Space: The Final Frontier

Author's note: I am writing this because I am interested in space and all the inventions and scientific discoveries and I am trying to work on vocabulary.

How many inventions can you name off the top of your head? Some people would be able to name a few inventions and some might be able to name a lot of inventions. Well how many of those inventions do you think have helped our exploration and understanding of space? Maybe just a few of them, maybe half, maybe even all of them. Now think of how many of our Space discoveries could help the Earth be a better place for everyone. It is time to begin Man's journey with space and what happened then and now with our exploration of space.

Where should we begin? How about the beginning of man’s exploration of space. Yes I am talking about the SPACE RACE between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R. The space race started with the U.S.S.R. launching Sputnik 1 into space in 1957, and ended with the co-operative Apollo-Soyuz Test Project human spaceflight mission in 1975. during the space race there were many great achievements such as the first space walk, the first man in space, the first manned aircraft in space, and the first man on the moon. That was why the space race was one of the most important parts of Earth’s history.
But how did we even get to the space race idea with man’s first look at the universe. The two big theories about our universe lit the fire of space exploration. The first theory suggested that Earth was the center of the universe because of how the sun rose in the east and set in the west as if it circled around us. The first theory was proven to be false when Galileo found that while he was looking at the stars through his telescope one night and saw one of the stars seem to disappear. He later discovered that it was actually one of Jupiter’s moons circle around it and that gave rise to the theory that the sun was the center of the universe which had some truth to it but was wrong that the sun was the center of the whole universe when it is actually the center of our solar system. This theory was called the Copernicus theory, ever hear of it?

Okay now I am going to get a little caught up with the present. Have any of you heard of Spirit and Opportunity? Well they are really famous for helping us with our exploration of space. Now this might be confusing. Right now both versions of Spirit and Opportunity are helping us. The first versions I am talking about are the opportunities we are getting and our spirit to help us keep going. The second versions are the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Rovers. This year in 2011 Spirit and Opportunity are turning six. This is their sixth year on Mars. They were only thought that they would keep transmitting for 90 days and then something might have gone wrong, but as you know both of them are still going strong, but NASA says that Spirit might not make it to seven. Spirit is right now trapped in a sand trap and trying to get out. With Mars winter approaching NASA is trying their best to get Spirit over the Mars equator and into summertime on Mars. Opportunity is safe on the other side and transmitting a lot of data back to Earth and will hopefully continue to do so for a long time in to the future.

Two more space probes are in our solar system currently but one of them is close to leaving our solar system. Voyager 1 has com close to our solar systems edge and closer to leaving our solar system. Voyager 1 is currently 17,344,660,483km from the sun and still going out farther. Voyager 1 is right now trying to get out of our system through a huge mass of heat with no solar wind at all. The second space probe Voyager 2 is currently on the outer reaches of our solar system transmitting data to us. Voyager 2 sent back different data for a while that scientists could not figure out. Some citizens believed that it was because of aliens. A few days later NASA discovered that it was only a small glitch in the probes system and was being repaired. Now Voyager 1 and 2 are transmitting data back to us and are still on the outer reaches of our solar system. Let’s hope they keep transmitting for a long time to come.

So did you think about what I said? I hope you did because now I want you to post it in a comment. Other than that I hope you liked my passage, and I hope you comment it. I wrote this passage to make you think about how much we still have to learn about space and how much we can learn from it. Space is not the final frontier in my eyes but it is the beginning of a new one that will continue to teach us about new technology and new discoveries.

Rifles

Author's note: I am writing this because guns interest me and I want to focus on voice

Our modern weapons, the rifles, what are they capable of? There are many different designs for rifles including automatics, semi-automatics, snipers, shotguns, double-barrel, and automatic shotguns. These are different in some ways and they are the same in some ways, but they all have a few things in common. They all have a rifled barrel, they all come from muskets in some way, and the last thing they have in common is they're all used in war.

The types of rifles that are most often seen in war are automatics, semi-automatics(semis), snipers, and automatic shotguns. Some of the 64 auto rifles used in the war are the AK-47, the Browning M1918 BAR, Bushmaster M17S(Bull-pup), Colt M16A2, and the Colt M4 Carbine. Auto rifles are able to fire off bullets straight from the clip with no need to stop in between, unless there is a jam, by holding down the trigger allowing faster reloads and more than one shot at a time such as the triple fire option which is on many auto rifles which allows three shots per trigger pull.

 Some of the semi rifles are the M1 Carbine, the M16, and the AR-15. Semi-auto rifles are able to fire off one bullet every time the trigger is pulled which gives more accuracy and allows them to fire and aim faster .

