Depression and Suicide Final Blog

For the last two blogs I have informed you of the facts of teen suicide and depression. There are many things that can lead to depression and then suicide. Some teens commit suicide due to religion. Bobby Griffith was one of those people. Bobby had discovered that he was gay and feared what would happen to him. He grew up learning that if you were homosexual that you would not be worthy of Gods love. He also often overheard his mother saying how much she disliked homosexuals. Feeling as though God and his mother would have turned there backs on him and would not love him, he hated himself, he then took his own life by jumping off a bridge. This made his mother devastated. It was only after his death that she realize her view on gay people was wrong, but it was too late for bobby. This all shows that suicide can also be caused by pressure of religion, and pressure of being good enough for your parents. Bobby thought that he could never be good enough for his parents, he took his life.
http://lakeweedatarrowhead.net/1atragic.htm

Jill was a girl who had tried to kill herself three times. She was also easily aggravated and had low self esteem. She had went to therapy to get some help. This is one of the conversations they had, "I want to commit suicide because..." Jill responded, "I want to commit suicide because I feel trapped. I can't be myself. I have to take care of my mother." Then I continued, "Jill if you could be free to live your own life, would you want to live? "Yes," she replied." This shows that when a teenage feels trapped, they will try to release them self. This is the sad reality of life. We teenagers wish to go out and do what they want and be able to live free, but not all of us can.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Teen-age-Suicide:-A-True-Story&id=179598

"The sharp knife winked at me in the dark closet and whispered softly in my ear, "Come play with me. There is nothing called failure here. You will surely win. Just strike me deep down your nerves and I will set you free from this painful world." It almost hypnotized me. I could see nothing but the sharp edge. I closed my eyes, with a warm breath and a smile I accepted the challenge that leaded only to victory." Victory, that's what some teenagers think it is when they have no option left. The way out of there pain. But that is not true. By doing that you plunge yourself into darkness an will be more alone than ever. And they never think about the ones they left behind, the ones they beat, the ones that last a friend and family member. They lost something permanently because of a bet they never made. They lost someone close to them, and will forever grieve. Believing it was their fault. Thinking they were the reason you were depressed, the reason you took your life. When you kill yourself you lose your your life, they all lose a friend. I believe its not worth it. So should you. No matter how alone you feel, someone will always miss you.
http://living.oneindia.in/expressions/personal-expressions/2008/suicide-true-stories-life-decisions-210708.html

The leading cause of death for people 15-24 is suicide. Don't be a statistic. Don't be the one that abuses substances and become depressed. There is always someone there for you. If it isn't your parents maybe it is a friend. For some people, it was there friend that came at the right time to hang out that stopped them from contemplating suicide and helped then realize life was worth living for. And there is always a reason to live. it is just a matter of finding it. Life is such a beautiful thing and should not be shortened. You never know what the future holds so keep a firm grip on life. We are all born for a reason. Find that reason.

Peace out,
Nick M.   
  




Farmers are (:'() . Consumers are (:\) . And fish are (x<) .

Do you like the emoticon I used as the title? This faces are basically what describe how each farmer, consumer, and fish are doing in Japan. 

If you have been following along in my previous blogs or keeping up on the latest new in Japan, you would know that they had a huge earthquake and tsunami. After, covering what happened on that tragic day, I hoped right into their imports before and after the earthquake and tsunami. Today, for my last blog, I am covering how consumers, farmers, and animals are being affected by the radiation after the reactors started to over heat and give off radiation. The two scariest types of radiation that were given off we iodine 131 and cesium 137. According to Japanese officials, iodine 131 has a half life of just over a week, therefore it isn't anything to worry about. But Cesium 137 is a different story because of its' half life of 30 years. Also, both forms of radiation forms are heavier than air, thus making their ability to disperse rapidly is limited.

