THE IMMOLATED NIGHT FLOWER

Yet I feel as if my mind wasn't buried away, as the claiming voices of the past surround what is left of it. Yet it seems that the ineffable music that once resounded inside my heart wasn't gone forever. Yet I hear the cry of my soul telling me once in a while that there's an exit from this forsaken grave. However night falls over and over and I still wonder if I will be able to be free again. As I moved inside this dark hole I frequently asked myself how did I end here. I figured out that this is the best way things had to be, for at least one of us is still...breathing. Should I like it, shouldn't I, not even the sky cares anymore. Nor do I. But I remember a day when the wind took me to your arms. I remind myself of the day when the sea secretly told us we belonged to each other. I can't forget the whitest clouds hiding a millenial love under the darkest of the nights. And then, feeling the whirling dance of both moon and sun...I smile...because there is one of us who can still see those things that made life so wonderful.

May I continue singing

Each night in my grave

and unleashing suffering

no more.

Because even if it's late

to dream on endless horizons

as long as you live

my soul lives on you

for this rose I hold

each night on my hand

knows that in many lives

you have been on my side

wiishg you could see

that I hope for a chance

to live, to dream, to dance

together as we did...

Thus someday I would feel

your warm breath close to me.

Prácticas

Saludos:

Hice varios cambios en el blog y cambié la sección de prácticas al blog "THE SCIENCE TOWER", además hice otros dos blogs: THE ART TOWER y THE SUN TOWER donde próximamente empezaré a publicar temas distintos en las bitácoras.

PART 2- THE SUN'S PATH

Hola. Llevo tiempo sin escribir, lo se, he estado trabajando en varios proyectos que me consumen mucho tiempo pero creo que a partir de hoy ya pude solucionar algunos y podré continuar con el blog. Bueno ahora que el blog ya cumplió su primer propósito que era mantener la bitácora del proyecto final de calculo, pienso convertirlo en un centro de estudio sobre diversos temas y aprovecharé para platicar sobre algunas cosas, espero que les sea útil a quienquiera que lea esto.

Proximamente:
PART 2- THE SUN'S PATH

Como dije antes estuve muy ocupado y dejé a medias mi narración pero pronto haré la segunda parte.

THE FINAL BLOG...

What do you think is the most important thing you learned through this WebQuest?

Well I think the most important thing is the fact that we learned how to work in teams to solve a math problem. We usually work in teams to do essays, presentations or other types of work, but solving a math case like this one is something new and different. We learned how to stablish rolls in a way that could be observed clearly,because one thing is to assign roles, do a work and presenting it but when you do a video in which you hav to show all your work, you have to be careful. I think that is the most important thing.

Would you recommend the use of a WebQuest to learn Mathematics or some other Science subject? Why?

Yes, because it turns to be a new option that may seem like a game. I believe that a Webquest can be good for any subject related to science or math, because it is an easy way to apply the information we learned and all the steps of a math operation that would normally be boring to do like common math exercises, so it is a combination of many aspects that make the work more relaxed and easy.

What can your teacher do to improve the project? Any suggestions?

I think the project is good enough, this is one of the few times I work with something like this in the high school, I liked it a lot. The only thing that could be changed perhaps is the date of the introduction of the project. I think that it would be a good idea to hear about it since the first day of classes. The reason is that we will have enough time to decide the people we will like to have in our teams, and we would also be able to consider it in our blogs since the beginning, so we could be getting accustomed to do the blog. For example, some of my classmates constantly forgot to fill the blog, and when the time came to write about the project, they were notused to do the blog o they lost points.

Conclusion:

I had a lot of fun when doing the project. We planned everthing carefully and we found in our way many problems to develop our ideas but after thinking and talking we could fit our story in 10 minutes. I feel proud of doing this project and I liked to work with my team, I believe that we all played an important role, and to be serious, we did the exact roles we had to, according to the roles we established at te beginning. The best part was filming in the library, and I enjoyed a lot editing the video. One good experience to end the semester was the last friday in which we saw the movies of all our classmates. I admit I saw very good works. I feel very happy because I am going to study something that is also related to editing videos and this project sure was of big help. I just hope now I get good grades in the next calculus exams.

