Day 8- Saturday in Washington D.C.

After a long trip, it's finally time to end it with a ceremony at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers at Arlington. Everyday, severall organizations participate in the changing of the gaurd ceremony. Our school selected four students to represent us, by walking down the stairs and laying down the gaurd. The temperature was unberable, but it was an honor to take the time to recognize the several lives taken in America's great battles.

Day 7- Friday in Washington D.C.

Today, we used the MetroRail system as our source of transportation in Washington D.C. While waiting for our train to arrive, we stood outside of the Crystal City. As Mr. Ewalt explained how to use the ticket syste, I looked around to get a good view of D.C. It just so happened that we were standing on a tessellation. We were standing on bricks that were showing a tessellation using rotation. This was very helpful for the tessellation project we have to work on for math.

Day 6- Thursday in Gettysburg

1863, Gettysburg Pennsylvania is used for a main strip of battle land for the Civil War. The North and South fought against each other to debate the conflict of states' rights on things like slavery. The war took place in July, that lasted for three days in Gettysburg. The temperatures went up to 90 degrees each day. Soldiers would wear over 50 pounds in equipment each day, marching around the battle fields. The weight they wore combined with the heat of the summer, made the war even more miserable. Disease was another problem during the war, which was the actual main killer. In the end, the war eventually went to the North. Which led to the banning of slavery.

Day 5- Wednesday in Gettysburg

In 1776, a public document was created, named the "Declaration of Independence." The document was written by Thomas Jefferson to state their independence from Britian. Many different hard copies of this document were made and brought to the Pennsylvania State House, which is now called Independence Hall. The hard copies were discussed with Congress and were revised each time. Finally, on July 4, 1776 the final draft was approved by the signing of 56 congressmen. This public document was written in the English language and is now used every day in politics to make sure if a law in constitutional or not.

Memorials and Monuments

Jefferson Memorial:
Thomas Jefferson was a minister to France, a Secretary of State, he donated 6,000 books to Congress, was the main author of the Declaration of Independence, the third president, and founded the University of Virginia, which was said to be his most proud accomplishment. The Jefferson Memorial has a 19ft statue of Jefferson, and on his feet are books to represent his love for reading, corn to represent agriculture, and a tobacco leaf to represent the main crop of Virginia, his home state.
Lincoln Memorial:
Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14th, 1865 in Fords Theater, and he died the next day. He was the first president to be assassinated. The Lincoln Memorial was designed after the Greek Temples, and the statue in the center is 19ft by 19ft. It was created by Daniel Chester, and is the site of the famous "I Have A Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr. The Lincoln Memorial represents the "North", and the house of General Lee represents the "South". The Arlington Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River represents the connection between the "North" and the "South".

Vietnam Memorial:
There are 58, 261 names on the black granite wall of the Vietnam Memorial. The 58, 261st name was just placed on May 5th, when Manrique Valdez died of his injuries from the war.

Arlington:
Arlington National Cemetery is considered one of the most sacred places of the U.S. With over 300,000 graves, it is also the second largest cemetery in the United States. It is also the second oldest, and was founded in 1864. Two presidents are buried here: William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy. At Kennedy's grave site, there is an eternal flame. J.F.K.'s brother, who was also assassinated, Robert Kennedy, is also buried there.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers:
There are three bodies in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. One is from World War One, one is from World War Two, and the other is from the Korean War. There used to be a fourth body from the Vietnam War, but modern DNA testing identified the man as Michael Glassey of Missouri.

Washington D.C.

Wayne was our tour guide in D.C., and he told us all about the city. It was the first city in the world to be planned specifically as a capitol in 1791. It is 100 square miles, and the land was hand selected by George Washington himself. It includes 64 miles of what was Maryland, and 36 miles of what was Virginia. The city's original designs were by Pierre L'Enfant, who designed the city into four quadrants: Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest. But when L'Enfant tore down one of the Congressman's houses without their permission, he was fired. Benjamin Bonnica completed the plan for the Washington District of Columbia. The "city of memorials" as Wayne calls it, has no tall buildings, and each state is represented as a street, avenue, or drive. California is the only street, and Ohio is the only drive. The rest are avenues. The Washington Cathedral is the second largest cathedral in the United States, and it is here that the only president to be buried in D.C. is buried: Woodrow Wilson. D.C.'s population is 500,000, and D.C. has it's own mayor and congressman. The oldest neighborhood in D.C is Georgetown, which was founded in 1751, and was named for George Bell, who donated his land to tobacco farmers. Georgetown was home to president John F. Kennedy before he was president, and is also home ot the oldest Catholic University, which was established in 1789. Madeline Albright, the first woman Secretary of State, lives in D.C. as well.

Boston Colleges with Pictures

When we arrived in Boston, our tour guide, Heidi, gave us information on all of the institutes that dotted the West Coast. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, has a 364 ft corridor connecting the buildings because the architects thought that the spaced-out students would forget to put on their coats if the had to go outside. Twice a year, the sun illuminates the entire corridor, and this is referred to as "MIT Henge".
The other famous college in Boston is Harvard. It was founded in 1634, but not by John Harvard. John Harvard left all of his books and wealth to "the new college" in the area, so, when he died, they decided to name it after him.

Because of this great wealth of knowledge in such a small area, in Boston, 35% of the population has a four-year college degree. And in Cambridge, 64% of the population has a four-year college degree! That says a lot about who is living there!