Word of the Day. 4-24-13

Word of the Day.

plausible- when somethings reasonable or believable.

Word of the Day. 4-19-13

Word of the Day.

pivotal- an important point that signifies a shift in direction.

CNN Student News. 4-19-13

Explosion in Texas at a Fertilizer Plant.

FBI Identifies 2 suspects for Boston Bombing.

People Honor the Victims of the Attack.

Man in Mississippi arrested for connection to the letters that contained poisoned addressed to The President and US Senator Rodger Wicker who represents Mississippi.

Tragedy Across America.

Change in the rules of the national Spelling Bee.

5 Random Facts You Don't Need to Know.

According to Genesis 1:20-22 the chicken came before the egg. 

Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace. 

An average American will spend an average of 6 months during his lifetime waiting at red lights.

In all three Godfather films, when you see oranges, there is a death (or a very close call) coming up soon. 

Cats can hear ultrasound.

Word of the Day. 4-11-13

Word of the day.

overt- open to view or knowledge; not concealed or secret.

Word of the Day. 4-10-13

Word of the Day.

onslaught- an onset, assault, or attack, especially a vigorous one. 

Word of the Day. 3-6-13

Word of the Day.

languish- to become weak of pitiful because you're sick, in love, or stuck somewhere. 

CNN Student News. 3-5-13

Topics Included in Today's News-

Kenya voted for their new leaders yesterday.

Made an app to make this years voting safer.

First child to be functionally cured from HIV.

1/2 the worlds food is wasted. Ways to Prevent it.

Boy in Georgia finally gets to play basketball even though he's in a wheel chair.

Word of the Day. 3-5-13

Word of the Day.

irascible- easily provoked to anger; very irritable. 

CNN Student News. 2-27-13

Topics Included in Today's News-

President Obama's Cabinet.

Chuck Hagel gets confirmed as the Secretary of Defense.

Filibuster.

What goes into a gas dollar.

Mississippi's role in the thirteenth amendment.

Scientist still testing store meat for horse meat.

Musician makes money off a viral video (Harlem Shake).

Word of the Day. 2-27-13

Word of the Day.

instill- to infuse slowly or gradually into the mind or feelings; insinuate; inject.

CNN Student News. 2-26-13

Topics Included in Today's News- 

John Kerry takes his first trip over seas as the Secretary of State

Blizzard hits Amarillo Texas 

Homeless man returns a diamond ring to a woman that dropped it

Status of George Zimmerman's one year trial

Pollen season is starting early

Spring Training for baseball

Word of the Day. 2-26-13

Word of the Day.

imperative- absolutely necessary or required; unavoidable.

Word of the Day. 2--25-13

Word of the day.

hindrance- something in the way, an obstacle. 

weird....

Source: shavigh.com via Taylor on Pinterest

Drive2Life: Being Safe in the Car.

Have you ever been in the passenger seat and been uncomfortable? What did you do? Did you just stay quiet or did you say something?  

Sometimes it is hard to say something when you are under pressure, but if you go about it the right way it isn't so hard!

Let's think of two scenarios....

You are in the car with a friend and they are texting while driving. What do you do?

You are in the car with an adult, like you mom, and they are texting while driving. What do you do?

Most likely you would go about these two things different ways because teenagers and adults listen to things in different ways.

Here are some good ways to encourage a teenager to drive safely....

• Offer and Option: Offer a safe solution, like answering your friend's phone for them if they're driving.
• Use Humor: Make a joke- just be sure you safe-driving message gets across.
• Find a Friend: Get your friends on board with supporting safe driving and speak up together. 

Here are some good ways to encourage an adult to drive safely...

• Just ask: Make it simple- ask the driver to drive safely and tell them they should concentrate.
• State a fact: Give a safe solution to your concern, and then back it up with a fact about distracted driving.

And for both of these if no one will listen and you are still uncomfortable then just Walk Away. If you're uncomfortable and can't change the situation, then get out of it. Don't get in the car with people who drive unsafely.

Drive2Life: Poll Reflection.

In the research I have been doing about distracted driving I have discovered how much my closest family drives while being dangerously distracted, whether the distraction is texting, talking on the phone, or even eating.

What surprised me the most is how distracting just talking in the phone is. It is said that using a cell phone while driving- whether it's handheld or hands free- delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit and that driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%. Really be honest... how often do you talk on the phone when you're in the car? For most people I know it's about every single time. I never realized, until now, how dangerous that actually is.

I also learned that I should really tell someone when they are doing something that they should not be doing while they are driving. Statistically 40% of all American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger and that about half of those teenagers didn't say anything about, but I know now that I should speak up!

Drive2Life: How does Distraction Effect you?

