My Rocket Launch

 Today is 'Earth Day' - And yes, also my final year for the Cub scout rocket launch. We the final year cub scouts, called the Webelos (Acronym for We'll Be Loyal Scouts), have the most difficult rocket to build and fly- a 2-stage engine rocket called Loadstar II!

How I Built It?

But before I tell you how the launch went, I've to share with you how I built it (with my Dad's help). First we put the engine storage inside the cardboard tubes. Then we drew lines on the cardboard tube to show where the fins and the launch lug goes. After that we glued the fins with super glue. Unfortunately it got on our hands*. Then we glued the launch lugs to the cardboard tube. 

A couple days later when all the glue was rock solid, I spray painted the rocket. We had to paint a first coat (called primer) let it dry and sand it with sandpaper and apply second coat of brown color. About two days later I put decals on the rocket for decoration.

           

How It Works?

Now I'll tell you how it works. First the booster stage (the bottom part) gets ignited and the rocket flies high and eventually ignites the secondary stage (the upper part). Then the flame from the secondary stage pops the booster stage off and the booster stage falls to the ground. And after that the air pressure in the rocket gets higher and higher eventually making the nose cone pop off to which releases the parachute and it gently glides down.
     

How It Flies?

Now for the exciting launch! In the vast open fields of Fishers Meadows we launched the rockets (5 rockets at a time on a battery powered launch pad). All the rockets go thrice if they have time. My first time with single stage engine went horribly. The parachute didn't deploy clean and due to that one of the fins dismantled on impact with ground. We had to super glue the fin back to the rocket on the field. Here's the video of the first launch.

The 2nd time was the best (one of the best for the 2-Stage Engines that Webelos scouts built from scratch). The rocket flew straight off the field. With lots of Wows!!!   

      

* in order to get super glue off hands rub with oil until it peels off. the longer you don't use oil the longer it take for the oil to peel the super glue off. 

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

Protagonists: Prof. Aronnax

Other characters: Captain Nemo (Prince Dakkar, son of an Indian Rajah) ,Ned, and Conseil

SETTING: 20,000 Leagues (60,000 nautical miles) around almost all of the world’s oceans.

Original Book Cover

OVERVIEW: The adventure begins when Prof. Aronnax a marine biologist, Ned a Canadian harpooner and Conseil serves his master Prof. Aronnax get called to the Abraham Lincoln in New York to track down a creature that Prof. Aronnax thinks is a giant Narwhal, but boy is he wrong! After 3 days at sea they get attacked by what Prof. Aronnax calls a Narwhal. He gets thrown off board and Conseil jumps in the water to save him. After many hours of floating they found Ned who hauls them on to the Narwhal which is made of sheet iron. Some mysterious people capture them inside the so called Narwhal and offer them a delicious meal. The next morning Prof. Aronnax meets the ship’s mysterious captain, Captain Nemo  who says that they may not exit the submarine. Nemo meant ‘No One’ - he clearly wanted to keep his identity a secret. He also learns that the ship’s name is the Nautilus. On the whirlwind of an adventure they go hunting underwater, they save an Indian pearl diver, went through a underwater tunnel that links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, see the lost city Atlantis, journey to the South Pole, and battle a giant squid. Prof. Aronnax, Ned, and Conseil finally escape the submarine in a *Maelstrom in Norway.                     

    

MY RECOMMENDATION: I loved this book because of the author’s vivid imagination. Verne was thinking way ahead of his time. The most leagues a ship had sailed in his time was only 80 leagues, which is way smaller than 20,000 leagues. And even now submarines can’t dive as far a the Nautilus which is 5,200 feet.   

BOOK DETAILS:

Author: Jules Verne

Original title: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers

Original language: French  

Genre: Fiction

Book type: Science Fiction

Publication date: 1870 (original one)

English publication date: 1872

Publisher's recommended age(s): 9+

Number of pages: 413

Publisher: Pierre-Jules Hetzel (original)  

*A Maelstrom is a powerful circular current that occurs off the northern coast of Norway. Ships can get into serious trouble if they run into this Whirlpool.  