Finishing the Video

Well we have been working in the video for all these days and this weekend we are going to finish with the edition of it. It has been a little bit difficult because this week was selected for the shows and all that stuff so we couldn't come along to edit the video, but now we are done with that. I feel exhausted these days, I will try to rest enough this weekend so I can recover myself.

Part 1- THE SUN'S PATH

This is the entry about Holy Week, but this is just part 1. I will write the second part when I get more free time.

There was I...starving to death in the middle of a desert and unknown place. My body was shivering and the seizures weren't going away. There were no souls over the sand road that lied ahead. Thus, I had to move by my own and the options were limited but critical. Should I go left or should I go right? My body was broken, my mind was tired but my soul had still hope. However, not as much as I had when I started the journey.

Well, this is not where the story began. The truth is that at the beginning, two or three days before as I was climbing up the holy mountain, that one near Bernal, Queretaro, I felt myself flowing with energy. The days I was waiting for were to happen. I gazed up and looked at the Sun blazing with fire. In just 48 hours, a group of humble men were to carry a giant wooden cross and altar to the top of the mountain. Up there, where thou must dress in white and red I believe...But the event I was waiting for wasn't going to happen there. I walked all the way down and again up into the magic city of Tequisquiapan. Small and mysterious stores where hidden around the one-meter thick alleys.

I remember the church falling in pieces with the golden pillars surrounding the Saints. So...going forward I ended in a vineyard at the middle of the High way. I has the opportunity to taste the champagne, which of course can't be called Champagne because id doesn't come from "Champagne".

As the Sun was descending into the mountains I went to the Cacti GreenHouse. It's hard to believe that it contains some species that can't be found outside of that region. It's hard to believe that they are eager to die. Two or three mountains farther away where the plains where the deer and the zebra live together. Magical places where animals from total different continents live together and eat the same grass.

And then...I did the necessary things to prepare myself. Yet, seeing giant turtles living over an active volcano and swimming lizards marked the beginning of the dawn. And in that moment, I was happy enough, but that was about to change, for I did not forseen the test.

I tried to recover from something that started as a feeling of dizziness which turned into fever an fever into worst. But fever was not stopping me from reaching my goal. I looked for the bus that was going to take me to the lost village of Victoria, Guanajuato at 7:00 Am. What I didn't expected is that the bus was going to left me. So I waited for the next one, hoping to arrive Victoria before 10:30 Am. That sure wasn't going to happen.

And I was ready. The preparing, the tools, the book and everything. The long journey hadn't damaged the stuff I carried. Nothing was broken nor damaged. But I was.

And this is where I began telling the tale. The bus made three hours to reach what I was expecting to be a city. The voyage was a total inferno. The medicine was no longer helping me and there was no one who could help me out with my lugagge. I thought that I would find a bus station where I could rest, or at least a store where I could buy water to drink, due to the fact that I had already drank the one I carried. The truth is that the bus threw us into an empty street in what looked like a ghost town. And the seizure began, with no one around to help me. However, being it not the first time I encounter death in from of me, I bowed to the Sun and heard the wind whisper to me: You have come this far, it is not time to perish. So, I picked up the luggage which seemed as the heaviest stone ever and continued walking to the front. Time no longer existed. In that moment, at the desert...it felt just like it felt some centuries ago. In those times it seemed natural but not nowadays, life has changed dramatically since those times, I must admit. But I was prepared enough to face death once again. I walked and walked until I reached the town center. I asked for help but they would not listen because I was a foreigner. It was the Friday 21 of March, 2008. Holy Friday. Almost all the town was gathered at the lowest part of the mountain, waiting for the Via Crusis to take place. And I just felt like Him.

A polite man gave me permission to enter his house so I could drink water and heal myself. The seizure was dissapearing but not the fever. I ate fresh strawberries and I drank Tamarind water. That was the most delicious feast. Hour and a half later I was partially recovered, but I couldn't talk yet. The post-effects of the seizures wouldn't allow me to speak or walk properly. I gave infinite thanks and blessed the man and his family. I left the house and I did a very strong effort to reach the store that was the gathering point at 10:30 Am. When I arrived there were no people. After all, the clock marked 12:35 Pm.

