Evaluation of Walk Two Moons

In the end, I really enjoyed this book! Walk Two Moons is a contemporary book written about a girl named Salamanca, often called Sal, who is having a hard time accepting the fact that her mom is gone, and isn’t returning. Throughout the book she meets a friend, Phoebe, who is an interesting yet determined girl. And most of the time, they get a long really well. Later in the book these two friends find that they have a lot in common after all, and it helps them cope with each other’s issues when they come up. I would say that young adults, teens, would probably enjoy this book better than an elementary student would, even though it is written in a way that a child could read it. This book contains a good amount of life lessons that a young child most likely wouldn’t catch or simply wouldn’t understand. That’s why I loved this book so much, I could relate to a lot of it, and it required me to do some thinking as I read on. Overall, this book was a wonderful piece of work. Starting the book was difficult for me but as I read on, I was sucked in.




At the very start of this book Salamanca is taking a road trip with her grandparents to all the places Sugar, Slamanaca’s mother, visited and where she now rests. During this road trip Sal tells that story of her best friend, Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother, like Sal's, unexpectedly decides to leave home. Sal meets Phoebe when she and her father move from Bybanks, Kentucky, to Euclid, Ohio. Phoebe is a very interesting girl with a lot of surprises throughout the book. She is very high strung, and antsy. She believes that Mrs. Cadaver, a woman who Sal’s father befriended, has many links to odd situations such as the strange, crazy, lunatic who they once saw and the mysterious notes that keep appearing on her front door. Soon, Sal becomes caught up in Phoebe’s melodramatic life.



When one day Phoebe’s mother disappears and leaves and doesn’t give much of an explanation, Sal is reminded of her own mother and it gets her thinking. As a few days go by, Phoebe’s family is still convinced that she will return. When weeks go by the family begins to get upset and they start to worry. Things start to happen as questions become answered and these answers all come together to form one big solution and answer it all. Sal and her father end up going back to Bybanks, Kentucky to rebuild their life without her mother.



In evaluation, this book is a phenomenal story. It is written in such a way the keeps you reading without being able to stop. As you read you get little pieces of what happened to Sal’s mom but you never know where she went until you reach the end. I loved this book because it was intriguing and kept me wondering what would happen next. Each character was described in a way that I could vividly picture each character and I knew what they were like. I didn’t have to guess what kind of person they were. From the minute I met Phoebe I knew what she was like and what the book might have in store for me with her. As I read on, this book because easier for me to get through because towards the middle, I was finding myself relating simple principles to myself and my life in ways that I hadn’t thought of before.



I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. This isn’t one of the books where only a few people will enjoy it, I know for a fact that there everyone who decided to open this book and read it would find, in one way or another, a relationship to their own lives and that’s why I took so much pleasure in this simple, yet deep story.

Field Trip!

For my field trip for science, I went to the Farmington Bay Nature Center, which is a huge wetland full of wildlife such as birds, frogs, worms, and other animals that you find in the wetlands. This site covers a large portion of land that is used just for those particular animals and their habitat. It is the ancients of Lake Bonneville that once covered Utah. Some of its natural resources are The Great Salt Lake, which used to cover about fifteen thousand square miles. It is known to the world for its heavy salt content, illuminating sunsets, and beautiful mountain vistas. The lake makes a big difference, and is not understood as mightily as it should be, along the Wasatch Front area. The Lake keeps Wasatch populated with life and other fascinating creatures.


Seventy Five percent of the wetlands in Utah are located across the shores of the Great Salt Lake. These wetlands store seasonal floodwaters, purify polluted runoff water, stabilize shorelines, and nurture a multitude of plant and animal species. The Wetlands surrounding the lake are largely populated with a vast majority of birds and constitute the most significant migratory birds in the whole western hemisphere. Two million to three million birds make a stop at the Great Salt Lake in their journeys.

