On Friday our school held a sustainability fair in order to spread awareness of how sustainability helps our world and to provide ways for us to help our environment. At the fair they were passing out cloth bags and reusable plastic cups. The cloth bags are for us to use when we are grocery shopping, so that we don't need to use the plastic bags anymore. The plastic cups are so that we will cut down our use of paper or disposable plastic cups. In order to get a reusable plastic cup you needed to answer a question that they asked you. All of the answers could be found at the fair, and once you answered the question correctly you would be rewarded with a cup. Also the cup can be used at the snack bar, and it only costs 50 cents to get it filled with soda instead of the usual 70 cent charge for a soda in a paper cup. The question that I had to find the answer to was: How long does it take styrofoam to decompose? The answer was 500 years.
The fair also had a lot of interesting booths. One interesting booth that I visited was about the water recycling program we have in Hawaii. The booth was specifically about the Honolulu Board of Water Supply's Honouliuli Water Recycling Facility, which is the largest water recycling facility in Hawaii.. It can produce approximately 12 million gallons of recycled water in one day. All of this recycled water travels through purple pipes because purple pipes are a signal for non-drinkable water. The facility produces two types of recyclable water. One type is only for industry. This type of recycled water doesn't have any minerals in it. The other type is for irrigation. It includes minerals in it. This type is mainly used on golf courses.
Another interesting booth that I visited was one about how our school is a sustainable school. One way that it is sustainable is that uses some pond water to water the lower fields. Also the cafeteria has recently started using biodegradable utensils. The plastic utensils that we used to use cost about 1.4 cents each, now the degradable utensils cost about 5.1 cents each. Even though this change is more expensive it is worth it because it is helping our environment. Also our school uses solar water heaters for the pool and locker rooms. When the panels aren't being used, the cost for heating the water is about $7,000. However when the panels are being used, the cost is only $1,500. This shows that being a sustainable school, can also save some money.
There were many more fun and interesting booths, including one where you got to actually plant your own tree to take home, but I listed the two most interesting booths in my mind. The sustainability fair was a great success!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Philosopher King - A Song for a Barbarian Reed Pipe
My class just recently finished the last chapter of The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston. For my literature circle entry for the last chapter I am going to do the job of philosopher king, meaning that I will identify the major themes of this chapter.
Voice: One time when this theme was evident was when Maxine's voice was repetitively compared to the sound of a quacking duck. Another time was when Maxine was trying to get the shy Chinese girl to talk, while they were in the bathroom after school. Also, in this chapter Maxine talks about how her mother cut her tongue when she was little. Maxine's mother did this to her because it was said that if you cut your tongue you will be able to talk in many different dialects and you will talk gracefully. "We American-Chinese girls had to whisper to make ourselves American-feminine." (Hong Kingston 172). This quote shows that Chinese girls had to change their voices in order to fit in.
Power: This theme is shown when Maxine is bullying the quiet Chinese girl. She has power over the quiet girl because Maxine is able to talk and the quiet girl doesn't talk. Maxine abuses her power when trying to make the girl speak by pulling the girl's hair, pulling at her face, and screaming at her. Maxine shouldn't have done this because if the girl doesn't want to talk, then she doesn't have to.
Looking Out for Each Other: Maxine claims to the quiet Chinese girl that she is trying make her speak because she is looking out for her. She claims that if the girl doesn't start speaking soon, she says if she doesn't speak she will never get a job or get married. In the chapter, it later says that the family of the quiet Chinese girl, took care of the girl her whole life, they looked out for her.
Secrets: Another theme is secrets. This theme is first mentioned in the chapter when Maxine mentions her sixth grade teacher. her teacher showed them their files and family records, which are things that are supposed to be kept secretive. Another part of this theme, was when Maxine planned to tell her mother all of her secrets. She ended up only telling her a few, until she got annoyed and told her to go away.
Craziness: This theme is shown when she talks about her crazy woman neighbor that is sent to an asylum. When the woman returns home, her husband brings her a son to raise. She is thrilled to be able to raise a son. Another crazy person that is mentioned in the chapter is Crazy Mary. Crazy Mary was born in China and left there until her parents could raise enough money to bring her to America. Since she was left in China and then later brought to America, she became crazy. She also had a mole on the front of her face and wore a bib.
Voice: One time when this theme was evident was when Maxine's voice was repetitively compared to the sound of a quacking duck. Another time was when Maxine was trying to get the shy Chinese girl to talk, while they were in the bathroom after school. Also, in this chapter Maxine talks about how her mother cut her tongue when she was little. Maxine's mother did this to her because it was said that if you cut your tongue you will be able to talk in many different dialects and you will talk gracefully. "We American-Chinese girls had to whisper to make ourselves American-feminine." (Hong Kingston 172). This quote shows that Chinese girls had to change their voices in order to fit in.
Power: This theme is shown when Maxine is bullying the quiet Chinese girl. She has power over the quiet girl because Maxine is able to talk and the quiet girl doesn't talk. Maxine abuses her power when trying to make the girl speak by pulling the girl's hair, pulling at her face, and screaming at her. Maxine shouldn't have done this because if the girl doesn't want to talk, then she doesn't have to.
Looking Out for Each Other: Maxine claims to the quiet Chinese girl that she is trying make her speak because she is looking out for her. She claims that if the girl doesn't start speaking soon, she says if she doesn't speak she will never get a job or get married. In the chapter, it later says that the family of the quiet Chinese girl, took care of the girl her whole life, they looked out for her.
Secrets: Another theme is secrets. This theme is first mentioned in the chapter when Maxine mentions her sixth grade teacher. her teacher showed them their files and family records, which are things that are supposed to be kept secretive. Another part of this theme, was when Maxine planned to tell her mother all of her secrets. She ended up only telling her a few, until she got annoyed and told her to go away.
Craziness: This theme is shown when she talks about her crazy woman neighbor that is sent to an asylum. When the woman returns home, her husband brings her a son to raise. She is thrilled to be able to raise a son. Another crazy person that is mentioned in the chapter is Crazy Mary. Crazy Mary was born in China and left there until her parents could raise enough money to bring her to America. Since she was left in China and then later brought to America, she became crazy. She also had a mole on the front of her face and wore a bib.
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