Even with that reassurance to the Untied States, Japan is still affected. Let's start off with the farmers' farm land and their animals. Farmers that lived closer to the Nuclear Plant must now leave and abandon what they once called a farm haven. On CNN, a farmer was told to evacuate to safe grounds. He stated that he couldn't leave his 4th generation farm. But there is no profit coming from anything on his farm due to the radiation. He says that "the radiation sticks onto the grass, which is eaten by the cows, who produce milk and meat.". But this farmer isn't the only one who has to face this type of issue, many other farmers have to sell their cows and land and leave. Some don't even get to sell their land due to their close distance to the Nuclear Plant.

As for consumers, we are effected world-wide. I say world wide because Japan and China are the main food suppliers for the United States' cheap food. With the decrease of the U.S's imports from Japan, food prices will sky rocket to higher prices which will lead to complaints from Americans in sticky situations. But the real question is: "Will you still pay for slightly cheaper food with a dash of radiation?". A mother in Japan blogs about her view on product consumption in the U.S and Japan: "
Shoppers will see more “produced" or "made in America” signage as supermarkets start to promote domestically produced replacement foods – like Gulf shrimp instead of shrimp from China, or U.S. farm raised tilapia. If supplies remain short, prices should remain higher longer, and the focus on the integrity of fish sourcing and other imports will only intensify."

As for now, all we can do is wait and see what will happen of the the once peaceful and yin-yang loving country. Be safe, be positive, and make the best of things.




Signing out for now,
Ellen To 


 https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/viewer?url=http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%2520GAIN%2520Publications/March%252018%2520Update%2520-%2520Japan%2520Food%2520and%2520Agriculture_Tokyo_Japan_4-21-2011.pdf

Last and Final Blog Entry

The last two Blog entries I wrote showed my anguish and upbraided feelings to the fact that the US Government were thinking about shutting down this program. This decision was averted but it still does not affect the way that I feel about this topic. Lawrence 'Donnell has a show called "The Last Word" on MSNBC. This show was dedicated to Planned Parenthood and how upset he was that Republican Senator Jon Kyl said a lie that Planned Parenthood's services are 90% abortion; when in actuality only 3% have to do with abortion. When asked about the statement Sen. Kyl said that "the statement intended to be a factual statement". Many politicians said that after something like that a lot of Senators cannot trust his information.
Then O'Donnell shared something heartwarming that made even him tear up. He read an e-mail from a personal friend who uses Planned Parenthood. She was laid her from her job and can't afford to go to a regular doctors' office. For 10 years she hasn't seen a doctor and for 5 she hasn't seen a dentist. This e-mail was more of a cry out for help. In the e-mail she said that Planned Parenthood does many other services; some I didn't even know they did. One example is that they give out mammograms for women. O'Donnells's friend has been getting lump on her breast that appear and disappear since she was 17. Now the lumps are getting worst and worst, and she said that Planned Parenthood is helping her out a lot with this problem. Women all over not just her go through the same thing. Not everybody is employed, not everybody has money to go to the doctors. Planned Parenthood does much more then what people see. They save lives and help you prepare for new ones.

 I am pleased to hear that the government did not shut it down, but personally I feel like it should had never been thought about in the first place. Even as a teenager I know some of my older friends who use Planned Parenthood. I truly and strongly believe that urban women would not be the same if this program did not exist. Birth control has become very expensive. Young adults need Planned Parenthood, despite what you believe or think young adults should have a right to have birth control available to them. I strongly hope that this is the last time something like this happens. 





Video:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/08/lawrence-odonnell-tears-planned-parenthood-government-shutdown_n_846953.html

 



Do You Care About Your Environment? #3

So last time we left off with some information about the different toxins that are going into the air and what we should be aware of. This time we will be talking about the emission trends & projections of the environment. From statistic's the Fifth U.S Climate Action Report concluded, in assessing current trends, that green house gas emissions increased by 17 percent from 1990-2007. Over time, the U.S. GDP increased by 65 percent and the  population increased by 21%. The  dominant factor affecting U.S. emission trends is CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion, which increase by 21.8 percent over the 17 years period. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions decreased by 5 percent and 1 percent which is a good thing. The decline in nitrous oxide emissions is largely due to the installation of newer N2O control technologies in motor vehicles throughout the past decade. I think that we should try to increase the production of hybrid cars instead of continuing to make cars that give off gas. If we stop the production of gas powered cars then the percentage of N2O would decrease rapidly. 

