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9th Grade

Ninth grade students in Mr.J's class are student researchers who inquire about Natural Disasters, New Orleans, Latin Studies, Nelson Mandela, Jamaica, and Everest.  Scroll down to see links to current news and articles related to these topics.
  • Natural Disasters
  • Global Warming/Climate Change
  • Hurricanes
  • New Orleans
  • Latin Studies
  • Nelson Mandela
  • Jamaica
  • Everest
  • Natural Disasters and Global Warming

    Plagues
    Picture
    Ebola Study Questions Fever as Surefire Signal
    by David Willman
    Tribune Washington Bureau
    10/11/14

    Picture
    Zombies and the Plague
    History.com Video


    Since zombies spread just like an epidemic, the Spanish flu and bubonic plague are examples of what a zombie apocalypse might look like.

    Floods
    Picture
    Washington Mudslide's Grim Toll: 16 Dead, Perhaps 176 Missing
    by Ben Brumfield
    CNN
    3/26/2014

    Picture
    Colorado Floods 2013: Rescuers Warn Some Against Remaining In Towns Isolated By Flooding          
    By HANNAH DREIER and JERI CLAUSING  
    The Associated Press
    9/15/13              
          
    A road crew works on a stretch of highway washed out by flooding along the South Platte River in Weld County

    Picture
    What if a Superstorm Strikes Sacramento?  Flooding Danger Puts the Capital at Risk of a Disaster Worse than Sandy
    By Matt Weiser and Phillip Reese
    Sac Bee
    Sacramento's downtown skyline is shown in a composite photo taken last month. Sacramento has the second-highest flood risk of any major U.S. urban area. If a levee breaks, some residents could have as little as 20 minutes to flee before rising waters prevent driving

    Volcanoes 
    Picture
    New Mexico-size Volcano Discovered in the Depths of the Pacific Ocean
    by Kim Meeri
    The Washington Post

    ​A perspective 3D plot of the topography of the largest single volcano on Earth

    Picture
    City Covered in Ash after Volcano Erupts
    A city in southern Japan becomes covered in ash after a nearby volcano erupts Sunday.
    NBC News
      |  August 18, 2013

                                                                                                                                   Forest Fires
    Picture
    California Faces Longer, Tough Wildfire Season
     By AMY TAXIN and RAQUEL MARIA DILLON
    The Associated Press 


    Picture
    AERIAL MANEUVERS: Smokejumper Base in Missoula Offers Look at Parachute Corps
    July 28, 2013 12:22 am  •  Associated Press


    This undated photo provided by the Missoula Smokejumper Base shows a smokejumper descending through the air. Throughout the summer, public tours are offered daily at Missoula’s Aerial Fire Depot and Smokejumper Center, giving a look at the preparation and skill required of the smokejumpers who are trained to parachute in to attack fires in remote, rugged places. 

    Picture
    Fire along American River Parkway Burns  100 Acres
     by Benjamin Mullin

    ​Sacramento-area fire crews battle a brush fire that started Thursday on the north side of the American River between Highway 160 and the Capital City Freeway. The blaze consumed about 100 acres of grassland and sent plumes of dense smoke into the sky above the American River Parkway.

    Picture
    Fast-Moving Blaze Kills 19 Firefighters in Central Arizona
    By  FERNANDA SANTOS
    New York Times

    This Arizona fire was started with a lightning strike.

    Earthquakes
    Picture
    25 Years Later, Could Bay Area Survive Another Earthquake
    by Sudhin Thanawala
    The Associated Press
    10/18/14

    Picture
    $54 Can Buy Quake Alert System in Mexican Capital
    by Tim Johnson
    McClatchy Foreign Staff
    6/13/14
    Andres Meira, an architect-turned-inventor, shows off his early warning alarm for earthquakes, June 4, 2014 in Mexico City. Called Grillo, the little box holds a siren and has flashing lights.



    Picture
    Will We Ever Be Able to Predict Earthquakes?
    by John Dvorak
    Slate
    4/22/14


    Layers of earth are deformed by the collision of the Pacific and North American plates along the southern San Andreas Fault north of the Salton Sea near Mecca, Calif.

    Picture
    Death toll climbs to 183 in Philippines earthquake
    By Laura Smith-Spark and Jessica King, 
    CNN
    Sat October 19, 2013

    Philippine residents view the ruins of the historic Holy Cross Parish Church in Maribojoc on the central Philippine island of Bohol on Friday, October 18. The death toll has risen to 183 after a magnitude-7.1 earthquake hit the central Philippines on October 15.

