Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Noah Kaplan Blogs..."Learning about Law"

In the first minutes of the lesson Steve Friedland, our special guest, told us to imagine that we were all lawyers. He gave us some situations of crimes. He told us that he used to be a prosecutor. He then told us about a man that video taped his speedometer, put it on YouTube, was then caught and the tape was used against him as evidence. he then told us what a crime was. He said that in some cases killing somebody is not a crime. He then told us that a tort is. He told us that we would be in a " trial." He then gave us an example and we started the trial. In the beginning of the trail we learned words such as "battery" and "assault."

We were taught about the people that take part of the trial, such as the witness, the prosecutors, and the defendant. You then need to swear in that you will tell the truth. The prosecutor then asks a lot of questions, and shows evidence to the witness. The defense council also asks questions to re-exam, and try to help the witness to try to the defendant. The judge then makes sure that everything is in order. The prosecutor also gets a chance to cross examine the situation. The defendant was then called to the stand. He got quite tripped up and made a lot of mistakes. The victim did not agree with the defendant whatsoever. The eighth grade learned a lot about the court room. It was a very interesting experience for all of them, and a very fun scenario, to act out.

Noah Kaplan, BSDS '11

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Caffeine and Alcohol - Not for Our Leaders!

Dr. Tannenbaum began today's session with a pre-test to determine what the eighth graders knew about caffeine.



How many people drank a soda this week? Four students answered "yes." We learned that Coca Cola was invented by a pharmacist and originally contained a little cocaine - thus the name. It turns out that this area of the country consumes more sodas than other.



Two potential beneficial health effects of caffeine: Energizing, more alert, less drowsy, increases adrenaline (impact on athletics and performance?)

Two potential dangerous side effects: Stimulants go up and down, makes you more alert and nerves work faster; it also elevates mood. Increases heart rate and basal metabolic rate. This can give you palpitations, arrhythmia, urination. It makes you urinate more frequently and increase your stomach acid.

Most to least caffeine: Some caffeinated drinks have more than others. Some drinks, such as Monster, Spike Shooter, Red Bull and Redline, have an extremely high amount of caffeine.



Guarana, a plant from Brazil, has 2.5x the amount of caffeine as coffee. This appears in energy drinks, sometimes with other stimulants.

Side effect of mixing alcohol and caffeine:



Caffeine is used by 90% of the world population. ThCheck Spellinge recommended maximum for 5th-6th graders is 50 mg. a day. Sources include coffee, tea, sodas, chocolate, medicines.



Caffeine dependency is a problem. It causes anxiety, nervousness, insomnia and other side effects. Decaffeinated coffee is achieved through various methods, including water, ethyl acetate, CO2 and Methyl Chloride.



Caffeinated alcohol drinks, such as Four Loco, has high caffeine and alcohol + to 6 beers plus 5 colas. Blood alcohol reaches two times the national intoxication standard and alcohol poisoning, nausea, vomiting and cardiac arrhythmia may result.



Environment and genetic predisposition contribute to addiction.



Dr. Tannenbaum reviewed his pre-test at the end to make sure students understood the points he made in his presentation. The kids looked at the cans to see what was sold. At the end of the session, students pondered situations they might encounter in high school and how to deal with them for themselves and their friends. Thanks to Dr. T. for a very informative session!