Hi Benny!

Hi Benny, My name is Jeff and my teacher assigned us as partners, Id be happy to answer some of your questions!

1) My favorite game to play is tennis. I play on my school's team and think it is really fun. Its a pretty relaxed sport but overall I find it somewhat exciting.

2) My animal was a lizard, so most of the problems I had were due to the fact that they tend to be very timid. I had to watch them from a long distance away as to not scare them off. Other than that I found them to be a really interesting animal and had lots of fun doing the project!

3) I REALLY like Thai food so I would say anything in that category is my favorite. I like the variety in the food and just think it all tastes amazing.

4) Unlike most of my friends I don't really follow sports that much, but If I had to say what my favorite team was I would probably say the Warriors. They are the local professional basketball team and I find basketball to be a really fun sport to watch.

Here are some questions of my own!

1) What do you like to do for fun? Do you play and sports?

2) How are you liking Daraja? Do you have any favorite classes?

3) Do you have a favorite food? If so, what is it?

4) What are some interesting things you've heard about america?

Look forward to talking to you more often!

Jeff

Hey Florence! I'd love to answer your questions and maybe you can answer some of mine.

1. What is your favorite activity? I really like to draw things, especially scenery (forests, cities, plains, beaches, anything). I'll always go outside, find a place to sit, and just draw what's around me.

2. What is your best subject? I like all of my subjects in school, but science has to be my favorite. I've loved all types of science ever since I was little, but I am mostly interested in human biology. It's so cool to know the science behind how your own body works.

3. What do you want to be in your future? I want to be a doctor, specifically a surgical pathologist. A surgical pathologist works in a lab and looks at tissue samples to try and figure out why someone is sick. It's kind of like solving medical puzzles. You need a lot of school to become one, but after interviewing a surgical pathologist and seeing what the job was like, I fell in love.

Here are some questions for you:

1. What is your favorite animal?

2. Where is your favorite place to be?

3. What is your favorite season?

4. What is your favorite food?

Hi Christine,

My name is Chelsea. I am 18 years old and I live in San Francisco.

1. What is your favorite hobby?
My favorite thing to do is to explore San Francisco with my younger sister and my friends. I drive to school everyday, but what i really like about San Francisco is that i can take the bus or walk anywhere. But, I also really like to going a book store that is three blocks away from my house and finding a really good book to read there.

2. How do you benefit from animals’ behaviors during observation?
The animal that I watched was a Mallard Duck. I benefited from watching my animals behavior by changing my experiment as I thought of better ideas. I tested their response to sound stimulus,I tested their response to the sound of a duck quacking, a dog barking, and crickets chirping. Originally, I was only going to test one sound but then I decided to test three.

3. How old are you and what is your favorite subject?
My favorite subject in school is English. I am currently taking a class called Why War? And we always have very interesting class discussions.

I hope my answers helped you learn a little bit about me. I hope you can answer these questions for me:
1. What is it like to go to a school that just opened? Did you know any of the other girls before starting school at Daraja?
2. What do you and your friends like to do for fun?
3. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?

Thanks Christine!
-Chelsea

Hey Esther!

My name is Aviva and I would love to answer your questions and

ask a few myself!

1. My favorite food for breakfast is definitely waffles, fruit and a smoothie! When I'm lucky my dad will make it for me on the weekends.

2. During the December break I want to spend time with my family and friends and hopefully learn how to ski! Also, I want to learn how to make pies during the December break!

3. I chose to study bees for my science project because I knew very little about them and I there are lots of bees close to my house. Also, I always was a little bit scared of bees, so I hoped that this project would help me get over my fear of bees!

I would love to know..

1. What you like to do in your free time, when you are not in school?

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What is your favorite time of the year?

Thanks!

-aviva kamler

Hey Catherine!

I want to answer the questions you asked and then ask you a few myself.

1. My favorite game is a card game called Rummy 500. I play it with my mom and my brothers and we are all very competitive which makes it even better. My favorite athletic game to play is volleyball. I played on the school team for two years as an outside hitter.

2. My favorite classes are journalism and math. In journalism we read about current events and write the school newspaper. Right now I am working on an article about romance at my school and high school relationships. The math class that I am in this year is precalculus. I like it for the moments when everything comes together and I have an "aha" moment whether this be a bigger conceptual idea or just getting a problem to work out.

3. My name is also Katherine but spelled differently. With my friends I go by either Katie or Kate. I do not know what my name means. I do know that I am named after my grandmother.

