Last Day of the Year!

Today is the last day of the year! It's December 31, 2006! Tomorrow, it will be 2007! Also, we had our first day of snow, even though it was a little bit, which is why I have a snow globe up there. Happy New Year!!!

Happy Holidays!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

-from the Twangsite Blogging Place

Number One on Google

Recently (this morning), I googled "twangsite" just for fun and I saw that my blog was the very first thing there! I was really happy, because I didn't think that my blog recieved so many hits that it would even be on google. However, I tried it on dogpile (that's a search engine that combines google, yahoo, ask, and more) and I found that I was only eighth on the list. I hope I will be getting some foreign visitors...

What I did on Christmas Eve

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

On Christmas Eve, I went to my dad's friend's house for the whole night. Brian, a friend of mine, and I were on the computer the whole night because there wasn't much else to do. I played Runescape for a while and I took this screen shot and saved it to my computer. It's basically me killing a goblin and I have a whole load of rubbish I picked up and I now that I look at it carefully, there's someone just standing there right next to the goblin that I'm killing. That's pretty much it.

Note: Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Make the POTWs

POTWs can get annoying after a while for me because I have to write all of them and think about good questions and stuff. Here's an opportunity to help out! Write your own POTWs and email them to me at twang7888@yahoo.com. Please include a suggested difficulty level. If I like your POTW, then I will make it one of the official ones and source you. If it does get accepted and posted on my blog, then the writer will get the maximum score possible for that post. However, the first solver will also get the maximum score, so as not to mess up the point system. Any questions, comments, or suggestions, email me at twang7888@yahoo.com.

I know that I haven't updated in a while, but keep in mind, IT'S VACATION AND THERE ARE HOLIDAYS!

My Half Birthday

Today is my half birthday! I just realized during first blog when I was writing the date down on the homework. That's great because that means that in exactly half a year, I'm going to be fourteen! A lot of great things happened today too, so I guess I had a happy half birthday!

In case you haven't figured out yet, my birthday is on June 19.

POTW #6

Which of the following has a greater volume?

1. A cylinder with a radius of 4 and a height of 6
2. A cylinder with a circumference of 25 and a height of 5.

If they have the same volume, say so.
If it is impossible to find out, say so.

Difficulty Level: 1

Source: 100% original


This is the first POTW for the second POTW competition.

Create your Blog!

Blogs are in the house! Ever since I got one, so many people have followed suit and gotten their own. For example, David, Mike, Daniel, Linnea (thought she deleted hers yesterday) and some other people. Act now and create your own blog. Just click on the link in the toolbar at the very top that says "Create Blog." It's totally free and is really easy to update. No HTML is necessary unless you don't get the beta version, which I strongly suggest.

When I first got this blog in August 2006, I did it against my dad's will. My mom was okay about it. My dad said that it would be a waste of time, even thought I have all the time in my life...wait, did that make sense? Anyway, I updated my blog secretly without him knowing. Soon when the school year started, my dad found out that I was still updating my blog, but he didn't really care. Now, which is December, my dad even wants to create his own blog for his job purposes so he and other scientists will know about meetings and stuff. He's getting it sometime around December break.

Of course, there are always those overprotective parents who don't trust their kid and think that they will put private issues on the web (hem, hem... you know who you are). One example is Linnea (sorry Linnea if this is embarrassing you). She had made her blog secretly like me and deleted it because she almost got in trouble. (Note to self: I have to remove that from the links list sometime...)

So, if, after reading this post, you are going to create your own blog, then please be sure that you get your parent's permission, because I'm not taking any blames for forcing any of you to do so.

Term 1 Math Grade Drops Dramatically

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! My term one grade for math dropped dramatically all because of that last test that we had that was worth 150 points! I got a 91 on that quiz! That dropped my grade down 8%, so I now have a 106%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least I still did a lot of extra credit. I got 22 points worth of it. Without it, I would have exactly 100%. So either way, I would have gotten an A+.

Just so you know, you have to get 100 or above to get an A+ in Mr. Rosenthal's class. 97, 98, or 99 are still A's. Richard got all mad at that because he got a 97% for his average and he got an A, so now he's really upset. Just telling you so you won't land in the same situation as him....

(Note: some of the o's in the Nooooo were deleted due to problems with wrapping text. Please note that there should be about four times more o's)

The Winner-Mike L.

Mike L. is the winner for the first POTW competition with 62 points! In second place was Tyler Epstein, who was only three points behind Mike.
The next POTW competition starts next Tuesday. Be ready to get a good start!

Comments

The most surprising thing of the day- there are 49 comments (as of now) on the previous posts about POTW #4 Answer and Explanation! I couldn't believe it! I look at what people wrote, and then I see that GuessWhoIAm and Tyler have like had a conversation about who GuessWhoIAm is. No wonder there are so many comments...

POTW #4 Answer and Explanation

This problem was possible, so any of you that said it was impossible was incorrect. As you can see from the picture to the right, the answer is l=16 and m=9.There is a very interesting way to get the answer. You could have done it algebraically or just use your geometry logic. The easiest way is to use your geometry logic.

You know (or hopefully you knew, because it said right in the problem) that this is a right triangle. In that case use pythagorean theorum and you get that the square root of 15^2 + 20^2 = the hypotenuse, which is 25. Now you know that l + m = 25. So then you get the area of the triangle to find the length of line BD. The base can be 15 and the height can be 20. (Note: to see this, you can picture out and rotate it, or you can simply turn your head or create a picture your brain.) You do 20*15*(1/2) and you get 150 for the triangle's area. Now, you use the other base, the hypotenuse and the height so that they equal 150. So 25*x*(1/2) = 150

Guide to Getting Good Grades

Setting "Preliminary Deadlines" is the key to stress-free, timely, and high-quality assignments.


A. Papers-- Set a preliminary due date for all papers 4 DAYS before they are due, and enter this in your assignment notebook. Once you have finished the first copy of your paper, bring it to your English teacher and ask is he or she has any comments to help you improve your writing. Even if you have good English grades, this is the real way to improve your writing skills.

B. Projects/Posters-- Depending upon the project, aim to have it done almost a week in advance. Write this prelininary deadline in your assignment notebook. This way, you'll have time to relax and be able to correct small errors and for posters, you have more time to make things look more appealing to the eye by changing colors and deciding on placement of text and images.

C. Quizzes-- Study for 2 DAYS (not one day) before a quiz. Enter "Study for quiz" for two days in a row into your assignment notebook. That way, you won't be rushed to do it all in one night.

D. Tests-- Study for 4 DAYS leading up to a test. Enter this for four days in a row into your assignment notebook. Tests require more and longer study time because their grades count more to your overall grade than quizzes do.

