ENC Project #5: The Nastiest Pirate You Ever Did See!

The most famous pirate, Blackbeard

That's right, I'm talking about Blackbeard! I went to the Maritime Museum this weekend to catch up on some research on him.
He was the meanest and most unfair pirate ever. He worked hard to earn that title too. Many of the people he encountered would surrender before throwing the first punch. Even the sight of Blackbeard would scare off some of his opponents. He had a beard that almost covered his face, he braided and tied ribbons in it, and he put fuses in his hair. He has been referred to as "Blackbeard the Pirate" for many many years, but people claim his real name was Edward Teach.
No one is really clear on his birthplace, expect some research shows he was born in either Bristol, England or somewhere in London.
He made most of his travels and faught his battles on the coast of North Carolina, and died in Beaufort, North Carolina. He would take boats, treasures and, well... just about anything that looked nice to him-became his. His ship was named 'Queen Anne's Revenge'. It carried the sharpest knives, the strongest guns... and yep, you guessed it. The MEANEST Pirate. Blackbeard would do ANYTHING to scare someone off. He'd even set his hair on fire!
We don't have much information on his background, but we do know he was from England. It is said that he had 14 wives.
When death came for Blackbeard the Pirate, he was decapitated and had his head placed on the bow of a British Ship. What now nasty man!
Some info:

Maritime Museum, Beaufort, NC
http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/Blackbeard.html
Pictures:
Blackbeard- http://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/blackbeard_uy1q.jpg, by the B.S Report

ENC Project #4: Butta!

The kid can crack someone up. We were churning and he was singing in this.

For this ENC I went to a butter churning workshop after school. It was fun! My partner was Quentin..:P
In this little lab, we learned how butter was used, made and stored. Did you know it was used as medicine? That's neat isn't it. To make butter, first you had to milk a cow. The milk had to sit until the fat, or cream, rose to the top. Then, the colonists had to take the cream off the top and put it in a butter churn. They had to churn it until it the cream turned into butter!
It was used for eating, cooking and like I said, medicine.

Me and Quentin making butter!

The kids and the mother of the colonial home usually did the churning. To keep the kids from
getting bored, they would sing songs.
Back in the olden days, butter was a daily need for every person. Now, people believe its fattening and not good for you. Back then, what it was worth gave the colonists loads of money.

I learned a lot from this and it was a very entertaining way to learn about NC! Butter makes it better!:)