Tadpoles to Frog life-cycle

A couple of weeks ago I went on an adventure to find a stream. Once we got there we found loads of tadpoles. I collected about 10 and brought them home in a bottle with stream water and pond weeds.

How I looked after them:

When we got back home I put them in a washing up bowl with 3 litres of mineral water (don't use tap water it will kill the tadpoles - if you do not have mineral water then you can use rain water) 2 weeds with roots (the tadpoles will like to eat the roots of the weeds) and rocks to climb on once they have limbs (otherwise they will drown).

Here is a picture of a life-cycle I made:

Rome PART THREE

The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an oval Amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy.  

We visited the Roman Colosseum and walked around the outside. We did not go inside because dogs were not allowed. It was very crowded. Over 2,000 people a day visit the Colosseum. It is amazing to see but also to me it felt confusing that they did so many horrible things there. 


The construction of the Colosseum started in 70 AD and took about 10 years to complete. It has also survived several earthquakes that have been able to destroy the South side wall.

The Colosseum was used for gladiators to fight animals and each other.
It is a large circular amphitheatre with lots of layers and many arches. The slaves would sit at the top, the more important you were the lower you would sit.

There is a great video all about the Colosseum here.

Rome PART TWO

Last week we went to Rome. One of the places we visited was called the Pantheon.

Pantheon 



The Pantheon is a big Roman church in Rome that has a big hole right in the top that lets the weather in. 
My favourite part is where the sun comes through the hole in the roof.

The name Pantheon comes from Greek meaning 'temple of every god'. 

The first Pantheon was built  by the Roman architect Agrippa between 27-25 AD, but sadly destroyed by a fire in 80 AD.  The second Pantheon was rebuilt by Emperor Domitian, but it too was destroyed in year 110 AD when it is said it was struck by lightning and burned down. The Pantheon we now  know was built by Emperor Hadrian in 120 AD. On 13 May 609 AD, Pope Boniface IV converted the pagan temple known as the Pantheon in Rome into the Church Sancta Maria ad Martyrs or Santa Maria dei Martiri. 

I think the Pantheon looks like a big hollow circular  cupcake with a hole in the top and it has a triangular shape protruding from it being held up by pillars.  

Rome PART ONE

A week ago I went to rome and Pompeii.


Pompeii

Pompeii is a roman city that got destroyed by mount vesuvius in AD 79 close to Naples. 

The volcano mount vesuvius destroyed Pompeii and covered it in ash.

It has been being restored for over 200 years.

Villa Fauna

Villa Fauna is the remains of a large luxurious villa that was owned by the Satrii family who also lived there. You know they rich were by the fact they had coloured marble floors,  because black marble was much cheaper.

It is called house of the faun  because of the bronze dancing faun [which was origanaly supposed to be a satyr]

A day out in Abruzzo national park

Today I went up the mountain into a meadow. On the way I saw a family of wild boar, there was also a tremendous view and lots of wild flowers.

On the way home we saw some Maremma sheepdogs which have been used for centuries by italian shepherds to guard their sheep from wolves. The literal English translation of the name is "the dog of the shepherds of the Maremma and Abruzzese region". The similar breeds can include the Pyrenean Mountain dog, Kuvasz of Hungary and the Tatra of Poland.

Appearance

The Maremma sheepdog looks rather like a large golden retriever.
Males weigh about 35 to 45 kilograms and 26 to 29 inches at the shoulder,
while Females weigh 30 to 40 kilograms and stand at 24 to 27 inches at the shoulder.

Herbs

Rosemary 

Rosemary looks like sprigs of grass spiraling around a stick, and grows in gardens in lots of countries.  You can use it on meat before cooking with lemon, olive oil and mint. 

Mint    

Mint looks like tiny ragged petal shaped leaves on a stem and the leaves grow in pairs and protrude opposite one another along the stem.  It tastes like toothpaste. It is  used in many things to add flavour. 

