Why is it important to think positively? Remember to use APES when answering.
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Autistic teen turns fear of food into cooking passionChase Bailey was diagnosed with autism at 2. His mother feared he would never enjoy a typical childhood. Indeed, he has not. Between appearances with celebrities and hosting his own cooking show, Bailey's life feels anything but typical.
During the past two years, the 13-year-old has spiced up ramen noodles with Korean-American street food guru Roy Choi. He has simmered butternut squash soup with Sting's daughter, Fuschia Sumner. And he has baked hundreds of bright blue frosted cookies for guests at an Autism Speaks gala in Los Angeles. There, he was introduced by Conan O'Brien. For years, Bailey would eat nothing but pizza, chicken, French fries, chocolate chip cookies, and chips with dip. Those days almost seem like a faint memory. "He was not even eating food until he was 8 years old," said Nick Shipp. He is executive chef at The Upper West. It is a Santa Monica, California restaurant. Bailey helps cook dinner there once a week. "For him to go from that to cooking and eating all kinds of different things, it is pretty remarkable." She immediately placed her son in school and therapy. At home, she struggled to get him to eat. Like many on the autism spectrum, Chase found food overwhelming. The sight, smell, feel and taste of almost everything put on his plate tipped his sensory system over the edge. "I did not like how it looked," he said. "I did not like how it smelled." Then he started watching cooking shows with his grandfather. He got hooked on seeing people enjoy the food they were eating. Within six months, he started asking to try some of the foods he saw on TV. Two years later, he confided to his mother that one day he wanted to have his own cooking show. "She was like, 'Why wait?'" Chase Bailey said. Setting out with her home camcorder and using a friend's kitchen, they recorded the first episode of "Chase 'N Yur Face." Then they posted it to YouTube. The show quickly caught the attention of autism groups. Realizing the impact they could have, Mary Bailey began looking for ways to enhance the production. She hired a professional film crew. And she started incorporating cooking and shooting episodes into her son's homeschool curriculum. Chase Bailey used the cooking shows he watched as inspiration. He started reaching out by email to chefs he admired. He invited them to tape episodes with him. "It was no big deal," Bailey said nonchalantly. "I am like, 'If they are doing it, I am doing it.'" In the show, a confident, charismatic Chase whips up everything from cupcakes to braised rabbit. The show has more than 30 episodes online. It has garnered tens of thousands of views. "To see your child go from little to no speech, no eye contact ... having extreme food aversions, all of these symptoms, to almost the exact opposite," Mary Bailey said, "I do not know, it feels miraculous." Chase Bailey dreams of one day seeing his show on television. He also wants to open his own restaurant. He hopes his experience can help others with autism. "Do not be afraid to be you," Chase Bailey said. Do you think that Chase is a hero? Who helped Chase become the person he is today? Do you think the people in Jason's school were supportive of him?
They can't vote yet. But dozens of young people want a say in the planet's future. So minors nationwide have been suing states and the federal government. They want to push action on climate change. They say their generation will bear the brunt of global warming. They say government at every level has a duty to protect natural resources. That includes the atmosphere. It is a "public trust" for future generations, the young folks argue. The Oregon-based nonprofit Our Children's Trust has been leading efforts to file lawsuits or administrative petitions in every state and against the federal government. Some of the youth-led cases have been called off. Others are pending in states. Those states include Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Oregon. "None of them have gotten to the finish line," said Michael Gerrard. He is a professor and director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. It is located at Columbia University. The school is in New York City. "It's an uphill climb. The U.S. courts have so far not wanted to set climate policy." Other experts say it's unclear how a state can fight a global problem. In Seattle, eight activists between the ages of 10 and 15 petitioned Washington state last year. They want the state to adopt stricter science-based rules. That is to protect them against climate change. The case has been moving through a state court. "We're the ones who have to live with it if the oceans are acidic and the planet is 5 degrees warmer," said Gabriel Mandell. He is 13. Mandell is an eighth-grader and plaintiff in the case. "The snowpack is melting. Ocean is acidifying. The Earth is warming. Everything that can go wrong is going wrong. And we need to fix it." Mandell and other youths are represented by the Western Environmental Law Center. They argue that Washington state has failed to reduce carbon emissions based on the best available science. They say the government has violated its duties under the state constitution. And, they cite the legal principle called the public trust doctrine. The doctrine requires the government to protect shared resources. The state said that the Washington Department of Ecology was working on adopting a rule to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. "Climate change is the most important environmental problem," said Stu Clark. He is Washington's air quality program manager. "We need to do whatever we can. We are doing what we can with what we have." Nationwide, the cases need to pass certain legal hurdles. Those include showing that the public trust doctrine applies to the Earth's atmosphere. Or that the children have standing to sue. The cases have cleared some hurdles but not all, said Gerrard. "I don't think this litigation is going to be successful because climate change is a global problem. And it's not clear what a state could do," added Richard Stewart. He is a law professor at New York University. "A state could do certain things. But it can only make an infinitesimal contribution" to a global problem. In Oregon, two Eugene teens are appealing after a state judge rejected their petition in May. The judge ruled that Oregon's public trust doctrine does not apply to the atmosphere, water, beaches and shorelines. On August, 21 youths across the country sued the federal government. They said that approval of fossil fuel development has violated the fundamental right of citizens to be free from government actions that harm life, liberty and property. The EPA did not comment on specifics of the lawsuit. But it said in a statement that President Obama and the agency have been taking action to "give our kids and grandkids the cleaner, safer future they deserve." Aji Piper is 15. He is a Seattle high school sophomore. He is a plaintiff in that case and the one in Washington state. "The government isn't doing the best to assure that we have the best quality of life," he said. "It holds more urgency for us. Our future is at hand." The Washington case has gone the farthest. That is because a judge in King County Superior Court will be hearing arguments on the petition's merits, rather than on a procedural or jurisdictional issue, said Julia Olson. She is executive director for Our Children's Trust. How can kids make a stronger argument than adults?
