Joseph Chang 10/26/04, Period 3 Cars and Stars Analogy The path to achieve ambitions is never straightforward; my course for a treasured driver's license was in many respects comparable to the Luke Skywalker's path to mastery of the force. Appropriately, my house might as well have been in the desert wasteland of Tatooine, as my parents demanded that I tend the animals and store useless knowledge. Like Skywalker toiling on his uncle's moisture farm in the hot desert air, I could only resign to my fate and glean excitement when in fact little existed in my detached homestead. I had hopes, contrary to my dull parents', of exclusive powers and their privileges, hoping to pilot fast vehicles to places that seemed as distant as the galaxy's outer rim. As if it were the destiny of the universe, zany Uncle Ed approached and revealed to me the age-old traditions of driving, furtively instructing me. I learned that my father, while no Vader, was a great driver-among the fastest or what the DMV called the most dangerous drivers. At last, Ed could no longer come, but my training was incomplete. I ventured to an exotic office in Northridge where I found my final instructor, Dindo. He spoke with a strange vernacular, but his words were wise and he determined to whet my abilities. As a Jedi slowly coordinates his mastery of the force and light saber, I gradually learned to tune discipline with the destructive automobile. At the final test in the DMV I needed to apply the acumen that my masters installed in me. Amidst supposedly imminent disappointment, I maneuvered through extreme hazard. As I neared the final trial, I heard Ed's wisdom "use the brakes!" echo in my ear; as a Padawan must always obey his master, so I heeded his words when I turned into the microscopic space to complete my rigorous confirmation.
Physics Multiple Choice: The statement that "as the speed of a moving fluid (liquid or gas) increases, the pressure within the fluid decreases " is known as whose principle?: Correct Answer: Bernoulli's principle. Physics Multiple Choice: Relative to its period on the earth, is the period of a pendulum on the moon: w) shorter x) longer y) unchanged. z) dependent on the lunar phase. Correct answer: x) Physics Multiple Choice: Which, if any, of these quantities remains unchanged when light passes from a vacuum into a block of glass? w) frequency. x) wavelength. y) speed. z) none of these. Correct answer: dizzuble u- w Physics Short answer: What three colors form the picture in a tube television? Correct answer: Red, green, and blue. Physics Multiple Choice: The oscillation in an oscillating circuit dies out because electrical energy is converted to thermal and: a) nuclear energy b) mechanical energy c) radiation energy d) gravitational energy Correct answer: y) radiation energy. Physics Multiple Choice: All of the following are particle accelerators EXCEPT the: w) cyclotron x) betatron y) Van de Graaff generator z) bubble chamber correct answer: z) Physics Multiple Choice: The wave model of light fails to explain adequately: w) diffraction x) interference y) refraction z) the photoelectric effect Correct answer: z) According to classical theory, when light, thought to be composed of waves, strikes substances, the energy of the liberated electrons ought to be proportional to the intensity of light. Experiments showed that, although the electron current produced depends upon the intensity of the light, the maximum energy of the electrons was not dependent on the intensity. Moreover, classical theory predicted that the photoelectric current should not depend on the frequency of the light and that there should be a time lag between the reception of light on the surface and the emission of the electrons. Neither of these predictions was borne out by experiment. In 1905, Albert Einstein published a theory that successfully explained the photoelectric effect. It was closely related to Planck's theory of black body radiation announced in 1900. According to Einstein's theory, the incident light is composed of discrete particles of energy, or quanta, called photons, the energy of each photon being proportional to its frequency according to the equation E=h?, where E is the energy, ? is the frequency, and h is Planck's constant. Each photoelectron ejected is the result of the absorption of one photon. Physics Short answer: Magnetic declination is defined as the difference between what two points? Correct answer: magnetic and geographic north. Physics multiple choice: You have a very strong smelling cheese on the table. You can smell it when you sit down to eat because part of the cheese has: w) Melted x) Coalesced y) Fused z) Sublimed Correct answer: z) Physics multiple choice: Approximately what percentage of the coal or oil burned in power plants to produce electricity is lost as waste heat? w) 50% x) 65% y) 85% z) 95% Correct answer: y) Biology multiple choice: Which of the following is NOT a type of learned behavior: w) habituation x) fixed action patterns y) conditioning z) imprinting Correct answer: x) Biology short answer: What are the two main divisions of behavior? Correct answer: innate and learned. Biology multiple choice: Organisms with cells containing two sets of parental chromosomes are called: w) diploid x) bisomal y) haploid z) diasomal Correct answer: w) diploid. Biology multiple choice: The type of gene interaction in which the effects of one gene override or mask the effects of other entirely different gene is called: w) linkage x) mutation y) pleitropy z) epistasis Correct answer: z) Bio multiple choice: Which is false regarding freshwater fish? w) their blood is hypertonic to their environment x) they often actively take up salt y) they excrete urine hypotonic to the blood z) their gills actively excrete salts Correct answer: z) Oxygen enters the body of a grasshopper through: w) gills x) spinnerets y) spiracles z) book lungs.
