Oceans are the largest of all ecosystems on Earth. They contain 97% of all water on earth. At its deepest point the Pacific Ocean is over six and a half miles deep. The ocean is an amazing place. Underwater volcanoes erupt from the ocean floor and many plants live and animals swim in its water. It truly is a wonderful place.
Oceanographers (scientists that study the ocean) have divided the ocean into three different zones: the sunlight zone, the twilight zone and the midnight zone. The sunlight zone contains all the water from the surface to 300 ft. below and about 90% of all ocean life. The twilight zone is all the water 301 to 3,000 below the surface. Only dim blue light reaches to this part of the ocean. Plants can’t grow and fewer animals live here. Some animals in this zone go up into the sunlight zone to catch a meal. Others eat dead plants and animals that drift into this zone. The midnight zone it is everything 3,001 ft. and under. This zone includes three-fourths of the total ocean water. Midnight zone animals are strange looking creatures.
Scientists have also have divided marine life into three groups: plankton, nekton and benthos. Plankton are animals that float in the water like krill. Nekton are those that swim in the water and are usually bigger than Plankton, such as sharks and squid. And Benthos are the luminous deep sea prawn that prefer the darkness and cold of the deep.
The Anglerfish (Suborder Ceratioidei) is one example of a Benthos. It is a carnivore that lives in the very bottom of the Atlantic and Southern oceans up to a mile below the surface (the midnight zone). Anglerfish are usually dark gray or dark brown in color and have huge heads and mouths. Some Anglerfish grow to 4 feet long, but many never get that long. They are easy to recognize because the females have a piece of dorsal spine that hangs above their mouths. Males don’t have this feature because the male searches until he finds a female and then latches on to her until he merges with her losing most of his internal organs. He also merges with her skin and bloodstream. A female will carry many males at once. Anglerfish (just like many other deep sea animals) have large stomachs that allow them to eat almost anything that comes within reach, which is essential in the deep sea where food is very hard to find.
It is very easy to harm the ocean. People pollute the water every day. Oil spills can damage the water; it only takes 1 quart of oil poured on the ground to ruin 250,000 gallons of drinking water. Another thing that damages ocean life happens when people forget to cut the rings on the plastic soda can holders. This can strangle seabirds. The ocean is a very beautiful place but it is also in great danger.
The ocean is a very important ecosystem that needs to be protected. There are many more amazing and incredible animals in the ocean. Scientists have also found out that our heart rates slow down in the water and that supports most of their theories that human evolution began in water. With work and time the carelessness that damaged the ocean in the first place can be repaired.
Bibliography
1) BBC Nature Site, http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/factfiles/fish/angler_fish.shtml
2) Imagequest Site, http://www.imagequest3d.com/pages/current/pictureoftheweek/deepseaangler/anglerfish.htm
3) National Geographic Animals Site, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/anglerfish.html
4) Su, Adrienne, “Oceans,” Kids Discover, New York: Kids Discover, 2006
5) Sands, Stella, “Oceans 2,” Kids Discover, New York: Kids Discover, 2008
6) Woodward, John, Oceans Atlas: An Amazing Aquatic Adventure, London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2007
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Baseball Gazette
The Sabathia Trade
CC Sabathia Starts and Wins His First Game In a Brewer Uniform!
October 12, 2007
C.C. Sabathia winds up and throws a strike. It’s Game One of the 2007 ALCS and Sabathia is starting. Just eight months later, there is talk of trading him. And then on July 7, 2008, C.C. Sabathia became a Brewer. July 8 he made his first start for the Brewers.
Some people think it was silly to trade four prospects for Sabathia.
Me? I like the deal. It greatens the Brewers’ chances to win the World Series, and with the 1-2 punch of Sheets and Sabathia, the Brew-Crew is good to go. Did I mention that Sabathia’s ERA is now 4:34, and if you take away his first four starts, he’s got a 2:04 ERA and a 73-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio? But then again, both Sheets’ and Sabathia’s
contracts expire at the end of this season, so unless the Brewers load up on contract extensions, it’s highly unlikely that the Brewers will be able to keep both players. But as I said before, I think the Brewers are loaded and ready to go!
