The Animal Kingdom Vertebrates

The Animal Kingdom

We have started our new topic in Science it is called Ecology. We just finished a topic, waves, and energy but we had no blog posts for it. For our first thing we are doing Animal Kingdoms so here it is.

Vertebrates:

Vertebrates are Animals with backbones. Humans are vertebrates because we contain backbones.

Fish:

Features: Fish live in water and are able to survive in this condition by breathing through gills. They are generally covered in slimy skin and produce eggs for their offspring. They are cold blooded and generally have bony spines. A few examples of these are Blobfish, Snapper, Salmon and even a Shark.

Amphibian

Amphibian generally have moist skin and lay eggs in water for their babies to hatch from. Normally they begin as fish like things but after a while, they generally grow legs and can swim as well as walk on land. Normally the adult's breath through lungs instead of gills like the younger ones does like fish they are cold blooded. Frogs are a perfect example of Amphibian. Turtles are another good example of these.

 Reptiles

Reptiles have dry scaly skin and lay eggs. They breathe with lungs and are cold blooded. Fun fact the Tuatara which is a reptile is believed to have survived the Dinosaur extinction. They are completely land-based and don't really use the water at all besides to hydrate themselves. Examples of these are Tuatara and Chameleons. 

Bird

Birds are covered in fur and lay eggs with hard shells. They also have wings but some of them cannot use them to fly. They breathe through lungs like most non-water animals and are warm-blooded. Birds do not have to have the ability to fly to be considered birds this is the case for Kiwis, Emus and many other animals. Seagulls are an example of flying birds.

Mammals
Mammals are warm-blooded creatures that are covered in humus/hair or fur. When really young they feed of milk usually provided by their mum and breathe through lungs. Humans, which is what we are if you didn't know because of your not the brightest people. Humans are a perfect example of Mammals. Here is a perfect example of a mammal. Be careful because he may bite you.
<it's really scary

Mystical creatures

<Mystial Mammal

Wonder: The ending

Wonder: The ending

Explain August’s fears of going on school retreat/camp, were they justified?

In the past, he has had trouble sleeping in other places. This is most likely because his parents were a bit too protective of him early on making that happen.

Compare Eddie and Julian. How are they similar/ different. How do their interactions with August reveal their character?

They both act as if August is a monster and treat him like ****. Ths is shown by how they talk to each other Eddie calls August an Orc and all that while Julian does the same except he does it more behind August's back.

Explain how August's relationship with his classmates has changed since he first started going to Beecher Prep, give explains

At first many of them were scared of him and never talked to him now almost all of them are talking to him even protecting him from fights.

Describe how August has shown greatness during his year at Beecher Prep? Do you think he deserves the medal? Why?

He has maintained his grades while dealing with almost no friends. He has dealt with people actively trying to make his life terrible and even someone attacking him. He does probably deserve it because of all he's been through this year and the fact he's still going.

Compare the character of Auggie at the beginning of the book and in the final chapters. How has he changed and what has contributed to this change?

He has gone from a more scared attached to his parent's child to a more grown-up person for his age. He knows can be independent and has mad many friends. Situations he has been put in like the Jack one has helped this change.

Describe your favourite character in the story. Explain their impact on the story and why you picked them.

Jack is a great friend the whole time. He is shown to not be a 1-dimensional character but a 3-dimensional one. For example, you see him try to cope with being August's friend while having to deal with Julian and the rest of the school now thinking he is a freak.

This story explores the themes of; Friendship, Betrayal, Overcoming Challenges, Bullying and Family Relationships. Create a brainstorm web for each of these themes that shows what the story has told for each theme.

What do you think Auggie's future holds? What do you think will happen in his life?

His future will have difficult bits but in the end, if he manages to keep his current friendships and skills he has learnt he will likely be fine.

Wonder: Miranda's Redemption

Miranda's Redemption

Explain why August doesn't like school events that include parents?

Parents will begin to judge him and that just gets on his nerve occasionally when it happens. He would rather avoid that happening as much as he can.

Maya left August a nice little note and August said, "Six months ago stuff like that would have never have happened, but now it happens more and more." Explain the change that is occurring?

After a while, people just got used to his face and with the whole Julian thing they started to feel bad for him.

Describe August's feeling about getting hearing aids. Were they justified?

He thought it would make him look even stupider which he really didn't want to happen since people were just getting used to him. I can see why he would be worried about it but in the end, they didn't look that bad.

Why did Via keep her part in the play a secret from her parents?

She didn't really want her parents to go so that way August wouldn't come. She didn't want the reputation of being the girl with a deformed brother. It's understandable though.

Why did Via's mum say the play wasn't something that August would be interested in?

She understood why Via would not want him to go so she tried to help her out with that by lying.

August says, "I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives.” Explain what this means and why he believes it.

