Realtionships

The grade ⅞ class from Snow Lake, Manitoba and the grade ⅞ class from Wingham, Ontario have read Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel over Skype or sometimes, our class radio station. After reading, both classes watched the movie Project Nim and wrote down similarities and differences of the movie compared to the book. There are many similarities, but there are also many differences between the two. Nim is from Project Nim and Zan is from Half Brother.

The similarities that I picked up on were that Nim and Wer don’t get along very well, and neither did Zan and Richard. Nim had bit Wer, not wanting him having anything to do with the family. Zan bit Richard, simply because Richard was getting on Zan’s nerves. Nim was sent to another place and he went with Herb, the scientist from Colombia University. After spending time with the Tomlins, Zan was sent with Dr.Helson to Nevada. Obviously as I have mentioned, both Nim and Zan bite really hard. Nim was given a doll so that he could cope not being with Stephanie. Zan was given a doll in Nevada so that he could also try to not be alone while he was away from the Tomlins. When Nim had left with Herb and Laura, Stephanie and Betty Lee were feeling down and disappointed. When the Tomlins had decided to let Zan go with Dr.Helson, they felt bad that they were leaving a young chimp around more territorial and older chimps, knowing that Zan would be much frightened.

The differences of the movie and book are very unique and interesting. The environment where Nim was going had many children. Where Zan was headed, there were only three other people. When Zan and Nim were heading to their new homes, the ‘parents’ and ‘siblings’ had not studied chimps, not knowing how they behave. When Nim had reached his new home, he progressed well and learned many signs very quick. Where as for Zan, he learned as many as 2 or 3 signs a week, and Nim had just about doubled that. Nim had a serious attitude. When Stephanie had entered the cage, he grabbed her by the ear and started dragging her around his cage. But Zan, was like a little angel compared to Nim, other than the biting. One time, Nim had bit one lady that had handled him for a while, and she bit him back as a sign to never bite again. But Zan was not disciplined when he bit Richard. When Nim was heading with Laura and Herb, he had no problem letting go and heading with people he knows. When Zan was in Dr.Helson’s holding area, Zan was afraid of letting go from the Tomlins because of the hooting from other chimps. When Nim misbehaved, he was zapped with an electrical rod to settle him down, but Zan was never zapped.

There were happy moments in this story, even though there has been electrocution used. If you don’t believe me, read what I have to mention. Nim had learned many signs when he was with Stephanie, not so much with Herb or Laura. Nim was showed that biting is nasty and painful, by getting bit himself. When Nim was finally purchased and kept for good, one man decided that he should keep Nim happy. This man’s name is Bob. Bob has generous and faithful enough to keep up his visits to Nim so that he doesn’t become wild.

Here, we’ll save the worst part until last, the disturbing things I saw. Nim was tranquilized so that he would settle down and ‘go to sleep’. Zan was tranquilized. Nim was also zapped by an electric rod in order for him to co operate with whoever was handling him. Zan wasn’t electrocuted. They showed Black Beauty Ranch where Nim was going, and there were skinny, neglected animals. In Half Brother, such scenes were never discussed in detail. The last and final thing I found disturbing was when they showed a knocked-out chimp being examined on and poked with needles. Zan was never treated with such disrespect.

There were so many things that I hadn’t known about before. One thing that I learned was that most female chimps are bred for research.. I also didn’t know that chimps were pained by electric rods and tranquilizers so that they could be taken. In order to understand Project Nim, you have to read Half Brother first. After hearing about the comparisons between the book and the move, would you consider adopting a chimp and looking after it as part of a project or for fun?

 

paddynapper

Beating the Yankees

3, 2, 1, FIRE! The cannon crews unleash the cannon balls to attack the Americans. Of course, there weren’t any cannon balls being used, just tennis balls. On Thursday, April 26th the grade ⅞ class went to Robin Barker-James’ farm to re-enact the war of 1812 with real Americans. The battles that were depicted were the Battle of Lundy’s Lane and the Battle of Fort Niagara.

The best moment that I had yesterday was when I had the opportunity to ‘fire’ the cannon against the American side. A classmate of mine, Tyler and I had the chance to fire the cannons in the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. We had to knock out 2 American cannons, and we managed to do so. We started to fire at the cannon, managed 1 hit on the cannon, then aimed for people. The American soldiers were taken care of in a bayonet fight, so we continued to bombard American cannons.

During all our pre-war training,  I learned how clean a cannon, wheel formation and how to fling dog food. The most interesting thing that I enjoyed was cleaning out the cannons. Doesn’t sound like a good job, I know, but I relished it. First, you need to brush out the cannon part itself (where the cannon ball comes out) with a brush to ensure it is not blocked. Then, you need to use a mop-like cleaning instrument to clean the sides of the cannon. Then, you use the ram-rod to ‘ram’ the cannon ball into the cannon. Next, you wait for the signal to fire and BAM! The ball is hurled towards the opposing side.

