Trixie Belden

Trixie Belden is a series of mystery stories revolving around the main character Beatrix 'Trixie' Belden. The first six books were written by Julie Campbell but then changed authors to Kathryn Kenny. Kathryn Kenny was a pen name or in other words, a fake name only used to write books and to disguise the author's real identity. These books were written between 1948 and 1986 but stopped for a number of years before Random House reprinted them. They came back out in the summer of 2003. In 2006, books 1-15 have been reissued. Lots hope to see all 39 reprinted especially the hard to find books.

Trixie is 13 year old girl who lives in the made up town of Sleepyside-on-Hudson. This is in the Hundson River Valley around the area of New York. She lives on Crabapple Farm with her family made up of her parents and her three brothers. This farm has been with her family for three or six generations. The reason for three to six is that it changes through the series. She hates her real name Beatrix and is not to fond of school work.

Throughout the series Trixie and her good friend Honey Wheeler solve mysteries together. I hope to grab some of these books and have a good read to see what Trixie really gets up to.


The first book

Seed Dispersal

What is Seed Dispersal?

The definition for dispersal is to scatter of distribute. The way seed dispersal works is that a seed of a flower or plant is dropped or scattered.

Ways of dispersal

If the seed is scattered with the wind blowing, it might fly miles away before it settles down. This is wind dispersal. If it is carried out by the sea it might settle where it was washed up. This is called water dispersal. Now we come to a method that is done in several ways. It's called animal dispersal. The first course of action is the plant sticking to the animal. For instance the burr plant is rather spiky. These spiky things can get tangled in the fur or feather of an animal and if the bird flies a long way, the spiky seed goes with it. Some plants produce thier seeds in an edible form. Nuts are a good example. If a squirrel eats the nut and disposes of its waste somewhere then the seed will go with it. The last way is if a squirrel saves a acorn for the winter and buries it somewhere and never comes back for it, the acorn will grow to become a tree.

Interesting Fact I Found

Some plants disperse themselves! The plant spurts out the seeds and then they go wherever nature takes them.

Take a look at this site I found and the videos are quite interesting! Note that the videos require Quicktime.

Monotremes

What are montremes? They are a mammal that lays eggs and there are only two monotremes on the entire Earth. The platypus and the echidna. They are found in Australia and New Guinea.

The echidna is covered with fur and sharp spines that are used to guard them from harm. Where it is warmer in the north, the colour of the echidna is brown whereas in the cooler south, they are black.

As I said before, what makes them a monotreme is the fact that they lay eggs. They do this rather than have live birth. For the echidna mating occurs during the winter months and around 22 days later, the female will lay a soft leathery egg directly into her pouch. After ten days, a baby emerges from the egg and the size of it is no larger than a jellybean. It suckles from two milk spores in the pouch and stays there for up to 55 days. During this time it begins to develop spines. After all this, the mother digs a burrow for the young one and comes again five or so days to suckle it for an extra seven months.

The platypus is the other monotreme. It's appearance shocked early scientists and were first thought to be a joke. It has a sleek fur-covered body, webbed feet and a smooth, leathery bill.

During June to October is the time to breed for the platypuses but can occur earlier in northern latitudes. Mating takes place in the water and from about 12-14 days, the female lays 3-2 eggs in a nesting burrow. These eggs are incubated by the mother's belly and tail and hatch after about a fortnight. By six weeks of age they have grown fur, have opened their eyes and may leave the burrow for short periods of time. Sooner or later they are weaned by 5 months of age.

I think that these are very interesting creatures that we should all look out for.

The echidna

The platypus

Poem - anyone lived in a pretty how town

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did.

Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hoe and then)they
said their nevers and they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt for forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

e.e. cummings

After some research I have found out that 'anyone' and 'noone' are actually people that are ignored by the others around them. 'anyone and 'noone' are lovers and noone gradually comes to love anybody. At the end of the poem, anyone died and I think noone did too.

From my point of view, I think that it is a very lovely poem that came to a very sad end. The repetition emphasises the things you forget in the first bit which is a good thing.

A comment on what you think or know what this poem is about would really help me to understand it more. Do note to leave your name. :)

Harper Lee - Author of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

Nelle Harper Lee is an American author well known for her work, To Kill a Mockingbird. While born on April 28th, 1926, she made her book in 1960. At the age of 82, she lives with her 94 year old sister Alice.

