Science Leadership Academy @ Center City

Una Carta Para Ti

Posted by Deja Johnson in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 5:00 pm

Querid@ ___,
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Me llamo Deja. Soy muy linda. Soy Africana-Americana. Soy de Filadelfia pero vivo en Filadelfia. Es una ciudad grande. Una ciudad entre la ciudad de Nueva York y la capital. Se conoce como “La Ciudad de Amor Fraternal.” Hace frío aquí en Filadelfia. ¿De dónde eres tú? ¿Qué tiempo hace? Soy siempre mi con amigos. Pues, yo tengo quince años. Mi cumpleanos es el veinticinco de noviembre. ¿Cuántos años tienes tú? ¿Cuántos es tú cumpleaños? Me encanta cantar y correr. Soy baja y cómica. De vez en cuando, loca. Sin embargo, soy inteligente.¿Qué eres tú? A menudo, cuando tengo tiempo libre me encanta leer. No, me gusta nada ayudar en casa y nadar. ¿Qué te gusta hacer? ¡Adios mi amig@!
Con cariño,
Dejanyia Johnson

Una Carta Para Ti

Posted by Lauren Hummel in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 4:49 pm

Querida amiga,
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Me llamo Lauren. Soy de decendencia europea. Vivo en Filadelfia. Una ciudad entre la ciudad de Nueva York y la capital. Se conoce como “La Ciudad de Amor Fraternal.” Hace frío aqui en Filadelfia. ¿De dónde eres tú? ¿Qué tiempo hace? Pues, yo tengo catorce años. Mi cumpleanos es el dieceocho de marzo. ¿Cuántos años tienes tú? ¿Cuántos es tú cumpleaños? Me encanta ‘Twilight’ y Robert Pattinson porque él es muy hermoso. Soy algo deportista y súper inteligente. Mi pelo es cafe y rezando. De vez en cuando, loca y extraña. Sin embargo, soy simpática y boba.¿Qué eres tú? A menudo, cuando tengo tiempo libre me gusta jugar videojuegos y ver la tele y a veces, cocinar y ir de compras dependel del día. Lauren es mi mejor amiga y me gusta platicar con su. No, me gusta nada cantar y Justin Beiber. ¿Qué te gusta hacer? Bueno, me voy porque tengo ir a la escuela de la mañana y necesitan dormir. ¡Responde cuando puedas! ¡Adios mi amig@!

Con cariño,
Lauren

P.S.-¡Increíblemente mucho gusto! Mi favorito color es anaranjado.

Una Carta Para Ti

Posted by Tenzin Chemi in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 4:42 pm

Querid@ ..,

¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Me llamo Chemi. Soy asiática americana. Soy de Tibet pero vivo en Filadelfia. Una ciudad entre la ciudad de Nueva York y la capital. Se conoce como “La Ciudad de Amor Fraternal.” Hace frío aqui en Filadelfia. ¿De dónde eres tú? ¿Qué te gusta hacer? Pues, yo tengo quince años y mi cumpleaños es el cuatro de agosto. ¿Cuántos años tienes tú? ¿Cuándo es tú cumpleaños? Me encanta cocinar y pasar un rato con amigos porque soy habladora y me gusta comer. También soy baja, morena y simpática. Pero de vez en cuando, soy antipática. Sin embargo, soy increiblemente boba y divertida. ¿Qué eres tú? Me gusta mucho actividads. Me gusta nadar, practicar deportes, cantar, escuchar música, y además. A menudo, cuando tengo tiempo libre yo correr. Sin embargo, no me gusta nada trabajar y leer. ¿Qué te gusta hacer? Bueno, me voy porque tengo que hacer mi tarea. Responde cuando puedas. Adios mi agmig@!

Con cariño, Chemi, su amiga.

Una Carta para Ti

Posted by Olivia Mack in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 4:29 pm

Querid@ ______,

¡Hola! ¿Que tal? Mi nombre es Olivia. Tengo catorce años y un medio. Mi cumpleaños es el dos y diciembre. Soy de Filadelfia. Es una ciudad entre la ciudad de Nueva York y la capital. Soy es china americana. Me morena y un poquito loca. Me estoy muy boba y divertida. Me gusta estar de vago con mi familia. Los fines de semana me gusta ir de compras. Me increiblemente encanta One Direction. Me gusta ir al cine y comer. No me gusta nada correr y estudiar. ¿Qué te gusta? ¿Cómo eres tú? De dónde eres tú? ¡Responde cuando puedas!

Con cariño,
Olivia Mack (:

Una Carta para Ti

Posted by Tobi Hahn in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 3:54 pm

Querid@ {name},
Hola!
Soy Toby. ¿Que tal? Yo estoy súper bien. Tengo catorce años. ¿Y tu? ¿Cuando es tu cumpleaños? Mi cumpleaños es el diecisiete de enero. Soy de Filadelfia. Es una ciudad grande, y se conoce como “la Ciudad de Amor Fraternal.” ¿De donde eres tu? Aquí en Filadelfia, hace bastante frío. ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy allí en {location}?
Me gusta el Colbert Report, porque Steven Colbert es muy cómico. Me gusta escuchar música electrónica a menudo. Me fascina jugar videojuegos y programar computadoras cuando tengo tiempo libre. Me encanta leer a veces. Sin embargo, no me gusta nada escribir. ¿Y a ti? ¿Qué te gusta hacer?
Soy bien inteligente porque me fascina programar computadoras, y yo (casi siempre) soy trabajador. ¿Y tu? ¿Cómo eres?
Bueno, me voy porque tengo que comer y estudiar. Responde cuando puedas. Adios!
Con cariño,
Toby

E1 U2 Carta

Posted by Ziheng Liu on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 2:31 pm

Querido _________,
¡Hola! ¡Buenas noches! ¿Qué tal?
Saludos desde Filadelfia. Es una ciudad entre la ciudad de Nueva York y la capital. Es una ciudad grande. Se conoce como “La Ciudad de Amor Fraternal.” Mi nombre es Ziheng Liu. Estoy muy bien. Tengo quince años. Mi cumpleaños es el doce de mayo. Soy Chino. Soy de China pero vivo en Filadelfia. Hace mucho frío. Soy moreno. ¿Y tú?
Me gusta surfear la red cuando tengo tiempo libre. Me gusta platicar con amigos los fines de semana. No me gusta nada estar de vago. ¿Y a ti? ¿Qué te gusta hacer?
Soy bastante trabajador porque me encanta sociable. Soy un poquito tímido. ¿Y tú? ¿Cómo eres?
Bueno, me voy porque tengo que estudiar y leer. Responde cuando puedas. ¡Adiós!

Con cariño,
Ziheng Liu

How Could You Do That?

