Porcupines are amazing creatures. A porcupine has an oval-shaped body and a rounded head. It has quills on its back to protect it from predators attacking it. The porcupine lives in the U.S. all along the West coast from Alaska down to Northern Mexico. It lives in thick forested areas as well as open plains and deserts. All porcupines hibernate in the winter.
Baby porcupines are usually very cute. Porcupines breed just once a year and only get together at this time. Female porcupines usually only have one or two babies at a time. The mother will take care of its babies for about 5 months.
Did you know? A male porcupine weighs about 14 pounds but the females weigh about 11 pounds? A porcupine’s diet is mostly plants. Porcupines are vegetarians. They are herbivores. They eat only plants: three of them are Ponderosa pine, Sugar maple tree buds, and Hemlock.
Porcupines are fantastic creatures. They are not endangered. They adapt to the weather and are not extinct. Porcupines are not currently protected by the law.
Porcupines are spectacular animals!

       Venus is the goddess of love and beauty.  Venus’ Greek name is Aphrodite.  Venus’ Greek name Aphrodite means “born from foam”. Venus was one of the twelve Olympians.  Venus is one of the most popular Olympians.

       People ask Venus to help them find love. Venus loved the god named Mars. Venus was born from foam made by the sea. Some of Venus’s symbols are a dove or a rose. Venus had a son named Cupid. Venus had another son named Aeneas. The Greeks believed Venus was the goddess of lawless passions. The planet Venus was named after the goddess of beauty, Venus.

                       by Simone Shupper

          Palm Springs is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to! There are humongous rocks but no green grass. There are not many flowers at all, although there are lots of dry hiking trails. There are a few beautiful views from the tops of some hiking trails. I haven’t seen a beach so I don’t think there are any beaches.

I think every time I go there I should bring a hat and a swimsuit. Next time I will bring a sleeveless shirt.There are usually a few puffy clouds so the air smells moist. Sometimes I can see different shapes made by the clouds. There are steep cliffs to hike up. The hot weather makes it hard to hike. The nice cold pools feel very relaxing with a cold smoothie. At night there are lots of crickets and warm air all around. Nighttime is beautiful because it is very easy to see the stars. It was the best trip ever!

          A very special time in my life was going to Palm Springs for the first time. It was the summer of 2012 and my family, a friend’s family and I were in Palm Springs. It was late in the evening so I ate dinner, read a book, and went to bed. The next day, we went to our friend’s area, and they had a tiny pool. We swam in that pool. While we were swimming, one of the other family’s kids put their  dog in the pool. The dog Fig, jumped right out! An hour later, we went to the big pool. In the middle, there was a bridge to get to the other half of the pool. After swimming in that pool for about 20 minutes, we went to the water slide. It was awesome!  It went in a spiral and landed in warm water. On the last day we woke all up and realized it was the fourth of July! Everyone met up and went to the pool. The parents and kids all got drinks. The kids all got smoothies. YUM! On the way home, we stopped really close to my house and watched the fireworks from the top of my car. It had been the best trip ever!

           Once there was a ladybug named Emily. Emily lived in a small, peaceful, village called Glowing Flowers. Emily’s house is made of sticks and leaves, but contains four rooms and a staircase.One room is a downstairs guest bedroom, there are two bedrooms upstairs, and a kitchen.One of Emily’s friends is Lisa the Ladybug Fairy. Emily and Lisa were very good friends.

          One day Emily asked Lisa to go looking for aphids with her. So they set off to find aphids in the crops that two-legged creatures planted. In their baskets,they put as many aphids as they could. While they were picking the best aphids, like some other ladybugs, it started to rain, then a storm came. The look on both of their faces meant: “Oh no! We’re going to get soaked! No!” They stayed there hour after hour. All of a sudden, a mysterious, colossal ship came just for Emily and Lisa! It took five days to get home, but they had the greatest  vacation ever! They got smoothies of every aphid type, they even got their own immortal stars. These stars were not just any old stars. These stars protected them were ever they went. Suddenly, a ghost appeared and tried to capture them. That is when the stars come in handy! They were saved! 

          When Emily and Lisa got to Emily’s house, they had a sleepover and fell asleep immediately and had a feast the next day to celebrate their adventure!  

THE END

OTA Math & Science Olympics! Programming • Applied Mathematics • Problem-Solving

In the ROBOTICS CATEGORY you can post your:

Successful Roamer or Racer Robot programs:

Photos & videos of your Group working with the Racer Robots:

And samples of your robot-created art:

* * * * *

Music posts go here...

GarageBand recordings, Performance Videos, Music History Timelines;
Song Lyrics, music, or arrangements;
Combined Science-Math-Music Projects (Coke Bottle/Wine Glass orchestra; Build your own guitar, etc.)

Science posts go here…

Lab Projects (photos, diagrams, slideshows, & videos of your completed Projects or Project Exams);
Theory Slideshows and Animated Simulations (Use Keynote to make animations!): Explanations of: How Human’s Hear, How Speaker’s Work, etc;
Science Posters (scan or create digitally);
Combined Science-History Projects (e.g., Inventions Timeline; e.g. History of The: Automobile, Cell Phone, etc.); Combined Science-Math Projects (SONAR math challenges, etc.).

Math posts go here…

Book of Real Problem Problems (Create your own illustrated math tutorial in Pages or Keynote or with Show Me);
Completed Math Progress Trackers (Saxon, Computer TargetScores, TAPS);
Combined Math-Language Arts Projects (Math Poems or Songs, etc.); Combined Math-Science Projects (SONAR Math Challenges, etc.)

Language Arts posts go here…

Essays, Narratives, Poems, Speeches, Recitations (videos or recordings), Grammar Projects, Foreign Language Study, etc.
Combined Language Arts-Math Projects (Math poems or songs); Combined Language-Arts History Projects (Biographical Narrative, Poltical Speech, etc.)