May was a hot month. Everything in the forest was drying up. Perfect conditions for a fire to spread. Unfortunately, one careless camper set it off. Firefighters rushed to the fire. One group of 24 men were surrounded by fire. They lied down and waited for the fire to cool down. Once the fire cooled down, the group found a badly burnt bear cub clinging to a tree. They took the bear and patched his wounds. The bear made a full recovery and was named Smokey. Smokey Bear became a celebrity. He was on many posters, tv shows, and was a star on the radio. He lived in the Washington Zoo and he was never lonely.

Here are 10 interesting tree facts

Global forests removed about one-third of fossil fuel emissions annually from 1990 to 2007.

Trees are the longest living organisms on Earth.

A study of 10 cities found community forests save an average of one life each year. In New York City, trees save an average of eight lives every year.

Office workers with a view of trees report significantly less stress and more satisfaction.

More than 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest

lives in the forest canopy.

Forested watersheds provide quality drinking water to more than 180 million Americans.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), removing and storing the carbon while releasing the oxygen back into the air.

Trees provide vital wildlife habitat

Well-maintained trees and shrubs can increase property value by up to 14%.

About one third of the United States of America is covered by forests.

Sources: www.savatree.com/tree-facts.html

https://www.arborday.org/trees/treefacts/

It is important to learn about trees and forests and their benefits because then we can realize why they’re so important to us humans. If we know that they produce something we need to survive like clean oxygen, we should be able to realize that they need to stay. (So we can survive) Firefighters help conserve the forest. You might not believe it, but they actually set off fires to conserve the forest. What the fire does is it burns down the trees that are in the way of other growing trees, so it makes more space for trees to grow. I try to help by growing trees by myself. I grew a peach tree in my backyard at my old house when I was young. I also planted a bunch of saplings in pots. You can help by planting trees too. You can also use pine needles to cover their roots so they’re not exposed. 

 

In class today, my partner and I read the book The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. The two main characters are the tree and the boy. Here’s a short summary of the book.

A tree loved a boy. The boy played with the tree and the tree kept on giving the boy things it had. Later and later, the tree started giving everything to the boy and eventually, the tree had nothing left to give. The boy started visiting the tree less and less as the boy was growing older and older. But finally, the boy, who was very old, came to visit and the tree gave the old boy one last thing.

In the story, the tree plays as a helper and a generous friend. The conflict in the story was the boy kept on leaving the tree for a long time, which made the tree very lonely. In the end, the tree had nothing left to give, but they were together and happy. I believe that the story’s message is that trees helped humans more than humans helped trees. People reading this story should know that they should take more care of trees as they help us a lot.

My tree hasn’t changed much since I last visited it. The tree grew some flowers on it, but it’s still a bit bare. It also started to grow leaves, but barely any yet. My name Andy is short for Andrew which comes from the Greek name Andrea, which means brave and manlike. My tree’s name is Linden. I named the tree Linden because in Slavic mythology, there is a tree named Linden and is considered sacred. I found a cricket near the tree and I named it Cicada. I named it that because Cicada means bugs. Optimist means “A person who tends to be hopeful and confident about the future or the success of something.” Pessimist means “A person who tends to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.” I think that I’m more pessimistic than optimistic. At night, I always think someone might break into the house. When I’m in difficult situations, like when we run out of gas. I just think about what could possibly go worse. Like maybe we get stranded, or we actually die. I think of many things and it comes together into a whole story. Whenever I see new things, I always point out the bad things. Usually when people tell me something is good, I point out the bad things.

 

In Language Arts, we created Tree Books. To make our books, we first screen printed poems to the tree. Then, we started collecting leaves and plants. We used akua ink to print them on a paper, creating a design. After that, we cut the book into a tree shape and started collaging. Finally, we added envelopes and glued our poems onto the book. Ms. Gignoux helped us a lot with this project and I want to thank her. This is a link to her website. https://gignouxart.com/ (She makes great art) This project was really fun to do and it made us think about creativity and design. I really enjoyed the akua ink printing because it was so smooth and it looked great. The teachers were encouraging and very helpful. The writing helped us feel appreciated for what we have. Overall, I think this project was fun and encouraging.

When This Is Over 

When this is over, 

May we never take for granted

After School

No masks in public

Parties

Greeting from neighbors 

Going to parks

Shopping without concern

Trick or treating

Going out to walk

Going to football games

Participating in countdowns

Breathing fresh air

Attending events

Having fun.

 

When this ends

may we find

more time

on our hands

more aware

of our surroundings 

cleaner

in public

and at home

and more strength in ourselves

because of what we learned.