    Tsunamis
    Picture
    The Calm Before the Wave
    Where and when will the next tsunami hit?
    by Tim Folger
    National Geographic



    Jin Sato is the mayor of a town that no longer exists.

    Tornadoes
    Picture
    Stormscapes2: Stormier
    by Phil Plat
    Slate
    12/14/14




    ​A tornado drops down from a mesocyclone in Stormscapes2.

    The Tulsa World Review is funny, but the Sac Bee review does a good job at getting to the theme or importance of the movie.
    Picture
    Movie Review: 'Into the Storm' Is a Piece of Cinematic Debris
    by Michael Smith
    Tulsa World
    8/9/14


    "If "Into the Storm" has a theme, it's that.  We've become a nation of gawkers, cultists forever holding our phones up to whatever dangerous, tragic or comic disaster is unfolding in front of us." 

    Into the Storm' Spent All Its Money on Effects

                                                                                                                                                                                                               Sac Bee

    Picture
    The Last Chase 
    “Oh, my God. This is going to be a huge one.”
    By Robert Draper

    National Geographic
    November, 2013

    Picture
    Tornado Tech: How Drones Can Help With Twister Science    
    by Rachel Hubbard
    NPR

    Tornado researchers want to use small drones, like this one called the Noctura, to study the storms.

    Picture
    Tim Samaras Dead: Oklahoma Tornado Kills Storm Chaser, Son Paul Samaras, and Chase Partner Carl Young 
    By Jake Carpenter and Catherine E. Shoichet
    CNN

    Tim Samaras sits with instrument probes he used as part of his TWISTED field research program. Samaras holds the Guinness World Record for the largest measured pressure drop inside a tornado.

    Global Warming and Climate Change
    Picture
    Rising Seas
    by Tim Folger
    National Geographic
    Sept 2013

    ​As the planet warms, the sea rises. Coastlines flood. What will we protect? What will we abandon? How will we face the danger of rising seas?

    Picture
    Man-made Global Warming Linked to much of 2012's Wildest Weather
    by Seth Borenstein
    Associated Press

    Picture
    Bill Nye Teaches “Climate 101”
    by Phil Plait
    Slate


    Picture
    NASA: Global Warming Feature Articles

    Hurricanes
    Picture
    Death Toll Likely Exceeds 1,000 After Typhoon Slams Philippines
    By Andrew Stevens and Tom Watkins, 
    CNN
    People carry a victim of the super typhoon in the devastated city of Tacloban, population 220,000. Most of the other badly hit cities and islands were cut off, making the number of casualties unclear. Haiyan hit with 3.5 times the force of Hurricane Katrina.

    Picture
    Astounding Personal Shots of Hurricane Sandy
     by Jordan G. Teicher
    Slate


      |


    Picture
    The Damage Done
    National Geographic
    Sept 2013 Slide Show


    By the time Sandy struck the Northeast, it had killed 72 people in the Caribbean. It was no longer a hurricane—but it was a thousand miles wide, with 80-mile-an-hour winds that drove the sea onto the coast in lethal surges. The final death toll was 147. As the world warms, it may see more storms like Sandy. It will certainly see higher seas.

    Picture
    Rain From Isaac Puts Wide Area at Risk
    By  JOHN SCHWARTZ and CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
    The New York Times


    Evacuating LaPlace, La., as victims mourned and officials assessed damage.

    New Orleans and Katrina

    Picture
    Ghost Town
    by Thomas Dworzak

    A slide show and an essay read out loud about Katrina

    Picture
    Frontline: The Storm
    Watch Movie here

    Picture
    New Orleans: A Perilous Future
    By Joel K. Bourne, Jr.
    National Geographic staff
    Photograph by Tyrone Turner

    Picture
    Essential New Orleans: A Locals Guide
    ​Cnn



    The Mardi Gras Indians pay homage to Native Americans who helped escaped slaves in the 1800s.
    Picture
    Grim Scenes as Caskets Float to the Surface Following Devastating Floods in New Orleans
    ​
    by Keyan Melanin
    ​Mirror

    ​In Walker, Louisiana, the local police department shared a picture of burial caskets floating in the flood water amongst other debris at St. Mark's Cemetary
    ​

    Picture
    Jazz and Heritage and Then Some
    CNN


    Usher, performing with the Roots at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Saturday.
    CreditBryan Tarnowski for The New York Times



