Wowah Fire !

Today is Monday and we would be leaving for Mexico tomorrow if it wasn't for these crazy fires. Due to the fires there are only like 20 people in our team here today and we had a work day. We are not going to go to Mexico tomorrow and these fires make the air smell icky. Unfortunately my partners and I did not use this day to get any further in our project since we still do not know where in the world our stupid tape is. If only the interview would have captured right the first time, we wouldn't have had to go look for our tape. For the past hour I have been working on my DP but since my partners for my project are not here I don't think there is anything useful for me to do right now. So this is why I'm blogging and rambling on about these lame fires that ruin everyones lives. By next Monday we are supposed to turn in a draft of our family project for Spanish. I find this very useful since I know I still won't have a perfect book. I guess I could work on my family project now, by my drive for work is not here with me. Time to do something more productive :]

Cahhlass Worko!

Well pretty much or interview did not upload right so we can't edit it. We would just try and upload it again but Nicolette left the tape in her backpack which she did not bring to school today. That means we can't do anything for our project :[

Border Angels!

Today in class we had a member of border angels come to our class to discuss what his organization is and what they do. Also my group and i interviewed Enrique Morones for our border project. We found this to be very successful and Mr. Morones had a lot of good things to say and i think this is going to make our little new show really bomb! Okay so we had to write a reflection on Enriques talk with us and here it is:


On Wednesday in class we had Enrique Morones talk to us about the organization he founded, Border Angles. After looking at the website I still wasn't sure what Border Angels exactly was. I was confused about what they did but after Enrique explained it I think that this is a very good program. I liked how he was so determined and wants everyone to think that everyone is equal. I think that he is an amazing man for accomplishing so much in so little time. I mean lots of people talk about improving the world but he actually acted on what he wanted to do.
At first I didn't see how putting water in the middle of the desert would help immigrants that were trying to cross the border but then after he said that they do find the water it became more interesting to me. I just don't see how they find the water. Also I think it's good that he brings water and food to the migrants living in the canyons. The thing i found most interesting was he said that the there are a lot of undocumented people in the the world but there was lower than ten percent in the United States. Another thing I found pretty amazing was that he has gotten so many people to volunteer and it's crazy how people just randomly find out about Border Angels. I had never heard of it before this project but I guess I would never just hear about that.
What I didn't like about his talk was how he was talking about the marches and he said that his marchers would have jumped that minute man guy. I know he is all about peace and everyone being equal and he was just trying to help that minute man, which he did. I don't think that people should be marching if they are going to do something crazy. That is one reason I didn't participate in those big marches. A good amount of the students just wanted to get out of school and they didn't even know what they were marching about. On the other hand they did get their point across and that law didn't pass.
After hearing about this organization I think I would like to volunteer for this sometime. I think that is a good think for our world and everyone should be equal.

Ohhh Tuesday!

So today in class we got our questions for our interview finalized. Tomorrow we are interviewing Mr. Morones from Border Angels. I'm not going to lie this is pretty exciting to see what he thinks about the subject we have been doing research and hard work on. Also our flash looks super great.

Tomorrows my SLC so heres my outline:

Student Led Conference
Strengths:
-I’m good at writing, so I do good on writing assignments.
-Group work comes to me easily and it helps a lot when you aren’t understanding something.

Challenges:
-I do things fast just to get them over with and sometimes I make small mistakes that mess me up in the long run.
-I procrastinate my homework so that I have too much on one day.

Class Participation:
-I participate in class when I have something to contribute to the conversation. If I don’t fully understand what we are talking about I usually won’t talk. Also I don’t like to repeat the same thing as another person and my idea was already said so I feel there is no need for me to say anything.

Work:
-For Humanities I will be presenting a writing assignment we had to do where we to write about if we were a conquistador or a native during the time when Colombus came to America.
-For Chemistry I will be showing my lab note book. The reason I chose these is because I understand all the stuff for labs and they are fun.

