Saturday, September 4, 2010

44 Degrees North Latitude

World Latitudes
See The Palm Trees



Blog #1 September 3, 2010

Dear Mrs. Brink, Mrs. Tomlin and Class:

Maddy here back in France for more blogs about this year's trip.
Just to remind all of you who haven't been part of my 5 years here, I LOVE COMMENTS!!
I promise to all of you that if you send me a comment I will ALWAYS write you an answer back in next week's blog.  It's a deal!

Well, I know you are studying latitudes and longitudes in science class and there is something very strange about the latitude here in Villefranche.  Our latitude, where I am sitting right now is 44 degrees North.  And that is way north of where you all are sitting now in Bradenton Florida which is about 27 degrees North.  But even though we are about the same as Minneapolis Minnesota or Ottawa Canada it is very weird because we have citrus and palm trees and it doesn't snow or get cold like Canada or Wisconsin! 
So I wondered if we are so far north why it stays so warm?  Do any of you know the answer?

OK ready?  The answer is because of two very special things.  One is that the water from the Gulf of Mexico by Florida actually moves here during the winter and is called the Gulf Stream.  The second reason is that the warm winds from the Sahara Desert in Africa blow here in the winter across the Mediterranean Sea.
Amazing!!


Extra! Extra!
News about me.  (If you don't want to hear you can skip this part)
Well I think many of you didn't know but my rabbit Sugar died 2 weeks ago.  So, I got a new bunny.  Her name is Kookie.  She is tan with a white belly and some black dots around one of her eyes.  But...she doesn't get along with my guinea pig Lillian like Sugar did.  I still think a lot about Sugar and it makes me sad.  :-(
But this is about Kookie not Sugar.  She is still very afraid of me since I had to give her a bath yesterday.
(She smelled bad)  If you want to see what she looks like there is a picture in our math book at the top of page 207.  But if you really want to see her, look above.

OK that's all for now.  Remember to send comments and I will be back next week with another French story.



-Maddy
This is Definitely NOT Canada

11 comments:

Mrs. Tomlin said...

Hi Maddy! What great information you have found on your location. Quite fascinating that you are the same distance north as Minneapolis, yet so much warmer and more tropical. The Gulf Stream actually has a huge impact on weather and climate as you are finding out.

I'm sorry to hear about you rabbit, but hope your one is adjusting to both you and your guinea pig. So do these animal live in France or do they travel back and forth with you? Just curious.

Looking forward to your next post. We're still trying to get you unblocked at school! I'm going to print this one from home and share on Tuesday.

Au Revoir!
Mrs. Tomlin

Mrs. Tomlin said...

please excuse typos - should have checked before posting -

Anonymous said...

Hello Maddy! Wow sounds like your studying some interesting stuff! I really like science and some geography, so I thought I would share some neat information with you! Do you know how to figure out your latitude to find where you are on the globe if you didn't already know? Well you may know the answer to this question...becuase I know your already very smart, but if you didn't already know an easy way to roughly compute latitude is to point one arm at the North Star and the other at the horizon. The number of degrees between the two arms is the latitude (in Maine around 45o). The distance between two degrees of latitudes is about 60 nautical miles.

Hope your having a blast in France!

Kris, Scott, Troy
and Austin & Cory

Anonymous said...

Hi Maddy, boy I didn't even know that. Of course, I am not in school anymore and really haven't gotten a chance to make sure you were correct but it sounds as though your teachers know. I can't wait to come and spend some time with you and mom and dad. We are going to have a great time visiting different sites and things of that nature. I am sorry to hear about your rabbit, but your new one should adjust rather quickly to the new surroundings. Don and I will see you soon and it sounds like you are just getting smarter and smarter by the minute. Au Revoir! Hugs, Don and Chris

Katie said...

I'm sorry to hear about Sugar. I really miss you. How is the Lillian doing? I hope school is going well and you like your teacher. Can't wait to read more next week and I read every week. See you soon.

Love Katie

Peyton said...

Hi Maddy :) we are having a great time in school. It looks like you are having fun there. I had a question for you about the weather, how hot does it usually get there?

We miss you and look forward to seeing you soon.

Sorry to hear about your rabbit.

Peyton Weber
Ms. Brinks Class

Anonymous said...

Maddy-That's an awesome fact you shared about the Gulf Stream and the longitude and latitude in the area! I would have never thought about that! It is just weird!
So sorry to hear about your rabbit, but glad to meet Kookie! I look forward to following you again this year.
Mrs. Santello:O)

Arial said...

Hi Maddy!

I am so sorry to hear about Sugar! You know I loved that rabbit. I can't wait to meet Kookie though, he is a terribly cute rabbit as well. I really enjoyed your facts on latitude and longitude, it is very interesting that you are actually farther north than when we are in Wisconsin! I love you and miss you so much girl, I hope that all is going well and that you are enjoying French school this year.

Love,
Arial

Anonymous said...

Just another note! We are doing an experiment this week in Science Lab that fits perfectly with the facts about the Gulf Stream that you shared! So, guess what all the fifth grade classes at Willis will learn about this week!!!
Mrs. Santello:O)

Nora said...

Hey, its Nora! I have so many questions, there uncountable. Do you like the weather there and school for eight hours??? Are they mad? Do you have to go to school every single day? Our class found out that all the dress down money goes to the fifth grade end of the year party!
Anyways, today we just got our progress reports... Dun dun dunnn! Mrs Brink read the blog to us and I think its really weird they have disgusting food. I thought they would have crossiants, fruit tarts, and deli gourmet sandwiches. Blah! That picture of stink fish almost made me throw up!
We might type this into a comment, we are right now. I heard you like comments I hope you keep the deal about writing a comment back. Haha, In school I'm literally dizzy from all of the learning! Again, I cant believe you go to school eight hours. How do you feel when you get back? Tired, hungry, happy, sad??? What do you learn there? Same thing as us? I proably over flowed this page with questions.
Sorry, you have to write so many answers. Again haha! Please write back.
From,
Nora

Melanie said...

Hi it's Melanie! How's France? we talked to you on the phone today,It was a lot of fun. I heard that you went to the Eiffel Tower. was it a lot of fun there? School is okay here. it's not very exiting. To be honest with you, it's a little boring. We are learning a lot in math and science. How is school in France? is it hard? I wish I could go to France. Mrs. Brink just showed us your blog and the picture of the smelly fish and the mystery meat. Gross! I like the picture of you by the grape bunch. Super sweet! I hope you have a lot of fun in france.
Your Friend,
Melanie