Happy Merry Xmas!

They Don't Care About Us... and you?

Human Rights

Think!

Thanksgiving at School

My coolest holidays

One of my coolest and unforgettable holidays were spent last Easter, when I went to Egypt with mw parents and my brother. We flew off the airport of Lisbon and the plane landed in Hurghada in the evening.
I stayed in two cities: 5 days in Hurghada and 1 day in Cairo, the capital.
In Hurghada, an old fishermen city at the seaside, we stayed at a resort with two pools, two slides and a beach. During the day we went to the beach or the pool and there we read while we were sunbathing. We had lunch at the beach restaurant, which was a very nice place made of wood and with a great view to the sea. In the evening we usually had dinner in the hotel restaurant and after that we saw the show but there was a special night; we were having dinner and a walk in Hurghada. We had dinner in a restaurant our guide advised us and then had a drink in a special bar where we also smoked “catchimba”. Then we went for a walk and visited Hurghada’s HRC and a store with only handmade stuff: bracelets, boxes and wood sculptures, bags, clothes, etc. we took lots of pictures and bought some souvenirs.
Another thing I loved to do in Egypt was visiting an ancient and old capital of the country, Luxor. In Luxor I went to the Valley of the Kings, where I had the chance to visit the tombs of the mythical Pharaoh Tumtankamon. We also visited the biggest temple of the world, Karnak Temple and the Temple of the Queen Hatshepsut. We went on a little boat ride in the Nile. Our guide told us amazing things about the symbols in the tombs, about the meaning of their old Gods and some egyptian traditions and their costumes as arabian people. We arrived very late at the hotel and we were very tired but we didn’t care because it had been absolutely amazing to be in such a full of History place!
Some days after, we went to Cairo. Being there was a great experience too, because I had the chance to visit fabulous places and see many artefacts. We woke up very early on that day because there were lots of things to do. We caught a taxi and went to the Pyramids of Gize! When we arrived there I just couldn’t believe I was so close to such an important thing, one of the 7 Wonders of the World! I took lots of pictures and there I went on a camel ride around the Pyramids and the Sphinx. We climbed up the monument and from there we could see a part of the city. In the afternoon, we went to the Cairo Museum, a place full of artefacts, sculptures and other treasures of the egyptian civilization. The main “attraction” of the museum is the Tumtankamon’s room, where they put all the things they found in their tomb in Luxor: gold, bracelets, clothes, his war stuff, food, his mask and sarcophagus. It was like a travel to the ancient Egypt! Then we got back to reality and went to the hotel, after passing the confusing Cairo traffic.
We got back to Portugal on the next day but I know I’ll never, ever forget these holidays because I met new amazing places, learnt lots of things and had awesome experiences. Being in Egypt and going to all those fabulous places was like being in a mummies movie! I loved Egypt!


Sara Daniela Machado de Sousa, 902

We are disconnected

I disagree with the statement “We are disconnected” because I think that nowadays we, teenagers, use technologies a lot, to do everything. Everyone watches TV, everyone listens to music, everyone plays videogames; for instance, I can’t do my homework without listening to music and can’t spend one afternoon without playing a game. The Internet is indispensable for a student’s routine. I learn a lot when I’m using new technologies. A good example of this is the Internet. First, I can find everything about what’s going on in the world on the Internet. Second, I
can talk with a lot of people in chats or on any social network like Facebook., hi5 and Twitter. Third we can use the Internet to send school assignments to our teachers, for example, last week, me and my friend Helena sent our piece of work to our Information Technology teacher by mail. However, some people don’t have access to new technologies, because they don’t have much money to spend. For instance, a friend of mine doesn’t have a cell phone and this is a thing that teens can’t do without. Without your cell phone during one week? No way!
I think that our life is good with technologies.

Beatriz Sampaio – Class 902

Technologies are isolating us from the world

We partly agree with the statement “Technologies are isolating us from the world” because when we are listening to music, watching TV, playing computer games,… we don’t know what is going on around us, for example, our friend Peter never talks with us when he is listening to music on his IPod.
The ones who are hooked on technologies rarely talk face-to-face with other people. That’s the case of Sofia, who usually talks to me on the phone or on the Internet. However, technologies are a very good way to relax a little bit and to do research. A good example of this is us - when we have to do some research, we usually use the Internet and when we want to enjoy ourselves, we play computer games or we listen to music.
We think technologies nowadays may have a bad influence on teens and children, particularly because they prefer playing computer games or listening to music to going for a walk or talking face-to-face with friends. Nevertheless, we can’t forget the importance of technologies in today’s society.
Ana Isabel Fernandes
Ana Carolina Passos – Class 902

