Le Brea Tar Pits

When we were in LA I really wanted to go to the La Brea Tar Pits.  I had heard about their Dire wolf collection and my favourite animal is the Dire wolf.  

Although the name sounds really exciting the La Brea Tar Pits aren't actually Tar Pits, they are Asphalt Seeps where large puddles of a sticky black substance called Asphalt has seeped up through cracks in the earth.  The reason they're so interesting is that over 10s of thousands of years lots of animals have become stuck in the Asphalt and died.  These include lots of extinct species like the Mammoth, the Sabre Tooth Cat and the Dire wolf.  So there are literally thousands of fossils in the museum and lots still in the seeps.  

This is an exercise where you had to try and pull up on a handle to free something from the tar.  It showed us just how sticky the tar was and we understood just how impossible it would have been for animals to escape it once they had stepped in it.

When we arrived we looked at some of the skeletons...

 A demonstrator even let us touch a replica of a Sabre tooth Cat Skull.  When we arrived we thought that Sabre Tooth Cats were called Sabre Tooth Tigers, but the demonstrator told us the proper name.

We learnt about teeth.  If a skull has sharp teeth that means the animal is a carnivore they need them for tearing through meat.  If a  skull has flat teeth that's an indication that the animal was a herbivore because it grinds the flat parts of it's teeth together to break up fibres in plants.  In other museums in London we have also been able to apply this knowledge when looking at other animal fossils.

I Ioved the Wooly Mamorth

And the hundreds of Dire Wolf Skulls!  

A really interesting part of the museum was the laboratory where the Paleontologists worked.  It was a round room with glass on every side so you could see in easily.

On display was a mouse toe bone and an elephant toe bone.  Even though they vary in size tremendously if you look at the mouse bone under a microscope you will see the SHAPE is nearly exactly the same.

These are claws from a saber-toothed cat.  In the past paleontologists believed that the claws were the same size on all of the toes.  But over time with new research methods they have realised they are different sizes going from large to small like our toes do.

Here are some of the tools used by the Palentologists.  There are old toothbrushes, ear buds, pencils, scissors and various brushes.  They also use a special acid to dissolve the asphalt.

They carefully sort and record the fossils they find.

This is one of the rooms where the thousands of fossils are carefully stored.

As you can see my little brother Patrick really liked the Mammoths.  And so did I!  I really had a great day and learnt lots of cool stuff.  It blew my mind how many fossils they found - especially when I saw the pits.  And how many they've still go to go.  (The collection is expected to double with just one of the new seeps they're working on called Project 23.)   

The asphalt seeps really are a unique place where nature has captured thousands of years worth of natural history.

Say NO To Palm Oil (A persuasive report)

Do you know that 50% of the things you buy from the Supermarket contain something that's ending lives?

In this report you will learn why we should stop using unsustainable palm oil. Palm oil is a vegetable oil made from the kernels of a Palm Tree.  There are three main reasons why I believe we should stop using unsustainable palm oil.

1. It's harming the environment.
2. It's endangering animals.
3. It's even affecting people.

Environment

One example of how Palm Oil affects the environment is that in order to grow palm trees, palm farmers cut and burn down lots and lots of rainforest for space.  In fact 36 football fields of rainforest are destroyed every minute.  If we keep going at this rate in 100 years there will be no rainforest left at all!  

Another example is that the amount of pollution (carbon) released by the forest fires is greater than the amount of carbon released by all the vehicles in the world combined!

This carbon is also a major contributor to Global Warming!

So because it is so terrible for the environment we should stop using palm oil.

Another reason I believe this is because it's endangering so many amazing animals.

Animals

For example the deforestation involved in palm production is causing a large amount of habitat loss for many poor, helpless creatures which means that they have nowhere to live and nothing to eat.

Another way palm oil affects animals is that the fires used to clear the rainforest spread so fast that animals can't out run them.  So, many of them either get killed in the fires or sustain injuries that prevent them from doing what they have to do to survive (e.g. hunt, exercise, forage for food, defend themselves etc).

My final example is that because the animals don't have anything to eat, they go close to or break into villages to find food. They can then be shot by villagers or farmers who are just trying to protect themselves and their food supply.

It's not just individual animals that are getting hurt, but it's happening on such a wide scale that entire species are becoming endangered!  Many of those of species are well known such as the Sumatran Tiger and Bornean Orangutang but there are also many not so commonly known species.  In fact if palm oil production around the world continues at it's current rate 28,000 species will be extinct within 25 years!

So because it's endangering so many amazing animals we should stop using horrible, unsustainable palm.

The final reason I believe we need to stop using palm is that it is even endangering us as people!

People

For example, innocent people are being forced into SLAVERY at the palm farms and even CHILDREN are being forced into labour in some places!

