The National Geographic BEE - 2019 Thompson Brook School Championship

     

Not quite sure as a 5th Grader this year - when the flyer came early January, I asked my chance to my teacher Mrs. Dully, if I can be nominated to participate in the National Geography BEE contest of my school. She immediately put me to the list and asked my parents for permission. My love for Social Studies is known to them and so it wasn't a big deal getting the nod and I received lots of encouragement from my father, who ensured he personally took time off his office to be my side (once even with Alysha, who was bored and hungry after 3 of 7 rounds!). He shared with me his love for Geography and his passion for Quiz from his very early days in school. Although not much time to prepare, he inspired me to enjoy the week (after I crossed the Prelims) and went thru vast majority of World features, Countries, Capitals and their Currencies. Funny that many changes happened from his days in school - no more USSR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and no more Deutsche Mark or French Franc, but otherwise he has a load of info in his old head!!!          

The Prelims Round to select the Top 10 

Okay, introduction done, the Prelims round was held after school on 15th January simultaneously in two places (Gym and Cafe) between 47 TBS 5th and 6th graders attempting for a top 10 spot for School Championship. I answered correctly all of my 7 rounds questions as below:

Q: Which state doesn’t touch the Gulf of Mexico – Florida or South Carolina? 

Q: The Ohio River borders which of this states Indiana or South Dakota? 

Q: Which endangered species is on the brink of extinction off the coast of California due to illegal gillnet fishery for the Totoaba?

Q: River Danube flows thru four national capitals, more than any river in the world, is in which continent? 

Q: About a third of European Countries drain to Black Sea, which one the following is not one of them - Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece?

Q: Which country north of Belgium is the largest producer of flowers in the world?

Q: River Rhine flows thru Frankfurt, situated in which Country?

I was one among 10 School finalist and was given the opportunity to contest for the School Championship event held in front of the entire school on 23rd January. 

I was quite nervous at the final rounds when only 1st and 2nd place contestant remained. me being one. I answered first of two answers incorrect in the final round of 3 questions but the last and the only correct answer made me the 'SCHOOL CHAMPION'.

I was asked the following questions on my way to securing the TBS 1st Place Medal.    

The School Championship Finalist 10 contestants

Round 1 - State Savvy: Annapolis is capital of which state that borders the Chesapeake Bay? 

Round 2 - US Road Trip: 'The Blue Ridge Mountains' in North Carolina are a segment of which Mountain Range? 

Round 3 - Discover National Parks: 'Lake Turkana' and 'Lake Bogoria' are part of the 'Great Rift Valley' in which continent?

Round 4 - Weird But True: Chihuahua and Sonora are states in which Country?

Round 5 - Geo Extremes: 'The Tsukji Market', the largest seafood market in the city of Tokyo is in which country? 

Round 6 - Odd One Out : The ‘Great European Low Lands’ stretches in the West from France coast to which country? 

Round 7 - Awesome Adventures: 'The Alpine Ski World Cup' that’s starts on Feb 2019 in which   country that has the highest population in Scandinavia?

Visual Aid Question: Map Based Question on Paper, to workout a best possible place for a self-sustainable garden for a fictional city called Geoville.

Final Elimination Round – 1st and 2nd Spot (3 Questions)

Q: Kampala, a settlement of Lake Victoria one of the African Great Lakes is the capital of which African Country? - Got this one wrong answered as Congo 

Q: ‘St. Mary’s River’ is an inlet of which Lake situated in the state of Michigan? - Incorrectly attempted as Lake Michigan 

All 10 TBS Finalist posing with certificate with our principal Mr. Duffy

And the next one worked out as correct and my luckiest answer in the contest : 

Q: Darien National Park is one of the few nations parks where native humans still inhabit and is known for studies on Human and Jaguar interactions. This world heritage site is the largest national park of which Central American Country?

The 1st Place Recognition by National Geographic Society 

Being the School Champion, I was selected to represent my school and attempt the Online Qualifying Test proctored by our Principal Mr. Duffy by February 1st deadline. The 70 questions in the State Qualifying Test will determine who attends the Connecticut State Bee on March 29th. 
One of the 70 Question during Online Qualifying Test was:

Q: In which country is 26% of its population, more than any other country, age 65 or older? 





The results will be out on March 4th and will decide if I'm lucky enough to contest with 100 Connecticut School Champion kids from 4th - 8th Grades. It's going to be very difficult, but I'll give my best shot. My Dad says, age is on my side and I've 4 more years to participate - so take it lightly. 

Do, Wish me luck!!!

