No.1

Figure 1. Map of Pakistan’s flood area.

There was Pakistan’s worst flooding in 80 years.  The floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, lower Punjab and Baluchistan regions of Pakistan. (See figure 1) About a million homes have been destroyed since the flooding began. The United Nations estimated that more than twenty million people are injured or homeless as a result of the flooding. At one point, approximately on fifth of Pakistan’s total land area was underwater due to the flooding. “Floodwaters ravaged hundreds of villages in Pakistan’s main province of Punjab Wednesday, destroying homes, soaking crops, and threatening more lives. Aid workers warned that bloated rivers would soon surge into the country’s south, prompting more evacuations.” (Huffington Post, 2010) (See figure 2) The U.N. is concerned that “aid is not arriving fast enough, while the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water.” “The Pakistani economy has been harmed by extensive damage to infrastructure and crops. The structural damages are estimated to exceed 4 billion dollars, and wheat crop damages are estimated to be over 500 million dollars.” (Carlotta, 2010)

Devastating floods killed more than 1600 people. More than 17 million Pakistanis have been affected by the monsoon floods that began a month ago. In the past few days, at least 1 million people have been displaced in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Homeless families are drinking unsafe water and because of that “hundreds of thousands of victims have acquired transmittable ailments such as acute watery diarrhea, scabies and respiratory infections.” (Carlotta 2010) It is unclear when displaced Pakistanis will be able to return to their homes. But many will have no house to return to. About 1.2 million homes have been destroyed from the flooding.

In Pakistan, heavy rains have washed away homes, shops, and livelihoods. Many people are stranded with no access to food. Millions in Pakistan need clean water, sanitary food, housing and medical care. I think the solution to Pakistan flooding is to help them. The Pakistanis need us. If we donate, it will help them a lot. Every dollar makes a difference.

Figure 2.

This aerial view shows a flood-hit area of Kot Addu, Pakistan on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010. Floodwaters ravaged hundreds of villages in Pakistan’s main province of Punjab, destroying homes, soaking crops, and threatening more lives. Aid workers warned that bloated rivers would soon surge into the country’s south, prompting more evacuations.

Vocabulary words:

Monsoon: rainy season in southern Asia when the southwestern monsoon blows, bringing heavy rains.

Ravage: Something has been damaged so much that it is almost completely destroyed.

Evacuations: the act of removing the contents of something.

Acquire: To get; to gain.

Aliment: Nutriment: a source of materials to nourish the body.

Scabies: Scabies is a very infectious skin disease caused by very small creatures and makes you want to scratch a lot.

Respiratory: The respiratory system’s function is to allow gas exchange through all parts of the body.

Bibliography:

(News)

Gall, By Carlotta. “2010 Pakistan Floods – The New York Times.” Times Topics. The New York Times, 27 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/floods/2010_pakistan_floods/index.html>.

(Picture)

[Figure 1]

Map of Pakistan’s Flood Area – Hindustan Times. Digital image. Hindustan Times: Latest Breaking News from India, Cricket, Bollywood, World, Business, Videos. Hindustan Times, 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. <http://www.hindustantimes.com/pakistan/Map-of-Pakistan-s-flood-area/591971/H1-Article1-591497.aspx>.

[Figure 2]

Pakistan Flood Victims: ‘No Food,’ ‘No Money,’ Would Have Been Better To Die (PHOTOS). Digital image. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Web. 29 Aug. 2010. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/pakistan-flood-victims-no_n_678915.html#s122857>.

 We created a survey about internet use. In this activity, 133 people surveyed, and 67 of them were female, and 66 people were male. We have surveyed students at Saigon South International School (SSIS) and Holy Redeemer High School (HRHS). At SSIS there were 72 people who completed the survey and 60 from HRHS.

Hypothesis: We think most people in SSIS will use CNN, because it’s popular and proportional. Most of student use CNN for resources. We have used CNN and BBC for resources/homework.

