Alaska Pt. 2

Leaving from Seward, Alaska, our cruise ship, the MS Ryndam, stopped at 4 different port cities: Sitka, Skagway (Haines), Juneau, and Ketchikan. At each port of call, we could go out and do "excursions," which were basically tours we could pay for through the cruise line. At every port, we did something new and exciting!

What we saw the most of in these 5 cities was aquatic life. Alaskan life is centered upon fishing, and it shows in the amount of study and effort people put into understanding the sea life at Alaska.

The first place that showed Alaska's devotion to ocean critters was the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. The SeaLife Center is, as an aquarium, open to the public for viewing, but also functions as a non-profit wildlife rescue center. They conduct plenty of research there, as well rehabilitation for sea animals, such as creatures caught in oil spills.

Not only do they have the usual aquarium exhibits behind glass, but bird exhibit is in the pen air; the birds aren't cooped up in glass cages. Instead, they have a small lake (sorta like what you see seals kept in), and there's a net stretched across the ceiling, so the birds can fly around.

You can even get close enough to the birds to touch! This meant, of course, that we got AWESOME pictures.

Of course, the regular exhibits were cool too. There was a touch tank, with sea stars, anemones, and the like, as well as animals behind glass.

We decided to take one of the special tours, the Behind-The-Scenes Tour, and got to see the inner workings of the center. Not only did we see the machinery that pumped all the water throughout the building, but we also got to see the offices of the researchers, as well as where the rehabilitating animals were staying.

The SeaLife Center was AMAZING. We got to get up close and personal with a lot of wildlife, and we also were witnesses to the efforts of some of the most hard-working, kind-hearted people in the world.

The second place was at Glacier Bay. Although we weren't allowed to get off the cruise ship and get close to the glacier, we could take breath-taking pictures of this monstrosity. When we were far away from the glacier, we noticed through our binoculars a dot. As we got closer, we thought it might've been a small boat. But soon, we realized that it was actually another cruise ship!
However, this didn't prepare us for how large the glacier actually was. When we finally got next to the glacier, we saw, to our amazement, that the glacier was five times as tall as the cruise ship! And just for comparison, this is how big a cruise ship is, generally, compared to a person:
Anyway, while the ship was getting closer to the glacier, we got some great pictures of sea lions that were sun-bathing on ice floes.

Scientists also say that there are apparently little creatures called ice worms that live inside glaciers. They burrow through the ice, and are tiny worm-like animals. Never seen them myself, but if biologists say they exist, well then...

The third place that we saw had a lot of sea life was, obviously, underwater. At Sitka, we took an excursion called the Sea Life Discovery Tour. It's a tour inside a semi-submersible, which is a boat with a bottom that is plated with glass so you can see what goes by while the boat is chugging along. We passed through a lot of kelp forests, and a tour guide gave us the run-down on what lives where and eats what. The sad thing is, the water was so green and murky, it was hard to get pictures. But, when the boat was heading back for port, we managed to get an awesome close-up of a bald eagle that was sitting on a sign.

hallway decorating 2009

In late October i visited the sophomore class during spirit week. They were decorating their hallway for the Livestrong foundation to help people with types of cancer. The night was full of hard work to make the hallway look great and in the end it did. The finished hallway looked well done and the big event was that the sophomore class was collecting money from the people who saw the decorations. The money that was collected from the spectators was then donated to help the Livestrong foundation with their research on cancer. Cancer is a very deadly biological problem which luckily is not contagious but when someone does get it it will convert their normal and healthy cells into deadly and dangerous cells that usually form a growth on their host and end up killing the host. That is the reason the donations io the hallway were very important to the research of the Livestrong foundation, which will hopefully find a cure fast.

Thanksgiving!!!

Last week i got to spend the day at Zev's grandma's house for Thanksgiving. We had a giant meal. I ate potatoes, stuffing and especialy turkey. In turkey there is a chemicle called tryptophan. It is believed that if you eat large amounts of turkey, it could cause drowsiness because of the high levels of tryptophan. This happens becuase when the tryptophan gets into the central nervous system it is converted into serotonin in the raphe nuclei by the normal enzymatic pathway. The serotonin is then changed into melotonin by the pineal gland. The pinial gland is responsible for sleep and wake patterns. So, that is why when you eat turkey it could make you sleepy. But the tryptophan didn't seem to be strong enough for Zev's family. We were all able to stay awake and play a great game of Scrable.