Life in Utah would be significantly different if it weren’t for the Great Salt Lake and its way of giving life. Yet, with every year, a unique resource becomes increasingly under threat. The whole point of the Farmington Bay Nature Center is to make people aware of the threats of the ecosystem, and let people take advantage of them while they are still here in this area. We all need to learn to appreciate the environment we live in and realize its importance.

History itself

Last night I spent the night up at my grandparents house in Park City and some really cool things came to me while I was there. When I got up there I noticed a brochure thing on their counter and I asked what it was for. It was a family History thing that they went to the night before and he briefly told me about it. It was just about people who have been taken away from their families or people who just simply don't know anything about their history or ancestors so they go out of their way to find something about where they came from and the people before them. And he spent like an hour just telling me about these amazing stories about people from halfway across the world finding their parents or siblings they didn't even know about. And then he talked about the last story that someone talked on, and it was about someone finding out that they were related to someone who was a big part of the civil war. And then that started a whole new conversation about history. Me and my grandparents are history freaks. I absolutely adore learning about history and the events and victories that have led up to my time. My grandpa said that as he's gotten older he's become so much more knowledgeable of world history. And that it's not just dates and events anymore, it's the things that have led up to those events and the real things that happened on those days and knowing these things has made him appreciate history so much more and look at our world in such a different perspective. My grandparents have traveled all aroudn Europe and they went down by the phillipeans and just about everywhere else. But they don't just go down there to enjoy being in a different country, they do it to look at the history behind that country and the monuments that aren't talked of but that are big parts in the role of that country and even the world.
This all got me thinking, being in junior high we take history and geography and Utah studies and classes like that, but no one really retains any of the stuff we learn. History is such a big deal because if you don't know your history, how're your kids going to know, and their kids etc.. There are people in our world who are denying history and if we don't continue to spread the word, how're we going to be able to go against those people who decide to deny the background of our world? History is so cool, and it's something we all need to have a good knowledge of because somewhere down the line, someone's paid the price.

History does not repeat itself. The historians repeat one another.

-Max Beerbohm

Ice Shaking News

Most people think that all glaciers move alike, creeping steadily toward sea or valley. News from Antarctica tell us differently. It has been a shocking discovery that undermines most theories to the way glaciers move and the speed they move at. The way the earth moves is fascinating and we find different things all the time that change the stand up the worlds theories and prove another theory.


Usually twice a day the massive Whillians Ice Stream, after sticking for hours on a plain of bedrock, slips forward up to two feet, triggering seismic waves equal to a magnitude 7 earthquake. Locating th source of the powerful quakes, researchers led by Douglas Weins of Washington university in St. Louis suggest the unusual behavior occurs because the half-mile-thick glacier gets caught on the bedrock until tides from the Ross Sea free it. Someone standing on the ice wouldn't feel or see a thing. The slip plays out slowly, taking 20 to 30 minutes.

I think that it's great this is being studied. From hundreds of years ago to the present, many things have changed and sped up. And without research, these kinds of things would've never been found and our world would be a huge mystery. In this particular case, earthquakes are happening more quickly which cause the rest of the ice and bedrock to move and change quicker. It's really good thing that science is being used to help us know of these small occurring things in the earth.

As the climate warms, scientists hasten the study of how glaciers move. In Antarctica they've learned how one stops and starts. Setting off ice quakes. Gravity tugs the ice stream toward the Ross Sea. Daily tides push the Ross Ice Shelf against the descending glacier. The glacier eventually grinds to a halt above a rough area of bedrock, building up stress within the ice. When the tide falls, the ice lunges forward with powerful motion. Seismic waves are detected 3,000 miles away in Australia.

The world is continually changing and it will always be that way. It's a really good thing that we have the people in this world that spend their precious time studying the earth and it's bazaar ways. Without them we would never have a clue about the earth and it's wonders. The earthquakes that hit under the ice are only the beginning of what the earth has to offer and what the earth will do in the future. I think that we should always keep checking up the earth and its news because in all that we know, the world gives us a lot more.

Is the internet making us stupid??

“But a recently published study of online research habits, conducted by scholars from University College London, suggests that we may well be in the midst of a sea change in the way we read and think.”