Joseph Chang 11/4/04 1. Biology short answer: What is the visible part of the ear, which acts like a funnel, amplifying the sound and directing it to the ear canal is called? Correct answer: Pinna 2. Biology multiple choice: The first of the set of three bones which transfer vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear is called the: w) cochlea. x) incus. y) malleus. z) stapes. Correct answer: y) 3. Biology multiple choice: Of the nonmetallic elements the one least likely to be found in organic compunds is: w) nitrogen x) phosphorus y) chlorine z) selenium Correct answer: z) 4. Biology multiple choice: Tissue differentiation begins during: w) zygote x) morula y) blastula z) gastrula Correct answr: z) 5. Biology multiple choice: The nervous system develops from which germ layer? w) ectoderm x) mesoderm y) endodern z) none of the above Correct answer: w) 6. Bio short answer: What is the valve between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery known as? Correct answer: mitral valve. 7. bio short answer: What is the sac-like, blind pouch of the large intestine, situated below the level of the junction of the small intestine into the side of the large intestine called? Correct answer: cecum, caecum 8. Bio short answer: All cells of an organism find their lineage from a single fertilized cell; What is this cell called? Correct answer: zygote. 9. Bio multiple choice: The order of insects which includes beetles is known as: w) Coleoptera x) Orthoptera y) Hymenoptera z) Diptera Correct answer: w) 10. Bio short answer: In a mammal, this element ensures the integrity and permeability of cell membranes, to regulate nerve and muscle excitability, to help maintain normal muscular contraction, and to assure cardiac rhythmicity. It also plays an essential role in several of the enzymatic steps involved in blood coagulation and is the most important element of bone salt. Name this element. Correct answer: Calcizzlium 11. Bio multiple choice: When looking at the cross section of the human tibia, one finds the RED marrow in the: w) medullary cavity. x) cancellous bone. y) periosteum. z) epiphysis. Correct answer: w) 12. Bio multiple choice: The lengthening of long bones in humans occurs in a particular area of the bone, which people call the: w) epiphysis. x) cancellous bone y) periosteum z) medullary canal. Correct answer: w) 13. Bio multiple choice: Gallstones are most often the result of: w) precipitation of cholesterol. x) eating cherries and swallowing the pits. y) gallbladder irritation. z) accumulated bile pigment. Correct answer: w) 14. Bio multiple short answer: What is the loss of water by plants in the from of vapor is called? Correct answer: evapotranspiration. (now that's a clever name) 15. Earth science multiple choice:Iceland is least likely to have w) an explosive eruption. x) a lava plateau. y) a shield volcano. z) a fissure eruption Correct answer: w) 16. Earth science short answer: Suppose you are on a rocket, which blasts you to 40,000 feet above sea level. Which layer of the atmosphere would you be in? Correct answer: stratosphere 17. Earth science: According to the French scientist Buffoon, the solar system formed when our sun w) was first formed x) collided with comets y) began to cool down z) began to expand correct answer: x) 18. Earth science short answer: Which element in chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is responsible for destroying the Earth's ozone layer? w) chlorine. x) fluorine. y) carbon z) bromine. Correct answer: y) 19. Earth science multiple choice: The Coriolis effect is responsible for the atmospheric phenomenon of: w) hurricanes. x) the jet stream y) monsoons z) trade winds. Correct answer: w) 20. Earth science multiple choice: The air around a high pressure area circulates in which direction in the northern hemisphere: Correct answer: clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.