Superlative Trees

Pando the Quaking Aspen - Populus tremuloides

Who is Pando? Well, he is a Quaking Aspen and is the oldest living organism because its root system is over 80,000 years old! It covers 43 hectares (106 acres). And it weighs 6,000 metric tons. It is a single male Quaking Aspen.

The Blue Whale is so small compared to Pando.

Hyperion the Coastal Redwood -Sequoia sempervirens

Hyperion is the tallest tree. It measures 115.92 meters or 380.3 feet. It was discovered by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. It is estimated to be 600 years old.

General Sherman the Giant Sequoia- Sequoiadendron giganteum

General Sherman is the largest tree when width, lifespan, and height is considered. It is found in Sequoia national forest.

Great Basin bristlecone pine -Pinus longaeva

This tree is so old it could have been born before Jesus Christ! It is the oldest non clonal organism that we know. Its age is 5,067 years old. And it is one of Nevada’s state trees.

Wild fig tree

 

A wild fig tree growing at Echo Caves near Ohrigstad, South Africa has roots going 121.92 m (400 ft) deep, giving it the deepest roots known of any tree.

Smallest

As well as the smallest trees are, Dwarf Willow or Salix herbacea is known to be smallest trees of the world. It belongs to a willow family. Its height is 1 to 6 cm that reaches at 3 inches in diameter. It has a shiny green leaves.

That is a tree

Where The Mountain Meets The Moon

Protagonist: Minli, a young girl

SETTING: Milni lived in a poor village that was a shade of brown in a corner of where the Jade River and the Fruitless Mountain met. 

PLOT OVERVIEW: Minli buys a goldfish which she later releases because her Ma and Ba can’t care for it. The goldfish started talking to Minli and told, if people cared to listen to goldfish they can hear them talk. Before swimming away it gave Minli instructions on how to reach ‘The Old Man of The Moon’. Minli remembered him from her Ba’s story as a wise man who knows everyone’s fortune. So she sets out to find her fortune to help her family and impoverished village. Their village didn’t get any rain for many years due to the rain bearing immortal Jade Dragon feeling dishonored overhearing some villager conversation about too much rain. On her way she saves and befriends a trapped Dragon who can’t fly. On her adventurous journey she meets the helpful buffalo boy, selfish monkeys, the king, a poisonous Green Tiger, and the twins Da-Fu and A-Fu who helped her kill the tiger.

Finally, Minli goes to meet ‘The Old Man of The Moon’ who says she can only ask one question! She asks the one right question. The story concludes when Minli returns to her village with a large fortune and the rains.         

MY RECOMMENDATION: The Moral of the book is Minli realizing that fortune is more than money and riches. It is friendship and love. I loved the book for the author's wonderful message.

BOOK DETAILS:

Author: Grace Lin

Genre: Fantasy

Book type: Fantasy

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Publication date: 2009

Recommended age(s): 8 - 12

Number of pages: 280

Award: Newbery Medal and Honors 

The ​American Revolution Preview

The American Revolution Timeline (1750 - 1783)

<----------------10 Years-------------->   

~Low Taxes

~Not meant to raise money

~Avoidable for Colonist

                                                                                                                             Battles of Lexington

                                                                                                                               and Concord                                               

           Happy                                        *More Tax              *Townshend Act                   Revolutionary            Surrender of

           Colonist                                      *10K Soldiers          *Stamp Act                           War Starts                  Yorktown

            1750                                           1760                        1765                                    1775                           1781

<---------|---------------|---------------|-------------|------|-------------------|--------|-----|----------------|-------|----------->

                                   1754                                      1764                                  1773                   1776                          1783

                                French                                     *Sugar Act                        Boston                  Siege of Boston         End of

                                Indian War                                                                       Tea Party             Declaration of             War 

                                                                                                                                              Independence 


If you want more facts about the American Revolution click the T.U.S.S Project link below:

T.U.S.S Project