On what do you base your opinions?

Recently we celebrated Columbus Day. Many of the contemporaries of Christopher Columbus believed that the world was flat. We know today that they were wrong. However, many of them were basing their opinions on the best information available to them at the time.

Imagine being a young student in 1430. Everybody you know believes that the world is flat. Your parents believe that the world is flat. Your teachers believe that the world is flat. You can see with your eyes that the part of the earth where you live is flat. One day somebody tells you that the world is curved. How would you react? On what would you base your belief or disbelief?

Use good words to write better

1. The pig sat near the courthouse.

2. Cleverly disguised as a judge, the pig rested in the shade of a small maple in front of the courthouse.

3. Porky looked nervously around, wondering whether Fred the Farmer would recognize him in his costume and regretting choosing such a public place for his meeting with Chewy the Chicken.


All of the sentences above describe the picture. Which sentence do you like best? Why? Re-write sentence one to make it more descriptive. Feel free to add extra information that reveals more of the plot of the story (use sentence 3 as a guide).

Pig farm

Family farm

A bonanza of information

Click on the picture above to get all kinds of great information on corporate farming. In Gaia Girls Elizabeth does a little research into corporate farming, figuring that the more she knows the better she'll be able to defend her family's farm. What is the main benefit of corporate farming? Who reaps this benefit? What are two costs of corporate farming? Who bears these costs? Is this fair?

By the way, STC dudes, in eighth grade you'll take a field trip on which you'll learn all about the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Cooperstown is at the northern-most edge of the waters that feed the Chesapeake Bay, so water quality issues from farms here have a direct effect on water quality around the Bay. It's important to leisure activities and delicious crabs that people 500 miles from you take good care of their water!

How's the Weather?

As we move deeper into autumn, the weather can vary widely from being gorgeous to being downright miserable. What are some of your favorite outdoor autumn activities? How does the weather affect your enjoyment of these activities?

For example, I enjoy playing soccer in the autumn, and I find that even playing in cool weather is quite enjoyable, since my running around warms me up. However, a cold rain makes playing soccer outside completely unappealing to me.

Recess - good or bad?

Read the article below. What are Anthony's strongest two points? Do you agree with him, or are you skeptical of his argument?

Anthony Pantalena

Age 13

Recess

Some schools are taking away recess from kids, but that may hurt them more then help. Recess helps students focus, and can improve your school’s reputation. Also, students with recess have better social skills. Recess should be a part of the curriculum of HKMS. Studies at Texas University have shown that kids who have recess work better in school than kids who don’t. The studies show that kids need a break to run around after a lot of work. Then they will be less stressed and more focused on stuff like class work. Like one time I had a ton of homework on the weekend, and taking breaks after finishing something helped me to keep relaxed and stay focused. Also, the brain needs down time to recycle chemicals that help long term memory. This way, they will remember about a lesson a teacher gave, a project that is due, or what homework is due. Overall, recess will help the kids have better grades in every class.

Because kids will get better grades, recess should help your school to get a better reputation. People looking for a place to move would look to Easton for their wonderful school reputation. Thus, more people would move to the great town of Easton, bringing more money to our town because more people means more people buying houses, property, and paying taxes. Also, more kids in our school would mean more friends for everyone, for everyone would find new friends in the new kids.

Recess gives kids a taste of the real world. In recess, kids have to learn how to resolve conflicts on their own, without adult help. Also, they learn how to work with each other, and cooperate. Like if there is a controversial incident in a game, the teams must work it out with each other. This gives the kids a taste of the real world, because they will have to work it out without any adult help, and that is what life is like. This will help the kids build character, and make more friends. Making recess go back in HKMS should make these kids grow in to good, responsible young adults.

So overall, recess helps kids concentrate, raises your reputation, and if you don’t do it, bullying will increase. I hope that this has convinced you to add recess to HKMS.

© Copyright 2007 Anthony Pantalena (UN: tonythetiger at Writing.Com). All rights reserved. Anthony Pantalena has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.