The things I wonder about you are:

1. Have you ever traveled outside of Kenya? And if so, where?

2. What is your family like? Do you have siblings? Are you close?

3. What are your dreams for the future?

It is great to exchange messages with you!

Hey Pauline! My name is Lorin and I would be happy to answer your questions and hopefully you can answer some of mine.

1) Outside of class, my favorite thing to do is play soccer. I have been playing for more than 10 years and it is tons of fun. Unfortunately, I have an injured knee right now so I can't play for 8 months. But, I also have a lot of fun relaxing and hanging out with friends.

2) My favorite subjects are probably US History, Japanese, and Biology. My teachers for all three of these classes are amazing and absolutely hilarious. I really enjoy learning about historical events, being able to write characters in a different language, and performing experiments.

3) When I grow up I think it would be really cool to be a surgeon. I know it's extremely difficult and tons of work, but it seems like it would be a lot of fun. After my knee surgery I got especially interested in this field because I was really curious about how everything worked and how my surgery was done.

1) What do you love most about your school?

2) What are your hobbies?

3) What is one of the coolest things you've ever done?

4) What is your favorite kind of food?

5) What do you know about America?

Thanks so much!

Lorin

Hi Eunice, my name is Isaac, I'd love to address a few of your questions and ask a few as well!

Hi Eunice, my name is Isaac, I'd love to address a few of your questions and ask a few as well!

1. Do you have traditions in America?

Yes! We have many traditions. For example, an American tradition which is coming up is a holiday named Thanksgiving. For Thanksgiving we do not have school and come together with the family to eat and give thanks. But this is just one example, I believe that just as you have traditions, we Americans have our own traditions that have developed from our culture, such as holidays, customs, and other such habits.

2. How many tribes are in America?

In America we do not have a tribal system, I believe the approximate equivalent would be our states. America has 50 states all governed by individual governments, but are also connected to the American government as whole (The President, Congress etc...).

3. What is your favorite sport?

My favorite sport is Baseball, I play for the school team!

What types of foods do you eat in Kenya, what's your favorite?

What's the environment like in Kenya, is it all really hot and dry?

When somebody says America, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Yours,

Isaac

Hi everyone. My name is Betsy Dimas and I did my behavioral project on ducks (Mallards). I decides to do this species because I live across the street from a pond and there are always a lot of interesting birds there. Some interesting facts about ducks is that the male ducks and female ducks usually look different and can be easily distinguished, but young male ducks can look like the female. The only way to tell the difference is by looking at the color of their bill. Another interesting observation is that female and males have different sounds. The female ducks are the ones that make a "quack" sound and the males make a different sound. I learned a lot about ducks doing this experiment.

Hi!

Hi everybody. Relina, my teacher assigned us as partners, and I would be happy to answer the questions you asked.

1) When I am out of school, I love to play baseball, listen to music and hang out with friends. I have played baseball since I was three years old and I hope to be able to play even more in the future. Also, when the weather is good, I like to go to the beach and play soccer and relax in the sun.

2) I also like to watch action movies, but I also enjoy watching comedies and television shows. My favorite movie of all time is Remember the Titans. I have not seen many of the newest action movies, but I hope to be able to soon. What are some of your favorite movies?

3) It's great to hear that you love to sing, many of the people at MA share your passion. I wish I was able to sing, but it is not my talent. I do enjoy acting and I perform in the school plays here. Have you performed at your school? What songs do you sing?

Also, I have a few more questions of my own.

-What classes are you taking at Daraja Academy right now? Do you have a favorite class?

- How do people in Kenya think about people in America? What did you know about America before this project started?

Thanks,

Ross

Hello!

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well.

Lilian, my teacher assigned us as partners so I am answering your questions and I have some of my own!

1.) Yes, I would love to come to Daraja Academy. I think our school is doing a trip to you all there this summer which sounds really fun. I can't go because of my schedule but it would be awesome to meet you all and maybe see some of the cool animals you are studying in action.

2.) At MA we have a kind of weird schedule of "even" and "odd" days. Every other day there are 4 80 minute classes ("even" days) and the next day there are 3 80 minute classes ("odd" days. I have a free block this year first thing in the morning on the "odd" days, so I actually have 2 lessons one day and 4 the next. How many lessons do you have every day?

3.) A lot of people like to play soccer at MA. For such a small school, our boys and girls soccer teams are really good. I am not very coordinated so I don't play soccer at all - but I like to watch it and root for MA in the games against other schools. Do you play a lot of soccer with your friends?

