Virtual Reality in Spanish. By Jackson

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Virtual Reality in Spanish. 

By Jackson 

Last week in Spanish the class did an activity that I never knew even existed. At the start of class we got some glasses to wear. These were not ordinary glasses, instead they were virtual reality glasses. A VR headset is glasses that have screens for lenses so it feels like you are actually in the game. The virtual world is 360 degrees so you can look in any direction you want like in real life. Also, you hold motion controlled joysticks that are like hands in the game. The first day of using the VR headsets we logged in and we learned how to use the headset in an app called First Steps. In First Steps, we are in a futuristic room with a lot of color and objects flying above your head. There is a narrator that tells us what to do and what buttons to press. The narrator tells us how to hold the joysticks, how to look around and do different stuff in virtual reality. The next day we played a game that had something to do with Spanish. At first it was hard because I didn’t know how to tighten the headset so everything was blurry. Eventually I got it to work. Once the game loaded I was on a train talking to a friend that I haven’t seen in a while. The friend was just an AI with everything he said preprogrammed. The VR headset had microphone so I could actually talk which was pretty cool. It felt like I was actually in a Spanish Speaking country. After talking with the AI I got off the train and I was in a train station. The station  was very detailed so it was very believable. Then I walked outside and into a taxi. Sadly I had to stop because doing VR for an extended period of time is bad for your eyes. I think I learned a lot of Spanish and I hope I can do it again before school ends.

My Ideal World: Ohio

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My Ideal World

By Jackson

If I could live on any planet in the universe I would live in Ohio. In Ohio only me, my friends and everyone in my family except my sister live there. This planet is not the shape of a ball, instead it is in the shape of Ohio. 

The leaders of Ohio are called the admins and they are: Me (Jackson) and Chris. The admins have a type of magical ability in Ohio. First, anything we want comes true. For example, if I want a million dollars, it comes true. The admins also own War Thunder, Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, and Among Us. We also have access to all the memes in the world. We can also make new ones with our real life talking Grumpy Cat. 

In Ohio there is no gravity instead people are magnetically tethered to Ohio. At any point you can make your tether longer. The planet orbits a neutron star giving us 1,000 terabytes per second of internet. 

In Ohio’s wildlife, cats and dogs are everywhere. Ohio has lots of birds, at the top of the food chain are the Broski Birds. The Broski Bird resembles and basically is a fighter jet. The Broski are loyal to Ohio and its people. In Ohio’s environment free food is everywhere. You can find any good food imaginable. There are also an abundance of $19 Fortnite cards on trees. And one of the oceans is a crater filled with all the video games and game passes in the world. Another feature is that the land expands on the will of the admins so Ohio is infinite. 

The weather of Ohio is superior to earth. For starters the oxygen level is 30%. Ohio is a great monopoly in diamonds because about every two weeks it rains diamonds. There is a reason why this is not lethal but I will explain this later in the writing. Sometimes it also rains candy. 

The life of a native Ohioan is very awesome. Since there are only friends and family in Ohio there is no pain unless the admins want it. Also, there is no death unless the admins want it. All of the residences have custom mansions with beach or lake front property. In addition, since we are all pro gamers all of the residents’ pronouns are ‘broski’. The best of the infrastructure of Ohio is instead of roads and such there are portals so you can teleport anywhere. 

People sometimes wonder, “How does Ohio defend itself?” Well this is how we do it. First, we have an almost infinite amount of nuclear weapons and lasers that can blow up anything. We have the Broski Birds that fight for us. Also, we are immortal. The best part is when times get desperate, we have the technology to make a clone of our neutron star and launch it at a planet or galaxy. 

You can visit our planet, you just can’t live here. 

DA Field trip to the NC Museum of Natural Science

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It was a cold morning on January 27 2023, but not ordinary. The DA 6th grade went  on a field trip to the NC Museum of Natural Science. Once we were on the bus it was a 30 min bus ride to the museum. My favorite part of the field trip was the Underground NC exhibit. In this exhibit I could see a lot of cool gemstones. It was the first time I have ever seen an emerald in person. One of the emeralds was 1,000 carats, that is equivalent to 100 million US dollars. I also saw meteorites that have struck North Carolina. There were other gems and stones in the exhibit that I have never seen before, it was very interesting. 

My other favorite exhibit was the Nature’s Explorers exhibit. In this exhibit there was a fake NC marsh and you can use the sign to find cool objects in the marsh like a bird nest or a cool flower. Although my favorite part of the exhibit is the fish tank. In the fish tank there were real life fish with very long mouths. Since I was at the exhibit at 11:00 I got to see the staff feed the fish. It was fun watching the fish fight for the food. 

Overall I learned a lot in the museum and I had lots of fun. I recommend anyone willing to drive to Raleigh to give the museum a try.

Thanks to the DA teachers for the image.

Window or Mirror

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I just read a book called The Wild Robot by Peter Brown that takes place in the future  when humans have invented robots. I have had this book sitting on my shelf for a while, but what finally motivated me to read it is an extra credit assignment for Computer Science. After reading this book it is definitely one of my top ten favorite books. I love how the story goes and the images are very good. Therefore I highly recommend this book to a reader of any level.  

