Alfred Lothar Wegener

Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German geologist and meteorologist. He is most widely known for his theory of continental drift, which was a theory scorned during his life and many years after his death, but now widely accepted as the truth.

Alfred was born on November 1^st, 1880. After attending “the Köllnische Gymnasium in his home town”¹ he went to what is now Humboldt University in Berlin, and graduated with a degree in astronomy. Although he was quite interested geology and meteorology, he never had a drop of formal education in those subjects. He learned what he did from hiking, skiing, visiting Greenland, and research he conducted himself.

In 1914, Alfred was drafted into the German army, but was released from combat service when he was badly injured. The rest of his time he was drafted into he spent as an army weather forecaster.

Alfred went to Greenland many times. His death occurred partly because of one of these expeditions. He never returned. The summer after his death his body was found under sheets of ice, and reburied elsewhere. Because of the area where he was buried, his body has probably moved several hundreds of feet away from his homeland- continental drift in motion.

Alfred Wegener did quite a few things to make him famous. He was one of the first pioneers in the use of hot air balloons to track air flow. He and his brother, Kurt, stayed up in a hot air balloon for 52 ½ hours, which was the record at that time. And like I mentioned before, he was the first one to suggest the theory of continental drift. “In retrospect, we see that his theory showed remarkable insight, and it was undoubtedly his lack of formal training in geology and paleontology that enabled him to look at the Earth in a somewhat less restricted way than the highly disciplined "academic experts". He was able to take an objective view of all the available evidence and to see how it could all fit together.”²

1Wikipedia; en.wikipedia.org; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wegener

2http://courses.science.fau.edu/~rjordan/phy1931/WEGENER/wegener.htm

oooh, I like me as a fairy!

Your fairy is called Gossamer Moonglimmer

She is the moon goddess's messenger.

She lives in spiderwebbed wonderlands and insect grottos.

She is only seen when the sun sets on the day of a completed harvest.

She wears tiny black spiders on her dresses. She has beautiful blue butterfly wings.

Get your free fairy name here!

Genetically Modified Foods Paper

“Genetic Modified Organisms according to the Gentechnikgesetz (GenTG)from 20.06.90 (Genetic Technique Law) in Germany are organisms whose genetic material were modified in a way which is not found in nature under natural conditions of crossbreed or natural recombination.”¹ Genetic modified foods (otherwise known as genetic engineered foods) are plants or foods that have been modified for different reasons. There are tomatoes that have special genes inserted into their DNA that allows them to ripen without softening, or to sit on the shelf for longer. Certain types of animals have also been genetically modified, to make them less fatty, to produce less manure, and other such things. In this report, when I refer to 'GM foods' I am talking about genetically modified foods.

There are a lot of advantages to GM foods. Because scientists can insert virtually any gene into a plant DNA, they can help a plant survive when it ordinarily might not.

For one, they can cause plants to become resistant to bugs. This is good for both the plant and for the environment. If a plant is already resistant to insects, there is no need to use insecticides which might hurt wildlife.

Scientists have also figured out ways to add medicines into the foods. In many countries people can't afford medicine. If they can buy food that already has vaccines and medication in it they can prevent illnesses far easier then if they had to buy the medicines separately. Also, this can be far more convenient if you don't have to ingest a pill, but if you could just have it in your food.

Along with the pharmaceuticals in food, scientists can also change the genes in plants to make them more nutritious. This is a benefit in many countries where things like rice is the main food staple. Because rice by itself isn't very healthy, it would benefit them greatly if the scientists could find a way to add more of the vitamins people need daily into it.

There is also a way that scientists can add genes into the plant that allow them to grow in conditions they wouldn't otherwise. “Indian national average cotton yields of GM cotton were seven times lower in 2002, because the parental cotton plant used in the genetic engineered variant was not well suited to the climate of India and failed. The publicity given to transgenic trait Bt insect resistance has encouraged the adoption of better performing hybrid cotton varieties, and the Bt trait has substantially reduced losses to insect predation.”² Certain plants can have their DNA changed in a way that allows them to grow in dry places if they are normally plants that need a lot of moisture, or vice versa. This could allow for more profit in countries where usually it's hard to grow things.