Abruzzo national park animals

The national park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise  is one of the most mountainous areas rich in wildlife in the Apennines. There are about 60 species of mammals, 300 birds, 40 species of reptiles and a large variety of insects and invertebrates.  Some of the most interesting animals are: 

wild boar, 

Appenine wolf which everyone thought was extinct until the 80's,   

the  golden eagle, 

the red deer,

the otter and

the fox.

 

Book review Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [spoiler]

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is about a boy called Harry who's parents died and he is in fact a wizard. When Harry arrives at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry he finds out he will have to battle to his strengths to stop the Dark Lord becoming immortal. 


The story starts when Harry goes to the zoo for his cousin Dudley's birthday, halfway through the trip he discovers he can talk to snakes. Suddenly the glass off the snake cabinet vanished.  Dudley fell in, the snake slithered out and the glass reappeared.



Harry lives at number 4 Privet Drive, Little Winging, Surrey with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and his cousin Dudley  who all hate him and treat him like a slave and make him live in the cuboard under the stairs. one day Harry goes to get the post for his Aunt and Uncle when he finds a letter addressed to him ,as soon as Uncle Vernon sees the letter he rips it up and throws it in the bin. For the next week there had been at least nine thousand letters addressed  for Harry when Uncle Vernon decided to move. When Harry got to the new house he stayed up all night on his own,suddenly the door flung open and a giant man stomped in 

   " 'ello 'Arry " said the man " 'appy birthday "he handed Harry a birthday cake,

   " exuse me "  said harry " who are you ?"

  "Rubius Hagrid gamekeeper at Hogwarts " 

  " Hogwarts? " asked harry 

  " your a wizard harry " 



The next day Harry went to Diagon Alley with Hagrid. To get into Diagon Alley you have to go to the leaky Couldron wich is a London pub only wizards and witches can see. in the garden if you tap the bricks with your wand the wall will open up.

 When it came to buy his wand Hagrid said 

  " ill catch you later "
when Harry went to buy his wand at Mr Ollivanders wand shop Mr Ollivander said it was curius the wand was destined for him when its brothers owner killed his parents.
After Harry got the rest of his school supplies Hagrid came back with a owl for Harry. When Harry arrives at school he finds out he's famous because Voldemort could not kill him. 
Later on he gets sorted into Gryffindor, harry was sorted into Gryffindor by the sorting hat there are 4 houses Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin [Ron told him that there hadn't been a witch or wizard that hadn't gone bad in Slytherin  he makes friends with a girl called Hermione and a boy called Ron. through time the three find out there is only something hidden at Hogwarts they suspect Professor Snape. Later on they find out the Philosophers Stone is whats being hidden, and that it will give you immortal life.The three go on search to find the stone and once they got past the obstacles only Harry could go on to find professor Quirrell and to find out he is sharing his body with Voldemort. Very soon they battle for the stone Harry wins but when he wakes up in hospital to find the stone had been destroyed. And Voldemort had disappeared.

Charming chocolate brownies

 Today I made chocolate brownies, which turned out amazing! I'm really happy about that so i'm        going to tell you how to make them. What you will need is:
                                                                                 145g unsalted butter
                                                                                 250g granulated sugar [I used brown]
                                                                                 65g   unsweetened cocoa powder
                                                                                 1       teaspoon vanilla extract [or a vanilla pod]
                                                                                 2       large eggs,  cold
                                                                                 70g   plain flour
.
first heat the oven to 163 degrees c [325 degrees f.] Second fill a 8 inch pan [or a equivalent to 8 inches] and line it with grease proof paper. Put your butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a pan and heat on a low heat and stir until until the butter is melted and the mixture is nearly hot, don't worry if the mixture looks gritty it will smoothen when you put the eggs and the flour in. Set the pan aside to let the mixture cool down until it is warm not hot.  Add the vanilla then add eggs one at a time stirring them in after each one. When the mixture is well mixed add the flour and stir in well [the mixture will be quite thick] put your mixture in the pan and bake for  20 to 25 minutes then take it out of the oven, out of the pan, put it in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes and tadaa! Amazing brownies.