Result: Most students (36%) at SSIS use other website for news and least students (7%) use BBC for news. The rest of the websites were all about on average. As many as 28 students (47%) in Canada don’t use internet for news, and no one use BBC for news.

Conclusion: Our hypothesis didn’t support the result. The plot shows you that students at SSIS mostly use other website for news. On the other hand, students at HRHs mostly don’t use any website for news. Also, nobody use BBC for news in Canada. We think it’s interesting that most people in Canada don’t use any website for news and they don’t even use BBC. Maybe they watch news in television or newspaper, otherwise they are not interest in news. Canadian has their own news broadcast.

Miriam & Ja Young

This is a story about a man named Eddie and it begins at the end, with Eddie dying in the sun. It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings.

Eddie is an eighty three year old man who dedicated his life to keep the amusement park safe for its hundreds of guests. After his death, as he reached the heaven, he meets five people every five people he meets are related to Eddie or died because of Eddie. He was unaware of their existence.

As he reaches the heaven, he meets five people and learns about the meaning of his life. For Eddie this includes his army captain, his wife and others with whom he had some significant encounter. Eddie was a good man, who was very good to his family and his wife. He was good to the kids at the park and they liked him.

He learns about the interrelationship of all lives, about sacrifice, the value of love, and a source of joy, for generations of children, etc.

I really wanted to read this book before I read Tuesday with Morrie. When I saw this book standing on the “Good books” shelves in the library I was so surprised, and snapped that book directly. “This is my book!” This story is very similar to his another book called, “Tuesday with Morrie.” This book teaches life lessons and has great morals.

This is my favorite quote from this book.

“Sacrifice,” The Captain said. “You made one. I made one. We all make them. But you were angry over yours. You kept thinking about t what you lost.”

If you click green bar with “ERASER”, it will everthing and start drawing the coordinate plane again.

 If you click the “2PM” it will draw a face like this.

This time we created video by using “Animoto.” It was very easy to create video by using Animoto, we just have to upload our pictures and then the Animoto will make the video by using picture that we uploaded. Animoto is a very unique and comfortable engine to create videos. All we have to do is upload our pictures and we can also upload our music, or we can choose the music from Animoto.

When you go to the Animoto site and log in, you click create video which appears on the top. Secondly you choose your video type. There are ‘Animoto short’ which is only 30 seconds video and full length, which is extended length video. Next get your images and videos! You can upload your own from your computer, retrieve, which you can get the images or videos from another site, or you can either select from the Animoto collection. After you uploaded all images, you have to choose music! You can upload music from your computer, or select from the Animoto collection. Finally when you are done with your images and music, finalize your video. And you are done!

Before you snap the picture, imagine your picture area divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically. The intersections of these imaginary lines suggest four options for placing the center of interest for good composition. The option you select depends upon the subject and how you would like that subject to be presented.

———————————————————My picture↓————————————————

 - Before we snapped the picture, we imagined to divide the picture area into thirds both horizontally and vertically. Then we took a picture placing one of the intersections of these imaginary lines suggested. This toy is located in left top, and it exactly placing the center of one of intersection of these imaginary lines. 

 Lines:

Lines also play an important role composition. This sculpture has some beautiful lines, but they’re obscured by the busy background. This is what we simplify this picture by moving our camera view point in close to the base of the sculpture.

Now we can look up and see the lines against a clear blue sky. The picture on the right is much more dynamic because of the strong diagonal lines.

———————————————————My picture↓————————————————

- As the picture above, we took a picture of a chair with lines and me. You can see the lines against a wall. The lines of the chair are equal and strong diagonal lines.

These pictures show one of the most common and graceful lines used in composition are called the S curve.

Guidelines for better photographic composition: avoiding mergers

 The merger of this tree with Dave’s head is so obvious; you probably think no one could avoid seeing it before snapping the shutter. Remember: we see things in three dimensions, so it’s easier than you might guess to focus our eyes in the principal subject only and not see that background at all. Avoiding mergers is our sixth guideline for better composition.

