Been a long time

Well it's almost the end of 2013 and my friends are all bloggers so why not reopen my account and blog? But which one to choose? Haiz -.- 

It was just too much

On Tuesday morning at 8:46 PM, David Mars was in World Trade Centre 2 on the 64th floor, where he used to report to work. He was sitting at the desk reading the news on the internet about the problems in Israel, when he heard an explosion.

He thought it was a bad explosion as people were not panicking and were moving in an orderly and calm manner. He jumped up and ran to one of the offices that had a window and looked out to see large amounts of debris such as papers, metal, and other furniture floating down towards the street.

At that moment, he ran back into his office and called his boss on his cell phone and told him, "Don't come in here there was an explosion and we are beginning to evacuate!" and he hung up the phone and ran back out into the hallway. Someone yelled at him to hurry to the staircase because they were evacuating. It was business as usual and occasionally the lines would slow down because people were fooling around on the staircase.

David had reached the 49th floor when he heard a loud explosion which shook the building. He grabbed hold of the staircase to steady himself when suddenly a woman who had fallen hit him in the back and sent him down a flight of stairs. He tried to stand up however the building was still shaking and the lights were flickering on and off. The floor began to lower under his feet and all he could think of was that it would crack open and he would fall hundreds of feet to his death.

People began screaming and crying and praying out loud for God to help them. David asked God to just let the building stop shaking long enough for him to get out. After what seemed like an eternity the building settled and the evacuation began in earnest. Except people were panicking and a stampede started and they were running each other down. He pushed up against the wall and waited for the initial surge of people to subside and then began to move out again.

Somewhere around the 25th floor, he began to smell jet fuel and a lot of it. It began to become a little difficult to breathe but by the 15th floor it became unbearable due to the amount of smoke that was now entering the staircase. He took his shirt and wrapped it around his head to help him breathe, but his eyes were stinging badly.

It took David about 40 minutes before he saw the first look of the outside world. The FBI was yelling at them to keep moving towards to exit. David saw lots and lots of bodies on the floor and some were still falling to the ground.

He took my first look at the two towers. He could not believe what he was seeing. Both buildings were on fire with flames shooting out of them about a 100ft high. Huge plumes of thick black smoke were coming out of them and when he looked at tower 2 he could still see the tail end of the jet hanging out of the building.

Situational writing -- letter of complain

21 April 2010

Mrs. Saraspathy Menon
Principal
Chong Boon Secondary School

Dear Mrs. Menon

FEEDBACK ON STUDENT'S BEHAVIOURS IN THE LIBRARY

My friends and I have been going to the school library lately to do some self-study. We are unhappy about a few incidents which took place recently in the library. I hope you will take actions on the incidents and improve the conditions in the library.

A group of students came into the library as they wanted to enjoy the air-conditioners. The librarian asked them politely, to go outside if they are not borrowing any books. However, the ‘leader’ of the group shouted back at her using hokkien vulgarities. The librarian was taken aback by the rudeness of the pupil. The librarian then threatens to report them to the discipline committee. They seem unafraid of the librarian at all and continued to quarrel with her. Such example shows that some students do not have any respect for the librarian at all. They are selfish too because they disrupt the quiet environment in the library.

Some students even sneak food into the library and spilled their drinks onto the table. By doing this, they are breaking the library rules. The poor librarian had to clean up the mess they had made. The mess on the table had attracted insects. They did not even thank the librarian after she had cleaned up. I hope you will ensure that pupils observe and maintain the cleanliness of the tables and chairs provided and to ban anyone from bringing any food or drinks into the library

There was this boy who wore his PE attire into the library. He was soaked in perspiration. By doing that, he might catch a cold easily as there are air-conditioners in the library. It is also unpleasant for other users in the library as there maybe an odour. In my opinion, I think that students wearing PE attire should not be allowed to go into the library. The librarian should ask those students to change into their uniforms before entering the library.

A group of students were playing games on the computers for a very long time. The computers in the library are supposed to be used for research on the web and not on games. In other words they are misusing the school property. Due to their hogging the computers, others may not get to use the computers at all. I strongly recommend the librarian to allow pupils to use the computers for school work only.

There were a few students sitting in a corner of the library, they were chatting happily and laughing loudly, disturbing others studying in the library. It did not used to be like that the library used to be a peaceful and quiet place where everyone could study.
I hope that you will take my suggestions into consideration and take actions on the situation. I wish to see the issues resolved or improved. Lastly thank you for taking the time to read the letter.

Your sincerely
Vernice Goh
Respect 2

P.E.E.L – Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms on Earth. It provides all other species with the resources required for their survival. Without biodiversity, life on Earth would become extinct. The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species.Rapid environmental changes typically cause extinctions.

International friendship day -16 april 2010

My responses:

1. What are the relationships that are important to you within the school context?
The friendship between my CCA friends as we have to remind each others and strive together as a team. Friends are important too when you are unhappy they will cheer you up.

2. What do you know about the history of your school/CCA?

Chong boon was established in 1994.Chong Boon Secondary School accepted its first batch of students in December 1993, taking over Anderson Secondary School's old building. In 2002, the school's Core Values: Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Dedication to the Nation and Excellence (PRIDE) were formulated. The school embarked on a new beginning with the shift to its new premises.

3. Share a story about your school/CCA. It can be funny ones, successful ones and difficult ones.

This year's cross country was very challenging as the path was muddy and slippery, there were many steep slopes along the way.I was one of the competitors in the cross country.I almost gave up due to tiredness however i persisted as i wanted to do better than last year.The cross country has taught me to preserve and not to give up easily.Next year i will strive to do better for the cross country and try to get into the top 10.