If you want to know more click here.
If you want to know more click here
If you want to know more click here
350px-Greenhouse_Gas_by_Sector
350px-Greenhouse_Gas_by_Sector

Cuts in the Budget 3.0

Do you receive a trans pass from the school district, in order to get to and from school? Well, until today there was a chance that that could have been cut from the budget. Thankfully SEPTA released a statement saying that it will continue to bargain with the school district of Philadelphia. This relieves many parents and students of the stress of finding out how to take their child to school, or finding out how to pay for the public transportation.

I know it sounds easy to pay the 2 dollars for a normal bus to school, but most people don't realize that some people have to take the trolley or multiple buses. This can turn out to be very costly if you are taking 3 buses to get to school in the morning and 3 buses to get back home at night. Then you will have to do that 180 days. This all adds up to a grand total of $2160. This is way out of the realm of possibility for some families. This money could be put toward furthering a students education, like college but instead these families might not be able to afford to send their child to school everyday of the week. This could increase the drop out rate and again increase the incarceration rate because the students will have to find a way to make money for school, but won't be able to get a job because of their current education status.



Citations: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/122708103.html

Sexual child abuse and the NAMBLA.

​So the last time we left we where talking about Physically abuse and sexual abuse. This time we will talk about sexual and the organization NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association).

What I will talk about first is the NAMBLA organization. This organization is working on abolishing age of consent law criminalizing adult sexual contact with minors. It maybe good for somethings but I think that this is a very bad idea. Basically what they are thing to make people think is that sex with children/minors is not harmful at all.

The next one is about several different stories of sexual child abuse. This one topic is very well known world wide. There are so many stories but the ones that I will be talking about is about a girl that is now an adult but when she was little her step-father sexually abused her, the second one is about two brothers that had a good friend for sometime until that friend was sexually abuse both of them.

First story: This story is about a woman that when she was very young her step-father started sexually abusing her. It started one day when her mom was out of the house "(it always happens when she is away)" she was about ten years old, she just got into the house after playing outside. After she came in the house her "step-father" told her that he needed to check her for supposed "ticks." So she didn't think anything of it. he took her in to the bathroom, made her undress and then told her to spread her legs. He told her that he needed to check her all over; meaning her vagina. To her is felt like he was touching her for hours, "it was very horrible" She said. He just kept touching her vagina, and kept repeating that he was looking for ticks. To this day she still feels physically sick when she would thing about what he click here.
Second story: This is called " The story of Justin and Matthiew
Wilke" If you wish to read because we are out of time click here.

Cuts in the Budget 3.0

Do you receive a trans pass from the school district, in order to get to and from school? Well, until today there was a chance that that could have been cut from the budget. Thankfully SEPTA released a statement saying that it will continue to bargain with the school district of Philadelphia. This relieves many parents and students of the stress of finding out how to take their child to school, or finding out how to pay for the public transportation.

I know it sounds easy to pay the 2 dollars for a normal bus to school, but most people don't realize that some people have to take the trolley or multiple buses. This can turn out to be very costly if you are taking 3 buses to get to school in the morning and 3 buses to get back home at night. Then you will have to do that 180 days. This all adds up to a grand total of $2160. This is way out of the realm of possibility for some families. This money could be put toward furthering a students education, like college but instead these families might not be able to afford to send their child to school everyday of the week. This could increase the drop out rate and again increase the incarceration rate because the students will have to find a way to make money for school, but won't be able to get a job because of their current education status.



Citations: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/122708103.html


Gay is the New Black?- Blog Post 3

​To sum this whole "Gay is the New Black" controversy, gay rights is a civil right. However, should not even be thought about being compared to the black human race. People of African decent have been separated from other races because of their skin color. White people and black people had to be separated in school because of their skin color and the discrimination. However, please sit a think... has there ever been a school for straight people and gay people?