Goals:
-I would like to improve my working habits by paying more attention to what I am doing and to slow down when im doing work.
-For a social goal I would like to get to know my teammates better.
-My personal goal would be to care more about things and not just do them because I have to.

Final Script

Today in class we finished our script. We were trying to come up with a cleaver closing sentence but we ended up with "this is Working Class Heroes signing off." I still think we could come up with something cooler than that but I think one with come to us by the time we record. I mean you stay classey San Diego always works for me. So we turned that in and i got to put the green dot on our little chart. Mari was being a good worker and now our flash is looking super awesome. I think Mari deserves a cake! or something really cool. She turned our flash from fifth grader status to A+ :]

Scripptttola

So pretty much today we had 4th period as well as 5th which is right now to work on our borders project and i have been working on our script and making some changes that were suggested by Spencer. I think our script is coming along quite well and we have played out what we are going to do all our interviews next week. We still need to add some more sources that we used for our information into our script but other than that i think its pretty good. Another thing we need to work on is how we are going to film the closing segment.

Here is what we have at this very moment:

Migrant Workers Script

[Stationary shot, “chair scene”]
(Nicolette) The term “migrant workers” has been appearing more frequently and more consistently in the headlines. Usually preceded by the words “illegal” or “exploited”. So what is the reason behind the sudden controversy that seems to surround migrant workers, and more importantly, why has exploitation of them become an understood necessary evil for the United States economy? Tonight, Working Class Heroes answers these questions and more as we take an in depth look at the lives of migrant workers.

[shot of crowd milling through HTH](Mari) Most people have a pre-formulated concept about the lives of migrant workers and illegal immigrants in the United States.[shot of Mari in front of interviewees](Mari) So, __________, what kind of lives do you think that illegal immigrants lead?(Three peer interviewees) _______________________________[photographs of Great Depression](narration) Latin American workers, which will be the main focus of our segment, started coming to the United States during the Great Depression. Due to the ruined financial state of the country, their wages were often extremely low, and the labor was time-intensive and rough. Conditions were unforgiving and workers were rarely able to better their lives, having to keep working to barely escape bankruptcy.[pictures of newspapers with articles on illegal immigration]In the last decade, the issue of illegal immigration has become more and more pressing, and more awareness has arisen towards the problems that occur with the increasing presence of a migrant labor force.

We are going to discuss the problems that specifically affect those workers, such as housing and wages.

[Statistics on a background]Economically, the United States is more dependant on the flow of migrant labor than many would imagine. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, migrant workers in the United States sent home a collective $62.3 billion dollars in 2006, which is a 14% increase from 2005. Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia have the highest receiving rate of remittances. With the pressing issue of illegal immigration however, the INDB estimates that the number of remittances will begin to decline, which could have negative effects on the economies of not only the recipients, but the United States as well.

Migrant farm workers as a whole do not have adequate housing, and the issue is often glossed over by the government. In some circumstances, employers are not required to provide housing for their workers, and thus, it is upon the migrant workers themselves to find shelter for their families, often on a sub minimum wage. Also, if the worker does not have legal status, housing seems an even bigger nuisance, as many land lords mandate that tenants provide proof of legal residence. Those who speak out against the assimilation of illegal immigrants into US society, such as groups like the minute men, argue that these are conditions that all illegal immigrants choose to accept, and that they should obtain legal citizenship the proper way. However, the current legal process is a taxing and time consuming affair that can take several years. Meanwhile, outsourcing of work seems to be increasing at a rapid pace, which creates difficult situations for the people in countries from which many migrant workers originate, creating a cyclical pattern of opportunity forming into exploitation.

And now with for an interview with Enrique Morones the director of Border Angles.

[Group member in front of interviewee]Here, we interview ___person___ on the subject of migrant workers.(interview questions here).


[Closing chair sequence]
Tonight, Working Class Heroes has covered the basic information on migrant workers and the hardships they go through each day. Being a migrant worker makes seemingly easy tasks that most people take for granted, a lot harder to accomplish. Such as finding a house to live in and earning enough money to support your family. It’s our community to become more aware of these things, and take measures to remedy them. Until next time, this Working Class Heroes signing off, I’m Nicolette.

