Today I read my Egyptian mythology library books. At the beginning of the day I was going to spend the first half reading them so as to finish them before going to the library. But we ended up not going. So I read most of them and spent the rest of today reading Watership Down, practicing my guitar, and doing math, I really want to finish my math book. I finished lesson nine and went on to the third part of lesson eleven. Each lesson has six parts each with twenty math problems.

I finished most online research. All I have to do now is read my library books on Ancient Egypt and find a final project. One thing I'm considering is a lapbook style project Mom sent me. You can look at it here. I also wanted to try making a model ancient Egyptian village with a Pyramid in the center.

I also continued reading Through the Looking-Glass, but I'm not finished yet.

Today was full of more research, mostly about King Tut this time. I used resources from the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs section of the Field Museum website. It's the same site I tried the explore Tut's tomb activity on.

I also continued writing the Alice in Wonderland movie review and should be done by tomorrow at the latest. And in addition to that, I started reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I want to read both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. They seem pretty short compared to Watership Down and the Lost World.

A Poem From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I started reading the book today and loved this poem:

'How doth the little crocodile
      Improve his shining tail,
     And pour the waters of the Nile
      On every golden scale!

     'How cheerfully he seems to grin,
      How neatly spread his claws,
     And welcome little fishes in
      With gently smiling jaws!'

I've been doing a lot of research on the Book of the Dead today. It's all really interesting stuff. I learned exactly what the book is, a sort of spell book full of enchantments that supposedly help to ensure a happy afterlife. I learned that it derived from Pyramid texts and that at first the Egyptians believed only the Pharaoh had the honor of an afterlife. Then the Pyramid texts evolved to Coffin text, writing on the inside of coffins that was used by royalty. And eventually the Book of the Dead was born, and now anyone who could afford it could make their own personalized Book of the Dead.

In addition to that, I continued Watership Down and I started writing an Alice in Wonderland review on Why is the Popcorn Always Gone.

Pyramid Theory

A book I'm reading asked me to find the strangest theory of the creation of the Pyramids at Giza I could think of. I came up with this: The Egyptians would first use a sturdy wooden cart to haul around bricks. They would then create small levers and cranes that have wheels. They'd use any stones they are not using yet to form a sort of stairway. Then they would place flat wooden pieces on the stairs to make a sort of ramp. They'd then drag up the stones and cranes/pulleys and place them in the right areas.

Studying Ancient Egypt

I started studying ancient Egypt today. I started studying it when I tried an explore Tut's Tomb activity. It was so interesting I decided to learn more about the King's tombs and the Egyptian belief in the Afterlife. I started reading about The Book of the Dead and about Pyramid Text and Coffin Text. I learned about Egyptian Stela and a little about their Gods. Then, while looking on my bookshelf for some light-reading, I found the Egyptology Handbook, a thirty lesson course on Egyptology. It's all really interesting stuff.

I finished my lapbook! it took a lot less time than I thought it would. Unfortunately, I didn't include the author biography because it would take up too much space. The lapbook already has eight pages of text from the story alone, and an extra three from the character pages. I'm guessing, based on the amount of writing, that the biography already has near the same amount of content as the story, and it's not even halfway done. So I decided to just leave it out and us it as a stand alone project. My next study topic will be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but not as the author of Sherlock Holmes.

Today I also continued reading Watership Down, and I'm on the first chapter of part two, a good hundred and fifty or so pages into the story. Watership Down tells the story of a group of rabbits as they leave their home warren and search for a newer, safer one. Along the way, they cross paths with a strange colony of healthy and odd rabbits, one of which joins them. This encounter is what I think is the best part of the first section of the book, and I can't wait to read the next one.

Vim and the New Blog

Today, Sam and I started a new blog. Check it out: http://popcornsgone.blogspot.com/. On the blog we'll be reviewing books/movies, having book/ movie character contests, and all sorts of stuff.

