Valentine's Day Project

Let's make a poster!

What your poster should include:

1) Title: what country are you researching?

2) Origins: what are the origins of Valentine's Day celebrations (or the equivalent) in your country?

3) Celebration: how does your country celebrate Valentine's Day?

4) Map: where in the world is your country?

5) Interesting Fact: are there any special symbols of Valentine's Day used in your country? Do people go anywhere special or eat something in particular?

6) Pictures!

Here is my example report:

Valentine's Day in Wales

The Welsh celebrate Valentine’s Day on January, 25^th. They call it Dydd Santes Dwynwen, or “day of saint Dwynwen.” Dwywen is the Welsh saint of love.

Dwynwen

Origins: There are lots of versions of the origins of Dydd Santes Dwynwen, but the general gist goes that in the fifth century, Dywnwen fell in love with Maelon Dafodrill. Maelon returned her love, but for some reason, they could not be together. In some versions her father forbade the marriage, in others her father had promised her to another. Dwynwen, distraught by her love for Maelon, prays to fall out of love with him. 

Dwynwen was visited by an angel, who appeared carrying a sweet potion designed to erase all memory of Maelon and turn him into a block of ice. God then gave three wished to Dwynwen. First she wished that Maelon would be thawed, second that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers, and third, that she should never marry. All three were fulfilled, and as a mark of her thanks, Dwynwen devoted herself to God’s service for the rest of her life.

She became a nun and built a church, which became known as Llanddwyn, which means “Church of Dwynwen.” 

Celebration: The popularity of this day has increased in recent years, particularly after 2003 when the Bwrdd Yr Iaith (Welsh Language Board) teamed up with a UK grocery store to give away free cards. One card entitled the finder to a prize. The board also suggested ways to celebrate, including love-themed gigs, singles nights, preparing romantic meals, and composing a love poem to be read at a local pub. The Welsh often celebrate with concerts and parties, and exchange Dudd Santes Dwynwen greetings cards.

Interesting Fact: Llanddwyn island contains Dwynwen’s well, where, supposedly, a sacred fish swims whose movements predict the future fortunes and relationships of various couples. Another tradition claims that if the water boils while visitors are present, then love and good luck will surely follow.

A map of Wales within Europe

Rock and Mineral Project

Questions to Answer

1. Name: What is the name of the rock/mineral? What are the origins of that name?

2. Description: Give a brief description of the rock/mineral. What color is it? How hard is it? What is its luster (is it shiny and see through or dull)? 

3. Classification: What kind of rock or mineral is it? (Igneous, metamorphic, etc.)

4. Location: Where is this gem typically found? (Countries, and is it mined, volcanoes, etc.)

5. Uses: What is it mostly used for? 

6. Interesting Fact: Something awesome/cool about it

7. Picture

Here is my example report: 

Ms. Valerie

1/15/14

The Red, Red Ruby

Name:

Ruby. The word “ruby” comes from the Latin word “ruber,” which means “red.”

Description:

Rubies are red gemstones that range from light pink to blood-red in color. They are one of the hardest minerals; only diamonds and moissanite are harder. They have a vitreous luster, which means the stones are transparent and reflect light, like glass. Rubies are one of four “precious stones,” the others being diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds.

Classification:

Rubies are a variety of the mineral corundum.

Location:

The Mogok Valley in Upper Myanmar (Burma) was where most rubies were mined, but few have been found there recently. They have also been mined in Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Some have been found in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Madagascar, Vietnam, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Pakistan. In the United States, rubies have been found in Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Wyoming. Recently some have been found in Greenland, Macedonia, and Kenya.

Uses:

Rubies are mostly used in ornamental jewelry.

Interesting Facts:

1. Rubies have always been valued in Asian countries. They were used to ornament armor, scabbards, and harnesses of noblemen in India and China. Rubies were also laid beneath the foundation of buildings to secure good fortune to the structure.

2. In the book The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy originally wore silver slippers, but when the movie was made, the directors changed them to ruby slippers in order to take advantage of their new ability to film in color.

Day of the Dead Assignment

Instructions

1. Open a Word document and type your name, date, and add a title (layout this information the same way as your Airplane assignment). Your title should include "Day of the Dead" and the name of your country. ("Day of the Dead in ____" is a great way to go).

2. Write up a report that answers as many of the following questions as possible*:

Origins
- How/why did people start celebrating Day of the Dead in your country?
- When did people start celebrating? (recently, hundreds of years ago, after a certain event happened...)

Traditions
- How do people celebrate? (Do they visit cemeteries, eat certain foods, NOT do certain things? How do they decorate? Are specific colors associated with the day? A certain symbol? etc.)
- Are any of these traditions specific to your country?

- Why do they celebrate in this way? (For example, if I was doing a report on Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, I would write that eggs are a symbol of rebirth and spring, and thus why this food has become associated with the day).

- About how many people celebrate out of the total population?

*NOTE: You may not be able to find some of the answers to these questions. But if I can find the answers within five minutes of searching, you aren't off the hook and should have them.

3. Find a color picture or two and paste it/them into the assignment.

Good luck!
Miss Valerie

Free Rice Assignment Instructions

Instructions

1) Go to freerice.com. This website is awesome because it helps you to develop your vocabulary while also helping others. How does it do that, you ask? Well, for each vocabulary question you get right, the site donates 10 grains of rice to those in need!

2) Open a Word document. You will first need to put your name and the date. Please add a title. An example could be "Free Rice Assignment #1." Then record this information:

What are 5 new words you learned today and what do they mean?

