Landing

      On a Saturday in July of 2010, I was on a Delta airlines flight from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport. Up until around 20 minutes before landing, the flight was uneventful, apart from an interesting part where the plane was around eight feet above a solid bed of white clouds, which made me feel as though the aircraft was cruising at eight feet above the ground, when it was actually 35,000 feet!
      But now onto the main event, which was rather, well, nerve-racking. The plane had been flying over one of the great lakes when I looked ahead through my little window and saw a horrid thing ahead: a massive wall of dark purple clouds. I had my fingers crossed all the way to it but luckily, the pilot turned the plane around the wall, which meant that it would be bad for a small CRJ-900 aircraft, the one I was in, to enter the cloud bank.
      While the plane was descending towards Pearson, I was staring out the window, looking at the clouds. I then saw one small cloud ahead of the plane, just a dinky little cloud, and just before we entered the cloud, I jokingly said to my Dad " here we go!" Then WHAM! The plane was smashed by a burst of wind and dropped a fair bit, around 50-70 feet. People cried out and I had my fingers wrapped around the armrests so hard that my knuckles whitened. I knew of an accident that had happened at the same airport that had occurred in August of 2005 with Air France flight 358. The accident had happened under similar whether conditions when the plane landed on the wet runway and crashed off the end of the runway. No one was killed in this accident. But I was scared stiff. I had suspicions that the plane had hit a small microburst, which is a powerful but brief downdraft of air that had brought down several aircraft in previous years. I had my fingers crossed that we wouldn't hit another one. One was bad enough!
      But nothing happened for the rest of the flight and we landed safely. But I was very shaken from the incident.
      I really hope that nothing like that ever happens to me on an airplane ever again. But funnily enough, on a larger plane, like a Boeing 737 and larger, I would have probably not have felt that bump!
     So for now, goodbye! See you next time!

Investigating the Past

        Archaeologists study ancient cave paintings because it assists them in finding out what cavemen were like. They analyze these paintings closely and find out how the paintings were created and who made them. They can even find out approximately when these paintings were created. Below are some cave paintings and art tools that we looked at and had a shot at examining ourselves.



    Cave Art Tools

   In the image we had of these items, we saw two fist-sized rocks, some smaller brown spheres, and a thin sliver of rock. These items were laid upon a much larger rock, which was either a makeshift shelf which had been made naturally, or a rock platter, which the artist may have set down on the ground. We learned that archaeologists think that the two larger rocks were used for grinding while the thin sliver or stone was used for engraving. But the purpose of the small brown balls is unknown.


   Clay Sculptures


   In this image we were provided with, there were two ceramic bison. From what we could tell, they were probably around two feet high. These bison were very detailed around the head, with thin lines engraved in the manes to make hairs. Archaeologists have several theories on what the purpose of these two clay bison was. One of these was that they were clan markers, to show that the cave belonged to a certain clan. Another was that they were a ceremonial decoration, or maybe effigies of animal deities.


   Spear Thrower


   This spear thrower was a short stick, maybe made out of wood or bone. At the end there was a very detailed jumping stallion. It had its front legs up as if it was jumping and its head was very detailed. The mane had little lines etched into it, representing separate hairs. We learned that archaeologists believe that this spear thrower was a good luck charm for hunters. Another theory about the horse at the top was that the artist had whittled it in for decoration. And a 3rd theory was that the horse might have been related to the hunter's name.


      Unfortunately, this blog must end, but now, when you leave your computer, you will be smarter than before! For you will have learned about some cave art tools, a spear thrower, and a pair of ceramic bison!