Alternative Energy

by Nikki

Alternate Energy is power, electric, energy dissipated in an electrical or electronic circuit or device per unit of time. The electrical energy supplied by a current to an appliance enables it to do work or provide some other form of energy such as light or heat. Electric power is usually measured in Watts, kilowatts (1,000 watts), and megawatts (1,000,000 watts). The amount of electrical energy used by an appliance is found by multiplying its consumed power by the length of time of operation. The units of electrical energy are usually watt-seconds (joules), watt-hours, or kilowatt-hours. For commercial purposes the kilowatt-hour is the unit of choice.

Scientists are always looking for alternatives to fossil fuels for our energy needs. Some alternatives have been found, but so far there is nothing as efficient and easy to use as fossil fuels.

Solar energy is energy produced by the sun. The
advantages of solar energy are that it is a
renewable resource, it is free and is nonpolluting.
However, there is no practical method of collecting
the sun’s energy.

Geothermal energy is energy produced from the heat
of the earth’s interior. Geothermal energy is also
free and nonpolluting. However, there are only
a few places where heat from the earth’s hot interior
comes close enough to the earth’s surface to be used
for energy.

Nuclear energy produces heat by splitting atoms.
However, this process produces radioactive waste.
Disposal of this radioactive waste is the major
problem with nuclear energy.

Wind and water can also be sources of energy. Wind
has been used for centuries to sail ships, pump water
and cut wood at sawmills. Falling water has also long
been used to spin turbines to produce energy.

Oil shale is a very fine-grained sedimentary rock that
contains enough organic matter to yield a significant
amount of oil. Although there is a large supply of oil
shale that could be recovered, it is more expensive to
produce than fossil fuels. Additionally, large amounts
of water are required to produce this fuel.

How to Combat a Bully

by Grace

First of all the word combat means to fight off. (That doesn’t mean fight back.) Now, how to combat a bully. When you combat a bully, you should use shut downs such as: stop, that’s mean, that’s not cool, and that makes you look bad. You should also say like…I don’t like it when.(Example: I don’t like it when you call me mean names. Just stop.) Also, try to ignore them.(They may not work for some people.) Try to compromise. An example would be, If you stop hitting me , I wont tell on you anymore.
One thing you may not want to do is, do exactly what the bully is doing to you. Like, calling you mean names, hitting/kicking you, or annoying you on purpose. Try to be kind.
There are other ways to combat a bully. One way is to let a teacher or staff member know. BUT, if it happens more than once, TELL THE SAME TEACHER OR STAFF MEMBER! If you don’t tell the same teacher or staff member, that person will think it only happened once.(Which wouldn’t be true.) Another way would be, just walk away, and turn your back to the bully. That will let the bully know that you’re not enjoying that, and that they should stop whatever it was they were doing. Also you can solve the conflict by yourselves. But, if you can’t solve the conflict by your selves don’t be embarrassed, because it is a bully! They can be stubborn, or hard to work with sometimes (don’t worry it happens). Try to treat people the way you want to be treated, even though you should NEVER treat people unkindly.
So, I think you all know now how to combat a bully. Try to keep the world a kind place!!

Louis Braille

by Morgan

Louis Braille lived in Coupvray, France. When he was 3 he was playing with an awl, a sharp pointed tool. The awl slipped and hit him in the eye. Later it got infected. After that, the infection spread into his other eye. When he was 10 he went to the Royal Institute of Blind Youth in Paris. At the institute, he learned arithmetic, grammar, geography, history and music. Louis liked to read but the only books they had were in raised print which was really hard to read. In 1821, when Louis was 12 years old, Captain Charles Barbier came to the Institute. Captain Barbier had created a way for his soldiers to write notes to each other in the dark. This was called night writing and used patterns of dots that stood for sounds. This is how Louis first got the idea to use dots to help the blind to read. Louis worked with night writing for 3 years but it was too difficult because there are so many sounds in the French language. Then he came up with the idea to have patterns of dots stand for letters instead of sounds. This would be much easier because there are only 26 letters. Louis had invented the Braille alphabet. He was just 15 years old.

It took many years for the Braille alphabet to be accepted. It first began to be recognized in 1844 when it was demonstrated at the grand opening of the Institute’s new building. Louis was 35 years old when this happened but he was very sick. He had tuberculosis, a bad lung disease. Louis Braille died on January 6, 1852. Not one newspaper in Paris printed the story of his death.