October Sky! =)

Not too long ago we watched the movie October Sky. It was a very splendid movie and had so many connections to math, science and character education. First of all, it connected to math and science with the fact that the teenagers built a rocket! They had to figure out the right type and amount of chemicals to use to make the rocket fly. They also had to figure out the right way to shape the rocket so it would go up. This took a lot of determination to keep trying new ideas when one of them didn't work. Along with that, the boys had been blamed for causing a forest fire with their rocket so they had to prove they were innocent. So, Homer used a lot of math to figure out his trajectory rate and on his paper you could see he used a parabola to help him figure out the course of the rocket. This took persaverence because Homer had to keep trying to get the right coordinates of where his rocket landed and he had to learn a lot of math skills to do this. There was also science in the coal mines where Homer's father worked. The different types of rock they were mining has to do with science and some of the hazards they dealed with, such as the dust they could inhale had to do with science too.
Along with determination and persaverance, cooperation, respect and assertion were exhibited in the movie too. All of Homer's friends cooperated with him when he said that he wanted to win that science fair and get a college scholarship. They thought it was ridiculous at first but they went along with it anyway. Assertion was also shown. Homer's father was assertive when he found out about Homer's plan to launch a rocket. He said no rockets on company ground. He figured rockets would get him nowhere in life. Homer respected his dad's wishes and walked a few miles out of town to some open land where he could experiment with the launches without disobeying his dad.
This movie was super swell and taught me so much! After seeing how hard Homer worked, I now realize that if I really want something, I need to work hard for it.

Response Blog- Down Syndrome =/

Today I read a blog (http://ponderingbacon.blogspot.com/) about the genetic disorder Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome occurs when someone has an extra chromosome. Older women with children are more likely to have a child with down syndrome than younger women. People with Down Syndrome tend to have a flat face, small hands and feet, have eye problems and loose ligaments. As of now there is no cure for it. However, people with this condition receive speech therapy, special education, occupational therapy and special exercises. I am glad to hear that they have treatment for the unlucky people who have this disorder. It must be so hard to live with it. I hope they eventually find a cure for the genetic disorder so that the humans who have it have the opportunity to live a normal life like us.

Breast Cancer :[

A mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene is the cause of breast cancer. This disease, discovered in 2002, is when cells divide and multiply at an uncontrolled rate. The amount of women diagnosed with this cancer is ridiculous. I find it very sad to know that by age 50, 60 out of 100 women who inherit the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes will develop breast cancer. By age 70, 80 out of 100 women will have it! Those aren't great odds for women. And it's not just women who can develop it; men can get it too. Obviously it is not as common for them, but it is possible. Unfortunately for African American women, they are more likely to have this genetic disorder. Their mortality rate in African Americans is twice that of Caucasians. That is crazy! I feel so bad for them. The odds are bad enough as it is for Caucasians. Imagine having twice the risk of it. Sadly, about 1.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer in one year. About 465,000 of them will die from it. However the good news is, is that the death rate is dropping steadily every year. There is hope for them and there are quite a few treatments for it. Some of them include to treat the main tumor with surgery or to have masectomy. This is where you have one or both breasts removed. You could also have radiation therapy or take a special medicine that is believed to help protect against breast cancer. The earlier breast cancer is detected, the better. Some symptoms that you might have that can help detect breast cancer are unusual lumps in breast or armpit, sometimes a rash, nipple discharge, pain in nipple, inverted nipple, scaly or pitted skin on nipple and some more sever cases can result in bone pain, shortness of breath, drop in appetite, unintentional weight loss and headaches. Luckily, people are working every day to find new cures and treatments. Maybe one day there won’t even be any breast cancer. I think that would be super swell!

I got this information from: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/whataregd/
and http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp