Research Reflections and the Magic School Bus

Research Reflections:
For the past month, we have been researching body systems on our own.


One good thing about doing it this way is that we can find information on our own and letting us have more freedom. It is also fun checking out different websites. Researching on our own lets us understand better what we're doing.

One thing I didn't like about doing it this way is that it can get very frustrating when you can't find the answer to a question and you just get really pissed. I don't like it when you just can't find the answer and when you do, you have to change it into your own words.

I think Mrs. Smith planned it this way because we can understand better when we do it on our own instead of Mrs. Smith just printing down the information and we don't understand. We can learn more on our own because we know what we are typing not just reading it or listening to it. If we don't understand the information on the internet, it is useless if we just plagiarize or we can't learn a lot of things.

One suggestion I have for Mrs. Smith is to make us hand in the work earlier so we can do more under pressure because you get really nervous about the work and you have to hand it in the next day. Which means when we are not under pressure we have more time to write so we can write more.

Another suggestion I have for Mrs. Smith is to give us less information so that we can handle harder questions.

The Magic School Bus:
Today in Science we watched "The Magic School Bus". The episode was about the class going into Arnold's digestive system.

One thing that was correct in the movie is villi absorbs nutrients and exports the nutrients into the circulatory system.
Another thing that was correct in the movie is that the esophagus pushes the food down to the stomach.

One thing that was incorrect in the movie is that digestion does not take 10 hours to digest
Another thing that was incorrect in the movie is that there are two holes at the throat and a flap to cover the other one.

Cat's crimes get owner in a flap

It's great being given new toys all the time, but not when they're covered in cat drool and not when you know they've been pinched from someone else's pet!

That's why Frankie the cat's owner, Julie Bishop, is in a flap - Frankie's brought about 35 stuffed toys home in the past year but none of them are his.

She thinks the two-year-old moggy is swiping them from other homes in Swindon, but doesn't know how or why.

Now she's desperately trying to trace the toys' owners to give them back.

Julie says Frankie is always coming back to the house with 'presents' for them, including mice, but the number of soft toys has rocketed over the past few months.

"He's very pleased with himself," she said. "He gives us a big miaow to let us know when he's brought them in.

"At first it was quite funny, but now it's obvious somebody's bought all these toys for their pet and now they don't have any - they're all here!"

Cowell can't pick X Factor winner

This year's X Factor final will be the most exciting ever, according to top judge Simon Cowell.

He says he really doesn't know which of the three acts will take the top prize of a record contract worth £1m.

Alexandra Burke has been the favourite all along, but group JLS and 16-year-old Eoghan Quigg could also win.

And it could be an important year to take the top prize, as Cowell said this time round the second-place artist may not get a record deal.

He explained that the cash problems around the world at the moment would make it difficult for him to try to make anyone other than the winner a star.

"I'm not going to make any decisions at this time. I think under the current climate I would say it was more important to win the show this year than any other year.

"Like every other business the record business is tougher than it was last year."

Even though the winner gets a big-money record deal, actually worth just over £1m, they aren't just handed all that cash in a suitcase.

Cowell explained that the winner act will get £150,000, but the rest of the money is spent on making them a success.

He said it costs up to £500,000 to record an album, around £200,000 to make music videos and another £400,000 on marketing and advertising.

But Cowell did say he expected the show's winner to be Christmas number one, whichever of the three finalists wins the most votes.

Blues and Reds in Champions glory

Chelsea have made it to the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-1 win against Romanian champions Cluj.

Salomon Kalou got the opener for Chelsea six minutes before the break at Stamford Bridge, but Yssouf Kone soon headed home an equalizer.

It was left to substitute Didier Drogba to net the winner, and help Chelsea finish second in Group A behind Roma.

Elsewhere, Liverpool also had a good night, coming from behind to beat PSV Eindhoven 3-1 to finish top of Group D.

A close range shot from Danko Lazovic gave PSV the lead to the delight of home fans early on, but the Reds equalized within 10 minutes with a Ryan Babel header.

Albert Riera and David Ngog netted the other two goals after the break.

Zoo poo used to grow fruit & veg

An animal park in Leicestershire has started recycling the hundreds of tonnes of poo produced by its animals to help grow crops for them to feed on.

Twycross Zoo has about 1,000 animals, which produce about 800 tonnes of poo every year - that's about the same weight as 160 elephants!

But now, instead of sending the muck to landfill, they've got a machine which can turn the poo into compost.

The compost's used on crops to feed the animals, then the cycle starts again!

Zoo conservation officer Claire Pipes said: "We buy the food, feed it to the animals and it comes out the other end.

"We collect it, compost it and grow stuff for the animals which then goes back into their mouths."

Elephants are the biggest contributors to the zoo's poo mountain and keepers say this is the best way they've found to keep all the waste on site.

Compost is an organic material that can be made from rotten food scraps, garden waste and the poo of some animals.

It's great at helping things grow in the garden as it's full of things called nutrients that feed the soil.

Queen to speak to Parliament

She will make a speech before MPs in the House of Lords, and talk through the new laws that the Labour government wants to introduce. The Queen makes the speech because she is our head of state, which is supposed to mean the politicians work for her. But really she accepts the advice of the government on which laws it thinks are best for the country. This year political experts say she will be talking about laws to cut crime and how the government hopes to get through the current global cash crisis. The Queen's speech is a big event and is full of tradition. That can mean it looks a bit old fashioned at times, but the head of the Royal Family has been making this speech to Parliament for hundreds of years. As well as explaining the government's plans, the Queen's speech is also the official opening of a new session of Parliament.

New park to protect gorillas

A new park has been created in the African country of Cameroon to try to protect a critically endangered species of gorilla. There are only thought to be about 300 Cross River gorillas left in the world and up to 115 of them are living in the Takamanda National Park. Part of the problem they face is from hunters and people who cut down trees in the forests where they like to live. But animal experts say the new national park should help to stop that threat. Sreven Sanderson from the Wildlife Conservation Society said the creation of the park sent a powerful message to the world about conservation. "The government of Cameroon is to be commended for taking this step in saving the Cross River gorilla for future generations," he said.