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1. ZOO By Laura Kate
My name is Bob from the planet Gastron 7. Two days ago, I crash landed on a planet called Earth. There are life forms here, like the ones I have read about. I think they are called humans. When I crashed on the surface of this planet, I found myself in the middle of a field. A little ways off, I could see some sort of structure with humans walking in and out of it. As I got closer, the sign read “ZOO.” I have studied a few of the languages that humans speak, and I believe this word, “zoo,” is in English; however, I have no idea what it means. I decided to wait until nightfall to enter this zoo, and see why the humans were so enthused by it.
I climbed over the fences to enter the zoo, and in front of me were multiple pathways leading off in different directions. I decided to start with the one on the left. There were no lights to guide me, and I quickly found myself almost running straight into a fence. I was quite confused by the placement of this fence when suddenly, I saw something moving beyond it. At first, I thought it was some sort of monster. The creature was very tall, gold, and covered with brown spots. I was fascinated by this life form, which I had never read about in any of my studies of Earth. I continued to watch the creature for a few more minutes, and then proceeded on my path.
I came to another fence, and beyond it was a pond with some sort of strange looking creatures standing in it. Their bodies were pink, and they each had a long, thin neck with a beak at the end. These life forms had extremely thin legs as well, which made them appear very elegant. I watched as they stood in the water, while some walked around their environment.
Realizing that these fences were a reoccuring thing, I began to look out for them. I came to one enclosure after another, and observed these strange creatures. Each one was different from the next, and I found them all to be quite fascinating. Some were gigantic, gray, and wrinkly with long noses and big ears. Others were large, white, and furry, with black spots on their bodies and around their ears and eyes. Still others were black and hairy with long arms and silver backs. Finally, there were some even smaller creatures that stood upright, with black and white bodies, beaks, and wings.
Each one of these life forms was unique, yet beautiful. I decided I rather enjoyed this spot called “ZOO,” and I did not leave until I had discovered every corner of this magical place. When I finally didget back to Gastron 7, I told everyone that humans are real, and about all of the wonderful creatures that inhabit the Earth at a place called “ZOO.”
2. Which do you think is more important: motorized vehicles like cars and airplanes or computer? By Rachel Garrison
The first powered vehicle was invented by Richard Trevithick in 1801, it was called the ‘Puffing Devil’ and it wasan “experiemental steam driven carriage”. This was the moment when the world would be changed for the better. Ever since this day, as a nation, we have grown tremendously in this category and there are so many im-portant things to show for it. All motorized vehicles: cars, planes, boats; these things all help with transportation, shipping, emergencies, and military. Even though these are only the more well known and widespread elements, there are still so many more reasons why motorized vehicles are more important that computers.
When going from place to place, it is always nice to walk or ride a bike down the street, but what happens when you need to travel for long distances or through bad weather? Taking a motorized vehicle for transportation in these circumstances is critical due to ones safety and health. Considering that walking and riding a bike are both very healthy things to do, but in moderation. Doing these things for long periods of time can be unhealthy due to the fact that you are putting excessive stress on your muscles and could potentially damage them, especially if you need to bring more things than you can carry. This is where the next element comes in.
Having transportation for shipping or carrying large loads is one of the top reasons why motorized vehicles are more important than computers. From things such as building a bridge or shipping materials you need some sort of way to get all of the materials from point A to point B. Even though people may say that this is minor, I believe that this is truly important due to the fact that not every material you need for a project could be within range for someone to build something. We wouldn’t be able to travel overseas or be able to learn from the people in different countries because we wouldn’t be able to get there safely.
The final elements that I believe help support my opinion that motorized vehicles are more important than com-puters is emergencies and military. I decided to group these two elements together as one because they are both one in the same. Having transportation that is fast and/or reliable to people in military, EMT’s , police, firefight-ers make the world a safer place. For example, using an ambulance makes it to where the person in need gets to the hospital in time to save their life or the firefighters can get to your house in time before it goes up in flames. The military is the same, having to travel through rough or dangerous, conditions in unprotected areas. Using a tank is both of these scenarios is very important because of the protected armor that the tank provides and also the traction of the wheels that they use, making it easier to travel over rough landscapes.