It is a simple fact that the world is evolving and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about that. All of the little researches that are being done to try to get us to realize the world is changing are beyond pointless. The world is going to change, and that’s a fact. Those people would save a whole lot of time and effort if they would just simply look at how things changed from 1100 to 1200 to 1300 to 1400 etc. Minds are growing, people are becoming smarter, new things are being invented and that is the simple call for change! When it is said that google is making us stupid, they are very wrong. It has even been proved that Adult minds are like plastic, and it takes a lot for them to make a full on change. So, the fact that the internet came about when these “adults” were just becoming adults explains to us that it’s going to be a bit harder for them to get used to a whole new device. You don’t see young people coming out and telling us that the internet is making us stupid, because its not, it’s just the way we were taught from the moment we entered school. Because we were taught in a different way than these adults who are trying to tell us we’re all stupid, doesn’t make it right for them to come out and assume when they really have no idea. Their brains don’t work like ours and won’t ever work as ours do, so why then must they try to make us think we’re stupid because we’ve given our brains a different work out than they gave theirs.

“Reading, explains Wolf, is not an instinctive skill for human beings. It’s not etched into our genes the way speech is. We have to teach our minds how to translate the symbolic characters we see into the language we understand.”

That, my friends, is why we aren’t stupid because of the Internet. When we entered school the teacher taught us how to read, write, spell etc. and from that knowledge we then, were able to branch out on our own and use that knowledge in whatever ways we could possibly find. We read on the Internet, we spell on the Internet. Because we’re not studying books 24/7 like they used to have to do doesn’t mean we’re dumb, because we’re not. We have just grown up using our reading abilities and writing abilities in different ways than those “adults” did when they were young. We still do our projects, we just don’t have to go to every library in Utah to find the one item of research that we need. And because it’s easier for us to get our information, more is expected of us. And that is why we are not getting stupid. Schooling is getting harder and more is expected because resources are now easier to locate. Our brains may even be being pushed more than they used to be, so don’t tell me the internet is making me stupid.
They must think that, in generations to come, those youth are going to be dumbfounded if they think we’re the ones that are going to turn out stupid. They are going to learn in school everything that is expected and more. The internet is not putting any kind of change to that at all. Everything is going to stay the same, resources are just a million times easier to find.

“Then again, the Net isn’t the alphabet, and although it may replace the printing press, it produces something altogether different. The kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds. In the quiet spaces opened up by the sustained, undistracted reading of a book, or by any other act of contemplation, for that matter, we make our own associations, draw our own inferences and analogies, foster our own ideas. Deep reading, as Maryanne Wolf argues, is indistinguishable from deep thinking.”

Small beneficial Saving!

We are already aware of the fastest ways to conserve energy, so what’s holding us back? It’s as simple as using less energy. With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more, doing the earth a favor while also helping our bank accounts. If we converted half of all light bulbs to compact fluorescents, we would reduce CO2 from lighting by 42.4 million tons a year, or 36 percent. That’s huge! But with all of this knowledge, what is keeping us from trying to help and save our earth?


Electricity is the biggest source of power for U.S. homes, and for every kilowatt-hour used, 2.2 are “lost” as that energy is generated and sent over transmission lines So, even small changes in our habits can scale up to big reductions in carbon production. There are so many minor things that we can do just in our homes that could make an immense change to our climate. For instance, cars and light trucks consume the lion’s share of petroleum used for transportation in the U.S. Little but decent changes in efficiency and driving habits could add up to significant fuel savings. Cars actually end up wasting up to 85 percent of the energy from the fuel in their tanks. But will the low carbon diet really work? From experiments, it was shown that we could mainly conserve CO2 by wasting less energy at home and on the highway. If every single home did this, I don’t even think we could imagine what a vast change it would make to our climate. What do we have to lose?

In my own opinion, I believe that this is a very serious subject that isn’t broadcasted or publicized enough and so it doesn’t seem like such a bid deal, but it is! Just reading about the massive difference it would make is breath taking. I don’t understand why anyone who learns or reads about the substantial affect it could make, wouldn’t just start trying to save energy right at that very moment. It is a serious thing that we all need to consider. And if just a community started saving, I think it would make somewhat a difference in our climate.

