Tall Tales & History Jotted Down by a Homeschooled Kid. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 20 May 2009 15:16:00 -0500 Wed, 20 May 2009 15:16:00 -0500 The spider was prepared. He was ready to pounce on his prey: a small house spider. He had been stalking it for a while, and all his efforts had led up to this moment. The web of his lunch-to-be was stretched between the corner of two perpendicular walls. But he faced a predicament. If he attempted to attack his prey by climbing along the web, the other spider might feel his presence on the web and run off. But the jumping spider had taken this into account. He jumped.. And caught his prey in mid air, knocking it unconscious and thereby securing his lunch. P.S.: I actually saw this story played out on my front porch!!!!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/690958/ Wed, 20 May 2009 15:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/690958/ To those who enjoy reading my narrations, I apologize. I was writing today's narration, and I had finished writing it out, but out of habit I clicked close, when I had not saved my progress. And as I really don't feel like writing all that all over again, I will not continue. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/671787/ Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:27:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/671787/ In early 1900, the Christians in China were enduring mass slaughter. A group of men who were mostly men in connection with the officials were ravaging the Christian homes and churches. They were taken to pagan temples, and either beheaded on the spot, or tortured until they divulged the hiding places of their fellow Christians. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/669978/ Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/669978/ Leander was a young man who was in love with a young lady, but she was in Europe, and he, in Asia. A small body of water separated the two people, but every night Leander would swim the lake and go to see Hero. She hung a lamp out her balcony window for this purpose, so he could find his way in the dark. One night, however, a storm was blowing the waves against him, and at last he sunk below the waves. When his body washed up on the shore the next day, Hero saw it and, heartbroken, jumped into the lake to drown. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/669658/ Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/669658/ Today I finished my geography book, and I learned about how global positioning systems work. There are 24 GPS satellites in orbit around the earth. They send a signal to GPS receivers all around the world. The receivers calculate how far away each of the satellites are, and from this, can calculate exactly where the unit is. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/668149/ Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/668149/ Today I read about how to measure how far east or west you are of Greenwich, England. There's a certain formula for figuring out such things, but I couldn't figure that out. Long story short, there was a man named John Harrison who had the unimaginable task of devoting his whole life to figuring out how to make a clock that came within 5 seconds a day of the real time.Eventually he suceeded, and everyone lived happily ever after. The end. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/667404/ Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:25:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/667404/ Recently we ordered two wristwatch style walkie-talkies from Vision Forum, and the wrist bands literally came apart. At first, it was just the tiny pin that attached the watch to the wristband, but then, the little buckle completely ripped through the rubber wristband. Now neither of the watches are usable, and the batteries are probably dead. If they ever come out with a better material for wristbands, I will buy that. But until then, I will simply keep my eyes open. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/666026/ Fri, 6 Mar 2009 15:29:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/666026/ We had a way of measuring how far north or south we were, by way of lines of latitude. But we needed a way of measuring how far east or west we are. So lines of longitude were invented. So now, we had a way of measuring how far east or west, but of what? So the idea came up for a "prime meridian." Every country wanted the honor of having the prime meridian run through their capital. France wanted the prime meridian to run through Paris. England wanted it to run through London. But even more people wanted it to run through Jerusalem. But none of these was correct. The prime meridian runs through a tiny town in England, not London. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/665648/ Mon, 2 Mar 2009 15:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/665648/ William Penn was a Quaker. He was the son of Sir William Penn, who was an admiral in the British navy, and a good friend of King Charles the First. When young William Penn turned Quaker, his father nearly threw him out of the house, but soon repented of his anger towards his son. Long after that, he was on his way to the new world, running away from persecution in England. The governor of New Jersey was selling a large piece of his land, and William Penn bought it, with the help of a few of his richer Quaker friends. They named it Pennsylvania http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/664260/ Mon, 2 Mar 2009 14:41:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/664260/ For the past week, I have been trying desperately to learn how to divide three digit numbers by two digit numbers. Mom says that I have to learn to do it without help from the MUS blocks, but I keep saying that is impossible. "Once you get it down, it'll be easy." she says, but I just can't believe that. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/664227/ Mon, 2 Mar 2009 13:40:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/artax/664227/