I would say that this book is a window book because it kind of explains the island from the animal’s perspective on a fictional island. Also it takes place in the future and the main character is a robot. Usually I read window books because I like to read futuristic books or fantasy, also mirror books for me are hard to find.

The Red and Blue Coat

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These past few weeks I have been working on my Wisdom Tales Project. The book is written by Heather Forest but the stories inside are from around the world. The story I did my project on was called The Red and Blue Coat. The Red and Blue is a African Folktale originating in the Congo. 

In my project, I decided to do a Scratch project. Scratch is an online platform where users upload code projects using block code. Other users can see your work. In this project, the among us character is the trickster and the other people are the two friends. In the story, the friends each see a different side of the trickster’s coat. They get into a big argument and it ruins their friendship. The moral is to look at the other person’s perspective. Probably the hardest part was getting the trickster to walk down the path realistically. My personal favorite part is when the trickster wins.  It took me about 3 hours to complete. I think my project is very interesting and people should watch it. Be sure to read Wisdom Tales. The morals are great. 

Water Bottles

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In this post I will talk about the importance of water bottles.  

Water bottles are probably the most universal, unique, and important tool for any athlete. Water bottles are so important because they can contain a liquid called H2O in various amounts varying on the bottle. H2O also known as water can refresh and cool down your body after a workout. Some people may contradict saying that this is what Gatorade does.(I disagree). Fun fact you need water to survive, that is why having water at all times is very helpful. Another reason is that a lot of water bottles can be reusable so they can go in your very own dishwasher.  What makes something a water bottle is a device that can hold water without it spilling. That means it can be turned upside down. The non reusable water bottles are made of a weak plastic called Polyethylene terephthalate or PETE. Cheap reusable water bottles are made from a tougher plastic.While more expensive ones are made from metal. Water bottles range from all shapes and sizes. See these images.

I think water bottles are highly effective and people should buy them across the world. Buy your water bottles today! 

Sources for information: Olson-Sawyer K., Madel R. “ The Water Footprint of Your Water Bottle.”  Foodprint.org. GRACE Communications Foundation, 17 July 2020, Web. 11 Nov 2022.

 

My Backpack

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Jackson’s Backpack 

Over summer break I read Finding Someplace by Denis Lewis Patrick. This is a book about a girl named Reesie who lived in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. All her friends and acquaintances have evacuated the city. She is separated from her family and she has to pack a backpack full of important items so she can survive the hurricane. She has to choose wisely because there isn’t a lot of space in the backpack. If she forgets something that would be bad. 

If I was in this situation, I would bring communication devices so I wouldn’t get lost from humanity. I would bring walkie talkies so I could talk to people over distances which voices can’t cover.  I would bring a megaphone so I can yell at people. Also, with a megaphone I can yell at people looking for people surviving the hurricane. I could also talk over loud hurricane noises. I can also bring essentials for surviving. I would bring a water bottle and a LifeStraw. A LifeStraw is basically a water purification device and a straw combined so I could drink safe water. I would also bring a life vest. If I had room I can bring a swimsuit so I could dry quicker. I would also bring hand sanitizer. I would bring a taser in case of drunk people or bad guys(or girls). Finally, I would bring a 3 in1 hand crank, solar powered flashlight, radio, and phone charger. Then I would pack items I need to survive. I would bring a 12 pack of Clif Kids energy bars. I would bring the first aid kit in case I fall. I would bring cash in a waterproof container. These are the items I would need to survive in a hurricane.

DA Camps Hanes

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Last Thursday,  Durham Academy 6th grade and I drove to a YMCA camp called Camp Hanes. When we got to school there was a lot of commotion. I packed way too many things in my bag and it was very heavy. I put my stuff under the bus. I got on the bus. This was no ordinary bus, it was a fancy charter bus that had a long list of fancy amenities that would be too long to explain. I sat with a kid named Chris. This was no ordinary kid, he was a nice kid. He happily shared his candy with me. When we got there the intro was really fun and we got to explore our cabins. My cabin had a big bathroom and bunk beds. I got the top bunk. Soon we went to lunch and started our adventure.  

Of all the activities my favorite activity was archery. This was really fun because. We got to shoot almost really bow and arrows. The targets were about 20 to 30 feet away. Everybody got two turns and 5 arrows each turn. First we had a safety demonstration. Holding the bow was difficult at first but you get used to it. The teacher was very nice. On my first turn I got two arrows on the target, one of them was a bull’s eye. On my second turn I did really well and got all the arrows on the target. After this activity we had dinner then we went to sleep for the next day of Camp Hanes!  

 

The best part about Camp Hanes was being there with all my friends, and making new friends. I became better friends with a lot of the kids in my cabin. We did fun activities together like playing cards and having s’mores. We also did activities that you can’t do at school or home. I would like to thank all the 6th grade faculty at DA to make this happen and Camp Hanes for making it fun. This is definitely my favorite field trip so far.