What I Learned Today 9/9/14

By Sage Hamilton

Erosion by Water

Yesterday my mom and I went out into our backyard in a forest near a creek. We looked around at everything that was weathered and what was eroded. The things that were weathered were wet and easy to break, like old branches. The things that were eroded were already broken and had been moved form its original place to another spot, like the rocks that had skid down into the creek.

Mod Design

In the mod design course, I started and finished module 2: Draw your sword. And I literally did! Using a template file, I was able to start drawing my sword pixel by pixel, and even gave the sword a crafting recipe! I got to test the sword out making my very first edition being one step better at modding!

The Big History Project

Today I learned about The Big History Project, all about the big bang theory and the stars that are in our universe. I learned that stars are formed when one neutron or atom has more matter in it than the others around it. Because the neutron/atom is bigger, it gives more of a gravitational pull, therefore pulling them together. They collide, bashing them together again and again creating more heat, and more gravity. The baby star pulls more things into it, ready for another boxing match. More soon to be stars come crashing into the baby star, crashing and bashing into it therefore generating more heat and more gravity, etc. Once it becomes around 10,000,000 degrees Celsius, the neutrons and atoms get so hot they forge together and creates the core of the star and every other fiery part of the star. Astrologists use a theory called Goldilocks Conditions. It is based off of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. There was the cold porridge, the hot porridge, and the medium porridge. These three types of porridge represent the three stages of star transformation, not star to a star. When there is the cold empty space with nothing there (or the Dark Age) that represents the cold porridge. When the neutrons and atoms have reached 3,000 degrees Celsius, the matter starts combusting into flames and starts actually turning into a sphere of hot madness, and that represents the medium porridge. When the small star reaches 10,000,000 degrees, it represents hot porridge. A famous astrologist once said we are made of star stuff. And we are! All of the elements that are in a star are also in the earth. You and me and everything else have some of the same properties of a star!

In the Big History Project, in one of the videos, I learned about the periodic table of elements. I learned that the bar under everything else should actually be between the table. The two ends of the table actually should stick together.

Below some of the videos, there were multiple stories about beliefs about the beginning of mankind. One of these stories really appealed to me and I thought it was very interesting. One day in the heavens, above the giant sea, called earth. Up in the cloudy heavens, a girl grew very ill. The elder said that if she went under a tree she would be saved. They dug underneath the tree breaking the clouds. She and the tree fell down in the sea. A few swans came and helped her out of the water so she wouldn’t drown. The lord of animals, a giant sea turtle decided to turn into an island. Lots of sea creatures dove under the water to get dirt for the island. None of them arose. Then, an old frog leaped under the water to get the soil. It came up and spat it out, dying afterward. This created an island on the back of the turtle shell where they believe the Earth began to form. There are lots of other stories and ideas about the way the Earth was created.

Lord of the Flies

I recently finished Lord of the Flies. Today I read a review about it on Blue Sage Academy. I learned how primitive everyone became. Everyone knows on the inside that we have a bloodlust. Everyone knows that really, everyone has a savage mind and heart because we are animals. What separates us from animals and lets us be civilized is our ability to communicate and use logic and emotions. Some of the characters were more savage/primitive than others (Hint hint), some less than others (Hint hint). The first people who were turned to a savage: Jack, Rodger etc. They had more of a savage heart and mind even though they were the choir group–it still doesn’t matter. Some had less: Piggy, Simon, Ralph, and well, that’s it. They used the conch shell and tried to focus on being rescued using a fire signal when Jack’s “gang” just cared about having fun and killing pigs. At the end of the story, it seems that everything is ok because they are saved. But I don’t think that someone gone completely primitive would be able to go into civilization without problems! It has civil in it for a reason. I’m excited about watching the movie with my mom tonight.

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