Great Names in Baseball Word Search
B A B E R U T H E B K O J Y R H U H J F H J
E H J F A R W E O U M I H U S N J U F E H H
B C H J T H R N J O E T K T G V R I B H N H
U D L K E B Y R J F L O U G E H R I G O H J
U J H L H N J Y E I G E A I H G H F S E J H
O L L B U V H A G I J C D L J L L E Q J B N
L E H F H U F A H K L U T Q E F H K E F T E
I G I G E O K R I W J W R U E T T E T Y P J
U F H N H V J O H U K I E O A S F T A O D A
Y H J O E T E N E L I O F M O A G G I J F C
Q Y Q Y T A T A E Y I O Y D S M K R Y F H K
L I R E W V T Y G N M T D F E M J K I T N I
B N U M D O J R L T S K L H N Y V X M G Y E
R L A W E T T I E I I T Q C Z S R I G Q W R
M A R K M Q U I R E N M B T R O L U N T P O
L I S R W T I H R O U P N M W S J L P A D B
T G T V R U C C S A B A T H I A O R K R J I
J L J H R T J L O U G E H R I M U S T U W N
R N V T W U L T M W U R O U H M B P U E K S
B A B E K I U O W A L T E R J O H N S O N O
N O U Q W E T H R W H E N R Y A A R E N O N
CC Sabathia Babe Ruth Henry Aaron Mark McQuire Sammy Sosa
Lou Gehrig Walter Johnson Christy Matheson Jackie Robinson
The Alexander Game
One of the greatest pitchers ever was Grover Cleveland Alexander. He pitched in the 1926 World Series--Games Six and Two being complete game victories, Game Seven being a relief appearance. Game Seven is the one called the Alexander game, even though Alexander only pitched to seven batters.
The story goes like this. After Alexander won Game Six, Rogers Hornsby, who was the manager and 2B for the Cardinals, said to Alexander “You’re in the bullpen tomorrow.” Having gone nine innings Saturday, there wasn’t much of a chance he’d have to crank up his old “soup bone” again Sunday.
“All right, Roy,” Alexander said, “But I’ll tell you I’m not going to warm up in the bullpen. I’ve only got so many throws left in this arm; I’ll take my warm-up throws on the mound.”
It was an awful day in New York, announcer Graham McNamee of WJZ radio told his listeners. “It is cold. It is dark. It is dripping. It is damp and thick and all that but it doesn’t make any difference. You can’t dampen the ardor of a real
(cont. from p. 2)
looked at every base to find Yankees on every one.
“Bases filled, eh?” he asked Hornsby. “I guess there’s nothing much to do, except give Tony a lot of hell.”
“Can you do it?” asked Hornsby.
“I can try,” came the reply. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to throw the first one fast…”
“No, no,” protested Hornsby. “You can’t throw him a fastball.”
“Yes I can, and if he swings at it he’ll most likely hit it on the handle, or if he hits it good, it’ll go foul. Then I’m going to come outside with my breaking pitch.”
Hornsby looked into Alexander’s eyes and said, “Who am I to tell you how to pitch?” And that was the end of the mound meeting.
Alexander took only four warm-up tosses, and then the dramatic battle between Alexander and Lazzeri began.
baseball fan.”
The pitchers of Games Three and Four faced each other in the final game: Waite Hoyt and Jessie Haines. Hoyt for the Yankees and Haines for the Cards. In the first two innings, nobody scored.
In the third inning, Babe Ruth hit a one-run round-tripper. In the fourth inning, the Yankees had enough errors that three runs were scored by the Cardinals. The errors included a ground ball misplayed by the shortstop, an untouched short left field fly ball that left-fielder Bob Meusel or shortstop Mark Koenig should have gone for, and a fly ball that left fielder Bob Meusel botched in his haste to catch when really center fielder Earle Combs should have taken. Finally, a single scored two runs, the next two Cardinals went down, but it was too late to stop three runs from scoring. In the bottom of the sixth, left fielder Chick Hafey went for an amazing catch and missed it when he probably should have picked up on the bounce.
During all the action, Cards hurler Jessie
Alexander wound up and threw the ball, low and outside. Ball One.
Alexander tried again and hit the outside corner, for Strike One. The next pitch was high and tight. Lazzeri swung and hit a long line drive down the left field line. If it remained fair it would be a grand slam homer. It curved foul.
Now Alexander pitched a low breaking ball. Lazzeri swung and missed for Strike Three; inning over! Neither team scored in the eighth inning.