Another astonishing yet 100% true example is that indigenous people are being forced from their homes and lands so that the land can be burned to nothing just so some greedy companies will have space just to grow a stupid vegetable oil!

But that's not all.  Another example is that loads of local people are suffering from nasty health effects such as severe fevers, burns and respiratory problems from the heat and smoke!

Not only are people being affected locally but other people even in different countries are being affected too.  In Singapore people are even having to wear masks to filter all the pollution just to do everyday chores because of all the haze released by fires all the way in Indonesia.  In 2015 air levels reached hazardous levels (the worst it can get) because of all the smoke released.  Because of this many people are getting breathing problems such as lung disease.  In these countries schools are sometimes shut down and people are being frequently advised not to go outdoors because of the amount of toxic pollution during this time.

So because it's harming people I believe we should stop using the worst vegetable oil in the world.  (PALM!)

In this report you have learned why unsustainable palm oil is so bad.  You learned why it's terrible for the environment, animals and people.

All of this doesn't have to happen!  There are many better alternatives such as sustainable palm oil and other vegetable oils.   

So what can you do?

Next time you go to the Supermarket check the ingredients list on the things you buy for palm oil.  (Even things like peanut butter and cosmetics).  It is in roughly 50% (HALF) of all products on supermarket shelves!  Then if you see palm as one of the ingredients, choose not to buy that product.  Because if customers don't buy palm oil, manufacturers will have less demand for their products.  In turn they will need less palm oil and so won't buy as much from producers.  Then the producers won't destroy as much rain forest to make space to grow palm trees.  

So you have the power to save the environment, animals and even human beings if you just choose to say "NO!" to palm!

Writing a Mystery Novel

During the UK school holidays there was a writing workshop on with a company called Chelsea Young Writers.  Last year I did a day course but this year I went along for a whole week of writing.  

This year I did the workshop with a famous author named Alan Durant who had just written his 100th book.  The theme for the week was 'Mystery' so we learned about the elements of a mystery novel, did writing exercises to practise examples of mystery writing and wrote our own mystery novels.

This is my class and our teacher.

 On the last day the parents came and we all read an extract from our stories. This is me reading my extract in front of the whole audience.

After I completed the course I got this certificate.

Since then I have been working really on editing my story.   I have also made some big changes and improvements to the plot.  My writing goals for this term were: 

1) To punctuate with better accuracy, checking for full stops and capital letters.  
We have been doing touch typing practise every day since we got to the UK, so I'm using my touch typing skills to type up my story myself. This is giving me a really good opportunity to work on this.

2) Include thoughts and feelings.

I have added lots more detailed descriptions and made sure I included descriptions of the characters' thoughts and feelings.

3) Use a variety of sentence lengths and structures.

I am also trying to do this and am trying to work out how to use these effectively.  I am trying to use shorter sentences for impact especially when I'm writing a particularly suspense-filled piece.


I want to be able to finish my story so I can self-publish it and sell it.  So watch this space!

Look Out for Palm

Every year when we come to London we spend some of our time learning about Palm Oil.  Palm oil is a vegetable oil used in roughly 50% of products in the supermarket.  But in order to grow Palm trees to get palm oil, large companies cut and burn down rainforest to make room to plant palm farms.

We found a really powerful add that shows the impact on just one animal.  

If you want to help these animals the  main thing you can do is check the ingredients in the products you buy at the supermarket for palm oil and only buy products with either no palm oil or sustainable palm oil.  Palm oil is in food, soaps and other products.  The difficult thing is that some companies 'hide' the palm oil by giving it different names.

Here is a link to some of the names: Alternative names for Palm Oil


Please share this video to help spread Palm Oil Awareness. 

Science Camp

This week we went to a Science Camp at Imperial College London, EVERY day from 9am-3.30.  We got to explore biology, anatomy, chemistry, physics and engineering & design.


We don't have lots of photos but below is a summary of some of the things we did each day.

Monday (Ecology)

• We dissected a fish and learnt about the swim bladder and gills and removed the heart, eyes, and intestines.

• We made our own Natron salt from baking soda and salt (sodium chloride) and mummified an apple.

• We learnt about neutral and acidic pH levels and put a flower in water and vinegar (a weak acid) to see how they affected it.  Then we learnt about acid rain and how it damages the different parts of the ecosystem.

• We made a clay island and tested the effects of an oil spill.  We learnt lots about how oil spills affect the environment and animals in real life.

• We filtered dirty water using different things such as coffee filter paper, tights, newspaper, a funnel, and cotton buds.  We learnt about the process of filtration.

• We made trees out of sponges, pipe cleaners and kebab stick and tested them against a blow-dryer to mimic the wind.  We learnt about buttress roots and how they keep the trees stable.

