Redwood Trees

This tree is 219 feet tall.

Redwood Trees are an evergreen and a long-lived tree that live from 1200-1800 years. They are the tallest trees living now reaching up to 379 feet high and 26 feet in diameter. These massive trees generally grow along the coast of California taking up 2,100,000 acres of land. The bark of Redwood Trees are really thick, about 30 cm. It has a nice fibrous, red-brown color in the inside. Their leaves can range from 15-25 mm and are long and flat. Some Redwood Trees are taller than the Statue of Liberty! 

The Wonderful Blue Sky

Ah! Cruising at 40,000 feet in a Jet Blue Passenger airplane! Looking into the wonderful blue sky! But why is it blue? Why not green? The molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than red light from the sun. When the sun goes down, more red and orange light is being emitted. The Blue light is scattered out of our sight which lets us only see the beautiful sunset. You can in fact, see how the blue gets darker and darker as we go up! 

Funky Trees

Hmm…this is odd…how can a tree bend in such a way? Well, these trees were planted and grown in a very windy area. The trees where growing at the Ghost Tree site. This is part of the 17 Mile Drive in Northern California. Trees that grow here get a ton of wind. So when the trees were young and still developing, the trees were constantly getting pushed down by the wind. The trees stayed in that position while they were growing. Once the trees where strong and firm, the position had hardened and locked the tree trunk in a very weird way. Some people think it is amazing, others think it is creepy. I think it is fascinating.

Beautiful Swan

Swans are birds within the genus Cygnus. Swans are the largest members of the waterfowl family Anatidae. They can reach over 1.5 meters long and can weigh more than 15 kilograms. Their wingspan can be almost 3 meters. They are larger than other geese. Most swans have a white plumage with an orange beak. But, the Australian Black Swan is completely black except the feathers on its wings.

Windmills

In my opinion, I think getting energy from the wind is a pretty fascinating idea. It does not destroy any nature on Earth such as releasing toxic fumes, burning down trees, or using any dangerous chemicals which can lead to danger (nuclear power plant). The "wisndwheel"was invented by the greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the 1st Century AD. It was the first ever type of windmill. A wheel would spin which is powered by wind to power a machine. The wind turbine was a windmill designed to generate electricity (see the picture above). The Wind Turbine was built by Professor James Blyth (Scotland), Charles F. Brush, and Poul la Cour (Denmark).

Resources:
http://telosnet.com/wind/early.html

The Tenaya Lake

At an Elevation of 8,150 feet, the Tenaya Lake is the easiest accessible lake in Yosemite National Park.  The name had come from Chief Tenaya, but he had objected that the name already had a name, which was Pie-we-wack or also known as the "Lake of Shining Rocks". It is famous for, of course, the brilliant shimmer of the rocks that the lake produces. If the lake is completely still, the reflection of the mountains and tress in the water is picture perfect.