 Some sniper rifles are the M24 sniper rifle, the M40 sniper rifle, and the Bor sniper rifle. Most sniper rifles have a removable or interchangeable scope and are bolt-action which means you would have to keep a lot of bullets handy because after each shot you would have to pull the bullet cover back which would make the bullet case fall out and then you would have to put the bullet in and slide the bullet cover back over the bullet. There are also semi-auto snipers which give a faster aim and fire time.

 Some auto shotguns are the Benelli, the Beretta 391, the Browning, the Remington, and the Winchester Super X3. Auto shotguns work kind of like regular shotguns but instead of have to cock it and reload when you run out of ammo you would just have to change the ammo cartridge making reloading faster.

Even though they all seem different on the outside they all go into war, they all evolved from the musket, and they all have a rifled barrel. That's what's unique about both rifles and people. We might not all look alike, and  even though there might be a lot of things different about us that separates us from others we are all still alike on the inside and we are all in some way the same.

losing the most important parts of your life

Author’s note: I am writing this for my Language Arts class as a final response to the book the Outsiders.

Throughout the book there are many ways the characters lose their innocence.  Loss of innocence occurs through loss of freedom and knowing what is means to be behind bars. Loss of innocence occurs through loss of childhood happiness due to the loss of parents. Lastly, loss of innocence pairs with loss of life. Yet, throughout all this loss they still stand tall and proud.

Dally was the first of the group to be thrown into jail at the age of 10 when he was in New York. Dally is the one in the group who has the smallest chance of regaining his innocence because of his stony attitude developed during the many times he has been to jail. Yet, Dally is always looking out for the others and will take their place for their crimes, which is why he is respected by the others and also why Johnny came to him for help after the accident.

Darry and Dally have lost basic childhood happiness but because of different reasons. Darry had to give up all the innocence of childhood in his life when his, Soda’s, and Ponyboy’s parents died. He had to take over taking care of his brothers which meant getting two jobs and quitting school. Dally thinks there is no good left in the world and that there is no reason to be happy. Sometimes people chose to give up their basic happiness and lose innocence that way.

The saddest part of the book is when Johnny loses his life, the ultimate loss, but he loses it trying to save another, so it is a noble loss.  Dally also loses his life but for different reasons. They both lose the innocence of child’s life. Johnny loses his life while saving other young kids from a burning building but inhales to much smoke. His innocence is sacrificed. Dally doesn’t want a life without Johnny so he rushes out to get killed. His innocence is given up through his own actions.  Both have died but innocence lost is different.

Defying stereotypes in the outsiders

Authors note: I wrote this to show how the author of the outsiders makes the characters defy the stereotypes of hoodlums.
 

The book the outsiders was about a group of guys who grew up and lived on the wrong side of town. However they defy the stereotypes of the greasers who everyone thinks are really bad and nasty people but instead they are all nice to each other and are just trying to make a good life with what they have been given. Another way they defy stereotypes is that everyone thinks they would be stupid yet Pony boy is one of the top students. A way that Darry defies the stereotype is that people would think that greasers just steal money but Darry works as hard as everyone else. Sodapop defies the stereotype that no greaser has a soul or heart but Soda tries to understand everyone and help them. Those are some ways the guys defy the stereotypes of greaser and are kind of the exact opposite of the stereotypical greasers in my mind, and if these stereotypes are wrong what about other stereotypes?

response to the outsiders: new scene by Cherry

Authors note: i wrote this as ho i think Cherry thought about what happened that night and how  she would put it all as.

"CHERRY. THERE IS SOMEONE HERE FOR YOU"  my dad yelled from downstairs. " I'M COMING, BE THERE IN A SEC" I yelled back. Tonight I was going on a date with my boyfriend Bob, He said we were going to the movies with Randy and Marcia. I had a feeling something might go wrong but I ignored it and finished getting ready for my date.  We had just arrived at the drive-in movie and were settling in when Bob and Randy pulled out some beers asking us if we want any to which we kindly said no and left. They should know better!  They know we don't like beer and yet they brought some. They should have known that we were gonna leave if they brought beer. I was still fuming over it when the Greasers arrived. The cocky greaser was so infuriating I literally wanted to hit him and tell him to beat it, but one of the other greasers told him to leave us alone, which surprisingly he did even though this kid was pretty much half his size. After that we asked the other two greasers to come sit by us to keep the other one away. After awhile of talking to them another greaser came up behind them and acted like a soc who came to kill them. The two greasers were dead white. The other greaser offered to take us home but of course on our way to the car Randy and Bob just had to show up.