You asked us, does lightning ever strike twice?The old saying lightning never strikes twice is supposed to be reassuring. Well, you had this one stroke of really bad, bizarre luck. But that means the odds of it ever happening again must be zero, right?
Wrong, very, very wrong. Lightning strikes the Earth about 50 times a second and lightning can strike twice or even thrice or hundreds of times in the same place, like the Empire State Building of New York for example, which gets hit about 25 times a year. And as for people, just be really glad you're not Roy Sullivan. Poor Roy, a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park, was struck by lightning seven times in his lifetime. Here's a real buzz kill for you. In the US, more people are killed by lightning than tornadoes and hurricanes put together. Seriously. When a young spirit bear named Clover wakes up from his winter hibernation, he will have a new home waiting for him.
Clover, who is almost three years old, lives at the B.C. Wildlife Park near Kamloops, British Columbia. He was orphaned as a cub and raised at a wildlife shelter. When he was released back into the wild, he broke into human camps looking for food. Wildlife experts tried to get him used to living on his own, but he continued to look for places where there were people. Eventually the experts decided he could not adapt to living in the wild. Normally, a bear that is not afraid of humans is destroyed because it could be a nuisance or even dangerous to people. Spirit bears are very rare, however, so Clover was moved to an enclosure in the B.C. Wildlife Park in October 2012. Since then, the park has been trying to raise money to create a suitable habitat for Clover to live in. The city of Kamloops, local businesses and many individuals have donated a total of $750,000 for the habitat. Clover’s new home was carefully planned to ensure it contains proper features for a bear. It covers about three acres of land and includes natural forest, two ponds connected by a creek, and a structure for a den. It is surrounded by a 10-foot-high chain link fence. The wildlife park will add a viewing platform and an elevated walkway later this year so visitors can see Clover and his habitat more closely. There will also be an interpretive centre where people can learn more about spirit bears. Clover will be moved into his new home when he wakes up in the spring. Eventually, park officials plan to move a female black bear from another part of the park into the habitat so Clover will have a companion. Spirit bears are also called Kermode bears after Francis Kermode, the zoologist who first studied them. Kermode discovered that a small number of black bears carry a gene for white fur. If a cub inherits one of these genes from each parent, its fur will be a creamy white colour. There are about 1,200 bears who carry the gene for white fur, but only about 200 white Kermode bears in the world. Kermode bears are found only in British Columbia. They live in the Great Bear Rainforest, a region that covers the mainland and islands along the coast of B.C. between Vancouver and Alaska. Critical Thinking Prompt: 1. Can you imagine waking up somewhere different than where you went to sleep? Do you think Clover would be as confused as you would be, waking up in a different place? 2. A lot of planning went into to designing the three acre habitat for Clover. Using the descriptions in today’s article, draw a habitat for Clover. Use your own ideas to fill in the entire area. Label your drawing. You will need to get paper for this. You can use regular size paper, or get a large sheet of graph paper from our room ( the one we where using to build out nets in math) Tobogganing is a very popular winter sport in Canada and the United States.
