The Wonderful Falls In the year two thousand and eight, I was privileged to take a trip out east to visit a series of very unique landmarks and cities. During the trip, I was able to visit very popular cities including, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York City. Many people hear about such wonderful places but very few are able to travel as far from home as I did and visit such amazing places. A very special landmark that my family visited was Niagara Falls in Niagara, New York. Niagara Falls is one of the most powerful falls in North America and attract many tourists each year. The widest portion of the falls are located in the Canadian province of Ontario, which we did not visit. My family left on our trip at around seven-o'clock in the morning and started heading east as early as possible, my family knew we had a large drive ahead of us. Before we left I made sure to check the weather on the Weather Channel, many meteorologists suggested that along my journey that there would be very unpleasing weather for the occasion. During the drive, I was very pleased in seeing many beautiful pink and white colors on most of the foliage that I could notice, witnessing such beauty truly foreshadowed the upcoming beauties that I would see on my trip. Arriving at Niagara Falls in New York, I was very shocked to see how breath taking the falls were. The weather was very calm, blue, and sunny, this was a very good thing since my trip was not ruined due to bad weather. The rainbows glistening in the mist really seemed to amaze me and my family, this is something that many do not see day-to-day. I have read in books that Niagara Falls is one of the greatest wonders of the world and something that I couldn't quite bring into perspective how beautiful it really was. Before my trip, I knew that Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, and other attractions were real, but only on paper. I could only view statistics and pictures, but was never able to experience the sheer beauty until my trip. Possibly the best part of my trip was that the Falls were in a very far away place that I have never been to, so I knew that an adventure was imminent. Only seeing something as a statistic or only as a picture is one thing, but when you are able to witness something so beautiful first hand, is absolutely amazing. When a person views a picture of a wonder alike Niagara Falls, the picture cannot describe how it really is. When I was younger, I never thought that the falls were actually there, or as amazing as they actually are, only have seen pictures of them. But a picture does not relay all five senses to a person, a picture relays sight and in a sense, tangibility. When you experience a such a thing first hand and all five senses are picking up many new smells, tastes, sounds, and sights, you realize that the world is very beautiful in many ways. This made some of my childish imaginative thoughts go away and enabled me to think more realistically after witnessing something as gracious as the falls. I would call this a coming of age for me, since I found myself thinking more realistic and mature due to the realization of the sheer realism and beauty, of Niagara Falls.
Ryan Townsend
1st Period
5/6/2013
Where Did The Magnesium Go?

Before: When the class first picked up the magnesium strip, the magnesium was silver, had a shiny luster, very malleable, and did not have a noticeable odor to it. The hydrochloric acid was clear colored like water, and when wafted it smelled