3rd Grade Writing

The Human HEADquarters
Researched, written and delivered as a presentation by Greg at the Edgemont Science Fair, April 2003

The human brain is like the control center on a starship . . . a base in the Army . . . your brain is the human HEADquarters.

Without the brain you couldn't sing, smell, see, eat, breathe . . . let's just say it's hard to live without your brain. Your brain is the best computer ever made. Ideas, how to walk, how to talk, how to move - they all come from the brain.

What you think of as the brain, the big part of the picture is called the Cerebrum. The cerebrum handles thinking, and it also handles remembering. In a book I read, there was a man who had a part of his brain removed. There was an accident in an operation he was having. The man could only remember things for about 15 minutes. The sad thing is: he was only 27 when it happened. Former President Ronald Reagan has Alzheimer's Disease, which effects brain and nerve chemicals and has caused his memory to not work as well as other parts of his body. The cerebrum also takes care of seeing and speaking and smelling.

The Cerebellum, the pink part of the drawing, handles delicate movements such as picking things up and even the decision to pick things up.

The Brain Stem or Medulla, the pale green part of the drawing, handles breathing and the beating of your heart. In fact it handles all of the automatic functions of your body. The brain stem is where the nerves connect to your brain. Nerves are important because they connect to parts of your body like your eyes, ears, fingers, toes, etc. If you put your finger on a hot stove, the nerves send a special message to the brain to remove your finger so it won't burn.

And if you heard all of what I just said, you might not even believe this fact: The brain weighs only about 3 pounds. That is less than a newborn baby. There goes to show you that the human brain is the most powerful computer in the world, and amazingly, there are about 6 billion of these super computers.

Jack and Cooper
June 2003, end of 3rd grade

Ever wonder what it's like to be a dog? Well, that's what happened to me.

It all started on Thursday. I had a terrible day: I failed my math test, lost my lunch money and got trampled at football practice. Then I played with Cooper, my dog. That night, I wished I were a dog.

The next day, I was a dog. I had a biscuit for breakfast. I hated it. Then I had my walk. I had to go to the bathroom all of a sudden. I went, but peed on my leg. Then it was lunch. I had something like gravy. It was worse than the biscuit. I ran out into the mud, but when I got mud on my mom's carpet, I was sent to my dog house.

I fell asleep, and I woke up and I was me again. I knew I never wanted to be a dog again.

I'm an expert on . . .
The assignment was to write a composition on something you're an expert on. May 5, 2003

I am an expert on my Dad. He likes chocolate, dogs, me, baseball, Spider-Man and Block Island. He dislikes liver, Wonder Woman, cats, soccer and Iraq.

He enjoys spending time with Mom and me, going to movies and bike-riding. When he works from home, he listens to old rock and jazz music.

His name is John Geoffrey Loftus. We call him Geoff. His birthday is August 29.