Standing ovations give the person getting one great pride and happiness it makes them very proud of themselves and happy with themselves. He believes this because he thinks people should be congratulated like that sometime in their life because of how great it makes them feel.

What effect did Daisy's’ death have on the characters?

Many of the family cried over her death as the dog made them all happy. Now with her death, there will likely be a void that could only be filled with another animal as loveable as Daisy.

Why did Miranda claim ‘sickness’ before the play?

She felt bad for Via and seeing that the whole family was there she wanted to let Via have the main row and make her parents proud.

After reading Miranda's, how did your perception of her change and why?

You see her side and why she was acting how she did. You see that Via overreacted a bit and that she really is still a pretty good person.

Wonder: Via's new love interest

Via's new love interest

I have now read the Justin chapter and in it, we find out about Via's boyfriend (Justin) and read about how he became close to her. We also read how Justin protected Jack.

Why was Justin nervous when he was going to meet Olivia's parents? How did it show? How did it work out?

This would be the first time he had ever met Olvia/Via's parents so of cource naturally, he would be nervous. He knew that if he messed up really bad it could be the end for his relationship. In the end, it went completely fine for him, a lot better than he expected.

Why does Justin greet the different members of the family in four different ways? Explain each greeting.

Basses on how he was raised different greetings based on the age and role of the person deserve a different greeting. Either that or it was a major coincidence.

In the bus stop chapter, Justin told Julian and his friends to leave Jack alone. Was this a good thing to do?

Yes and no depending on how Julian will end up reacting to this. He could begin to make even more fun of Jack since he "needs an older person to protect him". Or he could be cautious since he might be afraid of Justin returning and actually doing something.

In the chapter titled Bird, Via states that she is 'an awful person'. Why do you think she feels this way? Is she right?

She feels this way because she doesn't want August to come to the play. She's making herself out worse than it is I mean sure its a bit mean but its really understandable August being there would affect her school life in a not so positive way.

In what ways is Part Five different from the other Parts in the book?

NO PUNCTUATION.

Wonder: Summer and Jacks point of view

Summer and Jacks point of view

For this post, I've combined 2 lots of questions since one of them only had 2 questions (the Summer point of view). In the book, I am now up to Summer and Jacks perspective of what happened so far. In Jacks you see his initial reaction to helping August and that he is actually sad that August is not talking to him.

What was Summer's initial reaction to August's face? Why did they become friends?

She initially thought his face looked weird like anyone but just didn't show it. They became friends because she felt bad for him so she sat next to him she stayed with him because he was actually fun, unlike most others.

Summer isn't in the popular group at school, why is she invited to Savanna's party?

Because it seems like she used to be with them, also many of them view her as pretty and cool. Because of this and the fact that Julian had a crush on her, she was invited.

How does Summer foster a relationship with Auggie, in what ways is it beneficial for them both?

He is fun according to her so because of that she enjoys more of break time with a fun friend around. For August its the fact that he has another person to talk to and be friends with someone he can bond with.

Part 4 starts with the quote "Now here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with one's heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." What does it mean?

You can't truly tell someone from their looks. You need to properly talk to them and learn about them to truly see them.

What was Jack's initial reaction to Mr. Tushman's request to show August around school? What made Jack decide to say 'yes' to Mr. Tushman’s request?

He knew it was August they wanted him to show around so he decided he didn't want to plus the fact that school started a lot later. He decided to do it because of 1. Julian and Charlotte were doing it as well and 2. he didn't want a long as speech and 3. he might have possibly begun to feel bad

Friendship can be difficult. How does Jack feel about him and August becoming Ex-friends? How does he feel when he finds out why?

He is confused and asks Summer if she knows why. He misses being friends with August so when she says "Bleeding screen" he becomes angry. In his science class, he realizes what Summer meant and begins to hate himself for it.

How was Jack provoked to punch Julian in the face? Explain why you think this was the right/wrong thing to do?

Jack finally realized what he did to hurt August. Julian began making fun of August really badly so then he got punched. He does deserve it but he possibly could have done it in a better way.

How did reading Jack's point of view change your perception of his character?

In August's point of view, it seems that he is a nasty person after a while into the book. However, with his point of view, the actions are explained and he redeems himself in a way if people still disliked him.

Predict how you think Auggie will react to the news that Jack punched Julian. What effect will it have own their friendship?

August will most likely find it pretty good however I doubt he will go straight to being friends with Jack again. However, this will open up an opportunity for Jack to talk to August and explain himself.


Discuss the motivations for Julian's mum to photoshop August out of the class photo and it’s the message it sends to Julian.

It isn't directly stated why in the book at least up to 220. However, from what we have gotten it seems that she has done it because she thinks of him as an abomination. This gives Julian the idea that August should be treated as such.