Alaska Pt. 1

Hey, guys! So, I went to this REALLY awesome place over the summer, but I forgot to write it on the blog, so it’s really late! :( But anyway, I went on vacation to…Alaska! I was there for two weeks, from late July to early August, and we had a blast! First, we flew to Anchorage, and then we rented a car and drove around southern Alaska. After a week of road tripping, we took a cruise to Alaskan port cities, finally ending up in Vancouver, Canada, the end of our trip.

My favorite place was Denali National Park. It was beautiful, with plenty of wildlife that the rangers are working hard to preserve. When we got there, we first visited the dog kennels that housed the sled dogs rangers work with during the winter. Instead of snowmobiles, all the rangers are taught to use dog sleds, because the dogs are more reliable as a source of transportation during the long and cold winter months.

We also went to the Wilderness Access Center, one of Denali's information centers, where we learned about a very interesting topic: sustainable living.

Sustainable living is a lifestyle that attempts to reduce one’s carbon footprint on the world, and use the least amount of resources necessary. Both of Denali’s information centers employed this idea when they were built; for example, they are built into the sides of mountains, so as to reduce the material needed for one wall of the building, and both information centers are closed during the winter, as to conserve energy. Also, the materials that went into the buildings, as well as the designs, drew inspiration from the numerous species in Denali National Park, such as Dall’s sheep, grizzly bears, caribou, moose, ground squirrels, etc. For example, the idea to "hibernate" during the winter came from the grizzly bear, as well as the idea to build the centers into the mountain, because bears dig their dens into the sides of mountains, instead of building one that sticks out of the ground.

The next day, we took the Kantishna Experience, a bus tour during which a tour guide drove us into Denali for 90 miles one way, and 90 miles back, for a grand total of 180 miles. During this trip, there were PLENTY of opportunites to snap photos, especially since the ride took over 12 hours long!

Alaska was breath-taking. More so than any other place in the United States, Alaska is in tune with nature, and has not been overrun with cities that spout pollutants and smog into the air. Going there, I felt so peaceful and calm, especially because I could actually see the stars for once. The mountain ranges were so large, the landscapes so stunning, that sometimes you just want to cry.

A Cruise to Costa Maya, Belize, and Cozumel

This past week Dawn Faranetta took me on an adventure through the Caribbean. After two days at sea, we stopped in Costa Maya, Mexico. We got off the ship and shopped for a while and then took a bus ride to an all inclusive private beach. Upon arrival, we bought our snorkel gear, and rented our jet skis. Before going snorkeling, we went out on the free kayaks to see what that water looked like. We paddled out about 100 feet off of the shore, and just sat and watched to see if anything swam by. The only thing we were really able to see was a turtle. Then we paddled back to shore, and grabbed our snorkel gear. Into the ocean we went. We started were it was really shallow, and just looked at all of the fish and sea weed that was moving under us. Then we moved out a little deeper, where the sea weed got deeper, and the fish got bigger. Once we saw about everything we could see, we went to the jet skis. Although we really couldn't see anything under us because we were moving to fast, it was still fun to be out so deep, and just looking back at the shore, watching all of the seagulls flying over above. Since we still had an hour bus ride back, we had to catch the 4:15 shuttle through the washed up and poor streets of Costa Maya. Driving though these streets was extremely sad, because there was probably a "house" about every mile, and it was basically just a shack. The children were playing outside in little puddles of dirty water, and there were cats EVERYWHERE! After the bus ride, we boarded the ship and awaited the set-sail to Belize.

