May 7

Exotically Cute But Not a Good Pet

蜥蜴 (Lizard): Olympus E-M1 MII / Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm f/4-6.3 O.I.S ansel.ma via Compfight

Imagine you’re in a new home away from your mom and dad, and you eat werid food and drinks. That is what it’s like as an exotic pet. In my opinion exotic animals should not be pets! As far as I am concerned they can ruin an ecosystem, it’s bad for the animal, and the owner might not know how to take care of them  

First of all, the exotic animal can ruin an ecosystem. For example, the ferret is banned in California because it eats the bald eagle. The bald eagle is needed. The exotic animals might do things they’re not supposed to do.  Another reason it’s bad to keep exotic animals for pets is that if the pets are released into a new environment, they could give diseases to other native animals in the region.

Also, the animals can even get killed by some of the thing in your yard. In other words you have to watch them in when playing outside and with things in your yard. loris remove sharp firmt teeth painful to the animal. Some animals living conditons! Also gitter can hunt animals like tulers. One day they fonded a whale with paistic bags inside!

Furthermore, the owner don’t learn to take of them. The need a certain item like sheither, medicine, foods. And if the owner feeds it a type of food the owner can hurt or even kill the animals. Also its cruel with the wrong things and invermeant.

In conclusion, the reason exotic animals SHOULD NOT be pets is because they can ruin an ecosystem, it’s bad for the animal, and the owner might not know how to take care of them properly.

Category: Animals, Student Posts | 2 Comments on Exotically Cute But Not a Good Pet
May 7

Homework should be banned

Ever wonder why most teachers give you homework and for some kids lots of it? Because they think it is good for the “average kid’s brain” Well that may be so for some people but I will prove those people wrong. 

First of all, it takes too long to do homework. Kids need social time and time to be active, Kids have sports and homework just gets in the way. Kids stay up too late doing homework and are tired in class, Meaning they don’t finish the work in class making it homework, Then the kid stays up late doing homework and the cycle goes on and on and on and it gets harder and harder.

Most Important of all, homework stresses kids- Kids are always so happy to get home and flop on the couch…until their mom says, “Do your homework sweetie!” And that ruins everything, Especially knowing it will happen again tomorrow. And kids spend several hours at school a day and only have two days of break, But sometimes kids do weekend homework. Kids give up sometimes if they have parents who don’t help them with their homework, Then they will have trouble getting the answer.

Also, kids already spend many hours a day at school- most school students spend at least 6 hours a day at school 7:00 to 2:00 in Alabama, South Dakota, Louisiana and Texas kids spend about 7 hours a day at school. Where is the time for sports? Exactly. There is time but kids need to RUSH right after they get home from school. Then when they get home from sports, Mom says “ Hurry and do your homework before dinner!” The solution, GET RID OF HOMEWORK. Imagine having about 15 pages of homework each night and then sports, How hard would that be? This is how homework is unhealthy mentally and physically for kids. In conclusion, homework should be banned.

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May 7

Exotic Animals should not be pets

 

Can you imagine a slow loris getting its teeth removed suffering screaming of pain and then being locked up in a cage depressed and hurt on a truck ready to be sold. That is how exotic animals are treated before being sold to people illegally or legally. I think you should not have exotic animals as pets. People don’t know how to take care of them, the exotic pets get released into different habitats, and the pet have to go through painful procedures.

First of all, people should not own exotic animals because they often don’t know how to care for them. 75% of exotic pets die in the first year. They need expensive equipment to survive and some people don’t have the money. Other exotic pets die because their owner don’t do the research before buying the pet. For example, if you’re going to get a snake you need to learn what it eats and what kind of cage it needs. If you don’t research you won’t have a clue what to do and the pet will most likely will die in a short time or In two or three months of the year.

Also, exotic animals get released into places where they don’t belong. If that happens the animals can ruin the natural food chain and in other cases, the animals can destroy it. Most likely the animal will die in the wrong environment because the food they eat is maybe not natural to them. The animals are also not used to the climate of that area. If it is a predator it can be really deadly or bad if the area has tourists.

Also Exotic animals have to go through painful procedures to be sold as pets. For example, the slow lorises get their sharp front teeth removed for the safety of owners because the animals get aggressive sometimes to show their anger. Others do not eat for several days which sometimes leads to death which is bad.