Miss Dirtiness

Hello my name is Miss Dirtiness and I live in a landfill. You can’t imagine the big amount of waste that people dump into my house. For example, two days ago I was searching for food when a lot of rubbish was dumped on my hair by the men who drive the big truck.
Few years ago, at nightfall I loved to stay on my couch appreciating the starry sky. However, at the present time, there are only a few stars at the sky.
Near my house there is a river and last summer I used to refresh there, but this summer it was impossible to have a shower because the river had a new colour everyday. The responsible for this is a big industry that exists in the top of my residence. Since they have influenced people, the family of Lord Mayor, no one did anything or accuse them to the police.
My cousin that lives in the North Pole, has written to me all the news, and says that his home is decreasing everyday, due to the melting Polar Regions caused by global warming. He says that the Humans ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the climate treaty was finally agreed at Marrakech in November 2001, and it was a crucial big step. The problem is that the countries are for behind to achieve the targets agreed. So, the problem still exists.
The consequences of the melting of the Polar Regions are related to the rising sea levels, causing floods in regions that are under sea levels.
For more than a century, people have used fossil fuels as their first source. The burnt of fuels has been very harmful to the planet, because of the emissions of CO2 (responsible gas for the greenhouse effect). So, it’s time to prefer renewable energy sources such as wind and solar that offer abundant clean energy that is safe for the environment and good for the economy.
In my house there are many different types of waste as plastic, metal, glass... people need to recycle, re-use and reduce. If they acquire these simple habits the world could be much better as well as the life of Earth’s inhabitants.
This way listen to the old big rat and you will see that it’s wonderful to live in this planet.

Bárbara Machado, 1101

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Present Simple vs Present Continuous

Round Up Your Grammar

GRAMMAR HELP - 8th grade

Round Up Your Grammar

GRAMMAR HELP -7th grade

Round UP Your Grammar

Pros and Cons of Online Shopping

Online shopping has both advantages and disadvantages to the consumer.
I can shop from my home or office, at any hour, and I can save time. I can also compare prices and shop from distant places and I can choose from a great variety of products.
The disadvantages of online shopping are that I can´t neither feel, nor smell, nor taste nor try on products. I might also waste hours looking for the right site. In most cases I have to pay delivery charges.
I prefer not to shop online. I love wandering through shops.

Claúdia Pereira, 12.16

My "fake" aunt!

Her name is Maria Augusta, she is my aunt. She is a housewife. She has got blue eyes and curly blonde hair. She’s tall and slim. She’s friendly, cute and very pretty. She wears glasses.
She has got two sons, Eduardo and Ricardo. They are very handsome boys and good students too!
She was born in México on the 26th of June 1960. She’s fifty years old. Now she lives in the Azores.
She loves chocolate and coffee. She likes swimming, listening to music, watching TV, writing, reading, eating and buying clothes.
I love my aunt!

Inês Cavaleiro, 701

A postcard from Rui

Thursday,21st october 2010

On my best summer holidays I went to Paris. On the 24th July I arrived at the airport. I went to the hotel with my grandmother. My room was room 306. At ten o'clock I went to sleep because the next day I was going to Disneyland. It was great. On the 26th July I visited the Eiffel Tower. It is so big! I also visited the Louvre Museum. I went to the famous restaurant "Hippopotamus". In the evening me and my grandma visited Notre Dame. At ten o'clock we went to the hotel and on the 27th July we came back home.
I liked my holidays because the weather was great and I loved Disneyland. I hated travelling by plane.
With love

P.S.- send me a post card back.

