Writing with Meghan-15 (1 hour) By Ethan

Part 1 Quick writing: observe a picture provided by Meghan
1. It is a pink, sticky, 40% fuzzy, oblong object full of holes and it’s 3D!!!
2. Length=10.698 cm
3. Width=3.711cm
4. Height=2.15cm
5. Volume=85.356cm3
6. It is a flamingo.
7. It’s stretchy.

Part 2 Help Me!!

• Name: Luke Johnson
• Situation: There has been an outbreak of a strange new illness. Once you catch it, there is no cure. I need to find a safe place where I can live comfortable without catching the illness.

Illness: FFD (Fruit Fly Death)
Origin: The Middle East
Symptoms: dizziness, nausea/vomiting, headache, hair loss, death
Actions taken:
Step 1: Move away to Australia
Step 2: Install airtight house, door and windows.
Step 3: Put an Anti-Germ® shield around house.
Step 4: Check for leaks or blemishes.
Step 5: Make sure the Australians don’t have FFD.
Step 6: Buy Anti-Germ® clothes and masks.
Step 7: Buy time- traveling machine.
Step 8: Time travel to the time the plague ends.
Step 9: Wait until that time.
Step 10: Go back to USA.  

The Space Needle (by William)

Live from Spring Break Road Trip (March 28, 2018)

During this road trip, one of my dreams come true.  I first heard about the Space Needle four years ago, and I was immediately attached to it because of its size and shape.  Now my dream of visiting it had finally come true.

 

The Space Needle was built in 1962 for the World Fair.  It was built for tourists coming to the growing town of Seattle, Washington.  During the construction, the Space Needle was slowly rising higher and higher above Seattle.  When the torch was added, people were already waiting in line to see the architect miracle.

While we were waiting in line to get into the elevator, an old gentleman behind us said that when he was a boy, he went to the Space Needle during its initial opening in 1962.  Many famous people such as Lyndon Johnson came visit the Space Needle.  Even though the Space Needle was under renovation during our visit, the Seattle skyline with skyscrapers and the glistening Puget Sound water were breathtaking.

 

The history of the Space Needle coincided with the Space Age when people tried to explore space. This triggered more interest for me to know more about science and space.     

Capital of the Evergreen State (by William)

Live from Spring Break Road Trip (March 27, 2018)

It has been raining non-stop since our plane landed in Portland, Oregon Saturday night.  We decided to spend our day in the Washington State Capital.  It turned out to be a great learning experience.  Let me share three stories the tour guide Linda Moon told us.

The first one was a very funny story about the creation of the Washington State Seal.  One day, Charles Talcott was thinking about what the state seal should be.  He had the cold and reached for his medicine bottle.  On the bottle was a picture of George Washington.  The medicine bottle gave him an idea.  He traced a silver dollar to get a circle then drew Washington’s face inside just as the one on the medicine bottle.   
  

The second story was about the Tiffany glass chandeliers. A standard chandelier in the legislative building weighs one ton and the heaviest one weights five tons (10,000 pounds).  The light bulbs on the heaviest one are the same kind of bulbs used for traffic lights since they can last very long.  Someone in our tour group noticed a light bulb was broken.  Linda explained the old way for the technician to fix the chandelier was to balance walk on a cable.  Nowadays safety nets are installed underneath to protect the technicians.    
 

 

The third story was about the marble wall and floors.  The marbles came from different regions of the world—Alaska, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and France.  In the Reception room, there are many patterns on the marble wall, and I was able to spot a butterfly, a dog, and a river.
 

 

I also followed two classes of 5^th graders from local schools into the Temple of Justice and listened in a mock trial.  This was a day I visited offices all three branches--Legislative, Executive, and Judicial of the government.