Posted by Sydne Hopkins-Baker in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 1:17 pm

“I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs ...[they] are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.” James Herriot

I agree with James. Animals are like children they need love and compassion. I know for a fact because I have a 5 years old yorkie named Mr.Fuzzy and he acts like a baby. I knew taking care of a pet is hard and a lot of work but I would never abandon or neglect this little creature. My You and the World project is Animal Cruelty. Three of my other classmates are doing the same subject but I want to focus more on what makes a person abuse animals and what happens after. That’s the main question. Why does a person abuse, hurt or neglect a animal? Some say it’s because
The Person has anger issues and needs something to take it out on
The person uses the animal in fights for money
They don’t have the money to take care of the animal
The person doesn’t want the animal anymore
They feel abuse is a way to show love
They love animals so much the pet hoarding
Me I want to investigate more on this topic to see what makes a abuser tick. I chose this topic because I love animals. Ever since I was little I would care for every cute little furry animal I could find. I used to play doctor with my stuffed animals. I knew in my heart I wanted to be a veterinarian. I’m somewhat a animal activist. I don’t believe in animal fur coats and boots. Or hunting animals for fun or money. And just plain old hitting an animal. To me it’s like hitting a person. It’s wrong and cruel. The animal can’t even stick up for itself it doesn’t have a voice. I always believed animals are just as human as us. As I got older I used to watch Animals Cops and it was sad to see these poor helpless animals left basicly for death.
- This poor dog was left with another pitbull in the winter to die when it’s owner left them without food or water. The police found it when It was too late to save it-

And to me that was wrong. The after effects of being an abused animal is horrible. Some would have mange hair. And more disease which were life threatening. Some animals could/will not make it from these bad conditions. Because they were left alone for a long point of time they could be antisocial and aggressive towards people. The humane society does their best to re-train the animals but some cases are so bad the only thing they can do for the dog is give it euthanasia and lay it to rest
Some animals don’t have it so easy. Death is good option compared to puppy mills. Those sad places are where humans breed dogs non-stop. Some of the puppies are forced to breed with family. Even at a young age they are forced to bree at a young age. And that could lead to birth defects in the puppy and death to the mother. The birth defects could be very costly to the owner which could lead to the owner on giving away that dog or abandoning it. I advise not to buy a pet from your local pet store, because chances are that pet has been living in a puppy mill most of its life. It takes a little longer but it’s worth it to adopt a pet from a local animal shelter. You would be giving a animal the home it deserves.
Out of all the bad in animal abuse and all the bad people who made these animals suffer there is some light in the dark tunnel. The human Society and the workers from the ASPCA are there to save all the animals. They have dog catchers. And not the ones from cartoon these guys are true heroes. They go to these homes and take the animals out of bad conditions and give them a doctor's check up, food and a nice home. Some animals are lucky they do get adopted by a sweet person who will love them. Some aren’t lucky because these places aren’t government sponsored they don’t have money or space to keep all the pet. Some are so terrible neglected their only hope is to be euthanized. With your help you can go adopt a shelter animal. Even if you don’t want to adopt go donate a little bit of money to any shelter. They are doing some good things to save helpless animals.

For my bibliography click here

You and the World: HPV

Posted by Melissa Alvarez in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 1:17 pm

My name is Melissa Alvarez freshman class of SLA, and I have a story to share; One that’s affected my life greatly this year. When I was given this project I had trouble finding the right topic. It had to be something uncommon that we don’t hear about all the time. Then I thought about my own life and what’s really changed it and decided.

My project is about the Human Papilloma Virus, otherwise known as HPV. It’s something we’ve all heard about at least once in our lives, or read in our 8th grade health textbooks. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in women globally. Hundreds of thousands are infected with it right now and have no clue.

How does this relate to my own life? My mom was infected with HPV a couple years back and it was one of the hardest times she had and still does have to go through. The infection is long gone out her body, but the after effects are something that will be with her and millions of other women for the rest of their lives. These women are now much higher prone to cervical cancer, the 3rd most common type of cancer to women. That’s where my life started to change.

In June of 2012 my mom began to have a flare up of her HPV symptoms. What did this mean? I knew it was possible that cancer could be happening but it was hard to believe for me. I researched more about it and the symptoms involved and then my mom went to get everything tested again. I went with her to get her last test done and stayed with her in the room, and she got her final results a week later. She was tested negative to cervical cancer. This was amazing news, but it was one of the hardest times to I’ve been through; never knowing what’s going to happen.

So here I am, ready to introduce you to my ‘You and the World’ project on the Human Papilloma Virus. It won’t only affect you, but everyone around you. People should absolutely hear about it now before they’re infected later, and that’s what I’m here to do.

-----

The Human Papilloma Virus is a papovavirus. A papovavirus is DNA that is double stranded and often causes infections/diseases. Men do not get HPV, but they do transmit it. Women are the ones who become infected. There’s more than 100 types of HPV in the world and over 40 of them are passed through sexual contact with a partner. Genital HPV is an infection of the genital area of the body. Over half the amount of people who part take in sexual activity will come in contact HPV at some point in their lives, but the women won’t usually know it because it’s asymptomatic in the beginning.

HPV is most often passed through sexual intercourse but can be spread in different ways. You can only get genital HPV from skin to skin contact, most often through vaginal or anal intercourse. It is also possible to get it from hand-to-genital contact or oral sex, but not as likely.

The Human Papilloma Virus is asymptomatic in it’s beginning stages. You won’t know unless you’re getting regular Pap tests. “A Pap test is when a cell sample is taken from your cervix and looked at with a microscope,”(womenshealth.gov). It’s a quick test and it’s one women should have regularly, not only to check for HPV but to to make sure their cervixes are healthy.

It's an important thing that everyone should be in charge of. You should always know what's going on in your body or what you could be passing on to others. Male or female. Most of the common cases route from infidelity. One partner cheats, transmits it to the other partner and *bam*; infected. The woman doesn't get her Pap test and realizes later that she has cervical cancer and can't do anything to stop it. Women should regularly get a Pap test. Most go annually to see their gynecologists, but when they don't take that extra step to make sure everything is healthy in their body is when they realize that they should have. Be aware and be safe by going to get tested. You could be stopping something before it even happens to you.

Bibliography

Click here to watch other women's stories

Click here to play the HPV Challenge

Click here to learn basic facts about HPV

Climate Change and Global Warming

Posted by David Leonard in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:42 pm

With the climate changing global warming is becoming a problem. Global warming is making the ice in the north pole retreat and is causing sea levels to rise. With higher sea levels there will be more floods. If all the ice melts most of the U.S. will be under water. All of the east, west, and south coasts of the U.S. will be completely under water. Most of the Islands will be under water along with most of Europe and Asia. Australia would probably be completely under water since it doesn't have high elevation except for the mountains.
The cause of Global warming is pollution. Pollution is created in many ways. One way is car exhaust being released into the atmosphere. It weakens the ozone layer allowing more UV rays to get through causing more heat. The extra heat is causing the polar ice caps to melt.

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/178/climate-change-and-global-warming
Title: Climate Change and Global Warming
Author: Anup Shah
http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/
Title: Global Warming
Author: NRDC
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/science/earth/02arct.html?_r=0
Title: Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts
Author: Andrew C. Revkin

YATW blogpost #1: Help find a Cure for Childhood Cancer

Posted by Allison Kelly in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:42 pm

The idea I have chosen for my world issue is childhood cancer. This interests me because when most people think of cancer they just think of the illness, but how many actually know all of the struggles that come along with cancer? The financial and emotional issues can sometimes be even more stressful and depressing than the illness itself. Cancer affects many people and causes many different hardships for the whole family. Cancer causes physical stress from the medicines you have to be treated with. The medicines can sometimes even affect your appearance. This can lead to emotional problems, especially when it affects a child. Something like losing hair to a little girl can cause so much pain. Cancer also causes a lot of financial issues within a family. Of course you are willing to do whatever you can and pay whatever is needed in order to help get your loved one healthy again, but what do you do when you don't have the money? It can cause so much stress on a parent especially when they don't have the money to help their child. This is why I am doing this project. Foundations like Alex's Lemonade Stand fund benefits in order to raise money for childhood cancer. No one should ever lose a battle to cancer just because of lack of money. Cancer also affects a family because what do you do when the treatment that your child needs to receive is miles away from where you live? Yes, there are things like the Ronald McDonald House which can give a sick child and their parents a place to stay for the duration of this treatment, but what if there are other children in the family? Are you suppose to just uproot the other children from their home and school, or even worse separate yourself from them for months at a time.? All of this comes into play when someone is diagnosed with cancer and most people don't even realize it.