E. Mid-Term Tests-- Study for 1 WEEK leading up to a mid-term test. It is easier to study for a little bit every day because your brain memorizes things easily that way. Enter this into your assignment notebook for one week straight.

F. Finals-- Study for 2 WEEKS leading up to a final. You should study just a bit every night. That way, there is not as much stress and you have time to ask teachers or other students questions. Enter this into your assignment notebook for two weeks straight.

Musical Balls v3.0

This is the video that we watched in science class. I found it on YouTube and decided to post it to my blog. It's an even newer version than before. There is an extra part added at the end of the show. It's really cool!
Just in case you don't know, it is made from animation and it is not real!

Poll #1

Cool Gadgets for My Blog

Blogs were originally made just to share your daily life. However, as you see, I'm going beyond the horizon. I have POTWs, which no one has ever thought of putting on a blog. I also support accounts, which I apologize, haven't been updated for a while. If you haven't noticed, I like doing things beyond the ordinary. I'm still doing some things to have even more cool stuff. Soon, I'm going to have a vote form, so that I can give surveys and people can answer them and then find out which was the most popular answer. I'm not sure not to do HTML for that, so I might just steal someone else's.

Please tell me any cool web gadgets that you think I should include on my blog. If I like the idea, I might source you. Please email me all your ideas at twang7888@yahoo.com.

POTW #5

A water tub that holds 1000 gallons is empty. The owner wants to fill the tub, so he turns on the water to fill the tub. Water is filling the tub at five gallons per minute. Five minutes later the tub starting filling with water, a mischivious child turns on the drain, which drains water away at two gallons per minute. How much more time did it take for the tub to fill with the drain on than without it. (In other words, take the time that it took to fill the tub witht the drain on and stract it from the time it would have taken if the drain was never turned on.) Give your answer in hours and minutes.

Hint: Use ALGEBRA! Make an equation.

Difficulty level: 5


Source: Original, but the idea came from last year's math class at Chinese School.


This is the very last POTW for this competition. The winner gets a prize. (Don't expect anything that's worth more than a dollar.) Even if you are very behind, this is your chance to catch up. First place is worth 25 points!

About the POTWs

Note: What you are about to read is a discussion between two people: Me and myself, if that counts as two people.



I have a question--a question for myself.

Why are there suddenly only three people that have answered the POTW when before, there have been well over ten?

Ok, Tony, settle down. Breathe deeply. It's just another math question. No, it's not. I have to think...

One reason is that many people got it wrong--to be precise, four.

Another reason is that it is getting less popular. Everything has a spark when it has just started. Perhaps I need to tell more people about this.

Hmmmmm... come on Tony, think more. It's just like a math problem.

Everyone know that...-- no, that's not it.

Well, I guess I have to think more about this and do--oh, oh, I got it!!!!!


People aren't doing it because it's not getting them anywhere. There is no reward (well, there actually is, but it really isn't anything)! Yeah, that's it. People these days don't do math for fun--well, there is an exception. But "average" people.
Okay, I guess that's true, but I can't do anything about that.

Rats! I guess I'll just have to live with the fact that only a couple people do the POTW.

No More Math Homework

Before you start reading the real post, just know that the title is misleading. There is still math homework!


My life has been going on well. But, oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that I won't be posting any more math homework? Yeah, I was going to put this post a really long time ago, but I kept forgetting, so I'm telling you now. It's just a little late. There are many reasons why I am not going to post math homework any more.

1. It takes too much time and effort to type up all the homework when I can just easily do it by hand
2. We are not doing work in the book as much, which makes it hard to do homework beforehand when I have time.
3. I believe Mr. Rosenthal knows a little about it. I don't know how though. (If you do, please tell me.)

I know that it's not that bad anyway. I know that a few of you did copy the answers at some point, but most of you just used it to check your answers. Either way, I'm sorry for all the change it has caused you in your life. Please forgive me.

Once again, please be sure that you are not confused. There is still math homework! I'm just not posting it on my blog anymore.

The Mentoes and Diet Coke Experiment II

Field Trip #1

Today we had our first field trip out of the three that we are having in December. Since I am in group 2, we went to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. It was a lot more fun than I had thought. My favorite part was probably when we did the Economical Playground. It was a game where you had to make money by buying stock or increasing your company's efficiency. After three rounds, I got $902,000. The winner was a college person from Harvard, who got $1,055,000. To my information, Tomer got the most money, with $1,033,000. The rest was a little boring. There was a video about banking that we watching afterward. It was totally boring and no one could understand it. Even the college people! I guess that's all. Out next trip is to the Museum.

Last Day of November

Today is the last day of November. A lot of things are good because of this. First of all, I'd like to mention that since today is November 30 and there is no 31st of November, it means that tomorrow is December 1, the first day of December and the day of Green Team's field trip. My group, Group 2, is going to the Federal Reserve, which is a bank. It may sound a little tedious, but I think it's going to be an okay trip. There are many reasons for me to say so.

1. There is math involved.
2. Mr. Yellen has said that it is supposed to be fun, I don't know.
3. Mrs. Batchelder said that there were going to be gifts.
4. It skips most of school (we're still having C Block).
5. There is even more math involved.
6. Ditto the first reason.

This month, I have posted 32 posts, including this one. That means that I have posted more posts than the number of days, 30. I must have done a lot of work! I can't believe that I managed to do that and do all my school work and do all the chinese school homework and practice the piano every night and do math team and winter running and do orchestra and do band and study latin! That's just like impossible! But it is, I've done it...

Skipping Math

Yay! I just missed (not skipped like it says in the title) a math class. Well, I also missed Spanish, but that's not the real point of importance here. There was a test in math class. Since I was going to miss it, I took it in the morning before school started. I only had about 15 minutes, but that's basically how long it took me to take the test. It was a loooooooot easier than I thought. I just have to finish checking the test later.

I had to swear that I wouldn't tell anyone what was on the test or how hard it was. But somehow, everyone seems to know that I took the test early. I'm still wondering how they found out. Please tell me if you know! So many people came up to me and asked if the test was hard, and I either said, "I'm not allowed to tell" or "I don't know, you find out yourself when you take it." (This message is especially for you Tyler, Linnea, Alex (maybe, I forgot), Seong-Tae, David (a.k.a. Jimmie), and a countless number of other people that I didn't mention.

Math is a lot easier subject than most people think it is. It only has one answer for every question. (Well, there are some exceptions, for example, quadratic equations usually have two answers, but that's beyond the point and you'll probably learn that in ninth or tenth grade.) I'll bet you anything that if I tutored any of you in my class for two weeks, you could be as good as me! I'm serious!



By the way, it's not too late to answer the POTW question. Only two people have gotten it correct. About three other people all did it wrong. I was very surprised.