 Dont get me wrong, gays have endured a lot throughout their entire lives. No one asked to be gay. It is a proven fact that people are "Born This Way". I totally think it is wrong for a person to sit down a lecture a homosexual about the wrongs of being gay. I believe that people should be able to do what ever they want to make themselves happy, as long as it is not harming anybody else. People can say that "it hurts to see a gay person because they are so disgusting". However, all it really is, is a person being selfish. I have never witnessed a gay person walking around discriminating against straight people.

The world would be so much of a better place if we could stop worrying about the minor things in life and worry about tackling the bigger issues. Homosexuals are not doing anything to anybody. I believe that gays are just trying to feel comfortable in their own skin. When people discriminate against gays, they are just being a bully and need to go get a hobby because making people miserable for something they cannot help is awful! 

Citations-
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/2011/2011/05/22/erica-essay-2/

http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/genetics_of_homosexuality.html

Jobs: Stress of Losing Your Job

​As the US faces hard times of unemployment more and more people becoming laid off from their jobs. Following this come the pressure and struggle with keeping up your family and maintaining the mortgage. Then come the emotional struggle in being looked down upon by your family, friend, and peers. Finally, you come to a point where you are now depressed not knowing what to do next, or where to find something or someone to get you out of this mess. 
Recent research has shown one of the main causes in depression is after times of economic crisis. People then turn to drugs, alcohol, over eating, and smoking to lower there stress. Family start to brake down by moving from place to place trying to find a home. Sometimes people become so depressed that they think they aren't wanted and show signs of suicide. Leaving their families to wonder and worry about their lives everyday.
Losing your job isn't as much of a worry as the emotions and the depression that come with it.  



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imgres-1

Today and Now

We all love snow and snow days off from school or work. Unless of course that cost hard working people the money they need. Speaking about snow, remember the huge snow storm of 2010? Record were being set all over the United State. 49 of 50 states were hit by some sort of heavy snow fall. Florida was untouched by all the massive snow falls. There is a pretty good explanation for this phenomena.

As things get warm, it becomes easier for it to become moist. This is true in most cases. Take that example and put it into our atmosphere. With the increasing temperatures, more moisture is being held in out atmosphere. All this moisture will be turned into heavy rainfall, hurricanes, or thunder snow. Guess what? this is all caused from global warming.


How this works? In a basic sense, as from what I have read so far, the increased heat is melting the polar ice caps. The released moisture will rise into the atmosphere and collect.  All that moisture will equal major storms and what not. 

There also seems to be an increase in tornado's in the United States. Just recently there was a tornado in North East, Philadelphia. Tornadoes in Philadelphia, let alone Pennsylvania are very rare. About 4 days ago, there was an EF-0 Tornado in Lehigh Valley. When does that ever happen? Scientist have just claimed that the increase in tornado activity is from global warming. Not enough information has been released for me to say anything about it. 

It's a scary thought to have tornadoes tear apart your house. Or to have massive amounts of snow cave in your your ceiling and roof. I'm pretty sure none of you do either. So please take into consideration all the destruction that you can potentially cause by just throwing a McDoThe world doesn't revolve around it. It revolves around your actions. So take action and save the world!

Here's a quick fact:
global-temps

Sorry if you can't see it
Henry Out.



Sources: 

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2011-01-12-2010-warmest-year-climate-change_N.htm


http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2011-03-01-snow-cold-global-warming_N.htm


http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/02/03/chicago-snow-2011-and-1967-global-warming-then-too/ 






The Corn Industry

​Since the food industry has grown and there's always more people to feed, the quality of food coming out of factories isn't the same as they used to be 40 years ago. A large factor to that is corn. Cows bred by big coporations are fed corn mil. Cows stomachs are supposed to be fed grass. This species for centuries of generations were raised on the open land of grass. Corn messes up the digestive system of a cow and as a result, they need to be given antibiotics by the time they start eating corn. Which is once they come out their mother's uterus lining into a world where the calves purpose is to be eaten. 