I also discovered Vim. Dad showed it to me. It's a really neat text editor, used for writing html and other programming languages. I used it to start on a program today. It has all sorts of helpful commands. You can download it here.

Starting the Lapbook and The Year in Meat

I finally started putting together my lapbook! Today I printed my papers on the characters and started putting the whole thing together. I hope to be done at the latest by the end of next week, hopefully before then.

I also added another addition to the Survival of the Human Race posts. I hope to write more under that name.

I was reading an article today called The Year in Meat, and it's absolutely full with info. You should definitely check it out.

The Survival of the Human Race: Preparations for Global Warming

Global warming is growing ever stronger, and it is starting to attack us full-force. The earthquake at Haiti is an example of force we must defend against. It's time to start preparing. Firstly, we need to do whatever we can to stop global warming. Small things help, from unplugging electronics that aren't in use, to simply showering in cold water. Big things really help, like spending entire days without using a single electronic. Use candles instead of light bulbs, replace car rides with bike rides, read a book instead of watching TV. Yes, it will be hard to cut down on electronics, but it must be done. It's work worth doing.

If we can't stop global warming, we need to be ready for floods, earthquakes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis, fires. Otherwise we face extinction. We'll need to prepare. And how do you prepare for these natural disasters? Use your imagination. Build bomb-shelters and boats, stock up on fire extinguishers, learn to swim. To dramatic? Then put a stop to global warming.

Unless you intend to be doing things like building underground homes, or living in a submarine, we need to solve this problem. If we can all help stop global warming, it will be stopped. Look what the human race has done. We created planes, cars, boats with engines, electricity, languages, books. The human race has so much potential. Let's not waste it.

Leonardo da Vinci

Today I continued the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle biography. I read more about him and did some research. In my research I found a fifteen page biography on him. That's a lot. In addition to that, I wrote my Survival of the Human Race Post and went to my music class.

I'd like to share my Leonardo da Vinci essay. I wrote it while I was studying the famous painter. This is supposed to go with my Powerpoint presentation. Here you go:

The hillside is a beautiful place. Being above the other towns, the many many birds flying around. The rocky terrain all around is a great place to sit and enjoy nature. There are a great many olive trees growing everywhere. It must have been very easy for young Leonardo Da Vinci to be inspired by the many sights surrounding his birthplace of Vinci. The artist would often skip school to sit on the rocky hillside surrounding Vinci and paint. He loved nature and anything in it. It was in Vinci the most ingenious and talented man in the history of the world was born. Son of Ser Piero and Catarina, a wealthy lord and a peasant girl, Leonardo (or Lionardo) was practically without business options. He couldn't be a lawyer or a doctor, not a businessman like Ser Piero. He couldn't attend a university. All because his parents never married.

Regardless, he still became though he became the most talented artist in the history of the world. Just look at his painting, the Last Supper, the Annunciation, the Mona Lisa. These are only a small portion of his works. At the age of twelve he began studying under the famous painter Verrocchio. And soon was even a better painter than the master himself. He created expert level paintings while growing up in Vinci, and while in Florence with Verrocchio, was the best painter in his guild. He made the angel in Verrocchio's the Baptism of Christ. Just by looking at the painting you can tell which one he did. The angel looking up at Christ, the one that understands the weight of what's going on. He made the Annunciation. His painting the Mona Lisa is currently the world's most famous work of art. In his twenties, Leonardo Da Vinci was already becoming a famous painter. Better than his old master and pretty much the most talented painter in Florence. His passion for painting was so strong, that he even turned to science to improve his work. He'd dissect human bodies to get a better idea of muscle placement among other things. He used scientific methods over a hundred years beyond his time to increase his understanding of our world so as to capture it on paper. "All in all, Leonardo believed that the artist must know not just the rules of perspective, but all the laws of nature. The eye, he believed, was the perfect instrument for learning these laws, and the artist the perfect person to illustrate them." -MOS.org