Water Presentation

Yesterday in Chemistry we did our presentations on our topic, which was three properties of water. The thing i presented on was how water that is warm freezes faster than cold water but really thats not even true since the warmer water tricks you! Ahh Chemistry is so crazy. I think our presentation overall went pretty well compared to other peoples presentations.

Work Cited

Explanation of the Phase Anomalies of Water (P1-P12). 18 August, 2007. Martin Chaplin. October 9, 2007. <http://www.btinternet.com/~martin.chaplin/explan.html#158>

Stuff for water PP

So Mari showed me this site the other day and since my group decided to each do one topic since we had to do three i chose to do the Mpemba effect.

http://www.btinternet.com/~martin.chaplin/explan.html#158





The Mpemba Effect

Which pretty much is that hot water sometimes freezes faster than cold water.

This has dated back to 4th century BC by Aristotle.

Erasto Mpemba who was at school at Iringa School, Tanzania also found this to be true when he said that he could freeze ice cream faster if he warmed it first.

one experiment tried was with 90 degrees Celsius water freezes faster than 18 degrees Celsius

that the degree of supercooling is greater in initally cold water than in initally hot water. hot water freezes at a higher tempeture. when you freeze hot water there is little amounts of water in the frozen piece that don't freeze when with cold water it all freezes therefore it takes longer.

a lower temperture allows a faster crystal growth rate

MLA Formated

Here are the sites i used for research in MLA format!

Water Properties. 13 February 2002. Iowa Academy of Science. 3 October 2007. <http://www.uni.edu/~iowawet/H2OProperties.html>

Water Properties. 9 February 2007. USGS. 3 October 2007. <http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html>

Mini Project Presentation

I am a little stressed about my presentation for this mini project on Bolivia tomorrow. I don't think that presenting what I have is going to turn out bad since i know we met what was asked. But i do think that we could have done such a better presentation if we had the weekend to work or if we were given the assignment on Monday. I understand that Spencer just wanted us to be working and not goofing off but really all this did for my partner and I was make us panic. I'm sure other people in our team felt the same but the bottom line is i think i could have done better so i don't think my power point will be the best it could be.

Ahhh Opps!

Border Patrol Reflection
I thought that actually hearing from a border patrol agent himself was a very good experience to have. Being Mexican the stereotype is that we don’t like the border patrol for whatever reason. I personally have anything against the border patrol since it is their job to keep illegal immigrants out of our country.
I think the information video was very interesting to watch. I didn’t know that people would just get in a big group and then run across the border. That was very new to me and I even laughed. I don’t think I should have laughed but I never knew that really happened. I also didn’t know how they ride bikes or have motion sensors in the ground.
When Officer Moffit was answering questions he said that there was 50 people in one truck. I did not know that those many people could fit in one car. Also he was telling us how the are always people trying to smuggle drugs and other things of that kind. I knew that of course people would try to do that but when we asked him about arresting people he mentioned drug dealers a lot. I mean there are a lot of people that don’t have any drugs at all that are just trying to have a better life. I understand that this is his job so he can’t just sympathize for these people but I was kind of made how he kept saying drug dealers and whatnot. Also I don’t think he knew how to phrase a lot of his answers because he said something about shooting people and he was like I don’t have enough bullets to shoot all of them. For me I think that came out wrong, so it’s not like I totally think he’s this horrible person, but I think there is a better way he could have said that.
Overall I think this was a very good experience. I don’t agree with everything our guest speaker said but it’s good to hear a different side of the story.




I'm so mad at myself for not printing this out when i finished it or i didn't post this on my blog when i was done. I so did this Tuesday night but i just didn't print it out. Me not printing it out was so my fault but I know i did it. So I'm posting it here so in case i forget.

mini project about Bolivia

So pretty much i thought my partner and i wouldn't be able to finish our power point in time. We were having a hard time finding information on how Bolivia actually became independent. But thanks to this handy dandy site i now know why!

http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/bolivia/bolivia_history_struggle_for_independence.html

The only thing is, is that this site is hard to understand. So my partner and I just need to add this information to our power point and we will be good to go.

