4th Grade Lesson Plan for Expanded Notation

4th Grade Lesson Plan for Expanded Notation Students will create, read, and decompose large numbers. Class 4th Grade Duration One or two class periods, 45 minutes each Materials: paper or large note cards numbered 0 - 10 (enough for the whole class)chalkboard, whiteboard, or overhead projector Key Vocabulary place value, ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, expanded notation (or expanded form) Objectives Students will demonstrate their understanding of place value to create and read large numbers. Standards Met 4.NBT.2 Read and write multi-digit whole numbers using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form. Lesson Introduction Ask a few volunteer students to come to the board and write down the largest number that they can think of and read aloud. Many students will want to put endless numerals on the board, but being able to read the number aloud is a more difficult task! Step-by Step Procedure: Give each student a sheet of paper or large note card with a numeral between 0 - 10.Call two students up to the front of the class. Any two students will work as long as they are not both holding a 0 card.Have them show their numerals to the class. For example, one student is holding a 1 and the other is holding a 7. Ask the class, â€Å"What number do they make when they stand next to each other?† Depending on where they are standing, the new number is 17 or 71. Have students tell you what the numbers mean. For example, with 17, the 7 means 7 ones, and the 1 is really 10.Repeat this process with several other students until you are confident that at least half of the class has mastered the two-digit numbers.Move on to three digit numbers by inviting three students to come to the front of the class. Let’s say that their number is 429. As in the above examples, ask the following questions:What does the 9 mean?What does the 2 mean?What does the 4 mean?As students answer t hese questions, write the numbers down: 9 20 400 429. Tell them that this is called â€Å"expanded notation† or expanded form. The term â€Å"expanded† should make sense to many students because we are taking a number and expanding it into its parts. After doing a few examples at the front of the class, have the students begin writing the expanded notation down as you invite students up to the board. With enough examples on their paper, when it comes to more complex problems, they will be able to use their notes as a reference.Continue adding students to the front of the class until you are working on four-digit numbers, then five-digit, then six. As you move into the thousands, you may want to become the comma that separates thousands and the hundreds, or you can assign the comma to a student. (The student that is always wanting to participate is a good one to assign this to - the comma will be called upon often!) Homework/Assessment You can give your students a choice of assignments  - both are equally long and equally difficult, though in different ways: Have students write 987,654 in expanded notation OR the largest number that they are able to.Have them write 20,006 in expanded notation (Be sure to go over this one in class the next day.) Evaluation Write the following numbers on the board and have students write them in expanded notation:1,78630,551516

Free Essays on Ordinary People

The book I did my report on is called Ordinary People, by Judith Guest. It is a very well written novel about a boy’s battle with depression, suicide, the loss of his brother, and communication gaps with his parents. The story starts by not telling you much about the situation, and the more the book ropes you in. The boy in the story starts out being 17, his name in Conrad Jarrett. Conrad had an older brother who died in a boating accident, he drowned. Conrad idolized his older brother, and never really came to terms with the loss, and about 1 year later, Conrad tried to take his own life. After that, his parents sent him to a hospital for the depressed, he spent 8 months there, and fell a year behind in school, and grew apart from his friends. This story starts when he is back in school and repeating his Jr. year. Throughout the story you see his ups and downs and recovery. Also, one of his main problems is communicating with his parents. His father feels tremendous guilt and just constantly tries to make him happy, but his mother on the other hand, resents him for trying t take his own life. In the end Conrad finally comes to terms with his loses, and faces his problems head on. He regains the friendships that, in his mind are worth it, and lets go of the ones that really