Extra Credit Reading Response

Title: The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels

By: Marie St. John

Recently I had just finished reading “The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels” by Marie St. John. The whole story has described the migratory life of a farmer’s family at the beginning of the 20th century through the eyes of a girl of five years old Firstly, I think that the word “Jewels” in the title “The Woods Were Tossing with Jewels” have a lot of meanings to it. There are four implied meanings of “Jewels”: 

(1) The jewels stand for the happy life and enjoyment which happened in the woods.

(2) The jewels stand for the dedicate love among the members of such a big family and the harmonious life in the joint family.

(3) The growth of children likes jewels which were flashing in the woods.

(4) The jewels stand for the spirits of the father.

 I would like to talk about the understanding of this story on my own and explain why the jewels represented such four meanings I have mentioned above. The story started in 1899, when the century its turn. It was also the time when the American westward movement was gradually coming to an end. The American westward movement which had lasted a century more or less had an import impact on the formation and development of the American national spirit. It developed the American political and social awareness of democracy, especially cultivated the "American-style freedom, equality and competition", which had created the American spirits of audacity, adventure and the pursuit of wealth.

The father of this little five-year-old girl was affected by this. So the father was a man with an urge for adventure and independence. He made the decision to take his family to the southern tip of Florida where he staked a claim on one of the offshore islands. It did not mean the family had a bad living condition before this migration. Actually, they lived a comfortable life in palmetto. The father just wanted his children to have richer food and gave them a taste of the way he grew up, which could see the father was proud of his adventurous life he had experienced.  For the little girl and the whole family, this migration was full of interests and stimulation. Through the author’s descriptions, we did not see fear and dismay. Instead, what we actually saw was her the joy over the beautiful trees, flowers and birds in abundance, the excitement during the fishing tours, the happy memory of the “sumptuous” dinner table and the birth of a new baby. Nevertheless, there were also some misfortunes occurred to the author’s family, such as the bad living condition at first, the bully’s oppression. These unhappy and simple experiences were ended finally, which also made the author and her family cherish the time they lived in the woods still further. What’s more, after the family’s living condition became stable, the author’s grandmother, father’s little brother, and uncle were all moving to live with the family. The big families were living together in a friendly way, caring and understanding each other deeply. These admirable relationships like jewels which were shining in the woods.

Joy, vitality and care which happened in this big joint-undivided family have big influences to everything which was attached to the woods. Both the joy enjoyed in the woods and the happy life living in the big family was shining like jewels in the eyes of the little five-year-old girl. Then, what must be mentioned during their adventure was the guy--Edgar Watson, the infamous outlaw. Watson moved from Oklahoma to the Florida Everglades and built a sugar cane plantation in the late 1800's. It was thought that he murdered several of his hired hands who demanded pay for their work.  The author’s father was a man who lived with a heart of gold, a will of iron. Protecting the whole family from hurts which come from the animal and the people is the father’s most important task. Therefore, when Watson did not give the father full money agreed on, the father’s inside adventurous spirit led him not to bow his head to that guy. He went to meet Watson without gun, and finally took the money back which belonged to their whole family’s hard working.

The father’s spirits of leader took important roles in family and like jewels which were shining. Also, this matter showed that the father’s purpose had been brought about. As I mentioned above, Father’s purpose was to farm this island but behind this it was his wish to give children a taste of the way he grew up. When the bully, Watson raised a pistol and wanted to shoot father, he saw two boys in the boat, each with a rifle held in small, capable hands and bead drawn down on the man who threatened their father. Children have grown up. They began to care about their father and even could protect their father. The most important is that the children inherited the firm and indomitable characters, which their father had held in heart all his life. Obviously, the growth of the kids would be the brightest jewels for the whole family.

       In all, the story show us why more than seventy years later the author is still so nostalgic about that hard and simple life the family once lived. We could feel the author’s praise, and missing to her father, her enjoyable big family, including her admire to her father. We could also learn from the article that we should treat our life in positive, aggressive, passionate attitude. We should care more about our family than ourselves and regard protecting our family as the biggest and most important task we have taken. A happy and harmonious family is bound to be the most precious jewels in our whole life.

Nonfiction Reading Response #3

    In, “DDT Linked to High Blood Pressure in Women” by Lindsey Konkel and Environmental Heath News, women that are exposing to DDT when pregnant has a risk of high blood pressure later on in life. DDT is a commonly used insecticide; it is also a form of chemical. Even though DDT was banned in the U.S since 1972, it is still used in Africa as a “combat to malaria infected mosquitoes.” Research shows that women who are exposed to these chemicals could potentially develop high blood pressure later on.