4.) I have a lot of goals for myself. I think my most important one is probably doing something later on with my life that is creative and that I am really passionate about. I've realized that I feel the most happy and whole when I am focused on something creative - like writing for instance - and I would really love to be able to do more of this kind of thing when I get older.

5.) Well I don't know who I am or what I want to be yet. I only really know me right now, and even then I confuse myself. I've always been really hesitant to define myself or my goals too fast. I think that as long as I am really aware of my actions and constantly thinking about the world around me and my relationship to it, I will end up okay.

6.) This is such a funny question! It makes me think of a flying bird with a lion's head swooping me up into the sky. Mmm the only image of victory I can think of would be being in nature. I love to go outside, especially when it's windy or rainy. I don't exactly think being outside is an "image of victory" for me, but it makes me really happy. To me, really being happy is its own type of victory. Do you have an image of victory? What does it look like?

Also, can you describe you favorite place to be? Are there forests where you live, or is it mostly dry? Do you like the rain? What are your favorite books?

Thanks! I am really excited to talk more with you and I hope you have an awesome winter break!

Gwen

Behavioral Ecology: Crows

Hi everybody! My name is Joey U., and I studied the effects of fake crow and owl models and audio calls on the American Crow. I studied the crows in my backyard and around my neighborhood. I found that crows will show mobbing (harrasing) behavior of an owl model only when an owl call is played as well. I also videotaped my experiments. They can be watched on youtube at: 

Good luck with everything, Daraja, have fun!

-joe

Benny

1. What is your favorite game?
2. Which challenges did you face during your observations?
3. What is your favorite meal?
4. Which is your favorite team?

Mary P.

1. Which is your favorite game?
2. How do you feel about yourself?
3. Which are the problems hindering your education?

Everlyne

1. Who do you love most?
2. Which kind of food do you love most?
3. Do you like the animal you observe? Why or why not?

Pauline

1. Which is your favorite activity outside of class?
2. Which is you favorite subject and why?
3. Whom do you want to be in your future?

Schola

1. How old are you and what do you want to be when you are older?
2. What is your favorite subject?
3. What is your favorite game?

Syombua

1. What is your favorite activity?
2. What do you like most apart from activities?
3. What do you eat at breakfast?

Florence

1. What is your favorite activity?
2. What is your best subject?
3. What do you want to be in your future?

Monicah

1. In which grade are you and how old are you?
2. How many subjects do you learn?
3. Which are your favorite activities?

Relina

1. What do you like to do when you are out of school?
2. I love watching action movies, what do you like watching?
3. I love singing, that is my talent. Which is your talent?

Hadija

1. What do you usually do over you holiday?
2. Which is your favorite movie that you have ever watched?
3. How far is it from your home place to your school?
4. Please, would you send us your photos?

Lilian

1. Hi I am Lilian and I just wanted to ask, do you have a dream of coming to Daraja-Kenya?
2. How many lessons do you have each day?
3. How many people like soccer like I do?
4. How many visions and goals have you set ahead of you?
5. Do you trust and believe that you can be what you want to be in life?
6. Do you always carry an image of victory?

Maureen

1. What is your name and how old are you?
2. What is your favorite movie?
3. What do you like to do outside of class?

Catherine

1. Which is your favorite game?
2. Which is your favorite subject?
3. What is your name and what do you want to be in the future?

Eunice

1. Do you have traditions in America?
2. How many tribes are in America?
3. What is your favorite sport?

Mercy

1. What is your hobby?
2. Do you see any benefit from the animal behavior project?
3. Which countries have you visited?
4. Do you have a pen pal? In which country?

Nasibo

1. What is your name and how old are you?
2. What do you want to be in the future?
3. What is your favorite activity on Sundays?

Betty

1. Do you like being in school?
2. How old are you and what is your name?
3. Do you like acting?

Esther

1. What is your favorite food for breakfast?
2. What would you like to do during the December holiday?
3. Why did you choose the animal you are studying?

Christine

1. What is your favorite hobby?
2. How do you benefit from animals’ behaviors during observation?
3. How old are you and what is your favorite subject?

Marylene

1. What is your name and how old are you?
2. Which grade are you in?
3. What do you hope to be in the future?
4. What do you like to do outside of classes?

Faith

1. What is your favorite hobby?
2. Which are your best subjects?
3. Have you ever been to Africa?

Carolyne

1. What is your favorite activity outside of school?
2. Which is your favorite class or activity in school?
3. Which is your favorite subject?
4. What do you usually do during leisure time?

Mary K.

1. What is your best activity?
2. What do you do after school?
3. How old are you? What would you like to be in the future?