In the ninth, the Cards went down in order, and now the famed “Murderers Row” of the Yankees was up. Earl Combs and Mark Koenig were victims of the same fate. That fate was two strikes and a grounder to third. It happened first to Combs and then to Koenig. The next batter would be—who else?—Babe Ruth.
The smartest thing to Haines had developed a blister on his middle finger of his pitching hand and now it was bleeding. While the bases were loaded with two outs and the rookie sensation Tony Lazzeri up to bat; now the entire infield was on the mound discussing the blister on Haines’ finger.
“Can you throw it anymore?” Hornsby asked. “I can throw the fastball but not the knuckler,” replied Haines.
“Well, we don’t want any fastballs to Lazzeri,” Hornsby raised his right hand to signal the bullpen. Haines was finished for the day; a relief pitcher would be coming in to pitch.
In the bullpen, according to legend, Alexander was sleeping, when he was roused awake and told “Hornsby wants you to come and pitch.”
“What, again?” he said, and he picked up his glove and walked to the mound. Alexander was wearing a red Cardinal sweater. When he got to the mound he tossed his sweater to a batboy, and asked Hornsby, “Who’s up?”
“Lazzeri,” Hornsby answered.
“How many outs?”
“Two.” Alexander
(cont. on p. 3)
do would have probably been to intentionally walk the Babe, but that wasn’t Alexander’s style.
Alexander unleashed a quick strike, then came a ball, a foul, and three balls, and the great Bambino was walked.
Up next was Bob Meusel. On the first pitch, Meusel swung and missed—Strike One. Meanwhile, Ruth edged farther off first. He had swiped eleven bases that season and was thinking of trying it again.
As Alexander began his windup, Ruth took off from first and Hornsby ran to cover second base. Catcher Bob O’Farrell caught the pitch and whipped it to second. The throw was right on. Hornsby caught it and stuck his glove in between Ruth’s sliding foot. Out! Game over! Series over! Season over!
The Cardinals had won their first ever World Series!
TEST YOUR BASEBALL I.Q.:
1. The top three in the lifetime home run category are Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth. Who’s fourth?
2. Who is the all-time leader in 20th century wins?
3. Nolan Ryan is the all-time leader in career strike-outs, but who’s second?
Answers, see page 4.
The Cheating Pitcher
Walter Johnson, some say, had the fastest fastball ever. Others defend Lefty Grove, Bob Feller, Sandy Kofak, or Nolan Ryan. The debate remains. But it was only Walter Johnson who did this
experiment. Yes, the experiment was cheating and that is why this article is called “the cheating pitcher.”
Our story starts in late afternoon with darkness starting to fall. It was the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes. The catcher came to the mound for a conference.
When he returned to the plate, he had the ball hidden in his huge catcher’s mitt. Walter went into his usual windup, but this
time without the ball.
Right after he apparently threw the ball the catcher smacked the ball in his glove. With only a moment’s hesitation, the umpire called “Strike Three.” The batter headed toward the dugout and that was the end of the ball game.
A Baseball Joke
Q. A man goes out for a walk. He takes a left, a left, and another left. When he comes back home, there are two men at his house. Who are they?
A. The catcher and the umpire!
Answers to Baseball I.Q.
1. Willie Mays
2. Walter Johnson (in case you thought ‘Cy Young,’ most of his winning games were pre-1900!)
3. Randy Johnson
Bibliography
The Story of Baseball, Lawrence S. Ritter
Baseball’s Greatest Games, Dan Gutman
25 Great Moments, Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
Roberto Blemente, Peter C. Bjarkman
Eyewitness Baseball, James Kelley
The Way Baseball Works, Dan Gutman
Casey Back at Bat, Dan Gutman
How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball, David Shannon
Baseball Math, Christopher Jennison
CC Sabathia Starts and Wins His First Game In a Brewer Uniform!
October 12, 2007
C.C. Sabathia winds up and throws a strike. It’s Game One of the 2007 ALCS and Sabathia is starting. Just eight months later, there is talk of trading him. And then on July 7, 2008, C.C. Sabathia became a Brewer. July 8 he made his first start for the Brewers.
Some people think it was silly to trade four prospects for Sabathia.