weren’t. Conrad is the main character in this story. Throughout the story he undergoes many changes, good and bad. At first he goes through many low points, where he feels he has nothing, no friends no family, and no one to rely on. Until he finds a psychiatrist named Dr. Tyrone C. Berger. Mr. Berger helps Conrad to come to terms with his problems and face them. Conrad doesn’t develop any close relationships with anyone throughout the story until Berger comes along. Then he becomes involved with a girl named Jeannie. He develops a good relationship with her, and they are still going out at the end of the story. I think Conrad is a good kid that just tries t... Free Essays on Ordinary People Free Essays on Ordinary People What exactly makes a world and it’s people ordinary? In the spellbinding novel Ordinary People, Judith Guest gives readers a taste of life after having to deal with a terrible crisis, and introduces us to an ordinary family living in an ordinary world. The novel’s descriptive nature highlights the main character, Conrad’s, struggle in maintaining sanity in an ordinary world. Conrad Jarrett is a precise description of a teenager, having to deal with things every teenager his age has to go through daily. The internal conflicts he struggles with, especially his need for affection, and his sense of wanting to belong is what deepens the plot and intrigues readers even more. We see conrad’s point of view on life, of the world in which he lives, and where he sees himself fitting into. "†¦.Your sense of identity is what seems to have been misplaced. No. Wrong. You don’t lose what you never had." (pg.24) Readers can take his point of view and compare it with their own observations. The next issue is that the affection he is searching for, he gets from the wrong person, his father, while he really needs it from his mother. "†¦.She loves my father, I know that. She loved my brother, too. It’s just me."(pg.188). Trying to get his mother’s affection and approval is what in some ways intensifies his struggle, as well as affects h is parent’s marriage. The descriptions Judith Guest gives throughout the story, regarding all the different issues, that come up, make the book even more realistic, and in some instances even humorous. The descriptions given, depend of Conrad’s mood at that time. Although it may seem like it is a bad thing it’s not! The variety in the descriptions (which resemble his moods), add excitement to the novel, and make the story flow a lot better. The reader will know what to expect from a chapter, just from the descriptions given at that moment. For example, will it be humorous? Depressing? Touching? ... Free Essays on Ordinary People The book I did my report on is called Ordinary People, by Judith Guest. It is a very well written novel about a boy’s battle with depression, suicide, the loss of his brother, and communication gaps with his parents. The story starts by not telling you much about the situation, and the more the book ropes you in. The boy in the story starts out being 17, his name in Conrad Jarrett. Conrad had an older brother who died in a boating accident, he drowned. Conrad idolized his older brother, and never really came to terms with the loss, and about 1 year later, Conrad tried to take his own life. After that, his parents sent him to a hospital for the depressed, he spent 8 months there, and fell a year behind in school, and grew apart from his friends. This story starts when he is back in school and repeating his Jr. year. Throughout the story you see his ups and downs and recovery. Also, one of his main problems is communicating with his parents. His father feels tremendous guilt and just constantly tries to make him happy, but his mother on the other hand, resents him for trying t take his own life. In the end Conrad finally comes to terms with his loses, and faces his problems head on. He regains the friendships that, in his mind are worth it, and lets go of the ones that really weren’t. Conrad is the main character in this story. Throughout the story he undergoes many changes, good and bad. At first he goes through many low points, where he feels he has nothing, no friends no family, and no one to rely on. Until he finds a psychiatrist named Dr. Tyrone C. Berger. Mr. Berger helps Conrad to come to terms with his problems and face them. Conrad doesn’t develop any close relationships with anyone throughout the story until Berger comes along. Then he becomes involved with a girl named Jeannie. He develops a good relationship with her, and they are still going out at the end of the story. I think Conrad is a good kid that just tries t...