 Exposure to DDT is very dangerous for pregnant women. “DDT interferes with hormones and it has been linked to decreased fertility, preterm delivery and diabetes” (Konkel and Environmental Health News 1). Since during pregnancy, whatever the mom is exposing to, the children does too, through the placenta. This can directly harm the growing fetus inside the womb. Statistics show that out of 111 children whose had been exposing to DDT, 21% had hypertension. Hypertension is caused by DDT and it might also lead to stroke and heart diseases. DDT is very dangerous for pregnant women.

       DDT also causes high blood pressure in women. It specifically targets the area in the body where the blood pressure is kept in control. Studies show that “pesticide applicators with high blood pressure had higher DDT exposures than those with healthy blood pressure” (Konkel and Environmental Health News 1). Approximately 2/3 of the people exposing to DDT had 2.5 to 3.6 times more likely to have high blood pressure before the age of 50. DDT causes high blood pressure.

       However, scientists cannot say that high pressure and hypertension is directly caused by exposing to DDT chemicals. High blood pressure can also be caused by previous diabetes, and factors like age, race, and body mass also contribute a part to it (Konkel and Environmental Health News 1). Many factors of high pressure and hypertension are not tested to confirm that DDT is the cause. “It also is impossible to know whether some women had undiagnosed high blood pressure or how blood pressure levels differed across exposure groups” (Konkel and Enviromental Heath News 1). High pressure can also be a result of obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and socioeconomic stress. There is not enough evidence to say that DDT is the cause.

       Scientific evidence, data, and research show that even though DDT does create a greater risk for high blood pressure, however many other factors can be contributed too. High blood pressure and hypertension are the worst things that we would ever want to be diagnose with. To prevent this from happening on any one of us, we need to make sure that we be extremely careful during pregnancy and keep track of what we eat every day.

                                                   Work Cited
Konkel, Linsey and Enviromental Health News. "DDT Linked to High Blood Pressure in Women: Scientific American." DDT Linked to High Blood Pressure in Women: Scientific American. Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2013.

Nonfiction Reading Response #2

           According to the article, United Nations Panel Calls Hormone Disruptors a “Global Threat” by Brian Bienkowski and Environmental Health News, hormone linking chemicals are the main threat to the health of humans and animals. These chemicals are the organic pollutant chemicals such as, DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls, and ubiquitous chemicals such as biphenol A and phthalates. This had been growing increasing over the last decade. These chemicals are referred to as a global threat, for that it had been spread across the continent. Many people look upon this chemical as a living threat to humans and that it had to be eliminated, however, others thought it isn’t a bad thing.

            Chemicals like DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls are a major threat to humans and animals, “[They] are now banned in the U.S---traveled the globe, persisted in the environment and caused severe population declines in some wildlife species” (Bienkowski 1). These chemicals are very quick at spreading and contaminating the environment which resulted in the decrease of wildlife. Humans are not killed from this chemical, instead, their health is directly affected.

Such diseases include male reproductive problems, pregnancy complications…obesity and brain development. Many factors can cause such diseases, but the report concludes that given how fast some of these are rising, environmental chemicals are likely playing a role (Bienkowski 1).

            Even though these diseases can’t be comparable to cancer and other untreatable sickness, but they can be quit complicated. For example, pregnancy complications can directly lead to the development and growth of their offspring. It may also lead to stillborn and other severe problems. Obesity and brain development can lead to a person’s ability to remember, and to learn. Reproductive problems can interfere with a person’s ability to reproduce.

            DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls are still a threat to us, but other chemicals such as the bisphenol A and phthalates are found in everyday products (Bienkowski 1). These chemicals can come in direct contact with us and cause health problems. These chemicals are known as pseudo persistent because they don’t stay in the environment for long, but we expose to them all the time so it’s would have the same effect as if it was persistent.

            There had been more than enough evidence to prove that these chemicals are harmful and that it should be banned. But on the other hand, the government agencies and industry groups are not so convinced of this. In responding to the threat of DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls to wildlife, they say that, “…particularly killer whales and harbour seals. Both have high levels of PCBs and flame retardants that accumulate in ocean ecosystems” (Bienkowski 2). This means that this chemical only kill whales and seals and not all the animals. In responding to human threat, they made a point that, “…very low levels of human exposure to BPA through the diet are unsafe” (Bienkowski 2). There isn’t enough people who are being expose to these chemicals that are having health issues and they stated that the chemicals in the food does not have a major effect on humans. “Unless we know where the chemicals are used, and they’re tested, it’s tough to make informed decisions on how to protect people” Woodruff said. Many of these chemicals had not been tested, so scientists cannot decide whether or not it is absolutely harmful to us.

            Overall, I think that even though these chemicals had not been directly proved to be harmful, they should still be banned due to the health complications that it might cause. I think that if these chemicals are ban then there wouldn’t have been so many arguments on if it’s good or bad.