We had to wake up early in Belize because our tour guide was meeting us at 9 and we were tendered 6 miles from the island. You can tell that our ship was 6 miles away, because it was about the distance of the horizon. Once we met up with our tour guide, we boarded a van and we drove for miles through the city, until we were out in the open land. The driver was explaining to us all he knew about the island, and history of the island. We drove past the mountains of the sleeping man. When you look at this chain of mountains, it looks like a giant laying down sleeping. Finally we made it to our destination. We were in the middle of the rain forest, were we planned to zip line though the lush vegetation. The tour guide brought us to the spot where we were going to get suited up in our harnesses. We go helmets, and gloves to stop and our harness. Then we had to walk up a flight of 85 stairs to get to the first platform. Between the first two platforms was probably only 50 feet, but i guess you can say it was basically a warm-up. I got suited up and strapped in, and i was off. Within about the last 5 feet of the line, you have to pull down on the top rope in order to stop yourself, and then the guide on the other side takes your harness off of the first line, and puts your safety rope on the next line to go to the second line. We went through 6 different lines, and then we had to rappel from he last station to the ground. Although we didn't see any larger animals, we did get to see all of the plants that the rain forest has to offer. Once we handed in all of our equipment, we walked back to the bus, were the guide was waiting to take us to lunch. We went over the hill that we were parked at, and ended up at a place called Jaguar Paw. It was a
restaurant in the middle of the rain forest that looked like what most people would imagine a building in the middle of the rain forest to look like. Once we ate the only meal that they had to

offer, we went on a walking tour behind the restaurant to see some gardens, and the end of a 9 mile long cave. In the cave we saw bats and many tourists floating their way through the cave. This concluded our tour, so we returned to the bus. On the way back through the city, we say many more people, because it was rush hour on the island time, and there were homeless people, children playing in sewers, and emaciated dogs roaming the streets. There were cages on all of the doors and windows, and people selling things all over the streets.

Our last stop of the trip was Cozumel, Mexico. Unfortunately at this port it was raining, so all we got to do was shop, but we still had a good time. Get 8 kids and 6 friendly adults together, and we can make fun out of anything. We were supposed to go on scooter tours around the island, but we didn't want to do it in the rain. So, after we shopped, we went back on the ship, and hung with all of the other people who didn't want to get stuck in the rain. We had a 2 day sail back to Miami, Florida where we would be docking.

Since our flight out of Miami International Airport wasn't until 8:15 P.M. we decided to do an Everglade Safari. We had to get off the ship at 7 A.M. so we had to wake up early, and we met our tour guide, boarded the bus, and off we went to the Everglades of Florida. We were going on an air boat tour through the Everglade in search of wildlife. Our tour guide was quite a comedian, and he took us through the grass and water of the Everglades, and quickly found alligators. He told us plenty of interesting facts about the Everglades, and wildlife that the Everglades was housing. He ensured us that we would see a lot of wildlife because he knew were to find them. One of the major problems about the Everglades now is people are buying the land to build more houses. Since alligators never forget were they were hatched, they always return there to hatch there own eggs. If there was a house built where the alligator was hatched, that alligator will still return to that spot, and have its eggs in someones backyard. If the owner calls the cop, the cops call a trapper, and the trapper, by law, must kill that alligator, otherwise it will just keep on coming back. Once we were on a straight away, he put the boat into overdrive, and weaved around, showing us what the air boats could do. Then we stopped out in the middle of a wide open area, and if you looked all you saw was grass and water. Our tour guide jumped in the water, and started telling us how the water was naturally purified in the Everglades. It goes through the 6 feet of mud under the water, where there is limestone, where cleans the water enough to be drank. Unfortunately, more and more land is being taken away from the Everglade for building, but unlike the common rumors of he Everglade getting shallower, and starting to dry out, is a lie. In fact, the Everglades are getting deeper. In some areas, the water is up to 6 feet deep, and there are animals such as deer that aren't supposed to swim, trying to get to the other side of the Everglades.Once our tour was over, we ate lunch, and we watched a man "wrestle" an alligator, and he showed us all kinds of other animals. The reason you cant really consider it alligator wrestling was because was just lying on top of an alligator that didn't move at all. It would be more like alligator taming because he was showing us how if you put your hand in his mouth and don't touch anything, he wont bit down, but if you touch anything, about 2,000 pound of weight come crashing down. The the man took out a baby alligator, and let everyone hold it. Of course, I couldn't miss out on this chance, so Dawn and I posed with the alligator. That was the end of our Everglades excursion, so we got on the bus and headed to the airport, where we sat for 8 hours until we began boarding the flight back to Newark.

This past week, Brooke Freundlich took me on an adventure to the Riveria Maya in Mexico! Standing by the ocean, I couldn't help but think back to the lab Miss Eberhardt's third period biology class did involving life in a drop of water. Not only were there visible seaweeds and algaes in the water, but thousands and thousands of organisms were present not visible to the naked eye. Also, just hanging around on the beach like us, was a crab! Finally, Hurricane Ida, which was approaching Mexico, was fueled by the warm tropical waters in the Gulf.