I think you should not keep exotic animals as pets. People often don’t know how to care for the animals, they can get release into local habitats, and they go through painful procedures. It does not matter if you are a good owner they will still not be happy because they are not in their natural habitat. I think it’s cruel. So next time you want a snake have a heart a just get a dog instead of a exotic animal.

Category: Animals, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 7

Too Much Sugar!

Sugar Cubes (7164573186).jpg

By david pacey from LEEDS, West yorkshire – Sugar Cubes, CC BY 2.0, Link

Who here has ever been offered some candy or a piece of cake, you know you shouldn’t eat it  but you can’t help yourself. You gobble it down and it tastes amazing! It might taste amazing right now but 20-30 years from now you will really regret eating it. Sugar is in everything we eat, even stuff that seem healthy. Sugar has many bad effects on our body, but we can’t stop eating it! We eat at least three times as much sugar as we’re supposed to daily which is leading to obesity in kids and adults. In the U.S many kids are obese and more people are becoming obese because of sugar and high fructose corn syrup. People are having way too much sugar, we need to cut back on sugar and eat more healthy starting now!

Although sugar tastes amazing, it’s not good for you. Sugar has many negative effects on your body. It damages your brain, your joints, your liver, your heart, it even makes your skin older and more wrinkly. Sugar causes Heart Disease, Heart Attacks, Strokes, Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, obesity, and a higher risk of Cancer. When you eat a lot of sugar it will make you more sad when you are an adult, it will also be eaten by bacteria on your teeth causing your teeth to rot. Your probably thinking just stop eating sugar but that’s hard because when you eat sugar your brain feels good and releases a chemical called Dopamine, but when your eating fruits or veggies your brain doesn’t feel as good and releases little Dopamine. This is one reason why people are addicted to sugar.

Sugar is hiding in everything we eat! Some things that seem perfectly healthy have more sugar than you think for example, a peanut butter and jam sandwich has 18 grams of sugar in it. The American Heart Association says that every day your only supposed to eat 25 grams or in other words 6 teaspoons of sugar. More than 70% of the U.S eats at least 22 teaspoons of sugar, sometimes even more everyday! Right now 13% of our diet is added sugar, that is so crazy! Natural sugar from fruit and stuff also has an effect on your body but it isn’t as bad as having sugar spoonful from spoonful. One day I recorded how much sugar I had for breakfast. I had 72 grams, that what just from 3 pumpkin muffins! 72 fits in 25 almost three times I had way too much sugar.

Lately, people have started to battle against obesity. One reason people are becoming obese is because of chocolate milk. The chocolate milk they are having has 28 grams of sugar in it. That is 3 more grams than they are supposed to have and if you add the grams of sugar they have already had then you get something like 80 grams a day! One reason why the chocolate milk has so much sugar in it is because it contains high fructose corn syrup.The syrup is basically plain sugar so people have tried to come up with new chocolate milk but in many cases kids don’t like it. People think the important part about the milk is that it contains calcium but it also contains a lot of sugar. “If somebody proposed giving kids caramel apples so they would eat more apples, my guess is that most people would look at them like they’re crazy,” says Brent Walmsley. He’s the one who started an organization called SugarWatch.

Sugar is a big reason why kids are becoming obese. The obesity rates have gone up like crazy! From 1980-2008 it went from 6 out of 100 people to 20 out of 100. Right now 1 out of 3 kids are obese and the rates are still rising. Obese kids are more likely to have health problems and as an adult have more severe problems and get worse. No one wants to be obese, so if you exercise, eat healthy, and not watch too much TV then you should be fine.

You might be wondering how to prevent eating sugar, here are some ways. You can check the nutrition label and on the back, look for the word sugars and once you find it there should be a number next to it telling how many grams of sugar it is. Some of it is probably natural sugars so check if anywhere else it says added sugars. You can also check the ingredients section and if you see words like beet, honey, and high fructose corn syrup and many other names then you know there is sugar in it

To sum up , some people rely on sugar to feel better but really it’s hurting them. We have 16 more teaspoons of sugar then we’re supposed to and sometimes more. Stuff like honey nut cheerios have 9 grams of sugar! That is more than ⅓ of how much we’re supposed to have! Kids are becoming obese across the U.S because of one reason, SUGAR! We really really need to stop eating too much sugar. I tried to eat less sugar and I ate around 60 grams, that is better but not enough. Some people think sugar is delicious but would you want to be unhealthy and overweight but eat treats or be healthy and strong but not eat as many treats. Today I challenge you to try and eat around 30 grams of sugar, I know I’m going to try!

