Shakespeare...inside-out!

Is there anyone amongst you who hasn't heard of the name William Shakespeare, even once? I don't think so...! William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon in Αγγλίας, was (and is still considered to be) one of the greatest playwrights and poets, not only in his country, but also in the whole world! 39 plays are officially recognised as his, with  "Romeo and Juliet", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Merchant of Venice" and "Hamlet" being amongst the most well-known. I beg your pardon? You already knew these too?

Well, did you know that...:

1. ...nobody knows exactly when he was born? All we know is that he was christened on the 26th of April in 1564 and the historians, estimating that he was then 3 days old, considered the 23rd of April in 1564 to be his birth day!
2. ...he never went to University, but studied literature, Latin, Maths and Religion by himself throughout his life?
3. ...he used more than 25,000 different words in total in his works, while he also invented words of his own, such as the word "assassination"? People use about 2,000 words on average when they write or talk!
4. ...his wife and all of his three kids were illiterate? (!) They were unable to even read or write!
5. ...he died on the same day that is considered to be his birth day, on the 23rd of April in 1616?

Let's play with William! Click on the picture:

Why are zebras striped?

    We learnt at Physics a few days ago that animals adapt to their environment. They are coloured so as to hide from their enemies and hunt their food more easily.

The polar wolf, for instance, is white to hide and hunt in the snow.

But why are zebras striped?

What does that pattern help them for?

Some scientists believe that they have found the answer...

According to their research, zebras have evolved and acquired these stripes in order to prevent insects from biting them!!

As scientists point out, the key is in the way light is reflected. "At first we studied horses with black, brown and white hair.", Susanne Akesson notes. "We noticed that the light that is reflected by black and brown horses gathers more flies than that of the white ones."

 Having discovered flies'...preferences, scientists continued their research on zebras. "We created an experimental environment out of surfaces in various patterns.", Akesson reports and goes on to explain how they put a black board, a white one and lots of black and white ones in different sizes in a horse farm in Hungary.

"We had put glue on the boards. So we measured the insects that got stuck on the boards.", she adds. The black and white board attracted fewer flies even than the white one. A similar experiment was carried out with 3D effigies of two horses (a black and a white one) and of a zebra. The results were the same...

Original post by Dimitris Alexakis

Ludwg Van Beethoven: The great musician

I recently heard that "Beethoven" is the dog in a movie...!

But, because Beethoven was not only that, I decided to introduce him to you...

   Beethoven was one of the greatest musicians of all time. He was born in Germany in 1770 and died in 1827. he began composing musical pieces from an early age. His first composition came out when he was only 12. He quickly became popular as a composer and as a pianist as well.

    He slowly began losing his hearing until, in 1820, he became totally deaf. One of the greatest musicians could not hear at all!! But Beethoven didn't lose his courage too! He kept on composing music. Some of his most famous pieces were written when he was totally deaf! He couldn't even hear the audience's  claps...

Pieces by beethoven like the "9th Symphony" or "The Ode to Joy" are considered to be real musical masterpieces.Listen to this:

Original post by Dimitris Alexakis

The weekend projections of "the 10th"!

We have a good time in the weekend afternoons at our school! We watch movies and we spend time with each other! We laugh (we sometimes cry, too)! and, when we aren't laughing enough, we have ms Katerina to...set the rhythm!
Whaaaaaat? You still haven't visited? Try it out...! The more the merrier!!!

Several of us gather togehter......

We feel at home...

Turn off the lights and....

It's movie time...!

The Chinese multiplication

Do you think you know everything about multiplication?
You're fooling yourself...
Watch the following video on how the Chinese multiply...without the multiplication table!!

...And our riddle-contest:
Who can multiply 32 * 45 in the Chinese way?

Original post by Dimitris Alexakis

Archimedes, our great mathematician and inventor.

      Archimedes is one of the greatest mathematicians and inventors of antiquity. He lived in Syracuse, a Greek settlement in Sicily in the 3rd century B.C. (287 B.C. - 212 B.C.). He was the king's relative and he could have a good position by him, but he preferred to study. So he travelled to Alexandria of Egypt and  studied with Eratosthenes, the great mathematician.

      Archimedes became famous in Syracuse, because he solved the problem of the King's crown. The King had asked for a new golden crown. However, he couldn't be sure if the crown was really made out of pure gold:

      

When the Romans attacked Syracuse in order to conquer it years later, Archimedes helped a lot in the town's defence with his famous war machines.

      He made big "mirrors" which reflected the sun's light and burnt the enemy ships.

      He also built huge hooks, which caught the enemy ship, lifted it up in the air and crashed it onto the rocks.

Original post by Dimitris Alexakis