    Picture
    The Queen Diva a Reigns Supreme in Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce

    Marie Laveau, the queen of voodoo, is buried in Saint Louis #1 in the French Quarter.  She is a character in the American Horror Stories season called Coven.  In this scene, Laveau meets Fiona, a witch that appears in other seasons of the show.
    Picture
    Outside New Orleans, Bayou Has Its Own Pre-Lent Partying
    by Stacey Plaisance
    The Associated Press

    The Krewe of Tchefuncte floats by crowds lining the backs on the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville, La., four years ago in the Bayou, where boats are gaily decorated for Mardi Gras celebrations. Also, revelers two-step to Cajun and zydeco bands and enjoy gumbo.

    I made this slide show of pictures from a trip to New Orleans that Mrs. Johnson and I took in April 2013.
    Meschiya Lake is a traditional Jazz Singer who is in the slide show above.  We saw her on a Wednesday night at the Chickie Wah Wah.
    Meschiya sang this song at the Chickie Wah Wah that night.
    Picture
    What is Jazz?

    This is a clip from the show Treme on HBO that focuses on New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  This clip shows a jazz funeral.
    Picture
    How Wendell Pierce is remaking a slice of the Big Easy 
      
    By John Bare, Special to CNN
    updated 9:22 AM EDT, Fri June 28, 2013

    Picture
    Mardi Gras Slide Show

    Picture
    A Brief History of Mardi Gras

    Latin Studies

    Picture
    I'm Latino.  I'm HIspanic.  And they're different, so I drew a comic to explain.

    We study different types of figurative language in Latin Studies, and idioms are apart of that alphabet soup.  The students struggle with idioms, but "Confessions of an Idiom" will make the concept easy to understand.
    Rat Ode
    Manhunt or Ode to First Kisses
    Ode to the Head Nod
    by Elizabeth Acevedo
    Picture
    Negro? Prieto? Moreno? A Question of Identity for Black Mexicans
    by Randal C Archibold
    The New York Times
    10/25/14

    Picture
    Why Are Hispanics Identifying as White?
    by Eric Liu
    CNN
    5/29/14

    Picture
    Dia De Los Muertos Celebrations Abound in Sacramento Area
    by Janelle Bitker
    Sac Bee
    11/1/13

    La Raza Galería Posada is expecting more than 5,000 people to visit this weekend’s annual panteón, a re-creation of a cemetery in a parking lot on J Street between 20th and 21st streets.


    Picture
    What it Means to be Latino 

    Picture
    Who is Diego Rivera?

    Picture
    Gary Soto Website

    Neruda, Pinochet and Rumors of Murder
    New York Times
    Op-Ed
    Picture
    Was Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda Murdered?
    Live Science 








    People visit the Pablo Neruda's tomb in Isla Negra, west of Santiago, on April 7, 2013, the day before his remains were scheduled to be exhumed.

    Picture
    Pablo Neruda Biography

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    Picture

    Cesar Chavez and the UFL
     
    ELEGY FOR A HERO
    By Douglas Foster



    Picture
    Biography of Ernesto "Che" Guevara Idealist of the Cuban Revolution
    By Christopher Minster,
    About.com Guide


    Picture
    LETTER FROM THE AMERICAS; Che
    Today? More Easy Rider Than Revolutionary

    By Larry Rohter     

    Published: May 26, 2004

    Picture
    Why Bilinguals Are Smarter
    by YUDHIJIT BHATTACHARJEE

    Picture
    America's Racial and Ethnic Divides                   
    Immigrants Shunning Idea of Assimilation

    By William Branigin 
    Washington Post Staff Writer





    Maria Jacinto, with her husband, Aristeo, and one of their five children, speaks only Spanish. "When my skin turns white and my hair turns blonde, then I'll be an American," she says.

    Picture
    For Dark-Skinned Mexicans, Taint of Discrimination Lingers
    by Tim Johnson
    McClatchy Foreign Staff 
    Sac Bee
    Sept 2013

    Mario Arriagada Cuadriello is a social scientist and magazine editor in Mexico. He says the country's society magazines show discrimination in their coverage of the people of Mexico
     

     

    Picture
    Numero Uno Radio Host in L.A. Stays Humble
    BY HECTOR BECERRA
    September 27, 2013
    LA Times

    KLAX-FM's El Mandril has the top morning radio show in L.A. — in English or Spanish — but Ricardo Sanchez is determined to stay true to his roots.