Rui Neves, 801

The Greed of an Ant

Once upon a time, in a far far away land, where the ants ruled the world, and no other animal dared enter their kingdom, a story of desperation and catastrophe took place.
The ruling king, Fred, wanted it all, he wanted to be a god. So against all the warnings of the court’s counsellors, he began the construction of a massive tower, which would take him to the sky.
The construction took seconds, minutes, hours even days, it even took the lives of their most valuable allies, the Trees, but finally, after two days the tower was ready.
In the tower’s inauguration day, all the ants of all the kingdoms, of all the lands were there to witness the ascension of the king to the Olympus. But suddenly a catastrophe took place, the skies started to turn grey and a stormy wind blew upon them.
Fred assumed that this was the critical point in which he would be transformed into a god, the other ants, however, knew better, they knew that the structure of the tower was compromised by all those raging winds.
Suddenly a noise was heard in the four corners of the world, and the tower began to fall. Up there the king realised that it was the death of the trees that provoked this, for it were the trees that protected the kingdom from the deadly winds above.
The colossal construction fell upon the kingdom, killing all the ants. Incredibly King Fred had a parachute so he was able to save himself.
As he was floating, the King promised that he would dedicate the rest of his life to the protection of Mother Nature, and never harm other animals’ life.
The wind dragged him to the lakes, where he spent the rest of his life doing humanitarian missions with other surviving ants.

Ana David, Catarina Aboim, José Paulo; Tiago Rocha - 1103

Pix and Posy Love Story

Once upon a time there was an iceberg named Pix,
During her youth time she was very large
One of the largest in the North Pole
But she melted away and now she’s just a little iceberg.
The evil sun separated her from her friends
And now she’s wandering in the long, lonely and cold ocean.
She roamed with no direction trying to run away from the sun
But he was always there, there was no escape.
Her life was ending. Pix knew she had to do something.
Pix had the size of a little house when she saw her last chance to survive.
A majestic iceberg approached. He introduced himself as Posy.
Posy was the biggest piece of ice she had ever seen.
Her only chance to live was to stay side by side with him.
They spent a lot of time together and became real friends.
When they were together their heart stopped; they couldn’t talk like normal icebergs
Their stomach felt weird. And just like that they were in love.
Their love was bigger than anything, so they decided to merge together.
Posy not only saved Pix’s life but he also added a new meaning to her life
They stayed together forever and lived happily ever after.

Rui, Pedro Henrique, José Carlos, Paulo - 1101

My best summer holidays

My best summer holidays were four years ago when I went to China with my parents and my brothers.

We travelled by plane. It took us seventeen hours get there but I spent the whole time sleeping.

I was there for two months. The weather was sunny and warm. I visited my grandparents. I also went to Shanghai. It is a very big city. There were too many skyscrapers and lots of people. I loved Shanghai. It was great.

I want to go to China again.

Joana Yang,801

Did you know that...

The World Savings Day was established on October 31st 1924 during the 1st International Savings Bank Congress (World Society of Savings Banks) in Milano, Italy. The Italian Professor Ravizza declared this day the "International Saving Day" on the last day of the congress.
Representatives of 29 countries wanted to bring to mind the thought of saving to the worldwide public and its relevance to the economy and the individual. The World Savings Day is usually held on October 31st except in countries where this day is a public holiday, since the idea is for the banks to be open, so that the people are able to transfer their savings into their account.

Ghoul-Graveyard Cake

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE:• 250ml milk
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 225g plain flour
• 50g cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teapoon bicarbonate of soda
• 200g caster sugar
• 110g butter or soft margarine
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

FOR THE ICING :• 300g icing sugar
• 60g butter
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 60ml milk
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon black colour paste black sugar sprinkles
• Hallowe'en-themes jelly lollies, at least 1 per child

METHOD

Serves 12 zombies

by Nigella Lawson

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170C. Grease and line a 23cm springform tin. Mix the milk and vinegar together and set aside.
2. Make sure all your remaining ingredients are at room temperature if you can, but since no one's going to be overly worried about the cake, you shouldn't be either. If the ingredients are cold, the worst that can happen is that the cake will be heavy. But you do need soft butter (or the cake won't mix), so substitute marge if that's not a goer. Put everything for the cake, except the vinegary milk, into a food processor and blitz to mix. Remove the lid, scrape down with a rubber spatula and then put the lid back on and with the motor running, add the vinegary milk.
3. Scrape, spoon or pour the brown batter into the tin and spread to fill it evenly, baking it for 40-45 minutes until it is well risen and springy to the touch.
4. Remove the cooked cake, in its tin, to a rack and leave to cool for about ten minutes, then spring open the tin and let the cake get completely cold.
5. To make the icing, first sieve the icing sugar. Boring, but it's got to be done. Melt the butter in a saucepan and when it's bubbling add the cocoa. Let it dissolve into the butter, stirring with a little hand whisk, then add the syrup, milk, vanilla and colour paste. Stir or whisk well and let it bubble for a few minutes and then take the pan off the heat and whisk in the icing sugar.
6. Put the pan back on the heat and whisk again to help the sugar dissolve and the colouring disperse, then take it off the heat to let it thicken to the right consistency - thick enough to coat, but thin enough to trickle down to cover the sides too - as it cools slightly (but only slightly: it thickens fast). Put the cake on torn-off pieces of baking parchment to form an outline of a square to catch the excess icing. Place the cake just on top of the torn pieces of parchment so you can pull them away once the icing has stopped dripping. Hold the pan of icing over the centre of the cake and pour over it so that the top is covered and the icing has dripped over and down the sides. You will not believe the incredible blackness of this. You'd have to pay me to eat it (good though it tastes) but my children, and all the children I've made it for, can't get enough. You can imagine what their mouths look like afterwards.
7. Working quickly, throw over the black sugar sprinkles to cover the top and sides of the cake before the icing dries.
8. Trim the lolly sticks, so that you have a stem of about 3-4cm to stick into the cake, and then plunge the sticks of the foreshortened lollies into the cake so that the ghoulish faces leer out from their black-frosted graveyard.
9. To be honest, this cakes serves as many children as you can stick lollies in for, if that makes sense. You could certainly find room for 12.