Lee was the youngest child of Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Cunningham Finch Lee. Truman Capote, another famous American writer, was a neighbour and a friend in those early years and on. She lived in a southwestern Alabama town called Monroeville but first studied in Huntingdon College in Montergomery, Alabama. She then went on to do a law degree in the University of Alabama and spent one year overseas at Oxford University, England. Before she became a writer, she worked as a reservation clerk for Eastern Airlines in New York City until the late 1950's. Lee lived a inexpensive lifestyle, travelling only to her original home in Alabama to look after her father, and her cold-water-only apartment. She now worked in Holcombe, Kansas, as a research assistant for Truman Capote's 4th novel 'In Cold Blood' .

Harper Lee published her first but only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in 1960 after a two year period of rewriting and revising under the advice of her editor. Her book was so successful that it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize despite the fact that her book had many different critical views. In the book she had put in her own experiences as a child in Monroeville. The book was a best seller by selling more than 15 million copies and was made into an outstanding film.

As I have said at the top, she now lives with her sister Alice and I am sure that she is living a very happy life.

Harper Lee

Seed Dispersal - quick notes

types of seeds ...
winged seeds
round ones that float
dispers some seeds have to burnt. bushfires

birds disperse by pooing.

Sidney Nolan

Sir Sidney Robert Nolan is a renowned Australian painter for his arts on Ned Kelly but was also known for his printmaking. Born on the 22nd of April, 1917, He spent most of his life as a painter even as a child. If he still lived today he would be 91 years of age but died on the 28th of November, 1992 in London.

Nolan was the eldest of the four children in his family. He was born in the suburb of Carlton in Melbourne but later moved to the bay side St Kilda, also in Melbourne. He left school at the age of 14 to attend Prahran Technical College, Department of Design and Crafts to do a course which he had already begun by part-time correspondence. When he was 16, he started to work for Fayrefeild Hats and Abbotsford by making advertisements and display stands with dyes and spray paint. In 1934, when he was 17, he attended night classes, in no particular order, at the National Gallery of Victoria Art.

He was close friends with John and Sunday Reed who were art patrons or art supporters. His involvement with the Reeds ended up breaking his relationship with his first wife Elizabeth Patterson but married again to John's sister Cynthia after being refused to marry him by Sunday Reed. His last marriage was to Mary Boyd.

He is most famous for the Ned Kelly Series in which some he painted in the Reed's living room. In most of his paintings you can see that he has not put in Kelly's head or eyes but in every scene he painted, Kelly was always wearing his suit of amour.

In 1950 Nolan moved to London where he stayed until his death. Some of his paintings are now in the National Art Gallery of Australia. From my perspective, I think that they look very simple but sometimes just a little can do so much.

The Trial by Sidney Nolan

Our Very Own Birds Nest

Today, Mr B came into our room and gave us a bird's nest. It is about 14cm in diameter and 10cm in height. Around the base is is a lot of mud. From information from Speedy, the bird had made about 400 trips to cover the whole base with mud. It must have been tiring because bird's beaks aren't that big. Ms S reckons it's a Mynah bird that made it but who can be sure? It fell right down next to Mr B's car!

A bird's nest is a place where an adult bird lays and incubates its eggs. All nests are different depending on the type of bird but some don't even make them. They steal them! The Black-headed Grosbeak steals bits of nests to make her own home while the Cuckoo bird lays her eggs in another nest and lets the owner of the nest take care of it.

We will study the nest in different ways but for now it's sitting on the science desk. (Pictures coming soon.)

P.S. Look at what Bush Babe is posting on bird's nests.

The Cabbage Patch Fib

1. Who wrote the Round the Twist Series?

Paul Jennings

2. In the scene where Bronson is fishing with Nell in front of the jetty, does the camera zoom in or out?

Zoom in

3. Where do the Twists keep their goldfish?

On the wall

4.When Bronson is outside at night in the cabbage looking for babies, how does the director show that it is night?

The blue lighting

5.What special effect does the director use for the baby?

The director paints it green

6.What is written on the newspaper headline?

a) Blue boy alive and well.

b) Aliens invade a lighthouse.

c) Green baby found in cabbage patch.

C

7.What does the director use to change scenes after the teacher tells Bronson to change the baby's nappy?

A swirl the change the scenes.

