What value does physical activity provide you?

Authors Note: I was assigned to write a piece for gym of the question "What value does physical activity provide you?" I really liked the topic, this is what physical activity means to me.

Physical activity is everything to me. It’s my only passion, the thing I can do all the time, my get away. It’s hard balancing soccer, futsal, select and aau basketball, cross country, and school volleyball, but it’s well worth it in the end. I don’t mind the countless hours of practices, in fact I enjoy them. I love every part of them; the challenge, being with my friends, and knowing that I’m staying healthy.

My favorite part of sports is that amazing moment in a match when you make a cool move, score a goal, or pass an opponent. For the reason that at the second you realize all of your hard work and dedication has paid off. That’s what I play for, the rest is just a bonus.

One thing I don’t think I would be able to play without is the bond that my team and I share. I only get to see my soccer friends during practices and games because they don’t go to school with me. So when I do have practice, I make sure I am there to see them and hangout with them. A school friend is very different from a sports friend, because you have to learn to rely on them to do well on the field. As well as forgiving them if they don’t. Which makes us grow even tighter in the end. Social interaction is a big part in my physical activity.

Another thing that is a big piece in why I play sports is that it keeps me healthy. I’m able to eat what I want to eat and not gain much weight. It keeps me fit so if I’m hanging out with friends and playing yard games, I can succeed. It keeps me from gasping for air while doing easy tasks. Keeping my health up is one  of the main reasons I play sports.

An additional reason I play sports is because I love the challenge. I find so much enjoyment out of pushing myself to do that next sprint, last few sit ups, or whatever the task is. When I see something I haven’t done before I try it and don’t stop until I get it. I challenge myself to go further, to train at home, and work hard at practice. When there isn’t a difficulty it’s not as much fun, it’s just boring.  I need a challenge to do a sport well.

So when I’m asked “What value does physical activity provide you?” I guess I could say a lot of things. I could say it provides with health, challenge, self-expression, and social interaction. However that’s not why I play sports. I play because I enjoy doing them more than anything else.

Space.

Authors Note: After reading "Hands" in "Winesburg, Ohio"I felt a little confused on my thoughts of what had happened. After coming to a conclusion I felt pretty strongly about my opinion. This is a response to the first chapter of "Winesburg, Ohio"

I recently read the first chapter of the book "Winesburg, Ohio".  The first chapter of the book is about a man named Adolph Myers. He taught a class of kids in elementary school. He loved all of his students but didn't know how to express it.  So he touched the student's heads and shoulders so that they could dream as he did. The kids in his class were confused by him doing this and it even drove one to have bad dreams. I don't believe that it is alright to invade someone's personal space as Adolph Myers did.

Most of the time you shouldn't touch others or be too close to them.  When someone's personal bubble is popped they feel very uncomfortable.  They do not know how to react and it will confuse them about the relationship. Even if you do really care for someone you still have to give them space. Imagine a teacher or coach petting your hair or body to show affection. It's a kind of creepy thought and instead of feeling loved you end up feeling confused and scared. It is really hard to show emotion but you can do it and still leave personal space.

Although most of the time you should give people space it is sometimes good to touch people. It is okay to touch family members if you are hugging them, sitting on the same couch, or even when your just goofing around. When you are in a relationship with someone it's the same thing, you also can express love by  hugging them, sitting on the same couch, or even when your just goofing around. It is also fine to comfort people by touching them. For example when  someone is stressed you could put your arm around them to calm them down.  Even though sometimes I think it is fine to touch people, I believe that a great amount of the time you should stay away from others personal space.

Cell PHEOC

Problem: What affects will different combinations of substances have on a cell?

Hypothesis: When the cell is in a thin substance the cell membrane will grow, because the small substances will be let into the cell membrane. When the cell is in a thick substance the cell membrane will shrink, because the large substances won’t be let into the cell membrane and the water molecules will spread out.

Experiment Design:

Materials:

-Microscope

-Slide/ Slide covers

-Beakers

-Tweezers

-Pipette

-Water

-Blue Dye

-Hydrochloric Acid

-Sugar

-Salt

Variables:

CV: The onion, the slide, water, blue dye

IV: The substance around the onion.