Vlad, my name is Vlad

Hello! I'm Vlad.

My full name is Vlad Alucard. I live in London but I was born in Transylvania.

I'm quite young, I'm four hundred years old.

I'm tall and elegant. I've got light straight short brown hair, and green eyes. I've also got two beautiful white fangs.

I love travelling at night. I don't like travelling by day. I'm allergic to sunlight.

I love wandering in graveyards. I also like reading and writing but my favourite hobby is biting people's neck...

I've got a bat pet. Its name is Frank, Frank Einstein.

My favourite holiday is Halloween...

See you soon!

Watch This!

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Time to celebrate

Halloween, celebrated each year on October 31, is a mix of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman religious rituals and European folk traditions that blended together over time to create the holiday we know today. Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity and life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. Halloween has long been thought of as a day when the dead can return to the earth, and ancient Celts would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off these roaming ghosts. The Celtic holiday of Samhain, the Catholic Hallowmas period of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day and the Roman festival of Feralia all influenced the modern holiday of Halloween. In the 19th century, Halloween began to lose its religious connotation, becoming a more secular community-based children's holiday. Although the superstitions and beliefs surrounding Halloween may have evolved over the years, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people can still look forward to parades, costumes and sweet treats to usher in the winter season.

History Channel

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Answers to the Webquest about Telemedicine

Space Exploration - Test Correction

Extra Credit 701/702

Children's Day

What about being an ambassador?

What does an ambassador do?
We are going to tell you some important details about an ambassador’s life.
First of all you must know that an ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat that represents a nation. You may have to have some important skills to be a successful ambassador for instance charisma, loads of general culture and confidence.
Being an ambassador is not an easy job. You have travel a lot and you also have an important responsibility on you because you’re serving you’re country. On the other hand a successful ambassador has a good life with all the facilities that his job allows to.
To sum up an ambassador works with lot of people representing a country, its problems and its situation. that’s one of our dream jobs because it’s an important career and we can change our country’s political scenery.

João Rodrigues e Pedro Oliveira, 901

Maths Teacher

I’m a student and I have a dream job.
In the future, I want to be a maths teacher.
My favourite subject is maths. I love calculus, reasoning, formulas, etc. I’m always doing exercises. Every single day I arrive home and I do some exercises, to practise and just because I like it.
On the other hand, I love to explain things to other people. So, I think I’m going to love being a maths teacher.
To make my dream come true, I’ll continue to practise every day and I hope one day I’ll teach other students.

Inês Neves e Sara Carvalho, 901

I dream about...

I have many dreams and one of them is to become, one day, an excellent worker at a computer store. Obviously it isn’t a job where I can earn much money but as I love computers and other stuff related to technology, it would be great!
In these summer holidays I will probably go to work at a computer store as an assistant. I’m going to help with some small tasks that I’m able to do in order to gain some experience, which would be helpful in the future. It would be very nice because it’s in Vila do Conde and I usually spend my vacations there!
To get my dream job I need to get essentially very good marks, so I can get into the university. I want to take a degree in ITC because nowadays a wide knowledge about the subject is needed.