Along with the above advantages, GM foods can also be changed to have herbicide tolerance (leading to fewer herbicides being sprayed, and benefiting the environment) and to be resistant to cold.

Like most things, GM foods have cons as well as pros, and some of the pros can be cons.

One example of this is the effect some of the insect resistant plants have on species we want to keep, such as monarch butterflies. The pollen from some of the GM plants can drift to other plants and contaminate them with the modified genes. When a seed falls from the contaminated plant, it has some of the GM plant traits in it. If the plant was insect proof, then the plant might also be bad for bugs, and when something like a butterfly eats, the plant can have a negative impact and kill the butterfly. “Last year a laboratory study was published in Nature showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that if pollen from B.t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish. Although the Nature study was not conducted under natural field conditions, the results seemed to support this viewpoint. Unfortunately, B.t. toxins kill many species of insect larvae indiscriminately; it is not possible to design a B.t. toxin that would only kill crop-damaging pests and remain harmless to all other insects. This study is being reexamined by the USDA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other non-government research groups, and preliminary data from new studies suggests that the original study may have been flawed.”³

Besides hurting species, contamination of seeds and plants have other effects also. Mainly, they are harder on organic farmers who are prohibited from using the GM seeds. If their plants are contaminated it can be bad for their businesses and the word “organic” can lose it's meaning.

Another thing that has been raising concerns is the fact that no one knows how people will react to the GM foods. The genes inserted into the plants aren't ones that are found in nature, so they might cause allergic reactions in people, mainly children. Besides allergies, the GM foods might have negative effects on the health of humans. Since the genes are resistant to diseases, they might also be resistant to medication. There isn't much to support these beliefs (and what there is isn't stable), but they are still valid concerns.

DDT was a pesticide that was very effective in killing things. It also had some very bad side effects, but before it was outlawed, some mosquitoes started learning to resist the pesticide. Some people have concerns that GM foods will stop the effectiveness of pesticides, and especially those in the plants. If this happened the environmental benefits of the insect resistant plants would be lost, because the farmers who used the GM plants would have to start using pesticides again.

GM foods and plants are both good and bad. On one hand, they could be a very positive thing for countries where it's hard to grow things, and for the environment. On the other hand they could pose a very serious threat to not only the environment but also to people and organic farms.

1Our Food; www.ourfood.com; www.ourfood.com/Genetic_modification_food.html

2Wikipedia; en.wikipedia.org; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food

3www.proquest.com; http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php

Birthday party pictures!!!

This is everyone up there^ !!! Shannon, Sarah, KT, Linda, Valerie, Elena, Eva are on the left, Isabelle, me, Christina, Ken, Monica, Vivian, and Mae are on the right.

Sarah, KT, and Linda looking normal....

and... them being themselves.
Linda, you look remarkably quiet and composed and NOT hyper!! (You'd never guess she had like... four cans of soda. With caffeine and sugar. would you.)
This is Shannon. Blurry picture, but whatever. :) Hi Shannon!
Isabelle! Those aren't good manners! himph! (she's sticking her tongue out if you can't see it, lol.)
Eva whose name is really pronounced "Ava"... Hello!!!
Sarah. And her pink hair.
And the C group (Christina, Sarah, Isabelle, and KT)- all of them blondes!
and there they are again...
And again...
AND AGAIN. Geesh. Those blondes. They're so drated photogenic. Just sayin.
Don't they look grouchy? (just kidding!)
there they are!! wwwaaaayyyy far away. :) That's the B group- Valerie, Elena, Linda, and Eva.
okay. the little dude is Kenneth. The girl who is in the blue shirt but you can't see her face is Mae. The Asian girl is Vivian. the girl in pink is Shannon, and the dork who is waving around is yours truly.
and we're on a bridge....
And we're still on a bridge...
it was a really long bridge, okay? And apparently it was a good photo spot. :P

so, yeah. Those are the pictures from my party! Yay for all of us! *throws confetti*

Interview with Rachael Herron.