The title of veteran is a uniquely significant one. At a time when the war in Iraq sparks untold fear in many students, implying that students must be drawn into a dangerous and faraway conflict, veterans, including history teacher Thomas Dunn, are the people who forfeited comfort and complacency to defend our country or benefit the greater good. Each veteran's story proves the respect due to him. Thomas Dunn, who now teaches the American history he helped to shape, remembers the great fear that would accompany any immature seventeen year old fighting before he even finished high school. Dunn relates that he joined the Marine Corps as an impulsive youth with a group of friends, but quickly grew up after ten weeks of boot camp's "million dollar education." Dunn was soon transferred to a marine infantry unit in South Vietnam in the something division. As a machine gun artilleryman, fighting communist Viet Kong guerrilla soldiers in a Vietnamese jungle, he was in constant danger of hostile gunfire and exploding shells. Dunn's memories of Vietnam are at times fond; he considers the Vietnamese a great and hospitable people. Thus, although Vietnam was extremely unpopular at home for its cost to America, Dunn still considers it a war, which veterans like himself rightfully fought for. Dunn, alive to be decorated with a purple heart despite nearly fatal wounds, willingly risked his life in a horribly dangerous situation for freedom and democracy in Vietnam. "I was shot at, blown up, and med evac-ed on a helicopter. My life was definitely in danger. I'm in the jungle when a shell exploded, I was thrown several feet in the air, just like the movies. But look at what you have in Vietnam today. There's a reason why you have so many [Vietnamese] refugees in America. " When Dunn got home and became a private citizen again, he came with a new sense of responsibility. As a teacher, he tries to teach history as objectively as possible, but believes experience is one of his most vital assets. His own first hand accounts afford him the possibility of teaching students through the standpoint of participatory history-it isn't often one can find a soldier who fought in a war to teach about the war and its context. Still, Dunn uses his own experience as a Marine in a battlefield environment to educate students about American history as early as the Revolution because according to him, when talking about battles and certain events in history, all of history connects. "For example," Dunn recalls, "we were in class today, talking about the Boston Massacre and how it may have started. All of a sudden, I was thinking of the concept of accidental firing and how it tied in." Veterans like Dunn allow us to reflect on our own past. In spite of their service, students often forget that veterans, not teachers, gave us the right to freely learn. Dunn, like so many other veterans, is disappointed at how veterans may receive fanfare at the holidays, but otherwise, according to Dunn, "We as a society forget about them. You sleep safe every night because someone else does the job."
Biology short answer: What acid did Joseph Lister first successfully use as an anticeptic? Correct answer: Carbolic acid, phenol. Biology multiple choice: Dry and wet gangrene are both nasty diseases involving the death and subsequent decay of body tissues. All of the following can cause "Dry" gangrene except for: w) frostbite. x) an open wound, inflicted by a gunshot. y) arterial embolism. z) diabetic ulceration. Correct answer: x) Biology multiple choice: Type 1 diabetes milletus, prevalent in adolescents and children, is caused when the body's own immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in which area of the pancreas? w) lumen of acinus. x) Islets of Langerhans. y) duodenum. z) parathyroid glands Correct answer: x) Biology multiple choice: The eating disorder Pica, though shunned in society, is seen in all ages and particularly in young children and pregnant women. Pica's victims have an abnormal appetite for: w) mucus. x) hair or wool. y) sharp objects z) dirt or wood. Its name comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird thought to eat just about anything. Pregnant women have been known to develop strong cravings for soil, chalk, laundry starch, and other non-foods. Some theorize that the women may be craving trace minerals lacking in their system, but there have been no major studies on this because of the instant turnoff against the subject as "gross" and "disgusting". Warning: pica in children, while common, can be dangerous: children eating painted plaster may suffer brain damage from lead poisoning from the lead in the paint. In additon to poisoning, there is also a much elevated risk of gastro-intestinal obstruction or perforation. This is also true of animals. Biology multiple choice: Geomelophagia is a specific category of pica; those who suffer from it have a strong appetite for: w) raw potatoes. x) raw bamboo. y) rocks and pebbles. z) mucus. (mucophagy) Biology short answer: What phylum do insects belong to? Correct answer: arthropoda. Biology short answer: What is the formal name for the heaviest muscle in the human body, that helps extend the