Thursday, June 27, 2013

2 Awesome and Exciting Things! Plus Something Else.

So the 1st awesome thing is that my dad has bees! Yes bees, as in HONEY BEES. And honey bees are endangered. Now you might think phew! I'll never get stung anymore. Well, I've got news for you. THose are wasps. Honey bees make HONEY. And if we didn't have honey bees, we wouldn't have honey. Whoa. Nice job putting two and two together, Yasemin.
Also, honey bees don't sting.
Not unless you provoke them.
Which is to say, not unless you run around the hive screaming that the bees are going to get you.
They don't sting, because if they sting, they die. A bee's stinger is barbed so that once it catches on to the thing that the bee is stinging, it sticks and tears out the bee's abdomen, leading to it's death in minutes. I have around these bees, just walking past their hive, and they haven't done a thing. They are quite gentle. Nonno (Grandpa in Italian) doesn't believe that, though. You won't believe what he did. Don't ask.
So this September, we are going to have our own honey. We won't have to spend money on that, and my dad has finally found a hobby that he is truly interested in. And on top of all that, we are helping the environment! We are not just helping bees stay alive, but helping many other species also. You see, bees pollinate many flowers and plants, and humans may not be able to stay alive because of that, loss of food. As Einstein said shortly before his death,
"Once the bees have left the earth, man will have four years left on the planet.”
I know. I was creeped out too. 
Anyway, you can do this too, if you have a medium sized backyard like at my grandparents' house. All you have to do is buy bees and hives. My dad has no training or anything, so you don't need it either. You would be helping the planet, and you would have a lifetime's supply of honey! It's a win-win!
Anyway, tomorrow I am going to Minnesota! On vacation! My mom has a friend there who has kids and horses, and the horses are the best part! So I will write about it as much as I can. Unfortunately, they don't have WI-Fi (how???) so I may have to write when I get back. But I will take as many pictures as possible!
As a side note not related to the environment much, my Nonno is doing a "parody" on the famous Rocky theme song, he'll be running and stuff. We're all laughing and going crazy about it (well not my grandma, she's mad) but he is actually taking it seriously. So once we're done with that, I will immediately post it. It's hilarious already. The reason? Again, don't ask. Maybe I will explain it later. Long story.
Anyway, keep recycling!
P.S. I will recommend a book called "Recycle This Book". It's a bunch of famous children's authors writing about recycling. Check it out!

Friday, June 21, 2013

60 Minutes on CNBC

On CNBC tonight I was watching a 60 Minutes that was all about alternative energy. One guy in Silicone Valley had made a "Bloom Box" to replace the grid. This is a box about 6 feet tall full of very thin energy generating box-things that create energy. Google and Ebay have tried it out- Google has been testing for 18 months. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that this is one of the solutions to alternative energy. If you want to learn more check out these two links. The first is the website of Greentech, a green technology making company:
www.greentechmedia.com
The second link is the link to the 60 Minutes website where you can check out the sneak-peek to the video, and maybe the full video too:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6224124n

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

School's Out!!

School is over!!! Next year I will start 7th grade, but right now I've got a whole summer!!! Congratulations to everyone who finished a grade today or will in a week or so. WOO-HOO!!!!!!

As a side note, here I will include a picture of all the paper that I will be "trashing" (you didn't think I would throw all that paper away did you? I'm recycling it, of course!). Anyway, here is a picture:

O.k., the picture may look a bit demented but that is a Target plastic bag full of paper and a little more. Just imagine every single student in the world (that's probably not true, some places use a lot of paper, some places do not) use this much paper a year, then trash it all. What a waste!  How many acres of trees is that? Think about this. Let's say you may think 1 person can't make a difference, but you recycle all the paper you dot use anyway. If everyone does that, then we all would have made a difference, and all because one person...I don't quite know how to explain this, but you get what I mean!

Friday, June 7, 2013

End of school... almost

School's almost over! But, we are now getting SO much homework it is a little unbelievable. :(
Also, I would like to point out that tropical storm Andrea is getting near us and it is pouring rain outside at the moment. The storm's winds are only 45 mph at the moment, and the storm seems to be weakening. It seems like we have had a lot of storms and hurricanes lately. hmmmm........