Percy Julian

Percy Julian was a scientist. He made chemicals out of soy beans that helped us to be healthy. This was good.

He was the son of slaves and he had to work hard to go to school and learn. His house was burned down because of the color of his skin.

He will always be remembered for his experiments and his perseverance.  He is known as the "forgotten genius."  My DAD did not even know he was!

I like to do experiments also.  I love helping my brothers with their science projects.

The Genius Playwright

William Shakespeare wrote plays.  He wrote death plays, love plays, and a lot of different plays.

He lived a long time ago, but we remember his plays.

My brothers read a Shakespeare play, The Merchant of Venice.  I listened to them read it, and I liked it.  Shakespeare was a genius because his plays are still good.

No one knows a lot about Shakespeare himself, but he was still a genius.

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
-William Shakespeare

A Laboratory Scientist

I wanted to learn about someone that worked in a science lab. Marie Curie was a scientist from Poland.   She did a lot of science things.  Her mother died from 'burculosis. She studied hard in school.  Marie was a teacher to help her sister go to doctor school.

Marie moved to France to become a scientist because she could not go to school in Poland.  In France she found special chemicals and won the Nobel Prize for scientists.  She got to work with the person she loved everyday, her husband Pierre. During the war (WW1) she created X-Ray equipment to help the French army men.  She closed her eyes and died.



"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
-Marie Curie

The Airplane Girl: Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart flew a red airplane.  She flew it across the Atlantic Ocean.  She was the first woman (and only the second person) to fly it alone.  She took off from Harbor Grace in Canada, and said goodbye to all her friends.

She ran into a storm of lightning.  She tried to dodge it, but ice on her wings pushed her down, almost into the water.  Then she smelled a fuel leak, and was afraid she would run out of gas.  She scared baby cows out from their field so she could land.

Amelia was a very brave woman, who believed that she could do anything.  She disappeared trying fly around the whole world.  Her red airplane is in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.  I was able to see it when I was there a few summers ago, but I was only a year old so I probably should go back to really enjoy it!

Here I am doing my honorary airplane dance.  I love pretending that I am an airplane or helicopter!

"Adventure is worthwhile in itself."
-Amelia Earhart

Leonardo Ven-chi

The last two weeks I learned about Leonardo da Vinci.  He spells his name funny, but that is because he is not from around here!  He was an awesome genius!

He made a round tank that spins around and shoots guns.  No one had ever seen a tank in battle before.  It would not be until World War I that it would be used.  

Then he made plans for what we call a helicopter.  It would help people fly!  He really wanted to fly as he also made bird wings for a man to wear that would help them fly.  People today tested his helicopter plan but it was too heavy to fly even though it was made right.

He made a bridge design that was easy to drive on.  At the bottom people could walk, while the people could drive across the top.

He was an expert painter.  I saw many of his paintings in the books I read.  I really like the picture of the lady (Mona Lisa).

I wondered if he had a wife...because if he had children they would grow up and do cool things like him.  Then they could be big boy geniuses like ME!

If you want to learn more about the genius we call Leonardo...go to your library and check out the books I read:

"Neo Leo" by Gene Baretta
"Leonardo Da Vinci" by John Phillips

MOM NOTE:  I was amazed at seeing how Da Vinci drew detailed pictures of the human body...including the picture of a baby developing in the womb!

"Learning never exhausts the mind."
-Leonardo da Vinci

Hi, I am a Genius

Hi, my name Snookums and I am a genius.  I am only four years old, but I already know that I am a genius.

I want to tell you about the geniuses that I will learn about in school.  If you are a genius too, you can comment on my blog.

"Your brain is always for thinking."
-Brendan (Big Boy)