thigh? Correct answer: gluteus maximus. Biology multiple choice: During which phase of the cell cycle are normal components of the cell synthesized and assembled? w) the M phase x) the G1 phase y) the S phase z) the G2 phase Correct answer: x) Biology multiple choice: The complex of sugar polymers and proteins which are patchily distributed on the plasma membranes of animal cells is called: w) cellulose x) chitin y) glyocalyx z) cytoskeleton Correct answer: y) Physics multiple choice: Of the following, the one that requires a physical medium for transmission is w) x rays x) radio waves y) light z) sound Correct answer: z) (y-buzz?) Physics multiple choice: Placing a low-resistance shunt across the terminals of a galvanometer will convert the device to w) an ohmmeter x) a voltmeter y) a wattmeter z) an ammeter Correct answer: z) Physics short answer: Some metals become superconductors at temperatures close to what temperature celsius? Correct answer: -273 degrees Celsius Physics multiple choice: Two parallel current-bearing wire are a a distance 1 meter apart. The force exerted by the wire on each other is one of the following. This force is: w) zero x) one of attraction y) one of repulsion z) attraction or repulsion, depending on the direction of the two currents Correct answr: z) A pulse is set up in a stretched rope by giving it a quick shake. The speed at which the pulse travels along the rope depends upon the: w) tension in the rope. x) period of the wave. y) frequency of the wave. z) wavelength of the wave. Correct answer: z) You get up during the night for a dirnk of water. The tile floor in the bathroom feels very cold to your bare feet compared to your carpeted bedroom . This is because the tile and the carpet have different: w) temperatures x) surface areas. y) emissivities. z) thermal conductivities Correct answer: z) Astronomy multiple choice: Rounded to the nearest earth day, the Mercurian year is equal to: w) 111 days x) 88 days y) 50 days z) 25 days Correct answer: x) Astronomy multiple choice: The time interval between two sucessive occurences of a specific type of alignment of a planet (or the moon) with the sun and Earth is referred to as: w) a conjuction x) an opposition y) a sidereal period z) a synodic period Correct answer: z) Astronomy short answer: The Hertzsrpung-Russel Diagram of stars DIRECTLY compares what two properties of stars? Correct answer: brightness and luminosity. Astronomy multiple choice: The Crab Nebula consists of the remnants of a supernova which was observed by: w) Brahe in 1572 x) Kepler and Galileo in 1604 y) the Chinese in 1054 A.D. z) the Egyptians and Greeks in 236 B.C. Correct answer: z)
Joseph Chang English, Period 2 11/24/04 Skiing is Believing Snow is presumably as old as the weather cycle and people's love for adventure and connection to nature presumably as old as humanity. Downhill alpine skiing manages to combine the two ancient tendencies offering an almost primitive thrill of racing down a mountain with concepts of friction and speed limits forgotten. Skiing is almost like a quest, in which we can pursue a freedom that accompanies the indescribable joy of coming down a fresh layer of snow at 30 miles an hour. It seems only natural that such an act of barreling down nature's sea of white straight down an icy slope would prove so endearing to men and women. Like any adventurer would contest, you must be willing to train for hours to achieve so lofty a goal, but you must also be courageous enough to take that first stuff. Most importantly, you must also be ready for the time of your life-nothing beats speeding down a hill at ludicrous speeds after being forced for months to sit at desks reading and writing. The path to the prize begins before you might imagine. Before you ever near the mountain, every barrier serves to shoot down the weak-hearted and weak-minded. The foremost priority you should have is to be in shape. The mountain, though benevolent in moving you down, will move you only if you can move yourself to where the mountain dictates. Though you may shudder at the prospect of cross country skiing, your arms are the only things that move you on flat terrain. Furthermore, when coming down, your calves and thighs are the only apparatuses saving your soul from plunging off a cliff or spilling into a rock. The best way to save yourself the embarrassment is to condition the muscles with the inspiration of a snow filled excursion driving your training. Now that the body is primed for action, getting the body to the action is paramount lest your training be in vain. Unfortunately, living in Los Angeles means about half an inch of snow per half century, but that should not deter the determined adventurer. Generally, the farther away it is, the higher the altitude and the better the snow. As you escape the urban empire, the city should slowly dissipate into wild forests interspersed by acres of dead forest populated only by cell phone trees; even skiers and mountaineers need to make phone calls. Having trekked from the city to the heart of nature, the journey to the snow peaked "crown" of nature, as it would seem, is still incomplete. Every adventurer, regardless of innate ability, must