Happiness Inherited or Gained (Nature vs Nurture) Essay

Happiness Inherited or Gained (Nature vs Nurture) - Essay Example There are hundreds and hundreds of things involved in the whole make up of the happiness. Your birth, your health, your parents, your achievements, your relationships etc. And as if all these things were not enough, now it is clear that your genes are also involved in the level of your happiness. responsible for your happiness [1] . The studies conducted on twins and animals show that genes matter a lot when it comes to happiness. However, at the same time these studies have also revealed that it is not just the genes but also the environment that is instrumental in shaping the personality of a human being [2] . This is a good news as it makes us hopeful that we do have a chance of being happy no matter what genes we are carrying. But it is not that easy. To achieve happiness, first of all, we have to understand what happiness is. Only after understanding what happiness actually means will we be able to be happy. Can happiness be taken out of the clutches of scientific studies and taken to a different dimension altogether? Isn’t happiness something beyond the understanding of science? And if not, then can we be courageous enough to be independent of the scientific studies and make our own way towards happiness, no matter what scientists say about our genes? Can we, in short, go beyond nature and nurture and be happy? The answer is ‘Yes’. The only need is to go beyond the strength of the genes and free ourselves of the environmental influence and take a courageous step to embrace the happiness. It is just a matter of decision, that’s it. To understand happiness, we have to understand the different aspects involved in it. We can divide

Public Health and Health Care Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Public Health and Health Care Paper - Essay Example Generally, the private sector in any health care system of a nation consists of diverse nongovernmental institutions of varying scale and scope. Public health is basically financed with government’s funds solicited from tax revenues. In the United States, â€Å"the public sector includes official (or governmental) agencies, voluntary agencies, and nonprofit agencies.† (Delaune & Ladner, 2006, 60) This essay is hereby written with the objective of describing public health and its role in the delivery of health care services. It aims to describe a selected public agency and determine its contribution to the core functions of public health. The essay will also examine specific ways the agency influences the workplace and health care provider. Finally, the roles of the agency workers are to be identified, including specific responsibilities, competencies, and skills. At the top of the hierarchy in the public sector’s delivery of health care is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) which is the sole governing body tasked with the responsibility of delivering health care services to the public. Next in line are state departments of health which vary in providing health care to their constituents. The state departments of health eventually relegate and coordinate health activities of local health units. A report from the USDHHS on Public Health in America proffered the public health sector’s vision as â€Å"healthy people in healthy communities† with the mission of â€Å"promoting physical and mental health and preventing disease, injury and disability†. (DHHS, n.d., 21) The national governing body ensures that its role in the delivery of health care services to the public encompasses the following core functions, to wit: â€Å"prevents epidemics and the spread of disease; protects against environmental hazards; prevents injuries; promotes and encourages healthy behaviors; responds to disasters

Introduction to Carrot Crops Production and Marketing

Introduction to Carrot Crops Production and Marketing Eric Harms Production Seeding Carrots are a very specialized crop, which is suitable to late season starts, seeding should take place around 3-5 days after your last suspected frost. Carrot seeds prefer a deeply tilled sandy soil with a plant density of one plant per three to four inches. Seeding depth can very from a quarter to a half inch deep. Germination takes place in ten to twenty one days. Due to thinning of carrots it is recommended to re-sow sections of the row that have thinned every two weeks, leading up to May. Seeding equipment varies depending on the size of operation, planting can be done by hand with large commercial machinery being used for large-scale operations. Fertilization Carrots should be fertilized five to six weeks after they have been planted and based off of soil test from field of planting. It is recommended to broadcast half of the desired fertilizer onto the field and work in before planting occurs, then incorporate. Once seeding has taken place you should side dress the remaining fertilizer. Amounts of Fertilizer varies depending on the prior mentioned soil test. Later charts illustrate desired fertilizer. (from University of Minnesota) Crop protection Carrots main pests come in the forms of insects with the main ones being Carrot Rust Fly, Carrot Weevil and the Aster Leafhopper.   