This is important to me because a couple years ago my pop had cancer, and coming from experience, it was hard to watch. The medicines caused hair loss, made him tired and weak, and he never really looked or acted like his old self. So I can only imagine how hard it must be for a parent to watch their child go through this, and know that there is really nothing that they can do to help them.

The idea I have to go out in the world and help with this problem is inspired by my Aunt Natalie and Uncle Albert who are very involved with the Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation. There will be many upcoming benefits, meetings, and events that I can go to with them to video tape and interview several people. I will get a first hand account of how the struggles above really affect not only the sick child, but everyone in the family. One benefit, in December, will take place in a hospital in which we will bring all of the children who have cancer presents for Christmas. This project will show everyone that there is more to cancer than just the sickness and that it affects more than one person. It will also show people the importance of donating to things that help give financial support to families withs kids fighting cancer.

Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation is a major contributor to fighting childhood cancer. It all started when a young girl fighting cancer, Alexandra Scott, decided she wanted to hold a lemonade stand in which the profits would contribute in fighting childhood cancer. Alex inspired people all over the world to hold their own lemonade stands, and it has been happening ever since. Before Alex passed away she raised, with the help of family and friends, over one million dollars to help find a cure to this disease.

Below is a link that will allow you, at home, to watch Alex’s video.

Video: Hear from Alex and others of how it all started

The Ronald McDonald House is one of the most helpful foundations to families with a child fighting cancer. They supply you with a place to live when you have to move for the treatments that your child needs. They also have very kind volunteers working around the clock to not only support you with shelter, but they try to make your stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. Click below to visit the website.

http://www.philarmh.org

Saint Jude is one of the most amazing hospitals to donate to. Parents of a child fighting cancer have a lot to worry about, but Saint Jude hospital makes sure that bills aren’t one of them. No one is ever turned down here because of lack of money. Your donations are what save these children. Click below to visit the website.

http://www.stjude.org

As I go deeper and deeper into this project I hope to get a better understanding of how cancer affects people from the child’s perspective and from others in the family. I would also like to know, coming from the families themselves, how foundations like Alex Lemonade Stand and The Ronald McDonald House help them and why they are so important. Most importantly, I would like to be able to find out how I can help and how effective I can be by my donations and volunteer work. These families are so appreciative of everything that is set up to help them and I want to be able to show that. Lastly, I want to show everyone that it’s important to donate to benefits like this because it goes a long way and can save a lot of kids’ lives.

Click here for Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/document/d/1oEi43GY1kXiVYpNixTBUAcqMbg4Dk2x05XlrN7dxYV8/edit

Animal Cruelty

Posted by Tiarra Bell in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:34 pm

Throughout the history the United States, animal abuse and cruelty has been inflicted on so many innocent animals. Many of the common victims of these crimes are dogs, cats, birds, horses and livestock. They have been through torturing, beatings, starvation, poisoning, burning, throwing, neglecting, testing. Stabbing, kicking, dragging, shootings, hangings, mutilation, shooting. Being ran over with a vehicle, being forced to fight among themselves, and even being sexually abused. Do you know that women, in abuse relationships, often don’t leave their abuser due to the fact that they are worried about what will happen to their pet if they leave? So both the owner and the pet are being abuse, this is why a stop has to be put to animal abuse and cruelty.

People protest to stop animal cruelty.

About 13% of animals in America involves domestic violences and 70% of their owners have been recorded of other crimes! In my opinion is shocking that they are allowed to even have animals. 3 to 4 million adoptable young and healthy cats and dogs living in shelters are euthanized each year and those who aren’t euthanized are sent to no-kill shelters where they are caged for up to many years ( if they aren’t adopted) were they die of loneliness and insanity for being caged by themselves. Millions of 1-day old chicks in a crowded macerator because they are damaged or not good enough for the egg industry. 13,000,000,000 animals are research and tested every year in the United States alone and more then 15,000,000,000 warm blooded animals are are apart of research each year. According to scientist, every day 100 species of animal go extinct.

A monkey is caged while waiting to be tested on.

Two ways you can if an animal is being abused are through physical signs which may appear in their bodies and environmental signs which appear in their living habitats. If opened wounds in the head are observed or continuous injuries or illness that aren’t being taken care of are in most cases animal abuse. Other signs of physical abuse are abnormal skin conditions that are not treated ( bumps, rashes, loss of hair, scaly skin). The visible weight of an animal is very thin to where the bones can be seen; infestation of fleas, ticks and other parasites with in the fur. The appearance of inadequate grooming (matted, dirty fur, long nails, etc.), the way an animal walks either with a limp, the inability to stand, and just weakness in their walk. A tight collar the has created a neck wound or form the shape on the animals neck; and the most apparent is observing and owner actually beat of strike an animal.

The environmental signs may being the pets are tied up outside for log time masses without access to clean food or water. Pets are kept outside in unstable weather without access to shelter; some pets my be kept in polluted areas that may endanger their health. Pets may be housed in small crowded cages that are to small for them to stand or make any movement at all. Also if you observe high traffic coming to and from a place with animals live, its possibly it may be animal fighting rings.

A dog bones are visible for being previously abuse and starved.

Animals are not only abuse by ordinary people but people who bring entertainment to humans and people who help find cures to save many lives. Animals working in circuses are often abused all their lives, behind all there majestic looks they have tight collars around their necks and whips always on their bodies. The are beaten and starved of food, circus animals are force to preform by being abuse and being deprived of their wild nature. And when they finally get sick of the way they are treated they attack their owners, there two lives are taken of the face of the Earth because now the owner is gone and soon the animal will be for attacking the “victim” of this crime receiving a bullet through the brain.

An elephant is being force to strench out it's body with ropes and chains attached to his body being pulled by humans.

Other animals such as domestic ones wouldn’t even be considered as being abused because its normal to the ordinary human. Whipping horse to make them increase their speed would be consider just aport of a sport. Hitting a dog due to its continuous barking or forcing a cat it live in the outdoors for missing the litter box would just be "normal reasons" for doing whats done to an animal but imagine yourself in their shoes. How would you feel if you had to be whipped time after time, after time,after time just to be apart of a sport, how would you feel if you where kicked in the stomach or in the face for barking maybe cause you were hunger, or lonely? Or how would you feel if you had to live outside in the cold/heat/rain/snow with no one to feed you as you wander into land that you never seen before? It pretty hard to imagine yourself going through these types of things as even a human who dominates and are the main predators over every living animal while those helpless animals become new prey for anything that larks in this creepy world.

A horse has all four legs broken and has been starved fro a previous abuser.

In the U.S. 62% of houses own a pet, 78.2 billion are dogs, 86.4 million are cats and 65% of them were free or low cost pets. A large majority of animals purchased from family or friends. 26% of dogs brought are from breeders, 20 to 30%of both cats and dogs are adopted from rescues or shelters and 2 to 10% are brought from pet shops. Due to over population 70 million animals are stray just in the U.S. alone. 10% of animals adopted by shelters have been spayed or neutered, but 78% of owned dogs and 88% of owned cats are spayed or neutered.

In U.S. animal shelters, 5 to 7 million companion animals enter shelter every year while 3 to 4 million are euthanized every year. Less 2% of cats and 15-20% of dogs are returned back to their owners and 20% of the people who leave their dogs in a shelter adopted them from a shelter.

This picture shows how chickens are caged with other chickens with there is barely enough room for them to move.

Many ways to prevent animal abuse and cruelty is to first get your pets spayed or neutered to prevent more offsprings to endure such terrible things. Then if you suspect animal abuse contact your local police department for information for your local ASPCA.Remember to teach your children how to treat and respect animals like they were human because it starts with the younger generations. Take care of the animals you have, support local animal shelters, donate at the Humane Society of the United States. and get involved.

A human is expressing his love for the lion.