Two men, Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, decided to become farmers to learn were the food they eat so much came from. After a nine month period, after planting 31,000 seeds of corn on one acre of land, turned into 10,000 pound harvest. Ten thousand pounds of corn can produced 57, 348 cans of soda, 3,894 corn-fed hamburgers, 2,301 pounds of bacon, or 6,726 boxes of corn flakes. Both of these men realized corn was literally in everything they ate. Doughnuts, bacon, beef, soda, etc. In the conclusion of gaining this knowledge, they decided to get their analyzed to exactly see how much corn was in their bodies. Cheney had a 58% make up of corn in his body and Ellis 53%. 

Cheney and Ellis actually made a film called King Corn to show regular Americans what most of their food consists of. Cheney and Ellis say Earl Butz, the 18th secretary of agriculture, is the blame for this big industry of corn production that caused the fast food industry to boom in the past twenty years. After being in office from 1971 to 1976 under Presiden Nixon's appointment, Butz's idea was to genetically modify corn to create a surplus of the product. 


So, Butz who died in 2008, could be the primary blame for this vegetable that colonized all of Americas died, but regardless, since it's a big money maker for corporations and no farmers, it's going to be hard to wean of off such a highly used project. 

Sources:

Fueling The Fast Food Industry

Bullying.

One topic I feel that needs to be addressed is bullying. It is such a powerful thing and I feel it should be mentioned.The bullies don't even realize how effective what they're doing is. Over the internet, phone or in person. Bullying is bullying. There are a a lot of different reasons. The bullies feel insecure and they need someone to pick on and make them feel better about them self. Jealousy is a major reason. Like the bully isn't as pretty and the one person gets all the attention, so the bully just hates it so much she tries to make her feel bad. Because the other person is different. For example gay. When in reality there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.

These are just a few examples of what bullying could be about. If bullying of any kind is done to the point where person getting bullied is starting to feel so awful about them self they let the bully win. They take their own life. It's a heart breaking thing. It really is. 

Sculpture & 3 Pictures

The last two pictures are pictures of my sculpture. I took 200 photos and during my weekend vacation to portland I used 3 pictures from the bunch and altered the saturation and exposure of these photos. 
Ashley's Pictures 002 (2)
Ashley's Pictures 002 (2)
Ashley's Pictures 023 (2)
Ashley's Pictures 023 (2)
Ashley's Pictures 023
Ashley's Pictures 023
Ashley's Pictures 024 (2)
Ashley's Pictures 024 (2)
Ashley's Pictures 024
Ashley's Pictures 024
Ashley's Pictures 029
Ashley's Pictures 029
Ashley's Pictures 030
Ashley's Pictures 030

WHY NOT SAME SEX MARRAIGE!?!?!?!?!?!?

    I completely understand that there are people in the world who are going to argue against the title of this blog post. However, to me, it's just a rhetorical question. There are so many other things in the world , that are actually wrong, that those people can be spending their time on.

    The United States has come so far over the years with same-sex marriage. Granted, there has been over a  half a million hate crimes for same - sex couples. Keep in consideration that there weren't that many people coming out in the 1920s, so that number of hate crimes was a lot.

    There was a change that came for same-sex couples. In 1972, East Lansing, Michigan banned the discrimination against same sex couples.  However, with change, there are always going to be people against it.  Many people thought that it was a "threat" to the American way of life. Also, some Americans didn't want to have a gay airplane pilot, school teacher, or even doctor. However, when you think about it, we need those people. Why would you stop someone from helping you get to where you want to go, learn, or even cure your disease. WHY?

    When you just sit there and ask yourself the question "WHY" , it is hard to think of an excuse. Any type of discrimination is wrong. There is a wide variety of people who are discriminated against on a daily basis. There are people that really take that seriously. There are people who take their own lives BECAUSE of it. But what I wan't you to do is just as yourself "WHY". You know the reasons why they are doing this. But why do most people want this for same-sex couples or anyone who is teased. These are the consequences. WHY? WHY? WHY and HOW can  people so cruel?



The Link were I got all of my statistics is here.