There is a variety of ways to monitor for these pest some being orange/yellow sticky traps, wooden plate traps, carrot root section monitoring and planting away from marshes and wet lands. Continuous monitoring is necessary as these pests can drastically reduce your yield potential and incite disease. If thresholds are reached there are many insecticides that can be used to treat the populations. Diseases in Manitoba production have been limited as not many acres have been planted over the years. Much like soybeans it is in its Cinderella period, most of carrots problems come from nutrient deficiencies, which can be managed by proper soil tests. Harvest Harvest typically takes place between august 15 and into late fall with September and October being the best months. For wholesalers carrots must be five inches or longer and between  ¾ inch and 1-1/2 inch diameter. Depending on where you sell, carrot sizing can vary largely. Farmers markets have limited standards and grocery stores have personal standards. Marketing End Use/End Market Depending on the size of your farming operation the final destination for your carrots will vary. Small farmers 1-5 acres will typically focus on farmers markets and direct marketing to local food stores in their areas. Once you get into medium sized operations farmers will typically work with peak of the market in order to get branding and packaging. Peak of the Market acts as a co-operative that helps sell your produce for you. Lastly large scale carrot producers, typically will package their own produce under their own branding cutting out peak of the market as their help isnt required. Sales are typically with large scale grocery chains starting from province of origin then working outward to other provinces as business scale grows. As a whole carrot farming is marketed towards two main groups wholesale (supermarkets, grocery stores) and farmers markets. Where the farmer focuses on typically depends on the stage of the farmers business and how large of scale they are operating in. Current/Historical prices Carrot prices historically have been on the good side with the average farmer being able to make a good living. In the current market we are looking at a price of around $2.46 per kilogram. This is a higher price when compared to the historical prices where in 2014 carrots were around $2.04 per kilogram. This increase in price is the trend going forward with carrots as populations increase. Carrot prices function much like major crops where they will typically skyrocket with natural disasters. On the tail end of things prices dropping below the level of earning a profit do not typically occur. Carrots are a cash crop and farmers are usually making a good living off of this species. Supply/Demand With Canada and most other first world countries becoming more health conscious carrot demand has been improving both globally and nationally. For standard carrots there has been a slow gradual increase in demand. On the other hand specialized carrots such as organic have had a substantial increase in demand in first world countries. Those who produce carrots are in a very viable market in Manitoba and Canada for that matter. When it comes to supply there is typically enough food in the market so that customers demanding carrots dont go home carrotless. In Manitoba there are some carrot farmers but not enough to saturate the market thus the good prices we are facing. Supply is on the low end when it comes to carrots, though demand is being met there is more room in the market for other suppliers to enter it. References   Ã‚   Stevenson, AB, and J. Chaput. Carrot Insects. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. N.p., 1 July 1993. Web. 1 July 1998. . Fritz, Vincent A., Cindy B.S. Tong, Carl J. Rosen, and Terry Nennich. Carrot-Vegetable Crop Management. University of Minnesota Extension. N.p., 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 1 Aug. 2012. . Munro, D. B. and E. Small (1997). Vegetables of Canada. National Research Council. http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/home.html Chaput, J. (2000). Identification and Management of Carrot Root Diseases. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Nitrogen recommendations for carrots: Approximate Yield Goal2 Soil Organic Matter Level (O.M.)1 Organic Soil Low Medium High cwt/A N to Apply (lb/A) Soil Tes K Level (ppm) 0-41 41-80 81-120 121-160 161-200 201+ Yield goal cwt/A K2O to Apply (lb/A)2 350 200 150 100 75 50 0 Soil test P Level (ppm) Bray-P1 0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51+ Olsen-P 0-7 7-15 16-25 26-33 34-41 42+ Yield Goal cwt/A P2O5 to Apply (lb/A)2 350 150 100 75 50 25 0

Lorex Pharmaceuticals