DIVE! World War II Stories of Sailors & Submarines in the Pacific

   
      This book is about the real stories of submarine warfare in the Pacific after the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

 After the attack US entered the war with only 44 submarines, some dating back to 1920s. With most of the ships destroyed by Japs at Pearl Harbor the US depended on the heroic submariners to stop the Japanese invasion into the Pacific! The book includes detailed highlight of submarine life, our unsung African American and the Female heroes of the Pacific. It also provides a first person account and photographs to bring the dangers and the bravery in these submariners to life.

General Information -
Author: Deborah Hopkinson
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: September 27, 2016
Genre: Non Fiction
Type: History
Pages: 384
Recommended age: 8-12 

'Loot', How to Steal a Fortune

Protagonist: March McQuinn

Setting: Amsterdam, New York, and San Francisco

Plot Overview: 12 year old March McQuinn son of a notorious Jewelry thief witnesses sudden death of his father, Alfred McQuinn, after seeing him fall off the roof of a high rise. The dying cat burglar manages to say 2 last words, "Find Jewels". After being Stunned by his father's sudden death he flees away from the scene as he hears the sirens. Left with his father's last words, he manages to figure out the clues, he has a twin sister named Jules! But before they know it they are whisked of to a corrupt group house where they meet two other teenagers named Izzy and Darius. At their father's funeral they meet, Carlotta Grimstone a victim of one Alfie's Jewel heists. Carlotta wants her 7 precious moonstones with crude magic back before the next blue moon which is not that far away. And she is willing to pay a hefty price. Soon they learn why Alfie kept them apart. It was a terrible prophecy. They also realized a another thief is on the trail-Oscar Ford, one of his dad's college who also wants the money. The stakes are high but will they get the prize or will they lose the 10 million dollar bounty?

BOOK DETAILS:

Author: Jude Watson

Genre: Fiction

Book type: Action, Adventure, and Mystery

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication date: May 26, 2015

Recommended age(s): 8-12
Number of pages: 272
Awards: 2019 Nutmeg

Human Body Theater

The Human body theater is a unique Graphic Novel about the human body. As the title suggests the book is shown as a theater with all the 12 major systems of the body. Each chapter is like an act of one different system. 

The systems or chapters it covers in the book are-

1. Act One The Skeletal System
2. Act Two The Muscular System
3. Act Three The Respiratory System
4. Act Four The Cardiovascular System
5. Act Five The Digestive System
6. Act Six The Excretory System
7. Act Seven The Endocrine System
8. Act Eight The Reproductive System
9. Act Nine The Immune System
10. Act Ten The Nervous System
11. Act Eleven Smell, Taste, Hearing, Sight, Touch

In the end There is also a Glossary and Bibliography and Recommended Reading. The book explains the systems in a humorous way with a human skeleton as your host. The book has a lot of interesting facts like- Did you that the entire endocrine system is controlled by a pea sized part of the brain called the pituitary gland. This is a great book to learn about the human body in a unique humorous way. 

General Information-
Author: Maris Wicks
Publisher: First Second 
Publication Date: October 6, 2015
Genre: Non Fiction
Type: Graphic Novel
Pages: 240
Recommended age: 10+ 

Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607

Protagonist: Samuel Collier

Setting: Jamestown 1607-1610

Plot Overview: Twelve-year-old orphan Samuel Collier is a lowly commoner on the streets of London. So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith he can't believe his luck. As the ships Susan Constant, the Discovery, and the

Godspeed set sail for the New World. Samuel and the men heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But, beginning with the stormy journey and their first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he imagined. There is no gold at all - only trees, Indians, seafood, and copper. The lush green Virginia shore where, they establish the colony of Jamestown is both beautiful and forbidding, and it’s hard to know who’s a friend or foe. As Samuel learns Algonquian, the language of the nearby Indians and observes Captain Smith’s wise diplomacy, he begins a new life in Jamestown.

BOOK DETAILS:

Author: Elisa Lynn Carbone

Genre: Historical Fiction

Book type: Juvenile Fiction

Publisher: Puffin Books

Publication date: Sept 20, 2007

Recommended age(s): 8 - 12

Number of pages: 237

Awards: None

My 2018 Scout Summer Camp

     Form August 5-10 I had my cub scout summer camp at Camp Workcoeman. I had to pack enough things for 6 days including bug spray, sunscreen, flashlights, extra batteries, clothes, extra clothes, ect. 

The Great New England Airshow 2018

     One afternoon, I learnt that I was going to The Great New England Air Show 2018 at the Westover Air Base. I have been to the airshow once before back in 2015, but I hardly remember anything about it. 