Tuesday (Biology)

 

• We looked at an ox's heart and dissected a lamb's heart and learnt about all the chambers.

• We made stethoscopes with balloons, paper cups and strings.  We learned that the covering on the stethoscope works the same way as the skin on a drum.

• We dissected a lamb's kidney and learnt how they work.

• We used candy to make a neuron and learnt how neurons work in our brain to send signals.

• We learnt all about the human digestive system and how it works. 

• We made fake poo from coffee, chocolate, bread, oats, dishwashing liquid and water.

Wednesday (Chemistry)

• We learnt about endothermic and exothermic reactions.  Then we made a hand-warmer with iron filings, silicon beads and vinegar.  

• We went outside to see a demonstration of putting a mentos lolly in a bottle of soda.  We learnt that the carbon dioxide built  up on the surface of the mentos because it was bumpy. We had been learning about solids, liquids and gases at home, so Isaac explained that Carbon dioxide is a gas so it would fill up all the space it could.  Then we made our own mini version in a cup but it didn't explode.   This is because there was a wider space for the gas to escape.

• We learnt about pH levels.

• We used vinegar, food colouring and oil to create a lava lamp.  We learnt that oil and water separate because they are different densities.

Thursday (Physics)

• We learned that you can't make or destroy energy you can only transfer it.  First we made Ping Pong Ball Shooters.  When you pull the balloon back the electrical energy in your arm transfers into elastic potential energy in the balloon.  Then when the balloon hits the ping pong ball, the energy is transferred into the ball and it fires forward.   Then when the ball hits another surface (a face, or the floor for example) the energy goes into that surface.

• Then we made marshmallow blow-pipes.  They didn't work because they were too long and so we couldn't blow it out.  Then when we made them too short they just fell out.  The hole had to be just bigger than the marshmallow so the air couldn't escape out the side, but instead the energy from your breath was supposed to transfer into the marshmallow and blow it out.  Sometimes experiments don't work the way they're supposed to! 

• Next we put raisins in two cups - one with lemonade and one with water.  In the water there is a little bit of carbon dioxide which got attracted to the raisins because of their bumpy surace and When we put them in the lemonade so many carbon dioxide bubbles attached to their bumpy surface that they move to the top of the liquid.

• We learned about friction.  We had a race with jelly and you had to use two chopsticks to get the jelly cubes from one plate to the next.  Then we had a harder race when the teachers had poured oil on the jelly.  It was harder because the oil meant the jelly cubes were more slippery so there was less friction to help us hold on.

• We tied string around a spoon and put the ends of the string in our ears.   We hit the spoon which sounded really loud.  We learned sound travels best through solids.

Friday (Design and Engineering)

• We were challenged to make weatherproof houses out of a cardboard box, sugar cubes, clay, lego and tape.  Then the teacher sprayed them with water, sprinkled flour for snow and used a blow dryer for wind to see how strong our houses were.  Our team were winners!  Yay!

• We discussed how the tunnels were made for trains through mountains and then we made our own tunnels for pedestrians and cars with clay and toothpicks.  

• We made a model airport considering where to put the runway, control tower and carpark.

Reading a PIE (#yum!)

We're learning about PIE!!!  Not the kind you eat though - it's a cool way of remembering the 3 main types of Author's Purpose.    My next step for reading based on the goals set at my school in New Zealand is: 

"Understanding the meaning of the text and why the author has written the text.  Identifying the purpose."  


The parts of PIE are:

Persuade - this is when the author tries to convince you to do something or share their opinion.

Inform - this when the author provides information or facts.

Entertain - this is when the author tries to grip you and make you want to read more.  This is usually fiction.

Sometimes an author can have more than one purpose.  For example if someone tried to inform you about the life of a historical person they could do it as a story.  Or if they wanted to persuade you that a company is bad and you shouldn't buy their products they might write a bunch of facts about why it's bad to help persuade.  They would be informing as well.

Here is a fun video song we found about PIE. 

PIE song by Flowcabulary

We're going on a Pie Hunt

We have just arrived in Aberdeen.  Today is our first day in a new house.  So, my Mum gave us a PIE treasure hunt challenge. We had to find examples in the house of something written to persuade, inform, entertain AND something where the author had more than one purpose.

Isaac and I both managed to find all the slices of our pie.  Yum!  I'm looking forward to learning more about PIE.

The Lost Egyptian City at the Bottom of the Ocean

At the British Museum we also went to see an exhibition called "Sunken Cities: Egypts Lost World". 

Two cities of ancient Egypt have been discovered recently.  They were lost because they were at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea and water levels rose and the cities were flooded.  The exhibition was full of many of the things they had found from the city.  But they have only found about 5% of what is there.  So 95% of the cities remain sunken under the ocean. The cities were called Canopus and Thonis-Heracleion.