The Case: Lorex Pharmaceuticals has come up with a new product, Litanol. This medicine seems to have a high potential which is developed for the treatment of high blood pressure. Company has come up with a manufacturing line and production is supposed to be begin next Monday. Following points are considered while analyzing the case: 1. The marketing team has decided to sell Litanol in sealed 10-ounce bottles, packaged in cases of 12 bottles each with a wholesale price of $186 per case. 2.The production capacity is 1000 bottles per case but due to certain unavoidable reasons, Lorex is producing Litanol at an average of 500 cases over an eight-hour shift. 3. The entire line was operated by two employees who are paid $12. 80 per hour. 4. Other charges include $89. 50 per hour for overhead and filling $1. 10 per bottle. 5. Bottles filled with less than 10 ounce are rejected and sold for 80% of normal price. 6. Attendants for secondary packaging are paid $8. 50 per hour. 7. A sample of fi lling process and test results is given in exhibit 2, with target of 10. fluid ounces. 8. The cost details from exhibit 1 are used to guesstimate for cost of other predicted samples (10. 3, 10. 4, 10. 5 and 10. 6 ounce samples). The issue: Recently, there was a case of clogging of storage area for underfilled bottles due to unexpected under filling. This was apparently because of one standard deviation allowed above required amount of 10 ounce. Alternatives: 1. We can revise the filling target from 10. 2 to reduce the no of under filled bottles without compromising on the gross margins. Various filling targets have been worked out on the next page 2.We can speculate the no of under filled bottles by studying the probability of occurrence of under filling for a period. Accordingly the storage area evacuation may be scheduled to avoid clogging Analysis: Lets assume the standard deviation to be same (0. 16) for all filling targets. This is justified because Std Dev measures the inaccur acy level of the filling machine which will remain same regardless of the filling targets. Below is the analysis and calculation showing different gross margins for different filling targets.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 26

Ley lines. Stefan had spoken of them, and with the influence of the spirit world still on her, she had seen them without trying. Now, still lying on her side, channeling what remained of that Power to her eyes, she looked at the earth. And that was what made her mind go gray in terror. As far as she could see there were lines converging here from all directions. Thick lines that glowed with a cold phosphorescence, medium-sized lines that had the dull shine of bad mushrooms in a cellar, and tiny lines that looked like perfectly straight cracks of the outer surface layer of the world. They were like veins and arteries and nerves just under the skin of the clearing-beast. No wonder it seemed alive. She was lying on a massive convergence of ley lines. And if the cemetery was worse than this – she couldn't imagine what it might look like. If Damon had somehow found a way to tap into that Power†¦no wonder he seemed different, arrogant, undefeatable. Ever since he had released her to drink Matt's blood, she had kept shaking her head, trying to shake off the humiliation with it. But now finally she stopped as she tried to calculate a way to make use of this Power. There had to be a way to do it. The grayness wouldn't clear from her vision. Finally Elena realized that it was not because she was faint, but because it was getting dark – twilight outside the clearing, true darkness coming into it. She tried again to lift herself up, and this time she succeeded. Almost immediately a hand was extended to her and, automatically, she took it, letting it draw her to her feet. She faced – whoever it was, Damon or whatever was using his features or his body. Despite the almost-darkness, he still wore those wraparound sunglasses. She could make nothing out of the rest of his face. â€Å"Now,† the thing in the sunglasses said. â€Å"You're going to come with me.† It was nearing full dark, and they were in the clearing that was a beast. This place – it was unwholesome. She was afraid of the clearing as she had never been afraid of a person or creature. It resounded with malevolence, and she couldn't shut her ears to it. She had to keep thinking, and keep thinking straight, she thought. She was terribly frightened for Matt; frightened that Damon had taken too much blood or had played too hard with his toy; breaking it. And she was afraid of this Damon thing. She was also worried about the influence this place might have had on the real Damon. The woods around them shouldn't have any effect on vampires, except to hurt them. Was the possible-Damon inside the possessor hurt? If he could understand anything of what was happening, could he distinguish that hurt from his hurt and anger at Stefan? She didn't know. She did know that there had been a terrible look in his eyes when Stefan had told him to get out of the boardinghouse. And she did know that there were creatures in the forest, malach, that could influence a person's mind. She was afraid, deeply afraid, that the malach were using Damon now, blackening his darkest desires and twisting him into something horrible, something he had never been even at his worst. But how could she be sure? How could she know whether or not there was something else behind the malach, something that controlledthem ? Her soul was telling her that this might be the case, that Damon might be completely unconscious of what his body was doing, but that might just be wishful thinking. Certainly all she could sense around her were small, evil creatures. She could feel them encircling the clearing, strange insect-like beings like the one that had attacked Matt. They were in a furor of excitement, whipping their tentacles around to make a noise almost like a buzzing helicopter. Were they influencing Damon now? Certainly, he had never before hurt any of the other humans she knew the way he had today. She had to get all three of them out of this place. It was diseased, contaminated. Once again she felt a wave of longing for Stefan, who might know what to do in this situation. She turned, slowly, to look at Damon. â€Å"May I call someone to come and help Matt? I'm afraid to leave him here; I'm afraidthey'll get him.