Create Account

There is now the ability to have your own private account on my blog. There is a login screen in the toolbar that you can log in to. If you are new and would like to create an account, just follow the instructions beneath the Login screen. This is a very complicated software that uses Javascript and HTML. Note that capitalization does not matter. Also, please give credit to Google Docs and Spreasheets for offering the seperate web pages. It is a very simple precess and only takes five minutes of your time. This a a very new thing, so please excuse any errors in the program.

POTW #4

The entire figure at the above is a right triangle. Angles ABC and BDA are right angles. Lines BA is 15 units and line BC is 20 units. Find, if possible, the lengths of l and m. If you think it is impossible, then explain why it is so.

Email all answer to twang7888@yahoo.com.

Difficulty level: 3

Source: Totally original, so forget about finding the answer on the web, but there's always the possibility that someone else has coincidencially posted it on the web.

About POTW Scoring

A various number of people have asked me about how the POTW points are scored. It is very simple, but seems complex. Here is the starting list:

First place: 5
Second place: 4
Third place: 3
Fourth place: 2
Fifth place: 1

Then, you take that number and you multiply by the difficulty level. So if a POTW question has a difficulty level of 4, then first place would be worth 20, second place, 16, third, 12, etc. FYI, the difficulty level is at the end of every POTW.


NOTE: THIS SCORE GUIDE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND YOU WILL BE INFORMED WHEN IT IS DONE SO. AFTER THIS PARTICULAR POTW ROUND IS OVER, (every POTW round is five questions) THE POINT VALUE WILL CHANGE BECAUSE I HAVE NOTICED THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO DON'T GET POINTS BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ENOUGH PLACES FOR THEM.

Announcement Banner

There is a new Announcement Banner in the toolbar. It is the very first thing. It says all the current announcements. I thought of this because people keep asking me when the next POTW is coming out. Just to inform you, POTWs come out on Tuesdays, exceptions may be made and it will say so on the new Announcements Banner. One thing that I really like about it is that it scrolls over, so it attracts attention. That is important! I noticed that even after it has been posted, people have left comments saying "When is the next POTW coming?" Well, now you know. Check the announcements!

Miniclip Games

Below is the Twangsite Miniclip Game Room. It's really cool, and I found out how to post it onto my blog. This Game Room will be updated weekly. After a while, this post will be pushed downward on my blog because I will have many new posts that will be above it. I have taken this into consideration and put this on the toolbar to the right of this post. You can also put this onto your blog by clicking here. However, it will appear too big for your blog because the window isn't large enough (there might be an exception as Blogger now allows templates that are stretched). I have solved this problem myself very easily. However, you may have a more difficult time shrinking the image because chances are that you don't know HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). You can email me and I will email you the the revised HTML text and then you can post it onto your blog as well. My email is twang7888@yahoo.com. Anyway, here is the Twangsite Miniclip Game Room:

POTW #3 Answer and Explanation

The problem is actually a lot easier than you think, you just need the right way to look at it. Notice that the triangle's hypotenuses (is that the plural for hypotenuse?) have different slopes. In the original picture, the slope of the upper triangle is steeper than the lower one. Because of this, the hypotenuse bends slightly inward, making the area smaller than it appears. In the rearranged triangle, the the triangles switch, so the lower triangle is the one with the steeper slope and the upper one has the more level slope. This makes the hypotenuse slightly outward, which makes the area of the area of the triangle slightly larger than it seems. Since the rearranged triangle is exactly one unit bigger than the original triangle. Therefore, there is a hole of one unit!


By the way, the source of this puzzle was Exidor's Logic Puzzle Place, but you will probably find it in many, many other places too.

1000 Hits

I have recently discovered some good news. My blog has been visited 1000 times! It happened yesterday on Thanksgiving. You can see for yourself on my web counter on the very bottom of the toolbar. It probably has a little more now because other people have already added on the the number of hits there are.

Funny Math

Here are some funny math pictures you an look at during Thanksgiving. I didn't make these up.

Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving! School just got out and I just got home from taking the bus. I have a party tomorrow and another one on Saturday. Tomorrow's party is going to be better because it has one of my friends, and Saturday's party is going to be my parents' friends. We get four days off of school. During this time, I'm definitely going to finish my the English Short Story Writing Assignment. That's all for now!!!

POTW #3

As you can see, the top figure is split into four parts. The bottom figure uses the same four pieces, but has a hole in the middle. How can this be possible?

(Note: You can click on the images to get an enlarged view.)

Email all answer to twang7888@yahoo.com

Difficulty Level: 4

Source: Not actually original, but I'll tell you the source on the answers...

Chapter 3 Science Homework

Part of the Chapter 3 science homework is now available my blog. Click here to view it now. It is now totally complete.

This was brought to you by Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

5-Star Practice Test

I'm making a 5-star practice test for the math class. It's actaully turning out to be really fun. I'm currently in the process of typing the questions and making sure I didn't make any stupid errors or mistakes. I was thinking of posting it onto my blog, but then I remembered that equations can't be displayed on Blogger. It would be too complicated to use HTML for it (I'm not even sure you can do that), so I'm just not going to bother. If your in my Accelerated Math Class, then you can see it. This is probably my first real blog entry in a while. When I say "real," I mean something about my life, not math homework answers or POTWs.

POTW #2 Answer and Explanation

This problem involves compound interest. In order to solve this problem, you would have to understand some vocabulary. When something is "compounded", it means that the interest is added on to it. For example, if something was compouded monthly at a rate of 5%, then you would add 5% every month. Also, "compounded triyearly" means that it would be compounded three times per year, so about every four months. You would also have to know the form of an exponential equation, a*b^x, where a is the starting number (in this case, 1000), b is the growth or decay rate, and x is the number of times it is compounded.

To start, you would have to write an expression for each of the three different interest plans:
1. 1000*1.012
2. 1000*1.001^12
3. 1000*1.0035^3

Then, just solve each of the equations and see which one is bigger:
1. $1012
2. $1012.07
3. $1010.54

According to the work, John should pick choice two for his interest plan for his bank account. This would give him the most money, $0.07 more than the first choice. Every penny counts!

November 15 Math Homework

Here's the November 15 Math Homework.

Again, it's thanks to Google Docs and Spreadsheets that it's here.

November 14 Math Homework

Here's the math homework for today.

Again, curtesy to Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

Science Homework Posts

Math homwork is easy to post because they are usually in the book, so I have to write them up anyway. Now, our science teacher has given us work to do from the book. So I might as well post it to my blog. I will probably do this every time unless the homework is not from the book. Social Studies and English could be coming soon, but I doubt English would work, because we hardly get any homework anyway!

POTW #2

John has $1000 and he decides to start a bank account. The bank offers three different types of deals for interest rates. They are listed below:

1. An interest rate of 1.2% compounded yearly

2. An interest rate of 0.1% compounded monthly

3. An interest rate of 0.35% compounded triyearly

Which deal should John pick if he stores the money in the bank for one year and wants to get the most money?