The first thing we did was have a look at some objects at a hands-on desk.  Some were seals similar to the ones in the Greek exhibit which we learned about last year.  (They are used to mark property to show who owns it).  There were also some amulets that Mummies would be buried with to protect them in the afterlife. 

This was the statue of the God Hapi who stood at the edge of the city of Thonis-Heracleion.  The thing that the statue is holding is a tray which offerings put on.  This statue was to welcome ships to the port.

This was a tablet with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.  I recognised some of the letters from when I learned about them last year.  I recognised a Pharohs name because it was inside a cartouche (a special oval shape which Pharohs' names would always be carved inside to protect them from evil spirits in the afterlife).  You can read more about this in my blog post from last year about visiting the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology here.

This is a cabinet full of eating utensils and tableware.  My favourite was a spoon that had been entirely covered in coral.

Next I was able draw a picture of something that I saw in the exhibit and I decided to draw the coral spoon.

Something I found interesting was that the cities were Egyptian but lots of Greeks started to visit as they were big trading ports.  So you can see lots of Egyptian and Greek relics and sometimes where the two cultures combine.  This is a map of the city.  I noticed that Temples for Greek Gods were allowed to be built right next to Temples for Egyptian Gods.  It made me think about today and how some people are angry about Mosques being built near Christian Churches.  I wondered if the ancient Egyptians could accept and live in harmony with others beliefs back then, why can't we do it today? 

At this point Mum saw a sign that said no photos - WHOOPS!  So we couldn't take any more, but we saw tons of other amazing relics and learnt lots of cool facts about life and also the beliefs and myths of the Ancient Egyptian Era.  

Here we are on our way home - but as you can see London traffic was a bit crazy that day so it took quite a long time.

Back to Ancient Greece

One day just Mum and I went to the British Museum.  This time we decided to try out one of their activity back-packs.  There were lots of interesting options.  "Let's try something new and exciting!" said Mum.  

But I couldn't resist choosing Ancient Greece - again.  You can read about our family adventures in the Ancient Greece section of the British Museum last year here:

http://theexcitingadventuresoffinn.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/exploring-ancient-greece.html

This year was just as fun and I learnt so many new things even though we'd already been.

The backpack contained 6 different activities to do as you went through the Ancient Greek section of the Museum.

Activity 1 - Dress Up Time  (no thanks)

The first was to observe the statues and dress up like them.  But... I chose to just hold up the costume so Mum could get a photo.

Activity 2 - Put together the Parthenon

I got a bunch of magnets shaped like the different parts of the temple and a white board and I had to arrange them to match the Parthenon in front of me.  I learnt the names of the different parts of the ancient building.

Activity 3 - Olympics!

For this activity I had to find different clay jars that depicted different sports that are still part of the Olympics today.  I had to match them to photos of athletes doing those activities today.

Runners

Long Jump

A really interesting thing that they used to do in Ancient Greece was that the athletes competing in Long Jump would jump with weights in each hand.

These are some of the weights.

On this clay pot you can see a man carrying two jumping weights.

Discus

Here are two examples of an Ancient Greek Discus.

This is the clay pot that has the discus thrower.

Javelin

These clay pots depict the javelin event.

Boxing

This was considered the most violent sport of the Olympics.  Boxers used thin strips of leather wrapped round their hands to protect them instead of gloves.  Contestants fought until one of them gave in.  There were no separate rounds.

These pots and this sculpture depict the fighters - you can see in the first pot that one of the men's noses is bleeding.

Activity 4 - Fun and Games

The fourth activity was finding some of the games that children used to play in Ancient Greece.

These are various kinds of knucklebones.

For this activity I was given some knucklebones and instructions on how to play.  It was played in slightly different way than today.  You had to throw the knucklebones from the palm to the back of your hand.  Then while balancing the ones you had caught on the back of your hand you had to pick up any that had fallen.  After trying for quite a while I finally managed to catch them all.  (More fun than Pokemon Go! 😜)

These are various dice for playing games.  Some are shaped like dice today with many sides, but with Roman Numerals.  The others were shaped like squatting babies.  

Here's a pot with two soldiers playing checkers.

Activity 5 - What's that Smell?

For the next activity I had to guess the contents of various containers by smelling them.  There was olive oil, wine and some kind of cosmetics.

Then I had 3 silhouette cut-outs and I had to match them to Pots in the cases and work out which of the smells belonged where.

Activity 6 - The Labours of Herakles

In this activity I had to match little cut outs of pictures, to pictures on Pots depicting the 12 labours of Herakles (Hercules).

I thought the backpacks were really fun.  (Apart from dressing up!)  I had a great time and learnt lots of cool stuff!