THIS IS HOW THE WORLD SHOULD BE!!!

Here is my Annotative Bibliography

A monkey in pain being tested on in a lab.

You and the World: Helping Those in Need

Posted by Nashay Day in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:34 pm

There are approximately 2,203,067 homeless people including veterans living in America. Why is that? If we are such an advanced civilization, why can’t we at least help these people who are on the street, have a little comfort. About ¼ of these people live in shelters so that means that the other 75% are living on the streets, hungry, cold, and alone without a place to stay or a family to depend on. I think that we all can make a difference. In fact, I know we can make a difference if we all would stop being so selfish and contribute! There are people out there who cannot afford christmas gifts or even a warm quality coat, so they are forced to be cold and without gifts. In a season like winter, it is vital to have holiday spirit, as well as being warm, this helps prevent mental, and even body illnesses such as pneumonia or even the common cold. These people do not even have the medicine to help fight these illnesses, coats to keep them warm, food to eat, or gifts to keep them in the holiday spirit. This is why I will try anything in my power to make sure that there are as many people as possible who will be warm, fed, safe, happy and healthy. Now some people do not want to be sheltered, but they will be willing to accept things they need.

In a few more weeks I will be holding a Coat Drive for people in need, citywide. I want schools in the area to help bring food, blankets, warm coats, and blankets to people in need. This idea dawned upon when I made a reflection on myself. I have an excess of clothes, shoes, and coats, when there are people out there who have nothing. So why not give back? If you can give back and still have more than you need than there is no reason not to. In fact you should always try to give as much as you can, no matter what it is, because there is always going to be someone, somewhere less fortunate than you. This should make us all look back on our lives and see how blessed we truly are.

This Christmas Season I am going to Mercy Hospice Shelter for Women & Children, and giving food, clothes, and gifts to those in need. I am giving everything that I possibly can to make sure that they have a wonderful christmas. Every season I will be coming up with a new project. The projects will help people in need but targeting specific problems for that season. For example, in the spring and summer, I am planning to donate air conditioners to shelters and people who cannot afford them and I will help children and adults who are illiterate spell and read. This goes beyond getting someone off the street. It is about honoring your fellow man. If we all lend a helping hand we can truly make a difference, i’m sure of it!

Here lies my sources

Poverty

Posted by Daniel Ross on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:31 pm

Poverty

BY: Daniel Ross

MY research is on poverty and how it affects our nation. About 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. There are 2.2 billions children on earth living in poverty. 1 billion of these children live in poverty. 21,000 of these children die everyday of starvation. There is plenty of food in the world to go around. Then why are so many people dying everyday of hunger? The problem is that people who are hungry are stuck in severe poverty. Their money is very scarce for them to buy enough food to nourish themselves. This means that they are malnourished all the time and being so leads to weakness and sickness. This makes it extremely harder for them to find work because they are so sick and weak. These people didn’t want this life. Poverty can be caused by the amount of education, skill, experience, and intelligence. It can also be cause by poor health, old age, or even disabilities. Almost 1 billion people entered the 21^st century unable to read or sign their names. 121 million children are out of an education. In this economy you need to have at least a Bachelor’s Degree to find a decent job.

Bibliography

You And The World: Child Depression, foster care

Posted by Taylor Washington on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:28 pm

Hello my names Taylor Washington and i'm soo happy that your reading my blog! Just a little backround about myself, i’m a freshman here at Science Leadership Academy, my advisor is Mrs. Martin, and i'm in Mrs. Dunn’s english 9 class.

Right now in Mrs. Dunn’s class we are working on a year long project. This year long project is called You And The World (YATW).

For this project we are choosing a issue that effects people and or animals that is meaningful to us, and become an “Agent Of Change”! We must educate ourselves and our comunity about this topic to make a

change.

For my project, the issue that im going to be educating people about is depression kids in foster care/ orphaniges go thru and how to make them feel better about the situation that they are going thru.

This topic really sticks out to me because not only have i come very close to this experiance but, i have a friend that went thru depression because of the foster care situation.

CLICK HERE FOR SOURCES!!!!!!

This World Called Philadelphia and How the Arts Thrive Within It:You and the World

Posted by Stephanie Dyson in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:28 pm

“I’d like to see Paris before I die. Philadelphia will do.”
-Mae West, actress

This is the city that we live in, the city that many of us were born in and the city that many of us will die in. Philadelphia. On corner after corner there is a fusion of cultures, a melting pot of languages and accents. There are those who are old and those who are young, people all around the city with varying ages and points of view. There are the rich, the impoverished, the spoiled, the rewarded, the honored, the shunned, the beloved, the disgraceful. For nearly 330 years, this city has been thriving, bustling every day with something new for the Inquirer to touch base on.
It’s a gorgeous city; not just because Fairmount Park is the largest urban park in the world (and people think Central Park is something special...), or because we have one of the most beautiful city skylines, or because we have architectural feats such as Liberty Place and the Comcast Center. These are all credible sources of endearment for the Cradle of Liberty, but not the ones I’m thinking of.
For my You and the World Project, I am thinking of the arts in Philadelphia. I am thinking of me in this world we know as Philadelphia, and what a foundational part of my life has to do with it. Philly has the most outdoor murals and statues among all of the American states. Known for it’s public art, our city boasts projects and feats such as the Comcast Center and the ‘Comcast Experience HD Video Wall’ inside the building itself. An architectural wonder, it is one of only four buildings in America taller than 900 feet. Within the building, in what is called the “Winter Garden” (the main lobby), there is an artistic and technological wonder. This is the Comcast Experience HD Video Wall that I mentioned.
This 2,000 square foot wall stretches minds as it is the world’s largest 4 millimeter screen. At 24.5 feet high, it allows for everyone that walks into the Comcast Center to see the displays of anything from smiling businessmen and women, to a picture of a nebula, to pirouetting ballerinas. Look here for more about the Comcast Experience: http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/comcast-experience-video-wall-comcast-center/
and learn more about the Comcast Center itself here: http://www.visitphilly.com/museums-attractions/philadelphia/comcast-center/

Joseph-Kaczmarek-Comcast-Holiday-Spectacular-587

(above) visitors watching in awe the Christmas Spectacular on the video wall in the Comcast Center.

The Comcast Center is obviously not the only spectacle our city has to be proud of; it’s known across the country that Philly is a city of art and culture. The beauty we have to offer is always moving, being rejuvenated, refreshed, and resurfaced. Bustling and busy are we. However high this city holds it's halo, though, it still has flaws. And the arts are bringing the beauty back. Especially with the Mural Arts Program. Started in 1984, Jane Golden, muralist and painter, made friends with graffiti artists around the city. Impressed by their ability to create, she recruited them to make murals across the city, covering up the ruinous work done by vandals, and creating beautiful, sky-high masterpieces that spoke volumes about Philly’s history and culture. Because over 3,000 murals have been born from the Program, our city has been give another nickname, “The City of Murals”, around the world. You can view many of these murals and the one below (N. 17th Street, done in 2004) in this slideshow on time.com
(http://http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1649278_1421152,00.html)

Yet, it’s not just beauty that the Mural Arts Program roots for. About 1,500 youths in neighborhoods around the city have benefitted from the Program. They cater to at-risk youths, especially. Kids who wouldn’t have exposure to the arts on such a grand scale are given the opportunity to paint and, in the end, create a masterpiece for the entire neighborhood, city, country, and even world to see.

“Educational programs use an intensive curriculum that involves mural-making as a dynamic means to engage youth and to teach transferable life and job skills such as taking personal responsibility, teamwork, and creative problem-solving,” says a bit I retrieved from the information page on the Mural Arts Program’s web site. Explore more of the Mural Arts here: http://explorer.muralarts.org

Philadelphia is a city with a past, but also a city with a future. The arts, as they thrive in our metropolis, are certainly a driving factor in this future that we possess. In my next update, I will hopefully have contacted and spoken to some of the directors of the Mural Arts Program. Please stay tuned for my next update on my project.

