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Astronomy Days at Heartland Forest

10/15/2013

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PictureVoice K Journalists Amelie and Michelle
Marvels of the Sky
By: Amelie Zhou & Michelle Zhou

It was a cloudless night on October 12th. My sister and I went to Astronomy Days at Heartland Forest, Niagara Falls as Voice K journalists.

The trip involved driving on dusty gravel roads. The place looked very nice, except for the mud. There were a lot of people setting up telescopes in front of the building. There were many nice volunteers, and we found out that most of them were retired. They told us that they love astronomy and that they wanted to get kids interested in astronomy.

While we were talking to some of the volunteers, a nice man in his 50s walked in. He was the speaker and his name was Dr. Brian Pihack. He’s the president of RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) at the Niagara Falls Centre.

Dr. Pihack told us he got his first telescope when he was 12. We spent a lot of time talking to him. Anybody could tell that he loves astronomy. When we asked him about his role in this activity, he told us it wasn’t a job, it was a hobby. He told us many facts about astronomy. He said that he got all the information for his speech from books, the internet, and universities. When we asked him how much practice he needed for his speech, he replied, “Honestly, none. When I look at a picture, I know what I’m going to talk about.”

Then, we all settled down for a lecture in the nice and comfortable lobby of the Nature Centre. Dr. Pihack started by introducing the galaxy and our solar system to us. He showed us where we were and compared Earth to the Sun. Then he compared the Sun to a red giant, Betelgeuse. The Sun was humongous next to Earth, and Betelgeuse was humongous next to the Sun, so imagine how small Earth must be next to Betelgeuse!

Dr. Pihack gave us some information about each planet. He talked more about Jupiter and Saturn, and skimmed over Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto.

“If you and I board a Boeing 747 and fly to the Sun, how long will it take?” Dr. Pihack asked the crowd.

There were a wide variety of answers from both kids and adults ranging from one hour to a zillion weeks. None of them got the correct answer or was even close! The right answer was 17 years. Another question people did not get was “How many planets are there in the solar system?” The answer was 13. There was one really hard question Dr. Pihack said that no one should be able to answer. He asked the audience what Herschel, the person who discovered Uranus, was going to name the new planet. Michelle, a Voice K journalist, surprised him by saying “George.” Everyone was laughing at the answer, but she was actually right!

Later in the lecture, Dr. Pihack showed us beautiful pictures of aurora borealis that can be seen with the naked eye in Niagara Falls. Everyone was amazed. The aurora borealis were beautiful; they were better than the ones at the North Pole. The Northern lights at the North Pole are one solid color. These, however, had blues and indigos, violets and greens. Dr. Pihack told us how to capture these photos on our own camera. He told us that if we want to check if we can see the aurora in our backyard, we can go to http://helios.swpc.noaa.gov/ovation/, search for ovation, then find a photo of a globe. If you live above the red line, you can see the Northern lights.

PictureDr. Pihack showing us a meteorite!
At the end of the lecture, Dr. Pihack showed us two meteorites. He told us that iron meteorites actually started the Iron Age. Even though they were expensive, we got a chance to hold them. The shape was jagged, uneven, and it looked like it had been tossed roughly. It was light at only four grams, and one meteorite’s edges and tips were black, while the rest were copper. I think the adults were more excited to hold the meteorite than the kids. 

After the lecture, we went outside to gaze through the telescopes. Most of them featured the moon. There were both big and small telescopes. There was even a pair of binoculars on a tripod! There was one that showed Saturn. It wasn’t really clear; it looked teensy-weensy, a bit blurry, and gray. It looked like a dull donut. Some people said, “I only see a gray dot.” The moon was most impressive with the shadows and the craters. Even though some of the stars did not show up well, we still had a lot of fun looking through the telescopes.

Visiting Heartland Forest would make anyone’s day. It was a great experience. Heartland Forest is a definite place to have fun. If possible, try visiting it. When we came back to the GTA, I started missing Niagara Falls. It was a lot quieter and had fewer disturbances there.


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Holland Marsh Soupfest

10/8/2013

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PictureLeo with event organizer Jon Bell
Holland Marsh Soupfest
By: Leo Yin (age 10)

On October 5, 2013, people from all over the GTA attended the Holland Marsh Soupfest located in Newmarket, Ontario. It was a rainy day, but it was a perfect day to get some soup!

“About 1,000 people come each year, and many come over and over,” Jon Bell, the organizer, said excitedly.

