Month: June 2016

The Respiratory System – A word on Science

By Simran Jayasinghe

The respiratory system controls your breathing. When you inhale, your diaphragm moves down, letting your lungs expand and take in more air. Air comes in through you mouth, into your trachea, and into your lungs. Your trachea branches out into bronchi, and the bronchi end in small air sacs called alveoli. Each alveoli is wrapped in tiny blood vessels. The air goes to the alveoli, and the oxygen in the air moves through the thin membrane of the alveoli, and into the blood vessels, and the blood carries it to our cells. Carbon dioxide, a waste product made in your cells,  gets carried by the blood and is taken to the alveoli. In the alveoli, the carbon dioxide moves from the blood to the air that we exhale. The exhaled air goes up your trachea, and out of your mouth. As you exhale, your diaphragm moves up, forcing the air out.

 

India Princess – A Restaurant Review

By Kiran Jayasinghe

Buffets are my favorite style of eating. I love any type of buffet.  About a month ago, to celebrate Mother’s Day, my family went to India Princess, including my grandparents, for their Champagne Buffet.

The restaurant is relatively small. It has a few pieces of Indian art, but not much. We expected a bit more.

Enjoying the Naan and Tikka Masala (image by the Jayasinghe family)
Enjoying the Naan and Tikka Masala (Image by the Jayasinghe family)

The food was great. My grandparents and Mom all had mango lassi to drink, my father had a diet soda, and my sisters and I had water. I had a taste of the mango lassi – I thought it was really nice. My sisters thought the the buffet has a decent number of choices, but all of us liked the tandoori chicken the best, and I particularly liked the homemade raita. There’s also white rice, biriyani, curries, naan, chutney, and more. The naan can be ordered in two different flavors, plain and garlic. I had a lot of naan, with the tofu tikka masala. For dessert, the buffet offers fruit and mango pudding.

The India Princess is located on Restaurant Row in San Marcos, CA. Their Address is 1020 W. San Marcos Blvd, Suite 100, San Marcos, CA 92078.  For more information visit the India Princess website.

Lazy Dog – A Restaurant Review

By Simran Jayasinghe

Not long ago, we went to lunch at the Lazy Dog restaurant in Temecula. We went on a Saturday, but it wasn’t overly crowded, we only had a 5 minute wait. Since the restaurant was named Lazy Dog, all the decorations had something to do with a dog, including two big statues of dogs made out of nails. The ambiance of the restaurant, the lighting, the lamps, made it look like a fancy restaurant..  However, we thought that the waiter’s outfits, jeans and a black t-shirt, didn’t match the ambiance of the restaurant.

My sisters and I ordered the ‘Build Your Own Pizza’. After a long wait, waiters brought us raw dough, parmesan cheese, cherries, pineapple bits, and pepperoni. We got to put the toppings on the pizza and then they took it back into the oven, which meant we had to wait even more!

"Build Your Own Pizza"!
“Build Your Own Pizza”!
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“Build Your Own Pizza” Cooked! Finally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How should I decorate my pizza?
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We are busy decorating our pizza!

If you are going to order the Build Your Own Pizza, just keep in mind that it needs some time. When we finally got our pizza back, we all agreed that it was good.

 

Our mom and dad both got the Avocado and Swiss Turkey Burger. When they finally got their burgers, after a long wait, they discovered that it was huge! It was so big that neither of them could, put their mouth around it, things kept  falling out. My mom and dad had to eat their burger with a fork and knife! That looked funny!

I think that the wait to get our food was a little too long, and I think that they could have made my mom and dad’s burger at a more eatable size. Overall, I think we all enjoyed our visit to the Lazy Dog Restaurant.

For more information go to the Lazy Dog restaurant website.

The Muscular System – Science

By Simran Jayasinghe

muscular_systemThe Muscular System is made up of muscles. There are two main types of muscles, voluntary muscles, and involuntarily muscles. There are also Skeletal muscles, Smooth muscles, and Cardiac muscles. Smooth Muscles are like the muscled that line the inside of your stomach. Cardiac and Smooth muscles are involuntary. Involuntary means that do things without you having to think about it. Voluntary means you need to think about it to do it. Skeletal Muscles are voluntary because you think before you move and your brain has to tell your muscles to move. Bones and muscles have to work together to allow you to move.

The Skeletal System – Science

By Simran Jayasinghe

skeletal_systemThe skeletal system is made out of our bones and our cartilage. Cartilage is tissue that’s flexible, like the cartilage in our noses. Some main type of bones are ribs, femurs, pelvis, and fibula. The place where two or more bones meet are called joints. Some types of joints are pivot joints, gliding joints, hinge joints and ball-and-socket joints. Your knee is a ball-and-socket joint. A pivot joint, for example, is found in the neck. If we didn’t have bones, we would be a lump of cartilage, skin, and organs. Bones are what make up our structure and shape. Our bones also allow us to move. If we didn’t have bones, we would have to stay still our whole lives! That would be pretty boring! They also protect some of your organs.Your ribs, for example, protects your lungs and heart. Strings of tissues that hold our bones together are called ligaments. Ligaments also help to keep us moving.

City of Ember – A Book Review

(Image by wikipedia.com)

by Simran Jayasinghe

We could not live in the dark. We could not live on canned food for our whole lives. We wouldn’t think it was fair to be assigned jobs. But the people living in the city of Ember live without a sun. They’ve all been living on canned food. They think it’s normal to be assigned jobs – when they’re twelve.

When Lina Mayfleet, the main character, turns twelve, she is assigned a job. She is assigned the job “Pipeworks”. To Lina, this is the worst job she could have gotten – working underground fixing pipes wasn’t her kind of thing. Luckily, Doon Harrow wants to work in the Pipeworks, and he doesn’t want to be a “Messenger” – but Lina does. They trade.

Lina is curious. Why would Doon want to work in the Pipeworks? He says he wants to fix the generator, which provides energy for all the lights that light up Ember. The generator has stopped working from time to time recently, leaving the city in complete darkness. But that’s not the only problem. The canned food that the people have been living on for 200 years is running out. Supplies like light bulbs, pencils, and paper, are also running low. Lina and Doon work together to find out how to fix these problems.

Eventually, Lina and Doon realize they need to leave Ember. They spread the news, but the mayor is unhappy with it. He orders them to be chased by the guards. Lina and Doon decide to escape on their own. Will they escape safely? If they do, what will happen? What will they do, and where will they go? Read the book to find out!

The City of Ember is the first book in a series of four. The series is written by Jeanne DuPrau. The plot was really easy to follow and understand, and I think the book has just the right amount of suspense, just enough to keep the reader interested. I like how the Lina and Doon don’t give up, even when people put them down.  I also liked how they don’t just accept the jobs they are assigned, while other people just accept their jobs, even though they may have no interest in doing them.  This shows that if you put your mind to it you can accomplish many things.  The story ends with a cliff hanger, so I’m sure you’ll be looking forward to the next book!