Motorized vehicles are a very important thing in our communities today and these are only some of the reasons as to why. Understanding the overlooked details, in this case the quality of life, supports my reasoning for pick-ing motorized vehicles over computers.
1. “Richard Trevithick introduces his “Puffing Devil”.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ricard-trevithick-introduces-his-puffing-devil. Accessed 30 Sept. 2017
3. Our Day at the Zoo - By Preston Luk
Once upon a time I visited the zoo with my niece. My niece begged and begged for us to go because she wanted to see her favorite animal, the tall spotted neck. I finally gave in to the little monster and off we went.
When we first got to the zoo, we had to search all around to find that tall spotted neck. While searching, we heard a loud roar and went to see what it was. It was that big mane sharp teeth that were making all that noise. My niece was so impressed on how loud he could roar that we were there for hours.
Afterwards we were getting hungry, so we decided to get a quick snack. All a sudden we heard a loud noise like a trumpet, and stomping that shook the earth. We ran an around the corner to find it was a great gray long nose big ears. One of the wisest of animals, that never forgets. It almost captured all of her attention when out of the corner of our eyes, we saw something looking over the fence at us.
It was the tall spotted neck that my niece was on a quest to see. We walked over to the pin to see this animal looking down at us like we were ants. My niece got the biggest smile to finally see her favorite animal in person for the first time. She could not contain her excitement and curiosity about the tall spotted neck that we were there for the rest of the day.
Finally went it was the time for the zoo to close. We had to get kicked out just to get her to leave, along with some bridling. On the way home, she said that I was her favorite uncle and that this is the best day she has ever had. We both left the zoo that day feeling great and exhausted, never to return again.
4. Pretend you get to make one rule that everyone in the world must follow. What rule do you make and why? By Kira Kowolik
We are affected by people’s actions, it’s a kinetic cycle of action and reaction between beings. In this current society of with racial tension, the only way to alleviate hatred is for the government to prevent more violence with a worldwide solution. By creating a utopia for people to experience true happiness and peace. We can control this utopia by following one simple rule; treat others with kindness. Not just kindness, but a true understanding that we are all equals, and deserve respect.
Why would this rule make the world different? Turn on any media outlet and there will be a story about violence or terror somewhere in the world. Corrupted political leaders give people the idea that violence is okay, which provokes more destruction. If everyone would follow a law that would benefit society, what would happen then?
The world would experience a revolutionary change if this rule went into place. Less racial prejudice, lower crime, homelessness rates and poverty. If everyone cared about people’s wellbeing as their own we would have open doors to freedom and create a new way of life. Peace for humankind has been a challenging goal over the decades, and if it is achieved it is always short lived.
With so much revolution in our technology, and advancements in society the one thing that we haven’t fixed is our blatant disregard of each other as humans. People take advantage, lash out, and start the vicious cycle of unnecessary violence. The world is so close to war, it’s only a missile away from destroying life as we know it. It’s uncertain when or even if there will be another war, but fighting in its entirety will never stop unless people change.
It’s in the worst moments that people are brought together out of shared empathy, sadness, or anger. Humans have an amazing ability to grow stronger as they are unified; supporting each other in the most challenging difficulties. It’s this ability that can overcome hatred, racism, and violence. In the moments where this weakness is shown, it becomes a shared strength. If kindness was an actual law, our society would be blessed with knowing our world is at peace with each other.
5. Eryn Speer
“What’s that bright light? Where am I? What’s going on?” These were the thoughts swirling around in James’ head as he arose. As James started to stand up from where he had been sleeping, he felt a sharp pain in his back. Soon, he realized that not only had he been lying on the ground, but a jagged rock had also been cutting into his lower back. He winced as he stood. “There’s that light again” he thought to himself, shielding his eyes from the lightthis hand as he looked up to see. The light was not hot; it gave off absolutely no heat. In fact, James was neither hot nor cold, he was perfectly comfortable. “Am I inside? No. I can’t be. I was just lying on the ground” James thought. Still waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light, James tried to get his bearings. Slowly, he began to look around. There were trees, bushes, grass, a stream, the small area of dirt and rocks he was standing in, and the light; still no heat, but too bright to look into. The light was straight up in the middle of the sky. “It must be around noon.” James thought.