4. Have the stories you heard from your classmates changed the way you view/feel about your school?
Yes.I had never heard of Chong Boon Secondary before i joined the school. Chong Boon has a niche award on environment education. Although it is a neighbourhood school, we are more environmental friendly than the other schools.There were several public apologize made since the starting of 2010, however as compared with other neighbourhood school we have less police cases.

Sports Fiesta

This year, like the previous year, i participated in the captain ball and Voltus managed to get 3rd place for the captain ball. I believe we could do better if we tried harder to beat Pyros, instead we lost to them badly and they managed to get into the finales. Last year, we were the champion for the captain ball.
On that day, our soccer boys did us proud by scoring seven goals and winning the gold medal. I participated in the lower secondary 4x 400m and the 4x 100m. Although Voltus lower secondary girls team was weak, we surely did our best and won a silver medal for the 4x 100m.
Unfortunately after the track and field event Voltus was still 3 points short and thus losing to Pyros. I was very sad that we came in second, which is quite good however, I am contented with the results.
The overall results are; Pyros which came in 1st, Voltus in the 2nd position, Aeros in the 3rd position, Hydros in the 4th and Terrus in the 5th position. I aim to do better for the captain ball and track and field for next year.

Annual School Cross Country

This year, the cross country was held at MacRitchie Reservoir last year, the cross country was held at Nanyang Polytechnic. The fresh air makes it refreshing and one of the best spots for morning jog. I remember jogging through walking trail deep in the forest, the trail was quite slippery due to the light rain on the previous night and i almost slipped.
I saw many monkeys in MacRitchie Reservoir. I came in 12th for the cross country it is an improvement from as i had 20th place last year. Through the cross country i learnt to persevere and not to give up easily in everything that i do.

Reflective summary

After my reading and some research i learnt that climate change will cause several disturbance to mankind, creatures and plants.For example, the polar bears will soon be a folk memory starved to extinction if this rate of climate change continues. By reducing our carbon footprint, we are able to reduce the impact our activities have on the environment. I have also learnt some ways to reduce carbon footprint.

My perspective have change after reading those articles such as, before reading those articles i have never thought that climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet.

I feel sorry for the polar bears as the ice bergs would have mostly melted thus leaving the polar bear homeless.The polar bears also depend on the freezing of the ocean to catch food. With the recent new of global warning, and the statements that the polar bear is the first animal to become endangered because of global warming.

To help reduce the rate of climate change, i will reduce my carbon footprint. Ways that i will apply to reduce carbon footprint are to switch off all lights and fans when not in use.Use energy saving light bulbs. Take public transport rather than use the car.

I will share this information with my neighbours and hope everyone will also reduce their carbon footprint too. As everyone has a part to play to prevent global warming.the climate is changing and human behaviour is responsible.

Reflection Three: Global Warming

What is Global warming?

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C between the start and the end of the 20th century. Most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was very likely caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation.

I learnt that:

Almost 100% of the observed temperature increase over the last 50 years has been due to the increase in the atmosphere of greenhouse gas concentrations like water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and ozone. Greenhouse gases are those gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The largest contributing source of greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon dioxide.

My reflection:

After reading this article, i found more informations about global warming such as, when sunlight reaches Earth's surface some is absorbed and warms the earth and most of the rest is radiated back to the atmosphere at a longer wavelength than the sun light. Some of these longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost to space. The absorption of this longwave radiant energy warms the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases act like a mirror and reflect back to the Earth some of the heat energy which would otherwise be lost to space. The reflecting back of heat energy by the atmosphere is called the "greenhouse effect". There are two major effects of global warming:
1. Increase of temperature on the earth by about 3° to 5° C (5.4° to 9° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100.
2. Rise of sea levels by at least 25 meters (82 feet) by the year 2100.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

Reflection two: Carbon Footprint

What is carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tonnes (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint.

I learnt that:
The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf. Some of the ways to reduce carbon footprint are:

• Turn off lights, television, DVD player, Hi Fi, computer etc when not in use
• Fill your dish washer and washing machine with a full load
• Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need
• Do your weekly shopping in a single trip
• Hang out the washing to dry rather than tumble drying it
• Fit energy saving light bulbs
• Use a fridge with energy efficiency rating of "A"
• Use the bus or a train rather than your car
• For short journeys either walk or cycle
• Don't buy over packaged products
• Recycle as much as possible

My reflection:

After learning ways to reduce carbon footprint, i will apply them and share them with my family members and friends.If everyone also help to reduce carbon footprint, the amount of carbon dioxide will be reduce.I learnt an important message too, the message is the more we buy the more they manufacture.

Links:
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbonfootprint.html

Reflection one: climate change

Climate change is about:
The article is a description of climate change and how the European Union is working actively for a global agreement to control climate change and is taking domestic action to achieve substantial reductions in its own contribution.The article tells us why we should care about climate change.

I learned that:
Climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet.The Earth's average surface temperature has risen by 0.76° C since 1850.Over the past fifty years most of the warming is cause by emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases from the human activities. If Earth heats by another four degrees Celsius,the planet we call home would become a very unwelcoming place.Oceans have risen by at least a metre, drowning several island nations.Polar bears are a folk memory, starved to extinction in an Arctic where temperatures have soared by 15 C (27 F), nearly four-fold the global average.

My Reflection:
I think that everyone should help to slow down the rate of global warming, as everyone has a part to play to prevent global warming.the climate is changing and human behaviour is responsible. In particular increased industrial activity is releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere.We should take steps now to stem the output of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere so that we can slow climate change. Many people argue that the problem is so big that they cannot make a difference.

links:
http://www.ncm.org/news/articles/climate_change_why_should_we_care/
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/home_en.htm