For this activity me, my mom, and my dad all had to complete a task, ours was counting 85 cents, then we had to do the same thing with a distraction, we wrote a text that said "On my way, be there in 15 minutes." and both times we had to time it. Here are the results...

Me: Time Without Distraction- 17.25 seconds
        Time With Distraction- 30.88 seconds

Mom: Time Without Distraction- 23.03
           Time With Distraction- 40.00

Dad: Time Without Distraction- 19.1
         Time With Distraction- 59.06     <<<<< my dads a slow texter ;)

This activity showed how hard it was to focus on both things at one time and how long you are looking away from what you are supposed to be doing and all the same things apply when you do something like this while you're driving.

Th next activity I had to time how long it took me to do something, I timed how long it took me to send a text & it took me one minute, then i had to see how far I would drive in one minute going a certain speed.

30 mph: 1/2 of a mile
45 mph: 3/4 of a mile
60 mph: 1 of a mile

This activity shows how long you are really looking away from the road when you do something like send a text message. And if that still doesn't show you enough then think about this... As you can see you would go one mile traveling 60 miles per hour, so how long is a mile? 17 and a half football fields. You just drove 17 and a half football fields without looking at the road. That's A LONG TIME! Plus, as you can see even if you are going slow, 30 mph, you still drive half a mile... about 8 football fields.

Who's Who: Abraham Lincoln.

In celebration of Presidents Day I decided to do a research paper on Abraham Lincoln for this weeks Who's Who.... and wow. I didn't know it before but Lincoln had a REALLY sucky life, other than the fact that he got to be president of course.

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Although he is one of the most remembered presidents in all of US history he probably didn't seem like the person who would be running his country when he was younger.

Lincoln was born in Hardin, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. He was the second child, the first being his sister Sarah, of Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. They lived in a small town and were not wealthy at all but weren't particularly poor either. Lincoln had the normal schooling of a child in that village, which was one years worth of classes from several different teachers. Other than that schooling he mostly self-educated and was said to be a very avid reader getting his hands on any book in the village that he could.

Lincoln's mother died of milk sickness in 1818, when he was 9. His sister then began to take care of him until their father remarried to his step-mother a year later, who he became very close with as he grew up. As a teenager Lincoln had the job of an axeman. Sarah, his sister, died in her early 20's when she gave birth to a stillborn son.

A few years later a very ambitious 22 year old Lincoln went out on his own. Lincoln canoed down the Sangamon River to New Salem in Sangamon County, where he was hired to take goods by flatboat from New Salem to New Orleans. One day when Lincoln was making his delivery he witnessed slavery firsthand, felt that he had it much easier than they did, and decided to walk back home.

When Lincoln was living in New Salem he met two women, one right after the other, that he got engaged to but changed his mind both times. He then met Mary Todd who he eventually married after a lot of second guessing. Together they had four children, and this is where Lincoln didn't have much luck... They had Edward Baker Lincoln, born in 1846, who died on February 1, 1850 of tuberculosis. Willie Lincoln was born in 1850 then died on February 20, 1862 and Thomas “Tad” Lincoln, who died of heart failure when he was 18 on July 16 1871. Lastly they had Robert Todd Lincoln, born in 1843, and was the only child to live to adulthood and have children. Whew, that is just... woah.

Onto the actual reason that Abraham Lincoln is famous... Lincoln was elected the 16^th president of the United States on November 6, 1860 making him the first president from the republican party. Lincoln had a lot of accomplishments during his presidency, some more heard of then others! Some of his more known accomplishments was that he was a strong commander and chief of the Civil War, where his foreign policy kept other countries from interfering in America's Civil war and he made a very big impact in getting rid of slavery. 

Slavery is probably the main reason that Lincoln is so remembered. Lincoln very much disagreed with slavery and he supported the thirteenth amendment that formally ended slavery. He also issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves in the states that were in rebellion.

Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday, April 14, 1865 by a well- known stage actor John Wilkes Booth. Aside from being an actor John was a spy for the Confederates, who had a plan to kidnap the president and use him in exchange for the release of captured confederates. But when John heard Lincolns speech, which John very much disagreed with, about wanting to extend voting to African Americans John decided to kill Lincoln himself.

To this day Lincoln is remembered in many ways, one being Presidents Day. Even though Presidents Day was originally in memory of George Washington, after Lincoln became president and reshaped our country, it was decided that he to should have a special day in his honor. That has to mean that he's pretty important doesn't it?

CNN Student News. 2-20-13

Topics Included in Today's News...

Meat in stores in Europe were found to have horse meat in it.

HUGE Winter storm hit North Dakota.

What goes into making flying the safest way to travel.

How long does it take for plastic to decompose?

Sacramento may be banning plastic bags from their stores. 

A program that aims to increase students financial literacy.