This is a hyperlink to all Paul Jennings books

Test Tube Alien

The Hatching

Today we opened our test tube alien by the name of Zog. There were certain instructions on how to hatch the thing for it was in a white bumpy looking cocoon. Myself and J.B. were in charge of hatching it. We followed the instructions where it said to 'keep on adding water to the alien through the feeding hatch until all the fizzing stops'. This took a lot of water but in the end we hatched it. Now it was time to clean all the residue of the left over cocoon. Movies and I went outside to the tap and cleaned it all out by refilling and emptying the tube a few times. It was now ready for feeding. To do that we added the dehydrated 'sloog' to 150 ml of water and stirred it around in the cup. He needs 12 hours daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Everyone in the class had a quick turn in the feeding it with a teaspoon. He is now in the office satisfied, safe and sound.

Signals

On top of Zog's head is a light. This is where his heart is. When he is feeling hungry it flashes orange. When he feels that everything in his environment is right, it flashes red. When it flashes green, he is drowning.

How it Works

Zog's body contains a substance called polyacrylamide which is a type of polymer. This soaks up water which causes it to react to grow big. This is eight times it's original size. The 'sloog' contains a weak acid which slows the growth down to make it seems it is growing over several days.

I think that we will have a great time knowing the alien but I hope he doesn't die until the big school holidays!

The fizzing...




almost there...



and the final product.

Test Tube Alien Activities

• Write out a word bank of 15 words and put all of them in seperate sentences. Note that they have to be interesting.


• Keep a journal of how it grows and what changes it makes.


• Write a story from the alien's point of veiw.


• Year 5's do a information report on aliens. Remember to add your personal perpesctive.


• With a partner, make a story of how the alien came to live in the classroom.
• Design your own alien

Floriade 2008 Scrap Pic

A New Beginning

I was never like him. Never, but thanks to him, I have new found things in my life such as new friends, an open mind and a great personality. My name is Alan. Alan Smeth. I can tell you although I am 55, all these memories are still vivid to me from that time when I was that young lonely boy, to that man with great confidence. This is my story about how Jake Willus changed my life.

I had just moved from Germany and started in Australia in kindergarten. I had learnt very few words of English but I had managed to learn more words as time went on. I was put in the lowest maths group but everything I learnt I had learnt in Germany before. The following year, my teacher was happy with my result and I was put in the highest maths group and so far I was happy apart from two things. I didn’t have the self- confidence and because of this I didn’t have any friends. It was going to be a tough year.

I was sitting on the silver chairs in the lunch eating area and was all alone. This was the place where the grade 5 people ate. In a sudden movement a person sat down next to me. His name was Jake. My description for him was a tall boy with a gentle smile. He had a mop of dark brown hair that was so brown that a lot of people had mistaken it for black. He was friendly with everyone whether it was the girls in grade 6 or the kindys starting here on their first day. He was new too and had just moved from some other city town. Did I mention that I lived in Wodonga? Anyway, it was because of him that I became a different person in a good way. He didn’t say much to me but after a while he moved away. I blamed myself for not engaging him in a conversation but then he came back. He said nervously with a red face,

“I hope I didn’t offend you by walking away. I just saw something and went to go see what it was but… Anyway, my name is Jake Willus.”

And from that moment on, we were best friends. We met everyday at the front of the school but I told him that I had one problem. It was self confidence. Jake had a heap of friends but I only had him. If he went away to talk to someone such as some other popular boy, I just disappeared to the boy’s toilet. It was a Wednesday lunch and I was talking to Jake about how I could never seem to talk to anyone but him. That was when he came up with the most horrid idea had ever thought in my life up til then. He said quite mysteriously “I know a very easy solution to that. I just won’t come to school!” I was absolutely shocked. Jake wasn’t the type of guy that deliberately missed school. He loved every minute of it. Later would I realise that he was only doing it for me.

That very night I stayed awake thinking about what Jake had said. I managed to convince myself that it was all joke because of his happy smile, and his happiness for the rest of the day but deep inside me I knew I was wrong. His parents allowed him to do whatever he wanted and all I could think now was to sleep and forget about it for now.

The next morning was like normal. Had breakfast and brushed my teeth. However, when I arrived at school Jake wasn’t there. I could see no mop of nearly black hair nor could I see the tall figure with a gentle smile. I suddenly realised that his plan was to force me into making new friends. He knew that I could not bear being alone for all the day.

I survived for about the first period of the day but then forced me into asking to hang out with some other boys that very recess. They weren’t as bad as I expected them to be except one boy. His name was Ronald and was like the leader of the group and seemed to hate me because of my influence over the rest of them. Over the next few days I encouraged the other 3 boys (excluding Ronald) to join me in organising some activity for the kindergartens. They had found a new liking and eventually one boy called Rhys, became a preschool teacher and I am still in regular contact with him. Some of the other influences I had on them were the ability to behave. They watched me, praised me and looked at me as if I was their role model. I was most happy when Jake was back and I introduced him to the group. Both sides were pleased and so was I but all changed when Ronald decided to … err… break up the group as you may say by singling out me.

