The tree sustainability project is another project in LA. One of the things we read was a story about Smokey Bear. The story tells about how Smokey Bear was rescued from a vast forest fire by one of the fire men. He was taken to a medical center and doctors cared for his wounds. He was given a name and was spread widely. He protested against forest fires until his death in 1976. Here is the cover:

Here are 10 intersecting facts about trees!

– Tress are the longest living organisms on earth and will never die of old age.

– Tree rings can predict climate change.

– Planting trees trees can reduce energy costs.

– Trees are able to communicate and defend themselves against attacking insects.

– Trees block noise by reducing sound waves.

– Trees can help reduce stress.

– Trees can help reduce the effects of climate change.

– Trees can help you find your way if you get lost in the woods.

– Mor than 50% of tree species exist only in one country.

– Well kept landscapes with trees increase property value.

Here is a poster I made that brings awareness to Deforestation Hot Spots

 

Why is it important to learn about trees and forests and the benefits we receive from them?

– It is important to educate ourselves about how we receive resources and benefits that trees provide.

Who is responsible for conserving forests.

– Everyone  should work together to conserve them.

What are you doing to help.

– I never litter on the ground to prevent pollution.

How can you encourage others to do the same.

– I can remind my friends not to pollute the earth if I catch them doing something harmful to the planet.

Today we revisited our wish trees. Here is mine:

A few months back we took photos of our trees. Mine used to have beautiful white cherry blossoms before, but now it have rich green leaves. We are also are reading a book called Wish Tree. In the book, it talks about how trees get their names. I got my name by both of my parents creating a list of names that they like, and choosing one that showed up on both lists. My name is Emma and it was is derived from the Germanic word ermen, meaning  “whole” or “universal.” I am going to name my tree Brad because it’s scientific name is Bradford Pear. We also took a photo of an animal that was near out tree. Here is mine:

If you look closely, there is an ant in the center of the photo. I’m going to name the ant, Anne because of its name.  In the book Wish Tree, some of the characters define themselves as optimistic and pessimistic. Optimistic is and adjective that means hopeful and confident about the future. Pessimistic is also an adjective that means tending to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen. I’m not really either one. In some situations I tend to only focus on the good. But in others I completely let everything down. I tend to be optimistic around pessimists and pessimistic around optimistic people. What are you?

For the past month, we have been working on a project called tree books! We used a process called screen printing to imprint words onto cardboard and thick paper. We then cut tree shapes out of cardboard and books out of thick paper. Once we assembled the books, we used akua ink to print with plants. The inks left cool designs on pieces of paper. We then collaged those pieces of paper into our books with elmers glue. In incorporated small envelopes into our designs and put several pieces of writing that we created into them. We put in Branches, Salute my Roots, and a photograph. There is one person that paid a huge tribute in this project. Her name is Ms. Gignoux. She helped create our projects beautifully. Here is a link to her  website https://gignouxart.com/.

Creating this book was so special to me because of how much it made me think about my life. I hope that we do more projects similar to this. Here is the Branches project:

 

Branches, Reaching Toward the Sky My Wish Tree

I have never had many long term interests with hobbies before. Every time I tried something new, I always got tired of it within about a month. Therefore this essay wasn’t the easiest to write. I don’t exactly know what my interests will be in the years to come. But I tried my best and compiled a list of things that I will most likely want to do in the future.

• I really want to get into a good college. I’m not sure which one yet but I’m hoping for something around Harvard or Yale. This opens up so many job opportunities and it broadens my knowledge.
• I want to eat at a revolving sushi bar inJapan. This may be a little bit specific, but it has been a childhood dream and my mom has always wanted to take me.
  •Get my drivers license at 16. I’ve always wanted to drive and be able to go where I want to by myself.

• Learn how to draw realistically. This one may be a stretch because I haven’t ever had any artistic skills whatsoever. But I’ve always wanted to learn how and it would be another way of expressing myself.
• Buy my mom a black Mercedes convertible and a beach house in Miami. This is an inside joke with my mom that we’ve been using for as long as I can remember. If I did get an opportunity to do this, it would be a way to pay my mom back for all she’s done.
• Swim in the Bahamas. I’ve always wanted to do this, and the water in pictures just looks so refreshing.
• Get a medical degree/ major in psychology. This might change in years to come, but right now this would be my choice of education in college. I don’t really know why I’m interested in psychology but I’d love to learn more about it. It also opens up so many opportunities for interesting jobs.
• Buying my own house. I’m sure that almost everyone wants this opportunity, but for me this is a positive step towards independence. To me, it would be refreshing to have my own place to take care of.
• Buy a cat or dog. I love both cats and dogs but ever since my grandparents got a cat, I have wanted one ever since. It would be nice to have a little companion by your side.
• Get better at decorating cakes. Over the past year, I have made a few cakes and the best part to me was the decoration part. Even though I loved it, the frosting job wasn’t the best, and I would love to get better and make it a hobby of mine.

