Le Brea Tar Pits

When we were in LA I really wanted to go to the La Brea Tar Pits.  I had heard about their Dire wolf collection and my favourite animal is the Dire wolf.  

Although the name sounds really exciting the La Brea Tar Pits aren't actually Tar Pits, they are Asphalt Seeps where large puddles of a sticky black substance called Asphalt has seeped up through cracks in the earth.  The reason they're so interesting is that over 10s of thousands of years lots of animals have become stuck in the Asphalt and died.  These include lots of extinct species like the Mammoth, the Sabre Tooth Cat and the Dire wolf.  So there are literally thousands of fossils in the museum and lots still in the seeps.  

This is an exercise where you had to try and pull up on a handle to free something from the tar.  It showed us just how sticky the tar was and we understood just how impossible it would have been for animals to escape it once they had stepped in it.

When we arrived we looked at some of the skeletons...

 A demonstrator even let us touch a replica of a Sabre tooth Cat Skull.  When we arrived we thought that Sabre Tooth Cats were called Sabre Tooth Tigers, but the demonstrator told us the proper name.

We learnt about teeth.  If a skull has sharp teeth that means the animal is a carnivore they need them for tearing through meat.  If a  skull has flat teeth that's an indication that the animal was a herbivore because it grinds the flat parts of it's teeth together to break up fibres in plants.  In other museums in London we have also been able to apply this knowledge when looking at other animal fossils.

I Ioved the Wooly Mamorth

And the hundreds of Dire Wolf Skulls!  

A really interesting part of the museum was the laboratory where the Paleontologists worked.  It was a round room with glass on every side so you could see in easily.

On display was a mouse toe bone and an elephant toe bone.  Even though they vary in size tremendously if you look at the mouse bone under a microscope you will see the SHAPE is nearly exactly the same.

These are claws from a saber-toothed cat.  In the past paleontologists believed that the claws were the same size on all of the toes.  But over time with new research methods they have realised they are different sizes going from large to small like our toes do.

Here are some of the tools used by the Palentologists.  There are old toothbrushes, ear buds, pencils, scissors and various brushes.  They also use a special acid to dissolve the asphalt.

They carefully sort and record the fossils they find.

This is one of the rooms where the thousands of fossils are carefully stored.

As you can see my little brother Patrick really liked the Mammoths.  And so did I!  I really had a great day and learnt lots of cool stuff.  It blew my mind how many fossils they found - especially when I saw the pits.  And how many they've still go to go.  (The collection is expected to double with just one of the new seeps they're working on called Project 23.)   

The asphalt seeps really are a unique place where nature has captured thousands of years worth of natural history.

Say NO To Palm Oil (A persuasive report)

Do you know that 50% of the things you buy from the Supermarket contain something that's ending lives?

In this report you will learn why we should stop using unsustainable palm oil. Palm oil is a vegetable oil made from the kernels of a Palm Tree.  There are three main reasons why I believe we should stop using unsustainable palm oil.

1. It's harming the environment.
2. It's endangering animals.
3. It's even affecting people.

Environment

One example of how Palm Oil affects the environment is that in order to grow palm trees, palm farmers cut and burn down lots and lots of rainforest for space.  In fact 36 football fields of rainforest are destroyed every minute.  If we keep going at this rate in 100 years there will be no rainforest left at all!  

Another example is that the amount of pollution (carbon) released by the forest fires is greater than the amount of carbon released by all the vehicles in the world combined!

This carbon is also a major contributor to Global Warming!

So because it is so terrible for the environment we should stop using palm oil.

Another reason I believe this is because it's endangering so many amazing animals.

Animals

For example the deforestation involved in palm production is causing a large amount of habitat loss for many poor, helpless creatures which means that they have nowhere to live and nothing to eat.

Another way palm oil affects animals is that the fires used to clear the rainforest spread so fast that animals can't out run them.  So, many of them either get killed in the fires or sustain injuries that prevent them from doing what they have to do to survive (e.g. hunt, exercise, forage for food, defend themselves etc).

My final example is that because the animals don't have anything to eat, they go close to or break into villages to find food. They can then be shot by villagers or farmers who are just trying to protect themselves and their food supply.