† Just as well to let him know that she knewthey were hiding in the liverwort and the rhododendron and mountain holly bushes all around. Damon hesitated; he seemed to consider it. Then he shook his head. â€Å"We wouldn't want to give them too many clues to where you are,† he said cheerily. â€Å"It'll be an interesting experiment to see if the malach do get him – and how they do it.† â€Å"It wouldn't be an interesting experiment forme .† Elena's voice was flat. â€Å"Matt is my friend.† â€Å"Nevertheless, we'll leave him here for now. I don't trust you – even to giveme a message to Meredith or Bonnie – to send on my phone.† Elena didn't say anything. As a matter of fact, he was right not to trust her, as she and Meredith and Bonnie had worked out an elaborate code of harmless-sounding phrases as soon as they knew that Damon was after Elena. A lifetime ago for her – literally – but she could still remember them. Silently, she simply followed Damon to the Ferrari. She was responsible for Matt. â€Å"You're not putting up much of an argument this time, and I wonder what you're plotting.† â€Å"I'm plotting that we might as well get on with it. If you'll tell me what  ¡Ã‚ ®it' is,† she said, more bravely than she felt. â€Å"Well, now what  ¡Ã‚ ®it' is, is up to you.† Damon gave Matt a kick in the ribs in passing. He was now pacing in a circle around the clearing, which seemed smaller than ever, a circle which didn't include her. She took a few paces toward him – and slipped. She didn't know how it happened. Maybe the giant animal breathed. Maybe it was just the slick pine needles under her boots. But one moment she was heading for Matt and the next her feet had gone out from under her and she was heading for the ground with nothing to grab onto. And then, smoothly and unhurriedly, she was in Damon's arms. With centuries of Virginian etiquette behind her she automatically said, â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"My pleasure.† Yes, she thought. That's all it means. It ishis pleasure, and that's all that matters. That was when she noticed that they were headed for her Jaguar. â€Å"Oh, no, we don't,† she said. â€Å"Oh, yes, we will – if I please,† he said. â€Å"Unless you want to see your friend Matt suffer like that again. At some point his heartwill give out.† â€Å"Damon.† She pushed her way out of his arms, standing on her own feet. â€Å"I don't understand. This isn't like you. Take what you want and go.† He just kept looking at her. â€Å"I was doing just that.† â€Å"You don't have to† – for the life of her, she couldn't keep a tremor out of her voice – â€Å"take me anywhere special to take my blood. And Matt won't know. He's out.† For a long moment there was silence in the clearing. Utter silence. The night birds and the crickets stopped making their music. Suddenly Elena felt as if she were on some kind of thrill ride that plummeted down, leaving her stomach and organs still at the top. Then Damon put it in words. â€Å"I wantyou . Exclusively.† Elena braced herself, trying to keep a clear head despite the fog that seemed to be invading it. â€Å"You know that that's not possible.† â€Å"I know that it was possible for Stefan. When you were with him, you didn't think about anything but him. You couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel anything but him.† Elena's gooseflesh now covered her whole body. Speaking carefully around the obstruction in her throat, she said, â€Å"Damon, did you do something to Stefan?† â€Å"Now, why would I want to do something like that?† Very low, Elena said, â€Å"You and I both know why.† â€Å"Do you mean,† Damon started out speaking casually, but his voice grew more intense as he gripped her shoulders, â€Å"so that you would see nothing butme , hear nothing butme , think of nothing butme ?† Still quietly, still controlling her terror, Elena said, â€Å"Take off the sunglasses, Damon.† Damon glanced upwards and around as if to reassure himself that no last ray of sunset could pierce the green-gray world that surrounded them. Then with one hand, he stripped off the sunglasses. Elena found herself looking into eyes that were so black there seemed to be no difference between iris and pupil. She†¦turned a switch in her brain, did something so that all her senses were tuned onto Damon's face, his expression, the Power circulating through him. His eyes were still as black as the depths of an unexplored cave. No red. But then, he'd had time, this time to get ready for her. I believe what I saw before, Elena thought. With myown eyes. â€Å"Damon, I'll do anything, anything you want. But you have to tell me.Did you do something to Stefan?