Board Game Building

At In Addition Education Center, I made a board game.  We made board games to see where the drought is coming from. 

The first thing I did was draw the shape of California. I used paper mache to design my mountains. There are two mountain ranges: The coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada mountain. I painted my mountains black. 

I then painted my four regions of California. The four regions are Coast, Mountains, Desert and Valley. After that I put my track on my gameboard. I used paper and cut it out to put track on the board. I used historic California icons such as John Muir to make my game pieces, and the game board was finished. I made Location, Cause, and Crisis cards. 

To play the game you choose a character and roll the dice to try to get a matching set of cause, location, and crisis cards.  The point of the game is to end the drought by conserving water.

I learned how to make a game board. I learned that it takes a lot of water to grow food on a farm. I invented the rules myself.

Here are some more interesting details about our governor, Jerry Brown:

Who is Jerry Brown?

Jerry Brown is the governor of California. He served as governor from 1975 to 1983. And now he'll be governor from 2011 to 2019.

What are some interesting facts about Jerry Brown?

Jerry Brown is currently the oldest governor in the United States. He is 77 years old. He was mayor of Oakland from 1999-2007. Jerry Brown's nickname is moonbeam.

What is Jerry Brown doing to address drought in California?

Jerry Brown is worried about the overpopulation of California. For farms he is making farmers use restrictions on water. Jerry Brown will stop wildfires. If there is another wildfire he will stop it by calling immediately for additional actions. Jerry Brown is reducing the water usage by 25%. The 2016 El Nino may end the 4 year drought.

2015 16 NBA Win-Loss Projections

      15: Los Angeles Lakers 16-66
         14: Denver Nuggets 21-61
     13: Minnesota Timberwolves 24-58
     12: Sacramento Kings 31-51
     11: Portland Trail Blazers 35-47
     10: Utah Jazz 37-45
      9: Los Angeles Clippers 43-39
      8: Phoenix Suns 44-38
      7: Memphis Grizzlies 49-33
      6: San Antonio Spurs 52-30
      5: Houston Rockets 56-26
      4: New Orleans Pelicans 58-24
      3: Dallas Mavericks 60-22
      2: Oklahoma City Thunder 61-21
      1: Golden State Warriors 63-19

                   
                                   
                                   

Growing Pumpkins & Saving Water

We are growing pumpkins in on the side of our house. They are growing in a container. There is a difference between a female flower and a male flower.

Here is a female flower:

You can tell that is a female flower because a pumpkin is growing under it. In four months, this small pumpkin will be a large, orange pumpkin. To help it become a large orange pumpkin, I will need to water it. We will also give it plant food, also called fertilizer. I think it will keep growing farther out.

We are saving water because we are in a drought in California. Here are some things we do to save water at our house:

1) We have a bucket in the shower. When you turn on the shower, the water is usually cold. We let the cold water go in the bucket. 

2) When we urinate, we do not flush.

3) When we take a bath, we scoop the water out and put it in more buckets.

4) We use the bathwater to flush the toilet when we poo.

We save enough water in the house so water our plants outside.

Killing Weeds with Natural Materials

We are experimenting killing weeds without using harmful things like Roundup. Unnatural chemicals might cause cancer. 

We are using soap, water, and vinegar for the first one and salt for the second one. We will observe which one kills weeds better.


Question: Which natural product kills weeds better? The product battle is between salt and vinegar. 




Equipment: In a spray bottle we put mostly vinegar, some water, and a tab bit of soap. For salt we needed just salt.





Method: I poured salt on a line of weed lines.  I sprayed a mixture of vinegar, water and dish soap on to a different line of weeds.

The vinegar,water, and soap killed all the weeds.

I poured salt on weeds.

I sprayed vinegar, water, and soap on weeds.

Results: The vinegar won by a lot. It took two weeks. The vinegar made the weeds go from green to  golden brown. The salt just didn't kill all the weeds. 



Why do salt and vinegar kill weeds? Acetic acid is what makes vinegar a weed killer. The vinegar draws moisture out of plants. Salt also dehydrates plants. Without moisture plants can not live.

The salt did not kill all the weeds.

Favorite foods at home, and what I would like to have at home

My favorite foods at home are fried shrimp, chicken, pickle, and potatoes. First, I crack the eggs into a bowl, and stir the eggs with a fork. I boil shrimp, dip them into eggs, flour, and bread crumbs them and fry them. When I cook these foods, I use olive and coconut oil mixed. I know when the shrimp is ready, when the crust gets darker. It usually takes about 3-4 minutes.

My favorite dessert is an ice cream sandwich with chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. They are crisp and soft combined.

I would like to have fried ice cream at home. That is breaded ice cream. It looks very delicious and tough to make because it might melt.

Grand Canyon Science

I saw mule deer at the Grand Canyon National Park. Mule Deer's are called mule deer's because they have oversized ears. They are also bigger than regular deer. They also have a short white tail


The Grand Canyon has scary mountain lions.  They can cover 25 - 785 square miles. they can eat 20 or 30 pounds of meat in a single meal. They prey on sheep, rabbits, deer, elk, birds, porcupines etc.
Babies remain with their mom for 15-22 months.


The Grand Canyon was made by the Colorado River. It has been a knife motion for many years. The river moving is called erosion. Without it the Grand Canyon would be nothing.
The Colorado River was made 6 million years ago. People ride the waves in that river for 2 weeks straight. They have to use a waterproof bag to carry their food and water.

Kids can be useful by not littering, not feeding wildlife, and packing up garbage. You shouldn't feed wildlife because animals wouldn't be wild anymore.

My First Football Game

I went to the Raiders - 49ers game yesterday. It was the first NFL game I've ever been to.  It was in Oakland. On the first play of the game the 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick threw an Interception. the game. I had a Pulled Pork Sandwich and a Root Beer. I went with my dad. The interception led to a field goal by Sebastian Janikowski to go up 3-0. A few punts and then a touchdown by the 49ers to end the quarter. I got lost in the 2nd Quarter because my dad to get a drink and he said it would be right back. But it took about 20 minutes and I got worried so I looked at my ticket and got in my seat and saw my dad. It was 10-10 at halftime I was yelling super loud. I had to go to the bathroom alot of times. The Raiders took a 17-13 lead after the 3rd Quarter. The Raiders take the lead 24-13. The 49ers miss a 47 yard field goal and the Raiders win 24-13. I had a great time and I thought it was an awesome experience. After the Raiders won they screwed the 49ers playoff hopes.
With 3 games left it will be very tough.



NFC Standings

Arizona Cardinals 10-3
Green Bay Packers 9-3
Philadelphea Eagles 9-4
Atlanta Falcons 5-7
Seattle Seahawks 9-4
Detroit Lions 9-4