Category: Health, Student Posts | 1 Comment on Too Much Sugar!
May 7

Exotic Animals Shouldn’t Be Sold As Pets

The slow loris may be cute but it does not make a good pet.

Imagine your a 2-year-old baby sleeping in your crib but then…..rah! Then you get eaten. That’s what happens when you have an exotic animal as a pet. Do you really want to get eaten by a tiger or snake? Then I suggest you don’t buy an exotic animal a pet. The pet could be dangerous or sad to be your pet. You shouldn’t be selfish to get a cool pet. They need proper care, or they can be dangerous, and it’s cruel to the animal.

Proper Care

To begin with, people don’t know how to properly take care of exotic animals, like reptiles, and let them go. For instance, owners don’t know what reptiles need like a big tank. In Florida, owners end up letting boa constrictor snakes go because they grow too big, sometimes more than 17 feet. As a result, it damages the natural ecosystem.  

Wild Animals Can Be Dangerous!

Second, exotic animals can be dangerous. It could attack you. Also, the animal is from the wild so it can carry diseases to you. Another reason is when people sleep with wild animals the animal can wake up and wonder where it is and attack you by mistake. Lastly, when you go on a vacation you can’t bring your gigantic pet and it’s not like anyone will want to take care of a dangerous animal, like a tiger.

It’s cruel to the animal

Third, people have to alter exotic animals for you to get them as a pet.  Let me start off by saying slow lorises have sharp teeth so when you buy them as a pet their teeth must be removed. It is very painful to the slow lorises. Also, slow lorises are not as happy as pets. Slow lorises could be living under unnatural living conditions when they live with owners. As a result, they can be distressed. Many die in the first year.

Movie To Reality

Additionally,  do you like the movie Finding Dory? After the movie Finding Dory people wanted their own “dorys” or blue tangs. Blue tangs need a giant tank. You also need a blue tang that costs a lot of money. As a result, the bill costs more than $3000. Next, do you like the Harry Potter movies too? After Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone people wanted their own Hedwig. Owls are very messy. Owls also need a lot of space to fly.

In conclusion, I think people should not have exotic animals as pets. The exotic animal can eat you, not have proper care or it’s cruel to the animal. Is it really worth having a cute or a cool pet for the animal to suffer? Next time when you are looking for a pet don’t look at the exotic animal and say “ I’d like this one.” Instead look inside it’s eyes and think about if you were that exotic animal not wanting to be a pet. So next time just get a cat, dog, hamster, or bunny so the animals don’t have to suffer.  

Category: Animals, Environment, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 7

Should Glitter Be Ban?

Glitter might look golden but it’s not.  Did you know that about 8 trillion microbeads enter the ocean daily!  Glitter is made of microbeads. Once the microbeads enter the ocean the sea life eats it. The sea life will no longer be able to live. Think about all that plastic in one fish.  And what about when we eat the fish. Its seems to me that glitter should be banned.

Micro plastics are small plastics that are found in glitter. Micro plastics go down the drain and get into the waterways and sea life eat it and die.  Did you know that glitter takes just as long to break down as a plastic water bottle and a Image result for glitter on handplastic water bottle takes 450 years to break down. Imagine that!  

Glitter should be banned from beauty products because it’s bad for your health. Glitter is in beauty products like eyeshadow and lipstick can get into your skin and that could be bad.  If your lipstick has glitter it might get into your mouth and you would have a bunch of glitter in your body! YUCK! I mean it’s like swallowing a bunch of plastic. Why would you want to do that?  If glitter isn’t going to be banned, then it should at least be banned from beauty products.

You might have thought that only food could be in the food chain, but I bet you didn’t know that glitter is in the food chain. Let’s start from from the start of the food chain.  Glitter goes down the drain and that goes into the ocean. When it gets into the ocean the fish can eat it. Then fishermen go to catch fish and the fish gets put into a grocery store with the plastic still in it!  Then we buy the fish and eat the fish. Now the glitter is in our body. It’s like eating a plastic water bottle! Disgusting!