Also known as “sledding,” tobogganing is a sport in which people sit on a plastic or wooden flat-bottomed sled at the top of a snowy hill… and then push off, to go sliding down the hill. It can be exciting, a bit scary and lots of fun. It’s also great exercise, especially since after you’ve slid down the hill, you usually have to walk back up. Some people say tobogganing can be dangerous, since it’s possible for the sled to tip or hit something on the way down and it can be difficult to stop. People—especially children—can get hurt. Some people who have gotten hurt may even then blame the city for their accident and sue the city (sue, in this case, make the city pay them some money). That’s why some towns in Canada and the United States have recently banned tobogganing. Other towns have put limits on which hills people can toboggan on. People who ignore the ban and toboggan on a hill that has been banned risk having to pay a fine. Some people are objecting to the new bans on tobogganing. People in Hamilton, Ontario put together an online petition, asking that instead of banning tobogganing, the city put up signs that say “Toboggan at your own risk” instead. That way, they say, people can decide for themselves if they want to take the risk. Tobogganing is an inexpensive, fun and sometimes dangerous winter sport. Doctors say that people who toboggan should wear a helmet, which may help to prevent some injuries. In some cities, like Ottawa, Ontario and Calgary, Alberta, there are “official” tobogganing hills that are specifically groomed for the sport. Like many sports, tobogganing can be dangerous, but it can also be great exercise and a lot of fun. And for now, it’s still happening on many hills in snowy towns across North America. Critical Thinking Prompt 1. Do you think toboganning should be banned from some hills? Do you think a city is acting sufficiently responsible if they post warnings? How would you like to see this problem solved? 2.What side of the argument do you think the writer of today’s story is on? What evidence can you find in the text to support your answer? Building the perfect snowman can be a challenge. Often snowmen can turn out a little lumpy or lopsided. They can quickly melt into unrecognizable shapes. When you decide to build one, it helps to have science on your side.Understanding the physical properties of snow can help you figure out whether a snowman is even possible. Scientists classify snow based on its moisture content, or the amount of free water relative to ice crystals. Snow comes in five categories. It can be dry (zero percent water), moist (less than 3 percent), wet (3 to 8 percent), very wet (8 to 15 percent) and slush (more than 15 percent).
Moist to wet snow is ideal for snowman building, according to Jordy Hendrikx, a snow scientist at Montana State University. Dry snow is like a loose powder. Its particles don't stick together well. Slush is too fluid to hold a shape. "You can think of the free water as the ‘glue.' You need enough to stick the crystals together, but not too much. Otherwise it won't form a solid snowman," says Hendrikx. The air temperature during a snowstorm determines the amount of water in snow. Wet and moist snows fall at around 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures that are far below-freezing make for drier snow. More water particles freeze into crystals. "Years of experimentation and research with my kids reveal a snow-to-water equivalence of about 5:1 yields the snow ideal for building the perfect snowman," says Dan Snowman. He is a physicist at Rhode Island College in Providence. This blend of moist or wet snow falls when it is a degree or two above or below freezing. The blizzards in the Northeast this winter would make moist or wet snow. Dry powder is more likely during frigid conditions. Powder offers a soft, smooth ride that is ideal for skiing. But it's not for building snowmen. Once the snow is on the ground, it's time to build your snowman. Spheres are the best building blocks. Forming snowballs and packing the snow together exerts pressure on the ice crystals. The pressure makes some crystals melt during construction. "After melting, the water will crystallize once again, binding together the snowball," Snowman notes. To keep the spheres from toppling, stack them in the usual large to medium to small structure. "Keeping the snowman's center of mass low is paramount in the construction of any snowman," says Snowman. The center of mass refers to the point in any object where its mass is concentrated. The closer that point is to the ground, the less likely a vertical object is to fall over. Students at Bluefield State College in West Virginia see snowman-building as a way to teach basic engineering principles. They say the optimal diameter ratio for the snowballs is 3:2:1 from bottom to top. This ratio keeps the base large enough to support the combined weight of the top two snowballs. And don't build your snowman too big. The water content of the snow may limit the size of the spheres. Building your snowman in spheres can also help it last longer. Because the shape minimizes the surface area exposed to rising temperatures, it slows down melting. Unfortunately, melting is inevitable as temperatures rise. Thanks to Frozen, we all know what happens to snowmen in summer. Critical thinking challenge: Explain how moisture in snow acts like "glue," and explain why too much or too little doesn't work. You asked us, why don't people smile in old photographs. Technology is partly to blame.The Daguerreotype, the first widely used photographic process, was invented in 1839. The exposure time in those early days was really long, sometimes lasting up to 15 minutes or so. Way too long to hold a smile. But that timing was cut down pretty quickly, so there was more at play here than just the tech. Although it was less expensive than having your portrait painted, getting your picture taken still wasn't cheap. Some people had just one photo snapped their whole entire life. That made the event a pretty important and formal deal. Unlike portrait painters, photographers weren't trying to capture an instant in their subjects' lives, but more of an ideal of that person. Plus, back in the day, the classy just didn't say, “cheese." So, picture equals sourpuss. It wasn't until the turn of the 20th century when cameras became portable and easier to use, that pictures turned into casual snapshots, and smiles became more common. Now, we can't get enough of those pearly whites. Questions: Why are you told to say "cheese" when your picture is taken? |
Why a Blog?We will use this blog for in class and out of class discussion. We will post questions an collect ideas. Parents feel free to join us. Jump in, just click Add Comment, remember all discussion takes place in a respectful manner. Remember to use APES when answering. Archives
December 2015
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