Social Studies- Patriot Gains

Patriot Gains

Washington pleaded with the Continental Congress for more troops. He asked the Congress to enlist free African Americans. Early in the war, the Southern states persuaded the Congress not to allow African Americans into the Continental Army. Many white people in the South felt uncomfortable about giving guns to African Americans and allowing them to serve as soldiers. In the Southern states with large enslaved populations, whites feared revolts.

African Americans Join the Fight

As the need for soldiers grew, some stated ignored the ban and enlisted African Americans, Rhode Island raised an all African American regiment in 1778. By the war’s end, every state except South Carolina enlisted African Americans to fight.

Historians estimate that as many as 5,000 African Americans joined the Patriots. Among them were Lemuel Hayes and Peter Salem, who fought at Concord. African Americans fought for the same reasons as other Americans. They believed in the Patriots’ cause and or they needed the money. Some soldiers were enslaved African Americans who ran away from slaveholders. Others fought to earn their freedom.

American Victories in New Jersey

The British army settled in New York for the winter of 1776, leaving some troops in New Jersey at Trenton and Princeton. Armies usually called a halt to their wars during winter, and the British were not expecting to fight.

Stationed across the Delaware River from the British camp in New Jersey, Washington saw a chance to catch the British off guard. On Christmas night 1776, Washington took 2,400 troops across the icy river and surprised the enemy at Trenton the next day. The Americans captured more than 900 Hessians. The British sent more reinforcements under the command of Lord Charles Cornwallis, but Washington led his troops away from Cornwallis’s men. Washington then marched the army to Princeton, where they drove away the British. One discouraged British officer wrote in his diary,

“A few days ago the Americans had given up the cause for lost/ Their late success have turned the scale and now they are all Liberty mad again.”

A British Plan for Victory

The British worked out a battle plan for 1777. They would take Albany, New York, and gain control of the Hudson River. This would separate New England from the Middle Colonies.

English Homework- Editing

Editing

The history of Velcro

The next time you are in a store, see how many different products you can find that uses Velcro You may find bags games jackets shoes and many other items. Velcro has even made it to outer space NASA uses Velcro inside its spaceships astronauts use it to stick things to the wall to keep them from floating away As you can see Velcro has many uses but where did Velcro come from

When you think of Velcro you probably don’t think of mother nature. So it may surprise you learn that mother nature was the reason for this invention

In 1948 a swiss engineer george de mestral went for a hike in the woods with his dog When he returned he noticed that burrs-those prickly see casings from plants -were stuck all over his shirt and pants He tried to remove the burrs and had a hard time pulling them off They stuck amazingly well to his clothes.

Mestral decided to look more closely at the burrs on his clothing by using a microscope He saw they were carved with little hooks that had curved through the tiny loops in the fabric of his trousers mestral though there might be many uses for such wonderfully sticky material

Mestral worked on making the loops from different fabrics and crafted tiny hooks out of plastic it was not easy to imitate mother nature’s burrs In fact it took eight years of hard work

Mestral finally perfected his invention: a strip of looped fabric When the two strips were pressed together they stuck Mestral called his invention Velcro he combined the first letters velour a smooth type of cloth and crochet a craft using hooks and loops

In the beginning velcro saw used in plac of zippers But people quickly saw a variety of uses for mestral’s invention Now Velcro is used in all cinds of creative ways- from sneakers to spaceships

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Social Studies Notes- Fighting in New York

Notes on the American Revolution

1. British troops outnumber the Americans

• During the summer of 1776, Britain sent 32,000 troops to fight in America.
• The British hoped to win an early victory
• The British defeated the Continental Army, The Battle of Long Island.

     B) Nathan Hale became a hero for America. He worked as a spy though he was discovered and hanged. He stated a very famous quote that is remembered by all. “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

• Washington retreated to Manhattan, then cross New Jersey into Pennsylvania, pursued by the British.

     C) The Continental Army faced many obstacles, they ran short of supplies. The size of the army shrank. Soldiers became discouraged(loss of confidence). Some of them ended their term and went home. Other soldiers ran away.

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Religion- Lent, a time of prayer and fasting

The season of Lent has forty days, beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding on Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Easter Triduum. The number forty is a biblical number that stands for a preparation of something life changing. During Lent, our main focus is to grow closer to God and we pry every day, in preparation for Easter, the Resurrection and the death of Jesus Christ. The 40 days of the Lenten season is a reminder of our journey through life and death, from death to new life.

Lent gives us an important opportunities to get rid of our old, selfish ways of life and turn to a new, cleansing life, back to God. As baptized Christians, we are already living the Christian way of life, our decision to let old ways die out and to follow Jesus Christ, our Savior, is one we can make over and over again as each Lenten year comes around the corner.

Math- Circumference

• The distance around a circle is called the circumference. To find the circumference, multiply the diameter, d, or longest distance across a circle, pi.
• The formula for circumference is C=pi x d (diameter)
• Let’s say that you have a clock that has a diameter of 50 centimeters. What is the circumference of the clock? First, you would have to plug in the numbers into the equation. So, you are not only doing geometry, but you are also doing equation. Your new equation would be C= pi x 50. You can just easily multiply it by 3.14, your substitution for pi. Also note that 3.14 is not the complete form of pi. Because pi is an irrational number, pi just continues without stopping, all the way to infinity. The answer is 157.