BR 2-15: All About Plants

Scientists don’t know how many plants there are, but they think that there are more than 300,000 types! (P.4)

This time, I’m going to introduce everybody a book about plants. There are more than 300,000 types of plants in the world but scientists think that there are more plants that we don’t know about yet. Do you know that the first plants grew in the water more than two billion years ago? It took hundreds of million of years for plants to change and to grow on the ground. What seasons do you like the best? Now season is fall, and autumn colors of plants is very beautiful. The leaves change to yellow, orange, or red. And in winter, there are no leaves on most trees. In summer, plants make lots of food because there is lots of sunlight. And different plants have different habitats. Some plants need sun, and other plants need shade. Most plants can’t grow in very dry, cold, or wet places. But the cactus can grow in hot, dry places like deserts. Its roots are near the top of the ground so it can take in water quickly. There are many people who take cactus plants as a potted plant with beautiful leaves in houses. I want to try it after I read this book. Next, I want to introduce everybody two amazing plants. One is a Venus Flytrap. Most plants don’t need to eat insects, but the Venus Flytrap eats insects. Two is a Titan Arum. It is one of the smelliest plants in the world. Moreover it smells like bad meat so that the Titan Arum is the terrible smell. But I want to try smelling it.

Lastly, we have to save our plants. Our clothes, books, and many other things come from plants. Lots of our doors, chairs, and tables are made of wood. Sometimes there is plant plastic in our cell phones, computers, or even our socks. In the rainforest, people cut down trees, and Earth loses hundreds of different types of plant forever. As a result, pollution is another danger and it puts dangerous chemicals into the soil and these are bad for plants. We have to use paper carefully and use all the paper and recycle it. We have to struggle them in our life every day. Thank you for reading!

                            Reference

Julie, Penn. (2010). All About Plants. Oxford, America. Usborne

[401 words]

BR 2-13: Wonderful Water

People, animals, and plants need water. (P.23)

This time, I’m going to introduce everybody a book about water. About 70 percent of Earth is covered with water and about 3 percent of the water on Earth is fresh water. Do you know fresh water? Most of it is frozen from ice. Some of the fresh water is in lakes and rivers. Some of the fresh water is in the sky. It’s the clouds and the rain. Do you feel mysterious that water is in the sky? I feel so mysterious this fact and the clouds are made in water.

Next, the human body contains lots of water. Our body is about 70 percent water, our brain is about 85 percent water, and our bones are about 33 percent water. Have you ever known this fact? It is not too much to say that we are made of water. I realized once again that water is very important for the human body. We can live for four weeks without foods, but we can’t live without water. And we have to drink about eight glasses of water every day. Do you drink a suitable amount of water every day? I have heard that the human body becomes easy to lose weight if it drinks a lot of water. And our blood is about 50 percent water.

Lastly, people, animals, and plants need water. Do you know how much water we use every day? We use about 80 liters of water when we take a bath. We use about 27 liters of water when we take a shower. We drink water and cook with water and use water for washing. We need everything in the house with a lot of water. But when there is no water, rivers and lakes become dry. Plants can’t grow and animals can’t drink and die. And if there is no food and no water to drink, people die, too. And Earth could be annihilated without water. At the first, we have to save water at home. For example, turn off the water when it doesn’t use water. Take a shower, not take a bath. Collect rainwater to water plants. Don’t throw things into rivers and lakes. People have to clean water. If we don’t use water so much, it leads to water conservation. Thank you for reading!

                              Reference

Cheryl, Palin. (2010). Wonderful Water. Oxford, America. Usborne

[399 words]

BR 2-12: Incredible Earth

Did you know that there are mountains and valleys under the ocean? (P.6)

This time, I’m going to introduce everybody a book about Mother Earth. Are you interested in earth, nature, and a lot of natural phenomenon? I want to introduce everybody about iceberg, hot water, mountain, cave, and desert. One is iceberg. Do you know Ilulissat, near the North Pole? In passing I might mention that I haven’t ever known there before I read this book. There is one of the most incredible places on Earth-and glacier and icebergs here are very big. The glacier is about 40 kilometers long and it moves slowly about 30 meters to the Arctic Ocean every day.

Two is hot water. Do you like hot spring? Do you often go to there? Hot water and stream pour out of the ground. Suddenly, the water can’t stay under the ground and has to come out. I imagined New Zealand after I read. I have watched that New Zealanders worn bathing suits and took a natural hot spring bath in TV. In Japan, at the Jigokudani Monkey Park, when the weather is cold, monkeys take in the warm water.

Three is mountain. Do you know the biggest mountain in the world? It’s Himalayas. It began when two pieces of Earth’s crust met and moved up. Have you known this fact? I thought once again that Earth was so magnificent after I knew this fact. And the top of Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the highest place on Earth, it is getting bigger about 5 millimeters every year. Do you want to climb there? If I would climb there, maybe I die.

Four is cave. Have you ever gone to some cave? I have gone to a cave in Okinawa on a school excursion when I was the second year of junior high school. The cave was pitch-dark and very wet. Because the raindrop mix with minerals. And thousands of years ago, people lived in caves. They drew pictures on the cave walls. I often watch pictures in TV and books but I want to watch them firsthand.

Lastly, five is desert. Have you ever gone to some desert? I haven’t ever gone to there. I want to go to Bolivia in South America, there’s a desert made of salt called the Salar de Uyuni. It was a saltwater lake about 40,000 years ago, now the ground is hard and dry. The ground looks like a big mirror. It’s so beautiful and an incredible place.

This book was very good for me. I read it, and felt nature and Earth was so magnificent. I couldn’t care less about my tiny troubles. And I want to feel in my body magnificent nature firsthand sometime. Thank you for reading!

                               Reference

Richard, Northcott. (2010). Incredible Earth. Oxford, America. Usborne

[471 words]