Note: Every penny counts!!!!

Solved the problem? Then email it to twang7888@yahoo.com.

Click here for more information about problem of the weeks such as grading criteria, answering, etc.

Difficulty level: 3 (out of 5)



Source: Original, but the idea of compounding money was taken from math class about two weeks ago.

POTW #1 Answer and Explanation

Since the POTW is closed, I decided to give the answer now because anyone else that finishes the problem will not deserve any credit, only the first five do (This time, first six because Tyler E. was an exception). I know it has only been about 3 days, but so what?



The perimeter of the rectangle would be 56 inches. The length was 16 inches and the width was 12 inches. There were many ways to do this, but the easiest would be to use algebra. However, you would have to know how to simplify quadratic equations, which average eighth graders wouldn't know. Here's a step-by-step process of solving this question the algebraic way.

First, you would get the equation:
x(x+4)=192 where x stands for the width

Distribute the x:
x^2+4x=192

Make the equation equal 0:
x^2+4x-192=0

Simplify the quadratic equation: (Note: if you do not know how to do this, then you couldn't have solved this question the algebraic way)
(x-12)(x+16)=0

Solve for x: (Note: There are usually two answers for a quadratic equation)
x=12 or -16

Use your logic, the width couldn't be a negative number, so the width would be 12.
Now, if the width was 12, the the length would be four more, or 16. Thus the perimeter would be 12+12+16+16=56

(Note: please be sure to find out what the question is asking for. A few people gave me 12 and 16, which were the dimensions of the rectangle. However, the problem asked for the perimeter. I did not take off for this error because this was the first POTW (Tyler E. is an exception). I will take off 2 points in the future though.)


Any questions or comments? Post a comment or email me at twang7888@yahoo.com.

POTW Leader Board

The Problem of the Week Leader Board is in the toolbar to the right
----------------------------------------->

POTW #1

A rectangle's area is 192 square inches. The length of rectangle is 4 inches longer than it's width. How many inches are in the perimeter of the rectangle?


Please email me the answer at twang7888@yahoo.com! Do not post a comment, or else everyone will know the answer! 2 points off for resubmissions!

Click here for more information about answering the question, grading criteria, points, and others.

Dificulty Level: 3 (out of five)



Source: Original

The Mathster and the Candy Craving Child

Recently, our class has written a story in class that had to end with "And the moral is, be careful what you wish for." I was really bored today and decided to put this on my blog. It is very long, so again, I used Google Docs and Spreadsheets, which by now has become my favorite Google thing. Here it is: The Mathster and the Candy Craving Child

Hope you like it!

Problem of the Weeks (POTW)

I'm going to post some problem of the weeks on this blog. Of course, they are math questions. However, I think just math questions are a little tedious, so I'm going to have a competition. Everytime you answer the problem of the week, you get a certain amount of points, depending on how quickly you submit your answer.

The grading criteria is a little complicated. The first person to submit their answer gets 5 points. Second person, 4 points. Third, 3 points. Fourth, 2 points. Fifth, 1 point. Sixth and above, 0 points! this score is then multiplied by the difficulty level, which means that the harder the problem, the more points it's worth. After every five problems, I announce the winner and then I reset the scores. Any wrong answers will deserve a 0 and will not count as a place number.

Please email me your answers. One smart thing to do would be to click on the email post button under the problem and email me the answer in the "Message" box. Please leave a name. (Note: I know that not everyone likes to publicize their name on the Internet, so you can just give a screen name like "Koolfool" or "DDOG123". However, you must be sure to use the same screen everytime, or else your points won't add up.) Two points off for resubmissions!

The difficulty level criteria goes as follows:

5: Very difficult, could take 15-30 minutes for an average eighth grader
4: Difficult, could take 10-15 minutes for an average eighth grader
3. Average, could take 2-10 minutes for an average eighth grader
2. Below average, could take 1 minute for an average eighth grader
1. Extremely easy, could take less than a minute for an average eighth grader

Note: All POTW questions are bold, italic, and highlighted in blue.


Any questions or answers to be given? Email me at twang7888@yahoo.com.

Top 5 Viewers and Commenters

To the right of this post in the sideline, there is now two slots that have the top 5 viewers and top 5 commenters. If you read this blog a lot or post many "useful" comments, then your name gets put into the sideline.

I just thought this was a fun thing to try. Any thoughts about it?

November 9 Math Homework

Here's the link to November 9th Math Homework.

I used the Google Docs and Spreadsheets, as I have mentioned before. This is the second post that I used it. I hope you think it's better.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets

The homework that I've posted for math class is helpful, but someone told me that it was unclear and the exponents were all wierd. To solve that problem, I decided to use Google Docs and Spreadsheets because it shows more advanced symbols. Also, it is on a blank sheet with so sidelines or ads so that you can print it out and have your own copy of the answers. I hope this is useful and makes your life easier.

November 8 Math Homework

November 8 Math Homework

I used Google Docs and Spreadsheets. It's really cool.

November 7 Math Homework

Pg. 193-194 Problem Set D

(Note: For problems 1-4 with the tables, the numbers don't match up because I didn't want to take the time to put tables in. Sorry for the inconvinience.)
1.
(x,y) (0,0) (4,4) (36,16) (25,0.25) (0,100)
√(x)+√(y) 0 4 10 5.5 10
√(x+y) 0 √8 √52 √25.25 10
The table shows that you cannot distribute the square root symbol over the addition because the values are not the same.
2.
(x,y) (0,0) (5,5) (9,25) (0.64,100) (0,100)
√(x)*√(y) 0 5 15 8 0
√(x*y) 0 5 15 8 0
The table shows that you can distribute the square root symbol over the multiplication because the values are not the same.
3. (x,y) (0,0) (4,4) (81,49) (25/9,16/9) (0,100)
√(x)-√(y) 0 0 2 1/3 -10
√(x-y) 0 0 √32 1 Undefined
The table shows that you cannot distribute the square root symbol over the subtraction because the values are not the same.
4. (x,y) (0,2) (3,3) (4,16) (4/9,2.25) (0,100)
√(x)/√(y) 0 1 0.5 4/9 0
√(x/y) 0 1 0.5 4/9 0
The table shows that you can distribute the square root symbol over the division because the values are the same.


