Natalie's Blog

Click here for a video I found where a pinball machine is made of an NXT Robot.

Even though it looks really complicated, I am sure our class can create something as awsome as this. I chose it because it can be useful as it entertains the children to avoid their wining. It also seems like a really fun project that fits into a catagory we would enjoy and requires a lot of thought. As complictaed as it looks, we don’t need to be the smartest children in the world to create something like this. I already understand that there are multiple bricks. There are lots of wires under the table that connect to sensors. There are most likely touch sensors for everything that the ball might bump (and get points for). There also may be ultrasonic sensors so that when the ball moves through tunnels, the machine knows it. So far with exploring what the programming can do, I haven’t figured out any way that the NXT bricks can communicate, so I am thinking that they make sounds or flashlights to communicate with other bricks (about points earned, etc). Anyways, I chose this video because I think that it was a great idea, it shows many things that the NXT is capable of and I think that we can create a game too.

My Poetic
Portrait

By Natalie Tedeschi

Mother earth was lying to us that day I was born

she said it was July

but the calendars told us it was September.

The sky was calm as an ocean

with deep blue waters

free of clouds

the pigeons were like fish

when they were high in the air,

they were only black dots

but as they landed they could be seen clearly

the beating sun was bright as and orange that day

cars were honk

and they streets were, like usual

busy as ants

Everybody was trying to go from

one place to another

in the speed of lightning

when she saw this,

my mother frowned

she was practically in labor

and seeing the busy streets

she took the subway instead

rushing to get their quickly

All the way from Greenwich Village

To Manhattan

On 77 st. and Park av.

sits Lenox Hill Hospital

home of my birth

And when my mother reached it,

she was glad

There she was

lying on a hospital bed

when I arrived

I cryed for only a second

but looking around, I realized

there was no reason to scream

it wouldn’t do any good

and once I grew silent

the busy streets could be heard

once again

I was carried

to Greenwich Village NYC to our three story brown stone house

complete with a roof deck

the neighborhood was a pot
full of people and tourist.

In my early years I was
quiet and patient

When teething I drooled
like a sink that could not be turned off.

As I grew,

The library engaged both
my mind

and my heart.

A love for reading.

A love for learning.

And to this day,

changes have revealed who
I truly am

but to learn

and to read

I still enjoy

From NYC

to Concord MA.

It changed my future and
fortune

From busy, loud streets

a crowded neighborhood

narrow alleyways

to a long driveway

far from other houses

surrounded by trees and
forest

And most importantly,
quietness

Now, as the same person

with different qualities

I don’t feel like the same
person

Who I am

has changed.

Dear friend,

I am writing in response to your previous question: “After
what happened on April 19, can war between the colonies and Great Britain be
avoided?” Unfortunately, my answer would be no for several reasons. To begin
with, the taxes had affected the thoughts of the colonists. And as their
protests, riots and boycotts grew; it became clearer and clearer that they were
fed up with paying taxes to the Redcoats and the East Indian Company. In
addition to that, after the events had occurred, the momentum is unstoppable. Colonial
James Barrett of the Concord Militia exclaimed that in the battle of North
Bridge the colonials were attacked as soon as they approached the North Bridge.
“…We advanced near said Bridge, when the said troops fired upon our Militia and
killed two men dead on the spot and wounded several others…” By the way the attack
was described, it seemed hard to prevent. It would have been almost impossible to
tell the Regulars not to attack. And it doesn’t seem like it would it be any
easier to prevent either side from attacking in any future war. But most
importantly, after this event there was no longer peace between the Redcoats
and the Colonist. After fighting had begun, there was no turning back.

Sincerely,

Natalie

I created voki’s about the three religions metioned in the title. Here they are:

Separtists

Puritans

Quakers

Our environmental goal is to reduce the factors of a filthy SuAsCo Watershed, and improve the overall water
quality of the bodies of water in our area. During research, discussion and
experimenting, I have come to understand the goal much more than I did at the
very beginning of our project. After testing many different water samples from
many different places, we I discovered more about what the problem really is.
It showed me where and when a lot of the problem was happening, so I knew more
specifically what we needed to do in order to reach our goal. In addition to
that, I also learned more about the goal from discussion. After we talked, we
decided that in order to reach our goal we needed to educate the community
about the problem and what they could do to decrease the problem.

So far, my experience with this project has been very hands on. I have done some experiments as visit our
nearby storm drain emptying area every once in a while. A storm drain is the
drainage on the roads. When it rains, the water goes through the storm drains
which are there to prevent floods. When I visit the emptying area, my group and
I collect water samples and then return to our class to test them. I make
graphs and analyze data. Every time we enter a new piece of information into
our chart we learn more specifics of the problem. I now expect us to do a lot
more with the storm drain than any other contaminant. I also now expect us to
talk more with experts about the storm drains.

Reflecting back, even though I learned a lot every time we conducted experiments or
visited the river, there was one time that really stood out that I learned the
most from. The time that we visited the storm drain when it was raining really
increased my understanding of my group, the other factors of the SuAsCo
Watershed. When we marched down there, the storm drain was full of mucky water
and there was a streams of polluted water heading towards the river. This
raised my understanding of my group because before that, I thought of a
pollutant as a simple fluid or solid or gas that makes it harder for plants
and/or animals to grow. But here I was staring down at this filthy water that
contains all of the town’s contaminants sitting in an area of ground with
absolutely nothing alive. Now I knew what pollutants we were dealing with more
than ever.

Though I have done many things throughout this project, there are three major things
that I did that stood out because they were more important accomplishments.
First, I found a labeling error or a misleading label. We have discovered
products that say “eco-friendly” but are worse for the environment than regular
products. Second, we detected a storm drain that has been emptying even when it
is not raining. It has lots of foam that seemed like soap and had alkaline pHs.
Last but not least, we talked to the people in charge of the storm drains that
work for the town. This was important because we educated them more than they
educated us.