 This is a fun picture, but when we cut people in half or trim their heads or feet, we’ve committed a border merger. To avoid border mergers, line your eye up squarely behind the viewfinder and adjust the picture format to leave a little space around everyone.

———————————————————My picture↓————————————————

- For this picture, we are not sure about what we are trying to take. Tree? Me? 

- This picture shows what we are trying to take, we are trying to take a picture of that person who is ready for the shot.

Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition: Balance:

Achieving good balance is another one of our guidelines for better picture composition. Notice how the leaves, the window, and the couple all seem to be in the right place. The camera viewpoint and subject placement were all carefully selected to create this well-balanced photograph.

 + The flamingo has relaxed, and his neck now forms a pleasing S curve against a better background. So, the S curve is an attractive shape to look for when you compose a photograph.

You can use other simple geometric shapes to help your picture composition. The triangle you get by connecting imaginary lines between the three nuns.   

———————————————————My picture↓————————————————

- This picture is what we took for balance. We can see triangle by connecting imaginary lines between the two people in the picture. The camera ciewpoint and subject placement were all carefully selected and well balanced.

Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition: Framing

What we mean is to frame the center of interest with objects in the foreground. This can give a picture the feeling of depth it needs to make it more than just another snapshot.

 The Washington Monument on the left is composed in the center without a frame. The picture on the right has a stronger feeling of depth and tells a more complete story because the photographer chose an appropriate foreground to complement the Washington Monument. 

 You use people for scale and foreground; make sure they look into the picture area. No matter what subjects you choose to photograph, you should avoid mergers.

 ———————————————————My picture↓————————————————

  - In this picture, there are two people are in the center of interest. This can give a picture the feeling of depth it needs to make it more than just another snapshot. This picture tells the viewers we have to give attention to the two people. We avoided mergers and the white wall makes viewers to give attention to the two people in the center. 

Simplicity:

Before you take pictures, you have to look for ways to give the center of interest in your picture or a point of your picture to be having most casual attention. Sometimes viewers get confused by the just background to find a point of your picture.

———————————————————My picture↓————————————————

- For this picture, we are not sure about what we are looking for, person?or tree? a swing with kids?We are confusing by the background of the picuture. The person is not in the center of this picture and there are other objects that attracts our views. We are hard to find which is a point of this picture. To make this picture better, we have to make a point of the picture in the center and make it remarkable.

- This picture shows clearly what is the center and important in this picture. Attention of the grass is not as strong as the person in the picture. Also two people in the picture are looking at the camera to show that they are the center and we have to give them an attention. The background of this picture is a white wall, nothing else. So, we don’t have to get confused by the background.

“Love wins. Love always wins.” By Morrie Schwartz, This book is very special, when I stepped into the PNC book store, this book attracts me like magnetic and also my sister recommended this book to me. This book seemed very fun because I saw the ‘THE RUNAWAY BESTSELLER THAT CHANGED MILLIONS OF LIVES’ on the top of this book. This book has a lot of morals and lessons, and this story is about life lessons. I liked the quotes and professor Morrie’s personality and his teaching skills.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a true story about sportswriter Mitch Albom and his favorite college professor Morrie Schwartz. After graduation, Albom promises to stay in touch with his professor Morrie. He spends several frustrating years working odd jobs and wondering what he is doing wrong. So, he loses touch with all of his college friends and teachers. His musical dreams are dying, and he started to feels like a failure for his life. One day Mitch heard the news about his favorite professor Morrie is dying of ALS, and Lou Gehrig’s disease. After that Morrie makes an important decision. He isn’t going to hide behind his illness. He isn’t going to be ashamed or afraid of dying. He’s been a teacher all his life and decides he will teach one final class, teaching his students how to die and teach about life lessons. So, Mitch started to learn lesson about life every Tuesday. For the next fourteen weeks, Schwartz and Albom discuss everything about regrets and death to money and marriage, from family to forgiveness. I like this quote from Morrie Schwartz, “Death ends a life, not a relationship.” and this quote is my favorite,

“Love each other or die.”