Pg. 195 Problem Set E

1. 5√3
2. 2√15
3. Cannot be simplified
4. 0.5√0.5
5. 5x√2x
6. 6(a^2)(b^2)√2b
7. √12
8. √72
9. √75y^2
10. √(3/16)x^5


Pg. 196 Problem Set F

1. No √2+√2+√2 = 3√2 = √18
√6 = √6
2. No 3√2+√3 do not simplify to anything.
3. Yes √50+√98 = 5√2+7√2=12√2
12√2 = 12√2
4. Yes √45+√20-7√5 = 3√5+2√5-7√5 = -2√5
(-1/2)√80 = -2√5
5. √75-√27
6ai. √3
6aii. √3
6aiii. 5√2
6aiv. 5√2
6b. Yes, i and ii are equivalent
iii and iv are equivalent



Note: It is possible that there is a typo or that I have made a calculation mistake. I do not take any blame for wrong answers.

Sorry, no results found

This is personally to the person who requested Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e Minor:

Dear Sheet music wanter,

I am sorry, but even with all it's famousness, it was not in the list of sheet music I have. There are many reasons for this. For one, this piece may have not given permission to anyone to legally put it on the web for free. Two, I'm just not looking hard enough.


Sorry for the inconvience,
Twang

November 6 Math Homework

Pg. 178-180 Problem Set G

1a. Yes, growth
1b. Yes, decay
1c. No
1d. Yes, decay
1e. Yes, growth
1f. No
2a. II and III cannot describe a linear relationship. II cannot because is has more than one place that it curves. III cannot because it is a parabola.
2b. I involves growth and IV involves decay.
3a. No, you cannot
3b. No, there is not
4a. No
4b. Yes, it would involve growth because the interval that y increases by is getting higher and higher each time x increases.
4c. Yes, it would involve decay because the interval that y increases by is getting smaller and smaller each time x increases.
5. Yes, the relationship between the number of days since the scientist began growing the culture and the number of amoebas is exponential; the growth rate is 2.
6. No, the relationships between the number of days since Sydney began hiking and the number of miles she has hiked is not exponential because she hikes 15 miles everyday, which makes it linear.


Pg. 180-181 Problem Set H

1.
Days Culture 1 Culture 2 Culture 3 Culture 4
0 100 100 100 100
1 300 50 70 500
2 900 25 49 2500
3 2700 13 34 12500
4 8100 6 24 65200
2. Culture 1: 3
Culture 4: 5
3. Culture 2: 0.5
Culture 3: 0.7
4a. Culture 1: p=100*3n
Culture 2: p=100*0.5n
Culture 3: p=100*0.7n
Culture 4: p=100*5n
4b. They all start with the constant 100 and all have a number to the nth power.
4c. They all have a different number as the base of the exponent.
5a. Graphs not available.
5b. Graphs not available.
5c. The graphs that grew started low and went higher and higher. The graphs the decayed started really high up and eventually got lower and lower.
5d. They have the same form and shape just reflected across the y-axis.
5e. For the growth graphs, the graph the increases at the faster rate has a greater growth factor, while the graph he increases at a smaller rate has a lower growth factor. For the decay graphs, the smaller growth factor decreases faster than those with a larger growth factor.


Pg. 183-184 #9-16

9. No
10. Yes, growth factor of 4
11. Yes, growth factor of 4
12. No
13. Yes, decay factor of 0.25
14. No
15a. 133.3 mg
15b. 200*(2/3)n
15c. 200*(2/3)n
16a. IV
16b. I
16c. II
16d. III
16e. V



Note: It is possible that there is a typo or that I have made a calculation mistake. I do not take any blame for wrong answers.

Math Homework Posts

I am going to start putting the daily math homework on my blog. I will try to do it for every day, but it is hard to type the math homework because there are a lot of symbols and other wierd things like fractions, square root symbols, etc. However, I could use HTML codes but that takes a lot of time. One major problem is exponents. I don't think HTML can even place exponents onto variables and numbers. Some of the answers will look wierd. For those, either take a good guess at what it should say or do it yourserlf! Please don't rely on this for answers all the time.

Warning!!!!! I do not take blame for any wrong answers due to typos or miscalculations. I am human.

X-Country Meet

We had a meet at school today against Acton and Oak Hill. It was really fun and our team won! I was especially happy because I ran really, really well today. I broke my personal record by 47 seconds. I don't know how much you know about running, but that's a lot of time to lose in one race. Our course is 1.8 miles long. My best time is now 13:13 (minutes:seconds). We have our all city championship meet in two days, Wednesday. I can't wait to see how well I will run by then. I'll update my blog when the time comes.

The New Sheet Music Toolbar

There is not a toolbar on the sideline to the right of this posting that has sheet music postings. I will post sheet music onto it for music that is requested. I have already gotten one request and I will get it on soon. All the music on the toolbar will be in alphebetical order by last name of composer. You can request a piece by posting a comment to this posting. Enjoy!

Music Update and Free Sheet Music!

Fantasie Impromptu is the piece that I'm playing on the piano right now. No, there there is no third Fantasie Impromptu, I'm only saying #3 because there are also two other posts on my blog that have to do with it. I can play the whole thing now, but I haven't worked hard to perfect it because right now, I am improving my technic. Bach's Inventions are a very good way to do that. I have free access to popular sheet music for all instruments! Just email me or post a comment and I will put a link to it on the sideline of this blog (to the right). The quality isn't the best, but at least it's music you can read!

Wow, My Math Grade is High

There aren't many important things going on in my life. We had a math test yesterday and and I got a 91 out of 80 (the most you could get was 92)! I couldn't believe it. I was sure that I would mess up somewhere. Anyway, it actually boosted my grade up 1%. You can see my updated math grade in the subtitle of this blog. I've changed the look of my blog by updating it to Google Beta Blog. You can do it to; just get a Google account. If you already have Gmail, GTalk, or something similar to that, then you already have one. I already made the background white again because the bluish color was too bright and hurt your eyes after staring at it for a while. Nothing much more.

I Came Back

I'm back from my trip to Europe. I'm going to try to find some extra time to post all my adventures. I have a lot of homework right now, so I can't do it now. Note to all readers: all the posts that have red text have to do with my trips. That way it will be easy to locate on the page.

