Quick trick to learn the multiplication table of 9!

The C'2 kids know the multiplication table from back to front!

And they're sharing with you a trick with which you can learn the multiplication table of 9, too!

What might 6x9 equal?

And, if you didn't get it, watch again!

What does 7x9 equal?

Let us explain! 

"Open" your ten fingers and "close" the one for which you want the result. 

e.g. in 4x9 we must "close" the fourth finger. 

Begin counting the decades on the fingers before the "closed" one: They're 3 so, 10, 20, 30 

Count the units on the remaining fingers: They're 6 so, 1,2,3,4,5,6

The result is 4x9=36! 

Easy, isn't it?

Don't think, though, that you can find all the "difficult" results that way!

This magic trick unfortunately only works with the multiplication of 9! Sob!

Original Post by Maria Priniotaki

Our "salad days"!

Mmm! Our fruits had been waiting patiently for the time when we would peel them and turn them into a wonderful fruit salad! Because, what is better and healthier when you are hungry than a fruit salad at school?
So, in the class of  Environmental Studies, we made two wonderful fruit salads (after washing our fruits)!
The one looked something like this:

  

Excuse me? That's not a fruit salad? I think you don't know all that WE know!
According to Biology ans scientists concerned with it, tomatoes are also considered to be fruit, as well as cucumbers, olives, avocados and some others most people believe are vegetables!
Why? Because, of course, they contain seeds (kernels) like all fruit!

So as to avoid being called eccentric, we also made a "regular" fruit salad, with apples, bananas, oranges and tangerines!
Unfortunately, we have no photos to show you because we...bolted it down instantly! Because we (C'2 kids) are a bit lickerish, you know!
As for the fruit skins? We collected them and threw them into the compost grid of our school garden to help make our own natural fertiliser!

Original post by Maria Priniotaki

Walt Disney: Our familiar...stranger!

Walter Elias Disney was born in Illinois, U.S.A. on
5 December 1901. Unbelievable as it may seem, Walt had a special learning disability-he had dyslexia. That means he had difficulty in reading and writing, as well as in spelling words correctly. 
At the age of 16 he left school to join the army (where he was not accepted brcause of his young age). 
There have also been reports that when he was still fairly young he got fired from the newspaper where he was working brcause "he wasn't...creative enough"!!!Of course (luckily for us, all!), all of the above did not let Walt down! He didn't give up and (after several unsuccessful professional efforts) he started with his brother, Roy, strenuously working on cartoons! So, the charming little mouse to us all, Mickey Mouse, "was born" in 1928, with the presentation of their movie, "Steamboat Willie". 
Disney initially meant to call him "Mortimer Mouse" (!), but his wife-to-be, Lillian, suggested that "Mickey" sounded better and he followed her advice! The characters of Pluto, Donald, and Goofy had been created by 1939...


Gradually, all of "non-creative" Disney's creations became more and more successful-and he one of the most (if not "THE" most) creative and successful cartoonists of the world!

It's he to whom we owe classic cartoon movies such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs",  "Bambi", "Dumbo", but also, some movies that succeeded his death(15 December 1966),  such as, "The Lion King" και  "Aladdin" which are productions of his "heir" company, Walt Disney Pictures.

Here you will find the names of 20 of the best Walt Disney Pictures films, as they were voted by the public on Youtube in 2008:

   

A few more "secrets"...:
1. Disney was Mickey's voice himself for two decades!
2. It is said that Disney was in fact afraid of mice!
3. It is said that his favourite character was Goofy!
4. He has been awarded more Oscar Academy Awards than anyone else (22)!
5. The original idea behind the creation of Disneyland was for a recreation park to e built, where his employees would spend a pleasant time with their kids. Today 58.000 people are employed there and its size is about the size of 24 (!) football fields!
6. The production of movies such as,  "Toy Story", "Finding Nemo" και  "Cars"  has been made by Pixar Animation Studios (which is like a "brother" of Walt Disney Pictures)!

What about you? Which is YOUR favourite Disney movie? Who is your favourite character?

Delicious truffle balls (?)

We have been learning for so long at the Greek Language class about Melina's birthday and the kitchen fairies...
No wander we fealt jealous!
So we thought of trying our book's recipe for delicious truffle balls!

Our book's recipe:  1 and a half packet of vegetable butter, half a cup of cocoa, half a cup of sugar, a packet of petit beure biscuits, 2 cups of truffled chocolate, 30 small paper cake cups

Our ingredients...

Let's start mixing!	In go the biscuits!
Everybody, lend a hand!	First ones ready!

How do they look?	Aren't they delectable?

After completing the recipe, we cleaned up the mess on our desks and placed the truffle balls in the fridge for them to cool a little.
And, at last, the time of tasting arrived! We cocluded unanimously that they might have looked very delectable, but they weren't so, in fact! There was too much butter in them! So, if you try making them at home, we suggest putting just half a packet of butter! Then you will have better results!
But we don't get disappointed! Next time we'll make something truly delectable...FRUIT SALAD!

Original post by Maria Priniotaki

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