What do you make of Mrs. Albans' statement that August is handicapped? Do you think she was correct when she said it places too much of a burden on the kids to befriend August?

August does not have special needs he has a facial disability this doesn't affect his learning or anything like that and it doesn't require him to have extra help. No, it shouldn't be a burden, however, some kids are turning it into a burden.

Mrs. Alban also thought that August shouldn't have been allowed into Beecher Prep. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

Disagree, August is still a person he doesn't need to be kicked out of the school just because his face is different. It's basically racism except its targeted at his face instead of his race.

How did Jack handle being frozen out by all the boys at Beecher Prep?

He was hating it and it became a nightmare for him. It made him have to lie about why he hanged out on August.

What am I learning? I am learning more about this book as well as looking between the lines for information to answer these questions

How does this show my learning? My answers to the questions show that I am learning to read between the lines for some of the questions

What am I wondering? I am wondering what other skills I can learn while reading and answering these questions. I am also wondering why this colour won't change even though I keep correcting it to black!

Next step for my writting

My next step in writing

Recently I got my Merchant of Venice essay results and I did pretty well however I still have a lot to improve. For example, I need to work on putting a bit more punctuation even when I read over it I miss some of those mistakes. An example of this in my essay was that I was quoting someone talks in the book, however, I kind of forgot to add the speech marks. In my defense, though I was a bit stressed out since I forgot while at home that I could do it at home as well. However, I remembered it every day at school, selective thinking am I right?

At home, I can easily improve and already am with making many creative stories as well as making mini essay-like things. I also need to improve a bit more on linking paragraphs I think I did decent with them but I could do a lot better. My main weakness is forgetting to put in some punctuation while writing it down so I miss some of them while proofreading. After I finish with those I will move onto paragraphs and improve them.

What am I learning? From this, I am learning how to improve my current writing capability

How does this work show my learning? On this blog, I am reflecting on my work and learning about what I can improve on which is just shown by the fact that I state what I can now improve.

What am I wondering? How long would it take me to reach my goals based on the effort I put in. Will have to put a major amount of time aside every few days to help me reach this goal or just little bits?

Wonder: The Hallowen catastrophe

The Halloween catastrophe

I am now up to page 117 recently in the book it was Halloween and the people at the school got to wear Halloween costumes. While there he hears a conversation that his "friend" Jack is in. This conversation leads to August running away and faking being sick, and proceeding to not do one of his favorite holidays, Halloween

1. Explain how the point of view in part 2 is different from that in part 1? Do they match up?

This new point of view focuses on Via and yes it does connect up. It starts with how the start of school has gone for her some of her past and some of her problems with August. It goes through some of the problems she face and the conflict he's in.

2. In at least a paragraph, describe the challenges do you think Via might face being Auggie’s sister?

Some people will begin thinking different of her for having a brother with a "disability". It has also affected her personality making her more protective of her brother. One other thing is that her parents don't treat her as well as they would without August she is second in line for things in the family.

Via says “August is the Sun.” Explain what she means and why she feels this way?

The sun is the center of attention in her example then the planets are his family they follow him, making sure he is always safe and always alright. He is always surrounded and treated specially.

Do you agree with Via that she and her parents have made a mistake by always trying to make August feel like he is normal? Is this a problem? Explain.

Yes, he should embrace the fact that he's different and be proud he's not the same as the crowd. If he is always treated normally he won't be ready for what will happen to him as he grows up the certain people he will face. Treating him normally doesn't prepare him for his life ahead of him since he isn't a normal kid.

Why does Via go by Olivia at high school? How is Via finding the high school?

She doesn't want to be known as the girl with a deformed brother as much so she trys to be called something different. She isn't finding high school good as she believes her old best friends are changing so for a real it doesn't go that well but then towards the end of what we have read so far, it is getting better for her.
What are the odds of Via having a child that looks like August? Do you think these are good odds? Explain.

I do not know the exact odds but it is extremely rare since in order for that to happen both parents need to have a single cell of that disease and then there's only a chance it will happen to the baby being born (that's why she isn't like that)

Explore the character, Miranda? Why did she call August at the end of Part 2? Explain

At first in the book, she is seen as a person that used to be amazing but then changed and became a different person so she can be popular. However, in the end, you find out that Miranda calls August to see how he's doing and to also say that he misses Via being her friend. This changes our point of view on Miranda.
Describe Via as a character? Do you empathize with her?

She is a very caring person that tries her best to look after August but not overly protect him at the same time (if you understand). Her life is likely quite rough at times because of her caring personality and people knowing her as the "girl with a deformed brother".

What do you think will happen to August when he returns to school?

He will probably just stay with Summer whenever he can seeing that Jack said that thing to Julian that he overheard. His classes will change majorly with him trying to be alone as no one else is in his class now that he likes.