or if I needed something, but every time she came in I pretended I was sleeping. Probably she was worried about me. I had a long time already being in bed all day, but I felt really guilty for what had happened to Uno’s little brother. Also, sometimes Uncle Tommy came in to check on me but I also pretended I was asleep. I did not want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to be alone. Every time after Uncle Tommy came out of my room he would talk to Sofia about me, but I couldn’t really hear what they were saying. I only heard things like “he has been there for a long time” or “he is depressed.”

Today was Sunday. I knew it was going to be another boring day in Uncle Tommy’s apartment. I was going to stay in bed and pretend I was asleep whenever Uncle Tommy or Sofia came in the room. I woke up in the morning. I looked out the window. It was a bright sunny day. I wish I could be outside playing baseball but I still felt guilty about everything that happened last time I played baseball. I went back to bed and wished that I could soon come out of Uncle Tommy’s apartment.

Danny Lopez

Order of Operations

1. -3+2^2/2-4

2. (5^2+3)+7-1

3. 2*6+3*2=36

Favorite Fictional Hero

One of my favorite fictional heroes is Spider- Man. Spider-Man is the creation of Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee. While attending a lab demonstration on the safe handling of nuclear waste, Peter Parker(Spider-Man) was bitten by a spider that had been inflicted with radioactive rays. This gave Peter Parker, who was a teenager at that time, the proportionate speed and strength of a spider.
Spider-Man has spider like abilities including superhuman strength and the ability to cling to most surfaces. He is also extremely agile and has amazing reflexes. Spider-Man also has a, “spider sense,” that warns him of impending danger.
Spider-Man has supplemented his powers with technology. Being a brilliant chemist and scientist, Peter has made web-slings, bracelets that shoot out a sticky webbing, allowing him to swing from building to building. He has also developed stingers that shoot powerful energy blasts that can stun his enemies.
In the recent storyline, Spider-Man has been reborn with even stronger abilities. He has the ability to see in the dark, enhanced senses, and can feel the vibrations through his webbing. In addition to this new suit he has increase his strength further and gives protection from damage. Recently, however, he has gotten rid of the suit and returned to the classic costume.

Spider-Man is one of my favorite fictional heroes because I really like the powers and abilities he has. Also, I like how he is like a spider and I think he is really nice to use his powers to help people.

What is math? What is physics?

What is math?

Math is the study of numbers, quantities, shapes and measurements. Math is really fun and easy even though sometimes it seems really hard, when you don't understand it. Math is something really important in life. It is found almost everywhere. Math is mostly numbers but it can also have letters in the formulas. Math can help us make decisions and perform everyday tasks. Math can help us shop better, buy the best insurance, remodel a home within a budget and many more things. Almost everyone uses math everyday.

What is physics?

Physics deals with matter and energy. It includes the study of light, heat, sound, electricity, motion and force. We can find physics in lots of places. Physics is also something important in life that a lot of people use. I don't know that much about physics but I'm hoping to learn more about it this year in mysics class.

30 Things You Didn't Know About Me

1. I like math.

2. I speak Spanish.

3. I was born in San Francisco.

4. Part of my dad's family is french.

5. My last name is french.

6. I like winter more than summer.

7. I don't like seafood.

8. I don't eat chocolate a lot.

9. I love strawberries.

10. I don't eat donuts.

11. I like Chinese food.

12. I don't like cheeseburgers from McDonald's.

13. I like to travel.

14. In the summer I went to Yosemite National Park.

15. I have watched the Twilight movie more than 5 times.

16. Over the summer I read the Twilight book "New Moon."

17. I like reading.

18. 7 is one of my favorite numbers.

20. I saw snow for the first time when I was 12 years old.

21. I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers.

22. I am the youngest one from all of my family.

23. My favorite color is turquoise.

24. I don't really like the color pink.

25. Two of my best friends are twins.

26. I have 1 niece and 1 nephew.

27. My birthday is in July 18.

28. I have two little turtles.

29. I like laughing.

30. I want to learn how to play the bass.