Summer School Blog1

1 Goals 4 summer school

-improve my writing

-make reading an everyday habit

-earn organization skills

2 the picture shown above is climatology studies. When i grow up, i would like to become a climatologist and study the weather. I have been always interested in weather and i can't remember since when probably when i was six years of age but it has always been my dream to become one.

This I Belive (A World Without Borders)

My grandmother once told me that mankind is our true nationality. That no matter how we speak, where we live, or how we look, we are all human. I asked her, “then why do we build fences around countries to keep certain people away? If we are all humans and all the same, then why do we want to keep each other away?” My grandmother said that even though we are all the same, we are still afraid to embrace one another’s religions and cultures, afraid that if a high concentration of different people move in and practice their own traditions, our own true identities may be frogoten. Even up to this day, we are still afraid of people’s unique appearances and so we build fences to keep them away.

I thought to myself how life would be all over the world if we closed all borders. What if we let anyone from any place go anywhere, and move wherever they want? I think that would be a wonderful idea. Now that all types of humans have spread over the globe, it would be much easier for people to adapt to different lifestyles. I think this is possible because on a constant basis, I pass through neighborhoods and see children of all races playing soccer on the street, they all grew up together and got used to their differences and manage to get along, so if one neighborhood can do it, maybe the world can as well. We as the human species would be able to learn from people all over the globe about how to live a better lifestyle.

If the whole world would come together and become a single nation, the Human Nation, it would become the first step toward achieving peace. War begins with fear of the neighboring country. We have military and weapons so other countries will fear us, so united as a single nation, the need for military personnel would decrease and would make the world a much more peaceful place. For something so big like a reformation, it would take a very long time, there would be many international gatherings, debates, ect, but I know that that we as humans are capable of understanding that we may not hide ourselves behind our borders, eventually we will have to face each other and accept the fact that like my grandmother said, no matter how we speak, where we live and how we look, we are all human. Our true nationality is mankind.

R.E.M. Soundtrack

A Visit to Calliope

• I cant tell you why By Shin Kono

Pg. 67- 68 until the end of the 1^st section on pg 28. This song goes perfect in this part because this piece of music is a bit sad in the beginning but then it gets more soothing as it goes and it goes perfect with this section of the chapter because it almost seems sad that Ishmael only has a few weeks left and then the mood gets a bit happier because Ishmael will finally release the message he must send to Julie.

• August’s Rhapsody By Unknown Composer (Soundtrack)

Pg. 68 starting into the second section up until pg 75 (end of chapter)

In the second section of pg 68 Ishmael begins to talk about calliope which in the book is like another world and so in the beginning of the song, it sounds mysterious, almost as if you are exploring a place you have never been into, and as you go, the song is almost describing nature. The whole chapter describes nature and the way life works, how we see things. That’s why this soundtrack goes well with this chapter.

Calliope Part II

• Beethoven Piano Sonata in C sharp “ Moonlight” By Evelyne Dubourg

Pg 76 – 83 This song goes with this section of the chapter because Ishmael talks about what animals do for their offspring to survive like killing each other’s offspring ( white footed mouse ) and about evolution which consists of killing and fighting each other and that these strategies evolve because they “work” . In my point of view, I find this depressing because animals must kill and fight to survive, therefore a sad theme is perfect to my ear for this section of the chapter.

• Egmont Overture By Ludwig Van Beethoven

Pg. pg. 83 (where he begins to talk about calliope again) – 91 (end of chapter)

Ishmael begins to talk about survival and evolution in a more serious way. He explains how awk’s forest disappeared, so they evolved into Bawks, the Bawks had to work together to find food in their new environment, developed teamwork ect. This song goes well with this scene because it sound serious but a happy serious, almost as if things are going as planned. That’s why the song goes with this part of the chapter.

