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Olympics in Greece

There are many thoughts on how the games started, but most believe they originated from the gods. The earliest myth says that Herakles and his two brothers raced at Olympia and the winner was crowned with a laurel wreath, which they use in the modern Olympics that was held in Greece in 2004. The other gods would compete in sports like running, wrestling and jumping.

 The first real (not mythological games) were held in Olympia in 776 BC.  and lasted for just one day.  The first event was a foot race called Stadion, which lasted the length of the stadium which was about 600 feet. The true length is uncertain because the tracks that were found by archeologists are all different sizes. In later years many other types of races were added, such as boxing, long jump, javelin and discus. Boxing became much more hardcore over time. Originally you covered your fingers with soft leather, but eventually harder leather with metal weights were used. The fight continued until one man surrendered or died. Killing someone was not a good idea because the person who died was declared the winner. 

In the events the athletes competed nude. They did this because the games were suppose to represent the achievements of the human body. Also only men were allowed to compete and watch the games. Also you had to be Greek and be a free man. Now men and women from everywhere in the world compete in the Olympics and wear athletic clothes. In the ancient Olympics if your won you were considered a hero, and got free food for the rest of your life.

To get into the games the athletes had to have their names written in lists. Only young people participated in the games. There was a story of a young man who was rejected for being too old. Every one in the games had to take an oath in front of the statue of Zeus, saying they had trained for ten months.  

The Olympics was not only about sport, but also a religious event. The games were in honor of Zeus, and there were several ways they would honor Zeus one of the ways was in the middle of the games they would sacrifice 100 oxen.  Art was also a big part of the games. Poets, painters and other artists would come to games and display their works in which became an art competition. 

The Olympics happened every four years in Ancient Greece just as it does today, but in 393 AD the Roman emperor at the time ordered that the games be abolished because he thought they were a tribute to the wrong gods. It wasn’t in till the 1890’s when a French man revived the games and the first of the modern Olympic games was played again in Greece. 

Hurricane facts

I am interested in hurricanes because I know they happen quite a bit, and they are very destructive, so I wanted to learn about them. I also thought they would be interesting to learn about why we don’t get them over here, and how they start. 

A hurricane starts to form over warm water, this heat up the air making lighter and the water evaporates making water vapor which is also lighter than air. The warm and wet air begins to rise sucking cooler air in at the sides. Sine the world is spinning the air being sucked in start to spin slowly, as the air is pulled in the spinning becomes faster and faster. If the hurricane is fast enough  it can produce wind speeds of 140 

 The hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere usually turn north in a counter clockwise direction and the hurricanes in the Southern Hemisphere turn in a clockwise direction. This  is caused by the pull of the Earth’s poles. This reminds me of how water turns different ways when it goes down the drain in the Northern and southern Hemisphere.

 The average size hurricanes are 420 miles wide. The big hurricanes can some times be 552 miles wide. The eye of the hurricane is mostly calm, it is generally 20 to 30 miles wide. The biggest hurricanes occur in the northwest pacific ocean. 

If the hurricane reaches land, it can be very destructive. The most destruction happens in the area right around the eye. The speed of the winds in the hurricane are over 100 miles per hour, causing trees to bend, roofs to come off houses, and mobile homes to flip. The wind can also push the water in the ocean on shore destroying everything near shore.

Originally for hundreds of years hurricanes  were named after the Saint’s day they occurred on. In 1953 the U.S. weather service decided to name the hurricanes female names for the storms. In 1979 both men and woman names were used. One name for each letter of the alphabet is chosen, except for Q, U, and Z. They decide the name by using six lists in rotation. The same lists are reused every six years. The only time a new name is added is when the hurricane is so deadly that everyone remembers it, that name is then retired. A good example is Hurricane Katrina. 

We have had some very bad hurricanes in recent history in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and Hurricane Andrew in Florida caused millions of dollars in damage and killed lots of people. These areas have hurricane warning systems to evacuate people in the event of another hurricane. 

The China Reflection

For my Humanities project I worked with Taelon, Sherif, and Charmaine. We decided we wanted to learn about ancient China. We all chose a part we wanted to work on Taelon chose government, Sherif chose religion and fashion, Charmaine chose art and architecture, And I chose food and a bit of architecture. When I was looking up information in the beginning it was really hard to find info about food in the Shang Dynasty. The information mainly went back to early AD. I did  find some information about the food, but it took some searching. I then wrote it out in a way to present it. I then started to work on a scale model of a house form ancient China with Charmaine. I would say this was my favorite part of the whole project, because I like to make things and have a physical object to show. We made it mainly out of cardboard and used popsicle sticks for the roof. The house was suppose to represent  cemetery, so I tried to make it the same on each side. In the process of making the house I burnt myself with the hot glue gun, which was kind of funny. Other then that part I enjoyed making the house. When we were presenting all of my other partners had a lot of good information, I really like what they had. When I presented I think I did not have enough information. I do think I presented and spoke well, I noticed a big change in how I speak in front of an audience. When people gave us feedback they seemed like they were happy with the overall outcome, they also said we presented good. I made sure to say what I thought about my part so everyone knew what I thought, because that was important. I liked the overall outcome, but wish I had maybe another topic to elaborate one. Next time I hope to do a project by myself, so I am the only one who is responsible for the work.

Reflecting the Quaternary Project

For my science project I studied the Quaternary period. I chose this period because this is when humans started. I started by looking up information about the Quaternary. I decided I wanted to write a essay for an end result. Other people had cool ideas for their projects that they were doing. I first made a plan for the essay, I was going to talk about humans, the climate, and animals in that time. I mainly talked about the beginning of the period, and maybe should have talked more about the later part of the period. As I was writing the essay this took up a lot of my other project times like my china project. It also took up some weekend time. I then asked my teacher if the essay was a good idea, she said it was, but am I going to just read my essay out to the class. I did not think of a way to present it I was too focused on the essay. I finished the essay and then started thinking out a way to present the project. I decided to do a keynote. A keynote because I have done them before and was use to them. I started by finding some pictures of interesting things in my essay and putting them in the keynote. My mom wanted me to do a few practice presentations. I did not write down anything to say so I kind of just thought of information to say about each picture. When I did the practice run-through I was surprised on how natural it felt when I talked about the slides. I just used information I already had in my mind. When it was the day to present I was the second to last. When I went up and stared speaking I think I did a great job, everyone looked like they were engaged in my presentation. When I was finished I was happy to get it over with. When we gave feedback most people said they really liked it and were surprised on how natural I looked.they did have a couple things they said I should work on. I think this was a successful project, and I was happy with the end result. 

Some things I learned from the other projects:

Sherif: in your project I learned the sizes of the dinosaures compared to humans. I also learned that the Stegasaures has 4 spikes on it’s tail, and used its tail as a weapon.

Charmaine: in your presentation I leaned that the Ceratosaurus had a horn on it’s head that was used for show and helped attract mates. I also learned there was a dispute on if the Brontosaurus and the Aptosaurus were actually two different dinosaurs. 

Taelon: In yours I learned that some of the dinosaurs were actually ancestors to modern day reptiles, and other dinosaurs in the future periods.

Brianna: In yours I learned that in the middle of your period the temperature dropped, and that the turtle like creature lived close to the top of the ocean.

Ruby and Maxx: I learned that the T- Res was actually from your period and that the water level was at its all time highest in your period.

Rob: I learned that the population started to grow rapidly just before the 20th century. I also learned that China has had the biggest growth in population over the past couple hundred years. 

Carwai: I learned that your period was considered the age of insects, because the flies and bugs where so much bigger than they our now. I also learned how the shape of the planet changed over the years.