The destruction we cause (natural disasters)

by Melvin Prudente

People harm the Earth, but they do not realize that when they harm the Earth, they also harm themselves. One of the main effects of us harming the Earth is the increase in natural disasters, such as tornadoes, blizzards, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. Natural disasters are natural events that take away human life or damage human property.

At least 80 people die from tornadoes each year, and at least 19 people die from hurricanes. According to ScienceLine.edu, “Over 1000 tornadoes occur each year mainly in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and eastern Colorado.” Scientists say that 200 more natural disasters can happen per year because of pollution, especially the appearance of warm or cold fronts in unexpected places.

Pollution is one of the causes of global warming. The increased pollutants in the atmosphere can   damage the ozone layer. This creates the unexpected cold & warm fronts, which creates floods, tornadoes and hurricanes. Scientists have collected data that the more polluted places in the USA are 20% more likely to have tornadoes, hurricanes and flash floods. How would you feel if these natural disasters were to take your family member’s life?

The government has agreed to create many factories in the US that cost many thousands of dollars each. They don’t realize that the effects of pollution can cause disasters that will waste a lot more money. EF5 tornadoes (otherwise known as a Category 5 tornado, which is the strongest kind) cost an average of about 2.8 billion dollars in damage per tornado.

Aftermath of a tornado in Oklahoma.

Natural disasters affect the development, economy and society of many places, such as Japan. Japan is the main site of the 10 worst natural disasters of the 21st century. It is where tsunamis, earthquakes, typhoons and volcanic eruptions are common. Asia is one of the most polluted continents, and it is where many terrible natural disasters in the 21st century occur. More than 1,100 natural disasters have occurred in japan in the past 10 years, and their rate is increasing.

We should stop littering and creating air pollution, because in return we could have more natural disasters. We are creating a problem that we can not control at all. This is why we should stop polluting, because of the aftereffects and the fact that we’re harming the place we live.

GOING INTO MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! (part one)

by Jaden Baker

It’s hard to go into Middle School. It’s also really challenging to actually think about transferring into a new school. I will tell you about my own experience going into Middle School.

In elementary school, I was doing my work for all classes so I could get high grades so I could into a good middle school. I went to many meetings about schools but they were all so far away. I was doing my best in my classes when it came to work on the last period. Me and my mom wanted me to go to a school named ICON but our second choice was EAGLE ACADEMY FOR YOUNG MEN. The end the school year was really close, and I kept worrying about leaving school, and moving to a new one. I missed my favorite teacher, my favorite friends, and my favorite principal.

I was in elementary school, thinking about going into middle school and getting new friends. I needed work very hard, so I would be able to go into a good middle school. My mom had told me this me since elementary school. Quickly the end of the year came! We had finished all of our activities; We had fun day, the dance, and the senior trip.

We finally got to summer, and we had to go to go to a thing called summer bridge. I  was so nervous that people wouldn’t talk to me or hang around me. I came into the building acting like I was cool even though I was really nervous inside. We started off by going into a cafeteria. We had something to eat, but I was mad that the food was cold. I met some friends and started to talk to them, as well as hang out with them. We were given strips of cloth, but I was confused and asking questions about why we have them. They told all the newcomers to tie the cloth around our eyes. Next they just took us outside. I was feeling worried because I thought they were gonna let us walk into the street.  They told us we were doing an activity called the trust test. We all had to walk blindfolded, holding each other’s shoulder while walking into the building. When we finally made it into the building, we were in the gym. We were told to take off the blindfold and stand in rows. One of the teachers made a speech saying things about trusting each other and how it is important.

Now we had to introduce ourselves. I was nervous about meeting the people in this school…

 

The search for new planets similar to our own

by Justin Mendoza

Is it possible to find a planet that has important fundamental features in common with Earth, that will allow us to live there if we have to? For example, a planet with a breathable atmosphere or resources such as coal? So when our population increases to where the planet cannot hold it, there will be a planet to fill the rest of our population in?

Well that question is unsolved. Why? Because we are still developing our understanding of other planets in this universe. As far as we still know, there is not a planet that has the salient features we need for our survival.

