Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Matter and Energy: A Creative Narration

We were going through some old papers today and found this narration from when Triss was twelve years old (6th grade). I think it is a nice example of creativity where narration is concerned. Her assignment was to write a news article on her science reading.

For years, scientists have thought that burning a material added phlogiston to it. Phlogiston is a type of matter which has negative weight, which means that when it is added to a matter, the material got lighter. A Frenchman named Lavoisier found that phlogiston didn't exist. He wrote The Narration News this letter when he found out how it worked.

Dear Narration News,

I have just discovered that phlogiston is nonexistent! When you grind a rock, you can grind it as fine as you like and the wind can carry it away, but it is still a rock. It has merely changed its form from rock to rock dust. When you burn paper it changes its form to ashes. But those ashes are still paper!

Thank you,
L.L. Lavoisier


Next time someone is grinding a rock, you, my dear reader, will know what to say when some toddler tugs your shirt and asks, "Where did the rock go?"

Dear Reporter: Thank you for telling me about this. I always wondered why matter seems to get smaller. But I have one short question: Why are a lot of inventors and scientists French?


She had a few problems with grammar and tense, but I still think her narration was pretty neat!

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