Click the following link for my bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zXlBiAmZbQH3QcZ2pojtVOGTRJVQ6jRvvmSex98ek4M/edit

(above) a screenshot of an interactive part of the Mural Arts Program website and below is a video from the mural arts program that shows just a little bit of what they do in-depth as they work on a piece called "The Roots"

Global Warming-Blog Post 1

Posted by Alejandro Bautista-Garcia in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:23 pm

Hi my name is Alejandro and my project is about global warming. In English we are doing a project called you and the world where we pick an issue in the world to talk about. For my issue I chose global warming.

Global warming is a huge well known problem, that many people are aware of yet they do not do anything about this terrible issue in the world. Global warming causes the polar ice caps to melt causing death to a lot of earth's animals and ecosystems.

Above, melting ice caps (source).

I’m interested in this topic about the issues in the world because i hear of this issue for a long that i wanted to learn more about it and I wanted to know what happens to the earth every year and what would happened if it keeps going on in the world.

Above, polar bear on broken ice (source).

The Global Warming started as known from the scientist approximately about the 1500’s and kept going until now 2012, over the time it changed the and switch the earth temperature and made the earth hotter melting glaciers, damaging ecosystems, nature and animals too.

Some of the causes of global warming are: green house gasses, cars,
industries, electronics, smoke and fossil fuels. Sometimes even the smallest things that we do not even think about can cause global warming. For example, turning on and off a light switch.

Some small things that you can do every day to prevent global warming.
Are to not watch as much TV, to not turn lights on as often, to ride your bike or walk more often, because they burn fuel. These things are helpful to the ecosystem and the Ozone layer.

Throughout my project I will learn more about how I can help the earth, and put a stop to global warming, and I will educate the readers on global warming and how to stop it. Thank you for reading, and I will post my second blog entry soon.

Click here to view my bibliography.

Amanda Grace Thieu's YATW

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:20 pm

Hi there, my name is Amanda Grace Thieu. For this year’s 2012 English class project to take action in the world to make a change, I’ve choose the cause Teenage Depression. I believe that this case should be taken very seriously because it’s how abominable a person feels about a situation or just in general how their outtakes on life. This was the first thought that came into mind when I heard “Pick a topic that struck you to heart and make a change” Teen Depression, I feel is a very gigantic discussion whether someone is actually depressed or just trying to get attention. But I never fail to turn my back on someone who came to me for help and advice. Many of my friends have it and since it affected their lives so much, it’s starting to effect mines. That’s why I want to make a change in the world to help these teens find their happiness. For the project I’m teaming up with my guidance counselor and English teacher to organize a monthly support group lunch here at school. The group may be as small as four people or as large as an entire classroom. But not necessarily everybody has depression maybe they just need someone to talk to or relate to their situation and make new friends. Anyone can join just to talk about their problems, Freshman to Seniors. I am hoping this will change the way people feel about life, also to learn to have a better perspective about any problems they might have.
Depression is a serious mental illness that makes you feel morbid or unhappy for a long period of time. Depression can occur to anyone, but it usually affects teens the most. The chances that teens actually receive professional help is very slim. We do not really like to share our problems with anybody else because we’ve created this wall or barrier to protect ourselves from getting hurt or judged. Now a days people judge you for the silliest things just to make you feel bad, this is basically a sign of insecurity from the person who’s bring you down. But that doesn’t mean that you should stoop down to their level and try to get vengeance. Kids aren’t usually as open to their family than to their friends because they feel that their friends do not judge them because they might go through the same thing they do, where as family members only care that you’re hurting yourself or just thinking you’re seeking attention.

The picture above can be interpreted in many ways. How I portray it is, that a mother is listening but not understanding her teen by the way you see the serious expression in her face. The teen seems like she’s crying how she is positioned and how red her forehead seems to be compared to her arms. The daughter figure seems like she has a lot going on in her life but the mother seems like she’s about to yell at her. This picture shows how the adult cannot relate to her teenage daughter. She wants to but doesn’t know how.

There are many indications of teen depression.
Persistent feelings of sadness
Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness
Decreased interest in school or friends
Decreasing in grades if once a good student
Alcohol or drug abuse
Feeling suicidal
Feeling alone
Traumatic weight loss or weight gain
Low self esteem
Sleeping too much or feeling sleepy all the time
Frequent Headaches
Experiencing difficulty concentrating or thinking
Anger problems
Behavior changes
Slow thinking, speaking or body movements
Self-Harm such as, cutting, burning or excessive piercing or tattooing
Neglected appearance- such as mismatched clothes and unkempt hair
Suicidal thoughts
Rapid crying
and many more.
Stays in their room all day with the door closed
Likes being alone all the time

I chose this picture above because this shows that even males have problems too, and since he is holding a gun in his hands he’s giving me the impression that’s he’s thinking about attempting suicide. He might be suffering from some of the cases below.

There are also many causes for depression. For example, family difficulties, the lost of a loved one, or perceived failures may also cause depression so does:
Bullying
Harassment
Self-esteem
Relationship issues
Sexuality issues

The picture above is expressed in a gloomy vibe, you can tell that she’s in a dark place. This picture represents the lonely feeling people have when they are dealing with a strong problem that doesn’t seem to go away, it stays with them everywhere they go.

Many teens go through problems such as sex, drugs, alcohol, relationships etc but it does not exactly mean they have depression. In a teen’s life there are many ups and downs that occur and we learned to stick it out and be strong. That’s not an option for some people. When dealing with these problems it seems like you’re alone the entire way, like you have nobody on your side. The purpose of this project is to support teens in my school that are dealing with any problems, to let them feel welcome and to be there with them right by their side

Here is a link to my Bibliography

You and the World Blog Post #1

Posted by Esperanza Gonzalez on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:19 pm

What pops in your mind when you hear the work “Internet’’? I bet your most common answer would be; Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Google, or even youtube. Right? Well..the internet is tool that everyone uses around the world. Although it can extremely helpful, but also very efficient to bullies. Bullies can cause harm to those innocent ones, and those innocent ones can commit suicide. The internet is one of the few tools bullies use to harass other people. I’ve heard numerous stories about teenagers committing suicide due to bullying, but didn’t seem to care. I didn’t think it was a big deal. Time after time, the number of suicides became to increase larger and larger. Mrs. Dunn, my English teacher introduced a project called “You And The World.” You and the world is a project based on a specific topic of your choosing and making a difference in the world. I decided to choose a topic that interested me! I knew exactly what I was going to do, which was “Teen Suicide”.

        Suicide is the process of purposely ending one's own life. Bullying is typically defined as the “ongoing physical or emotional victimization of a person by another person or group of people.” However there is also another type of bullying which is called “Cyber-bullying.” Cyber-bullying is when people use technology to harass and emotionally harm other people. There are several reasons that may lead a teenager to commit suicide, but the most common factor is depression. What a person might feel during depression could be hopelessness and anxiety, along with feelings of being trapped in a life that one can't handle. Therefore leading to teen suicide. In some cases they feel that taking their life away is the best solution to their problem and also some teenagers look at suicide as a “welcome escape.” According to the statistics reported by the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention every 13.7 minutes someone in the United States dies by suicide. U.S. Nationally, the suicide rate increased 3.9 percent over 2009 to equal approximately 12.4 suicides per 100,000 people. Nearly 1,000,000 people make a suicide attempt every year. About 30,000 people reportedly kill themselves each year in the United States. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people 10-24 years of age. According to the a whole different study, 78 percent of adolescents who committed suicide were bullied both at school and online, while only 17 percent were targeted online only. Another statistic provided by Medicine Net “Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in males and the 16th leading cause of death in females”. The rate of suicide has been increasing since 2000. This is the highest rate of suicide in 15 years!