Normally, when NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) looks for habitable planets similar to Earth, they try to find glimpses of water; ordinarily, water indicates a possibility of life. They also look for previously undiscovered things, like natural resources or elements or substances that they’ve never seen before. They do this so we can improve our comprehension of the conditions on other planets. In addition, NASA looks at a planet’s distance from the sun in its solar system. This is because the temperature on a planet can occasionally depend on its distance from the sun. For example, Neptune one of the planets in our solar system. It is a great distance from the sun, which is why its surface temperature is -214 degrees Celsius. That is equal to -353 Fahrenheit! Planets closer to their suns, such as Earth, tend to have higher temperatures.

Much of the time, we are looking for planets similar to Earth, and there’s a chance that we have almost accomplished that goal. In the Kepler -62 system, they might have found an oceanic planet, similar to Earth: Kepler 62E and Kepler 62F. However, this discovery raises some questions worth thinking about. For example, how could any intelligent inhabitants build a technological society in an oceanic world? Also, how can we develop our knowledge of an oceanic world as we explore it?

We are still discovering new planets, and one of them could be the new Earth.

Our understanding of the universe is not even close to complete, and I don’t think it ever will be.

The history of the Flash, in a flash

By: Reydi Ventura and Robert Brown

Flash and Reverse Flash: the ultimate battle!!!!!

The Justice League is a team of great heroes like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman but the one left behind is the Flash, which is ironic because he is the fastest man alive. Barry Allen, aka the Flash, is a  superhero and a forensic scientist. When he was 11 years old, his mother died because of a yellow blur called the Reverse Flash. Barry and the Reverse Flash, aka Eobard Thwane, went back in time to kill Barry as a child. Barry stopped him by taking him away from the house, so Eobard killed Barry’s mom instead. Barry’s father went to prison for her murder, because nobody believed the Reverse Flash existed.

Barry lived with his dad’s best friend, a cop named Joe West. Barry also lived with Joe’s daughter, Iris West. Barry had a crush on Iris, but he kept it a secret. He should have told her before he was struck by dark matter in a shape of lightning, created by a particle accelerator in Central City, built by Eobard Thwane, disguised as a man named Harrison Wells whose life he had sucked away with a machine. The accelerator went off when Barry was opening the sky light, which was connected by a metal chain; since lightning is attracted to metal, the dark matter was absorbed by the lightning and it went through the chain and hit Barry. After Barry got struck by the lightning, he was in a coma for 8 months. The day he woke up, he found out that he was the fastest man alive–or was he? The Reverse Flash was way faster than Barry.

Barry tries to save Central City

As the Flash, Barry worked with people named Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, and also Harrison Wells (who was really Eboard Thwane in disguise). They fought Meta-Humans, which were other people who had been struck by dark matter and ended up with super powers of their own. Some of them were good, such as Ronnie Raymond aka Firestorm and Oliver Queen aka Arrow. On Christmas of 2014, Barry was at home and saw the Reverse Flash staring right into his eyes. Barry ran out to a football field, where they started fighting. Barry lost the fight, but he was left with the biggest decision of his life: how has he going to get faster? Barry had the help of Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon to find different ways to increase his speed, so he could defeat the Reverse Flash and get his father out of jail. Barry had another decision: he had to decide whether to travel back in time, save his mom and lose his powers–or keep his powers and have his mom remain dead.

One day, Iris found the man she loved. His name was Eddie, but they didn’t know he was also Eobards  great-great-grandfather. Barry decided to go back in time to save his mom, and back in the past everybody who knew Barry was the Flash was there. Barry ran as fast as he could around the area where the particle accelerator was, and a time portal opened Barry ran into it. He ended up at his old childhood home. Barry ran downstairs and saw another version of himself–it was him, fighting the Reverse Flash! They were circling around his mom while they were fighting, and his future self told his past self not to interfere. So Barry went back through the portal and started fighting the Reverse Flash in the present time. Barry was losing, but then Eddie shot himself so the Reverse Flash would never be born.  But the portal was never closed, so it created a black hole. He ran into it to stop it, and so did Firestorm. When Firestorm entered the black hole, he became as hot as a supernova, which is as hot as the sun. As he did that, the Flash ran around to spread the fire around as his suit absorbed the heat. Flash fell out of the sky and ran down a building, and Firestorm absorbed the energy and died. This caused the black hole to create breaches around the world, connecting the Earths.