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Saturday, November 20, 2010

Bahloo, Moon Man

    • Bahloo, the Moon, was lonely high up in the empty sky, so he decided to visit Earth. When the campfires were burning and the girls were dancing, Bahloo came down close to Earth and lowered his shining face to speak to the girls. They were frightened by this bright round white thing and ran away.
    • The next night he returned to find two other girls sitting on the riverbank. “How beautiful the moonlight is,” sighed one of the girls. This was encouraging to Bahloo, and he decided to come closer to the girls. He broke into a run, puffing and blowing, his big bell shaking. The girls were surprised by Bahloo, and they didn’t know whether to laugh or shout for help. They ran away to a safe distance and stood there staring back at the Moon.
Myth Cont.

    • Bahloo’s feelings were hurt, and he sat down by the riverbank and cried. The girls felt sorry for Bahloo and returned. They invited him to ride in their canoe to the other side of the river. But Bahloo was so big that, when he stepped into the canoe, it rocked and tipped, and then turned over, dumping Bahloo into the water. The round shining Moon sank down, down into the water and his light became dimmer and dimmer. The girls laughed and ran home.
    • Bahloo was very embarrassed. He climbed into the sky without anybody noticing and remained hidden for several days. Gradually, he regained his courage and grew round and bright for all to see. But when he remembered the girls and how they laughed at him, he began to get smaller and soon went out of sight. Every month, Bahloo grows round and bright and full of courage, and every month he remembers his fall into the river and shrinks away to hide.

Tale of the rabbit

    • There had been four Suns in previous ages, and all had ended in catastrophic destruction. The gods came together to create a new and final Sun. To create the Sun, one of the gods would have to jump into the fire, the hearth of the gods. The gods gathered at the hearth at midnight to determine which god would make the sacrifice and become the Sun.
    • Two gods volunteered. One of them was wealthy and strong, the arrogant Tacciztecatl, and the other was poor, sick, and frail, the god Nanahuatzin. Both agreed to die in order to raise the new Sun.
Myth Cont.

    • But when the strong god approached the fire, the flames flared high, and frightened, he fell back from the edge. His fellow gods shouted encouragements to him to take the leap but he could not.
    • Humble Nanahuatzin approached the fire, and without hesitating, he leaped into the flames. His body sizzled, cracked, and burned. This gave Tacciztecatl the courage to jump, and he did. The other gods waited in the darkness for signs of the dawn and Nanahuatzin’s transformation into the fifth Sun.
Myth Cont.

    • The gods kept arguing among themselves as to where the Sun would first appear. Each one took up a position looking in a different direction so they would be sure to see the Sun as it first came up. And finally the Sun appeared brilliant and red in the east, the direction of creation and new life. Following the Sun, Nanahuatzin, was a second very bright ball, Tacciztecatl, reincarnated as the Moon. Both balls remained still, and in order to get them to move across the sky, the rest of the gods had to sacrifice themselves in the fire.
Myth Cont.

But before they died, one of the gods did something to the Moon. He grabbed a rabbit and hurled it into the Moon’s bright face, darkening tremendously.

Moon and His Sister

  • The Moon was a good-spirited and friendly Indian whose facce was even brighter than that of the Sun. Moon had one sister, a small star who was often seen beside him, and he had many other star friends.
Myth Cont.

    • One day Moon gathered all of his friends together for a great potlatch. His house was very small, and soon the guests had taken up all the space.
    • As soon as Moon’s sister arrived, Moon asked her to fetch water for him in several buckets. This was not an easy task, as it was winter. She had to struggle with the cold, howling wind as she walked to get the water. The water was frozen by the river, and she had to chip through the ice in order to fill the buckets.
Myth Cont.

    • She walked back to the house with her heavy burden, only to find that there was no room inside for her. She called to her brother, “Where can I sit?”
    • Moon was in a very good mood and he just grinned at his sister. “There isn’t enough space for even a mouse in here. I guess you will have to sit on my shoulder,” he laughed.
    • Moon’s little sister was not in the mood for his good humor. She took him at his word and jumped onto his shoulder. There she sits even today holder on to her water buckets. Moon is not as bright as he once was as the shadow from her bucks dims his face.

Rona in the Moon

Rona

Rona was the daughter of the sea god Tangaroa. She was the Tide Controller. One night she was carrying a bucket with stream water back home to her children, when the path became dark. The Moon slipped behind the clouds making it impossible to see anything. As Rona was walking, she hit her foot against a root that was sticking out of the ground. She was so upset that she couldn't see the root, she made some unkind remarks about the Moon. The Moon heard her remarks and put a curse on the Maori people. The Moon grabbed Rona and her water bucket. Many people today see a woman with a bucket in the Moon. It is said that when Rona upsets her bucket, it rains. This Maori story symbolizes the influence of the Moon on the rain and on the waters of the Earth, and especially on the tides.
In a separate Maori myth, a man named Rona went to the Moon to find his wife. To this day, the two take turns eating each other.

Father moon

FATHER MOON:

Lunar Myth: Father Moon

          o Yasi had a son. One day the boy was playing with a jaguar and was accidentally killed. The jaguar was terrified and ran deep into the forest to hide forever. Yasi wanted to find out who the killer was, but none of the animals would tell him. This so enraged Yasi that he gave the howler monkey a long neck, put spines on the porcupine, and burdened the tortoise with a heavy shell.

