Hi there! We are working on a tree sustainability project in LA, and here’s what I am supposed to post about it:

Firstly, let me tell you about the story of Smokey the bear, a prominent wild fire awareness figure. Smokey was just a small cub when a raging forest fire swept through his forest, leaving him orphaned and badly burned. Around 17,000 acres were burned in that fire, which was all due to a careless camper. Fire-fighters found Smokey clinging to a burnt tree, and took him back to be saved. Before long he was on the road to recovery. Once Smokey was healed, he became a national wild-fire awareness figure, and posters were made of him. He has remained a symbol of that ever since.

Next, here are some tree facts I found!

Ten Tree Facts:

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

2. Trees remove pollution from the atmosphere, improving air quality and human health. 

3. In Los Angeles, trees remove nearly 2,000 tons of air pollution each year. 

4. In Chicago, trees remove more than 18,000 tons of air pollution each year. 

5. In Greater Kansas City, trees remove 26,000 tons of air pollution each year. 

6. Roadside trees reduce nearby indoor air pollution by more than 50%.

7. Tree rings can predict climate change.

8. Planting trees can help reduce your energy costs

9. Some trees have been to the moon.

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

Here is a photo of a mini tree poster I made for this assignment:

Lastly, here are three questions I am going to answer:

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

It is very important to learn about the benefits of trees because that way we are more likely to help protect them. Forests are extremely vital not only our survival, but also the Earth itself.

Who is responsible for conserving forests?

We are all responsible for conserving forests. We can each help, although it may not seem like it.

What are you doing to help? (talk about a specific idea or plan).

My family uses cloth napkins instead of paper napkins, to cut down on paper use. We also try to be very aware about how much paper products we use, and where they come from.

How can you encourage others to do the same?

Even just asking someone to try and be more aware of where things like paper products can help, even if in a small way. Just giving a bit more time to thinking about something can make a big difference if most of us try. Convincing some people can sometimes be just as easy as putting up a poster in a school hallway that makes them think more about even their smallest actions.

That’s all for day!

5/24/21

What’s In a Name?

Hi there! Today I am going to be talking about the tree that I adopted for LA, among other things. The tree hasn’t changed whatsoever since I adopted it, which makes sense because trees take a long time to grow. It’s army of leaves had already come in by the time I ‘adopted’ it, so I can’t really describe a noticeable difference in appearance.

Now onto the second topic: My name and how I got it. My name, Sophie, means wisdom (Not sure if that name fits me). Jokes aside, I got my name simply because my mother liked it. She had a list of names and thought that Sophie was pretty and unique. Just wait a few months and suddenly people were naming their children Sophie left, right, and center. Although my name may seem to lack originality, I assure you, it wasn’t intended to be that way. Either way, I’m the original so hah.

Alright, final topic of the day! Below I have composed a dialogue between my adopted tree child and one of my many hens (yes, yes, I know, a chicken, is that all you can do? What can I say, it was that or a grasshopper, for some reason the wildlife decided to hide when I needed a picture).

The Dialogue:

Trees are not what comes to mind when one thinks of a talkative creature. And for good reasons, they’re not. Most trees, in my limited experience, are quiet, reserved even. This short story of sorts is not about such a tree, however. This story, my dear reader, is about a rather irascible sycamore named Hemlock. Generally, trees are some of the most amiable beings that I have come across. Not Hemlock. Does his perpetual irritation stem from the desire to diverge from the stereotypes, I am want to know. He has an air of annoyance that billows from him in thick clouds of words and silence. Call me pessimistic, but he is the type of tree that if sees a glass half-full, will immediately dump out the contents (he only even lets the glass be half full in the first place. As you may observe, it’s a rather cynical cycle). It is my firm suspicion that Hemlock chose such an ironic name simply to spite the world. He is a sycamore, if you may remember.

Enough about that though, where are my manners? I am Piper, and no I am not a fellow tree. In fact, I am not even a creature of the wild (though I’d like to think of myself as one if only I could). I am, in fact, a hen. Yes, you heard that right. A hen that converses with ill-tempered shrubs. Hard to believe, I know, I know, but this is a true recounting of true events, and true beings.  Another thing about Hemlock; he is brutally honest. His overall lack of care for others feelings is really what makes him an interesting character. He will say what he thinks, and nothing but. I met him on one of my first excursions into the small woods that resides next to the human’s dwelling. A quick observation: humans are awfully strange. It is simply the truth. They live in massive dens which are far larger than they could ever need, and they have growling monsters that crawl out from their dens and chew up the grass. Now, why on this  green place would you ever need something that cuts the grass, but doesn’t eat it? Simply wasteful, in my opinion. Nevertheless, Hawthorn has endless complaints about humans. He pulls them out of the smallest of deeds and weaves into massive quilts of wrong-doing, then flings it over all who surround him.