Exploring Portland, Oregon (by William)

Live from Spring Break Road Trip (3/25/2018)

This was the day we started exploring Oregon!  We went to the International Rose Test Gardens and OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry).  The Rose Garden is home to over 10,000 roses under 600 different species, and every rose has a name.  For example, two of my favorite names are Hot Cocoa and Sunshine Daydream.  Although the roses are not in bloom, I knew that in spring, the rose gardens will be very beautiful.  OMSI has so many fascinating exhibits, and one of my favorites is the Beginning of Life.  The sperm cell produced by a male meets the egg cell produced by a female, and that encounter produces a baby.  I also found the answer of my long time question, why females have period.  It is because their ovaries release eggs, and if the eggs are not fertilized, the eggs will be flush out by blood. 

Robot Revolution Exhibit at OMSI 

The Beginning of Life Exhibit at OMSI



Here I Come Portland, Oregan (by William)

Live from Spring Break Road Trip (3/24/2018)

“Vrrrrrrr!” Went the plane as it sped up on the runway.  Boy, was I excited for spending my Spring Break on vacation!  I felt my stomach lurch and somersault as the plane climbed higher into the sky.  I looked down and saw the grand Pacific Ocean looming blow us.  I took a deep breath trying not to think about the turbulent experience of my first plane trip to Taiwan five years ago.  Just then, the plan turned north and began its trip to Oregon.  After what seemed hours, the plane finally landed in Portland.  I managed a wan smile as I took my first step into Oregon. 

Source: Google Map

 

 

And the Oscar Goes to (by William)

The Oscars will be announced this coming Sunday, and if there is a Best Opera award next year, I think the Oscar should go to--A Trip to the Moon!

I am one of the kids from Los Angeles Children’s Chorus participating the US premier of A Trip to the Moon this Friday and Saturday, together with LA Philharmonic and musicians from other organizations.

https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/111/

We have been rehearsing many evenings and weekends, and I have to skip school twice this week for rehearsals at the Disney Concert Hall, but there are a lot of joy, excitement, and curiosity all bundled into this experience. 

The story is about six astronomers, Barbenfouillis, Micromegas,  Alcofrisbas, Omega, Nostradamus, and Parafaragaramus went to the moon, but unfortunately they found out their rocket was broken and couldn’t make back to the earth.  George who was there to record the astronomers wandered off, and met a moon person Eoa and they taught each other how to communicate using moon language and English. The astronomers met with the Queen of the moon people, and she decided to welcome them.  In the midst, Uai, a rock monster stole a moon child.  The moon people became a mob and blamed the astronomers for the missing child.  The astronomers used their umbrellas to fight off Uai and the missing child was found.  The moon people fixed the rocket and soon afterwards, the astronomers were on their way back home.  Meanwhile, one the moon, Eoa watched the rocket take off while singing a tune of courage “I…You…Us.” 

Be part of the Opera performance has been one of the greatest experiences I ever had.  When the performances were completed, sadness and disappointment rose in my heart and mixed with the excitement, like dark clouds lingering around the sun.  How much I love A Trip to the Moon and LACC! 

P.S. On May 3, Google's search page featured Georges Méliès's influential 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. Watch the Google Doodle at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9UDm2zuGDc



Google's search page on May 3, 2018



Digital Junk and the Demand for Photo Selection Application (by William)

During my recent trip to the Huntington Library, I took over a hundred photos with my digital camera.  The next day, I spent about an hour to delete more than half of the photos that were bad quality--blurry, random, or duplicative. 

Nowadays people often take tons of photos using their digital devices.  Later on, they either load all the photos without looking, or have to spend a lot of time going through the photos to select the good ones and delete the bad ones.  I think we should think twice before taking random photos.  Cleaning up digital junk may use up a lot of precious time.

I also wondered if there are applications that can sort photos by quality.  I researched online but couldn’t find any app that fits my requirements.  The law of demand and supply tells me if the demand is high but the supply is low, the price of the product will be high.  On the other side, if the demand is low and supply is high, the product will be cheap. 

If there is an app that can identify the bad quality photos and delete them, the developers can sell it for a good price!