Suddenly, a disturbing feeling came over him, something wasn’t right. “It’s too quiet.” James thought. Even in his own head he knew that sounded cliché, but it was true. Immediately he began to notice everything that was missing. There was no breeze, no voices from any other people, even the wasn’t really a stream. “The stream isn’t even moving, it’s more like a pond.” James realized. Cautiously he began to touch the grass, the trees, and the water. “If I’m not outside, all of these things cant be real,” but he was wrong. The grass, the trees, the water, leaves, dirt, rocks, everything was as real as could be and perfectly healthy. James, still uncertain as to what was happening, began to walk.
He walked out of the dirt, across a small grassy clearing, and to the woods. Contemplating whether or not to go into the woods alone, he stood still, nervous. After about a minute, he decided to continue, he needed to find out where he was. However, after about twenty feet into the woods, he ran into something so hard it made him fall down backwards. “What the heck!” he shouted, although there was nothing and no one there to hear him. He stood up, and began taking small steps very slowly with his hands held out in front of him, and sure enough, there it was! His right palm hit it first, what felt like a cold, hard wall, only to James his hand looked like it was held out in midair. He began to move his hand to the right, and the wall kept going. Walking with his hands out to the side now, he started walking faster and faster. The wall, he realized, was curved and he started to feel himself walking in a rather large circle. James, soon out of the woods, was walking in the stream. He continued to follow the wall out of the stream, through the grassy clearing and back to where he started. He guessed the circle was about a hundred feet in diameter.
Tired and hungry and confused, James retreated back to the clearing. He decided it was more of a meadow than a clearing. He started to take notice of everything around him. There were so many types of beautiful flowers and plants, but it still didn’t change the fact that James was trapped. A few hours went by, then suddenly the ground, about thirty feet away from him, began to shake. A crack appeared on the ground and light began to flood in through the crack. This was a different type of light than the one overhead, a light more natural. “Sunlight?” James thought. The crack began moving upwards and James realized it must be the wall he had felt previously. He approached it carefully with his hands out in front of him just as before. His hands hit the surface, James heart dropped, “Still trapped” he thought. But as his eyes adjusted to the light streaming in, he saw the strangest sight. He was looking out of some sort of a window at a few odd looking creatures.
The creatures were all different shapes and sizes. Short and tall, skinny and fat, most had four legs, some had tails, and all were covered in fur. The first he saw had a very long neck and was tall will spots all over the body. Another had a long tail and was hanging by it, upside down from a tree. Another creature came by the window, closer than the others. This one was small and wasn’t walking but “hopping?” James thought. The creature’s ears were much larger than the rest of its body. More and more continued to come. James couldn’t do anything but watch, jaw open, confused. They seemed to be coming towards him, but they all stopped before they hit the window. They were all staring. Soon there was a large crowd of the creatures standing before him. Next came static from an intercom, it was coming from the other side of the window, but James could still hear it. To the right of the window James could see one of the creatures standing on a podium. This one was very large, larger than all the others, and gray. It had the biggest ears James had ever seen and a long tube protruding from its face. Then it spoke, and James realized that whatever it was, it was female. The creature had a soft, higher pitch voice, but it spoke with authority.
She said, “Hello everyone! Welcome to the Brooklyn Zoo and happy Freedom Day! As you know, on this day fifty years ago our friends and family stood up and fought for us to be able to live as we wish, and what a day that was! The Brooklyn Zoo would like to thank you all for coming it its unveiling of the first display! James was born here at the zoo and has been living with us for 32 years! As you all are aware, up until now the zoo has just been used as a place of housing for their kind, but today that all changes! We wiped his memory yesterday to give him a more unique and pure experience here in the meadow display. If he seems a little confused and skittish, do not be alarmed, just proceed to the glass slowly. James is currently in a state-of-the-art display. While the curtains are down, his enclosure looks to him as if it goes on for miles, however if the curtains are raised, as they are now, he will be able to see us through the front part of the enclosure, but the back part will appear as usual. It is his kind that used to keep us locked up, but since Freedom Day and thanks to our ancestors, we have been able to live our lives as they are meant to be! That’s why for the 50th anniversary we decided to reopen the Brooklyn Zoo but this time we will stand proudly on the outside looking in! So without further ado, the moment we have been waiting for, for so long, JAMES!”
