Animal Abuse

How many of you have been to a circus or zoos where you see all different types of animals perform and do cool tricks? Well, behind all that appealing entertainment there is a tragedy in making and it is called, animal abuse. What is animal abuse, exactly? Well it’s when an animal is beaten or hurt for no reason. Then it comes to this issue, you think, "Why would someone want to hurt and animal like that?" Well, there’s a very simple answer to this question. Circus trainers and other people who take care and train animals everyday, beat them because they don’t have another way to get them to cooperate. In this post, I will tell you about some details that are hidden and kept away from the audience.

When you see tigers, lions and elephants perform; don’t you ever wonder how the trainers even tamed the animals? I wonder that to! Well, what the trainers do is beat the animals with steel rods or hot iron rods until the animals realize that they have no other choice but to listen to the trainers.

In conclusion, I think that animal abuse should be 100% illegal. Before a circus begins, it wouldn’t hurt if an officer came down to evaluate what’s going on behind the curtains, would it? I hope you understand that animal’s lives are as important as ours. So remember, the next time you go to a circus, be sure to remember this post and think about what that animal may have been through.

A Suggestion to make Pence a Better Place

I think that Pence is the best school ever! But there are some changes that could be applied and would make it a monumental school that everybody would love! I'm not saying that Pence isn't a school that everybody loves, but, nothings perfect, right? So here's my suggestion. I think that Pence (and all the other schools in the Fairfield Community School District) should make it so that all the 4th and 5th graders have a little club that they could match their interests with. Such as a math club for kids who love to engage in math. Or a sports club that would teach kids about famous basketball players or baseball players. These classes would be about 30 minutes a day after school or before school. Wouldn't that be exciting? So then, kids would actually come to school and have a smile on their face because of the excitement for that particular class or club. Not only would they learn something that’s fun for them but they could interact with other students in the other classes and grades! It would be great! I know that Middle School has classes like this, but, it would be like a little prep class for kids who are about to go to Middle School! That would be awesome! I know this is not and issue that NEEDS to be fixed because there is a lot more on the education board’s list, but, we could find a few teachers that would want to teach classes 3 times a week, right? There’s an easy solution and a HUGE difference! Thanks for visiting my blog! See yah!

Anuja

Talking On Your Cellphone While Driving. Should it be Illegal or not?

For this week I am going to share my opinion on talking on your cell phone while driving. I think that it should be illegal because you could suddenly get into an accident, drive your car into a ditch or worse. I want to make it illegal because I think it's just not that safe. Sometimes your attention could divert to who you are talking to and then you could crash! It's not very practical at all. If it’s really urgent to answer the call, then you could just pull over and answer it. Before I really thought about this issue really well I thought, ‘What? You just pick up your phone and talk, right? What’s the harm?” Then I thought about the bad side of this issue. It really is hazardous. When you are driving, I think that you should have all eyes on the road and shouldn’t be getting distracted at all. I also think that states should make it illegal to talk on cell phones while driving. I know that a few states have already done that, but, we need them all to.

If you don’t agree with me, then listen to this. About 500,000 people die each year because of car crashes caused by talking on their cell phones. That’s scary! So just remember, the next time you are talking on your cell phone while driving, think about what could happen. It could save your life. Thanks everyone! Have a nice day!

Cloning- Legal or Not?

Cloning isn't an issue that is slowly destroying our planet. But it's something different. What is cloning? Cloning is a method that scientists use to make an exact genetic copy of another living thing. Now here's the main question. Should cloning be legal or not? I think it should be legal because it helps scientists figure out how diseases form and develop, they could study medicines on animals to see how they react to it, and they could clone specific animals to produce food products faster and cheaper.  But, do you agree or disagree with me?

The first ever clone was created by a Scottish scientist names, Dr. Ian Wilmut in 1997. He cloned a 7-month old sheep named, Dolly. This question may be wandering in your head right now. Why did Dr. Wilmut want to clone a sheep? Well it's a perfectly practical answer. There are enough sheep in the world, but, scientists can put medicine into the sheep's milk so that they can produce medicine faster. Smart, right?

But when you think about cloning, don't think about the movie Jurassic Park. It's totally fictional! Even though scientist can duplicate living things, it's quite impossible that they could clone extinct dinosaurs. Scientists have not found a very well preserved DNA this old. And they probably never will. So hopes are pretty down on that.

There are some other animals that have been cloned. Most of them will seem useless to you. But once you learn why they do, you'll think that scientist are pretty darn smart.

• Mice. Another dirty creature that people try to get rid of in their houses using poison, traps, etc. So you may wonder, why in the world do scientists want to clone this animal? Well here's the reason. Scientists use special mice, which they have injected some kind of chemical in during the process of cloning, so that they can study how diseases like cancer develop and progress.
• Cows. Scientist clone cows because they will be able to produce much more milk and meat than before. By cloning these animals, farmers could produce more milk and meat quicker and cheaper.
• Monkeys. Scientists clone monkeys to help develop new medicines for humans. And why do they do it on a monkey? Well, it's because monkeys are the closest animals to humans. If you've ever heard of the theory that humans developed from monkeys, than this should make sense.They will also know how the human will react to the medicine since monkeys are quite alike.

As you can see, cloning helps us in many ways that we may not have even known. Did you know that cloning is also related to most of our food. Take a look at this story.

For a long time, farmers have used a method called breeding, to grow crops that are precisely perfect.(mainly on tomatoes)How do they do this, though? Well, they mix different kinds together to produce redder, larger and tastier tomatoes!

Also, scientists have used animal genes and put them into a vegetable or fruit. For example, I've never heard of a tomato that can survive the cold, freezing weather. But I do know that Arctic Flounders can survive it! So, they put the flounder's genes into the tomato and there you have it, .an anti-freezable tomato! You may have heard what GMO is and this is exactly it.