I entered the store with a deep negative feeling. Hope was leaving my soul. I asked more than 10 people about the place I was looking for. Nobody knew a thing. Of course, nobody had a reason to know about it. Not even the owner of the store. But the worst came when I was told that there was no bus station in Victoria...and there were no phones, internet and no

celular service. I was not able to catch up with the others, and I was not even able to go back! Everything was closed and people were at the Via Crusis. No services, the streets closed, no taxis, no buses, no cars...no hospitals. Nothing.

I entered the bathroom of the store and took a shower. As I was feeling the water over my body, I was consciuously thinking about all the events that had happened. All the magic of the moment was gone. I was getting convinced that I would never forgive how I did not reached the event I was looking for because a bus left me. All that for nothing.

Suddenly, I heard Him talk again saying very calmly. Everything will be okay. And I told Him: I know, I know I should not tremble, I know this is just another test. And we agreed that I had been training for this. So, I said: Alright, I don't exactly know what is going to happen now, but I will keep myself with the heart steady.

I opened the door leading outside the bathroom and I found I girl. She said: Are you the one who comes from Sonora and is trying to catch up with the others?

I was wordless. Yes. Who are thou?

--My name is Wendy. Come on, there's no time to lose!

To be continued.

THE CENEVAL

Today we presented the CENEVAL exam. Well, I felt it was easy enough to be done without studying, however I admit there were some questions about things that I never in my life had heard of, but whatever. The easiest part of course was the math part. Not the mathematical reasoning but the practical math. The hardest part was history and I think that geography was difficult too. Also, the part about spanish language was somewhat confusing. Well I don't exactly know if I did as good as I expect, because surprises can happen and perhaps some of the ones I thought were right are wrong. I feel very relaxed during the exam, but I was almost sleeping because that 3 hour exam sure is boring. The best part of it was the moment in which they gave us a chocolate so it was enough to continue.

It sounds interesting how and exam of that type can be so helpful to present ourselves to other universities, the only thing is that some of the concepts were totally unknown for us, for example, probability stuff and things like that were seen in junior high but it was too long ago. I hope I get good results because even if I don't like it, the CENEVAL represents the 10% of the grade of all my subjects so I better get good results. That's all for today. I am looking forward writing my experience during vacations but I'm not sure if I will have time during this weekend so, for now this is enough.

What a Week...

This week was terrible. I hardly had time to breathe, I don't know why teachers love to assign projects in the week of exams. Whatever, my grades went down critically. I feel happy because in Calculus I spent the whole past weekend studying and it was worth of it because I got 95 for the second partial. I am happy also because we already started recording and we are in our way through editing the video, we think that it will be great, and we hope we have the time to finish it because the week after holy week will be very busy for sure.

The schedule of Time...

Week 7

1. What is the Newton’s Law of Cooling?

It is the difference between the temperature of a body or an object with respect to the environment.

2. What variables in your problem correspond with the variables in the Newton’s Law of Cooling?

There are some variables like the environment’s temperature, the temperature of the corpse, the time of death, etc.

3. According to this Law, at what time approximately the death happened?

We do not have the answer for that yet.

4. How does the room temperature affect the time of death?

The body tends to try to reach equilibrium with the environment’s temperature, so according to this Law, the temperatures should get balanced and in this case, the body after some time turns into the same temperature that the environment has. In general, when the body dies and its molecules stop moving, it tends to cold until reaching the environment’s temperature.

5. How does an illness (e.g. fever) affect the time of death?

This variable affects the original body temperature, so we cannot get an accurate result if we not consider the correct value for y=temperature when t=0.

6. How exact is the approximation of the Newton’s Law of Cooling for predicting the time of death?

It is one of the most exact methods although we have to consider that there are hundreds of external factors, and some of them are not even considered that easily, for example the kinds of food the dead person ate or the possible presence of a warming machine in the room. Those factors must be considered in order to get good results.