 

 There are many things that I wished that the world would improve on, but even though these things might not happen in my lifetime it doesn’t stop me from wishing. Here are some of them. •Abolish discrimination against everyone. I’m positive that this will not happen in my lifetime but I hope that one day it will come true.

• Reform civilization to be more environmentally friendly/abolish global warming. I’m not sure if this will happen in my lifetime because it all depends on the decisions of government officials, but I know that it has to happen soon otherwise it will be irreversible.
• Remove sexism from society. I can’t even imagine what society would look like without this but I hope that it happens soon enough for me to see it.
• Create a better education system that provides for everyone. The older I got, the more I realized how bad the education system is. It is not built for the needs of diverse people.
• Create a system that provides for the poor. I have always noticed people on the streets begging, but the older I got the more I realized that I have seen the minimal amount of poverty compared to other countries. All of these things are very important to me and they may not happen in my lifetime but I hope that they eventually contribute to the world today.

 

Here is the Salute My Roots:

 

SALUTE TO MY ROOTS! 

My mom is the most important person in my life. She always put me before herself and seemed to know exactly what I needed. When I was younger, I used to discard this care that she provided me with. Of course I appreciated it, but now that I’m older I can now see how much she did for me. She taught me so many useful lessons over the years. One of her sayings is “Don’t ask, don’t get.” I used to always laugh and never think about what she was really saying. Now, we are compiling a list of all of her sayings. I can’t even imagine all of the things she gave up for me. I don’t think I can ever pay her back.

My grandparents moved here from Texas 2 years ago to help my mom out around the house. Ever since they came, I have gotten so much closer to them. Before, I would only see them once a year. But now we have dinner almost every Sunday. When COVID hit, it became harder to get together, but we still found ways to bond. They have been extremely helpful and I am so glad that I have the chance to grow closer to them.

My sister and I have never been the closest to each other. We always have had our different interests and views. For example, I love to do swimming and she loves martial arts. But over the past year we have grown a little closer. We’re starting to find little things that we both can enjoy. I truly hope that this pattern will continue and we grow closer to each other.

This past year has been particularly hard this year due to COVID and personal problems. Mrs. Bushey has been exceptionally helpful. She always has been my safety net and really cares about what goes on in my life. Every time I went to her, on every occasion she willingly listened to everything that came out of my mouth. She always gave the best advice which was always helpful. I am so glad that I have the chance to talk to her.

I met two of my closest friends about 5 years ago, Anya and Chloe. I have no idea how we all got together because we are all so different. Chloe doesn’t have a care in the world, Anya is extremely spontaneous, and I’m the mom friend who has to take care of both of them. There have been a lot of disagreements about stupid things but whenever someone else got on eachother’s nerves, we all had each other’s backs. They both have always been my go to friends to talk to every time something happened. I can’t Imagine what life would be like without them to depend on.

 

Here are some of the photos I took of my Tree Book

Today in class, we identified our fingerprints inspired by Westing Game. Here are mine!

Here are some interesting facts about fingerprints!

– The scientific name for fingerprints is ‘Dermatoglyph’

– Koalas also have fingerprints.

– Identical twins have different fingerprints.

– Some people are born without fingerprints.

– British police once ordered an entire town to submit their fingerprints.

– Ancient fingerprints have been preserved for thousands of years.

– Removing fingerprints is very difficult.

– Your fingerprints can reveal what drugs you have taken.

Good morning! It’s time for another project in LA. I think that I have mentioned this before in previous posts but we are reading a book called the Westing Game. I won’t go into to much detail but right now, all of the characters in the book get elected to participate in a game. Everyone starts with a certain amount of money, a partner, and a clue. One of the characters chooses to invest her money into stocks. That is the inspiration of this project. So each of my classmates chose six stocks and created a spreadsheet that calculates how much money we “lost” or “gained”. We could work with partners, but I chose not to. So here are some of the stocks I “invested” in. Starbucks, Target, Apple, and Tesla are all stocks that Have been doing fairly well and I am betting that they will only go up. I chose Moderna because they are a vaccine company and I am betting that once they release more vaccines, they’re stock will go up. I also chose Disney because once the more people get vaccinated, the more people will want a vacation. Another thing we did was create a company logo. I will insert my logo and spreadsheet that I will be using.