In the end glitter should because it can harm everyone and everything.  It’s just not worth it. Some people think that by throwing glitter in the garbage it might stop it from getting into the ocean, but with one guest of wind it can blow out of the dump into the waterways, including the ocean.  You still might think that it looks so pretty sand it makes my lips sparkle, but it’s bad for your health. So the next time you think about buying that can of glitter, think again.

Category: Environment, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 7

The “Kill”auea Erupts


Image result for the kilauea

Although the recent eruption of the Kilauea has taken no lives it has taken many homes and valuables. Also, the poisonous gases haven’t taken lives, it has come very close. Here are some facts about why the gas is poisonous and how scientists are able to predict explosions.

The reason the gas spit out of volcanos is poisonous is because magma contains dissolved gases, which provide the driving force that causes most volcanic eruptions. As magma rises towards the surface and pressure decreases, gases are released from the liquid portion of the magma (melt) and continue to travel upward and are eventually released into the atmosphere. By far the most abundant volcanic gas is water vapor, which is harmless. However, large amounts of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen halides can also be spit out from volcanoes. Depending on their amounts, these gases are all possibly dangerous to people, animals, agriculture, and property.

 While volcanoes may give off several warning signs they are about to blow some are taken more seriously by volcanologists, who alert and advise government officials regarding when evacuations need to take place. These signs may include very small earthquakes beneath the volcano, slight inflation, or swelling, of the volcano and increased emission of heat and gas from vents on the volcano.
Now you know a little bit about volcanoes and if you are still interested in volcanoes you can find out facts about volcanoes at livescience.com/27295-volcanoes.html 
Video Credit: Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfDAfxOu0Fs

Category: Current Events & News, Environment, Student Posts | 1 Comment on The “Kill”auea Erupts
May 7

Is playing video games a good option?

Image result for video games kids playingThink about it–is playing video games the best option that you have when you have spare time? In my opinion, it isn’t the best choice for you to do in your spare time. I rather read, draw, or write other than sitting in front of a screen and getting addicted to this video game. First of all, you have better things to do other than playing video games, second of all you can get really annoyed when playing video games, and finally, you take advantage.

First of all, you have better things to do other than playing video games all day. You have many other options to do other than playing video games all day. You can go ride your bike around your neighborhood, you can even read a book outside. If you did not know, video games can get you very depressed. Have you ever realized when you play a video game it makes you very intense? To most people, it does and they can get really mad and “act” frustrated. Video games can take advantage us. They can make you play on them forever and ever.

So, next time you have some spare time ditch the video games and go outside!

 

Category: Games, Student Posts | 1 Comment on Is playing video games a good option?
May 3

Is it ok to miss school for vacation?

BEACH DON'T KILL MY VIBE JoannaColeen via CompfightHave you ever wondered when you take a day off of school what your class is doing? I have, and honestly, it’s pretty fun missing school. My opinion is, it’s ok to miss school if you’re going to Hawaii or France. First of all, it gives you a break from school for a couple of days, second of all it gives you a little fun, and finally’ it gives you more family time.

It gives you a break from school and homework for a couple of days. You can have a little break from homework and writing assignments. I bet you rather be having fun in Hawaii other than staying stuck at school with a sub doing something totally boring. When you go on vacation you probably have a bunch of fun. You could be in water parks, the zoo, and the beach other than boring school. You’re going to be going to school forever until you graduate college so mine as well as a little bit of fun and go to England. You get some more family time when you go on vacation. When it’s a regular school day you may not get so much time with your family because you have a homework assignment due to tomorrow.

I hope you agree with my opinion, when you go on vacations you have so much fun. First of all, it gives you a break from school, second of all, it gives you a little bit of fun and finally, it gives you more family time.

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May 2

Amazing Volcanoes

You are there 

Have you ever wondered what a volcano is or why they happen? Imagine you are in a hotel enjoying the view by the volcano Mount Saint Helen’s, then suddenly BOOM  out of nowhere ash and smoke start spewing out of the top. Then you see that half of Mount Saint Helens is gone. You see smoke coming your way but lucky you get into your car and drive away as fast as you can.        

What is a volcano?