Rehab After Drugs and Alcohol [ The Longterm Save] pt. 3

          After more of my research I still see that more kids each day are starting to do drugs and drink at a young age. By a young age I mean 10 and up. I don't really know why these kids do this. After researching that, I found out that most kids do this for publicity and self esteem. I also found out that children who use or drugs and alcohol is to feel old. To be older than they actually are.

          I do know someone who smokes and drinks to be cool his name is Nasir he is only 10 years old he has 2 older brothers and 2 older sister they live right next door to me. He smokes and drinks because his brothers do it. He tells them that if he doesn't smoke or drink with them he will tell their mom. The 2 older brothers are also young one is 12 the other 15. Now people come around asking to buy off of them and smoke with them. In reality they are using his money they no he want buy the drugs or alcohol because they are friends. So he buys and buys, smoke and drink. It is sad to see people at a young age do these things.

          I have tried talking to them but they don't listen. I don't get why they don't listen. It is for their own health, but the more their friends come around the more they buy.

         I hope all of this stops not just with them but in general drug and alcohol, abuse messes up people minds and action. It makes them look different as a person and kills people including themselves.

NO DRUGS
NO ALCOHOL

You and the World, Childhood Obesity, By Willie Willson

 

 

            Some of you people that are reading this are probably thinking that childhood obesity can’t affect much of our general public.  You are wrong.  16% of children are obese.  That is a large enough of a percentage to be called an epidemic.  Out of those obese children, ½ of them become obese adults. 

            If you are a parent and your child is obese, don’t just think that they will magically become fit.  That is a process which lasts for a long time.  Diet and exercise affect your Child's weight, and so does mindset.  You need to make them think, and be strong enough to get through each day’s workout.  You need to encourage them, and push them.

            As I have previously stated, obese children are 51% more likely to get heart diseases, diabetes, or some other possibly fatal disease.  About half of all obese people have diabetes as well.  Also, people with a lower education have a higher chance at becoming obese.  These are staggering statistics.

            Throughout this project, I’ve discussed obesity through the lens of an academic.  I cannot fathom being obese, but I know that this is an issue that needs to be pursued.  America is slowly becoming more obese, and I don’t want the future of our country to look like the movie Wall-E.  Help America by checking out the links below, and doing research yourself.  With our help, this topic could become a first priority.

Bibliography:

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa010803a.htm

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09317.html

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/obesityinchildren.html

Me and The World- The Energy Crisis #3

I don't like the way the energy crisis is going. We are going to run out of the coal and natural gas that the earth to hundreds of years to make. We need a new source of energy that is renewable and doesn't take the earth hundreds of years to make. I propose that we use either Solar Power, Wind Power or Hydro Power. Each of these energy sources have Pros and Cons.


Unknown-1Unknown-2images
​Solar vs. Hydro vs. Wind

Solar
Solar power is can be used almost any where and isn't that difficult to maintain. he system will also last for a very long time and it is silent so it won't mess with its environment. The problem is that Solar Power is not cheap to set up. It is very costly, and finding a good position for it is also difficult. There is a varying in power output and will probably require a large battery bank (place to store the energy) since Solar power can't operate at night.

Hydro
Hydro is great because it is the lowest cost per wattage and has a predictable annual energy output. The system also has low maintenance and can be made unobtrusive. Hydro power is difficult to find a good location for and parts will wear out easier and require more maintenance. It also can be costly to set up and damages the surrounding area.

Wind
Wind power has cheap energy cost and also has a predictable out put of energy. The problem is, that it is very expensive yo put turbines up and it is difficult to place them in places because of their size.It is also a hazard to birds and people object to the tower aesthetically.
​Sources
Solar Alaska

Blog post #2

1. How is sound produced by this instrument (now that you know more about sound, please try to refer specifically to the energy transfer and vibrations)?


I was thinking about doing piano at first. Pretty sure I'm going to make either a xylophone or a twanger to make matters easier. Sound is produced with the xylophone by hitting on the keyboard of different sounds and pitches. The longer the rod the more mass it has where as to a shorter rod it'll have a more pitch sound.