Me? I like the deal. It greatens the Brewers’ chances to win the World Series, and with the 1-2 punch of Sheets and Sabathia, the Brew-Crew is good to go. Did I mention that Sabathia’s ERA is now 4:34, and if you take away his first four starts, he’s got a 2:04 ERA and a 73-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio? But then again, both Sheets’ and Sabathia’s
contracts expire at the end of this season, so unless the Brewers load up on contract extensions, it’s highly unlikely that the Brewers will be able to keep both players. But as I said before, I think the Brewers are loaded and ready to go!
Great Names in Baseball Word Search
B A B E R U T H E B K O J Y R H U H J F H J
E H J F A R W E O U M I H U S N J U F E H H
B C H J T H R N J O E T K T G V R I B H N H
U D L K E B Y R J F L O U G E H R I G O H J
U J H L H N J Y E I G E A I H G H F S E J H
O L L B U V H A G I J C D L J L L E Q J B N
L E H F H U F A H K L U T Q E F H K E F T E
I G I G E O K R I W J W R U E T T E T Y P J
U F H N H V J O H U K I E O A S F T A O D A
Y H J O E T E N E L I O F M O A G G I J F C
Q Y Q Y T A T A E Y I O Y D S M K R Y F H K
L I R E W V T Y G N M T D F E M J K I T N I
B N U M D O J R L T S K L H N Y V X M G Y E
R L A W E T T I E I I T Q C Z S R I G Q W R
M A R K M Q U I R E N M B T R O L U N T P O
L I S R W T I H R O U P N M W S J L P A D B
T G T V R U C C S A B A T H I A O R K R J I
J L J H R T J L O U G E H R I M U S T U W N
R N V T W U L T M W U R O U H M B P U E K S
B A B E K I U O W A L T E R J O H N S O N O
N O U Q W E T H R W H E N R Y A A R E N O N
CC Sabathia Babe Ruth Henry Aaron Mark McQuire Sammy Sosa
Lou Gehrig Walter Johnson Christy Matheson Jackie Robinson
The Alexander Game
One of the greatest pitchers ever was Grover Cleveland Alexander. He pitched in the 1926 World Series--Games Six and Two being complete game victories, Game Seven being a relief appearance. Game Seven is the one called the Alexander game, even though Alexander only pitched to seven batters.
The story goes like this. After Alexander won Game Six, Rogers Hornsby, who was the manager and 2B for the Cardinals, said to Alexander “You’re in the bullpen tomorrow.” Having gone nine innings Saturday, there wasn’t much of a chance he’d have to crank up his old “soup bone” again Sunday.
“All right, Roy,” Alexander said, “But I’ll tell you I’m not going to warm up in the bullpen. I’ve only got so many throws left in this arm; I’ll take my warm-up throws on the mound.”
It was an awful day in New York, announcer Graham McNamee of WJZ radio told his listeners. “It is cold. It is dark. It is dripping. It is damp and thick and all that but it doesn’t make any difference. You can’t dampen the ardor of a real
(cont. from p. 2)
looked at every base to find Yankees on every one.
“Bases filled, eh?” he asked Hornsby. “I guess there’s nothing much to do, except give Tony a lot of hell.”
“Can you do it?” asked Hornsby.
“I can try,” came the reply. “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to throw the first one fast…”
“No, no,” protested Hornsby. “You can’t throw him a fastball.”
“Yes I can, and if he swings at it he’ll most likely hit it on the handle, or if he hits it good, it’ll go foul. Then I’m going to come outside with my breaking pitch.”
Hornsby looked into Alexander’s eyes and said, “Who am I to tell you how to pitch?” And that was the end of the mound meeting.
Alexander took only four warm-up tosses, and then the dramatic battle between Alexander and Lazzeri began.
baseball fan.”
The pitchers of Games Three and Four faced each other in the final game: Waite Hoyt and Jessie Haines. Hoyt for the Yankees and Haines for the Cards. In the first two innings, nobody scored.
In the third inning, Babe Ruth hit a one-run round-tripper. In the fourth inning, the Yankees had enough errors that three runs were scored by the Cardinals. The errors included a ground ball misplayed by the shortstop, an untouched short left field fly ball that left-fielder Bob Meusel or shortstop Mark Koenig should have gone for, and a fly ball that left fielder Bob Meusel botched in his haste to catch when really center fielder Earle Combs should have taken. Finally, a single scored two runs, the next two Cardinals went down, but it was too late to stop three runs from scoring. In the bottom of the sixth, left fielder Chick Hafey went for an amazing catch and missed it when he probably should have picked up on the bounce.