Sick house syndrome

I’m Emily, and my family is moving to Washington, where it is very cold but I hate cold! We arrived at new house where we’ll live. It’s big and spacious inside, better than the old house. But strangely, it’s cheaper. I’m different from other students of my age; I’m interested in designs, interior, and furniture. I looked around my room and I am satisfied, but as long as I avoid the sick house syndrome. When I have this syndrome, the new house’s smell, paint, and air make me sick, and make my skin to develop an allergy.

At night, something silently passed besides me, but I just ignored it and went to bed. In the middle of the night, I woke up chilly and there was a girl in front of my bed! It was a ghost. “Cawwwwwww!!” I screamed. Her skin was covered with blood and she kept on scratching herself. She was almost going to cry and her eyes were filled with anger. Later, she disappeared, so I thought I was safe and I would be okay. However, the ghost appeared every midnight, every time she was scratching her skin, every time her skin got more disgusting, and bloodier. Every day before I fell asleep I began to experience insomnia.

At school, I have one very firm friend called Erin. “Emily, what happened to your skin? Your skin is like, sick.”

“I’m having a hard time these days, because of the sick house syndrome.” I said quietly.

“Oh, that’s too bad, where do you live?” Erin asked.

“My house is in middle of the forest, the house with the brilliant blue roof, you would know.”

“Whaaat? You live there? It’s a mystery house; do you know the curse of that house?”

“The Curse?”

“Yeah, that house is strange, it’s been almost 60 years since it was built, but still it’s like a new house.” Erin explained vividly. “And every time people move into that house, they committed suicide, because of the sick house syndrome, they couldn’t endure it.”

“Tell me more about the curse.” I asked again with shivering voice.

“I don’t really know much about that house, but I heard that the first person who died in that house was very hyper and greedy person who had a serious sick house syndrome. She was having a sick house syndrome allergy and then it got disgusting over time. So she committed suicide. But she didn’t want to die alone so she always appears in that house and scared people. That’s all I know.” The story that Erin told me was like a story of horror movie, but it happened at my house.

Strangely, when I came back home after school, my dog died. “Sandy,,,,,,” I couldn’t say anything, and it was very shocking to me. Sandy was enthusiastic until yesterday, she didn’t eat anything wrong, and she was just okay. More shocking was she was covered with blood. What mom said was Sandy suddenly started to scratch herself, she kept on scratching, but it didn’t seem to be working, so she hit her head on the hearth concrete wall. With Sandy’s death, the curse of the house began.

Next day, my skin developed an allergy again and it was extremely itchy, So, I scratched my allergy as hard as I can, but it only became itchier every second. I kept on scratching my skin, but I couldn’t stand it, and I threw myself into the hearth. There I was burning inside of the hearth, but it was not itchy anymore.

…what happened next?

I was still alive. When I woke up, I was lying on an uncomfortable bed and smell of alcohol intoxicated me, and my body was covered with a shinny ointment. When I gently sat properly, there was a mirror in front of me, and in the mirror; there was a mummy instead of my face. “Emily, are you okay?” my mom whispered to my ears. “Oh, sweetie, we moved to a new house, this house will not make your skin to develop an allergy again. You don’t have to worry about sick house syndrome anymore.” Yes, this house was great. I saw fresh, greenish trees outside and flowers dancing through the windows. The weather was fantastic also, no clouds, not cold weather, warm and sunny. The sun was shining on me and made me feel relaxed.

When I woke up from this happy dream, I could feel that my body was warm and when I slightly opened my eyes…”Emily! Emily! Emily!!! Oh my god, honey, honey!” my mom was in front of me and screaming at me. I could feel that my body is melting in the hearth like a soft ice cream. I felt warm. My eyes slowly closed. I fell into a sleep deeply, very deeply, forever…

A boy asked his mom about this mystery house, while he was walking besides, “Mom, why people keep commit suicide in that house?”

“Well,, it’s kind of scary, that house has a curse of sick house syndrome.”