I also want to say thank you for your words of encouragement about chapter 7. I got through it (finally) but it certainly was true advice. :)

I'm glad it helped!

What are some of the advantages of working on a computer at home (or homeish)? Are there some thing that you can do that you couldn't do if you were working at a traditional job?

I love being able to work near my family, with all my animals around me (I have three dogs and four cats). I love being able to get up and walk to my computer and start working, all without fully waking up. I can wear whatever I want! Pajamas all day!

How do you manage your time- how do you decide when you're going to work,

and how long do you usually work for?

I kind of work all the time. I have another job, and I write for 2 hours before my 12 hour shifts, and on my days off I write almost all day. I can sometimes write for 10 hours at a time, but I rarely write at night.

Do you hold any other jobs? Is it hard to manage to work two jobs at once? Even though one is at home?

It IS really hard to manage two jobs -- I answer 911 fire/medical for a large Bay Area county, and I work long hours at that job. And then when I'm home, I write so much that people complain I never see them anymore. But maybe someday I'll be able to support myself with just the writing money, which is why I'm doing so much of it now.

Do you use any special software or hardware? If so, what are they?

I love Scrivener -- it's a program in which to write novels or screenplays on the Mac. I also love Mac Freedom. It's a tool that keeps you off the internet for whatever time you set. I like to kick myself off the internet for 45 minutes, and then come up for email/Twitter breaks for 15 minutes. I get a lot done this way.

Do you enjoy working at home/on a computer? Why or why not?

I love it. I wish I could do it all the time. My home is my favorite place in the world, and I feel like I never have enough time there.

Are there any tips you'd give someone who wanted to work from home?

Find something that you love to do. If you love it, and if you're passionate about it, the method of making a living at it will come to you, I'm convinced.

Is there any advice you could give people (specifically young people- teens and kids) who want to become authors?

Read, write, read, write. But I think reading is the most important thing. You should read everything you can, everything you love, and keep pouring it in your brain. Write often, but don't worry about if it's good or not -- you can always edit later. Just keep writing. And when you're stumped, reach for the book again.

How did you get the idea for your book?

I was participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and I needed an idea, fast. I love romance, and I love knitting, so I decided to combine both in a novel about a knitter and sheep rancher. I'd advise every person interested in writing to give NaNo a try. It's liberating to write that fast.

What genres are your favorite to read? To write?

I love best to read and write romance -- there's nothing more fun and magical than two people falling in love -- but I also love reading and writing memoir/creative nonfiction as well.

Did you base any of your characters off of real people?

No, I don't, but each character displays a different side of myself. If there's a terrible, awful character, it says more about the sides of me that I don't like than it does about anyone else.

Did you ever “talk” with your characters?

I've interviewed them on paper before -- asking them questions, and then writing the answer as if they're writing it. It's fun and you can learn a lot that way.

Does it ever get boring working at home/on a computer?

Never. And if it does, I can just write something else.

Do you ever get distracted when working at home/on a computer?

That's the hardest part. I love Twitter, and I love reading my friends' blogs, so I have to be really diligent when writing that I keep my nose down and JUST WRITE. When I'm done with my 2000 words for the day, then I can mess around getting distracted by the internet, or cleaning the house, or TV.

Again, thank you!

I hope this helped! Let me know if you have any other questions, or if I need to clarify anything. And you -- keep on writing! How exciting!

best,

Rachael


______________________________

Rachael has written a book called How to Knit a Love Song. You can find it on Amazon if you'd like.

t-shirts. t-shirts t-shirts t-shirts

So, it seems that recently has been my time for finding amazing t-shirt sites. (just stick with me here, kay?) my mom found this really neat site, ript, which features a new t-shirt every day. Some of them are really gruesome, and some are pretty. My favorites are probably the creepy/cool ones, such as this one here, and this one.