Diogo Carvalho e António Passos, 901

Dream Job - Fashion Designer

Since I was a child I have always loved to create new outfits for my dolls and drawing super models, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be a fashion designer. I love to sketch dresses and shoes and try new fabrics and textures.
To be a good fashion designer you have to be creative, bold, follow fashion (or lead it) and you can’t be afraid to do what you think it’s cool.
Although it has a lot of pros, it also has some cons: you’re always indoors, you don’t have much free time and you have to reinvent yourself almost everyday.

Maria Rita Pimentel; Rita Fonseca e Costa, 901

Neighbours’ Troubles

Once upon a time there was a beautiful forest where animals and trees lived in harmony until the day the beavers arrived there. The problem was that they were not ordinary beavers. They were “street beavers”. They gnawed and cut the trees, vandalized the homes of the other animals and robbed their food. They were unpleasant, crank and selfish, because they only cared about themselves. The beavers arrived and they were not planning to leave so soon, since they were setting up a plan to take over the river and dominate the area so that it could became their restricted territory, trying to “kick out” all other animals.
One day, the animals gathered and decided to rebel against the beavers in order to make them understand that they were acting badly. But the beavers didn’t care and didn’t listen to them. And they continued to cause damage and more damage in the forest. Of course, sooner or later all this harm had to “annoy” Mother Nature, and that had consequences: on a cloudy morning, everyone could hear thundering as they had never heard before and watch the rain falling as they had never seen before. A storm was approaching. It lasted two whole days. Several animals died because they had no more resources, which they needed to survive, as well as the beavers, who now realized that they had abused the good will of Mother Nature and had affected all others. Sorry was not enough.

Ana Patrícia, Catarina Amaral, Diana Cavaleiro, Francisca

Teens' craze - my teens' craze

Teens have lots of crazes: tattoos, piercings, dressing about just one colour (most of the time black), diets, big nails, the most expensive sneakers or the most sophisticated mobile phone.
I have my teens' craze too and I am a kind of manipulator to achieve some of them.
I have always wanted to put a piercing in the top of my ear, but my mum didn't agree and forbade me. She was always saying that I had done two holes and it was enough. So, my holes were done since I was 18 months and they were very large so, I could put not only one earring, but two earrings on one hole. This expertise impressed my mother a lot and she hated when I did that. So, I was always saying that it was her fault, because she didn't let me to do a piercing.
One day, it was almost Christmas, and my aunt wanted to offer me a present and she asked me what I wanted. I answered that I wanted to do a piercing on the top of my ear. She agreed, but my mother didn’t. My aunt talked to my mother and a little unwillingly my mother gave my aunt permission to take me to do my piercing.
I like tattoos, but my parents don’t, so I have to wait if I want to do one. If I had a tattoo, maybe it would be flowers on my right foot and a letter on my hand or on my wrist.
Nails are other teens' craze that I have. My nails are very important for me. I am always looking at them and cleaning them. When it's possible I go to the manicure and when a nail breaks it's scandalous. The colour of my nails says what I am feeling, so if my nails are black I am very sad. If you don't see any colour on my nails it means that I am very happy.
In general, a very frequent teens' craze is dressing like their idols. This can be dangerous because of the diets. Teenagers think that making diets and looking well will solve all their problems.
Being a teenager is not easy but being a teenager with crazes it's still more complicated.

Alexandrina, 1008

Alyssa's Diary

10th September 2010

Dear Sophie,

School will start on September 15. This summer was fabulous because my parents let me work in a bar next to the beach.
For me this is a big step because I know that my parents trust me. I have worked 3 months and I have earned 1500$. It was an amazing experience, because at the same time I can work and at the end of a day of work I will meet my friends at the beach.
I met a very pretty boy. His name is Peter and he has worked with me at Beach Bar, he is very cool and really nice.
Tomorrow I will go to the shopping to buy some school supplies and new clothes.

Next summer I will work in the Beach Bar with Peter... he gave me his phone number, maybe tomorrow I will go with him to the cinema,... I think I have a crush on Peter or not or maybe yes, it’s so very complicated...
Well, today I have done lots of things; I went to the beach and to Mary’s swimming pool too.

At this moment I am in the car going to my grandmother’s house. Today it is her birthday, she is 87 years old and I love her so much. She helps me in all things I need; she is very special to me.

I’m always listening “Last Kiss”, it’s an amazing music and when I listen to this music I think of Peter; he is very special to me.
It was the best summer I have ever had.
Well, we’ve finally arrived to granny's house… I need to go; tomorrow I’ll tell you everything about Peter and what I have done.
Big kisses and hugs,
Alyssa


Anna, 902

Telemedicine - An Internet Webquest