Leila

1. Which is your favorite movie?
2. What would you like to be in the future?
3. Who is your favorite musician and why?

Joyce

1. What is your favorite novel? Movie?
2. How do you like spending your free time?

3. What are some of your possible careers when you grow up?

Emily

1. What are your ideal professions in the future
2. What do you want people to describe about you?
3. How have you progressed with your Behavioral Ecology project? Why do you feel that it is important?

The garden spider

For my behavioral ecology project, i am studying the Garden Spider, or araneus diadematus. I chose this arachnid because there are lots of them in my backyard, and the somber elegance of spiders has always intrigued me. In my backyard, the spiders stretch their webs between many of the plants and trees, mostly in the sunlight. I have found out some pretty crazy things about them from my observations, like how they sit perfectly still in their webs and use the construction of the web to sense where foreign objects.

Outside of the biological world (or at least the classroom), I enjoy playing water polo and lacrosse, and my favorite movie of all time is Top Gun.

My Behavioral Ecology Project

Hello. My name is Trevor. I'm studying honey bees for my behavioral ecology project. I have always been incredibly scared of bees, and I decided that this would be a great opportunity to learn more about these misunderstood creatures and would help me get over my fear. I have been studying them in my backyard where there are a lot of bees because there is a nest very close to my house. I have also been using the Marin Academy garden a lot to study them, which has been great to be able to go there and connect with nature. I have been noticing a lot about the bees' senses, and about what draws them to certain flowers. I did an experiment about color to see which color they were attracted to and found that they are most attracted to blue and white. When I'm not studying bees, I do a lot of performing arts or just hang out with my friends. I'm not really very athletic so I'm not good at sports, but I like to follow professional sports and play them (though not competitively. That never seems to work out for me). I am interested to hear more about your Biology projects and am glad that we get to do this blog.

Mallard Ducks!!

Hello everyone, my name is Brett and I am also studying Mallard Ducks. Since I was young, I have always been interested and loved ducks. I was on a field trip to a ranch in 1st grade when these creatures caught my attention. The ducks caught my eye and still does to this day by the exceptionally beautiful colors, and the wacky quack that it makes. For my experiment that I have been testing, it is conditioning ducks to respond to a whistle to know that it is feeding time. This all takes place at a local pond by our school in Northern California. For myself, I am 16 years old and am a soccer and lacrosse player. I am really excited to talk more with you girls from Daraja and learn about all of your animals and experiences that you have had during your behavioral ecology studies.

Hello hello! I'm Catherine and I also chose to study mallard ducks because I did a small project on them in third grade, many of my questions were left unanswered, and I wanted to find out more! I am observing these creatures at a pond at the Palace of Fine Arts in the city: it is a beautiful place and there are always a lot of tourists around. I have been able to watch some of their courtship behaviors which has been really interesting and the other day I approached them with a fake crow on a stick to see how they would respond to a predator! They reacted pretty dramatically which was exciting. I love singing and my favorite book is Twilight!

House Finches

Hello, my name is Lily. I am studying House Finches. I chose these birds because I wanted to learn more about the animals living in my own backyard, as I had never particularly paid close attention to them in the past. I was also interested in seeing how they interacted with other types of birds that came to my bird feeder. I have been observing these small birds through a window in my house that looks out onto my backyard that contains a large plum tree with many branches (the bird feeder hangs here), a blackberry bush, and dirt ground covered in dried, fallen leaves. An interesting observation I made while watching the birds was that I noticed that the male finches especially seem to have very quick reflexes and constantly move their heads from side to side when other birds land on the feeder perches. Also, many finches simply come to the feeder, land on one of its perches, and don't eat any of the birdseed. I've also noted that the feathers of some male house finches are more red than others, and that often females and males do not directly interact (I would've expected them to!). A few things about me are that I love photography, gardening, going to art museums, seeing my favorite musicians perform, hiking, and thai food.

so many ants!

Hello everyone!

My name is Olivia and I am 2 days away from being 17 years old. When I was looking for an animal to study for this project I noticed many ants scurrying around in my backyard. I knew immediately that I wanted to study these tiny animals because they used to always invade my house during the winter: they got into every single bit of food! While studying them I saw that they always follow each other around in what looked like a game of "Follow the Leader". I found out that they form trails by sending out specific smells (pheromones), and that if I rubbed my finger on part of their trail that they wouldn't be able to follow their old trail anymore!

I really love to draw, paint, and do other art, and i also dance ballet. I love raspberries and avocados and basically all other types of food!

Bye!