Below a graph provided by the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention about the rate of suicide in since 1993 in the United States.

In this picture here, it shows the accurate number of suicides per year since 1993-2010 in the United States.

Some of the effects our loved ones can have is feeling blamed for what has happened. Wondering if they could’ve prevented it. Feeling guilty for the committed suicide. Other factors that may contribute to teen suicide could include; divorce in parents, violence at home, inability to find success at school, feeling unworthy, rejection by friends or peers, and death of someone close to the teenager. The various signs that a teenager can show when they’re in the process of suicide includes the following; plans ways to kill him or herself, dramatic changes in personality or behavior, sign of depression, begins to act recklessly, give away sentimental possessions, loose of appetite, talk about suicide or death in general or even having sleeping habits.

    Some of the ways that we can prevent suicide is by showing unconditional love and support to the person, understanding and respecting their feelings. Convincing that there’s a way to overcome their fears and showing complete thoughtfulness to help out. There’s also other choices such as medication, counseling, health professional, residential treatment, or spiritual advisor. In the Boston Children’s Hospital there’s a treatment offered to teenagers who are suicidal at a young age, which is called Psychotherapy.

    Suicide is the worst way that a teenager can die from. I hate the fact that right now as I’m writing this paper, there’s teenagers right now attempting to commit suicide. It makes me feel emotional and determined make a difference to prevent suicide. I’m willing to donate my time to this topic and leaving with a feeling of success and satisfaction once this project ends.

Click Here For My Bibliography :)

You and the World Blog post# 1: Education In America

Posted by Soledad Alfaro-Allah in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:18 pm

The public education system in the U.S. is far behind those of the other world and is holding back on its true potential to raise its youth. Money from schools is being cut at bigger and bigger rates each year and by the millions. Most would think education would, and should be the last thing to cut. The public schools’ budget and make it that much harder for them to educate our youth, schools are being closed and deteriorating by the second because they do not have enough money to keep their schools afloat. The district requires the all the district affiliated schools in philadelphia to take the PSSA’S and only recently have they caught a surprising number of schools cheating because they cannot pass these tests otherwise. So much of the resources used to help prepare these kids for the standardised tests has been lost because of these enormous budget cuts, yet they almost passed a bill about increase in your taxes. So where's all this money going exactly? Obviously not to our schools. Statistics say that in the state of Pennsylvania third grade test scores are the judgement of how many penitentiaries they are going to build on account of that state that year. The United States of America has put its future in a state of emergency where we are stuck are youth is not expected to catch up after the third grade yet many schools are trying to prepare it students for jobs and critical thinking that they aren’t even sure how or when or what they will be applied to, but they no it will be needed.

It seems that no one wants to address the main problem of our schools a lot of it is money related of course but how we are teaching the youth is also very insufficient in the sense that we are putting bad authorities that are placed in the school. Bad teachers are being placed in schools that already are under bad circumstances with kids that need better attention and cannot. It seems while no one knows what is going on with our education system everyone is an expert of some sort. We have experts diagnosing minorities with medical conditions because the education system cannot do its job properly. It is almost like revert slavery when runaway slaves would be diagnosed with diseases because they were not content with their situation. In this case it is somewhat the same way. People cannot accept their mistakes and lack of education in our youth and so they find a new blame.
The heart of the problem in my opinion is that no one is paying enough attention to the schools that are falling down the drain especially in places like camden. So many other people are pulling off of these environments in the sense that it is easier to keep ourselves afloat if we let these rougher areas deteriorate, but if we only have a select number of children in good schools and applying their knowledge to real life situations and pondering deeper questions and avoiding the one word standard answer, and understand why they are doing what they are doing. We are screwed for lack of a better term to say the least. If only a quarter of our youth is capable of navigating and imagining and developing their ability to create we will have no future. We will be in a place that either we cannot come back from or it will be like trying to spread a centimeter of butter on a meter wide piece of toast. A stretch. Other parts of the world are seeing this problem in their youth, and making a major attempt to fix it. In cuba they have created an infinite amount of opportunity in schools and the prisons are even leaning more towards better education. In the prisons in cuba the inmates are required to take a certain number of classes and read. The concept of this method is to have less repeat inmates and it is in my opinion not shockingly successful, but successful because the people in these incarcerations are educating themselves and changing themselves, In cuba they want to keep the people out of prisons while this nation is trying to put more in. Blaming the failure rate of minorities and others in bad education situations on irrational reasons. As a nation we should be trying to build a sturdy future for our country and we are doing just the opposite. Giving poor people no opportunities or resources to send their children to good schools because it has been made to keep “incompetent” children out, but how can we have competent children without any opportunity's?

Click Here For Bibliography

You and the World Girls in Philly

Posted by Sattera Mark in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:10 pm

After reading I hope you understand why I really would like to get involved in helping these girls out. Even You and the World Blog Post 1
     For the you and the world project my ninth grade class had to choose an issue in the world that they found interest in. My teacher assigned this project because she wanted us to help others. She also knew that people these days think that teens only care about themselves. Which is not at all true. There are teens that actually care about the issues of the world. The problem is that some teens think that they’re too young, and think that we can’t help. Maybe we can’t find a cure for cancer or adopt kids from Africa but we can start within our own communities. If I just walk outside I see litter everywhere, kids that really don’t care about their education, and teen fights. Those are tangible things that we might be able to change. I can start with something little, like getting involved with organizations and programs that seek to change things.

       For this You and the World project I would like to work with some girls in Philadelphia. I going to accomplish this goal by working with a camp called Teen Haven. I found interest in this project because I want to make a change in the way some girls think about life. In Philadelphia many girls grow up without a male figure in their life, in foster care, and have been raped. These factors can cause many girls to be depressed and build up a wall. It may also cause hurt, betrayal, and trust issues. At camp we attack these issues in group discussions and at camp fires.

    By reading articles and researching I’ve learned so many things about foster kids.In an article about facts on Foster care, it says that 60,000 children in the U.S. are foster chidren. As you may know, foster kids are taken out of their home because of bad living conditions. Maybe their parent couldn’t take care of them because of money or they were being abused. Then, the kids are moved to completely different home. It;s like they have to start life all over again. They have to develop new relationships with their foster parents, make new friends, while their are still hurt by the old relationships they miss. On top of that they might be in a home that was worse than the one before. Most of the time their foster home isn’t even permanent. In a few months they might be in a new home, meaning that relationship process with have to start all over again. This might build up a wall and I can understand why. Who would want to make new friends just to have them go in a few months. All the drama that is happening in their life can cause a huge toll on them. After foster care some girls may not be able to live normal lives. Some may have to though I haven't been through almost anything they’ve been through I know I can make a change. Sometimes all they need is someone to talk to or to comfort them. I hope that I can change their outlook on life, even though it’s rough.You live laugh and grow.
Annotated Bibliography Click on the hyperlinks to learn more about Foster care.

Here's a link to my 2nd blog post

Antrobus, Simon. "Why Growing up without a Dad Can Store up Future Problems." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 21 May 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/social-care-network/2012/may/21/growing-up-without-dad-future-problems>.

This article is about how growing up without a father can negatively effect a child’s life. This article is a helpful tool to me. I can understand what some kids without fathers feel like and relate it to my own life not living with a father.

"Foster Care System." - Student.com Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://articles.student.com/life/living/foster-care-system>.

This article is about what foster kids go through. It also show how much their life is impacted by their experiences. This is an excellent article because it is very insightful. This article answered all the question that I ever had about foster care. It is also well writtened.