What level did you get to?

How many grains of rice did you donate today?

3) Save your document with your name and Free Rice Activity. For example, Miss Valerie's assignment would be saved as "Miss Valerie Free Rice Activity"

4) The next time you do a Free Rice assignment, remember to record the date and then answer the three questions.

Here is a picture of what your assignment should look like:

Fokker Dr-I Triplane

The Triplane was created in response to the performance of Great Britain's Sopwith Triplane, which had amazing maneuverability and a startling rate of climb. Anthony Fokker tasked Reinhold Platz to create a plane that would match the Sopwith Triplane. 

Despite his disdain for complicated structures, Platz succeeded admirably with the Dr I (Dr for "Driedecker" or triplane). Using the available Oberursel rotary engine of 110 horsepower, Platz created a handsome aircraft with three essentially cantilever wings that exceeded the English Triplane's performance. The Fokker Dr I, while relatively slow, had a matchless maneuverability and a rate of climb that amazed opposing Allied pilots.

Unfortunately for the Germans, a series of fatal crashes revealed quality control problems in the construction of the Fokker Dr I's wings. The planes were refitted with newly manufactured wings, but production was halted, and the Fokker Triplane was gradually withdrawn from front-line service.

The tiny Fokker Triplane has emerged as the most famous of all German planes of the First World War. If one had to assign a percentage factor to this fame, about ten percent comes from the fact that it was the mount in which the leading German ace, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, was killed, shortly after his 80th, and last, victory. Amazingly, about 90 percent of its fame must be attributed to the invocation of the aircraft in the late Charles Schultz's comic strip, Peanuts, in which Snoopy flew his "Sopwith Camel" doghouse against the Red Baron's inevitably victorious Fokker Triplane.

Wright Brothers' Flyer (1903)

The Wright brothers inaugurated the aerial age with the world's first successful flights of a powered heavier-than-air flying machine. The Wright Flyer was the product of a sophisticated four-year program of research and development conducted by Wilbur and Orville Wright beginning in 1899. After building and testing three full-sized gliders, the Wrights' first powered airplane flew at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, making a 12-second flight, traveling 120 ft, with Orville piloting. The best flight of the day, with Wilbur at the controls, covered 852 ft in 59 seconds.

The Wrights pioneered many of the basic tenets and techniques of modern aeronautical engineering, such as the use of a wind tunnel and flight testing as design tools. Their seminal accomplishment encompassed not only the breakthrough first flight of an airplane, but also the equally important achievement of establishing the foundation of aeronautical engineering.

The Wright brothers had many problems with their flyer designs. The first of these that the brothers would have to learn to fly the airplane in three dimensions -- it could not be chauffeured about like an automobile. Also, its light weight made the flyer vulnerable to wind. It was just barely capable of flight. Its four-cylinder engine had just enough horsepower to get the Flyer airborne and sustain it for each of the four short flights, the only ones it ever made. During its the last flight, a gust of wind lifted up the Wright Flyer and it went crashing across the sand. It was severely damaged and would never be flown again. However, the Wright brothers accomplished what they set out to do. They demonstrated that basic techniques could in fact fly heavier-than-air aircrafts. It proved the Wrights' theories, and this classic airplane set them a decade in advance of all other inventors pursuing the dream of flight.

Sadly, the vast majority of people, especially in Europe, continued to consider the Wrights liars. The Wrights, properly insulted, stopped flying in November 1905 and did not resume until 1908. When they resumed, it was with a style and grace that amazed the aviation world.

An Interesting Fact:

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, made an arrangement with the National U.S. Air Force Museum to take a small piece of wood from the propeller of the Wright Brother's 1903 Flyer, as well as a 8x13 inch piece of muslin fabric from the left wing, with him into space. 

Tissandier Brothers' Airship

For years, airship engineers had been trying to create an electric airship. In 1881, brothers Albert and Gaston Tissandier created the world's first electric powered flight at an electricity exposition by attaching an electric motor to a dirigible. 

However, this airship had some major problems (airships in general were extremely expensive, slow, and vulnerable to stormy weather). It was not until October, 8 1883 that the Tissandier brothers achieved the first successful flight of a dirigible with an electric motor that had proper turning-- which meant it could complete a circular flight.

The airship's electric motor allowed for a consistency of weight, absence of fire, and could put an object in motion and could stop it easily (they did not have to wait until the steam was used up to stop). The ship traveled 8 mph, out-speeding the wind, and completed a 1 hour flight.

The balloon itself was cigar-shaped and measured about 92 ft long and 30 ft in diameter. It took seven hours to fill with pure gas, and was done using four hydrogen generators. The pure gas gave the balloon a better lift. Its basket was manufactured from bamboo and was suspended from the balloon by ribbons.

Interesting Facts About the Brothers:

1) The Tissandier brothers assembled a collection of more than 900 items relating to the early history of aeronautics, including images of balloons, airships, and flying machines; portraits of famous balloonists; views of numerous ascensions, accidents, and world’s fairs; cartoons featuring balloon themes; pictorial and textual broadsides; and colorful ephemera and poster advertisements.

2) During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Gaston Tissandier escaped Paris by balloon.

3) Gaston Tissandier, Joseph Croce-Spinelli, and Theodore Sivel completed a flight in April 1875 that reached an amazing altitude of 5.34 miles. Due to lack of oxygen from the thin air at this high altitude, however, his two companions did not survive, and Tissandier lost his hearing.