During all the action, Cards hurler Jessie
Alexander wound up and threw the ball, low and outside. Ball One.
Alexander tried again and hit the outside corner, for Strike One. The next pitch was high and tight. Lazzeri swung and hit a long line drive down the left field line. If it remained fair it would be a grand slam homer. It curved foul.
Now Alexander pitched a low breaking ball. Lazzeri swung and missed for Strike Three; inning over! Neither team scored in the eighth inning.
In the ninth, the Cards went down in order, and now the famed “Murderers Row” of the Yankees was up. Earl Combs and Mark Koenig were victims of the same fate. That fate was two strikes and a grounder to third. It happened first to Combs and then to Koenig. The next batter would be—who else?—Babe Ruth.
The smartest thing to Haines had developed a blister on his middle finger of his pitching hand and now it was bleeding. While the bases were loaded with two outs and the rookie sensation Tony Lazzeri up to bat; now the entire infield was on the mound discussing the blister on Haines’ finger.
“Can you throw it anymore?” Hornsby asked. “I can throw the fastball but not the knuckler,” replied Haines.
“Well, we don’t want any fastballs to Lazzeri,” Hornsby raised his right hand to signal the bullpen. Haines was finished for the day; a relief pitcher would be coming in to pitch.
In the bullpen, according to legend, Alexander was sleeping, when he was roused awake and told “Hornsby wants you to come and pitch.”
“What, again?” he said, and he picked up his glove and walked to the mound. Alexander was wearing a red Cardinal sweater. When he got to the mound he tossed his sweater to a batboy, and asked Hornsby, “Who’s up?”
“Lazzeri,” Hornsby answered.
“How many outs?”
“Two.” Alexander
(cont. on p. 3)
do would have probably been to intentionally walk the Babe, but that wasn’t Alexander’s style.
Alexander unleashed a quick strike, then came a ball, a foul, and three balls, and the great Bambino was walked.
Up next was Bob Meusel. On the first pitch, Meusel swung and missed—Strike One. Meanwhile, Ruth edged farther off first. He had swiped eleven bases that season and was thinking of trying it again.
As Alexander began his windup, Ruth took off from first and Hornsby ran to cover second base. Catcher Bob O’Farrell caught the pitch and whipped it to second. The throw was right on. Hornsby caught it and stuck his glove in between Ruth’s sliding foot. Out! Game over! Series over! Season over!
The Cardinals had won their first ever World Series!
TEST YOUR BASEBALL I.Q.:
1. The top three in the lifetime home run category are Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth. Who’s fourth?
2. Who is the all-time leader in 20th century wins?
3. Nolan Ryan is the all-time leader in career strike-outs, but who’s second?
Answers, see page 4.
The Cheating Pitcher
Walter Johnson, some say, had the fastest fastball ever. Others defend Lefty Grove, Bob Feller, Sandy Kofak, or Nolan Ryan. The debate remains. But it was only Walter Johnson who did this
experiment. Yes, the experiment was cheating and that is why this article is called “the cheating pitcher.”
Our story starts in late afternoon with darkness starting to fall. It was the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes. The catcher came to the mound for a conference.
When he returned to the plate, he had the ball hidden in his huge catcher’s mitt. Walter went into his usual windup, but this
time without the ball.
Right after he apparently threw the ball the catcher smacked the ball in his glove. With only a moment’s hesitation, the umpire called “Strike Three.” The batter headed toward the dugout and that was the end of the ball game.
A Baseball Joke
Q. A man goes out for a walk. He takes a left, a left, and another left. When he comes back home, there are two men at his house. Who are they?
A. The catcher and the umpire!
Answers to Baseball I.Q.
1. Willie Mays
2. Walter Johnson (in case you thought ‘Cy Young,’ most of his winning games were pre-1900!)
3. Randy Johnson
Bibliography
The Story of Baseball, Lawrence S. Ritter
Baseball’s Greatest Games, Dan Gutman
25 Great Moments, Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
Roberto Blemente, Peter C. Bjarkman
Eyewitness Baseball, James Kelley
The Way Baseball Works, Dan Gutman
Casey Back at Bat, Dan Gutman
How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball, David Shannon
Baseball Math, Christopher Jennison
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