DV: The effect of the mixture on the onion

Procedure:

We regularly took the epidermis of the onion, this was the part of the onion with only one layer so that there was no overlap. After taking the epidermis we placed it on the slide. We then took the substance we were using and dissolved it into blue dye and water in a small beaker. Once that was done we would take a pipette (eyed dropper) and squeeze the mixture onto the onion. At that point we put on the slide cover and looked into the microscope. We finished by writing down our conclusion on each substance.

                                                                                                                                                                       

Observations:

After looking at the first substance we realized we could see the nucleus in each cell. Sometimes we could not see the nucleus because there was not enough blue dye. We also concluded that salt was thin enough to come into the cell; this process is called Osmosis. The same thing happened to the sugar. When we tested hydrochloric acid we concluded that the cell is a hypertonic solution because the cell shrunk.

Conclusion/ Analysis:

Callie and I wanted to see what would happen to a cell when put in different substances. We predicted that the salt and sugar molecules would be able to move freely in and out of the membrane because of their small size. In our research we discovered that the cell lost water and shape due to the action of diffusion. When doing the experiment we were confused because sometimes we could see the nucleus and sometimes we could not. After discussing with Mr. Roehl we realized we simply did not have enough blue-dye in some of the mixtures. Even though many of our variables changed and our experiment did not bring one result, we still found things we expected to see.

Cell Rap

Authors Note: This is my final product of my cell project I did with Callie. It thoroughly explains the cell and it's parts.

Government

Authors Note: This is the voice thread I did with Sydney, Tien, and Callie. It explains the 3 branches of government and the bill of rights.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Part 2

Authors Note: I wrote this piece because, I just watched the Grinch and it gave me the idea. I tried to work on dialog in this piece.

You've all heard the story of the nasty old Grinch who lived Mt. Crumpit which is just south of Whoville. Every Christmas all the whos in Whoville gathered around the tree that stood tall in the middle of Whoville and sang their Christmas Carols. The Grinch hated the singing and the Christmas spirit so much. One day the Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea. The night before Christmas the Grinch stole all of the presents, decorations, and the tree in the middle of Whoville. When the Whos woke up Christmas morning the singing didn't stop, they still gathered in the middle of Whoville and sang their who songs. The Grinch heard the whos singing up from his cave in his mountain and started to get awfully confused.

"Why are they still singing? I stole Christmas from them," the Grinch said. He didn't know but the answer was simple, Christmas to the whos was not about presents it was about family and friends. The began feeling an awful guilt in his chest. The pain was so bad he had to give the gifts back. He grabbed his old sleigh and put on his Santa hat and rode down to Whoville.

"Ho Ho Ho," laughed the Grinch, "Ho Ho Ho." 

"Look here comes Santa," a little Who cheered.

"Oh no that's the Grinch," said another as he looked. The rest of the whos followed with a gasp. The grinch was more confused than ever. 

The Grinch explained himself, " I brought back Christmas!"

"Yay!" The Whos shouted.

"Here's a tuba for you, and a doll for you, and here's your skateboard," said the Grinch cheerfully as he handed out the presents. The Grinch did a bad thing stealing Christmas, but when he brought it back the Whos thanked him, and even let him carve the roast beef. Although that story was good, it's not complete. Here's the story of the Grinch after the fact. 

After Christmas the Grinch went back to his cave in Mt. Crumpit. He still liked it there, but was feeling lonelier than ever. 

"I've got to go back," he said to his dog Max, "if only I had money for a house." The Grinch thought for days on how to buy a house down in Whoville, but couldn't come up with anything. The Grinch finally decided to go down to Whoville and ask for some advice. He put on his jacket and his dog Max and headed to Whoville. 

The Grinch asked a Who, "What can I do? I live on Mt. Crumpit, but I want to live here with you. How do I get enough money for a house?" But the Who didn't answer he simply walked away. Then the Grinch decided to ask another Who, but the new who didn't know what to do. None of the whos or the Grinch new what to do. The Grinch gave up and sat on a park bench and thought how he could buy a house. As the Grinch sat he began to get an idea; a terrible, awful idea.  