A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur. Gases and rock shoot up through the opening and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments like lava and ash. Eruptions can cause, lava flows, hot ash flows, mudslides, and avalanches. Volcano eruptions have been known to knock down entire forests like the one by Mount Saint Helens, the whole forest was gone. Volcanoes are formed when magma from within the Earth’s upper mantle works its way to the surface. At the surface, it erupts, and forms lava flows and ash. Over time as the volcano continues to erupt, it will get bigger and bigger.

Why do volcanoes erupt?

The Earth’s crust is made up of huge slabs called plates, which fit together like a big puzzle. These plates sometimes move. The friction causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions near the edges of the plates. The theory that explains this process is called plate tectonics.Scientists have volcanoes into three main categories: active, dormant, and extinct. An active volcano is one which has recently erupted and there is a possibility that it may erupt soon. A dormant volcano is one which has not erupted in a long time but there is a possibility it can erupt in the future. An extinct volcano is one which has erupted thousands of years ago and there’s no possibility of an eruption.

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What is the Ring of Fire?

The Ring of Fire is an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over fifty-one percent of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes. Ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes and eighty-one percent of the world’s largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.

Why are volcanoes good for the earth?

Volcanoes are good for the Earth because they provide nutrients to the surrounding soil. Volcanic ash contains minerals that are beneficial to plants, and if it is very fine ash it is able to break down quickly and get mixed into the soil quickly. Volcanoes have formed many islands, mountains and parts of continents. Igneous rock is the rock that is formed by cooled lava and It helps build roads. Also, beautiful stones like amethyst are turned into jewelry. Pumice is a natural glass that helps polish and grind stones and metals. It is also used in making hand soap and other household items like cleaners. You know we have global warming if volcanoes erupt the ahs will cool down the Earth and make it better.  

Did you know that a volcano can reach temperatures like 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 1200 degrees Celsius? Volcanoes are very cool and interesting but very dangerous. People who live by volcanoes are endangered and constantly having to move. Scientists are studying volcanoes to better predict earthquakes and eruptions and make life safer for people who live near volcanoes.

Category: Science & Tech, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT
May 2

The great pacific ocean garbage patch

The Great Pacific Garbage patch.

Floating in the northern pacific ocean there is a huge trash island the size of Texas. When you leave your trash at the beach where do you think it will end up? Did you know there are 79,000 tons of plastic that are floating in the pacific ocean! To stop adding trash to the trash island we need to start recycling. Imagine you are on a boat and you see a huge trash island with plastic, paper, bottles, cans and many other pieces trash floating by the size of Texas. Have you ever seen a turtle trapped in a piece of plastic fighting for his life?we need to bring awareness to the dangers of not recycling and littering.

Filling most of the space between Japan and California in the upper part of this gyre,  a few hundred miles north of Hawaii ,is where warm water from the south pacific crashes into  cooler water from the north. Known as the north pacific subtropical convergence zone, this is also where the trash collects.The trash island is like a galaxy of garbage, populated by million of smaller trash islands that may be hidden underwater or spread out over many miles.

The damage is that the trash island is in endangering marine life. The trash island harming and killing animals in the pacific ocean. We can all help stop the trash island by picking up our trash at the beach, to recycle, and to stop littering. People are trying to help out and tell other people to do the same thing. Once the trash island is stopped we should not start another so let’s clean up after ourselves, to stop littering and to recy

Now do you see what harm the trash island has done? Researchers have collected up to 750,000 pieces of micro plastic from a single square kilometer. The discovery of the pacific garbage patch, capt. Charles Moore once said a clean up effort “would bankrupt any country and kill wildlife in the nets as it went.” We can all help stop the trash island by recycling and to throw away your trash at the beach. Now all of us can help marine life and to stop the great pacific garbage patch.

 

Category: Environment, Student Posts | 2 Comments on The great pacific ocean garbage patch
May 2

YAY! I got perfect attendance!

Classroom magazines image
Above: Illustration by Robert Matson; Below: Photos Courtesy of Families

At some schools in California, kids who have perfect attendance this year will get a new bicycle and helmet! Other schools in the U.S. also reward kids who don’t miss any classes with prizes like movie tickets and even money! Why should they get rewarded? It’s just coming to school every single day. Parents have to go to work every day and don’t get rewarded for that!

All they are doing is coming to school! They could have gotten all F’s in school but still got a pizza party or something just because they came to school! What if you got straight A+ all year and only got a sticker because they missed a day of school? How would you feel about that?