The Holland Marsh farmers started this soup festival for the first time in October 2007 to let people try their food and product.

“Working with all the chefs is the most fun part of being an organizer,” Bell said.  

Every year, about 30 chefs come to the festival.  Wow! That is a lot of chefs in one place! If a restaurant had 30 chefs, it would be a big business, but at the Soupfest, most chefs were representing a restaurant of their own. They were there to compete to win a trophy for the soup they made. There were four trophies to be handed out. These trophies looked like metal bowls and they were laid right there at the entrance of the huge tent.

“To do the festival out in the rain is the most challenging part,” Bell said. Huge tents were set up in case of the rain. Inside a huge tent were the soup makers, crowded with a lot of people.   

At the festival, I met Anna Orodi who was representing ‘You’re The Chef,’ an organization that teaches public school kids about eating habits and basic cooking skills. “My daughter, Natalie and I are just volunteers,” said Orodi.

Orodi likes to see people eat what she cooks and see the smiles on people’s faces. Orodi also said that it feels amazing to be a chef.  She brought her special ‘Bean Soup’ for this festival.

A visitor named Amber Claus really enjoyed the fun and soups. “It’s a wonderful festival! A lot of effort was put to set up this festival,” said Claus. “The Mexican soup really makes me warm!” she said in a warm voice.

Matteo Castelli was one of the judges of the Soupfest. Castelli judges the soup by the flavour, colour, texture, spices/herbs, and originality. Castelli has been to at least 15 festivals! Castelli really enjoys the food and people there.

“All the soups had a great taste and it was very hard for me to give out the marks,” Castelli said.

The results were announced right after talking to Castelli.

The winner for the Home and Farm Category was Carron Farms and their soup was Purple Carrot Soup.

October is the season for soup. Step right up to have a bowl of soup and be amazed by the taste! Are you ready for your soup?

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Hi, my name is Leo Yin and I am one of the journalists in Voice K. I am 10 years old and I am in grade 5. I live in Mississauga Ontario. I like to play sports, such as ice hockey, basketball, badminton, swimming, biking etc. l go to Credit Valley Public School. My favorite subject is math and l also really enjoy playing piano and singing. My favorite piano peace is Fur Elise. So yeah. That's pretty much all you need to know about me. See ya!
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Burlington Applefest Fall Fair

10/2/2013

1 Comment

 
图片Voice K Journalists with Valerie Amaral
Applefest Fall Fair
By: Wendy Wang, Alex Hu, Dea Yu

Autumn is a time of colourful leaves, harvest and apples. On the sunny day of September 29th, Voice K headed to the Ireland House of Oakridge Farm in Burlington to get a taste of the country. It's the highly praised Applefest Fall Fair! It's a fun event for friends and family, with kids' activities, vendors, attractions and country-style food. Everyone at the entrance was offered an apple as a token of welcome. We got there at 11am, but the place was already swarming with people.

The Ireland House is actually a museum, but the atmosphere is a lot more lively than the average one. We got to chat with Valerie Amaral, the Special Events Assistant of Burlington Museums.

Alex: Why did you organize this event?

Valerie: It is a fundraising event for the Museum of Burlington. All the funds go back to the museum’s education programs and artifact preservation.  It is a fun community event to bring people back to their heritage, learn and have fun while doing it. Who doesn’t like a fall fair?

Dea: What is your favourite activity to do at the AppleFest?

Valerie: It is probably the Hay Maze, since it is a fun and fall-harvesty kind of activity. It is free for people to do. The scarecrow game is fun too, you get to make your own life size scarecrow.

Dea: What is the hardest thing you have done organizing this event?

Valerie: The hardest thing would be the general setup. Putting every component together, it is a lot of work. We have our vendors, activity providers, museum activities and food and beverages. It is the hardest thing on the day of event. You plan ahead sitting in front of the computer, yet when you put everything together, challenges come up. But that’s the fun of it.

Alex: How many people usually turn out each year?

Valerie: Typically we get around 1500 people each year, however, by partnering up with Rocca Sisters, it has boosted our numbers close to 2500 this year.



PictureExploring the Hay Maze!
We interviewed one of the parents, Barbara Osbourne, a mother of two boys from Burlington. She comes here every year. Her most favourite activity in the AppleFest is the hay maze, as her boys can spend hours in it. She thinks the event is fun and the kids are very friendly. The only complaint she has is that the hay maze was larger the year before. 