He didn't only use science for painting, however. In 1505, Leonardo moved to Milan. He began his scientific studies. Unlike the others of his time, he didn't base all of his theories around the Bible. Rather, his life as a scientist was in part his search for the truth. He'd observe nature, asking simple questions such as, "How do birds fly?" Then he'd record the answers as sketches. Much of his work had a preternatural, even spooky determination. Paulo Giovo (Leonardo's first biographer) wrote: "In medical faculty he learned to dissect the cadavers of criminals under inhuman, disgusting conditions . . . because he wanted to draw [and examine] the different deflections and reflections of limbs and their dependence upon the nerves and the joints. This is why he paid attention to the forms of even very small organs, capillaries and hidden parts of the skeleton." Even with science, Leonardo was passionate. Leonardo's interest in science is obvious, as he wrote a large amount of books and notes on many different sciences, some of the most notable being those on flight.

Since his adolescence, Leonardo was interested in flight. He'd often study birds and bats, occasionally dissecting them. And because of his interest in flight, he created many plans for flying machines. From gliders to helicopters, from feathered wings to webbed wings, from propellers to wings. These were some of his inventions. He created many others, some of the most notable include an eight barreled (machine) gun, the first armored tank, a bicycle (hundreds of years before bikes were made), a steam powered cannon and many many others. One of his main interests when it came to inventing was water. He made plans for shoes that allow you to walk on water, devices that sink ships from underwater, an unsinkable ship, and a life preserver among others. Yes Leonardo planned for inventions as wild as these, and they probably would have worked. He was truly the most brilliant man in history. A few of his many inventions were bridges. One idea was to bridge the Gulf of Istanbul, connecting the Golden Horn and the Bosporus. But sadly, the project was never carried out. Other engineers of the time believed the bridge would be too big, although modern engineers have looked over and dubbed them feasible, the bridge would be safe and sound. Another idea was a bridge that could be carried, lightweight but sturdy, so as for a quick escape from, or capture of, an enemy. He also had plans for a bridge that was fireproof and could not be destroyed by an enemy assault. His other ideas to help in war were a movable dike to defend Venice, and a way to altar the course of the Arno river so as to flood Persia.

Yes, Leonardo was a genius. The most brilliant person in a time of brilliant people. He stood out among painters like Michelangelo and Raphael, he was the best inventor of his time, and probably tha brightest inventor ever, he was an advanced scientist, creating and discovering formulas that were proven true hundreds of years later. He designed buildings and bridges people laughed at, but those ideas and designs are used by modern architects. Leonardo da Vinci was truly an amazing man.

The Survival of the Human Race

If you think about it, it's possible for the human race, using modern technologies, to survive most damages caused by the environment, but only if warned in advance. If people worked together we could survive. One example would be flooding. If the world should completely flood for some reason, and the human race were warned in advance, we could survive. We'd build underground safe houses, artificial islands high up in the sky, we'd stock up on oxygen tanks, build emergency submarines. There are all kinds of solutions.

There is another example. And this one is very much real. Global warming. We could probably survive or put a stop to global warming and it's inevitable affect on the environment. But the human race is to lazy to do so. We view the stopping of this oncoming crisis as work. That view may be a correct one, but it is work that must be done. It's work worth doing. We're currently in the calm before the storm, and during this time shouldn't we be getting ready for such a storm? If you hear that a tornado is coming to your town or city, wouldn't you be making absolutely sure you're safe from it? If that did happen, you'd be going to another place, a safer place, to wait for it to end. Or you would be preparing your house for such a storm.

So why not do that in this case? Why won't the human race prepare for the disaster, rather than do nothing? It all starts with you. You, dear reader, have the power to stop global warming. One raindrop may be thought of as insignificant, but what about a downpour? The human race started this mess, now we need to clean it up. We can stop the disaster, or we can wait for our deaths. It's your choice.

Next: Survival of the Human Race: Preparations for Global Warming