"September 25 - October 1 | Coming of Age." September 25 - October 1 | Coming of Age. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.comingofage.org/philadelphia/emails/september-25-october-1>.

                 This is a good website to get pictures from because the site gives explanations of the
                  pictures. It also isn’t just good for pictures, but article too.

"Kidsdata.org Kidsdata.org." Foster Care. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.kidsdata.org/data/topic/dashboard.aspx?cat=4>.

                This website has very good information on foster children. The site also gives you a clear picture on how a foster                     child’s life might be. The site is insightful and shows some stactics of foster children. About Teen Haven." Teen Haven: About. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2013.

http://wsm.org/teenhaven



   This website is all about Waterstreet Ministries. This website is good if you want to do volunteer work. It’s also good if you would like to send your child to Teen Haven camp.

"Volunteer." Volunteer. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

http://easybib.com/cite/view



   This website is good if you ideas of getting involved in foster care. The website is also good for stories.

Poverty In Philadelphia

Posted by Jamison Turner in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:08 pm

Jamison Turner

11-20-12 Orange Stream

Poverty In Philadelphia

Hi My name is Jamison Turner. I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy. For english class we have been assigned a project called “You and The World” the aim of this project is to make a change in our world today. We could pick any subject we wanted so I picked poverty in Philadelphia. I think part of the problem maybe the amount of people that lost their jobs last year. During this project I will find try to answer a lot of questions.

One of the questions I had was how much has the poverty level gone up. In 2010 about 15.3 % of The United States’ population was living in poverty. In 2011 that number rose to 15.9%. So the number of people living in poverty rose about .6%. If the poverty number rose .6 % every year than in about 1/4 of our population would be living in poverty in about 16 years. I think that is absolutely unbelievable. That will lead me into my next question.

My next question is what percent of people are living in poverty in Philadelphia.

The answer is 26.7%. Since i am a Philadelphia resident I didn’t think that more than 1/4 of our population is living in poverty. This is very depressing to hear because I didn’t think we had that high of a poverty rate in Philadelphia. That is like saying that 1 out of four people in Philadelphia are living in poverty. This topic will also lead me to my next Question

My third question is what are some reasons for this many people living in poverty. I think it may be the unemployment rate in Philadelphia because in 2011 the unemployment rate was 11.5% in Philadelphia. This could be the biggest reason because you can’t provide for your family if you don’t have a job. the government could help these people out with financial aid but instead they give billions of dollars to oil companies. The government and economy definately have something to do with the poverty and unemployment rate.

Those are the general things I wanted to know about poverty in Philadelphia. Know I am going to try to help people out who are living in poverty. I want to make their life easier and set a good role model for younger people in the world. I would also like to spread awareness to the government that a lot of people are living in poverty because of the amount of layoffs in the last few years.

Bibliography here. Click here to see a chart of unemployment in Philadelphia. Here is a link to see a chart comparing the poverty levels in Philadelphia and the Suburbs.

You and the World Blog Post #1: Pet Euthanasia

Posted by Dillon Hershey in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:06 pm

In English 1 in 9th grade, we were given an assignment to find an interest in current events and make a project on the issue that you choose. In the project we were to answer these questions: Why is this world issue important to me? How can I be a global citizen? How can change occur? I had so many different ideas flashing through my head but I finally chose one that is, in my point of view, very horrible. This idea has to do with man’s best friend, their treatment in the shelters and the list of animals that have been at the shelter for too long. Can you guess what my issue is? It is pet euthanasia. The killing of healthy pets just because there is no space for them in the shelter.
I’m sure that almost everyone has seen an ASPCA ad on their TV or on their computer. It usually pictures a sad and forlorn looking cat or dog and then they ask you to donate money towards the ASPCA to save the cat or dog’s life.

This is what pulled my heartstrings and made me think. I had just recently adopted a dog from PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) and when we were looking for shelters to adopt from, my parents would always choose the no-kill shelters to look at. I realized that no-kill meant that they have to keep all the animals until they are adopted. At “kill” shelters they have a list of dogs and cats that have been waiting for adoption for “too long”. Then they put them down. These shelters use euthanasia for the “unwanted animals” and the unhealthy animals. I understand why they would put the animals down so that they would be out of their misery. That is humane, but to call an animal “unwanted” only after 2 weeks, makes me think that they aren’t so humane after all.
At PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) they claim that euthanasia is the compassionate option. They state that “no-kill” shelters can’t keep all of the pets that come into the shelter. They believe that all the “unwanted” animals would die a horrible death on the streets, and that they can solve that problem with killing all of those “unwanted” animals or “unadoptable” animals

The Daily Beast has something to say about PETA. In one of their articles they stated “The organization (PETA) has practiced euthanasia for years. Since 1998 PETA has killed more than 17,000 animals, nearly 85 percent of all those it has rescued.” PETA’s reason for so many animals killed is because of overpopulation. But some people have said that overpopulation is just a myth. They think that they can find a home for all of the healthy animals that they have been killing. Since that being said, there have been some improvements around the country but no one has yet achieved the no-kill rate of 0. In case PETA’s position on euthanasia hasn’t been clear at all, here it is. “Every day in the United States, tens of thousands of puppies and kittens are born. Compare this to the nearly 11,000 human births each day, and it’s clear that there can never be enough homes for all these animals. Shelters are stuck with the heartrending job of dealing with animals nobody wants. Those who refuse to spay and neuter their animals, who abandon animals when they grow tired of them, and who patronize pet shops instead of adopting stray or shelter animals make euthanasia a tragic necessity.” They call their animals “animals that nobody wants”. There has got to be people out there that want a unique kitten with no tail or a dog that stands out in the crowd with 3 legs. PETA just doesn’t give the animals enough time to live.

PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) is a no-kill shelter and they have plenty of shelters all around Philly that are clean and roomy, but not empty. Their animals are all waiting for people to adopt them. They only use euthanasia when necessary. Which for them is when the animal is hopelessly sick and not treatable. PAWS include on their website an about them page and on that page they say “All of PAWS’ efforts are privately funded and are aimed at reducing the homeless pet population, keeping pets healthy, and ending the city’s use of euthanasia as a means of population control for healthy and treatable pets.” They want to end the use of euthanasia and also help keep the population of homeless animals down. To me, PAWS does it all. They have foster parents, spay and neuter clinics, many shelters and if the animals have been at the shelter for too long, they put them on a special page where is says URGENT and the people adopting can usually name their price on them. People adopting tend to pick the smallest ones and the younger ones so they have a page for the “senior citizens” of the animals and if someone 65+ wants to adopt an older animal they get to name their price. There are plenty of other no-kill shelters in Philly just look it up online.
To wrap it up I have some questions that I hope answer by my next blog post. I wonder if there are any specific goals in any states in the U.S. about euthanasia. How can we change the fate of these poor animals or what could we do to help? I hope that I have given you new information for the day and that it was to some extent information that you wanted! Thanks for reading and click here for my bibliography.

