Canadians march against military mission in Afghanistan

On March 15, 2008, hundreds of people marched in the streets to protest against the lengthened military mission in Afghanistan. In Toronto, about 1000 people gathered in Queen’s Park and walked around the city. In Ottawa, about 500 people took to the streets to join the peace movement. On March 13, parliament signed a contract to keep approximately 2,500 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan until 2011. Dylan Penner, an organizer of the movement in Ottawa, said the polls showed that most Canadians wanted troops out by 2009 and that the government “isn’t listening to the people.”

The war was started on October 7, 2001, by the United States and the United Kingdom. The declared purpose of the attack was to capture Osama Bin Laden, destroy al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban regime. Infantry from Canada, the US and the UK were committed in 2002. The first attack removed the Taliban from power, but it has strengthened since. The war has not been very successful in restricting al-Qaeda’s movement. The Afghan government is deteriorating, and has no strong control outside of Kabul.

References

Canwest Digital Media (2008). Hundreds march against military mission in Afghanistan. Retrieved March 20, 2008, from http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=afdd7230-44a9-49f0-bda8-61dbc29fbd60&k=38813

Wikepedia. (2008). War in Afghanistan (2001, present). Retrieved March 20, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present)

Un jour normal en France

C'est ce que nous faisons normalement dans un jour:

Tous les matins nous nous réveillons à 7:30 ou 8:00 et Papa va chercher une baguette pour le petit déjeuner. Nous mangeons à environ 8:30. Cameron et moi commençons l'école à 9:00. Après l'école, à 14:00, nous allons quelque part comme Centre des Halles, Baggersee, ou Hautepierre pour faire les courses. Ou nous allons au parc: Orangerie, Citadelle, ou Fossé des Remparts. Nous mangeons le dîner à environ 18:00. Puis , nous jouons à l'ordinateur ou nous lisons jusqu'à l'heure du couché, vers 22:00. A l'exception des leçons de musique les mercredis, c'est comment nous passons notre temps à Strasbourg.

Un Jour à Strasbourg

Les jours dans notre appartement sont planifiés très soigneusement et clairement.
J'espère que vous allez aimer!

Chaque Jour à notre appartement, nous nous réveillons entre 7:00 et 8:30. Après ça, nous mangeons le petit déjeuner (habituellement une baguette). À 9 :00 , nous commençons l'école. Nous faisons un sujet de 9 :00 à 10:00, puis un autre de 10:00 à 11:00 et encore de 11:00 à 12:00. À 12:00 nous avons un repos de 30 minutes, puis nous mangeons le déjeuner à 12:30. Quand 13:00 arrive, nous faisons une autre heure d'école pour finir. Entre 14:00 et le dîner (18 :00 à 19:00) nous faisons ce que nous voulons, si nos parents n'ont pas quelque chose de planifiée. Après dîner, nous jouons à l'ordinateur ou lisons lit un livre.

Les jours dans notre appartement sont très structurés. Un dérangement mineur peut se changer en désastre! Heureusement c'est très rare.


Salut de France!

Cameron

Meghan's novel study

The following is my novel study for the book Northern Lights. It is in the form of a slide show.

Meghan's science experiment (1st term)

How surface texture affects friction

Question:

How does surface texture affect the amount of force needed to move an object? I will test three floor surfaces: carpet, parquet flooring, and concrete.

Hypothesis:

I think that concrete will need the most force, parquet flooring will need the least, and carpet somewhere in between.

Materials:

1. a box with a hole in it
2. an elastic band
3. a small weight of about 200 grams
4. scissors
5. a rug
6. a concrete surface
7. parquet flooring

Procedure:

1. put the weight in the box
2. weigh the box with the weight in it
3. cut the elastic band so that it is now an elastic “string”
4. tie the elastic “string” to the hole in the box
5. hold the elastic band straight so that it is going as far as possible, without stretching, and measure it
6. (on the parquet flooring) hold onto the rubber band and drag the box
7. stop the rubber band and box, taking care not to stretch the rubber band any more
8. measure the length of the rubber band
9. repeat steps 6,7, and 8 on a concrete surface and on a carpet (I did it three times on each surface)

Data and observations:

The elastic band is 6.0 cm when it is straight and not stretching.

The rubber band was 7.4, 7.1, and 7.2 cm long when I dragged the box along the concrete. It was 6.5, 6.3, and 6.3 cm long when I dragged it across the parquet flooring. Last, it was 7.0, 7.2, and 7.2 cm long when I dragged it across the carpet.

Analysis:

My hypothesis was mostly right. I thought the concrete would need the most force, but it turns out that concrete and carpet are about the same.

           Concrete   Parquet   Carpet
1st time    7.4 cm    6.5 cm    7.0 cm
2nd time    7.1 cm    6.3 cm    7.2 cm
3rd time    7.2 cm    6.3 cm    7.2 cm

Conclusion:

My conclusion is that it takes the more force to push or pull something on carpet or concrete than it does to push or pull something on parquet flooring.

Reflections:

I think the carpet and the concrete needed the same amount of force because they are both bumpy.

I think the parquet flooring needed the least amount of force because it is a smooth surface and has very little bumps.

I could also do other experiments. I could use different surface textures (wood, towels, or plastic). I could measure the amount of force used to push an object. I could use a spring scale to measure the amount of force needed to lift an object.

The Outsiders: Summary of Chapters 1-3

I chose to do The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton for my Novel Study. Here's a summary of the first three chapters.

In the beginning, Ponyboy was unwisely walking home alone from the “movie house”. Two blocks away from home he got jumped by some Socs (the opposite of Greasers; abbreviation for Socials). They almost cut his hair off, but his “gang” came to the rescue. They are his brothers Soda and Darry, also Two-Bit, Johnny, Steve, and Dally. He managed to make it home with only a bruise on his cheek and a cut on his forehead.
The next day Dally and he went to the drugstore. They goofed around until the manager got wise and made them leave, although not in time to stop Dally from leaving with two packages of Kools. Next they went to the Dingo drive-in and found out what was happening around town, like who’s in jail and who stole what. Later, when it was dark enough, they snuck into the Nightly-Double drive in unpaid and Dally started pestering some Soc girls.
Johnny told Dally to cut it out, which was unusual for him since he usually “can’t say boo to a goose”. It was even more unusual, since he recently got beat up very badly by some vicious Socs. Dally scowled and stalked off, while Johnny and Ponyboy made friends with the Soc girls. Later, Two-Bit showed up and persuaded the girls to let him drive them home. A blue Mustang showed up, and since the girls didn’t like the thought of the fight that could have occurred between the greasers and the car occupants, they allowed the mustang to escort them home.
After that episode, Two-Bit walked home, and Johnny and Ponyboy accidently fell asleep in a lot close to Ponyboy’s house. They woke up at 2:00 a.m., and Ponyboy sprinted home, hoping Darry wouldn’t be too mad. On the contrary, Darry was so livid that he slapped Ponyboy across the face- something that had never happened before. Ponyboy ran away, back to Johnny, who was still in the lot. He eventually decided to walk slowly back home, because Darry seemed so sorry, and he couldn’t cope out on the street alone.

If you enjoyed this summary you should read it yourself!

Watercolour samples

By Cameron



By Meghan