Affirmative action, both voluntary and court ordered, has historically helped women and other minorities obtain education, financial aid and jobs in the field of Science. This field became more difficult to get into for women after the scientific revolution of the late 1500s. Women were not allowed to attend universities, and scientific societies were closed to them. Affirmative action opened these doors for women and other minorities. Although still providing opportunities today, affirmative action allows people to treat women and minorities with less respect. Some people believe that women hold their current positions only because of affirmative action and not because of their own achievements. I believe we should still have voluntary affirmative action but that court ordered affirmative action is no longer as necessary today. I also feel that without affirmative action, women and minorities will get more respect for their achievements in the field of science. Please post your opinions on this subject .

I'm studying biology and this is the first report I had to write. 

CARL LINNAEUS

     Carl Linnaeus was the father of taxonomy, the science of classification.  He is famous for creating a system of classification still in some use today.  He did not invent binomial nomenclature, but was the first to use it consistently.  He classified all things into three kingdoms: animal, plant, and mineral.  Some of his classifications like the racial division of humans have been proven to be wrong.  His racial classifications helped fuel slavery and exploitation of all non-European races.  He got in trouble with the Lutheran Church because he said that humans and chimpanzees were both primates.

     Carl von Linne was born in Sweden in 1707. His father was a minister and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.  The local doctor recognized the boy's interest in plants and encouraged medical school.  While in medical school he was in charge of the garden and began his insect collection.  He took notes nad drew pictures of all the plants he knew. These notes were the basis of his first book which was published in Latin.  This is how he became known as Carl Linnaeus.

     In 1732, the Royal Society of Science gave Linnaeus $50 to study the arctic plants of Lapland. He walked nearly 1000 miles in 5 months while describing and classifying the plants and animals.  He also wrote detailed and interesting travel journals.   He returned to the Netherlands where he finished his medical degree in 1735.  He returned to Sweden and became a professor of medicine and became a professor of botany in 1742.  He was knighted in 1761 by the Swedish government.  His book, Systema Naturea, was first published in 1735.  It was only 11 pages.  By 1758, it had 4400 species of animals and 7700 species of plants.

     Linnaeus' picture is on current Swedish money.  He was one of the founders of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences.  He was the lfirst to use the male and female symbols still used today.

-Joiwyn

The Treasure Island Blurb by Joiwyn Lewis

Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish author who wrote the book Treasure island also known as The Sea Cook. The book was published in 1883 and set near Bristol, England in 1761. The battle of Fontenoy took place before the time period of the book and the American Revolution took place after the time period. William Kidd, Blackbeard and Edward England were real life pirates mentioned in the book. When it was first published in Young Folks magazine, it failed to attract attention, but when sold as a book it became very popular. It is still enjoyed to this day. It was also made into many motion pictures, from puppets in muppets Treasure Island,to animated films such as Treasure Planet.

-Joey 

Please post more comments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't like to write very much so my sister decided to be my writing teacher.  She lives pretty far away, so she e-mails me everyday with a new assignment.  This week was all about Haikus. Haikus are a form of Japanese poetry.  My assignment for this weekend was to pick my favorite Haiku that I wrote this week, revise it and post it on my blog.  Here it is.

Fires burning brightly

Mid-summer has come and past

Flowers smelling nice

Haikus originally only had seventeen syllables.  The first and third lines have five and the middle line has seven.  They were also originally based on one of the four seasons.  As you can see, mine is based on summer.

Sincerely,

Joiwyn

I'm a girlscout and  I'm doing my Bronze award this year. I'm having a food drive for my local foodbank. I'm makin fliers and planning the entire thing. I had to talk to the foodbank and I have to talk to the grocery stores. I'm going to ask my fellow girlscouts to help me distribute the fliers around town. I'm going to put a huge bin outside the grocery store. Then I'm going to spend a day at the grocery store and collect food for the foodbank.  

My sister Sara had her baby Sunday Febuary 5th at 11:44 pm. That is also my Grandmothers Birthday. The baby weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces. She is the cutest baby ever! I really mean it. 

Please post comments!!!!!!

My Mom and sister are having a hiking contest. It ends January 1st of 2007. Whoever hikes the most wins. My Mom told me I was going to be her hiking partner. We are going on a 100 mile biking trip in late August.

Life's Not Been the Same in My Family

Life's not been the same in my family

since the day that the new baby came,

my parents completely ignore me,

they scarcely remember my name.

The baby gets all thier attention,

"Oh, isn't she precious" they croon,

they think that she looks like an angle,

I think she resembles a prune.

They're thrilled when she giggles or gurgles,

"She burped!" they exclaim with delight,

they don't even mind when she wakes us

with deafening screams in the night.

They seem to believe she's a treasure,

there's simply no way I agree,

I wish she'd stop being a baby

and start being older than me.

This poem was from the book Something BIG Has Been Here by Jack Prelutsky.

I like this poem because it reflects my Sisters situation. She has a two and three quarter year old  son and is expecting a little girl.

Last week I learned about the people in the Australian Outback. The first inhabitants of the Australian Outback were the Aborigines. Their entire life, culture, and history is created by their close relationship with nature and the land.  Their spiritual beliefs guide their daily lives and provide a system of law for the people.  If you would like to read more, go to your local Libary and look for Life in the Australian Outback by Jann Einfeld.                           

Hi

I started a new drawing book which I  have been getting ahead of myself with . My favorite subject is math , but I think I like drawing just as much . I woke up at six fifteen yesterday and started doing homework. Then I fininshed at ten and got to play game cube whith my freind who goes  to public school ,  which doesn't start til Wednesday.

Hi, I'm starting a blog as part of my homeschooling.  I will be posting weekly progress reports, thoughts about what I'm learning and doing, and occasional samples of my work.I'm looking forward to starting my studyplan.I get to start new subjects and learn new things.It's going to be a good year!