Now, how, you may ask, did a hen like myself get to a woods where wild creatures lurk in the shadows? I walked. There is no better answer. The rather tetchy tree of which this story revolves around was located on the edge of the tiny forest, his bark melded with a neighbor’s rougher surface (perhaps being permanently attached to another living creature has made him sour. To be fair, some trees can be real toads when it comes to vying for energy).

Either way, our meeting was not your average introduction of two future friends. I was quite new to the small section of woods on which my humans allowed me to roam, and did not know proper tree edoquet (it is a very important life skill, I have learned). I was simply scratching about under a particularly insect-infested section of ground, minding my own business when I heard an irritated whisper of branches from above. “Yeah, go ahead, just tear up my floor why don’t you. Not a problem, not like you’re accidently ripping the life out of the seeds I have dropped ever so tenderly near my roots. Posterity, pfft, just kill them. Why not, it’s not like they can talk yet.They obviously don’t have feelings. Oh, no.” My head shot up and peered around in bewilderment.

 “Oh shut up you impudent sapling,” snapped another croaky rustle of leaves.

“Oh, just impudent? No, no, I assure you, I am impolite, insolent, and down right impertinent. And that’s only the I’s.”

One of the trees directly above my head gave a huffy sigh, “Honestly, I don’t know why I bother.” I looked up cautiously, downright confounded.

 “Oh, dear, where are my manners?” The tree swayed slightly, seeming a bit abashed. I promptly jumped back and tripped over one of the tree’s roots. “Don’t be scared, we don’t bite,” said the second tree kindly. “I am Ash, and this rupugnant lump of wood is Hawthorn.” I was so utterly flabbergasted at this point that I could hardly move. “And I’m the disagreeable one,” muttered the first tree.

“Don’t mind him, deary,  he was ingested by some kind of bird as a seedling and came out the wrong way up. I also suspect he hit the ground too hard when he fell from the bird.”

The first tree made a low rustle-growling noise at the other one that made me take a hurried step back.

“Oh, yeah, never guessed trees could talk, eh? Yeah, yeah, not like anything else other than you in this vast world could possibly have feelings, no, no, not at all.” It seemed to be talking to me again, and I fluffed up rather indignantly at his accusation.

 “Why—-I—-I never—— how dare you——”

The tree cut me off, “Nobody cares hen, nobody cares. Either way, next time you decide to go tearing about someone’s roots, don’t make it my roots.” I was extremely affronted by the manner of this peevish shrubbery, and although I am not at all someone who ever has a good comeback, I would not be talked to in such a way. “Why you stuck-up twig! How dare you treat me in such a way, you—-you——you—-filth?” My voice trailed up and off at the end, making my attempted insult more of a question. If trees had eyebrows, Hemlock would have been raising his sceptically. How do I know this? He was practically radiating the idea of the gesture.

 “You really have a way with words, hen,” he said, voice laced with sarcasm. I fluffed my feathers even more, absolutely brimming with rage. “Hemlock, be polite!” scolded his neighbor. “Anyway, deary, what’s your name?” Ash seemed to be talking to me, which meant I was obligated to answer. (I am, if anything, always polite). “I am Piper,” I said truthfully.

“Now how did a little hen like you get such a name?” asked Ash questioningly. That was a good question. For a chicken to even know if the existence of sand pipers when she lives nowhere near any of them is quite unusual.

 “A seagull that was passing through the area was complaining about them, and I asked him what they were.”

“Ah, seagulls, dreadful birds.”

“That we can agree on,” piped in Hawthorn. “All they do is squawk on and on about how they are and their lives, couldn’t care less about others. Quite selfish creatures.”

Now it was my turn to ask a question. “You’ve met more than one seagull?” Hawthorn’s branches rustled uncomfortably. “Well, I’ve met one, nevertheless, I am perfectly qualified to talk about them.”

“Oh, yes,” said Ash sarcastically. “Completely versed in the way of seagulls, are you? Just listen to this stick, Piper.”