Branches, Reaching Toward the Sky

My Wish Tree

My Life list:

1. Find a cure for cancer: I always wanted to find a cure of cancer because that’s a huge achievement and it would solve so many problems. And maybe, I will be remembered in the future.
2. Go to an Ivy League college: I want to get to one because then I can get a good education. I can also start a life from there. I would also develop a good reputation.
3. Become a successful doctor: I want to be a doctor when I grow up and I need to be successful to be able to support myself. I also want to find cures for diseases because that’s what I’m interested in.
4. Start my own medical business: My parents always say that I should start a business just like my dad did. I want to follow the paths of my parents. 
5. Go to a falcons game: The Atlanta Falcons are my favorite football team and I never got to see a game in person. I want to at least experience it because I think it’ll be fun and there would be no ad breaks. 
6. Go to the Super Bowl: I always wanted to go to a super bowl in person because I’m a fan of the NFL league and I want to see one of the biggest events every year.
7. Become well known: I just want to be known in the community. I don’t want to be seen as a random stranger in life and someone that might be dangerous.
8. Become a stress free person: Stress is annoying to deal with and I hope that I can become stress free because then I wouldn’t need to worry about things all the time. It also could prevent depression and other problems.
9. Be able to control my emotions: If I can control these emotions, I will be able to have a decent life. I would also be able to socialize with many people.
10. Be happy: This is the most important to me because if I’m not happy doing what I’m doing, I can’t enjoy life. I also can’t enjoy myself.

 

I have many hopes and dreams for our world. I dream that pollution wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Animals should be able to eat what they’re supposed to eat instead of plastic and other junk. I also dream of the world becoming more of a peaceful place. I don’t want to be worried of some sort of break in every night, and I’m sure no one wants to either. I hope that this world can become more of nature than huge factories and power plants. It would be a lot nicer to have wildlife instead of a huge nuclear plant. I also hope they people would become more social with one another because then everyone would know each other better and wouldn’t be so worried about strangers. Finally, I wish that every disease would have a cure. Some diseases can cause people to become permanently disabled and can even kill them. If all these wishes, hopes, and dreams come true, this world would be a better place.

 

Salute to my Roots

My dad’s impact on my life is positive in many ways. I think of my dad as a role model because he is always hard working, and is always supportive. He always wants to make us happy, even if we’re not in the mood for it. His personality is even better. He’s funny, smart, and a great person. He always tells me that if I study hard now, I can get into a good college and have a successful life. I’m glad I have him as my father and I wish I could be like him when I grow up. Thank you.

 

My mom’s impact on my life is also great. I wouldn’t be here at all if it wasn’t for her. She is always happy and kind. She wants to make sure we grow into a good and moral person. My mom tries a lot of different things to try to make us more organized and more of a better person. Although I don’t agree with many of her rules, I think it helps me control what I do and it helps me think of doing my work first rather than playing. She is supportive of me and always makes sure we get fed well. Because of this, I can strive to be the best I can because of her. Thank you.

 

I believe that my brother is the best possible sibling I can ask for. He’s funny and he’s also very encouraging. He always has my back when I’m in tough situations, like when I’m in trouble. Matthew acts like a 3rd parent to me. He always makes it look like he’s happy, even if he’s not. He teaches me things too, like life lessons, Math, and vocabulary. Even when I’m sometimes annoying, he still treats me like a brother. I look up to him as another role model, just like my dad. He’s the most moral and nicest person I have ever met. Thank you for being my awesome brother.

 

My grandma has impacted my life in so many ways. She’s always been there for my family and me. She’s funny and she’s super supportive of us. She makes delicious food and she makes sure we’re always fed well. She also eats the leftovers and keeps the fresh food for us, which I think is beyond being generous. She does everything she can to make us the best we can. She also sometimes helps me on my Chinese homework when I need help. When she visits us, we’re all so happy to see her and I think she thinks that too. Thank you for being the most caring grandma ever.

In class, we’ve been doing a project on our fingerprints. In this blog post, I’ll be sharing 8 interesting facts about fingerprints and answering the question “Are fingerprints heredity”.

1. The scientific term for fingerprints is Dermatoglyph. Dermato – skin, Glyph – sculpted

2. Koalas have fingerprints too!

3. Your fingerprints helps you grab onto objects. Without your fingerprints, you won’t be able to write or paint well.

4. Your fingerprints develop when you’re still in your mothers stomach.

5. No one has the exact same fingerprint as someone else. Not even twins.

6. There are three types of fingerprints. Arches, whorls, and loops. 60% of the population has loops, 35% has whorls, and 5% has arches, making arches the rarest out of the three.

7. Adermatoglyphia: A rare condition that makes your fingers lack ridges. Basically no fingerprints.

8.  Your fingerprints are between 40 – 60 microns deep.

Are fingerprints heredity?

Fingerprints are heredity. The pattern type of your fingerprints are inherited, but no two fingerprints are exactly alike. So you inherit the type of fingerprint, but not the exact fingerprints.

 

 

In LA class, we are playing a stock market game, where each student or team gets to spend $20,000 dollars in the stock market. (Not real money) You get to invest in a max amount of 6 stocks. This game will go on for months, so there’s no clear winner yet. We’re playing this game because of Turtle’s obsession with the stock market in the Westing Games, and to get a start on the stock market.
My Company: Sun’s Stocks
The slogan is Sun, you lose none!
I named it Sun’s Stocks because my last name is Sun and it goes well with the word “stocks.”

I invested in 6 companies (the max amount allowed) because I wanted to play it safe. I’m not a very good decision maker so that’s why I went the safe route. I invested in amazon because at the time I bought it, it was pretty low. I also invested in 2 airline companies and one hotel company Delta, United Airlines, and Hyatt Hotel. I invested in those three because I knew spring break was coming soon and that people would be traveling, including me. I also invested in microsoft because the price was low. (Same reason as amazon)