I also found this really cool site for 80's t-shirts, at 80sTees. I found this site off of epbot which is written by the same lady who writes Cake Wrecks. The t-shirt site has really amazing t-shirts... I was looking at them and I swear I was almost hyperventilating. There were ones of bands, such as blondie and ABBA, and there were neato ones like one I found of Alice in Wonderland and really neat the little mermaid ones, and there were ones of movies. Like Labyrinth. And The Princess Bride. and Beetlejuice. O.O deep breaths...

Painting my walls

So, my walls were really boring. Not ugly- they are a pretty color of green, but boring. And because they're made of cement (?) I can't hang things up on them. Tape won't stick, so zip to posters, can't hammer anything into it, so no to pictures and mirrors as well. One thing that works is paint. My mom and I get this Dover catalog sometimes. They have little samples of what's in each book, and there was this really cute faery sitting on a leaf petting a butterfly. I copied it from the book into a notebook, then on the wall using pencil. Then I went over it with sharpie (love sharpies) and then let it sit. Today I finally remembered that the paints just might be in the CRAFT CLOSET (wow, giant shocker I'm sure) and painted it. So, that's Aimee the faery. She's sitting on a mushroom instead of the leaf because 1. the leaf was really hard to draw looking and I was tired, and 2. I like mushrooms.
Besides Aimee, I also painted this scroll like thing above my bed that says "ANGELA" and has flowers on either side. it's completely blue, except for the flowers' petals, which are light purple. *hugs room* it looks a lot less boring.

oh, and this is all thanks to my mom. I didn't get her approval before I drew on my walls, but when I was painting Aimee, she came downstairs, and didn't get all upset. So, yeah. Thanks mom for letting me draw and paint on my walls. :D

scout school, day three.

this should have been posted yesterday- sorry for the delay!

...
Today (*cough* yesterday) I worked some more on my plant and wildlife badges. We went to this other forest preserve, which has lots of wildlife. While we were there I had to talk to naturalist. So, I interviewed "Jeff" and learned that you have to go through 2 years of "school" after you graduate to become a naturalist. I also learned what he did at the forest preserve.
After that I went outside to sketch/observe wildlife. I chose a squirrel because there was this huge feeder. it was like a box, with seed in it, and the squirrels were all over. Then we walked around, and did a bit of letterboxing. While we were trying to find one letterbox, we found this really cool place, with this sort of pavillion. That's what that picture is of up there. The roof was so neat, that I took a picture of that, too. (top picture) and I think I have to include somewhere like that in Cicily's story. While we were at that neat little place, this turtle came lurching up into the grass. I say lurching, because that's how they move. They lurch. And we thought it was really neat, and all tried to sketch it. We mostly failed. It kept moving (quite quickly- turtles can actually go pretty fast when they want to.) It was quite funny, though, because Monica and Kenneth kept chasing it. My mom took a picture of that, too.
Also, while we were there, there were these two deer. They were really close to the path- I have to say something like four and a half feet.
I decide to take a picture. The deer won't look at me, which is quite frustrating.
Kenneth decides to help me, and let out a squeak.
the deer look up, apparently bored and stare at the camera for a bit.
Monica, seeing that what Kenneth did didn't scare the deer one little bit, starts screaming. As in, ear piercing "someone save me I'm dying" sort of scream.
The deer look up, with huge eyes. They don't move, but simply stare at my sister. If they could talk I would swear they'd be saying "Why is this little girl screaming?" "Be quiet!" "Why must you ruin such a day with noise?" and the like.

...
so, yeah. It was a pretty cool place. fun fact: my aunt and uncle had their wedding reception at the same forest preserve.

my paper on pesticides.