† â€Å"Stefan was still high onyour blood when he left you,† he reminded her, and before she could speak to deny this – â€Å"and, to answer your question precisely, I don't know where he is. On that, you have my word. But in any case, it's true, what you were thinking earlier,† he added, as Elena tried to step away, to get out of the grip he had on her upper arms. â€Å"I'mthe only one, Elena. The only one you haven't conquered. The only one you can't manipulate. Intriguing, isn't it?† Suddenly, in spite of her fear, she was furious. â€Å"Then why hurt Matt? He's just a friend. What's he got to do with it?† â€Å"Just a friend.† And Damon began to laugh the way he had before, eerily. â€Å"Well, I knowhe didn't have anything to do with Stefan leaving,† Elena snapped. Damon turned on her, but by then the clearing was so dim that she couldn't read his expression at all. â€Å"And who saidI did? But that doesn't mean I'm not going to make use of the opportunity.† He picked Matt up easily and held up something that shone silver from his other hand. Her keys. From her jeans pocket. Taken, no doubt, when she was lying unconscious on the ground. She could tell nothing from his voice, either, except that it was bitter and grim – all usual if he were talking about Stefan. â€Å"With your blood in him, I couldn't have killed my brother if I had tried, the last time I saw him,† he added. â€Å"Didyou try?† â€Å"As a matter of fact, no. You have my word on that as well.† â€Å"And you don't know where he is?† â€Å"No.† He hefted Matt. â€Å"What do you think you're doing? â€Å"Taking him with us. He's hostage for your good behavior.† â€Å"Oh, no,† Elena said flatly, pacing. â€Å"This is between you and me. You've hurt Matt enough.† She blinked and once again almost screamed to find Damon much too close, much too fast. â€Å"I'll do whatever you want.Whatever you want. But not here out in the open and not with Matt around.† Come on, Elena, she was thinking. Where's that vampy behavior when you want it? You used to be able to vamp any guy; now, just because he's a vampire, you can't do it? â€Å"Take me somewhere,† she said softly, intertwining her arm with his free one, â€Å"but in the Ferrari. I don't want to go in my car. Take me in the Ferrari.† Damon paced back to the trunk of the Ferrari, unlocked it, and looked inside. Then he looked at Matt. It was clear that the tall, well-built boy wasn't going to fit in to the trunk†¦at least, not with all his limbs attached. â€Å"Don't you eventhink about it,† Elena said. â€Å"Just put him in the Jaguar with the keys and he'll be safe enough – lock him in.† Elena fervently prayed that what she was saying was true. For a moment Damon said nothing, then he looked up with a smile so brilliant she could see it in the dusk. â€Å"All right,† he said. He dumped Matt on the ground again. â€Å"But if you try to run while I move the cars, I runhim over.† Damon, Damon, will you never understand? Humans don'tdo that to their friends, Elena thought as he brought the Ferrari out so he could bring the Jaguar in, so he could dump Matt in it. â€Å"All right,† she said in a small voice. She was afraid to look at Damon. â€Å"Now – what do you want?† Damon inclined from the waist in a very graceful bow, indicating the Ferrari. She wondered what would happen once she got in. If he were any normal attacker – if there wasn't Matt to think about – if she didn't fear the forest even more than she feared him†¦ She hesitated and then got into Damon's car. Inside, she pulled her camisole out of her jeans to conceal the fact that she wasn't wearing a seat belt. She doubted Damon ever wore a seat belt or locked his doors or anything like that. Precautions weren't his thing. And now she prayed that he had other matters on his mind. â€Å"Seriously, Damon, where are we going?† she said as he got into the Ferrari. â€Å"First, how about one for the road?† Damon suggested, his voice fake-jocular. Elena had expected something like this. She sat passively as Damon took her chin in fingers that trembled slightly, and tilted it up. She shut her eyes as she felt the double-snakebite pinch of razor-sharp fangs piercing her skin. She kept her eyes shut as her attacker fastened his mouth on the bleeding flesh and began to drink deeply. Damon's idea of â€Å"one for the road† was just what she would have expected: enough to put both of them in danger. But it wasn't until she actually began to feel as if she would pass out any minute that she shoved at his shoulder. He held on for a few more very painful seconds just to show who was Boss here. Then he let go of her, licking his lips avidly, his eyes actually gleaming at herthrough the Ray-Bans. â€Å"Exquisite,† he said. â€Å"Unbelievable. Why you're – â€Å" Yeah, tell me I'm a bottle of single malt scotch, she thought. That's the way to my heart. â€Å"Can we go now?† she asked pointedly. And then, as she suddenly remembered Damon's driving habits, she added deliberately, â€Å"Be careful; this road twists and turns a lot.