After depicting Lundy’s Lane and the Battle of Fort Niagara, I learned that it was difficult hauling cannons back and forth, up and down hills and sometimes, sideways. It helps us gain respect for those who went through many harsh conditions to fight for our country. I also learned that it took bravery and courage to do what was done 200 years ago.

hdurnin

My Awesome, Helpful Friend

My most awesome thing is one of my awesome friends. When I don’t know what to do, I ask her to help me. She’s caring and doesn’t judge anybody. She is always willing to help me or anyone that needs the help. She tries to make our community a peaceful place. She’s awesome (it’s not my mom).

                                                                                    Sklathill

 

Animal Testing- The Creepy Monsters We Find

Animal testing. Wrong in every way imaginable. Maybe you think otherwise.The torture that animals go through is unbearable. Just imagine the animal being you, and you being the animal. I don’t think that you would appreciate getting harsh chemicals and dangerous products being tested on you.

As scientists continually test for a cure for cancer, they are hurting and injuring the animals they test on. If the animal survives, they release that tested animal back into the wild. If that animal decides to reproduce, it’s offspring will have deformities and it may actually look like a new breed of species. Animal testing is cruel and unjust. Animal testing is cruel because in most cases, the animals die. Most chemicals in products are harsh, like ingredients in shampoo and toilet cleaner, which eats away at the animals skin and flesh.

Animal testing is unjust because the animal has no idea what’s going on. When you take an animal out of the wild and place it in a laboratory, there aren’t many errors that run through the animals mind. The next time the topic of animal testing comes up, you may want to rethink what it’s really like.

Would you like it if someone placed dangerous chemicals on you? I’d probably think not.

Imagine this cute, little guy being turned into a disease ridden animal, no longer being cute.

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by wwarby

Connections With A Monkey

This year, the grade 7/8 class in Wingham, Ontario is reading a book called Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel with the grade 7/8 class in Snow Lake, Manitoba. As you may recall, these same classes read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. A family moves from Toronto, Ontario to Victori, BC.

In the story, Half Brother, Zan is introduced to the family. When I was about 9, I was introduced to my half brother and 2 half sisters. We get along great, we don’t fight. Unlike Ben, I don’t get to see them very often, meanwhile Ben lives with his half relatives.

cc licensed ( BY SD ) flickr photo shared by Aidan Jones

LOL Christmas Moment

One Example of How Ford Is Better Than Dodge.

Yesterday, (December 18, 2011) my uncle, my uncle’s girlfriend, my brother and I were headed to my uncle Brad’s for my cousins birthday party. We made it alright, but we couldn’t get up the lane way. My older cousin was in her truck and she could not get her truck up the drive way. My cousins boyfriend signaled that we would probably get stuck. So, since my uncle didn’t want to wait very long, he drove up as far as he could, turned around the truck and onto the grass. My cousin ended up crying and going into the house while my other cousin (the brother of) slowly drove the truck up the lane way.

(P.S, we were driving a 2003 Ford Windstar, and she was driving a Dodge Ram.)
stu_pendousmat

aldenjewell

Laughing Squid

Our Pet Polar Kitten

The polar bears population is decreasing because of hunters looking for food and money. As a result, the polar bears are becoming extinct because of the climate becoming warmer. The polar bears are being effected by global warming. This happens everyday to the polar bears, and I couldn’t imagine this happening to me. This mostly occurs near Churchill, Manitoba. Global warming is affecting  the polar bears because the sea ice has not yet formed and polar bears rely on it because they hunt for food on the sea ice. For instance, the food they hunt for is mostly seals. I created a Glogster to summarize my research.

Glogster

The grade ⅞ class in Wingham, Ontario, Canada were looking at Polar Bears International  and we found out that you could adopt a polar bear. So, once we read all the details, we decided that we’d all contribute to raising $250 as a class. The $250 package includes framed personalized certificate with photo by Daniel J. Cox, and a sticker. Also, it includes an ecologically responsible and a cuddly 12-inch bear and a  made in the USA canvas shopping bag. On November 30th, we reached our goal and had a Skype call with Mr.Andy McKiel. During the skype call, we all opened our pop cans at the same time and we ate our donuts (at a different time of course). We had white Coca-Cola cans and specially made donuts from Tim Horton’s.However, we raised a total of $293 which is great seeing as we only were trying to raise $250.

On the other hand, I thought that the entire experience was awesome.It is really cool that your teacher will actually do these things for you if you act accordingly and contribute like you promised. I would love to do this again because I don’t think that any other school has adopted a polar bear. I think we should get the 30 dollar polar bear package, too. It will be very cool to see all of the contents in our package when it arrives.

Chilling With Nanuq

hdurnin

em_j_bishop

The Rocketeer

Cross-Country Running Improvements

charlie llewellin

Question:  What improvements did you make in  your cross-country running this fall?