Introducing Now: THE MISERY MACHINE!

Bonjour! Nous sommes The Misery Machine!

We originally formed part of an elite mystery-solving organization whose name we cannot mention, however we knew we deserved more difficult tasks of crime.

Considering the strongest abilities of each one, we decided to task ourselves with the following roles:

Raul Alvarez: The Media Expert

Damaris Villegas: The Journalist

Alberto Ruiz: The Math Expert

Francisco Camacho: The Math Expert

Elizabeth Muez: The forensic Scientist

We are pretty sure that we can solve this case as fast as we arrive the place where it happened. At least, we hope that our vehicle arrives before breaking down into pieces. I must say, that after being introduced to the case, we have some conclusions about the first concepts we must understand about it:

1. What is forensic science?

The original meaning is: "Any aspect of science as it relates to law" but according to what I read it involves much more, and can be named as a science which determines the causes of the death of people and which has a justice side which tries to unmask crime.

The forensic science nowadays covers:

Modern computer/clay facial reconstruction, DNA fingerprinting, Autopsy techniques, Forensic anthropology, Toxicology, etc.

2. What kind of evidence can be collected in a murder case?

There are many kinds of evidence. We can consider the dates, the positions of the involved characters after and before the murder, the temperature of the environment and the temperature of the body, etc.

3. Why is important to determine the time of death?

Because with it we can determine if the person who is thought as the murderer was in the room at the time of death. Also this can help us as a powerful evidence of how he might died.

4. What methods are commonly used to find the time of death?

The rate method which is done by measuring the change produced by a process which takes place at a known rate which was either initiated or stopped by the event under investigation.

The concurrence method, which is done by comparing the occurrence of events which took place at known times with the time of occurrence of the event under investigation.

5. What factors are considered in Algor Mortis?

In general, the temperature of the body as well as the physical details as the size, the clothes. Also, the characteristics of the environment, for example, the temperature and humidity.

6. How does the environment affect the time of death?

The temperature of the environment and the temperature of the body try to reach a balance, and according to the Newton's Law of Cooling, a body can lose heat faster if the temperature drops.

7. What can you tell about the different methods of temperature reading of the body? Do they make a difference in the results?

Yes, because they focus on different aspects. We may not be sure of only one result because many factors may interfer in our research, for example the environment conditions and the physical and physiological factors.

As my personal conclusion, after all of this I think that the purpose of the activity is to introduce us to modern applications of math as well as how to use all those abilities relating to observation, research, and comparing, I think that after this activity I am going to see the side of math which can apply to my life and how it can be helpful for real. It is like math coming out from the books and appearing around us only visible for those who know how to search for it and its answers.

A few days ago...

This week was too busy for me, starting with the exams and the proyects of the school that consumed most of my time. I would like to have had more time to organize my plans and all those things I have pendant but I had not the time and I only regret that I did bad in may on my exams, but, at least it is only the first partial and I did my best so it doesn't matter.

Relating to calculus, well with the exam I found out that the time I inverted studying the sunday was worth of it and I discovered that I am not as lost as I was at the beginning of the partial. In general, I feel that I am understanding well this area of the mathemathics and that makes me feel well because I am usually slow with numbers and sometimes they are not easy for me. I believe that I will do very well in the next calculus partials because this time I had a good beginning compared with the last semester in differential calculus. I will continue doing my best with homeworks. I think that's all about school.

The last week I had to leave on Friday to Guadalajara because I had the interview of the Medicine Career. It was an express voyage but I had the chance to do a lot of things. On saturday I stayed in my cousin's home and we went to watch the game Chivas-Atlas in the Jalisco Stadium. Also, on that same saturday we went to the Holy Eucharist. The sky was covered with clouds and the sound of the wind cried with force in that region, many thunders and rays. I couldn't avoid feeling touched by the salms of salvation and the words of faith.

I loved the experience of eating the bread and drinking the holy wine. That was also a beautiful experience. In that weekend and during my time in that house, I remember how it was in the first time I stayed there and I thought about many things that have changed. I advanced pretty much in my essays and I wrote many pages, I just needed a moment to leave the monotony of all days.