    Nelson Mandela

    Picture
    Wounded people in South Africa's Sharpeville township lie in the street on March 21, 1960, after police opened fire on black demonstrators marching against the country's segregation system known as apartheid. At least 180 black Africans, most of them women and children, were injured and 69 were killed in the Sharpeville massacre that signaled the start of armed resistance against apartheid.
    Picture
    Mandela’s Birthday and Trayvon Martin’s Loss
    by Charlayne Hunter-Gault

    Picture
    Nelson Mandela's Prison Adventures
    by Greg Myre

    Picture
    Op-Ed: The Other Mrs Mandela
    By Alexander Baron

    Picture
    Obama's Visit Turns into Salute to Mandela
    By Anita Kumar  | McClatchy Washington Bureau

    Mandela is in critical condition in the Hospital
    Picture
    New York Times Update Page

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    Jamaica

    Picture
    Get to Know Calypso
    ​
    CNN
    ​Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown

    Picture
    Jamaica, Beyond the Beach
    by LUISITA LOPEZ TORREGROSA
    The New York Times
    March 31st, 2016


    Picture
    Three Things to Know about the Buffalo Soldiers 
    Smithsonian Magazine






    Picture
    Captureland
    by Nabil Elderkin

    A short film by Nabil Elderkin inspired by the words of the late Nelson Mandela, and the song 'Capture Land' by Jamaican artist Chronixx. Captureland was shot in early November 2014 in the very welcoming and historic community or Port Royal, Kingston - Jamaica. 

    Presented by Montblanc, Capture Land was made as part of The Power of Words series. In partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, this initiative inspires filmmakers to explore the written legacy of influential figures as a source of story and using film as a tool of education. In its inaugural year, the series will look at the teachings and writings of Nelson Mandela as inspiration for story.



    This Slate article is a comment/interpretation of the New York Times article right below it.
    Picture
    How Jamaica Got the Lead Out and Brought Its Murder Rate Down
    by Matthew Yglesias
    Slate


    Picture
    Jamaica Fights to Break Grip of Violent Past
    by Damien Cave
    New York Times
    August 2013

    Girls leaving school for home in the Mountain View neighborhood in Kingston, which used to be notorious for its crime but has become safer, thanks in part to community policing.

    Picture
    Usain Bolt Did that Russian Dance after Winning Third Gold  Medal
    Sprint star paid homage to host nation by doing the Cossack dance
    by Chris Chase
    USA Today
    August 2013

    In the "The Last Wailer," Sullivan hears about a gangster who runs a large chunk of Kingston named Dudus Coke.  In the New York Times article above, Coke has lost his power and people have taken control of their city to its benefit.  But read "The Last Wailer" for Bunny.  The interaction between Sullivan and Bunny is classic. 
    Picture
    The Last Wailer
    by John Jeremiah Sullivan
    GQ January 2011





    Even the name is legend. Bunny Wailer. He grew up in the same house as Bob Marley, and together with Peter Tosh, they created not just The Wailers but a new template for sound. But only Bunny remains, and today he lives in his own private Zion. He is not an easy man to visit. John Jeremiah Sullivan ventured to Kingston, Jamaica, shortly after that city burned last summer, to find reggae's most righteous survivor

    Picture
    Origins of Rastafari

    Picture
    Celebrating Bob Marley, Voice of the Dispossessed
    By HOWARD W. FRENCH,
    New York Times

    Picture
    The African Slave Trade and the Middle Passage

    Bob is amazing, but so is Peter Tosh.  Tosh played guitar for the Wailers before he left the band for a solo career.
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    Everest

    Best Books about Everest
    Into Thin Air
    Peak
    Picture
    Former Raiders, Saints Player Conquers Everest, But Not Without Pain




    Mark Pattison with Everest in the background. 

    Picture
    Has Anyone really Summited the 14 Highest Peaks?
    New York Times
    2021

    It can be difficult to discern the topmost point on Dhaulagiri’s summit ridge.

    Picture
    Coronavirus at Mount Everest
    ​
    The Washington Post
    ​2021

    What We've Learned in a 100 Years on Mount Everest
    ​
    ESPN
    ​2021
    One hundred years ago this spring, an expedition first set out toward the summit of Mount Everest. What has changed in a century of exploring the world's highest peak?