It's not just individual animals that are getting hurt, but it's happening on such a wide scale that entire species are becoming endangered!  Many of those of species are well known such as the Sumatran Tiger and Bornean Orangutang but there are also many not so commonly known species.  In fact if palm oil production around the world continues at it's current rate 28,000 species will be extinct within 25 years!

So because it's endangering so many amazing animals we should stop using horrible, unsustainable palm.

The final reason I believe we need to stop using palm is that it is even endangering us as people!

People

For example, innocent people are being forced into SLAVERY at the palm farms and even CHILDREN are being forced into labour in some places!

Another astonishing yet 100% true example is that indigenous people are being forced from their homes and lands so that the land can be burned to nothing just so some greedy companies will have space just to grow a stupid vegetable oil!

But that's not all.  Another example is that loads of local people are suffering from nasty health effects such as severe fevers, burns and respiratory problems from the heat and smoke!

Not only are people being affected locally but other people even in different countries are being affected too.  In Singapore people are even having to wear masks to filter all the pollution just to do everyday chores because of all the haze released by fires all the way in Indonesia.  In 2015 air levels reached hazardous levels (the worst it can get) because of all the smoke released.  Because of this many people are getting breathing problems such as lung disease.  In these countries schools are sometimes shut down and people are being frequently advised not to go outdoors because of the amount of toxic pollution during this time.

So because it's harming people I believe we should stop using the worst vegetable oil in the world.  (PALM!)

In this report you have learned why unsustainable palm oil is so bad.  You learned why it's terrible for the environment, animals and people.

All of this doesn't have to happen!  There are many better alternatives such as sustainable palm oil and other vegetable oils.   

So what can you do?

Next time you go to the Supermarket check the ingredients list on the things you buy for palm oil.  (Even things like peanut butter and cosmetics).  It is in roughly 50% (HALF) of all products on supermarket shelves!  Then if you see palm as one of the ingredients, choose not to buy that product.  Because if customers don't buy palm oil, manufacturers will have less demand for their products.  In turn they will need less palm oil and so won't buy as much from producers.  Then the producers won't destroy as much rain forest to make space to grow palm trees.  

So you have the power to save the environment, animals and even human beings if you just choose to say "NO!" to palm!

Writing a Mystery Novel

During the UK school holidays there was a writing workshop on with a company called Chelsea Young Writers.  Last year I did a day course but this year I went along for a whole week of writing.  

This year I did the workshop with a famous author named Alan Durant who had just written his 100th book.  The theme for the week was 'Mystery' so we learned about the elements of a mystery novel, did writing exercises to practise examples of mystery writing and wrote our own mystery novels.

This is my class and our teacher.

 On the last day the parents came and we all read an extract from our stories. This is me reading my extract in front of the whole audience.

After I completed the course I got this certificate.

Since then I have been working really on editing my story.   I have also made some big changes and improvements to the plot.  My writing goals for this term were: 

1) To punctuate with better accuracy, checking for full stops and capital letters.  
We have been doing touch typing practise every day since we got to the UK, so I'm using my touch typing skills to type up my story myself. This is giving me a really good opportunity to work on this.

2) Include thoughts and feelings.

I have added lots more detailed descriptions and made sure I included descriptions of the characters' thoughts and feelings.

3) Use a variety of sentence lengths and structures.

I am also trying to do this and am trying to work out how to use these effectively.  I am trying to use shorter sentences for impact especially when I'm writing a particularly suspense-filled piece.


I want to be able to finish my story so I can self-publish it and sell it.  So watch this space!

Look Out for Palm

Every year when we come to London we spend some of our time learning about Palm Oil.  Palm oil is a vegetable oil used in roughly 50% of products in the supermarket.  But in order to grow Palm trees to get palm oil, large companies cut and burn down rainforest to make room to plant palm farms.

We found a really powerful add that shows the impact on just one animal.  

If you want to help these animals the  main thing you can do is check the ingredients in the products you buy at the supermarket for palm oil and only buy products with either no palm oil or sustainable palm oil.  Palm oil is in food, soaps and other products.  The difficult thing is that some companies 'hide' the palm oil by giving it different names.

Here is a link to some of the names: Alternative names for Palm Oil


Please share this video to help spread Palm Oil Awareness.