I enjoyed a lot this week because altough it was difficult to acomplish every responsibility I had, I achieved it and I feel satisfied of that. Today friday, at 3:00, I will travel to Guadalajara with the generation and I hope I enjoy it a lot. I will write when I get a little bit more time, right now I will pack my things.

MURDER, WE WROTE...

The professor has been murdered...And now it is up to us to discover if the lady was the real murderer or not. That's really cool. I never thought that I would find an activity so amazing like this in my last semester of high school. What is it about? The game goes like this:

The professor was found dead in the library, killed by a lethal injection. However, the syringe has a lady's fingerprints on it. We are four guys who have the task of gathering information and facts that will determine the lady's innocence or guiltiness. How are going to do it? Using math to establish conclusions about the dead body's temperature change and using the facts that we find in our research. But that's not all. At the end we will have to show a movie where we show our evidence respecting to the case...

I really love this kind of games and what I like the most is that we will make the movie at the end, seems to me that it will be very fun, I want to know how the other guys are going to do it.

"DONDE REINA EL AMOR, SOBRAN LAS LEYES" --Platón

El amor es y será por siempre la base en la que el universo se sostiene. Acaso sería posible que las estrellas siguiesen palpitando sin la fuerza del amor? Realmente el propósito de todo lo habido y por haber gira alrededor del amor universal, puro y sobre todo, libre. El amor debe ser libre siempre; el amor verdadero logra su libertad siempre. Resulta irónico para nosotros, así como lo fue para los grandes pensadores de la Antigua Grecia, el aprender que este universo, regido de millones de leyes que se entrelazan y coordinan, esté sostenido por el amor. Cuál habrá sido la sorpresa de Platón, el descubrir por sí mismo que todas esas leyes resultan insignificantes cuando existe el amor dentro de nosotros. Y no es que el universo pierda su valor, sino todo lo contrario...llegamos al punto de origen, a la inefable simpleza de la existencia, al aliento de vida, que es el amor.

Cada uno de nosotros así como cada criatura que habita en el universo tiene su propia forma de hacer vibrar el amor, a veces de formas distintas, sin embargo, al venir todos del mismo origen,

al llevar todos el amor en nuestro interior, podemos sentirnos como hermanos.

" We are usually convinced more easily by reasons we have found ourselves than by those which have occurred to others..."

Each person in the world is at the level that he or she deserves. That's why we say that each person has its own truth and his own reality, because that depends on what we deserve to know and what not. So, nobody has the right to interfere in the personal situation of the other people. This phrase basically resumes the fact that we are the owners of our own life, and the events that happen to us must teach us what we need to know in the exact moment. It is simple, we are more conscious of the things we found by ourselves than from the things that happened to others. That's how it works, that's how we get the experience we need, and it depends on us if we accept or not the things we receive, it depends on us if we go up into the next level or stay where we are.

When do you think you could use a Blog in this course

We may start a blog in any moment of our life. I think that a good way to apply a blog in this course is to let the others know how much do we understand the different topics of the course, and by this, feel more comfortable to know that others may have similar doubts about it. With a blog of Calculus, we will be able to know where to get help when we need it, and maybe we may be asked for help too, depending on the moments in which we understand everything perfectly. The blog is also useful to tell about our concerns and know one another better.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

I think that the quotation of Martin Luther King is making reference to the fact that sometimes we keep for ourselves many of the important aspects of our life instead of sharing them with the rest of the world. All those nice experiences tend to fade away, because we usually need to be up to date and we look forward to new incoming events. The result is that we lose the chance of getting the best out of those experiences.

Sometimes the cause may be fear, or indifference, but this attitude leads to a silent life. I have heard that a very good way to open one’s heart is to begin writing. It is said that writing helps as therapy for people who are sick. Writing also allows the people who read our texts to know more about us, about our beliefs, our opinions and our life.

In my personal opinion, this activity begins with that quotation because this is an opportunity to share a moment of our life with digital letters. That’s what I think about it.