The Grinch popped up, off the park bench and began to start walking towards the closest who house. When he got there he snuck up to the roof and slid down the chimney down into the house. He crept around the house for every bit of money. He grabbed it from dressers, side tables, and even little Sidney Loo Who's piggy bank. After sweeping the cash from the Who's house, the Grinch had $73 to his name. He went from house to house steeling their money until not one who had a dollar. The Grinch finally had enough money to buy a house, but the rest of the Whos didn't have enough money to keep living in theirs. A couple weeks passed and when the Grinch was living in his new house, the bank was taking all of the who houses. Who by Who by Who was kicked out of their house and on to the street. The Grinch started feeling guilty. One day a Who wandered by the Grinch. He has his head down and was looking sad.

"Is your house gone?" the Grinch stopped the Who.

"Yes sir, and I have nothing to do," the Who replied.

"Okay then, come live in my house. You have nowhere to go, and I love to help," said the Grinch.

"Really? I really can?" questioned the Who.

"Of course come with me," the Grinch answered. And the who followed him into his new house. It seemed like from then on out there would be a new who living in his house everyday. The whos all loved the Grinch for letting them into his house. Even though the Grinch keeps messing up he always finds a way to fix it. You should just 
be glad you haven't heard the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Part 3.

Monster Mash

Authors Note: I wrote this piece because, I was in the Halloween mood today. In this piece I tried to work on my voice. Happy Halloween!

One Halloween morning it was quiet all through the house. Until Logan woke up and decided to go downstairs for breakfast. As Logan crept down the stairs he stopped and stared. He looked around and couldn't see anyone. The house was dark and a tad bit frightening.  Logan called for his dad, but not a soul responded. Logan called  for his mom and the room might have became even more silent. Logan looked around and couldn't find anyone, not his dad, mom, or even his brother Austin. He let out one more shout looking for a someone to answer, but no one did.

When Logan stood there in his living room he cried to himself, "where has everyone gone?" Then Logan heard something, it was a scowling sound; it was a voice of a ghost that had stopped into town.  Logan more scared than before tried to hide behind the couch. But it was far to late for hiding, the ghost had already found him. During the time when Logan was hiding behind the couch he thought up a plan. The ghost moved closer and closer to him. Finally the ghost got close enough to the couch for Logan to follow through with his plan. Logan pushed the couch over on top of the ghost and had just enough time to run through the front door of his house.

The cool air hit Logan's thin pajamas and he could barley feel his toes, but he new he had to get away from that ghost. Logan started sprinting down his street not looking back. He had noticed nobody was outside only the their cheap Halloween directions in their front lawns. As Logan was sprinting past every house, decoration, and driveway he began to notice something moving and it wasn't the ghost trailing behind him. The Halloween decorations started to move. The ghost and witches were flying, people with pumpkin heads creeping, and vampires feeding on the blood of animals.

Logan kicked into gear and started sprinting even faster, somewhere far away from the witches laughter. The monsters followed him down the street, which only made him go faster. As much as the monsters wanted to catch him they couldn't. After all they just running for dinner and he was running for his life. After sprinting 11 blocks Logan began to get tired, but the monsters were not. Logan knew he had to get out of there, he ran two more blocks saw his friend John's house. He made the fast choose to duck into his house.

Quickly he locked all of the doors and looked out the window. The monsters were gone, and the decorations weren't on the lawns. Logan knew that the monsters were still out there so he went down to the basement to hide.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouted.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to see you guys," Logan said, "there are monsters outside we all have to hide!"

"You mean these monsters?" Logan's friend John questioned as all of the people pulled masks out from behind his mask.

"Yeah.." stuttered Logan, "You guys are the monsters?"

"Yeah man we totally got you," stated John.

"But how did you pull it off?" Logan asked.

"Well, early this morning I hid in your house and made ghost sounds as everyone else sat on side on their lawns. After I scared you out of your house, you ran down the street and everyone else started to follow you. Late last night we hung some decorations of Witches and ghosts in trees so that in all of the chaos it looked like they were flying. Then when you went into my house, we all snuck around the back and we went through the basement door," said John proudly.

"But why'd you do it?" Logan asked.

"Because, last week you put a grape in my sandwich," replied John.

"You almost scared me to death because, I put a grape in your sandwich?" Logan said angrily.

"Well when you put it like that it doesn't sound to good," John  said under his breath.

Since then every Halloween Logan and John pull pranks on each other. Every year the pranks get worse, and every year they laugh about it in the end. To this day Logan still regrets putting that grape in John's sandwich.