Woodhead Street Journal
By: Philip Taffet
Fall 2008
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Contents
Cool Light............................................................ 3 Slope of the Bank ................................................ 5 Гоод Бые Србији (Goodbye to Serbia).................. 6 The American Dream ........................................... 8
Acknowledgments Without many people’s help, I would not have been able to create a magazine of this quality. First off, I would like to thank my parents: my mom for encouraging me and giving good advice and my Dad for proofreading everything and helping me with the IPC article. I would also like to thank everyone who let me know that my website was cool. You guys let me know that I should use it for the final product. I would also like to thank the Cluster 8B teachers for answering all of my questions. I owe Ms. Millican from 7B thanks. She introduced me to the idea of the reader by putting it on her website last year. Thank you to Issuu for making the reader. One last thanks to Microsoft for letting me have some free web space to host my website on.
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reactions that produce the light that emits
Cool Light
from the glow stick:
During a power outage like during Hurricane Ike, a glow stick can become an
H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) + C14H10O4
important possession. Why? Because glow
(phenyl oxalate ester) → C2O6 (Peroxyacid)
sticks provide much needed light without the
+ C6H5OH (Phenol)
heat and danger of fire. They are also easy to
Then, the peroxyacid, which is
use, with no matches needed, and they are
unstable,
waterproof.
decomposes
How do these
into more
glow sticks
phenol and
make light
cyclic peroxy
without using
compound.
electricity or
This reaction
creating heat?
is:
How can they wait for years in your closet without degrading? And how can they turn
C2O6 (Peroxyacid) → C6H5OH (Phenol) +
on with just a snap? The answers lie in the
C2O4 (Cyclic peroxy)
chemicals used to make glow sticks.
Then the cyclic peroxy decomposes into carbon dioxide. The reaction produces a
There are various types of glow sticks, which are how they come in different
lot of energy which is transferred to the dye.
colors, but the main concept of
The dye, which can be various chemicals
chemiluminescence is the same. Inside the
depending on the desired color of the glow
plastic tub of the glow stick is a solution of
stick, receives the energy and its electrons
phenol oxalate ester and a fluorescent dye.
jump to a higher level. When the electrons
Also inside the plastic tube is a small, fragile
go back down to their resting levels, they
glass vial that contains hydrogen peroxide.
release the energy as light. That is the light
When you bend the glow stick to activate it,
you see in a glow stick. That is
the vial breaks and the peroxide mixes with
chemiluminescence.
the dye solution. This causes a series of Woodhead Street Journal
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In my experiment, I did not use the
2 days of use instead a glow stick which
exact same chemicals
lasts only one day.
that are in
You can slow down
commercial glow
the reaction which
sticks because the
increases the length
fluorescent dyes that
of the life of the
are in commercial
glow stick by
glow sticks are very
cooling it down in
expensive. Instead, I
the freezer, but of
used a luminol
course if you had
mixture, perborate
electricity to run the
and copper sulfate. I mixed these three
refrigerator, you wouldn’t need the glow
chemicals in a container, and added water.
stick in the first place. While you do have to
The water dissolves the ingredients so they
throw the two glow sticks away, the two
can mix to begin the reaction. Because the
batteries have dangerous chemicals and are
mixture does not have the proprietary
even classified as hazardous waste in
chemicals that commercial glow sticks use,
California.
it did not glow as brightly nor for as many
Glow sticks have various properties,
hours. As you can see in the picture at the
like not emitting heat and being water
left, the container glows with a bluish color
resistant that make them safer than an open
because of the luminol in the mixture. The
flame and more environmentally friendly
do-it-yourself glow stick’s light looks much
than flashlights. These useful properties are
brighter in person than in the picture
products of the method the glow sticks use
because it was difficult to photograph.
to create light, chemiluminescence, light by
Deciding to use glow sticks over
a chemical reaction. These properties are
flashlights is a good choice for the
what make glow sticks useful in power
environment. An average flashlight can last
outages.
approximately 10 hours on a set of 2 C-cell batteries. Although a glow stick also lasts about 10 hours, the ability to turn off a flash light makes the batteries last approximately Woodhead Street Journal
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My proposed slope basically makes the slope from point 3 to point 4 much
Slope of the Bank
steeper. Because the slope is steeper, it
The bank at Buffalo Bayou is a
allows me to push points 1 to 2 and 2 to 3
choke point. When it receives a lot of rain, it
back 28 feet. Because there is a bank on
breaks the bank and starts to flood. This
either side, my plan makes the width of the
causes a lot of problems in the surrounding
bank nearly 60 feet wider. Even if the bank
area and ecosystem. In order to stop the
does overflow, my proposed bayou can hold
flooding, I have proposed a new slope for
635.6 cubic feet more water for every foot
the bank. In order to compare the current
of bank that is converted using my
slope with the proposed slope, we need to know about both. The current slope, which is depicted by the blue line on the coordinates. That means that if we convert
chart, has an average slope of 0.2644. This
100 ft. of bayou, it can hold 475,013 gallons
means that for every one unit run, the bank
of water. The 475,000 gallons that my
rises 0.2644 feet. The slope is actually not
proposed bank can would have eroded at the
that steep, but from some spots, it looks very
bank which would have caused
steep. This slope could be made a lot
environmental damages.
steeper.
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By maintaining the general slope of
points two and three. The upper walkway is
the current bank, the environmental impact
nice, but there is a much better view on the
is reduced. Also, one unique quality of my
lower walkway. If we got rid of it, it would
plan for modifying the slope is that my plan
not be good for pedestrians who walk and
keeps the lower walkway, which is between
run along the bayou.