Hawthorn did not seem to enjoy being called a stick, at all. “Stick? Stick? Oh, you want to go down that road do you?” Those comments quickly turned into a fully fledged verbal war, which quickly turned into an everlasting friendship between tree and bird. What fickle beings we are, indeed.

Although you can’t tell it, my hen is actually quite close to the tree, but I couldn’t get them both in.

—————————————————————————————————-

Ah, that was a longggggg. Either way, that’s it! I am trying to write in a different style, so sorry if it isn’t great. My story is a bit different than most everyone’s due to the fact that I am remote.

Alright! Have a great day, guys!

Hi everyone! Here is my assigned blog post for today. We each read a short book/story with trees as a main factor, and then answered the questions below. I read the (longish) short-story, The Fir Tree, by Hans Christian Andersen.

1. What is the title of your story? The Fir Tree
2. Who is the author? Hans Christian Andersen
3. Who are the main characters? The Fir Tree
4. What is the plot or storyline of the story? (a short summary is fine here) The story is about a young fir tree, who wishes for more in life, and does not rejoice in what he already has.
5. What role do trees play in the story? A tree is the main character.
6. What is the central conflict of the story? The central conflict is that the fir tree does not appreciate what he already has until it is all too late.
7. What is the outcome or solution to the conflict? The outcome is the tree finally learns to appreciate his youth and all he had before at the end of his life when the humans burn him.
8. How are trees used in the story? (main character, prop for action, metaphor or symbol?). Trees are used as the main character.
9. What is the overall message that is conveyed in the story? The overall message of this story is to appreciate what you have, and rejoice in your life as it is.
10. What should readers learn from reading this story? They should learn that to always want more does not lend itself to our happiness, it takes away from us and doesn’t let us appreciate what we have in the moment.
11. Take a picture of the cover or a page of your book- add it to your blog.
12. 

Today I am going to be talking about a school project I had: The Book Tree Project. In a normal, non-covid year, the 6th grade would do a Hero Book project, a huge project about someone who has greatly influenced/impacted our lives. It would be presented to that person. There would be interviews and much writing, but this year, things had to be done a bit differently. There are several parts of the project we did instead: The art and the writing parts. We had to make our Tree Books, and then do three writing parts for them. Let’s first talk about the making of the books: Since I am a remote learner, I wasn’t in school all the time when everyone else was working on this. For instance, I missed the screen printing. The day I did come in we did aukua printing, which is a very interesting process. We got natural materials such as leaves and flowers, covered a ‘jelly’ mat with organic aukua paint, and pressed them. We used a brayer for this process (think something that looks a bit like a paint roller). First, we painted the jelly mat, then set the organics (plants and such)onto it, placed a sheet of paper on top, and pressed them with the brayer. We then peeled off the paper and the result was really beautiful! Next, we cut out the covers for our book trees. They could then stand on their own! After that, we collaged the books with the ‘aukuaed’paper. Finally we collaged envelopes that we were going to attach to our books in the same way we collaged the books. The envelopes were for the writing that we did. As there were three pieces of writing, there were three envelopes. We attached them to our books and then placed the pieces of writing in them. Alright, to the writing portion: We wrote the first writing piece before we even started our actual books. It was a tree poem which we did on a Google doc as a class. After that we made a poem about when Covid is over. It was titled, ‘When this is over’. Both of these pieces were very interesting to do, and I really enjoyed them! The final section of writing was a ‘solute to my roots’. Instead of the normal, huge project about one person who has greatly influenced your life, we did a paragraph about (at least) for people who have impacted our lives. To clarify, each of the four people got a long/decent length paragraph or their own. At the end we printed each piece out and put them in their own envelope on the Tree Book.

Here is a little photoshoot of my book “in the wild”:

And that’s it!

Have a lovely day peeps!

Hi everyone! In LA we did a fingerprint project, where we identified our own, and then collected some facts about them! Here are 8 cool facts about fingerprints:

1: No one has the same two fingerprints, they are completely unique.

2: Fingerprints form from pressure on a baby’s developing fingers while in the womb.

3: Fingerprints never change as people age

4: Fingerprints are more unique than our DNA

5: Twins can have the same DNA, but not the same fingerprints

6: Fingerprinting is a form of biometrics

7: Fingerprinting can be used to find people who committed crimes

8: There are several different types of fingerprints