“Organic pesticides are compounds derived from plants, shrubs, and herbs.”¹

What is the big deal about organic pesticides? We have all heard about the good things. Traditional pesticides are bad for the environment and for you. They hurt people. They can poison kids and pets. I thought that it would be interesting to find out some of the pros and cons of both organic pesticides, and traditional ones as well. In this report/essay, organic pesticides are ones that are derived from plants or living organisms.

Traditional pesticides do have some benefits, despite the general ill-feeling generated towards them. For one, they act quicker. Some organic pesticides can take up to several weeks to take noticeable effect, which can cause some problems if you need the bugs/plants/fungi out as soon as possible. They are also more effective in some areas. People know they are going to work. Sometimes the organic pesticides don't work on certain types of animals or plants. Since the traditional methods have toxic chemicals in them, they are a lot surer method of killing something off. The other obvious benefit is that they are a lot cheaper when being used in large quantities. It just costs a heck of a lot more to buy several fields worth of organic pesticides then it does to buy the ones filled with chemicals.

Organic pesticides have some good points though, too. For one, they are a lot softer on the good plant and animal populations. What is left behind is usually not nearly as bad for animals and humans as the stuff left over by traditional pesticides. They don't contaminate water as much as traditional methods do, either. They are altogether better for the environment. Besides the “green” benefits, Organic pesticides can be better for humans. “ 'The benefits are numerous,' he said. 'Organic and natural elements traditionally break down extremely fast. Therefore, the treatment does not harm you. Would you want something around your home that is part of your daily allowance? Or would you rather have something in your body

that is part of your metabolism? Or do you want a chemical that your liver and kidneys have to break down? That is how people get sick from cancers.'”² Besides the health benefits, the organic pesticides can just be gentler on the plants that people are trying to grow.

For some of the categories of pesticides, traditional can be better, and for other the organic can be better.

Herbicides are pesticides that either kill or discourage plants to grow in certain places. Although there are organic alternatives, the traditional chemical type is still used virtually everywhere, because of it's low price and high-toxicity to plants. “Organic herbicides are expensive and may not be affordable for commercial production. They are much less effective than synthetic herbicides and are generally used along with cultural and mechanical weed control practices.”³ Although the traditional types are very effective, there are very serious drawbacks. For one, there is evidence that herbicides can lead to very serious sicknesses in humans, including Parkinson's disease. Herbicides can also cause negative impacts on the ecology. “In addition, some important environmental effects are associated with the use of herbicides. These include unintended damage occurring both on the sprayed site, and offsite. For example, by changing the vegetation of treated sites, herbicide use also changes the habitat of animals such as mammals and birds. This is especially true of herbicides use in forestry...In addition, not all of the herbicide sprayed by a tractor or aircraft deposits onto the intended spray area. Often there is drift of herbicide beyond the intended spray site, and unintended, offsite damages may be caused to vegetation. There are also concerns about the toxicity of some herbicides, which may affect people using these chemicals during the course of their occupation (i.e., when spraying pesticides), people indirectly exposed through drift or residues on food, and wildlife.”⁴

Herbicides, however, are not the only type of pesticide. Fungicides are used to prevent plant diseases while they are growing, and to protect food and plants after harvesting. Many types of fungi is deadly to plants, so it is crucial to farmers that they prevent it. Not very many fungicides have an immediate impact on humans or animals, but when someone eats food that still has fungicide on it for a prolonged period of time, there can be drastic health effects on the human. Many fungicides are toxic if someone has prolonged contact with them as well, but there aren't very many of these. Another story, however, is the impact that they can have on the environment. “Fungicides are very harmful to the ecosystem and can contaminate many water bodies.”⁵ A lot of fungicides either get absorbed into the plants, or drift into water bodies. If something eats the plant, or drinks the water, it can be quite toxic to the animal.