For more detailed results and important notes about the slope of the bank project, go to www.phil13phil26.web.officelive.com/Documents/Slope.xls
Maria’s house came into sight after the long
Гоод Бые Србији
walk, and she saw her sister. “The
Good Bye to Serbia
government sent us a letter. It might be our
“Get the mail!” Maria’s mom yelled from
passports!” she hollered. Maria’s sister came
upstairs. Maria groaned and ran upstairs to
running to see the letter. Her sister took it
get her jacket. She had come home from a
and ran to show it to their parents.
snowball fight with her friends and she was
Their father opened up the letter and read
very tired, too tired to walk to the post
silently. The girls watched, ready to burst
office. Her coat was wet and heavy because
with anticipation. Then, a single tear ran
it had snowed two feet the night before.
down his cheek and the girls were instantly
Thankfully, her dad had shoveled the walk
quiet. They knew that something was wrong.
in the morning before going to the power
These weren’t the passports. “Pack up girls.
plant where he worked. Maria walked out of
We’re going to Germany,” he said in a sad
the door, down the walk, and onto the road.
voice as he walked off to pack himself. After he left, their mother explained that
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their request for passports had been denied,
“Look, the Statue of Liberty,” Maria called
so they were going to have to go to
to her sister. She relaxed her grip on the
Germany as tourists and get to America
armrests and gazed out the airplane
from there.
window at the
“Why can’t we stay
Statue of Liberty,
here in Germany?”
the symbol that
Maria’s sister asked
represented
her parents at the
deliverance for the
airport. Maria’s sister
thousands of
had never been on a
immigrants that had
plane flying over
come before their
water before and she
family, the symbol
was a little nervous.
of peace and
Her father was
Serbia
freedom, and hope,
expecting this question sooner or later, and
the symbol of the American dream.
he answered her in a kind voice, “In
“Хи моје име је… Hi, my name is,” Maria
America, there is power all the time:
repeated. Her English instructor had made
everyday of every week, the hot water never
them repeat this until they had it
runs out and when you need oil, or toilet
permanently burned into their heads. “Како
paper, it is always in stock. I’ve heard that in
сте? – How are you?” She kept practicing
America, the supermarkets are twice as big
because she knew that in the United States,
as those in Serbia, and in the United States,
if she wanted to succeed, she needed to learn
all of the shelves are full with the finest of
English. That meant 7 more weeks of
things. The education is good in Serbia, but
intense English classes. To achieve the
will be even better in America. That is why
American dream, she would have to work
we are going to America.”
hard, but that wasn’t impossible. Yuuum! Don’t our raspberries look savory? These raspberries are naturally grown in the valleys of Serbia. Get them at your local supermarket.
SerBerries: All Natural Raspberries
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America, everyone has an opportunity to become wealthy no matter how rich or poor they were as a child. It may not be easy, or
The American Dream The American dream is what brings
common to go from lower class to higher
immigrants to the United States. It is the
class, but it is a lot easier in America than in
idea that everyone in the United States has
some countries. In America, we enjoy many civil
the chance to achieve success and prosperity. It is what makes America is a
freedoms that other countries do not have.
country of immigrants. It is why nearly a
For example, we have freedom of speech
million immigrants come to our country
which means that the government cannot
every year, risking everything just to get
throw you in jail because you criticized
here. The American dream consists of
them. In some countries, like Iraq before the
economic opportunity,
government changed, you
civil freedom, and
could be killed if you
education. That is the
insulted Saddam Hussein,
essence of the American
the dictator or his
dream.
government. Another right we enjoy in America is the
In America, there is no law telling you what
right to vote. This means
job you have to have or
that we pick who becomes
how much of money you
the next president, senator,
can make. In some
etc. We also enjoy a very
countries, like Eritrea,
stable government that was
where the average time
designed to prevent corrupt
spent in schools is only
politician from ruining the country.
five years, almost everyone has the same job
Our government leaders that we
as their parents, which means that they make about the same amount of money that they
elected have created have added to the
did. This effectively keeps the poor, poor
Dream. One such addition is the public
generation after generation. In fact, the
education system. Our education system is
average yearly income is only $800. In
very successful, boasting a ninety nine
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percent literacy and average of sixteen years
true to the dream, America will continue to
of education. In a lot of countries, like Mali,
grow and prosper.
where the female literacy rate is less than forty percent, a secondary education is very expensive or maybe there is no option for a secondary education. In America, there are almost 100,000 public schools that are all free. Every American citizen has a chance to graduate from high school without having to pay. This is something that not all countries can say. Also, most public schools offer free or reduced price lunch to students whose families that cannot afford to buy lunch. Because hungry children have a hard time learning, for families that cannot afford meals, the free lunch at schools can really help their kids get the most from school. In conclusion, the American dream, being composed of economic opportunity, civil freedom, and a free education, is what
A map of non nativeborn people in America and an inset of Texas.
makes America, America. America is a country of immigrants drawn here by the American dream. As long America stays
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Hardwick, Chris. Wired Science. Glow Stick. 24 October 2007. 6 November 2008 <http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/story/55-glow_stick.html>.
Harris, Tom. How Light Sticks Work. 2 November 2001. 5 November 2008 <http://science.howstuffworks.com/light-stick1.htm>.
University of Science. Cool Blue Light Experiment Kit. Moravian Falls, NC: University of Science, 1996.
EnglishMaximo, Maria. Personal interview. 29 Oct. 2008.
HistoryBackground on Immigration. 2008. OnTheIssues. 19 Oct. 2008 <http://www.ontheissues.org/ Background_Immigration.htm>.
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“The Center for Education Reform.” Center for Education Reform. Center for Education Reform. 23 Oct. 2008 <http://www.edreform.com/ index.cfm?fuseAction=section&pSectionID=15&cSectionID=97>.
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