The patriotic Fastrax parachuting team performing

     My Dad let me bring my own SONY Cybershot DSC-H7 Digital Camera to enjoy the show and take pictures of the planes. All the pictures in this blog are clicked by me. Our drive to the air base was smooth except the parking. We had to park in a dusty ground filled with cars. Also, the walk to the place we were sitting (under a enormous plane wing) was far away but at least in shade. 

View from a static display cargo plane

When we got to the plane wing, I immediately went inside the plane and started clicking pictures. When I got out I sat down on lawn chairs and watched the airshow for some time until I started feeling hot, so I went to the mist sprayer. Then I went to take pictures of more static display war planes. 

The cargo zone

While I was coming back, I discovered the Air Force Reserve where there was a game booth, a photo booth, and free paintings. So I decided to stop by and play the games. Thanks to Xbox practice, I got a gold on all of the games.  Then I went back to tell my Dad about the pull-up bar challenge and photo booth. When he arrived there, he completed the challenge and pulled up for 90 secs and won a power-bank - impressive! Then we went to the photo booth and got two pictures. The funny thing was that my shirt looked green to the camera so it made my shirt the background. All one can see were my hands and my head. After that we had chicken sandwiches for lunch. My Mom made and took them for a picnic lunch.

Picture with USAF soldier

Mid-air refueling controls

Then, I went for a walk on my own to a large plane where I took a lot of photos of the cockpit, the cargo zone, the passenger seats and the mid-air refueling controls (as shown next).  I also got chance to click a few pics with USAF soldiers  (as shown above) and received a few hand painted warbirds memorabilia signed by veterans.
    

Thunderbirds parked that I clicked from the plane

When I came out I was just in time to see the star performers 'The Thunderbirds' which were extremely loud. On our way back home we stopped for a quick car wash to remove the dirt from the car.

Apple Camp- Coding with Sphero Robots

     My Mom signed me up for Apple Camp this summer vacation. The 3 day session I attended was 'Coding with Sphero Robot'. At Apple Camp, I had a great time but also learned many coding related things like functions, conditions and many more! Now let's get to know what I did.


What's a Sphero Robot? Find more the details here:  https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HK8S2ZM/B/sphero-sprk-robot 

Session 1

     Before Session 1 commenced, I received my t-shirt and bracelet/flash drive (shown on the right). Then we started to hear the ground rules - the first one itself was the 'Ground Rule'. It basically said that the Spheros should stay on the ground. After that we teamed up into pairs and started free driving the Spheros. Next we got a bit more complicated and started block coding the Spheros to go in a square. With that we made it into a function which basically you have to define with code and name it. Then you can use that Function many times without having to write it all over again and again.

Session 2

     Session 2 was fun because we broke the ground rule and tossed the Spheros in the air in a game called animal toss. The game's code says that when the excels 3gs to make a random animal noise. Then you have to guess the animal noise. If you get it wrong you need to act out the animal and then sit out. After that we learnt about if-then and if-then-else statements. A simple example of an if-then-else statement is if hungry then eat a sandwich else don't eat a sandwich. 

Session 3

In our last session we combined with another Sphero group to make Sphero stories. We teamed up again and started storyboarding our Ideas down with an Apple Pen. Then my team and another team teamed up to make a police chase. There was 40 different pre-made functions we could use to make the story. It didn't turn out well, but it was good for a story being made in 40 minutes. Lastly we all got a certificate of attendance.    

You can also sign up for Apple Camp for free at your nearest apple store just click the link below to sign up. The slots get filled-up quickly, so you know. https://www.apple.com/today/camp/

The Three Types of US Governments

Local Government

     Local governments control towns or cities. In local governments the mayor is usually in charge but sometimes a city manager takes the job. A city manager is chosen by the city council because they think he or she would do a good job. If he or she doesn't do good it is easy to fire them. If there is a mayor it is harder to fire him or her because the citizens elected him. Did you know, that the government of New York is in charge of 8 million people! Pretty big responsibility, huh!!!  

State Government

     The state governments control the state. In this kind of government the Governor is in charge but he doesn't make the laws, the state legislature does that. The governor just approves the laws or vetoes ('veto' means not approved) them. Most of the state legislatures are bicameral meaning they have 2 houses (for the senate and the house of representatives) but Nebraska's state legislature is unicameral meaning it has 1 house. Nebraska is the only unicameral state in the US. The Government decides the speed limits for the roads, the state school standards, and gives out  all sorts of licences like marriage licences, doctor licences ect. Another part of the government is the state court where the jury decides if someone has broken the law.

Federal Government

Checks and Balances

     The federal government controls the US. This government has 3 branches and no one is incharge. They can all check each other and so the power is balanced. This is called Checks and Balances. The 3 branches are the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. 