The most widely thought of pesticide is called an insecticide. Insecticides are pesticides that are used to kill (or at least discourage) bugs. “Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems; many are toxic to humans; and others are concentrated in the food chain.”⁶ Since traditional insecticides are used for killing a wide range of pests all at once, they can be dangerous for the populations of the wanted insects. For example: An insecticide might be aimed at trying to kill aphids, a pest that can severely damage a plant. It might also get rid of the ladybug population, however. “Despite their many advantages, conventional insecticides are not ideal pest control agents. Indeed, one of their greatest strengths, broad-spectrum activity, is also one of their greatest weaknesses. While it is certainly an advantage to control multiple pest species with a single chemical treatment, the non-specificity of most conventional insecticides poses a serious threat to non-target organisms in the environment. High mortality among natural enemies can have an enduring impact on the ecological balance of any community. In the absence of biocontrol agents, more insecticide applications may be the only recourse available to stop pest resurgence. Once we step onto this "insecticide treadmill", it can be very difficult to get off.”⁷⁸ Organic insecticides are often better for both the people and the environment, because their bases are made from natural carbon, instead of chemicals. Traditional insecticides can also have unfortunate effects on humans. “Over the last fifty years many human illnesses and deaths have occurred as a result of exposure to pesticides, with up to 20,000 deaths reported annually. Some of these are suicides, but most involve some form of accidental exposure to pesticides, particularly among farmers and spray operators in developing countries, who are careless in handling pesticides or wear insufficient protective clothing and equipment. Moreover, there have been major accidents involving pesticides that have led to the death or illness of many thousands.”

Although it would seem that organic pesticides are the best choice, there are alternatives even to them. Biological pest control is a method of getting rid of pests by using their natural predators. “Predator insects are bred commercially for such use and have proved extremely beneficial in pest control. These mostly carnivorous insects do not attack vegetation and being extremely voracious consume bugs on a massive scale daily.”⁹ Biological pest control has cons. For one, it costs more because if the predators leave, then the person using the pest control has to buy or breed more. Some types of biological pest control uses diseases to kill weeds and unwanted bugs. These are mostly specific, but if something goes wrong it could kill some of the wanted plants and animals. If it works correctly, however, biological pest control can be very good for the environment and a lot less risky for workers. Because it employs the natural predators of pests, it is assured that they won't develop an immunity as they might with traditional or even organic pesticides. They don't have a negative impact on the environment, since they aren't spraying anything into the air, and if any bugs fall into the water... well, you have a dead bug. And they don't have any effect on humans (except for the wasps, who might possibly sting someone, or bugs that might bite) which makes them a safer alternative to the pesticides that are currently being used, even if they are organic.

Organic pesticides have some good things about them, such as being friendlier to the environment and to humans, and some bad things about them, like acting slower, and being more expensive. Biological pest controls have some negative things as well, such as being more expensive and possibly dangerous if they get out of hand, and some good things as well. I have come to the conclusion that in certain circumstances, traditional pesticides are alright, but it is better to use either biological pest control or organic alternatives as much as possible.

1Sarah Ince; ehow.com; http://www.ehow.com/about_4840415_organic-pesticides.html

2Mark Ruben; essortment.com; http://www.essortment.com/articles/benefits-organic-pest-control-mark-ruben_409.htm

3Wikipedia; wikipedia.org; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbicide

4Science.jrank.org; http://science.jrank.org/pages/3305/Herbicides-Environmental-effects-herbicide-use.html

5Library.thinkquest.org; http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00027/id48.htm

6Wikipedia.org; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticide

7http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/text19/convchem.html

8Pollution issues; pollutionissues.com; http://www.pollutionissues.com/Na-Ph/Pesticides.html

9Buzzle.com; http://www.buzzle.com/articles/biological-pest-control.html

crushcrushcrush by Parmore

this is one of my new favorite songs. I really like their song "That's what you get" better, but they have disabled embedding for it. enjoy this small break from educational scout school posts.

scout school, day three.