There are improvements I made in my cross-country running. One improvement I made is that when we ran 0.75, the first time my time was 4:48 and the next time we ran the same distance, I ran 4:40, And the final time we ran 0.75, I ran it in 4:12. when I ran my first distance, then my second, I improved by 17%. Then when I ran it the third time my pace increased by 18%.  I also improved with the way I was breathing when I ran. Sometimes when I ran I would breath through my nose and out through my mouth. Another thing I used to my advantage was a tip Mrs.D gave us. She told us to cup our hands and literally grab the air.

muammerokumus

Question: What goals have you made this year to improve your physical fitness?

One goal I made this year during running was to slow down and to actually pace my running so that I didn’t have to stop running. another goal I made was to run with a partner so that I could run at a talkable speed.
This summer, I was riding bike around town with my friends for about 8 hours. Instead of just riding around town, I could set a bigger route and actually push myself. I could also go for more walks and stop eating the junk foods (thanks to Halloween, it’s a little hard).

Ten Marks And A Train Ticket

This amazing true story of two young boys makes you not want to put it down.Section 1, January 29, 1939:  Benno & his family lived happily, until Hitler was elected president and made life tough to get through

.

                            tiexano

Section 2, January 29, 1940: Heinz and Benno have left Berlin and got on their proper train and were headed for Holland. But the guards don’t let them through because they don’t have the proper papers, so they are now headed for Nijmegen.

                      Dr John2005

Section 3, February 2, 1940: Heinz & Benno are now in Holland, and now in a convent run by Nun’s.

                                         exfordy

Section 4, November 2, 1945: Heinz is married, both Heinz & Benno have jobs and they have a home. Now they just have to make it to their family over seas.

                                            Marionzetta

Section 5, November 23, 2001: Now Benno is married to a woman named Rita, and they have a child together. He has made it to safety in Canada, or so he thinks.

Beth77
While reading Ten Marks And a Train Ticket, images pop up in my head, as anyone would while reading a book, but one popped in my head about Heinz & Benno. Heinz and Benno make it on to a train on its way to Holland. They find a compartment with no electricity, which means no lights. Heinz quickly slides under one of the many seats, and Benno follows and slides under the seat beside Heinz. They hear the Nazi soldiers footsteps getting closer and closer to the compartment. The door opens, and the boys hold their breath. Tears are streaming down Heinz face as the soldier stops walking and pauses. He continues walking, and the boys have avoided being caught.In the book, Max & Golda (Heinz and Benno’s parents) had been sending Heinz and Benno on a train to escape Germany. As the train pulled out, Benno said, “I was happy to be leaving, even though I didn’t know where I was going.” Which is understandable for him to be saying that because he’s only 9 years of age.

I thought that Ten Marks and a Train Ticket was by far the best Jewish Escape book I have ever read, I would love to read it again. I learned that when the Nazis started World War II, they didn’t plan to kill the Jews. I was surprised that small areas of the cities were sealed off and called Ghettos. Many Jews were confined in this certain area. They (Jews) were imprisoned, which brought hunger, disease and execution. If you left the Ghetto without permission, you could be punished by death.

What do you think the other boys thought about Emmakinderhuis?
Do you think that Benno is still traumatized by what happened when he was a child

I have also made a Timetoast Timeline.

Idea Hive Comparisons

 Hello to everyone inside and outside the Idea Hive! My name is DylaSche and I am from Turnberry Central Public School, in Wingham, Ontario. As you can see, I am a hardcore deadmau5 fan. I hope to be an electronic artist like him. We have been working with the grade ⅞ class in Snow Lake, Manitoba (again) and have taken another common interests quiz and have again, found common interests.
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
While reading through the spreadsheet, there are 21 people that go on Facebook. I am not going to list them all, but I will list a few. From Wingham, logaheme, isaaerri, alyshuff and tegagric. From Snow Lake, Joan, Juli, DirtBiker77 and Quader67. Only 11 other people have no pets! I was quite surprised at the number, because I thought the number would have been lower. Some of these people have no pets. From Wingham, jacopeel, justschi. From Snow Lake, Alexander, Erin. Only 4 people enjoy playing baseball. From Wingham, ethajohn, bradpewt jeffpewt and melimast. Just like last year, I am the only one that still looks up to deadmau5. I look up to deadmau5 because as I listen, I wonder how he creates the sounds he does. The person that is most like me from J.H Kerr is Lyndon. We both like gym, Fast Five, the Winnipeg Jets and  Pizza. We both brush our teeth two times a day. Neither of us have a pet or play an instrument.

                                                                             Icejul

The thing I still wonder about is if anyone really does like deadmau5 as a musician. No one asked who was their favourite musician so I am still wondering if anyone does actually like deadmau5. I understand if you don’t like electronica or house. Most people think that electronica repeats sounds

Thomas Hawk