plan additionally, if he plans on having fun. Even I, as a robust young lad, found my muscles sore and aching from a day of hard skiing to the point where sitting down to eat was laborious. My pain, stemming from ill preparedness against the mountain cold is easily avoidable. Imagine as if the snow is the enemy, which you wish to trample with your skis, but first you must protect yourself from its most deadly weapon, frigid air! Such an assault demands full protection; your shirt and sweater are chain mail, enough to save you from chilly jabs, but only enough for the craven foot soldiers of the bunny slopes. If you truly intend to make it to the top with piercing stabs of icy arrows, then don the plate mail body armor, or the insulated ski jackets. Protect the most vulnerable spots, particularly the hands with water-proof gloves as gauntlets, so that your hands can grip the poles. Probably your most valuable asset is a furry hat, the helmet that may leave your hair fashionably messy but warm and insulated. Perhaps the true perk of the well-to-do warrior, however, is the insulated underwear, the "loincloth" to guard the pelvic area from any of the enemy's unsavory attacks. Defense never won a battle though, so next you must grab a pair of poles and skis. Your poles should match your stature, but the skis depend on your preference. Skis, in fact, work by melting the snow directly under the ski. Consequently, surface area is key to your tactics. If you desire to be supple and agile to avoid the enemy, choose long skis. But, if you are the type who desires strength and stability to wrestle with the snow, long broader skis are definitely proper. Finally, you have made it to the mountain, with armor and skis specially fitted, and poles in hands. Your next challenge is the ski lift. Carefully ski into place, so that the ski lift, like some gentle chariot, will whisk you to the top. However smooth your ride will be depends, for the most part, on your own doing. If for you, ski lifts are menacing for fear of falling off, then simply look straight-the look down can only add to your fears and instigate rocking. Relax and enjoy the scenery of mountain air and green trees before nature's downhill belligerence. As the lift comes to the station, you panic thinking the mountain looks much taller at the top. And truly, the slope is also a lot steeper, leading to problems that face most beginners. Panic, however, leads to caution and caution to a boring run. Thus, be poised and fearless coming down to enjoy yourself and ski best. However, no green squire can mount a Bucephalus, and no novice skier will likely be able to control either direction or speed. The technique, which many novice squires approach the mountain with, is snow ploughing, where the skier will narrow the tip of the skis and extends the back to create a "pizza" shape. Doing the pizza, however simple, is suitable for short gentle slopes, but exhaustingly awkward otherwise. Use it as a beginner in the slopes designated with green circles, but as you advance and progress to the blue squares and black diamonds, slopes are much steeper and terrain is more complicated. Pizzas simply will not do. Another method, carving, allows for much more graceful and rapid descent down the slippery beast. Always keep your knees and legs straight when carving, but lean your upper body and head forward so as to increase aerodynamic momentum. The mountain, however, is a tricky one pulling you faster than even the wildest speed demon could tolerate, but carving is a clever scheme to outsmart the mountain. To defeat this mammoth and slow yourself, slide down with the most delicate of shapes, ribbony figures. To twist these elegant curves with your ski blades, lean your body weight to one side, keeping balance with poles. You thereby reduce the angle at which you ski down, while braking with friction caused by your rapid skis tearing up the slopes and scattering snow in your path. As you descend farther down the icy beast, make use of the poles, usually holding them close to your body and parallel to your thighs. If nothing, they keep you balanced and let you speed up if you lose momentum or the snow becomes too icy and abrasive. Upon reaching the bottom, come to a "hockey stop", the dramatic end to the ribbon's tail that you make through a sharp turn such. Your skis should make a sharp angle with your previous direction, kicking up an inch of snow and terminating what remains of the sloped fiend. As you stand victorious at the base of the ski slope, instead of seeing the expected corpse of the mountain, the peak of the mountain stares down at you as menacing as when you first dared to glimpse at it. This is no problem, however, for the fun is in the battle, not the victory. When you ski, aside from the occasional snowboarder sitting in the middle of the slope, any obstacle is a mere prop beautifying the scenery. The mountainous monster becomes a pleasant comrade of nature. Stick your poles in the ground once more to ski to the lift. As long as the sun is still up, the ski day is not yet over because new slopes are waiting to be discovered and the giving mountain's virgin snow is waiting to be treaded on.