The Sustainability Fair

On April 20th my school held a sustainability fair. This fair was a gathering of environmentally aware people, ranging from fifth graders to adults, who all had great ideas and information about our environment. These people created booths, presentations and even some games to help make learning fun and interesting. The purpose of this fair was to inform all those who aren't as aware about the current condition of our environment and how we can help to sustain it. While at the fair I explored every station. Some stations focused on helping to sustain our school, some focused on sustaining our entire community and others focused on sustaining the whole world. Although I saw and heard many diverse idea's, each booth's goal was the same; to do our best to make our planet a better place.
One of the things I learned at the fair was that a certain species of worms, called the Indain Blue Worm, are able to eat nearly any organic material. These worms are able to essential eat our garbage so we can have a cleaner place to live. Currently boxes of these worms are being sold to be used as something similar to a compost box. In fact, my family already owns one of these and it works great. Hopefully in the future, every family will own of these and our trash will just be converted to soil.
Another booth I was interested in was a presentation about fuel cells. Fuel cells are an electochemical conversion device. It is essentially a source of energy, but it is a very important source because fuel cells do not cause pollution. Fuel cells will hopefully eliminate the need of gasoline for cars.
I also went to a booth that focused just on the environment of our island. I learned that we are recycling sewer water and we are using it for irrigation. I also learned about xeriscpaing which is a practice where irrigation techniques and using drought-tolerant plants and grasses help to save water. Fortunately the plants that are used for xeriscpaping are primarily native plants so the act of xeriscaping saves water and helps to keep our native plants alive.
Although I learned so many interesting and great ways to sustain our world, I think the most valuable thing I gained from the fair was an inspiration. I learned of the troubles we are having with our environment. The things that inspired me the most were facts on how much we can help the environment by doing something so easy. I learned facts such as, 84% of all household waste can be recycled,everyday you throw away 4 pounds of garbage (don't you think some of this could be recycled?), and the amount of wood and paper we throw away every year is enough energy to heat 50 million homes for 20 years.
At the sustainibility fair, I learned so much about the environment and how I can help. I was very inspired to help out, and after reading this I hope you are too.

Hawaiian Ghost Story

In the chapter, Shaman, Maxine talks a lot about ghost. The most elaborate story she told about ghost was when her mother encountered one at school. In Hawaii we also have spirits but ours are very different. I personally have not encountered one but this is a story about a spirit that I've heard.


To give a history detail of the two schools I went to is that both elementary and middle school were across one another and both were buried under ancient Hawaiian burial graves. Many things have occured and stories about the schools have been passed down by teachers.

I use to attend Aliamanu Elementary and Aliamanu Intermediate School. It was Halloween night and my friends and I decided to see if the schools were both haunted. We heard many stories about how a mother and a child were both killed in the fields next to my school and that their hands were chopped off, another is the instruments in the band room and the music room of both school will play by itself at night.

My friends and I decided to walk towards the old stairway leading to the schools it was 1:00a.m. at night. We already had our candy from trick or treating and we wanted to investigate whether the stories about the old school were true. Now in the school everything is locked up and there is a gate that is about 30 ft high and no one can enter or leave since the gate covers all around and there is brick that hold it together. It is like a prison cell gate. Anyway, My friends and I decided to walk down the stairs when we started to notice that the school yard seemed to have elongated then as we approached the middle we started hearing loud drums and instruments in both the elementary school and the intermediate school we ended up running back up the stairs to be safe. We came back to the steps and decided to talk but out of nowhere we noticed that one of the portable lights that was white in color turned to red instantly and it freaked us all out we decided to wait and see what happened.

What happened amazed us because we looked at the gates where no one can enter or leave and saw a misty white figure looked like a girl and heard a loud scream asking for help. My friends and i decided to go down and see if we could help and when we got to the middle of the school yard we started to hear laughing and we stopped in out tracks. It wasn't a pleasant laugh it was an evil malicious laugh and it brought us goose bumps. To our amazement we ended up running back to the stairwell as fast as we could because something didn't feel right. We ran to the nearest park and decided to calm down. After awhile, we went back to see the school before going home. It was around 2:15 a.m. and the red light was gone and everything was back to normal.

THis story is from castleofspirits.com

Shaman:Character Analyst

This is a analysis of Maxine's mother. I interpreted this information through what I read in the chapter, Shaman.

In this chapter Maxine's mother is at medical school. At this school she chooses to stay in a room known to be haunted by ghost. In this room she encounters a room and later kills it. This shows how brave she is which is why I found it interesting her name is Brave Orchid.

From the stories of Brave Orchid's bravery and how she helped many people, it sounds like she is a very intelligent and courageous woman. Or a Woman Warrior. She seems very similar to Fa Mu Lan and this is probably why Maxine told a story about her mother.

White Tiger: Egotist

As an egotist for the chapter White Tiger, I am supposed to show "what's in this for me."
After reading the chapter I learned many things that can affect me. One thing that I learned is that you need to believe your own thoughts and feelings rather than just listening to what everyone else tells you. This is shown by Fa Mu Lan and Maxine who believe that women are just as good as men. If Mu Lan just listened to everyone else and didn't believe in herself she wouldn't have been able to avenge her family. Another thing that i learned was that you should always do what you feel is right, even when others aren't watching. This is shown by the bad men in the story of Mu Lan. THese men committed crimes and because of this were punished by getting executed by Mu Lan.

White Tiger: Moderator

These are some questions I had on the chapter "White Tiger" in the book "The Woman WArrior."


- In Maxine's story about Fa Mu lan, why do you think Mu Lan's parents don't tell her she would be taken?

-What is the significance of the rabbit that sacrificed itself for Mu lan?

-Mu Lan said that when she got hungry enough she could see their light, gold and their dance--what is the significance of this?

-What does Maxine's story of Mu Lan tell us about her?

-At the end of the chapter, MAxine says she is like Mulan but rather than using a sword she uses her words. Which do you think is more powerful, a sword or words?

My Hero

There are many heroes in my life, real and fictional, but the person I feel is the most heroic is my father. He is one of the most compassionate and caring people I know.Being a doctor, my father is trained to help people. Although he only works for part of the day, his job of caring for others never seems to end. THere have been so many situations that I was walking with him when we run into one of his patients or a friend that he has helped in some way. All of these people are so thankful for my father. But he does not help these people for popularity; he genuinely cares for these people. Another role that my father plays that shows his compassion is a father. He is a father to four children, my three sisters and I. Obviously being the father of four children is no easy task. Being the only other male in the household, I know frustating things can get. But no matter how tense our household gets, my father's love can still overcome it.

Methods of Characterization

In class we were asked to identify six methods of characterization of a character from our family story. I decided to use myself as the character.

Appearance

8 years old
bags under eyes from lack of sleep


Inner Thoughts/feelings

Mom is wrong, of course I'll be able to wake up even if I stay up.


Environment

Own house


What they say

Okay, sure mom, I'll go to bed.


What others say about them

I told him to go to bed. I knew he wouldn't be able to wake up.


Actions

Lied to mom
Disobeyed mom
Fell asleep in closet