Work Cited

Brian Bienkowski and Environmental Health News. "United Nations Panel Calls Hormone Disruptors a "Global Threat": Scientific American." United Nations Panel Calls Hormone Disruptors a "Global Threat": Scientific American. Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.

Website: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=united-nations-panel-calls-hormone-dispruptors-global-threat

Nonfiction Reading Response #1

   According to the article, Why America’s Kids Need New Standards for Science Education by Anna Kuchment, science education needs to be improved. It is said that in America, barely any high school gets education on areas like Earth and space science. Thus, a group of scientists, educators and policymakers decided that what we need is the Next Generation Science Standards. This designs what we should be learning at each grade. It is a comprehensive set of K-12 students’ expectations for different areas of science: Earth and space, life and physical. This standard has to be made due to the fact that too many people are damaging the environment without out knowing that they are. The only to solve this is by teaching. Learning about the Earth, the environment, and the world around us can tell the kids what we should and should not do. Just by integrating the science programs in the state, it allows the kids to learn more and up-to-date information. This cannot be convinced by only textbooks and words, it has to be done through hand-on experiment with a full understanding of the subject. These are all the things that the New Generation Science Standards encourages. Even if our generation is the one polluting and harming the environment, we should at least make the most effort to assure that the generation after this would be different.

       Wysession convey this message through flashbacks of how we, humans are the main threat to our own environment:

And I thought about the long string of volcanic eruptions, rapid climate swings, tsunamis, droughts, floods, and other geoscience catastrophes that have routinely devastated the human population and prevented any one civilization from lasting very long. Then I thought about the nearly unbelievable changes that we humans were making to our planet, most certainly replacing the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch with the new Anthropocene Epoch. And I wondered how we would know at what point these human impacts would be severe enough to justify replacing the 65-million-year-old Cenozoic Era with a new era, the Anthropozoic Era, the sixth major extinction of life, brought about by the current dominant agent of geologic change on our planet (Wysession).

This quotation illustrates the many aspects and how we change many things. It also shows the fact that many people have been the long term causes of these devastating disasters. Even though many humans had been wiped out, we contribute to the start of these disasters as well as geologic changes. These things occur because humans don’t know about the damages that it can make; we don’t know that we need to protect the environment we live in. And we shouldn’t be blamed because we had never been taught well enough to keep these in our mind. This is where Science comes in, children, from as young as 1^st grade to learn and realize about the environment around themselves. Every tree being cut down reduces less oxygen for us, every piece of garbage we litter; every smoker, car driver, factory worker are releasing harmful chemicals into the air. “It is well known that most Americans get nearly all their science education after they leave high school” (Wysession). Education starts early and we need to make sure that kids get all their science education before high school.

What America needs is the Next Generation Science Standards.

       The Next Generation Science Standards benefits students in many ways. It not only insures that kids get all their science education before college, it also integrates other important things as well. “They integrate concepts of engineering and technology and develop ties to the math and English “Common Core” standards” (Wysession). This helps to bring more lively classes as well as not always staying on one subject. It helps the kids to realize how everything is related and how everything works together. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) also have listed the steps for a kid to understand science:

The aim of NGSS is to identify what students can do, not what they know. After all, if you want to know how many planets there are, you can always look that up on the web. If you want to understand why they are important and how they function as part of a system, the solar system, then there are a set of practices you should do, which the NGSS identify as (1) Asking Questions and Defining Problems, (2) Developing and Using Models, (3) Planning and Carrying Out Investigations, (4) Analyzing and Interpreting Data, (5) Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking, (6) Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions, (7) Engaging in Argument from Evidence, and (8) Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information (Wysession).

The NGSS created this list to insure that every student studying science will have a full understanding of it by the time he/she walks out of high school. Words in a textbook cannot summarize what happening outside of the classroom. We need well-trained scientists and teachers who would work with these kids on projects, hand-on activities, and even as simple as going on a field trip to observe plants. Every outside experience contributes to a major part of the kids understanding of the subject. Reading words is not as the same as feeling it. When you see it and feel it, you have a clearer visual imagine of it and you actually see what the condition it lives in, in person! These are the things that a book, a picture, a magazine cannot tell you.

       Overall, I think that the New Generation Science Standards is really efficient and helpful. It takes science to a whole new level and it makes it so that everyone can understand it. NGSS is providing the opportunity for you, me and all of us to know about the earth, the environment; so that we know the importance of our surroundings and how to protect them. I hope that NGSS will be presented to all the science programs in schools around the city.

                                                                 Work Cited

Kuchment, Anna. "Why America€™'s Kids Need New Standards for Science Education Budding Scientist, Scientific American Blog Network." Why America€™s Kids Need New Standards for Science Education. Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc., 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.

Link:http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/budding-scientist/2013/01/08/why-americas-kids-need-new-standards-for-science-education/