Plus, Parents have to go to work every day and do they get rewarded? No, so why should the kids get rewarded? they should have to work hard to earn something special! I mean I can understand if you got A+ all year and got perfect attendance, but just for attendance? It is just plain unnecessary.

Category: Community, Current Events & News, Special Events, Student Posts | 3 Comments on YAY! I got perfect attendance!
May 2

FREE PLAY!

 

Last school year, some schools in the U.S., started a new recess program. Each day, teachers set up organized activity stations. Students can choose from games like soccer, volleyball, and four-square. This type of program, called a structured recess, is used by thousands of schools across the United States.  Why can’t we just get to do what we want?

At my school, recess is free time. Of course, teachers are around to make sure everyone behaves. But we can play whatever we want. After sitting in classes all morning, students need a break so we’ll be refreshed and ready to learn in the afternoon.

Plus, sometimes you just want to hang out with friends at recess. We have P.E. class to make sure we get enough exercise. Recess should be a time without so many rules so we can actually do something without being controlled.

Category: Current Events & News, Games, Sports, Student Posts | 3 Comments on FREE PLAY!
May 2

Silence your Phone!

Classroom magazines image

Above: Mike Kemp/Getty Images; Below: Photos Courtesy of Families

Have you ever gone to a movie and been bothered by someone’s glowing phone screen when you want to focus on the movie screen? Most theaters ask people to turn off their phones before the film starts. But many theaters don’t enforce that rule. Why can’t they just do us a favor and ban cell phones at the movies?

Most people use their phone constantly and can hardly get off them! The movies are one of my favorite places because hardly anyone is on their phone. But when people are on their phone it really agitates me, why can’t they just go somewhere else to use their phones?

The movies are a place for most people to relax and watch a good screenplay, but for phone users, it’s just another relaxing place for them to use their phone. Plus it’s pretty annoying when you are in the middle of an intense movie and you keep hearing “RRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGG RRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGG” So next time you go to the movies please remember to silence your phone.

 

Category: Community, Current Events & News, Student Posts | 2 Comments on Silence your Phone!
May 2

Lets get rid of plastic bags!

Imagine an island of trash the size of Texas! That’s 268,597 square miles of trash! It’s not really a solid island but still, it’s a big blob of floating garbage in the middle of the ocean. I think we need to get rid of plastic bags once and for all. First of all bags take forever to decompose, second of all it pollutes the ocean, and finally, you have other options besides plastic bags.

It takes time to decompose

You may think that plastic bags don’t do anything to the land but they do. People throw away plastic bags and plastic trash every day. It takes about 1000 years to get rid of the plastic bags on our planet and there are 100 billion plastic bags thrown away every year. If it takes a long time to decompose plastic bags, there could be a lot of trash on our planet, for a very long time.

It pollutes to the ocean               

Another reason why plastic bags should be banned, many other bags wash into the sewer drains and end up in waterways.  Did you know that scientists in Norway found 30 plastics bags in a whale’s stomach, that’s crazy how so many plastic bags get polluted in the ocean and land! More than 17 billion pounds of plastic bags ended up in the ocean. Plastic trash is harmful to animals because the animal can get trapped in the plastic bag. It can also eat the plastic bag which can cause it to die. Plastic bags can be polluted in rivers, lakes, and farms.

You have other options

Why do people even need to use plastic bags for groceries? Khalea Jai Hoggs from India thinks, “People have other options at stores. They can use recyclable paper bags or buy cloth bags, which they can use over and over again.” Khalea makes a good point. When you go to a grocery store the cashier worker should give you only two options–a paper bag or your own bag. Although paper bags are not the best option, it’s still better than a plastic bag.  You could choose a paper bag to help the environment, or you could always bring your own cloth bag.

In conclusion, polluting plastic bags is a bad choice as it’s invading our world, and making it into the food chain. To sum up, first It takes a long time to decompose, second it pollutes the ocean, and finally, you have other options other than a plastic bag. Although paper bags are not the best option, it’s still better than a plastic bag. Where I stand, I think that plastic bags should be gone forever.

            

Category: Environment | 1 Comment on Lets get rid of plastic bags!
May 2

Should exotic animals be kept as pets?

 

Image result for baboon in cage

Baboons are thought to be cute pets, but as soon as it’s huge teeth grow in it is abandoned.

