Vehicles- by Aaron Ho

 Vehicles

Does everyone have a favorite vehicle? Well, my favorite vehicles are the Panavia Tornado and the Lockheed  F117A Stealth fighter. The Panavia Tornado has 'swing' wings that can pivot backwards and forwards. The forward position is for take-off and landing because it gives plenty of lift when the aeroplane is moving slowly. After take-of the wings are swept back for high-speed flight. The Lockheed is meant to be invisible to radar systems. The F117A's flat surfaces and the special paint help scatter enemy radar signals, making it very difficult to track. Those are my favorite planes. Now my favorite cars are the Hawaiin Fire Department's custom built fire truck. This truck was originally made in 1940, and is powered by two jet engines taken from aircraft! It can reach more than 400 miles per hour and is the fastest truck on Earth. My second favorite car is the low rider because it is a type of customized car. These cars look as if they've been squashed. In fact, section of the car above the doors is removed, and the suspension is lowered. Low riders can also jump in the air. The customized suspension fitted to these cars allows the body to be set at different heights. The suspension is so powerful that drivers can literally make their cars jump up and down. Please tell us all about the vehicles that you like and remember a vehicle can be a motorcycle, a car, a plane, a boat, etc.

Halloween- by Abhinav Naikawadi

Halloween

By Abhinav Naikawadi

Hi Room 24! How many of you are going trick or treating this Halloween? I sure am. Do you know the history of Halloween? Halloween originated over 2000 years ago. It was first a Celtic holiday called Samhain (Sah-ween) in Ireland, celebrated on October 31^st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. On this day when the dead can return to the earth, ancient Celts would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off these roaming ghosts. They believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. So, treats were left to pacify the evil and make sure next year crops would be surplus. This tradition evolved into trick-or-treating. Later the Romans had a similar holiday called Pagan to honor the dead. Then the Catholics named this festival “All Hallows Eve”, which later got renamed “Halloween” for short.

Over time, Halloween started to get less and less religious and more of a fun sort of festival. It is a time of joy, fun, variety of costumes for all ages, some are spooky and others slightly funny. There are pumpkin patches, parades, parties, and my personal favorite, trick-or-treating. One really important part of Halloween is the candy or chocolates. Hmmm…Yummy! It is probably one of kid’s favorite parts of Halloween. A famous symbol of Halloween is a pumpkin, which is carved with a demon face to scare away evil spirits. These carved pumpkins are called jack-o-lanterns. Often there is a candle placed inside to brighten it up. Many people also put up spooky decor such as gravestones, coffins, fake monsters, etc. What do you like best about Halloween? What are you going to be for Halloween? Have you put any decor up and if so what? Anyways, Happy Halloween!!!! 

Taekwondo- By Shrirang

Taekwondo                                           
Did you know that taekwondo is a self defense art? Taekwondo is a martial art that comes from Korea. Similar to Taekwondo are other martial arts such as Karate and Kung Fu. I am learning Taekwondo since Kindergarten, and I am on my way to test for Brown Belt. This belt is just one level below the Black Belt.

I want to share some self defense kicking tips that I learnt in Taekwondo.  Anyone who learns these simple tips can protect from danger.  If you are walking on a side walk which looks like it hasn’t been walked on, and a person comes up with a gun or knife and tells you to give all the money you have in your pocket, one way is try running away from him. If you can’t run away your only resort is fighting. There are many ways to fight and one of the ways is kicking. Kicking is a skill that we learnt in Taekwondo. You can kick hard on the body of the intruder. There are many places on the body that you kick, to knock the enemy. You can kick hard in the abdomen, chest or the area below the stomach or above the thighs called groin. All these spots on the body get hurt easily. After kicking you can run away.  There are several type of kicks such as side kick, round horse kick, axe kick, snap kick, outside-inside or inside-outside kick. By learning these kicks one can protect when in danger. Kicking is just one form of self defense. We also learnt other forms that I can share some other time. I feel confident by know these simple tricks.

By,

Shrirang

Favoite Animal- Mandar Matkar

Favorite Animal

Hey guys. Ever wonder what your favorite animal is? Mine is the GRAY WOLF. Here are some facts about them. First of all I had no idea they are least concerned of extinction. I was so surprised about that because they’re endangered species, but when I read some more about it said only humans and tigers are their predators. Wolves live, travel and hunt in packs of 4-7 animals on average. Packs include the mother and father wolves, called the alphas, their pups and several other subordinate or young animals. The alpha female and male are the pack leaders that track and hunt prey. They can run 34 to 38 miles for more than 20 minutes. Since they are social predators they are almost undefeatable. Another fact is that even though wolves are ancestors of dogs, 1.8% is dog. They can also slow the flow of blood to conserve heat. Pretty clever for a wolf! Now it’s your turn to tell about your favorite animal.

Thanks
Mandar Matkar