The Executive Branch

The Executive Branch consists of the President and the Cabinet. The cabinet is made out of the Vice President and the head of 15 executive departments. The President chooses the cabinet and Congress approves the choices. The President also appoints the Supreme Court justices, and the Congress approves those choices. The President can veto bills (laws) made by congress. 

The Legislative Branch

The Legislative Branch (Congress) consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Congress makes all the laws and it also can declare war. Congress has the power to override a veto on a bill if 2/3 of Congress vote the law to pass the law passes. 

The Judicial Branch

The Judicial Branch consists of the Supreme Court. It is the highest federal court in the US and no other court may overturn its decision. It is also the largest balance to the Executive and Legislative Branch. The Supreme Court can declare laws unconstitutional and stop them from being passed. It can also declare presidential acts unconstitutional and then the president has to stop.

So this is my knowledge on the forms of US Governments.  

My Camping Trip to the Prospect Mountains

On the weekend of 4th of July, I went camping for 3 nights with 4 friends of mine.

Preparation

     The preparation included a lot of shopping. We had to buy camping forks, a rolling trunk, and a few grills for barbeque. I helped Mom make a google sheet to organize the things we were bringing. My Dad told me there were a wide variety of activities to keep us busy in addition to the board games we were bringing. He also told me that there was a playground and a swimming pool. Each night and chilly morning we had campfire and the best part is that me and my friends got to make it. The last thing we did before we left for the camp was we packing. We had to pack enough clothes and materials to last us 3 days including few extras. I packed newspapers, collected dryer lints, and toilet paper tubes for the fire starters. You may be getting bored by now so now I'll tell you about what exciting stuffs we did at Camp.

Day 1   

     We arrived at our campground at around 6:30 PM. When I saw the firepit I was a bit disappointed because it was so small. On the bright side we had 2 firepits. I also checked out the cabins - there were two bunk beds and one larger bed per cabin. When we started the fire I brought out a few pieces of newspaper. When I put some newspaper in the fire the flames went up higher for some time and then slowly came back down. In the night we started playing a board game (Yes! the name of the game is 'The Board Game'). 



But we couldn't finish it. Then it was time for bed. All the boys slept in the tent my Dad put outside the Cabins. The Camp Manger paid us a visit reminding of quite time from 11 PM. I couldn't sleep well that night as two kids were first time in tent and kept on talking until I finally fell asleep.

Day 2

     I was the first kid to wake up (mostly because my Mom woke me up and Camping is not for sleeping late!!) Then we started the fire. It went horribly. The wood wasn't catching on fire, we had to use a lot of instant flame oil, and newspaper. 

When that challenge was over we went to the park to play. I learned how to play volleyball there. Then we played basketball, I scored a few hoops. Then we did 'Tie-Dye'. My Mom told me to use dark colors because light ones did not come out good. Then we went to the air conditioned game room to play. There was a Foosball table, a Ping-Pong table, an Air Hockey table and some board games. While Moms played Ping-Pong the Dads enjoyed the FIFA match which English side won over Sweden 2-0. When we came back we had lunch and then started playing 'The Board Game' again but we couldn't finish it yet again! Then we went swimming but before we could get in a lifeguard shouted, "A child has thrown-up in the pool. All the physical waste is out of the pool but, we need to test the water. It will be done in 1 hour but you can only come after 2 hours because when we are done checking the chemicals it is time for adult swim". So we went back to our campsite and started the fires for the grill. Me and Dad's friend made one of the fires and my Dad and his another friend made the other one. My fire grilled the Veggies and Paneer and my Dad's fire grilled the Chicken. Then we ate dinner and played 'The Board Game' and this time luckily we finished it. Some one brought up the marshmallows and corn to roast. We ate that and went to bed. That night I slept well.

Day 3 

     I was the first to wake up (the birds woke me up this morning with their chirping). When the others woke up it was tad late, so we didn't make a fire but instead we went on a hike, we choose the Redwood Trail (about a mile hike of moderate pace). We ended up at the Pond that had the Paddle boats. A sign said to call the office to use the boats. The guy on the phone said to come back after a few hours as Monday wasn't on their schedule. So we went back to our campsite and had lunch. The Dads watched India vs England T20 match on their iPhone while helping Moms get the lunch ready. Kids played a few turns of badminton while Moms were

talking, soon it was time to to go back to the paddle boats to ride them. When we were done using them I was so tired! Yet we all went to the game room to play. We came back after a couple hours and it was time for the last dinner and fire. The fire used the last of the crate of woods and newspaper. Before we left we killed the fire by pouring water on it. We came back home little before midnight. It was so much fun! 

 I'm now more excited for my weeklong Scout Summer Camping Trip that starts in August!!!