The Adventures of the Traveling PBWiki Shirt!- Trip to NYC!

Recently, I went to NYC! When I was there I went to Spandex World, House of Spandex, and an awesome cafe. What I learned there was how biology is involved in ways you wouldn't imagine. First, just the fact that you need to be able to walk. There are many muscles that you need just to move your legs! Plus of course, your eyes need to be working properly just to see where you are going. Problems encountered when I started smelling the smoke and all the pollution that is in the NYC air. It was hard to breathe. I knew I would have to be washed or aired out in a clean environment. Plus the rain made me scared that all my fibers would get ruined! The best part was when we ate. My friends Lexie had to be able to digest food correctly so that she could eat! It was so interesting to see how much biology takes part in the simplest things.

My second visit to the eye doctor

Coincidentally,on October 24,2009 i found myself at another eye doctor. This time it was a Retina Specialist. I was able to look at all the machines that the doctor used while Ollie was getting his eyes checked.





In the first photo, there i am with the digital fundus retinal imaging system. This machine is used to take pictures of the retina with fluorescence dye. Special filters in the camera allow the dye to be visualized in the retinal circulation. Here is an example of choroidal neovascularization with sub retinal hemorrhage. This represents a growth of abnormal blood vessels, this is a common form of retinal degeneration. Thankfully, Ollies retina was looking good or the Doctor would have had to use one of these.


This is an Argon Laser for Retinal photocoagulation. This laser can be used for treatment of macular degeneration and diabetic retinopothy.



While i was at the retinal imaging system i saw a picture of the most common occular protozoan infection in the eye which is called toxoplasmosis gondii or more commonly called occular toxoplasmosis. The natural host of toxoplasmosis is the common household cat.










At the end of my visit to the retina specialist i felt like i learned so much about the retina. Maybe Ollie will take me back again one day...but in the meantime i will continue to travel the world and learn new things!

My Trip to the Eye Doctor

On October 20, 2009, Leanne Nieforth took me with her to the eye doctor. Leanne was having difficulty with her contact being comfortable in her eye; she felt her vision was blurry, so went to the office. Leanne turned out to have Keratitis, a corneal inflammation, from contact lenses overuse. She was put on an antibiotic-steroid combination to prevent a bacterial infection and reduce the inflammation. From this I learned about the importance of taking care of your contacts. If she had let this issue go, she could have had a serious infection.

Because her mother is her eye doctor, I got to tour the entire office from top to bottom and get my picture taken with very neat equipment!

In the first photo,

I am sitting in the equipment. The center black object with dials is called a phoropter, used for checking spectacle prescriptions. To the right is the slit lamp. This is used to look at the front surface of the eye, like the cornea. To the left is the Keratometer, it is used to measure the surface of the cornea.

In the second photo, Leanne is holding me in front of a diagram of the eye and astigmatism. On the left side is the projector. The projector is used to put the measured eye chart on the screen at the other end of the room. From these measured letters, visual acuity is checked.

I had soooooo much fun at the eye doctor's! I can't wait to go again!

Spirit Week Pep Rally 2009

On October 23rd, 2009, I got to go to the Spirit Week 2009 pep rally. Because Derek is in the marching band, I got to sit with the band in the bleachers. Throughout the pep rally, I got to listen to the music and each of the grades cherring. From sitting with the band, I learned about the sound produced by each of the instruments. The low brass instruments, such as the tubas and baritones, produce long sound waves (lower sounds). The upper woodwind instruments, such as the flutes and piccolos, produce short sound waves (higher sounds). The longer sound waves are typically louder and can be heard from farther away since longer sound waves tracel farther than shorter sound waves. For this reason, the freshmen and juniors on the other side of the stadium could only hear the low brass instruments with long sound waves and not the flutes and piccolos with short sound waves.

In addition to learning about music science, I got to watch the cheer competitions between the grades. I noticed that the junior and freshman cheers were softer and lower in pitch than the senior and sophomore cheers (which were next to me and not across the stadium). I realized that the farther away a sound was, the softer and lower in pitch it was.

In conclusion, I had a great time at the Spirit Week pep rally 2009 and cannot believe that the sophomores (not the juniors!) got second place. I cannot wait for Spirit Week next year!