Imagine being ripped from your home and sent to live in a cage with strange food and drinks. Find that hard to imagine? Exotic animals that are kept as pets have been forced to take that image and turn it into reality. Most kids think it is cool to have an exotic animal as a pet, but really it is bad for the animal that is being kept as a pet! From where I stand, I think that keeping exotic animals as pets is a bad idea. Keeping exotic animals as pets is a bad idea because they are not domesticated and can kill you or hurt you badly. Also, most people are unable to properly take care of the animal. Plus they could give you terrible diseases if you don’t vaccinate them properly.  

First of all, animals like dogs and cats are domesticated, but exotic animals aren’t and can be dangerous to their owners. No one should be able to keep exotic animals as pets. When they are babies they might be cute but when they get older and mature their territorial instincts kick in and it gets more and more dangerous the older the animal gets. They belong in their natural habitats. It has taken thousands of years to domesticate dogs. So, saying that wild animals are house pet’s, is like saying a wolf is a dog, or a tiger or lion is an ordinary house cat.

They are completely different in the way they think. Tigers would attack and kill us if they could. House cats are not like that.

In addition, most people are unable to provide the natural environment of the animal, along with its natural prey or territory that it eats. All exotic animals are wild and need plenty of space to roam. This is another thing, another thing people, are unlikely to provide. Most people abandon the animals when they mature because they lose their cuteness, resulting in homelessness or death. This form of severe animal cruelty. For example, have you heard of the python outbreak in Florida? This is happening because people have a problem with letting them go loose in the everglades. Also, there is nothing in that environment that eats them.

Another reason, exotic animals have very dangerous diseases that can spread diseases to their owner. Exotic animals have many diseases that humans can catch like tuberculosis. Also, they can spread parasites and if they are not vaccinated properly then the animal will suffer. Do we really want to take the chance of getting very sick or hurting an animal just so we can say “I own a tiger”? I definitely wouldn’t.    

There is no point in taking an innocent animal from its home just to put in captivity for our own amusement. How would you feel if someone took you from your family, put you in a cage and started calling you Fluffy? To make matters worse, it is very cruel to the animal because they don’t have their natural environment and probably won’t have proper care. To make it worse the animal endangers your health with parasites and diseases. Also, some animals would have no problem straight up attacking you. Why must we have such a thing just for our own amusement? Many people say that the exotic animals great pets because they can teach children about that species, but I say that is what zoos are for. So that’s what I think, exotic animals should not be kept as pets.

Category: Animals, Student Posts | 1 Comment on Should exotic animals be kept as pets?
May 1

Swimming For Gold

Imagine you are in the Olympics  in a pool swimming an 800-meter freestyle. You touch the wall and poke your head up.  You realize that you’ve won the 800 hundred meter freestyle, and you set a world record.

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Swimming Life & Personal Life

Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky was born on March 17, 1997 in Washington D.C. She started competitive swimming at age six.  Her brother started swimming before her, and Ledecky followed him into the sport. She began to swim on a summer league swim team.  Her favorite stroke is freestyle just like mine. When 

Ledecky got older, she started to swim for a club team. That team is Nation’s Capital Swim club (NCAP).  She also swam for the team USA in 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Accomplishments

You might think that Katie Ledecky went to the Olympics and got medals, but she didn’t just get medals from the Olympics.  She also got medals from the World Championships and Pan Pacific Championships. In the Olympics, Ledecky won five gold and one silver medal.  In the World Championships, Ledecky has won fourteen gold and one silver medal. In the Pan Pacific Championships, Ledecky has won five gold medals.  That makes a total of twenty-four gold and two silver medals. Ledecky didn’t just win medals, she also set world records. She set records in the World Championships, National Championships, Pan Pacific Championships, TWST Senior Invitational, Arena Pro Swim Series, and Summer Olympics.

Training

Katie is self-disciplined like another athlete.  She goes to bed at 9:30, and wakes up at dawn to start training.  She can be found spending her days in the water rather than on land. She quit the swim team at Stanford so she can train for the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo. Ledecky still attends classes as a student at Stanford University.

Katie Ledecky inspires me because I swim on a team and I want to go to the Olympics one day. I think that Ledecky is the girl version of  Michael Phelps. She has won many awards, and she still lives on today. I hope to see Katie at the 2020 Olympics. Go, Katie!!!

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