Plane Writing

Yesterday, which was Wednesday, was my last day of schools before my journey to Europe. I got some of my final homework assignments and said good-bye to all my friends. I got picked up by my parents instead of taking the bus because so that I could get home quicker. After packing some last minutes stuff, we went outside to wait for our cab coming to pick my family up at 3:45 PM. When 3:45 came and the taxi hadn’t come yet. My dad said that drivers are usually late. Then 4:00 came and it still wasn’t here. My mom called again and the lady said that the cab was stuck in traffic, but should come in the next five minutes. At 4:10, the taxi finally arrived. After putting all the luggage in the truck, we got in and set off for the airport. We got to the check-in line and was relieved to see that there was no line, period. That made up for all the time that was were waiting for the taxi, so we were on time again. For all our flights this trip, we would be taking Swiss Airlines. We checked in, got to our gate, and boarded the plane. After waiting about twenty minutes in line for the runway, the airplane took off. Our first stop in Germany was Zurich, where we would then be switching planes to go the Geneva, also in Germany. The plane ride was actually a lot better than I had expected. It was at least ten times better than our plane trip to China. For one, it was much shorter, only about six to seven hours. Also, there were video games this flight, which entertained my brother and I for almost the entire trip. I slept for about one hour and when we finally landed, I was so happy that all that time on the plane was already over. When we got to Zurich, it was already Thursday, the fifth of October. The time there is six hours faster than EST (Eastern Standard Time) which I live in, so I had to get used to the jet lag. We then switched planes to go to Geneva. The flight to Geneva was the shortest flight I had ever taken. It was only about half an hour. On that flight, I got my first experience of Swiss Chocolate. It tasted sooooooooo good. It was a million times better than Hershey’s Chocolate. We then picked up our luggage and took the train from the airport to Geneva Main Station. My dad bought tickets for train ride to Basel (on the edge of Switzerland), then to Freiburg (in Germany), where we would finally take a rest from our travels and stay in a hotel for a while. While waiting for the train, I finally got my first experience of people speaking fluent French; not the uneducated French learners in my school (no offense to those people). The train ride was better because there was more leg room, but there weren’t any televisions or entertainment to keep us occupied for the four hour train trip. I mostly slept to make up for the major loss of rest and did a little of the homework that my teachers had assigned while I was away. That’s about my travels to Europe. Read more to find out about all my exciting adventures there.

Another one???

In a few days, I will be going to Europe to have a vacation. The whole family is going; my dad, mom, my brother, and I. First, we are going to Germany. After a few days of having fun, Last time I went on vacation, which was during the summer when I went to China, I have to admit that I didn’t think about writing anything. I was having a blast, so who would think about it? This time, I’m going to be ready. I’m going to bring a stack of papers so that I can take some notes about what I did each day so that I can post them for the world to read! I’ll have plenty of time on the planes and trains and at the hotel when there’s nothing to do for a while. When I come back, I can post them since I don’t have access to a computer in Europe. At this very second that I’m clicking away on my keyboard, I suddenly thought of something. I will be going on two vacations with less than a month in between each one. It feels like just yesterday when I was on the plane soaring across the world. It’s going to be fun skipping a lot of school. I’m going to be missing seven days of school. There’s a bad part to it to. I’m going to have a loooooooooot of make-up work to do to catch up with the rest of the class while I was absent. That’s why I have already asked for a lot of the homework from most of my teachers. I still haven’t gotten around to my English and Spanish teachers, but I hope to see them on the coming Tuesday. The most homework is in math class, but I won’t have too big of a problem with that because the math we do in school is pretty easy.

School is going okay for the beginning of the school year. There isn’t a big homework load, but I hear from former eighth graders that there is the most homework in November and December right before Christmas vacation. After that, it shouldn’t be a big strain on homework. After school, I run Cross-Country. Cross-Country is just long-distance running. You need a lot of endurance to run Cross-Country. Anyway, our team had our first meet last Wednesday against Oak Hill at home. I actually did pretty good considering that fact that my both my ankles were hurting a little. The course is 3 kilometers, or 1.8 miles. I came in twelve place, running a time of 14:38 (minutes:seconds). The coach hopes that by the end of the season, I will beat 13:30. I highly doubt that I will success, but who knows?

My math grade changed again (see the blog title above) to a 115% because of two more extra credits. I know that because our math teacher, and most others math teachers, post the students’ grades online so that kids can check their grade often. I wish all of our teachers did that. It’s really useful when it gets to the middle of the term, because that way, you can tell which things need improving. For example, if I have all A’s for tests, quizzes, projects, and participation, but I have a B for homework, then homework is obviously something that I need to work on. I know I wrote a lot, because I’m trying to make up for the whole month of September where I only wrote one entry.

Back a looong time ago

Hey everyone reading this blog. I came back from China a loooooooooong time ago and totally forgot about my blog. I may post some of my cool adventures from China in red on the dates that they happened, which means that they should be under this entry. All I'm grateful for was that our house didn't blow up, because the night before we went to China, I was watching a little television and saw a show about a family who went on vacation and when they came back, they found their house in rubble due to a gas leak explosion. I changed the title to my blog because I thought it was too bland (it was temporary anyway). I will update the title every so often (you'll know what I mean when you read it. That's all for now!

Leaving for China Tomorrow

I'm leaving for China tomorrow morning. We have to wake up at about 4:15 AM and take the first train to the airport, which is at 5:02 AM. Everyone is just doing last minute packing. I hope that we will have a very enjoyable trip. I will tell you everything after I come back!

In Hangzhou

Hangzhou is a city with a lot of tourist attraction. There is even a saying, “In heaven there is paradise, on earth Suzhou and Hangzhou.” Hangzhou is my family’s third destination while we are in China. We will stay in Hangzhou for a total of ten days. We are going to see many things in Hangzhou, the place where my mother grew up. One of those things is visiting my grandparents (on my mother’s side). My grandparents have been to Boston before when I was in fifth grade and stayed for about half a year. My family is also going to see West Lake, the most famous lake in China. Most of the sights along the shore of West Lake have to do with famous people. There are gardens, bridges, and little huts all around the lake. There is also a small island in the middle of the lake called Xiaoying Island. There are boats from different places around the lake that will take people to the island. There is also a very big island near the northern part of the lake where there is a bridge to drive to the island. There is also a long strip of bridges connecting to the other side of the island called the Baidi Causeway. There is also the Sudi Causeway, which spans from one side of the lake to the other. The cause ways on the West Lake are consisted of bridges connecting long and narrow strips of land. Of the causeways, about 80% of them are narrow strips of land and 20% of them are bridges connecting the narrow strips. My family will also visit many of my mom’s friends who she used to go to school with. I hope that my family will have a lot of fun in Hangzhou.

In Guilin

While my family is visiting China, we will be going to Guilin, a southern city in China. We will be staying in Guilin for eight days. Guilin is famous for its scenery. One place that we will be going to in Guilin is Solitary Beauty Peak. It is a very high pinnacle (152 meters above sea level) and the climb to the top is very steep, but the climb should be worth it. There are amazing views of the city, the Li River, and the surrounding hills. At the foot of the peak, you can see the Wang Cheng, a huge mansion. My family is also going to see the Wave-Subduing Hill. The hill is very close to the Solitary Beauty Park. The hill also gives a great view of the city. Another place my family is going to visit is Seven Star Park. There are several caves in the park. There are stalactites and stalagmites inside too. I can’t wit to see those. Each of the stalactites and stalagmites are named based on what can be seen “in” them when enough concentration and imagination is used. Some of the names are, “Monkey Picking Peaches,” “Two Dragons Playing Ball,” and “Melon and Fruits Woven into Satin.” It costs about $2.50 to enter the park and $3.75 to see the caves. My family is also going to the Reed Flute Cave. The cave is 240 meters underground. There are also many stalactites and stalagmites inside. Entry to the cave is $5.00. The Li River connects Guilin and Yangshuo. My family is going to take a boat down the river to see Yangshuo. Along the river, you can see peaks in the distance, bamboo lining the river banks, fishermen in boats, and some small villages. There is a tour guide that will talk about all the things we will pass on the river. After the boat trip, we will take a bus from Yangshuo back to Guilin. That is what my family will be doing on our trip to Guilin.