My partner and I aren't going to include certain things in our power point though since we think it will be easier to just talk about them.

Independence of Boliviaaa!!

http://countrystudies.us/bolivia/8.htm

I need to take a look back on this site!!




http://countrystudies.us/bolivia/9.htm

These sites are from the same root site but like that first one doesn't really talk about Bolivia.

http://www.ddg.com/LIS/aurelia/bolhis.htm

This is a very useful site that i will use to add information to my power point!

[Important dates and people]

• Antonio José de Sucre gained Bolivian independence from Spain in 1825
• President Siles Zuazo; while he was president the suffered economically!

http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Afghanistan-to-Bosnia-Herzegovina/Bolivians.html

this is a baller site! lots of good info!

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35751.htm

Cohesive?!?!

http://www.uni.edu/~iowawet/H2OProperties.html

Water attracted to water is called cohesion and water attracted to other objects is called adhesion. Since the two hydrogens at positively charged they attract the hydrogen which is negatively charged. This force is what causes adhesion and cohesion.

This site also brings up surface tension which i am not too clear on but pretty much i got that water attracts to each other and not so much to other things.

For the most part i think this is a pretty good site to find some basic information.

Water Properties :]

So pretty much i cant find my paper that says what is my topic, but one of my partners told me it was something about three physical properties of water so that's what i used to do my research.

http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html

I found it very interesting how this site was explaining the atom of water (H2O.) I didn't know that it had a positive charge on the side that the two hydrogens were connected to the oxygen. I also learned that water is a universal solvent which means that it can carry minerals and chemicals with it.

• freezing at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and boils at 212 degrees F
• 0 c freezing ; 100 c boils
• water is denser in the ice form since ice can float

I found this site very useful and I think it teaches you some new things.

Bolivia!!

So we have a mini-project going on while Spencer is gone and my country is Bolivia. Melissa's family is from there and she really wanted to do this country. My partner and I found out some basic background information on this country today in class, as well as getting our power point started.

Right now i am finding some information about what type of government they got after they were independent.

Bolivia. 2007. Kevin Knight. 3 October 2007. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02627a.htm

• Bolivia declared independence on 16 July, 1809 but actually became an independent country on 6 August, 1825
• They are a republic and are working towards being a Unitarian republican polity
• Bolivia encourages the Catholic religion and in Article 2 of the Constitution of Bolivia it states that "The State recognizes and supports the Roman Apostolic Catholic religion, the public exercise of any other worship being prohibited, except in the colonies, where it is tolerated"

I came to notice that they are really involved in religion and that they take it plays a big role in their everyday lives. I think that they have a good government going for them and that its good that they vote so peoples voices are heard. Also it took quite awhile for them to become independent, so this is bringing me to look to see what caused it to take so long?

Water Project

So today in class we were told we need to now blog everyday for Anne's class about our water project. My group didn't get the topic we wanted since we didn't turn in our paper on time or something like that. I kind of forgot my topic so i am going to go look for my paper and then i will do some research on it. Wooopeee!!!

Writting the closing segment

So it turns out I will be writing the closing segment. I find this a little bit difficult to do since I think we kind of need the interview to make a conclusion but I will try my best. I also find it that I am not being a very good group member. Or at least that's how I think my partners are feeling, I will make this part I am doing good since i really haven't written too much for our script. But my group members wanted to do the parts they did and I did what was told of me but I guess that wasn't much. Sorry group members i will pick it up :]

Closing Segment

Here at Working Class Heroes production we have covered the basic information on migrant workers and the hardships they go through each day. Being a migrant worker makes things a lot harder to do such as finding a house to live in and making enough to support your family. The amount of money made by migrant workers has increased over the years but only due to the fact that there are more migrant workers coming to America.

[Here i will add more but i want to include things from the interview to sum it up more.]

[I would also like the develope a closing sentence that is like pow! good.]