Perseverance rover on Mars

It’s July 30th, 2020, and Perseverance soared into the Florida morning sky on an Atlas V rocket. This was the start of a nearly 500 million kilometer journey to the red planet, with the car-sized rover, and a helicopter called Ingenuity, aboard. Almost 7 months later, on February 18th, comes its time to land. This we will cover in today's post.

Fast-forward to February 18th.

The first thing you need to know is that there are 2 stages for the rover to enter Mars’ atmosphere. The first stage is the Separos, the cruise stage, which is a platform with solar panels sitting on top of the rover’s backshell. 10 minutes after the rover hits the atmosphere. The heat shield starts doing its work of blocking all the flames and plasma from damaging the rover.

After that, we start the landing phase, which has 9 steps:

The first step is the capsule, in which the Perseverance starts to guide itself through the thin atmosphere of Mars. The next step is parachute deployment, which it's self-explanatory. The third step is the heat shield detachment, followed by the fourth step, the radar lock, in which the radar attached to the rover scans the land to see where it is.

Continuing with the fifth step, which is terrain relative navigation solution which is a process in which the radar tells the rover the exact location to land. Then, step six, in which risk till touch down rises by a lot. This step consists of the back shell separating from the sky crane, which is a small scaffolding with thrusters for the touchdown. Step seven, the engine light and descent to the surface starts. During Step 8, the sky crane lowers the rover with cables to the surface. This happens because the crane brings up too much dust if it gets close to the surface. Now the wheels are on the surface. Finally, step 9 is the riskiest stage of all: Sky crane separation. In this stage, the cables snap and the engine's power up to max thrust and the crane flies away to crash far away.

This is how the landing of the rover happened. I know this leaves you with a lot of questions, and facts to be explained about the rover and its purpose, but those will be the topic for another entry.

Thanks for sticking by and keep reading our blog to learn more about space facts!

By Diego Puertas

7th Grade

Dr. Seuss dilemma

Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer who wrote many books that have been part of our childhood. His rhymes and fun illustrations have been part of generations and generations of kids who have enjoyed reading famous titles such as "The Cat in the Hat" or "Green Eggs and Ham." Dr. Seuss was a man that wanted kids to learn and have fun with his books and just wanted to make people happy.

On March 2, the day where his birthday is celebrated, the Dr. Seuss Company announced that they would ban 6 Dr. Seuss titles from the market, for containing racist and offensive stereotypes. Some of these banned texts included "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street," "If I Ran the Zoo," "McElligot's Pool," "On Beyond Zebra!," "Scrambled Eggs Super!" and "The Cat's Quizzer."

In my opinion, Dr. Seuss was not racist, he just wanted to make other people laugh, and learn from these books. In most of his books, you don't see any actual skin color. His characters are just innocent strangely colored skin characters with white, yellow, blue, red skin... The ones who have been banned showed an African character barefoot and with a skirt made of leaves and an Asian character with chopsticks and a pointy hat. We do have to see the book in context and understand that it was written long ago, where portraying these stereotypes far from being offensive, was funny for kids.

I think nowadays people just complain or find mistakes on things that do not make sense at all. My memories of these books that I read it and I didn’t see or understand if he was being racist or that was rude to any culture.

In conclusion, I feel is not fair to damage his image and hard work. I believe that those books should not be banned because they can actually be used by teachers to help kids to learn about racism and everything that happened in the past. The publishers could also adapt the content so is not offensive to any culture, instead of just erasing them and pretend they never existed, and take off the value of Dr. Seuss's creativity and dedication, which helped kids love and appreciate reading.

Written by Samantha Aquino

4th grade student

Idols

What are idols?

I know all of us have heard of the term “idol” at least once, but, what are idols? Idols are the people we admire, and the people we see as an example to reach. Idols can be very useful in life, they might be your inspiration to look forward to when you grow up, or to reach personal goals. Idols are the people who can inspire us to be whatever we want to be, and they can help us through some difficult times. In a way, they can be the model to learn new things, and therefore a standard to build our life. A successful life.

Kinds of Idols

You can obviously have any kind of idol depending on what you like or why you like that person. You can have idols such as scientists, athletes, writers, gamers, etc. Having clear arguments on what like about your idol is very important ‘cause you need to make sure is someone to look up to and the reasons why. That if someone tells you differently, you can stand against that person and be proud of your idol, for what he is, and for what you want to be.

Picks Right and wrong

As I previously said, it is very important to love your idols, but we always have to be careful with who we admire. Sometimes the people you admire might be a bad influence on you or do things that are not correct. You might think you've known them your whole life since they are important to you, and that they won't do anything wrong, but we cannot see the future and can't know what decisions they will make. Therefore, you need to carefully choose positive and trustable idols. These right picks will help you to be inspired by something and to have a life of success. Always remember though, idols are people too, and as people, living their own life, are allowed to make mistakes. What is important is that you see through them and distinguish the good from the bad.

You and him.

It’s always important to be yourself even though you admire that person. You can see them as an example, but we should not aspire to be exactly like them, 'cause everybody is born with their own special talent. If that person has a talent that you don’t have, you should not try to copy it. Find what makes you unique! We should all be happy with our own 'special power' God gave us.