It was exactly 3 years after I became friends with Jake and it was also the last week of school. I had been friends with the 3 others from year 5 and now went to the same high school. The gang and I were laying the grass talking about what we were going to do for the holidays. Jake was going back to Canberra (that city town I mentioned at the beginning) to visit some friends from his old school. It seemed everyone in the school was going to go away except me. To make that exact, me, Rhys, Jarred, another friend and Ronald. Little would I know what was going to happen in those holidays.

The holidays were a two week period and Jake was going to be gone for 1 and a half of those weeks. I was to stay at home and read, study for my big piano exam. I was sad to think that would not see Jake for another long time but I always felt something magical about him. Something that told me not to worry about anything. It was this magical presence that pushed me through everything. Through barriers that made me breakdown, through times when I was in pain. Anyway, I decided to invite the gang to come and hang out at the park. We weren’t the naughty type so we never used drugs or cigarettes. I called them all but one of the boys called Dawei, (pronounced da-way) asked if he could invite Ronald. I didn’t want to be rude or anything but I still had that grudge with him. Nevertheless, I invited him too. I was so excited to hang out with these friends I had made, I forgot about Ronald altogether. I slept soundly that night thinking what fun the next day was going to be.

We now move on to the day I was expecting to be a really good day. I was waiting in the park when Dawei, Rhys and Jarred came up the path looking solemn. This was not the type of face I expected to see from any of them. Ronald, however, was looking rather pleased. When I asked Rhys what the matter was he just looked at his toes. I got the same response from all the others too except Ronald. It was when I said “Cheer up! Let’s go and play on those swings” and they seemed to forget about what they were thinking about and returned to their happy smiles. It was nearly time to go when Ronald came up to me and said “Mate, I’m really sorry that was a bit rude. Please forgive me. By the way, I’ve got a note from Jake.” It didn’t occur to me that Jake would never send a note through Ronald nor did it come to mind that he would never seem to say such things. As I was walking home I nearly burst into tears as I read the short but clear note. It said:

Alan, due to certain circumstances I don’t want to be your friend for much longer. I have found that the friends here are much better than you.

Jake

A lot of kids would say it would be betrayal. Some might say it to be unthinkable but yet, it was there in writing. I don’t know what happened for the rest of the day but I know what happened for the next couple of weeks. Jake had such an impact on my life that I became depressed. I started hanging out with Ronald and not the others. Ronald seemed to have found some new friends that were just as bad. I started smoking, vandalising and all my marks dropped because I felt that I had lost a part of myself. I forgot that magical presence about Jake and that thing to push me on. Rhys, Jarred and Dawei didn’t seem to want me anymore and Jake looked at me sympathetically every time I passed him but I ignored him. For some reason I kept his note in a pocket on my shirt. A pocket close to my heart.

OK, so I was getting stupid and I didn’t know what I was doing but I started getting to my senses when Ronald was doing graffiti on the school wall. I started thinking about Jake and the others. I remembered the time when he gave up school for me and the times when he still smiled to me. I got the note from my pocket and read it again. I remembered what Jakes writing looked like and realised it wasn’t his writing. Jake never liked doing his writing in print. He loved cursive and hated print. It was Ronald’s writing. All this time when I thought that he betrayed me and I betrayed myself and my friends. I ran away to Jake’s house without any clear idea what I was going to do there. I still remember hearing faint sounds of Ronald shouting back at me but I would not listen. It was because of him that I had bad marks. It was because of him that I didn’t speak to Jake for the past couple of weeks. It was all because of him.

As soon as I reached the door of Jake’s house I stopped and thought about what I was going to say. It didn’t matter to me what I said as long as it was nice but I guess the real reason I was there was to say… well… sorry for ignoring him. I still remember knocking rapidly three times on his door. It opened and I saw him. Jake Willus. He looked more handsome since the last time we met but I could see that he had not changed and if he did, it was in a good way. I started babbling things like “I’m really sorry… it was Ronald’s fault not mine… I mean like I didn’t mean to do it” but he listened to none of this. He held up his hand and straight away I could see that he had forgiven me. “I guess it was partly my fault too,” said Jake smiling sadly “I never went up to you and asked what was wrong” I didn’t blame him for anything and we went out into his front garden and sat down. Ryhs, Jarred and Dawei came by and looked at first reluctant to sit down but with the soothing words from Jake they joined us and we had a fine afternoon catching up on what had happened since the time I left them. This was a new beginning.