Going to China

In August, I will be taking a trip to China. I have never been to China before, so this will be my first time ever. I will be going with my mom, dad, and my younger brother. We will be going to three cities: Shanghai, Guilin, and Hangzhou. We will leave on Monday, August 14, 2006. Since there is no direct flight from Boston to Shanghai, we will have to take a plane to Chicago, and then take another plane to China. We are taking American Airlines to and from China. The plane leaves Logan Airport at 8:00 AM and lands in Chicago at about 10:00 AM (assuming that there are no delays or cancellations). The plane does not serve breakfast. After flying to Chicago, we leave for China at 11:00 AM (Central Standard Time) and arrive in China about 3:00 PM (local time in Shanghai). In Shanghai, it is 12 hours ahead of the US EST (Eastern Standard Time). So if we land in China at 3:00 PM, it would be 3:00 AM in the US EST. That means that the flight should last about 15 hours. The flight will serve lunch. Once we arrive in Shanghai, it will already be August 15, a day after the day when we departed from Boston. My family will stay in Shanghai for three days. On the afternoon of August 18, we will depart for Guilin, our second destination. It takes about three hours to fly from Shanghai to Guilin. Guilin is about 1000 miles southwest from Shanghai. We will stay in Guilin for eight days. On August 26, my family will leave for Hangzhou, which is about 800 miles northeast of Guilin. The flight should take about 2.5 hours. Hangzhou is fairly close to Shanghai. We will stay in Hangzhou for ten days. On September 5, 2006, we will leave Hangzhou and fly back to Chicago and back to Boston. According to the time zone, the trip will really only last about five hours, even though it will feel like 15 hours. My brother and I will be playing plenty of cards, for it is a very long plane trip. We have already decided all the games we will be playing. Because of the time change, it will be hard to get used to sleeping. I will be really tired when it is light out and I will probably wake up a lot during the night when it is dark out. I also only have a few days before school begins again. I have to do a lot of things to get ready for it. I hope my trip will be really enjoyable!

Rubic's Cube

Rubric’s Cube is a small 3-by-3-by-3 cube with colors on each face. It is an interesting puzzle. There are six colors, one for each face: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white. You can turn the parts of the cube in any direction. One of my relatives who live in Canada sent it to me. It came with the instructions on how to complete the puzzle. Rubric’s Cube is supposed to be really hard for those who don’t know how to do it. I can only complete it with the instructions by my side. However, I can complete the first half myself, because it is mostly simple logic that can be reasoned easily. I have even timed myself. My fastest time in completing Rubric’s Cube is 6 minutes and 14 seconds. Even with the instructions, it is not as easy as it sounds. It is still mostly all your logic and the instructions just tell you what to do when you figure out your logic. That sentence is a little confusing. You have to try it out to understand what I’m saying. One of the main reasons why I thing Rubric’s Cube it fun is because it involves math. For those who know me, they know that I like math. Ever since, Rubric’s Cube started becoming a fad, there have been easier and more difficult versions of it. There is a 2-by-2-by-2 version which should be very simple. There is also a 4-by-4-by-4 version which is much harder. I really want that one! The hardest one is a 5-by-5-by-5, I don't think I really want to try that one!

Playing Cards

It is amazing how 52 sheets of laminated paper with numbers, letters, and symbols can be so fun and enjoyable. There are so many games you can play with cards. They are a good way to relax and have fun. I have many favorite card games. I usually like card games that have skill involved, not pure luck. For example, War is a horrible and boring card game. Some of my favorite card games are President, Big 2, Spades, and some others. President and Big 2 are very similar to each other. Cards are a good way to pass the time. They’re useful on the airplane, especially during long flights. Cards are most enjoyable when played with other people. However, there are card games that can be played with only one person, such as solitaire. There are many different types of solitaire: Clock Solitaire, One-Handed Solitaire, Pyramid Solitaire, etc. Not only are cards fun, they are also small and easy to carry around. They are also very cheap; about three dollars a pack. Cards are a really good way to have fun!

My Brother, Alex

My younger brother, Alex, is eight years old. He is going to be in third grade when school starts. Alex can be a good brother, but sometimes, he is really annoying. My brother likes to do most things that I do that aren’t too difficult for him. One of things he like to do is playing the piano. My brother started the piano in second grade. He isn’t as good as I was when I was his age though. He doesn’t practice that much since it is summertime, but he is going to have to practice soon because school is starting again soon and that means that he is going to resume his piano lessons. My brother likes riding bikes. He usually rides with me because it is more fun riding with another person than riding alone. My brother is allergic to many things: peanuts, fish, kiwi, egg, and maybe some other things he has never tried before. He also has eczema. Eczema is a skin irritation. Eczema looks like a rash and appears when my brother itches a lot. It goes away once he doesn’t itch it. Sometimes, his eczema is on the verge of going away, and then he itches again and it comes back. He usually itches on hot days and at times when he’s sweating, so summer is not a good season for him.

Summer Camp

For the first month of summer, July, I went to a camp called Asian Students Center (ASC). At ASC, kids learn math and English (and history for some classes) for the first three hours. Then, the half-days (the kids who only attend for half a day) can leave and the full-days (the kids who stay the whole day) stay for the afternoon activities. In the previous years that I went to ASC, I was a full-day student. This year, I was a half-day. ASC starts at 9 o’clock. The first subject is math. Math class is easy compared to the English class. We always start out with an opener. It is a short problem that should only take a couple of minutes. It is supposed to get the class ready to do math. Every Friday, there is a short quiz on the subjects learned that week. The quizzes were usually only had a couple of questions. There was also supposed to be five pop quizzes, except the teacher kept hinting that there would be a quiz the following day, so the quizzes were not very unexpected. The teacher also gave challenge problems, where the first person that solved the problem could either get a free-homework pass or a 100% quiz added to the person’s quiz grade. In math class, we learned things like linear equations, graphing equations, slope, finding the equation of a line, the point-slope formula, and many other things. English class was the second half. In English class, there were quizzes every Friday. The English quizzes were considerably longer than the math quizzes. The only good part about the English quizzes was that the class was allowed to redo the questions that were incorrect and hand them back in for three-fourth of a point for each corrected answer. There were also no pop quizzes in English. However, everyone had to write an essay each week. We had to write about a good place to relax and unwind, a personal narrative, and a persuasive essay. That was probably the worst part of ASC, weekly essay-writing. After English ended, I would leave (because I was only a half-day) ands walk over to my dad’s workplace, which is only about a mile away. I would eat lunch there and do all my homework assigned from ASC. I only went to ASC for the first month because in the second month, August, I would be going on vacation.