Who knows, maybe one day, you will be someone's idol too.

Written by Rodrigo Linera

5th Grader

Qualities of Healthy Relationships

Valentine's day is already gone, however, the idea of celebrating love and friendship just for one day every year seems wrong to me. Let me explain myself. Valentine's day is a very important celebration, no doubt, but my point of view is that love must be shown every time, every day.

Today we will talk about healthy love relationships (yeah, those that you have to maintain for the rest of the year right after February 14). I'm just a 12-year-old girl and you will be asking yourself right now What could this kid know about love and relationships? Well, I've NEVER had a relationship, but I see what healthy relationships need because I see healthy relationships in the people around me. These tips are from my heart, I hope you enjoy them. Let's start!!

Tip # 1: Listen.

It can sound so simple, but it is sometimes the hardest thing to do, and it's the key of a healthy and honest relationship.  Listening to your partner will help you understand his or her problems. Many times, we foster thoughts like “I have many problems, and they are the worst ones”. That is not true! Everyone has problems and the crude reality is that if you don't accept that, you are not ready for a serious relationship.

Try to listen to your partner and let him or her listen to your problems too. Communication reduces stress! Remember to take turns, don't interrupt your partner when he/she talks, show your interest, and give opinions only when asked to. Active listening will show that you really care about what your partner is telling you. Make sure to ask the necessary questions and validate your partner's emotions.

Tip #2: Spend time together

There are many ways in which you can spend time together, like going to the gym or, romantic dinner, go out or stay in to enjoy a candlelight dinner and background music, a concert at home, cinema, Karaokes, picnics, etc. These moments help build trust and help the bond you have with your partner grow. I promise you that it will make a difference.

The benefits of spending time together are that it improves communication, also creates new experiences together, which reinforces the sense of companionship and friendship. As a couple it is very common to create comfort zones, and when we leave them we feel disengaged to the point of not knowing the person who is next to us, and that doesn't sound good, right?.

Tip #3: Make time for yourself

I know that this is exactly the opposite of what I just said, but as a couple, both of you must make the decision to take time apart so that each one has their own space. It is great to do things together, but not EVERYTHING.

Having a partner should not limit continuing to grow as a person. Having your own identity, continuing to cultivate those hobbies that you like so much, and having your social network of family and friends. Many people think that true couples should do everything together or do the exact same things. True happiness is the ability to continuing being you but also choosing to be with the other person

All these tips will help you understand your partner. Remember these tips are just a guide so your relationship gets better and more trustworthy. In the end, the most IMPORTANT thing in a healthy relationship is LOVE.

PS: If you are still single, save this article and enjoy your life. Someday, It might come useful. See you next time!

Written by Paula Garcia

6th Grade Student

Dominican Republic: A very special place

There are lots of places in this world, but the Dominican Republic is really special. For this article, I will be describing what Dominican Republic is like and what are some of our most important Holidays, food, our most famous tradition, language, and a brief part of our history.

History

Let’s just say Dominican Republic’s history is very interesting. This piece of land was very different before because we were a Haitian Colony. They were 3 really special people that made our country independent. Their names were: Juan Pablo Duarte y Díez, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez and Matías Ramón Mella. They are the Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic.

On the night of February 27, 1844, our Founding Fathers decided that they were going to make this country independent, 177 years ago.  Mella shot the blunderbuss (trabucazo) that started the war of Independence in la Puerta de la Misericordia, and just a second later Sánchez rose the Dominican Flag for the first time at La Puerta del Conde. Duarte wasn’t there because he was exiled, but he was involved during the whole process in the creation of the plan and the new republic.

  

Our most famous tradition: Carnaval 

The Carnaval is a Dominican Celebration which basically includes going around in cool traditional costumes like Diablo Cojuelo, Lechones, Roba la Gallina, Los Alí Babá, Los Pepines and many others! We celebrate the Carnaval every February 27th. The most famous one is in La Vega.  It’s so fun!

 

Language

In this world there are a lot of types of languages, but here language is very interesting and kinda funny too. Dominicans use many idioms and phrases you can only get if you are Dominican! For example: "¿Como ‘ta la cosa?", "Me comí la bandera", "No 'toy en ti",or "Ta' to'."

We speak Spanish or Castellano- or a version of it. The way we speak it's kind of funny because we sometimes miss the 's' at the end of most words.

Food

The Dominican Republic has really delicious food. There are lots of types of food to choose from. The most traditional one, our Mangú, it's made out of mashed plantains along with "huevos fritos con salami" it's considered the "Dominican Breakfast." Other typical dishes here are Salcocho, dulce de leche dominicano, moro de guandules... our food is simply the best!

Well,  now you know why I think Domininican Republic is special and the best place to live! It's just AWESOME!!

Written by Montserrat Corea

5th grade Student

International Women's Day: Women then and now

Photo credits: Pixabay

It’s Women’s day, so I’m going to speak about it a little and share opinions on what women represent nowadays. 

