My Summer Goals
August 1, 2009 by Dan
Filed under Young Voices
By Gopa Praturi
Scholastic News
July 31, 2009
I’ve been waiting for summer all year long. My summer is especially fun because I’m doing lots of awesome thing like a trip to Niagara Falls and two new books to read. I’m also learning quick ways to solve a Rubik’s© Cube.
Niagara Falls is probably the most beautiful sight in the world. Watching the amazing roar of falling waters is an exhilarating experience. I wanted to know what makes this water fall from such a great height and how it all got started. I did some research and this is what I found out:
* Niagara Falls was probably created by glaciers about 10,000 years ago. When the ice melted, the water flowed into the nearby river. The Niagara River cuts a gorge and overflows through the Cliff creating the beautiful falls we see today.
* And to answer why the cliff formed in the first place, one has to turn to geologists.Three types of soil formations interacted to create three major rock formations.These different layers did not erode evenly, so you see how each different kind of soil and rock settled to form the cliff.
I am reading two new books this summer: The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau and The Alchemyst by Michael Scott. City of Ember starts off with an interesting twist about things going wrong with city-threatening disaster-recovery plans. Things tend to slow down as the book progresses, though. I think the ending of The Alchemyst is much more satisfying and interesting
And about the mind-boggling Rubik’s© cube! To solve the puzzle, remember one important cardinal rule. Instead of trying to solve the cube side by side, try doing it in layers. Just keep organizing the layers and it will be done in no time.
Now I can do it pretty fast and once I did it in four minutes, which is not anywhere near the world-record, but that beats our best-ever Family record!
I hope everyone has a great summer!! Enjoy the break, but most important, stay indoors when it’s really hot outside. That’s when activities like summer reading and studying how to solve a puzzle come in handy!
Editor’s Note: PHOTO: A collage of summer fun by Gopa Praturi
We would like to know what you think? And what did you do this summer? dan@youngchronicle.com
Source: Scholastic Kids Press