Scout school, day three!! (aren't you guys proud of me for posting every day? I know I am.)
Today we worked on plant badges. Remember those plants we bought yesterday? Well, we finally got around to planting them! Those pictures are of the pots. I planted two, and Ken planted one. It was quite messy, but fun. I moved some Oregano and Chive over from my mom's garden, and planted marigolds (Around the tomatoes- the pests that like tomatoes hate marigolds) and the cucumber and tomato plant. Ken planted a bunch of flowers, and some oregano. :P
Ken and Chris also looked at ants. Just thought I should explain that picture of Christina and Ken, with Chris holding a magnifying glass.
We also looked at other ways to plant things. (besides seeds, that is.) This wasn't particularly new to me- the asters in my garden are planted from plantlets, and the seedum that is practically taking over my garden was planted from a bit that my mom accidentally cut off when she was weeding her side garden. We planted some african violets, by using their leaves. those are in the pictures. We also took spider plant runners (everyone sing with me- spider plant, spider plant, where are you coming from, spider plant) and planted those (those are those white and light green plants that have lots of thin leaves.) and we took roses and started trying to root those, too.
Then I was given an assignment to write a paper/report on different types of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, etc. I haven't finished it yet, but when I do, I'll post it. Promise. (not that I expect it to be very interesting, but whatever.)

that top picture is just one that I thought that you guys would like- that's my 2 year old sister, Monica. She's showing us her gloves. :D (and she was doing that without me asking her to pose or anything, which is really cool.)

scout school, day two

Scout school: day two!
Today we worked on things with plants. I know according to the pictures that it doesn't look like we did, but we did. Today I went to Lowes and got some plants for these giant pots we have in the front of our house. I'm going to pick one, and plant things in it. :) pretty cool. We got bush cucumbers, bush tomatoes, some seeds for herbs, and I'm going to transplant some herbs from Valerie's garden there, too.
I also tested the soil of our gardens. According, it's pretty much either neutral, or middling in all of the tests. Figures.
When I got home, my mom took us on our fieldtrip. It was to the grocery store. I know that sounds really homeschoolish, and really stupid, but it was amazing. We went to Super fresh market, which is an ethnic grocery store. There was like, everything. There were fruits and vegetables we hadn't even heard of, and walls and walls of things like beans and rice and noodles. Lets see. The first picture below the picture of Christina making a "ew, this is gross" face, is a picture of a wall of beans. I'm not even kidding. All those packages, every single one, are filled with beans. The one below that is a picture of a wall of ethnic juices and drinks. It was quite interesting, they all looked to be made out of strange fruits. (couldn't tell, the names were written in what appeared to be Spanish.) After that is the picture of the wall o' noodles. Lots and lots of noodles. And you see those huge white bags, in the next picture? Those are all rice. And while that appears not to be much, let me tell you that those bags are quite large. They are about as large as... 8 "regular" bags of rice. After that is a freezer of fish. On the left is fish. On the right is squid. Yes, frozen squid. The twirlers in the next picture are of fortune cookies. O.O
The picture after the fortunecookie one, has my mom and my sister Monica in it. They are standing next to a huge barrel of pinto beans. Like, a barrel about as high as my waist, and about as large around as... I don't know. It was a long ways around. They are also next to this huge table full of beans. Those huge sacks on the table are all filled with the beans, lentils, and corn. There was also a huge assortment of them, of every color, shape, and size.
The next one is of our shopping cart, and the stuff we got. (a squash/melon thing, yuca, butter, beans, and papaya.)
When we got home, we poured the beans and lentils we bought, and had on hand, into a muffin tin, and bowls. They were quite pretty, so we took pictures.
we then took cardboard, and, using glue and pens and sharpies, drew a simple picture on it, and outlined it in glue. Then we took the beans and lentils and put them on a glue. I think you can figure out whose is whose. (mine is the one with pi on it). They are quite neat looking, I think.
so, yeah. we finished most of our scout school today, but left some over, too, for tomorrow.