9-11 Healing Field

Tempe Town Lake

September 11

September 11, 2001, was a very sad day for the United States. Osama Bin Ladin showed his jealousy and hatred for the United States that day. On that day nobody had any idea what was going on; everybody was looking at the television, watching in disbelief. We saw the Twin Towers falling down and everybody was scared. There was also other jeopardy at the Pentagon. There was almost panic at the White House too. It is now September 11, 2012, and we still have not forgotten that day. Yesterday the EDG went to a memorial for all who died in 9/11. This memorial is called Healing Field, located at Tempe Beach Park. There were 2,996 flags up and had all the names of the victims on them. On the outside was a yellow flag for all the rescue helpers that went in and tried to help. On the inside were all the grownups that died, as well as the six children. We could find the children easily because they put Teddy bears on the end of the flag. There were also boots for the soldiers that died. There is no way to end this sadness besides remembering all these people who died.

Water Works at Arizona Falls

Arizona Falls in 1935

Today we visited Water Works at Arizona Falls. Water Works is a twenty foot drop along the Arizona Canal. The new Arizona Falls involves art, history, and technology to generate energy. The energy that is produced by water can power up to one hundred-fifty homes.

            We were driving home from the Science Center, but we took a different route because we wanted to stop by the Civic Center Library. Along the way, on our left, we noticed a canal. Mrs. Davis started talking about how water can produce energy and how Native Americans would dig canals from the river to water their fields. I remember learning about the Nile River and the Ancient Egyptians and how they used their water. We pulled over, and the first feature I noticed was a steep bank. Samantha and I scrambled up to the top of the canal.

Arizona Falls now!

            In the 1800s, Phoenicians enjoyed the wonder of Arizona Falls. They would picnic there, socialize, play, and dance. The first structure was originally built in 1902; the plant was rebuilt in 1911 which started providing Phoenicians with energy but then shut down in 1950. When more people moved to the Valley, Arizona Falls was almost forgotten until the current structure was built in June 2003. It is amazing what we can learn by driving from a museum to a library.  

Walk Like an Egyptian!

Ancient Egypt

Today in class we learned about Ancient Egypt. There are a plethora of facts that we will learn including King Tut,  the Nile flood that comes once a year, the Sphinx, Cleopatra, and pyramids. We learned that Ancient Egypt existed for more than 3,000 years. With all this information we are making pocket books. The EDG are hoping we can learn even more.

EDG 

Cooking

Today is Wednesday; it must be cooking day! Every Wednesday we cook to learn about measurements and converting fractions. Today’s recipe was chosen from Michelle Obama’s contest for healthy recipes from children. The ingredients were whole wheat penne pasta, broccoli, chicken strips, reduced fat cheese, nonfat milk, and low sodium chicken broth. We had to use all of our skills: straining, boiling, baking, combining, mixing, pouring, and chopping. The result was mouth-watering and healthy too!

As a side dish, we decided to bake soda bread because in our gifted reading book, we found a recipe for Irish soda bread. Soda bread first appeared in the 19^th century. The Irish soda bread has a cross symbol on the top of the bread, but it is not a religious representation. The ingredients are very simple: sugar, baking soda, baking powder, butter, buttermilk, raisins, flour, and salt. This recipe turned out to be lip-smacking!

Our amazing chic' penne dish!

Delectable soda bread!!

You can find all of the healthy recipes from the kids' White House state dinner at this link:  
http://www.letsmove.gov/kids-state-dinner-winners

Healthy Cooking

Yum!

Spinach Chicken Salad:

• boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• dressing of oil, vinegar and kosher salt

• home-made croutons (slightly burnt)

• fresh spinach

• sliced strawberries

Creating a Volcano

Making a Volcano

Today we made a volcano using many methods and materials. In volcanoes there are many different functions. The magma will spurt and soon it will explode. There are many different materials that we had to gather before we even tried to start the volcano. The scientific method had all the steps we need: purpose, research, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, conclusion. Unfortunately we were unable to obtain real magma, so we made our own with soap, vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring. Now the volcano explodes.  

Let us paint.

Now I need some red.

Let us learn.

Ready for explosion.

Explosion!!

EDG

 (It is all about getting smart.)

Elements and Principles of Design

The Education Girls learned about the different lines and why they are formed. We also learned about the dot family, which is when circles are filled in. For our art projects, we started out by cutting a three-dimensional bubble wrap square and using this to print onto paper. Next we painted on a sheet of paper and took different materials like combs to carve designs on the paint. After that, we blew purple and green bubbles so we could print it on the sheet. After our hour art lesson, our hands were colored with pant. Samantha even had a design of paint on her arm. We had a very fun time working with Mrs. Henry. We can’t wait for our next art lesson.

Samantha and Lauren getting ready to paint!

Printing our bubble-wrap on the paper.

Samantha blowing bubbles.

Lauren blowing bubbles.

Samantha's elegant artwork!!

Samantha's beautiful artwork!!!

Artist hands!