From the article I have learned a lot about how much it can affect our climate and simply our earth. It has been calculated on how the energy loss has increased greatly and the outcome has been far greater than was supposedly expected at this time. This happened on our behalf. If it truly was made clear about how important it is to conserve, I think there would be much more participation. About 40 percent of possible cuts could come from measures that save billions of dollars each year.

In conclusion, the point this article is trying to get made is that carbon dioxide cutting is so very important, and not many people truly realize it. I isn’t made clear to most people about why our climate is crashing and so most don’t really get it and so nothing is done about it. Reducing Carbon is a major key to keeping a healthy planet. Our daily doings do make a difference.

A Tale of Two Cities analysis

A Tale of Two Cities is a story of two cities that are in turmoil with one another. People from each city get involved with each other and trouble and miscommunication happens. But in the end one man resolves it all. Throughout the book I found that family was a very broad theme in the story, and the struggles to make and keep families together throughout the book. Just like normal families in the real world.




Passage: Book Two Chapter 10: Two Promises pages 133-140

‘I give the promise,’ said the Doctor, ‘without any condition. I believe your object to be, purely and truthfully, as you have stated it. I believe your intention is to perpetuate, and not to weaken, the ties between me and my other and far dearer self. If she should ever tell me that you are essential to her perfect happiness, I will give her to you. If there were – Charles Darnay, if there were any fancies, any reasons, any apprehensions, anything whatsoever, new or old, against the man she really loved – the direct responsibility thereof not lying on his head- they should all be obliterated for her sake. She is everything to me, more to me than suffering, more to me than wrong, more to me – Well! This is idle talk.’    Page 139



This passage I found very interesting. This is how I thought of the theme of family. You can really tell that Doctor Manette really loves his daughter and cares about her more than anything. This was brought to my attention as Mr. Darnay was asking for Lucie’s father’s approval and he sweetly explained to him how he felt about his daughter and what would happen if Mr. Darnay treated her wrong and what good would eventually come if he continued to treat her as he loved her. And once they get married, the rest of the book seems to fall into place and the story develops other concluding thoughts that have to do with Doctor Manette and Mr. Darnay’s relationship.

I can vividly remember imagining this chapter in my head like I was watching it being performed on a stage. I can visualize Mr. Darnay approaching Dr. Manette and being a nervous wreck in his head, but he portrays he’s very confident. And I can see Dr. Manette’s feelings in his face and what thoughts must be going through his head at this shock. Just as any other father’s feelings would be if someone asked to marry their daughter. And also distinguish what their interactions with each other look like throughout the rest of the book.

As Dr. Manette tells Mr. Darnay of his love for Lucie, it is easy to be able to hear the tone of his voice and the tone of Mr. Darnay’s voice throughout this passage as they exchange answers and discuss Dr. Manette’s daughter. When he speaks to Darnay about this particular subject you can straightforwardly realize that he is as serious as it gets and by the words Mr. Darnay says after, you find that he gets it, and understands because of the tones Dr. Manette uses to expose his feelings towards the subject.

In all, the themes and descriptions and voice of this chapter really helped me better understand this passage. That’s why this whole chapter was the one I chose to write about. On the theme of family, this is supported very well by the examples given from Dr. Manette and his thoughts on his daughter Lucie and her future family. And the ways that he lets the reader know how important she is to him. And also Mr. Darnay’s ways of presenting his beliefs on his future family to come, and how important that is to him. I found that family is very well supported throughout the book. Charles Dickens did an excellent job at giving the book the book a theme of family, along with many others.

Overall, A Tale of Two Cities was a hard book, but very educational. In the end, I found I did enjoy reading it after I realized what fully took place in the book. I loved the way the stories took place and how they came about through the book. It was a very clever idea to write about and I think that Charles Dickens did a profound job at making a great educational and understandable book.