    Picture
    Deliverance from 27,000 Feet                                                                                                                                                                     
    by John Branch
    New York Times              
    ​​Dec 18th 2017

    Picture
    Sacramento couple elopes at Mount Everest, and how they did it is said to be a first
    Sac bee
    ​2017



    ​




    Picture
    The End of Everest: A Massive Avalanche, 16 Sherpa Deaths, and the Bitter Feud That Will Change the Mountain Forever
    by Grayson Schaffer
    Outside Magazine 
    August 2014



    Picture
    Avalanche Kills 12 in Single Deadliest Accident on Mount Everest
    by Ed Payne and Manesh Shrestha
    CNN
    4/18/14

    A high-altitude avalanche Friday killed 12 Sherpa guides and seriously wounded three in the single deadliest accident on Mount Everest, officials said.

    Picture
    Death on Killer Mountain
    by Amanda Padoan     Jul 6, 2013 4:45 AM EDT  
         
    A group of mountaineers in the Himalayas died in a horrifying massacre. Amanda Padoan talks exclusively to one of the survivors for the inside account of what happened.

    Picture
    Maxed Out On Everest: How to Fix the Mess at the Top of the World
    By Mark Jenkins
    Photograph by Subin Thakuri, Utmost Adventure Trekking

    Picture
    National Geographic Everest Page

    Everest Research Project Articles

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    The Science of Everest

    Altitude Sickness Claims Lives On Mount Everest Expedition: What Is It? 
    Effect of Altitude on the Heart and the Lungs
    Physiological Effects of Altitude  
    Test Your Brain
    Atmospheric Pressure
    Higher Than Everest
    Climbing without O's
    China to Monitor Earthquakes on Everest
    Climate Change Could Make Everest Unclimbable, Says Sherpa
    Into Thin Air: Mountain Climbing Kills Brain Cells
    Birth of the Himalaya
    Discovering Air
    Earthquake in the Himalaya
    Anatomy of a Glacier
    A Sherpa's View of Melting Himalayan Glaciers
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    Famous Climbers

    All of Us in a Way Are Climbling Blind
    My Story: Sir Edmund Remembers
    Badass of the Week: Reinhold Messner
    Mallory
    First without Oxygen
    First to Summit
    No Mountain Too High For Her: Junko Tabei defied Japanese views of women
    1963 American Summit: Jim Whittaker - Back on Earth
    High Exposure: David Breashears
    Higher Education: Should 13-Year-Old Jordan Romero Climb Everest?
    US teenager Jordan Romero sets seven-peak record
    Mallory and Irvine The Final Chapter Everest 2005: Did George Leigh Mallory Summit Mt Everest?
    Everest: 50 Years and Counting
    Reinhold Messner
    Famed Everest climber's body found, 75 years later
    1996: Ed Viesturs - Turn Around, Guys!
    Teen begins ascent of Mount Everest
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    Mountaineering

    Communicating from Everest
    Deaths on Everest throw the spotlight on the business of climbing
    Everest Explained: Why Did So Many People Die Last Weekend?
    Getting in Everest Shape
    Mount Everest climb carries hefty price tag
    Mount Everest equipment list
    Early Everest Attempts: 1921-38
    Mountain Gear
    "SO YOU WANT TO CLIMB MCKINLEY?"A Training Program for the Prospective Mountaineering Hardman
    What is Mountaineering?
    Will Cell Phones Replace SAT Phones on Everest?
    Everest: Climbers Steck and Moro in fight with Sherpas
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    Nepal

    Nepal profile
    Nepal profile Timeline
    New York Times Nepal Article Page
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    Routes and Climbs

    Climbing Routes Up Mount Everest
    Chomolungma Nirvana: The Routes up Mount Everest
    Everest's Routes Lethally Crowded
    Lhotse: The Other Everest
    The Way to the Summit
    South Route
    From Basecamp to the Summit
    Map From Lukla to Basecamp
    Nepal Map
    South Side Story
    The Route
    Map of the Indian Subcontinent

    Trek to Basecamp

    Sherpas

    The Science Behind the Super Abilities of Sherpas: Goats and Soda
    Ang Phurba: Famous Sherpa
    The Sherpas
    The Sherpas on Everest
    Tigers of the Snows: Tenzing Norgay
    World of the Sherpa
    Nepalese Porters Operate at Pinnacle of Efficiency
     National Geographic: The Sherpas
    The Invisible Men of Everest
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    Tibet

    Inside China's Tibet
    How Tibetans Enjoy the High Life
    Rongbuk Monastery
    Repression in Tibet
    Tibetan New York Times Page
    Tibetan Exile Sets Self Afire in Protest Act
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