I hope that you learned something from my post today! I know that I did! Please share your opinion on cloning and tell me if you think it should be legal or not.
Thanks and have nice day!

Anuja

Resources:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/genes/reproductionandcloningrev1.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/genes/reproductionandcloningrev2.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/genes/reproductionandcloningrev3.shtml

http://www.rowingmachinesource.com/price/under-500/231404+13630.cfm

http://www.wikianswers.com

http://www.amnh.org/ology/

New Issues of the week!

Hi Everyone! The poll that I had on my blog has officially ended and the results are in:
Cloning-8 votes
Illiteracy-3 votes
Slavery- 0 votes
So as you can see, cloning wins! My post will be up by Monday. So make sure to drop by and leave your comments and questions!

Thanks!
Anuja

Water Crisis

Water Crisis. Another horrible issue that is effecting the lives of many people. 1 billion people don't have access to safe drinking water. That's about 1/6 of the world's population! Now here's the main question. "Should governments adopt better water conservation policies?" I think they should, because everyone deserves to live with clean water, clothing and shelter. But, do you?


5 million people die each year from poor drinking water illnesses and other infections. Now all of you that are reading this post right now don't really know what it is like to not have water at all. You may not even know how much water we consume! Did you know that it take 639 gallons of water to produce on hamburger? Think about it for a minute and realize this! That's a lot of water. And for a pair of blue jeans it take 2,900 gallons of water! I know that we cannot save this water, because we are not the ones taking care of the cattle that produces the hamburger or the amount of water that we use to water the cotton. And why can't we do that? Well obviously, because these are things from mother nature and they will eventually die if we don't give them the proper amount of nutrients and minerals that they need.


Some other terrifying facts are that 40 billion hours are spent each year collecting water in sub- Saharan Africa. That's equal to 19-million full-time employees!  Also, 443 million school days are lost annually because of water related illnesses.


There are some very little things that can make a big difference such as, a small drip from a faucet can waste about 1 gallon of water a day. That may not seem like much, but, when you are gone for maybe 3-4 days on vacation and you leave your faucet dripping just a little bit, your wasting over 3 gallons of water. Wouldn't it be better to use that water instead of wasting it? To me it would.


But what can you do to save water? These are very basic things, but once I tell you what the outcome is, you will really want to start doing these things. Here we go:

1.  When your brushing your teeth, don't let the water run from the faucet. Turn it off. By doing this you, will save 2 gallons of water!
2. Don't use your toilet as a trashcan! Never ever try to flush a cotton swab, a Kleenex, or any other item that you may regularly throw away in the toilet thinking that it is more convenient. By doing this you will save 5-7 gallons of water!
   
3.  Don't just start your dishwasher when it's not fully loaded, fill it up and then turn it on. By doing that you will save about 8 gallons of water!
4.  Instead of taking a bath all the time, just take a simple shower. You will save time and water. And exactly how much water? 106 gallons a week! So think about it and try to do that at least once or twice a month. It won't hurt, but it will actually help!

 You see. We can make a difference. Please remember that this is very important  and one person can do a lot! Water is important and without it we will die. Do you think that governments should adopt better water conservation policies or should it be up to each individual? Please leave your questions and comments! Thank you!

Anuja

Deforestation- Harmful or Not?

Deforestation. Another great danger to Mother Nature. What is it, though? Deforestation is to clear an area of forests or trees. Now if you think about it, trees produce Oxygen right? They suck up CO2 that we breathe out and use it to make Oxygen. Did you know that one tree can absorb up to 13 lbs. of CO2 a year? And who gets the benefits from this? HUMANS DO! Without Oxygen we couldn't even survive. And if you noticed that Deforestation means, "to clear an area of forest or trees", then we need to do something about it!
Deforestation is one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect. It is responsible for about 20% of the world's greenhouse gas transmissions, or transporting the gases to other places.
Some of the main causes of Deforestation are Logging, Mining, Oil and Gas extraction, cattle ranching, and Agricultural cash crops. Now that's a lot of reasons why Deforestation is occurring on our planet. It's time for us to think out of the box and realize what mistakes we are doing for ourselves and the next generation. If we have the chance right now to make everything better, then why don't we? There is a quote from the United Kingdom newspaper known as the "Times newspaper" that says, "if we lose the battle against tropical deforestation, we lose the battle against climate change."
There is a method of Deforestation called, "Slash and Burn." Slash and Burn is one method that makes no sense to me at all. Here is the easy but harmful procedure. Farmers cut down trees in one area of a rain forest or deciduous forest. Then they ignite the dead trees so that they will break down and create chemical nutrients. The chemical nutrients fertilize the soil which farmers then grow crops on for a short period of time- maybe a year or two. But then, the nutrients start to decrease, which leaves the soil empty and unable to grow crops. And then that land is wasted.
Deforestation mainly takes place in the rain-forests or deciduous forests. Now if you cut down all of the trees in those forests, your not just taking away trees but also many other plants and animals! Animals and plants also help humans survive. Deforestation is also disturbing the food chain!
Did you know that every second 2.4 acres of forests are cut down, which is equal to  two U.S. football fields! And then every minute, 149 acres! Every day, 214,000 acres! Which is equal to an area larger than New York City! And every week, you wouldn't even want to imagine this horrible number. 78 million acres of forests are cut down and destroyed every week! That's an area even larger than Poland! That's what I call a disaster!
So everyone, please do not treat this issue like nothing. It contains many valuable resources.
Tell your friends about this and maybe it will get to someone that will really make a great deal about it. Take care of trees and realize that they are very very VERY important resources. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about this global issue. Is it harmful or not to you? Thank you everyone and have a nice day!


Anuja