Myth Cont.

          o Yasi was still furious, so he leaped into the night sky to search for his son’s killer. He searched all across the land and the sky. Each day Yasi got dirtier and dirtier until he was completely covered with soil and leaves. He stopped by a stream to clean himself and rest. Each day he rested, Yasi washed a little bit off his face. Finally he was completely clean, and he resumed the search for his son’s killer.

Myth Cont.

          o Yasi is still wandering the skies today, spending half his time hunting and half his time resting. When he returns from the hunt, his face is completely covered in dirt. He washes off a little of the dirt each day until his face shines brightly once again.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

7th Grade Benchmark Review for Friday November 12, 2010

1- Please review your notes from class on Gravity. Gravity is a force. When I push down on you that is force being exerted on you. Your mass or the mass of any object is what it is made of. The mass doesn't change even if gravity changes. If you are on a space ship to Mars, your weight will decrease because gravity decreases. Your mass will remain the same.

2- If I throw a rock in the air and it falls, which it will, that is an example of gravity. Me pushing a car on a table is not, and neither is someone driving a car on the highway. An apple falling from a tree is also an example of gravity. Falling, anything falling is an example of gravity.
     
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVz8P86poEQ&feature=related
 
3- What causes the gravitational force between the Sun and the Earth is their masses. As mass increases so does the gravitational pull between them, but as the distance increases, the force decreases.

4- Larger planets have greater relative strength when it comes to their gravitational pull. The reason you weigh less on the moon is because the moon is smaller and thereforce has a smaller gravitational pull than the EARTH.

5- Once you are outside the Earth's Atmosphere gravitational pull decreases. Remember what I mentioned in class. For only $250,000 you can take a special plane into space, just outside Earth's atmosphere and float around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tEkKhMVoS4&feature=related (zero gravity video )

6- Your weight on Earth is the force gravity imposes on your mass. It is related to your mass, not your volume.

7- Review why NJ is warmer in the summer. Recall it is not the distance but it is the ANGLE at which the suns rays hit us. SOLAR Angles.

8- In the winter the sun in the sky is the shortest.

8th Grade BenchMark II test on Friday November 12, 2010

1- Brachiopods are marine animals with large shells. They live in Coral Reef, in the Ocean.
This is a picture of a brachiopod.2- Fossils are great assets in history. With a fossil we can carbon date and find out the age of a bone.
We can also use fossils to learn what type of animal or plant lived in a given area. For example, in the Grand Canyon it would not be uncommon to find a fossil of a cactus in the future. This would tell future generations that the Grand Canyon is dry and hot.
Apart from telling you about the climate fossils can also tell you about what types of animals lived in a given area. If you find the fossil of a fish on a sand bed, you can infer that perhaps at one time that area may have been covered by water.
 
3- Uniformitarianism assumes that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7mt3ClK7dM
The above link is a discussion taking place at the Grand Canyon regarding this very topic
4- Sedimentary rocks are the only type of rock that can contain fossils, the remains or imprints of dead organisms. In nature, dead organisms are usually quickly removed by scavengers, bacteria, rotting and erosion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPiw1nH4NZM
The above video shows and discusses fossils and sedimentary ROCKS. You only need to watch the first 2 minutes the rest is pretty advance, but entertaining if you would like to view it. (You don't have to write this statement here if you are writing it to study)
 
5- According to fossils that we have found do you know how old the Earth is? 4.5 Billion years. Yes that is older than I your science teacher.
6- Uplifting is nothing more than land being raised to a higher level.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSPrzdW88ic (This Video Illustrates the process)
7- Erosion is moving sediments from one area to another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFnpm4SUF7I
This video illustrates Weathering, Erosion and Deposition in only 60 seconds (VERY EASY TO Understand)
In seeing the video above it's easy to understand why running water, the Colorado River, is the main method of Erosion in the Grand Canyon.
8- The Principle of Superposition states that Sedimentary layers are deposited in a time sequence, with the oldest on the bottom and the youngest on the top. In other words, oldest on the bottom and newest on top. 9- Remember the following careers:
Geologists study Rocks
Archaelogists study fossils
Botanists, study plants
10- As seen in the video above weathering is nothing more than the breaking down of rock. DO NOT confuse it with the WEATHER. It doesn't have to do with weather. A rock can break in good or bad weather.
A great example of weathering ICE WEDGING.. because it breaks down rock, not because it happens in cold weather, remember weathering can happen in ANY TYPE of weather.
An avalanche is caused only by gravity, nothing else. Look at the this video of an avalanche in New Zealand. The snow accumulates until gravity eventually just pulls is down the side of a mountain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydJMklYu6N8
 
11- What is Mechanical Weathering, breaking down rock through a physical process, but Chemical Weathering is breaking is down in a chemical reaction.
Physical weathering would be the lab where be made sand from shaking the stones. Chemical weathering is the lab where we applied the acid to the rocks and it fizzed
 
We will review this information in class as well and have a the Science Feud Face off for points on Wednesday, be prepared to earn points...