Fantaisie Impromptu

Chopin is a very famous composer. He has written several ballades, nocturnes, etc. One of his most famous pieces is “Fantaisie Impromptu” (a.k.a. “Fantasy Imprompt”). My piano teacher assigned this piece to me. Every time I get a new piece, I always scan the whole piece to get a sense of what the music is like. This way, I know how difficult the piece of music is, where the difficult parts are, where the slow and fast parts are, what the tonality is, etc. Here were my first thoughts when I scanned this piece:

“Woah, the first note is a whole note (four beats); a very dramatic beginning.”
“The left hand isn’t that hard because there is a lot of repeating included.”
“The right hand will need some practice.”
“Oh my gosh, the right hand plays eight notes while the left hand plays six! I’ll never get that right!”
“That’s a long descending chromatic scale.”
“Good, there is a slow part in the middle of this piece. That part will be a cinch.”
“There is a lot of repeating after the slow part.”
“The ending is really hard, I don’t even I understand it.”
“The last two chords are really beautiful.”

Well, it turns out that the most difficult part of this piece was not to put the right hand with the left hand as aforementioned. It took about a week to figure out how to do it. Now, my hands just play it that way naturally. Go figure! So far, I’ve played this piece for about a month. Amazingly, I’ve already played eight out the nine pages in this piece. The first half of the last page looks really difficult to me. It might even take me another month to complete it! So far, I have progressed a lot faster than I thought I would. I hope I will finish the piece soon!

Here is the sheet music of the peice, Fantaisie Impromptu, if you are interested.

You can listen to the piece, Fantaisie Impromptu, by clicking here. To tell you the truth, the musician who plays this isn't much better than me, but it was the best I can find that was free.

Leon and the Champion Chip

I’ve recently finished a book entitled, “Leon and the Champion Chip,” the sequel to “Leon and the Spitting Image.” This book was also written by Allen Kurtzweil. This book is about how Leon enters a chip competition and he has to know facts about chips and recognize brands of chips by seeing, smelling, and tasting the chip. In the chip competition, Leon has to compete against two strong opponents who have both won in the previous years of the competition. Leon is entering this competition to earn the $1000 first place reward to buy a $159 jacket. In addition to the chip competition, there is a cool science teacher that has planned the whole school year on the topic, chips, a big bully named Lumpkin who causes a lot of trouble, a spitting image that creates a lot of fun, a Science Fair to prove the science teacher is a good teacher, a taxi driver named Napoleon who gives Leon free rides from his house to his school, a chip collection which includes chips that have never been heard of, and much more! This is a really exciting book that you can’t put down once you start. The most exciting part of this book is when the final three competitors compete against each other. I was so eager to see who was going to win. Allen Kurtzweil is a good author, however, he has only written two children’s books (the two Leon series books) and a numerous number of adult books. The adult books don’t seem as good as the children’s books to me, but maybe that just me.

Playing the Piano

I have many different hobbies. One of them is playing the piano. I have been playing the piano for six years. I had originally started playing an instrument for two reasons. The first reason is that a teacher of mine had said that I had a good sense of beat and rhythm. Another reason is that my mother wanted me to learn the notes in music because they would be helpful in the future. I decided to play the piano because it was the most popular instrument played. When I first went to my lessons, I caught on very quickly. I had learned all the basic notes when the other students in my group didn’t. I could master short pieces in a week when others had to use two weeks (unless I didn’t practice very much that week). After a year of playing the keyboard with a group, I was ready to move on. At the start of the new semester, I was introduced to a new piano teacher, Ms. Josaki. I have now played with her for five years. I have progressed a lot from when I first started playing—from Hot Cross Buns to Bach’s Minuet to Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu. I have even been to a competition and won an Honorable Mention award. Playing the piano is really fun, especially once I get better at it. The only bad part about playing the piano is practicing. Every school day, I practice about one hour. That way, I have enough time to finish homework, work on projects, and many other things. In the summer and on some weekends, I practice for about two hours since there is more time. I hope that someday, I will have progressed so far that I will amaze myself.

Leon and the Spitting Image

During the school year, my friend Daniel recommended a book to me. It was called, “Leon and the Spitting Image.” This book is about a boy, Leon, who is very bad at doing things with his fingers. He is in the fourth grade and he cannot even tie his own shoelaces. In the beginning of the school year, he meets his new teacher, Mrs. Hagmeyer (the children call her “The Hag”). Mrs. Hagmeyer is not a normal teacher. She doesn’t teach math, science, and English. All she teaches is sewing. Unfortunately for Leon, he have never had success in any activity where the precision of the fingers is included. Naturally, he is horrible at it and according to Mrs. Hagmeyer, he has 2 s.p.i. (stitches per inch), the worst in the class. The average fourth grader can do 4 s.p.i. Soon, the principal is talking about keeping Leon back for a year, meaning that he might have to redo fourth grade. That is when the principal makes the best suggestion ever: “Leon, you should get some more sleep.” Before, Leon had always not gotten much sleep due to an old, broken-down ice machine that was always clicking and groaning and making noises. He asked some people to fix it so he could finally get some sleep. Each day, he was getting more and more sleep. All the extra rest paid off though. He was getting better and better at sewing. Soon he could do 6 s.p.i., above the fourth grade average. In the end of the year, Mrs. Hagmeyer wanted the class to create their own animile (what the teacher calls an “animal”). Leon makes his animile a model of Mrs. Hagmeyer. He works really hard on it and then brings it to school. He unintentionally gets spit on his animile. Leon then realizes that he had just created a spitting image, something that lets the owner control the person that it represents; in this case, Mrs. Hagmeyer. Since Leon could control the Hag, he make her do all sort of cool and embarrassing things. The best part of this book is when Leon presents his project and Mrs. Hagmeyer sayd that Leon had achieved 11 s.p.i. Then, Leon said that Mrs. Hagmeyer could keep his animile so she hugged him!

Welcome

Hi, welcome to by blog! This is my first post on my blog. I started this blog because of two reasons. One, I thought that a blog would be a good way to express my ideas. Two, it is good writing practice. I'm going to try to make a couple of entries each week. Please feel free to give me comments. Critizism is okay, as long as there is a good reason for it. Thanks for visiting my blog!