Alan’s Ishmael

• My Immortal By Evanescence

Pg 282 – 286. This song goes perfect with this chapter because this song sort of reflects “a pain that is just too real, there is just too much that cannot erase” also a part that of the song that says “you used to captivate me by your resonating light, now I’m bound by the life you left behind.” These lyrics relate to Julie because she is sort of bounded by the life Ishmael left behind for her. Julie now has a different view of the world, probably would have never seen the world she sees now if it wasn’t for Ishmael. Now she lives a life based on Ishmael’s teachings. Thtas how this song relates to this chapter.

Evelyn Glennie

What i will remember most about Evelyn Glennie's performance is that she has lost her ability to hear and yet she is still able to play beautiful music.

I really enjoyed listening to Evelyn Glennie play the Marimba. She played it in a very soothing way that relaxes you.

I really think that each person experiences music in their own way by what they like to hear. It all depends on what you find soothing or pleasurable to hear. For example some people like rap, reggae or maybe hip pop but sometimes music can be manifested by your own life experiences. Rock represents some of my past life experiences and i can actually see myself in the lyrics so it all depends on what you find comfortable and recognizable to the ear.

School Garden

Questions From Board

Does this visit inspires you to make your own Garden?

- This visit to the senior garden does not inspire me to make my own garden because i never did like to garden. It's not that I hate it, it's just that I'm not interested in gardening.

What would you grow if you hd this garden?

- If i had the senior garden, i would grow plants that decorate my house, makes it look nice, also i would grow fruits that I enjoy, which is basically anything that is tropical.

Do you think the seniors care about the garden?

- I do think that the seniors care about the garden, the garden is very well groomed, and when asking questions, the seniors (at least the one I asked) seemed very confident with the information they shared with me.

What kind of plants were there?

-There were many types of plants, there were:
peppers
potatoes
lavender
strawberries
snap dragons
rainbow chard
and many more......

Interviewed Questions

What's the purpose of the Garden?

- The purpose of the garden is to learn about plants (gardening) to eat healthier and mantain a healthier lifestyle.

How did the senior garden started/who funded it?

- John (environmental sciences teacher) started the garden. John asked a group of students to help him with the garden and they all worked together to create the garden.

What's the future of the Garden?

- Each senior generation will hopefully maintain the garden until they are asked to remove the garden by the owners of the NTC. Students are welcome to help mantain the garden during summer.

Talking These Ideas Out

- I have been severely struck by "Food Inc." I knew these things were happening, but i didn't really care or actually sat down and thought about these until someone actually shows you the things that are really happening to the food. What really has struck me about "Food Inc." was the slaughter houses/animal concentration camps . It's very hard for me to believe that humans can do so much cruelty to animals especially that these animals are born and raised to be killed. I believe that we humans being the superior species should use remedies or solutions to keep animals from suffering. True, some of these remedies might be expensive, but if it helps rid of animal suffering, or diseases such as collide that harms humans as well, it might be worth to loose a couple of dollars.

- I highly agree with the concepts from both "Food Inc" and "My Ishmael" because they both prove and relate to the real world that are true facts. Both share points that make you think around the world around you and think about fats that are going on behind your back.

- My mother thought about the things that I shared to her about what i learned in class. She thought that it's very sad that people go so far to earn money, but what can ordinary people like her do? Those companies pay the government so they can continue to do the damage they create on our everyday food and so, we are unable to do anything especially in these economic times.

School Daze Dialectic Journal

"Not so in tribal societies. In tribal societies, the three year old is free to explore the world around it as far as it likes, which is not far as it will go when it's four, five six, seven or eight. There simply are no walls shutting the child in or out of any age, no doors closed against it. There is no age when it "should" learn a given thing. nor wold anyone ever dream of giving thought to such thing."

part of quote pg 150

I think this part of the quote Ishmael says is very true. This happens in everyday childhood. The older a child gets the more its going to learn about the world around them for example myself, when i was four, my family got our first computer, myself not knowing anything about it, decided to explore the computer and learn how to use it, and the older i got, the more i learned about it. Basically it's the same thing as the quote from My Ishmael but in different terms but i really enjoy how this book actually relates to real world things/situations that you know about or have experienced.