We also interviewed a volunteer who was in charge of food called Barbara Teatero. She helps out the AppleFest every year and she enjoys working here. She says there were over 60 volunteers that came to put the whole festival together! Her biggest challenge was to make sure there was enough food for everybody and that all the people are happy and safe. 

The Ireland House is probably the closest thing to a "portal to the past." It has supported the Ireland family for three generations and still stands in excellent condition while preserving the cozy atmosphere of a Victorian household. Let's take a look!

At the front door stood a tall man in Victorian age attire, greeting everyone that came in. With black shoes, a collared white shirt, trousers and trench coat, his look was completed with a top hat and a cane. If he had held a magnifying glass, we would've thought he was Sherlock Holmes! There was also a woman inside the house explaining about the black and white family portraits. She wore a traditional high collared dress and a round bonnet on her head.

"It's called a poke bonnet. It was a very fashionable hat for women to wear in the Victorian age. But like all hats, they were usually to be taken off inside the house." She said.

As we ventured further into the house we discovered a thirty-five foot well and even a summer kitchen! The interior walls of the house were covered by fancy wallpaper decorated with portraits of the original Ireland family. However, the scent of apples lead us to an old-fashioned wood fireplace used for cooking. A woman that was dressed in a simple dress was baking cookies on a wooden board over the fire. It smelled so good! 



PictureMuseum Display
Crunch! What was that? Peeking around the corner we saw the most interesting machine ever! Beside it was a crate filled to the rim with ripe apples and a young lady. She cheerfully welcomed us to take a look and introduced herself as Kate Almeida. It turns out we had found one of the most important aspects of the Ireland House.  

"The Ireland family made a living from the apple harvest, and were very successful too! Some of their specialties were apple juice and apple cider. This is a cider-press machine!" Almeida said, pointing at the wooden structure.

The process is actually quite simple, but you sure need some muscle to get it working. First, you drop four to five apples into the top of the cider press. By turning a handle on the side you crush the apples into small chunks that fall into the bucket below. When the bucket is just over half full, it's time to squeeze the juice out. There is a second handle on the top of the machine which you have to turn in order to "press" the apple juice into the container at the very bottom. Voice K gave it a try, and we promise you it isn't as easy as you think. It takes quite a few apples to make only one glass of apple juice. 

"Members of the Ireland family worked at this cider-press everyday during the apple harvest!" Almeida adds, "It's hard work, but this, this is pure apple juice straight from the fruit itself. It's great."

Do you know what's the difference between apple juice and apple cider? The truth is they are almost the same thing as they are both 100% apple juice. However, apple cider is fermented apple juice. It's what gives cider the tart and stronger taste, which tastes great hot or cold. 

The Ireland House certainly shows us what heritage is about, and there are surprises in every room. We learned a lot but had a lot of fun at the same time. The Applefest is a great way to appreciate our heritage with some good country fare. It certainly got us into the "fall mood."


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Hi! My name is Wendy Wang. I am 14 years old and I live in Mississauga, Ontario. Writing is my passion, whether it's stories, poems, or articles. In my spare time I also love reading, drawing, swimming, and hanging out with my friends at Edenwood Middle School. To me, life is an adventure so I never miss a chance to try new things and meet new people. It has been so much fun participating in the creation of this magazine, so I hope you enjoy it! 
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Hi, my name is Alex, I am 9 years old. I am in grade 4. I go to Maple Grove Public School in Oakville. I was born in the United States. I am the only child. I love hockey, tennis, basketball, and swimming. I joined Voice K camp for two weeks this summer. During the two weeks, we interviewed people at the CNE; we learned to film and we did funny fake news reports and uploaded them to Youtube. I really like the fake news conferences we did; one topic was about Superman getting defeated by Darth Vader. 
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Hi everyone, my name is Dea, I am 8 years old. My name is not popular, I only knew one girl whose name sounded the same but she spelled it differently. Guess how I got this name; my Mom told me she found it on a website called babynames.com. It is a Greek Goddess name who was in charge of beauty. I go to Sommerville Manor School which is really close to Voice K. My favourite classes at school are Drama and Music, I love playing acting games with my Drama teacher. I live in Mississauga, Ontario. I like reading and all kinds of arts. I am a Ballet dancer; I had my fourth recital this year. I really enjoy putting on new costumes each year and dancing on the stage.
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