From then on it was all a happy life. From the hardships in my grade 8 year I learnt a lot of new things and what to believe. I stopped smoking because Jake was patient but firm to help me stop. I went to university with him and Rhys. I became a highschool teacher and Rhys couldn’t get enough of children and as I said earlier, he became a preschool teacher. I married a girl that I met at uni and now we have three grown up kids with children of their own. Jake married too but his wife died from cancer. This was what inspired him to become a cancer researcher. Jarred moved to Germany because his father got a job there and I haven’t seen him since. Dawei had to move to China but I get occasional letters from him.

Why do I write about this now and not before? Jake Willus died a few years ago from the disease he was studying. When I went to his funeral I realised that he didn’t want it to be a mourning of death. He would want it to be a celebration of life. He is survived by his three children but at the age of 51, he showed no signs to be forgotten. I can still feel his magical presence. I wrote this to express my feelings. To show how hard life can be but most of all, to remember Jake Willus.

Treasure Hunt

1. About 664,000,000 entires
2. Here is the link.
3. column heater
4. 96.8
5. Nose Flute
6. Mary Britton Miller
7. A star shape
8. Richard II, King John
9. 1813
10. Chocolate point, blue point, lilac point and seal point

My Pirate Scrap Pic

Arr! Me Pirate Name

My pirate name is:

Dirty Anne Flint

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

.

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Documentation on Winter Project Part 6 and Last One

Day 11: Final day was polishing the mosaic and making the tiles stand out. I had buried quite a few tiles while doing this and had to use the end of a paintbrush to uncover them. Then I covered the whole thing with grout sealer. This prevented water ruining it. The worst part about this was the smell of the grout and the grout sealer but apart from that, I think that it all went well. The best part was when the whole thing was completed. The part I was most surprised about was how many tiles we needed and how the tiles were so sharp. I lost about three layers of skin that day. I am very happy with the last result and will remember this experience with pleasure for the rest of my life.

2 hours and 20 mins

Total time: 18 hours and 5 minutes

Descriptive Sentence - Treasure Chest

In the pirate's treasure chest I found, the map where the treasure came from, three pieces of sea crusty sliver, four gold necklaces and a big looming shadow that came from above me.

Pirate Haiku

With a wooden leg
And a ferocius smile
They steal gold treasure

Pirate Word Bank

cutlass
buccaneer
treasure
gangplank
ahoy
doubloons
eyepatch
wooden leg
parrot
ship
compass
first mate
island
cannon
isolated
telescope
crew
Jolly Roger
crow's nest
maroon

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter. He was born in Baumgarten, Vienna July 14, 1862 and died on the 6th of February, 1918. He was one of seven children and all three brothers had an artistic talent and Gustav was lucky to have this talent of painting famous works.

His early life was poverty and most of his life was but he married Anna Klimt (née Finster) but in the early 1890's he met Emilie Flöge who became his life companion. He was also said to have fathered fourteen children during that period with Emilie Flöge. In 1892 his father and brother died which had an effect on how he painted for the rest of his life.

Klimt took annual summer holidays with the Flöge family and drew a lot of his pictures there. His work is distinguished by the elegant gold and the type of decorations he puts in his work. I would have a lot more to say but due the fact that the English language can't be simple, I have to stop here. To sum up all of this, I have decided to note that if you look on the 100 euro gold coin, you can find Gustav with two unfinished paintings.

The Gustav Klimt

Happiness is...

Black and White Competition

The black and white playground.

I is for Island by Gemma Wiseman

Australia is the largest island on Earth. We have been studying the Victorian poet Gemma Wiseman. This is her haiku:

Island romancing
Hungering for primal dreams
Visionary whirlpools

From what it says I think that she is talking about an island. A large lovable island.

New Game - Musical Instruments!

Remember, you can't have two turns at once and have fun!
Current players are Ginger, Dogs and Soccer, Puppy Power, C.T., Movies, Green Wombat and topcatrules.

A is for accordion
B is for banjo
C is for castanets
D is for drums
E is for euphonium
F is for flute
G is for guitar
H is for harmonica
I is for Irish harp
J is for jagdhorn
K is for kazoo
L is for lute
M is for maracas
N is for