The first thing I want you to know is that Women’s Day is a day to recognize women’s achievements especially the ones that were accomplished during a period of time when men were the only ones allowed to do certain things. Women had to fight a lot to be recognized in society. These women fought for important causes and showed the power of their voices in moments where society needed them, they protested, fought, and demanded equal rights and fair laws for both men and women. Their fight allowed women to vote, to get an education and jobs, get paid fairly, avoid domestic violence... and the list goes on and on.

Now women are actually well recognized but not yet as well or as much as they deserve to be. it is important that we, as girls, respect their memory by not getting lost on social expectations. The role models we follow shape our identity, and who we turn out to be in the future. Young girls like Malala Yousafzai, who have traveled around the world giving speeches and fighting for equal rights between men and women (in this case boys and girls), should be an example to all of us of the importance of this responsibility we now have.

But being focused these times is hard. There are lots of popular things and expectations regarding women, mostly caused by social media. For example, social media says women are supposed to look and act a certain way: girls are supposed to wear makeup and hair properly, be a certain size or body type to be considered pretty, or wear a certain type of clothes to be 'in', If they don't, they are considered 'ungirly' or 'too lazy'. Some random teenage girls dance in front of a camera with short shirts for 60 seconds and get paid lots of money, while women who work their lives off every day in offices and get paid very little. This, far from helping, has given a very bad perspective of women to the world, and we can all agree that it needs to stop.

When I grow up I want to be a president. To have this dream was something we little girls couldn’t even think of in the past. Nowadays, even if some people don’t take us seriously, we can achieve these goals and dreams with the support of our family and friends. I would have never imagined living in the old times when no one, not even my family, would want me to work hard on a real job. Thanks to all the women we celebrate today, young girls like me show their strengths by saying and doing what they are passionate about. 

For me, a woman cannot be defined with a single word. Women are strong, powerful, brave, smart, creative, dedicated, loving, and much more! so celebrate Woman's day by becoming the best version of a woman you can be. This Women's Day research for a woman that has accomplished something, and you will see they probably started being just like you.

It is time for more and more women to be recognized for what they are doing all around the world. Ask yourself: What are you doing right now? What do you want to become? How will you change the world and make it better? 

“Women are like teabags. You never know how strong they are until they’re in hot water."

Eleanor Roosevelt

Maria Alejandra Vásquez

5th grader

Why should kids be allowed to go back to school?

 Why should kids be allowed to go back to school? That is the million-dollar question. Well, let me tell my perspective as a student.

First things first, let’s talk about the basics: Learning. It's harder to learn online because students have to be sitting all the time. Noises at home can cause distractions. Sometimes there's a lack of a good internet connection, or there may be problems with the device. To be honest, sometimes kids need help, and they don't always have an adult that can help them.

Kids don’t just learn from their teachers, they also learn from each other. By interacting and collaborating, making projects together, class discussions, playing games, and working in small groups, children make learning meaningful. 

The school is filled with people who support their learning process. A teacher nearby is a helping hand. They help students learn, maintain order in the classroom and answer questions when needed. Children establish emotional connections with their teachers in their everyday life.

Not only academics are learned at school, kids also develop their social, and emotional skills. So not having face-to-face interactions, can cause a lifelong effect on kids.

The school psychologist provides assistance when emotional help is needed. They do that by talking to students about their concerns and doubts. Children at school can always contact them if they are feeling sad or if they need advice. 

In reality, the whole school staff are lifesavers because they help whenever is necessary. 

School is a vital part of a kid's routine. Students who are not going to school are missing out on contact with their teachers, friends, from participating in school activities, and school clubs. By not attending school they are also missing out on special dates that they celebrate together, like Christmas, where students usually perform on a show, or Valentine’s Day, where they share messages of friendship and love with each other.

A school is a place where kids can exercise. In school kids have clubs that keep them active like ballet, volleyball, Tae-Kwon-Do, chess, football and other sports which provide flexibility, fitness, concentration, self-control, and endurance.

For most kids, one of the best parts of school is lunchtime. During lunch, they can play traditional games or create their own ones. They can play sports or sit down on the field to enjoy the match, or just talk to friends. Kids need these interactions to grow and develop social skills. 

Health experts, school officials, and teachers are all working hard so the school is as safe as possible while open. To help prevent the virus from spreading, school limits class sizes, and while learning in-person it will be mandatory for kids and teachers to wear masks and maintain social distance. 

According to several studies, kids are less likely to get COVID-19 than adults. If the kids do get the virus, it is most likely that they will suffer mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. 

To prevent the virus from spreading, in and out of school, here are some good practices: 

• Washing hands and cleaning surfaces often.
• Wearing masks or cloth face coverings.
• Keeping kids spaced apart (distance or 2 meters)
• Staggered schedules.
• Grouping the same students and teachers together throughout the school day.

Overall, kids should go back to school because it benefits them not only educationally, but also emotionally. Also, there is not that big of a risk because they are less likely to get Covid-19. By keeping a safe distance, wearing a mask and respecting protocols, children can still enjoy school safely. 

School is a big part of a kid’s life, so don’t let them miss out on their second home. 

“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

Malcolm X

Written by Paula Carrero

5th Grade Student