You And The World Blog 1: LGBT Equality

Posted by Morgan Caswell in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:01 pm

Hi, I’m Morgan Caswell-Warnick and I’m a freshman here at Science Leadership Academy. As part of the freshman English curriculum, we have the opportunity to go out and make a difference in the world we live in. We chose an issue we’re passionate about, research about, and then we go out and do something about it. I have chosen my issue to be LGBT rights. This has been an issue I have been passionate about for a long time and I finally am going to make a change. This issue is important to me because I know people who have had this personally affect them and I don’t think anyone should have to be mistreated like that.
In the recent election, three states chose to make same-sex marriage legal, giving gay and lesbian couples the chance to be legally married. Maryland, Maine, and Minnesota all voted to get rid of the federal amendment that defines marriage as a civil union between a man and a woman. Instead, they chose to define it as a civil union between two people. In turn, North Carolina voted and kept that amendment. Gay marriage is legal in 11 states in the US: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, and Washington, D.C.
While same- sex marriage isn’t legal in all states, some states recognize a civil unions or domestic partnerships. A civil union is similar to a marriage, but it is between two people of the same sex. The rights granted by it are similar to those of a marriages. A domestic partnership is different. A domestic partnership is not similar to marriage and you are not granted any rights similar to those of marriage. A domestic partnership is a sexual relationship between two people who live together and have a long-term relationship. The states the recognize civil unions are domestic partnership are Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island. The states to recognize a domestic partnership.
This is an issue that is going to continue to happen and change. With different states legalizing same-sex marriage, this is something that will evolve. And so as this keeps evolving, keep informed about it.

You and the World Blog#1:Animal Abuse and Neglect

Posted by Lauren Hummel in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 11:58 am

This is the beginning of my ‘You and the World’ project for English class. ‘You and the World’ is a project that will help my classmates and I address an issue that we are interested in that is going on in the world and try to help solve the problem or at least try to be part of the solution by volunteering or raising awareness. Throughout the last three quarters of the school year, three blogs will be created and posted to our Science Leadership blogs and they will each contain information and our progress on the project. By the time we get to the last post, we will have done our volunteering or raised our awareness and put information from what we did into that last post. I chose to address the issue of animal abuse and neglect.

I chose the topic of animal abuse and neglect for multiple reasons. For one, I am a strong animal lover and for a great majority of my life have had a dog that was rescued from a shelter. I also think that animals do not deserve to be beaten and treated the way that they are in some cases. Animals are living and breathing things just like us and they have feelings too so it is not fair for them to have to suffer. The only things most animals need is food, water, a place to sleep and most of all, love. It is not fair that some animals are denied that essential thing.

The true definition of animal neglect according to the HumaneSociety of the United states is "not giving an animal the right food, water, shelter or vet care.” As I stated before, these are essential things all animals needs to survive. If the simple things listed are not supplied, the animals will most likely die and the excruciating pain they go through would be almost equivalent to the pain of animals that are abused or harmed on purpose. It has also been stated by the ‘Humane Society of the United States’ that people that have some sort of emotional problems have a tendency to beat, shoot, stab animals or even set them on fire and the people who do this are likely to do the same types of things to people. Neglect and abandonment is the most common form of animal cruelty and neglect causes animals to be extremely unhealthy in size and weight as shown in this Neglect PDF.

Animal neglect and the different stages of body condition

http://www.pet-abuse.com/media/pdfs/body_conditioning.pdf

According to statisticbrain.com there are a total of 5,000 animal shelters in America and about 5 million companion animals enter into one of them each year. Of the ones that enter the shelter, roughly 3.5 million of them are euthanized. Approximately 70 million homes across America own at least 1 companion animal, about 5 million of these animals go into shelters each year and 3.5 million animals in the shelter are euthanized. You do the math because any way you put it, too many animals are without homes or are being killed.

Chart of statistics of animals in shelters

http://www.statisticbrain.com/animal-shelter-statistics/

In recent news, ‘Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2’ the last movie of the best selling series by Stephanie Meyer, was recently released in theaters. In the after-party for the series final film, there were caged wolves meant to be for entertainment which raised a great speculation by PETA(people for the ethical treatment of animals). A spokeswoman for PETA questioned, “Didn’t it dawn on the ‘Twilight’ event organizers that real wolves do not belong at a party with blaring music and flashing lights?” This all happened after an actress in ‘Twilight,’ Christian Serratos, worked with PETA on a ad promoting people to go vegetarian and Kellan Lutz with an ad to adopt animals, not buy them and countless other ‘Twilight’ actors and actresses ads for PETA. This contradicts what ‘Twilight’ has been really trying to support alongside PETA to love animals and treat them with love and respect. Hopefully, they can regain their ground and get their good word back with PETA.

Kellan Lutz with his adopted dog Kola to ‘Adopt, Don’t Buy’ pets for PETA.

KellanLutzw/Kola:AdoptDon’tBuy

B. Christian Serratos posing for an ad to go vegetarian for PETA.

ChristianSerratos:GoVegetarian

C. Robert Pattinson and Kristin Stewart on a walk with their adopted dog, Bear.

Robert&Kristinw/Bear

There are still many aspects of animal neglect that I want to look into and get more research on. Things like where animal abuse is most common and possibly why people think it is so common there. I am also wondering what people can do directly to help these animals besides donate and adopt because some people are not economically able to donate and others are allergic or lack the space and as a result can not adopt. As I get deeper into this project, I hope to learn the different reasons that people have for hurting their companions.I also hope to really help to make a difference in the lives of some of the affected animals through the service part of this ‘You and the World’ project. Too many animals are being hurt and killed for too may silly reasons. Join me in my efforts to help these animals live a better life.

Click here for my bibliography.

Why Abortion is Wrong - Blog 1

Posted by Andrew Roberts in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 11:54 am

Hello, my name is Andrew Roberts and I am a freshman at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA. For my English class we were asked to pick a subject that we cared about, and write three blogs about it, of which this is the first. I chose abortion, the Pro-Life side of this issue. I have always cared about human life and believe that “A person is a person, no matter how small.” (Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who), or how young. A baby inside the womb has unique DNA and therefore is not a part of the woman’s body, and therefore she cannot decide for it.
At 5 weeks, a baby’s heart starts beating, and its neural system and brain begin to form. At 10 weeks, its fingers and toes have fully formed, and are clearly distinguishable. This small person has so many characteristics of a normal person, yet the law does not classify it as such and allows one to take its life at will.

Not only is abortion immoral, the methods of killing the baby inside the womb are simply barbaric! The most common method, Suction Cutterage, is described by PregnantPause.org below:

The abortion dilates the woman's cervix and inserts a tube with a sharp edge on the tip. The other end of the tube is connected to a suction device, similar to a home vacuum cleaner but much more powerful. Between the sharp edge and the force of the suction, the developing baby is torn apart and the pieces sucked out through the tube.

This method is usually used for first-trimester abortions.

The baby, this living, growing person, is ripped apart, with no mercy, into pieces, cutting off its life prematurely.
Abortion was originally legalized in 1973, after the controversial case of Roe v. Wade. Since then, over 53 million abortions have been performed, about one sixth of the current U.S. population. This amounts to about 1.25 million abortions in the U.S. every year, and over 3,000 a day, as many people as were killed in the 9/11 attacks! We have killed so many people, and will continue to do so if the law is not changed. One may say, however, that more people is not a good thing. There would be more hunger, more homeless, more without work. But what if one of those 53 million people would have solved world hunger? What if one of them would have created a huge corporation, employing millions? By killing our unborn, we are killing our future.
But what if a woman is raped? She should not have to carry and pay for this person that she does not want! But it is still a living, breathing, human being that you are unmercilessly murdering. And even so, The Guttmacher Institute (the research branch of Planned Parenthood) reports that less than 1% of abortions are performed because of rape or incest. Only 3% are done to protect the life of the mother. And an astounding 86% are performed out of convenience!
Not only does abortion have its faults, Planned Parenthood does also. They specifically target the poor, as 72% of abortions are performed on women below the federal poverty level. The founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, once said: “The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.” Planned Parenthood not only encourages the murder of millions, but benefits and even prospers from it.

A baby at 5 weeks.

Be sure to watch for my next post!

Facts About Abortion

19 Facts About Abortion In America That Should Make You Very Sick

Abortion Facts

“Why I am Pro-Life” by Brett Kunkle

Bibliography