† It had the effect she had hoped for. Damon hit the accelerator and they shot out of the clearing at high speed. Then they were taking the sharp turns of the Old Wood faster than Elena had ever driven through here; faster than anyone had dared go with her as a passenger before. But still, they wereher roads. From childhood on she had played here. There was only one family who lived right on the perimeter of the Old Wood, but their driveway was on the right side of the road – her side – and she got herself ready for it. He would take the sudden curve to the left just before the second curve that was the Dunstans' driveway – and on the second curve she would jump. There was no sidewalk edging Old Wood Road, of course, but at that point there was a heavy growth of rhododendron and other bushes. All she could do was pray. Pray that she didn't snap her neck on impact. Pray that she didn't break an arm or leg before she limped through the few yards of woods to the driveway. Pray that the Dunstans were home when she pounded on their door and pray that they listened when she told them not to let the vampire in behind her. She saw the curve. She didn't know why the Damon-thing couldn't read her mind, but apparently he couldn't. He wasn't speaking and his only precaution against her trying to get out seemed to be speed. She was going to get hurt, she knew that. But the worst part of any hurt was fear, and she wasn't afraid. As he rounded the curve, she pulled the handle and pushed open the door as hard as she could with her hands while she kicked it as hard as she could with her feet. The door swung open, quickly being caught by centrifugal force, as were Elena's legs. As was Elena. Her kick alone took her halfway out of the car. Damon grabbed for her and got only a handful of hair. For a moment she thought he would keep her in, even without keeping hold of her. She tumbled over and over in the air, floating, remaining about two feet off the ground, reaching out to grab fronds, branches of bushes, anything she could use to slow her velocity. And in this place where magic and physics met; she was able to do it, to slow while still floating on Damon's power, although it took her much farther from the Dunstans' house than she wanted. Then she did hit the ground, bounced, and did her best to twist in the air, to take the impact on her buttock or the back of a shoulder, but something went wrong and her left heel hit first – God! – and tangled, swinging her around completely, slamming her knee into concrete – God, God! – flipping her in the air and bringing her down on her right arm so hard it seemed to be trying to drive it into her shoulder. She had the wind knocked out of her by the first blow and was forced to hiss air in by the second and third. Despite the flipping, flying universe, there was one sign she couldn't miss – an unusual spruce growing into the road that she had noticed ten feet behind her when she'd exploded out of the car. Tears were pouring uncontrollably down her cheeks as she pulled at tendrils of bush that had entangled her ankle – and a good thing, too. A few tears might have blurred her vision, made her afraid – as she had been with the last two explosions of pain – that she might pass out. But she was out on the road, her eyes were washed clear, she could see the spruce and the sunset both directly ahead, and she was thoroughly conscious. And that meant that if she headed for the sunset but at a forty-five-degree angle to her right, she couldn't miss the Dunstans'; driveway, house, barn, cornfield were all there to guide her after perhaps twenty-five steps in the woods. She had barely stopped rolling when she was pulling at the bush that had thwarted her and getting to her feet just as she pulled the last entangling stems from her hair. The calculation about the Dunstans' house happened instantaneously in her head, even as she turned and saw the crushed swath she'd cut through the greenery and the blood on the road. At first she looked at her skinned hands in bewilderment; they couldn't have left such a gory trail. And they hadn't. One knee had been skinned – flayed, really – right through her jeans – and one seriously messed up leg, less bloody but causing her sheets of pain like white lighting even while she was not trying to move it. Two arms with quite a lot of skin removed. No time to find out how much or to figure out what she'd done to her shoulder. Ascreeeeeeech of brakes ahead. Lord, he's slow. No, I'm fast, hyped up by pain and terror. Use it! She ordered her legs to sprint into the forest. Her right leg obeyed, but when she swiveled her left and it hit the ground fireworks went off behind her eyes. She was in a state of hyper-alertness; she saw the stick even as she was falling. She rolled over once or twice, which caused dull red flares of pain to go off in her head, and then she was able to grab it. It might have been specially designed for a crutch, around underarm height and blunt on one end but sharp on the other. She tucked it under her left arm and somehow willed herself up from her place in the mud: boosting off with her right leg and catching herself on the crutch so that she scarcely had to touch her left foot to the ground. She'd got turned around in the fall and had to twist to right herself again – but there she saw it, the last remains of sunset and the road behind her. Head forty-five-degrees right from that glow, she thought. Thank God, it was her right arm that was messed up; this way she could support herself with her left shoulder on the crutch. Still without a moment's hesitation, without giving Damon an extra millisecond to follow her, she plunged in her chosen direction into the forest. Into the Old Wood.