The Colorscapes eBook, and the revised Shire!

Hello hello! I have been cleaning up files on my computer now that I am back home with my family and some time on my hands. I miss you guys! I hope all is well, and I hope you will reply in the comment thread to fill me (and your classmates) in on how you are doing. Pake Bhasa Inggris saja, ya? =)

I'd like to share a few fun finds.  First of all, I told you that I would eventually do something cool with your Colorscapes. At long last, I reveal unto you...The Colorscapes eBook! If you'll recall, each Colorscape has at least 10 objects with names that starts with vowel sounds of various "colors." If you zoom in on the pictures, you will see the suggested answers hidden. Hopefully some of you can use this with your own students!

Also, while it took a while and a little work, I finally fixed The Shire Logic Puzzle. I know some of you never did manage to fall in love with these, but many of you have written me subsequently to ask me where you can find more.  Well, here's a three-parter - happy solving...  ;}

(For fun: What's your hobbit name? http://www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/index.php)

Review for your Exam!

Dear All:
     Sorry I was grumpy and dizzy today.  I "woke up on the wrong side of the bed," as they say.  Anyway, to help you out a bit I'm giving you some ideas of stuff to practice for the mid-term:

We reviewed four types of texts, but I really want you to be able to distinguish between three of them:
-Nonfiction Stories
-Persuasive Essays
-Informational Articles

How do these differ?  Which are factual, and which are opinionated?  Which tell stories, and which just convey information?  In which one does the author tend to have a point?

Speaking of fact and opinion, what is the difference?  What is a "false fact?"  Is "I love Indonesia" a fact or an opinion?  What about "The Earth is flat?"

There are two modifiers in the sentence, "The motorcycle mirror was broken because I hit the ramp crooked."  One modifies a noun, and the other a verb.  Which words are the modifiers, and what words do they modify?

Be ready to do a small reading and answer multiple questions about it!

Lastly, be ready for a 1-star logic puzzle, like the ones you've completed before.  Make sure you know how to define "mutual exclusivity," how to graph and cross-hatch, and how to process list and ordinal clues!

Hope that helps.  If you still have questions, just leave a comment!
Jonthon

Answers to puzzles 1 and 2...

The answers are below the fold.  Please try your best to find the answers before you look!

Graphs for The Shire Logic Puzzles

Hopefully you were able to figure out the categories for each logic puzzle, figure out what all the items in each category were, and then create graphs for each of them. The puzzles are hard to complete without a graph, because without a graph you can't do any cross-hatching!

That said, I am including graphs you can use with the puzzles below. Try your best to create your own graphs - only use these if you're stuck!

The Shire Logic Puzzle

Logic Trilogy..! (due May 21st)

Logic Puzzles are about reading carefully and thinking hard.  I know you find them hard, but if you are careful, I am certain you can figure out the answers!

I have decided to upload all three puzzles at once, so that you can work at your own pace.  After week 1, I will put up graphs for all three puzzles.  After week two, I will put up answers for the first two puzzles.  By week three, I want you to try to figure out which evil creature I will be hunting for..!  Can you do it?  GOOD LUCK!

PUZZLE 1:

As head hobbit of Hobbiton, it is my responsibility to recommend the Shire's next ring bearer. I have five excellent prospects (including Ruby), each of whom is currently the champion of a different village (one is The Marish) of the Shire. All five candidates are incredibly skilled, and I'm going to need to learn more about their skills in order to make my decision, so I will need to visit their villages. From the information provided, determine the village where I will find each champion, and the skill for which they are said to be famous.

1.  The village of the hobbit skilled in herbal healing is not in Michel Delving. Myrtle's village is to the immediate South of that of the hobbit known to be a moneymaster (who isn't from  Bindbole Wood).

2.  Dora (who isn't from Rushock Bog) is a superb scout. Flory is neither the rope worker nor the sword wielder.

3.  Iris (who is from Greenfields) isn't the money master. Myrtle isn't the sword wielder.

(For fun: What's your hobbit name? http://www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/index.php)

PUZZLE 2:

As I traveled through the villages of the shire, I noted that each had a different honorific given to them by their people (one was "the frugal"), and came from a different clan.  Far from making my decision easier, these facts make selecting just one champion tougher than ever! From the information provided, determine the clan from which each champion hails and the honorific given to them by their people.

1.  The hobbit from the Knotwise clan does not live in Greenfields. Iris was given the honorific "the nice." The Frumblefoot clan's champion was granted the honorific "the vigilant."

2.  The money master hailed from the Burrows clan. The champion known as "the gnarly" was skilled in working with ropes.

3.  Either Ruby is of the Proudneck clan and is known as "the gifted," or Flory is the one known as "the gifted" and hails from the Goldworthy clan.

PUZZLE 3:

Since all five champions are equally qualified to be head hobbit, I have decided I shall base my decision on who has the most leadership experience. I learned that each of the five hobbits I was considering served an important leadership role in their village (one was the town merchant) for a different number of years (8, 10, 12, 13, or 15). I also learned, in speaking with other leaders in their towns, that each champion is deathly afraid of a different kind of evil creature (one is scared stiff of orcs)! From the information provided, determine the number of years that each champion served as a leader in their town, what their leadership role was, and what creature they fear the most.

1.  Iris has served as a town leader for more years than the champion who fears balrogs but for fewer years than the hobbit who served as the town bounder. The candidate who served as the town technician can't stand the sight of trolls.

2.  If the champion who has served as a leader for 13 years was the town technician, then he or she is scared of balrogs; otherwise, he or she trembles at the sight of crebain and is a town sheriff.

3.  The herbal healer has either served as a town leader for 15 years or has served as the town apothecary for 12 years. The champion who fears the nazgul hasn't been a town leader for exactly 10 years.

4.  If the champion from Bindbole Wood has served as a town leader for 8 years, then he or she fears the nazgul; otherwise, he or she has served as a town leader for 10 exactly 10 years. Flory fears balrogs.

5.  The hobbit who shivers at the mention of the word "troll" (who isn't known as "the vigilant") has served as a town leader for exactly 5 fewer years than hobbit that served as town sheriff.

To ensure the success of the ring bearer, I have decided to personally hunt out and destroy the evil creature that the champion I have selected for head hobbit fears.  Which creature will I be hunting?

British Food and Secret Projects...

Your reading comprehension passage for this week, "British Food - Best in the World?" may be your last for the semester...so enjoy it!  Just so you know in advance, it is another example of an informational text, just like the one we looked at last week.  Can you tell the difference between Nonfiction stories, informational texts and persuasive essays?!

We will start to shift our focus to logic puzzles.  This week's Project Meetings Logic Puzzle has one fewer category than last weeks, but each category has one more entry.  It requires all the skills you learned last week, and one more: list-building.

See you Monday..!

Moving into Sentential Logic... [Due April 23rd!]

You're proving to be pretty good at regular reading comprehension activities, so we're moving not to something a bit more challenging: sentential logic!  I have designed a logic puzzle for you about international motorcycles racers: Motorcycle Rally Logic Puzzle.  We will review it in class, but I expect you to try your best to solve this puzzle on your own, first!  (To help you, here are some instructions on how to solve a logic puzzle...)

Also, just to keep you in practice, I've uploaded another reading comprehension passage, Canadian English.  Can you figure out what genre it is?