2. Based on your understanding, how are you changing the pitch? What physical characteristics are important in this instrument?


 It depends on the length and width of the rod to create the sound.  



3. What materials will you actually be using for your instrument and why? How will you play your instrument? What is your plan for constructing the instrument?


I planned on using metal plates to use as the keyboard and a box to have a base for the plates. From my understandings, the length and width of the rod will have more of an effect in constructing the instrument I would like to play. 


4. What outstanding questions do you still have?



Am I on the right path Ms. Awesome? 

Musical Instrument: Blog post #2


1. How is sound produced by this instrument (now that you know more about sound, please try to refer specifically to the energy transfer and vibrations)?

I was thinking about doing piano at first. Pretty sure I'm going to make either a xylophone or a twanger to make matters easier. Sound is produced with the xylophone by hitting on the keyboard of different sounds and pitches. The longer the rod the more mass it has where as to a shorter rod it'll have a more pitch sound.

2. Based on your understanding, how are you changing the pitch? What physical characteristics are important in this instrument?

 It depends on the length and width of the rod to create the sound.  


3. What materials will you actually be using for your instrument and why? How will you play your instrument? What is your plan for constructing the instrument?

I planned on using metal plates to use as the keyboard and a box to have a base for the plates. From my understandings, the length and width of the rod will have more of an effect in constructing the instrument I would like to play. 

4. What outstanding questions do you still have?


Am I on the right path Ms. Awesome? 

Blog Post #2 Gonzalez

1. How is sound produced by this instrument (now that you know more about sound, please try to refer specifically to the energy transfer and vibrations)?

Vibrations of the strings create a sound similar to a tuning fork. The body of the guitar amplifies the sounds.

2. Based on your understanding, how are you changing the pitch? What physical characteristics are important in this instrument?

You're changing the pitch of the instrument by using a thicker string.

3. What materials will you actually be using for your instrument and why? How will you play your instrument? What is your plan for constructing the instrument?


Wood, and Guitar Strings, maybe some sort of pegs (Most likely some sort of pegs to keep the strings on)


4. What outstanding questions do you still have?

Blog Post #1 Gilberto Gonzalez

--How is it played? What does the person have to do to produce sound?

To play a guitar you pluck or strum the strings. 

--How do you change a note? (you might have to watch very carefully to see this)

You can change the note by putting your finger on a fret or using a different string.

--How is it shaped?


It's shaped like an Hour Glass.

--What does this make you think about how you can create and change sound?

I feel as if the shape effects the way the vibrations travel, also the amount of space inside affects how loud the instrument is.

--What connections (if any) do you think you can draw between what you are observing and you might already know about waves?

Ian McClendon Music Blog #1

The instrument that I picked was a guitar. A string instrument with specific tensioned wires which can alter the sound that it will produce. The size, thickness, and tension is the most important components to finding the right tune. 

-The proper way to play a guitar is by plucking the string or by strumming all the strings by holding certain frets that can produce specific tones/ notes. 
- To change the note of the guitar can be done by plucking different strings and also by holding a string along the neck of the guitar. The further down the neck you hold the higher the pitch of the tone will be. Tones and notes that can flow together is counted by frets. From the top of the neck goes from 1-20 frets. Frets 3, 5, 7, 9 are the main notes to play. 
-A guitar should be shaped with horizontal length so that the strings can be placed along the neck of the guitar and pass over a hollow base where the reverb of the sound can be amplified. 
-I was thinking about how large of a hollow hole can be placed in the base and still how loud can it be? Will more holes in the guitar give it a different sound?
-As interfering waves are produced from the guitar while strumming can be more of a constructive interference and help the sound of the guitar. Also by plucking individual string along with other can correspond into a beautiful melody. 


Video Of the Song: http://fretplay.com/guitar-videos.php?title=Train-Hey-Soul-Sister-Guitar-Lesson&band=train&studio=TotallyGuitars&id=2243



electric-guitar-strings2
electric-guitar-strings2