The children’s reflections are poignant and powerful, showing a deep care for the ocean. Their voices reflect a wisdom beyond their years…
Long Form Reflections
My Way of the Water
Beginning
This is my journey through the water. I will be telling you about what I’ve learned through my classes at Hawthorne , my journeys, the Hawaiian shipwrecks and the learning experience. My journey started when my teacher Sra. Glickley talked to us about marine life and how the world before us lived under water. In my opinion, our earth should be taken care of a little better because there are plants in the water that help us breathe, but not for long, because those plants are dying. This is happening because our community is throwing their trash in the ocean which is killing these plants.
What I have learned:
President Biden has been helping our oceans by protecting certain parts of it like the pacific reef. My teacher Sra. Glickley went to Hawaii researching microplastics that are also killing the plants. She went with her partners Jenny Adler , Justin Dunnavant , Sruthi Gurudev, Dominic Bush and Jason Raupp. They went on the EV nautilus to explore the plane wrecks of WWII. They also found tiny microplastics in the sand in Hawaii. My class went to the Falls of Ohio for a field trip. We learned about the Devonian period. We also learned about the creatures in that period and how they survived. One example from the Devonian period is there was a plant called a horn coral. The ridges on a horn coral were made by storms. Another thing we learned was that all of the fossil beds are connected and the world has many connections to each other. Justin Donavants quote was to “Remember,Remind, and Restore. To me that means we need to remember the past, meaning our earth was under water . (The Devonian period appeared.)
Remind means to remind other people that we need to take care of our earth. Like I said in the beginning we have plants in our oceans that are helping us breathe. But they are dying because people are throwing trash in the ocean. Lastly, Restore means that we need to restore our earth the way it was before. (keep it healthy and safe for us to live in.)
Projects about the ocean
Some projects to go along with my experience are in art class. We made corals from the Devonian period.
I made a crinoid. A crinoid is a sea flower from the Devonian period. Crinoids are filter-feeding echinoderms.
We used clay and water to make our corals. Another project that we made was “seaweed”. In this project we used a metal hanger, panty hose, and a block of wood . Then we put a mod podge on it to make it white. Then we put a pattern on the seaweed with blue, purple, and other types of blues.
How we can help
Some ways I know we can help is by picking up trash you see around the ocean and even in the ocean. We can also donate some money to the associations that help our oceans be clean. An association that does this kind of work is “The Ocean Conservatory” and also “The Environmental Defense Fund” etc. There are many different ways you can help clean our oceans. If you live near an ocean, invite some friends to help you clean the trash up to save the oceans. Remember, the ocean has plants that help you breathe so if you want to still be able to have oxygen you need to help clean the ocean.
Closing
Finally, this has been an amazing experience to learn about the world and what it had to offer from the past. Thank you to my teachers who have led me through this experience. The key quote people have to remember is “Remember Remind and Restore” - Justin Dunnavant
By Ruby Y.
What Do We Want
Have you ever felt passionate for everyone and everything? Well if you have this is the perfect thing to read! I know that our community and the land around us is important but I’ve noticed that people tend to care for land more than they care for water. When we take our environment for granted, our earth becomes damaged in ways that effect wildlife, oxygen, and much more. Did you know that people around the world litter anytime anywhere? Well, what I have learned about these people is they think “ I don’t live here in the ocean so it's not important or I don’t care about it”
What we probably don’t realize is that some of our oxygen comes from the ocean. This is because of some plants located under water. While I was at the Falls of the Ohio I learned that a long time ago “ all of our land used to be covered with the ocean”.. Now that we have been greedy, our waters have been polluted in ways that have been proven very hard to fix, just like Dr. Dunnavant we need to remember the oceans once filled our community we need to remind each other what our earth could look like if we worked together. If the earth is connected then we should be too. Finally we need to restore the full beauty of our waters and land. All I know is there's know limits on helping our home. Did you know some people choose green over blue but the truth is both have helped everyone and everything for generations and generations to come. Thank you for your time and I hope you have learned something!
If you have read my entire article you know that the earth needs as much help as it can get and that help starts today with you. You don't have to do anything huge, even the small things count . I just want you to know helping the earth is helping yourself. Thank you for your time and I hope you have learned something!