Essays

                                                                  Mad! About Science!!

                                                                        by Adam S., Grade 4

A group of mad scientists called Anonymous worked at a university.  They decided to secretly experiment with DNA on one of their own, a professor. They tried to make him stronger but the experiment went wrong. Anonymous changed the professor's DNA and infected it with gorilla and lizard DNA.  When Anonymous figured out their mistake they got rid of all the evidence and disappeared.  

However, the professor got away, but didn’t know what the experiment was about.  Soon after, he started feeling different. He then figured it out, his DNA was altered and he had no idea that he was going to turn into a monster or when it would happen. 

The next day the professor broke into the school looking for any evidence but found none. He then took supplies from the school lab to fix his DNA. Three of his students saw him and were suspicious of his behavior so they decided to follow him. They followed him all the way back to his lab and snuck in. They saw his altered DNA and instantly knew what was wrong and could fix it. 

The professor caught them in his lab and he told them to go away before it was too late.  His students didn't listen and begged   to help. So the professor and his students came up with a plan. 

The professor knew he needed his brother’s DNA to help him change back and realized that his brother had left his toothbrush back at his house.  

All of a sudden the professor transformed into a creature that was part lizard, part gorilla, and part human. He felt immense   pain sharing his mind with different animals. His gorilla side went berserk and started to destroy his house. His lizard side made him run away, Roaming the streets.  Many people saw him and called the police. 

His students figured out a cure but needed his brother's DNA to complete it.  their professor never showed up back at the lab. So they went looking for him and found his house destroyed and they feared that he transformed into a monster. They grabbed the brother’s DNA and went looking for their professor. 

People recognized them and called them “The Nerd Group,” but they called themselves “The Three Scientists.”  Adam, the leader of the group said, 

“Okay let's find him and fix his DNA.” (The other people in the group are Alex and James.)  

James agreed,  “Look there!  He’s leaving a trail of gorilla hair.  “

Let's follow it!”  Alex said.   

They followed the gorilla hair trail.  It led them into an abandoned school building.  They went into the building to look for him but didn't know what to expect. When James saw him, he screamed. Then Adam and Alex screamed and they ran as fast as they could as the professor chased them. Adam said,

“ I have a plan.  Follow me!”   The rest of the group followed him into the cafeteria.  

James threw bananas at the professor.  The professor ran and ate the bananas.  As he was distracted, the Three Scientists ran into the boys bathroom.  James said, “

Were lucky I had bananas with me.” 

Alex said, “ we don’t have a plan.” 

Adam said, “I do!  I think we should inject our last banana with the cure and let him eat it.” 

They walked back to the cafeteria and found the professor eating his last banana. He was getting upset so Adam offered him the banana with the cure. The professor ate the banana. The students did not know if it would work, but shortly after that, the professor changed back to normal.                      

                                                        Rain

                                                            by Adam S. 

Rain is important to our world for many reasons. Not only is rain crucial for our survival but also the survival of crops. Crops need water to survive and grow. Without it, there would be no food for us to eat. 

Too little rain is a problem for farmers because they rely on rain to water their crops. Too little rain can cause a lack of food production which can hurt them financially. Many farmers sell their crops for a profit and too little rain can cause them to lose their job.  

On the other hand, too much rain can cause problems too. One problem is too much water makes the soil saturated, making it too wet for farmers to harvest the crops with their machinery. Farm equipment is heavy, and will get stuck in the field. It can take days for the dirt to dry out and be strong enough to use the machines. Those days off can also cause farmers to lose a lot of money due to the lack of harvest. Soil saturation also causes the soil to lose its nutrients which affects how the plants grow. 

Even though rain is very important for our world, too little or too much can cause many problems for farmers.  

Animal Stories - 1st Person Point of View

                                            Grizzy!

by D. Willis

As the sun started to go down I walked through the meadows starting to feel hungry. I glanced over, and a lake hoping for it to be full of delicious fish. I run over to the lake leaving paw prints from the muddy area near the rocks surrounding the glistening lake.

When looking down in the shiny lake I saw many salmon and other kinds of fish. Once I got closer to the lake to grab a fish, I picked the biggest one. As I took the fish out the water it started to flop rapidly at such a high speed I dropped it back into the water.

I went in the water again to try and catch the salmon but it swam away. I followed the fish outside the water hoping to catch it but something better happened! The salmon led me to a part of the lake full of big fish.  I took the fish and ate happily leaving the lake full.

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                                The Balloon’s Abditory: Oneirataxia                                                                                               by Sumaira F.

It was just a normal day today, well, for a balloon; floating around in the sky. I see a house that has a cat sitting at the window, so I decide to approach it. 

“Hello cat.” I say to the friendly-looking feline. “Go away, I’m trying to have a nice comfy nap.” The cat hissed, “Oh, ok sorry to bother you.” I mumbled kind of hurt. “Wait, you can understand me?!” At this point I was confused. If the cat thought I couldn’t understand him, then why did it talk to me. 

“Yes, of course I can, why wouldn't I be able to?” “Um... maybe because you're  a human…” the cat uttered. “No I’m not you silly kitty, I’m Sarah! Sarah the balloon! See my string and my red round head?” “But you... nevermind, have a nice day, goodbye.” the cat said. “Bye! Have a nice nap!” and with that I was off.

As I steadily solivagant(Solivagant- to wander alone) through the sky, I see a dog. Specifically a small, black poodle, floating in the sky along with me. As we make eye contact, the dog slowly expands into particles, and swiftly fades away into the wind.  WHAT?! What the heck is going on? The sky turned a rainbow color, the leaves are now flowers, and the hills are now colorful mountains. I watched in awe as asperatus clouds formed above my head.(asperatus clouds are basically big wavy clouds)

To be honest, I was scared. The world I had always known was now gone. I took comfort in the fact that at least this new dimension? Was way better than my world; peaceful, colorful,....euphoric. But that's besides the point, right now I need to find an exit and get back home.

I found myself floating into a garden of sorts.

Colorful statues and plants decorated the garden like I’ve never seen before. It was so surreal and arcane (Arcane- secret;  mysterious and entrancing;beyond ordinary understanding)

.

I decided to approach the prettiest plant in that garden.

 I was unable to express the way the plant made me feel. I stood there, pondering, trying to find a word fit for this recently discovered feeling. Thrilled, elevated, exhilarated, and electrified, those words were suitable enough. I stare at the plant, taking in all of its beauty and glory. The vibrant colors, the different shape of each leaf, and the textures it showed were breathtaking. Literally I forgot to breathe, taking a large gasp realizing...I cannot.I viewed my surroundings, realizing that I was oblivious to the fact that the entire scenery had changed. I hear a *ding* sound, so I look above my head now seeing a helmet appear above me.

I put the helmet on my head, now having a strong desire to travel and explore the spatial setting I was now in. I see many asterisms surrounding me.(Asterism- a group of stars.) There were few words to describe the way I was feeling, but the only words that came to mind were free, carefree or detached. Like I could do anything, like I was the last balloon alive; unstoppable, like anything was possible. I find myself wandering towards a beaming white light. So beautiful, outshining the stars even!; it was the new center of my attention.

I head towards it, the only thing I am able to see is glowing lights as I feel myself blackout. I now hear voices, letting my eyes adjust to the bright light above my head. I feel something at the end of my string but when I looked down, there was no string. Just two limbs, legs. I panicked not knowing what to do.

 I try and sit up, only to find that my...arms? My arms are chained to a bed. Not being able to move my limbs, I pick my head up to view my new setting. I don’t know where I am, I’m scared, I miss the old me. Millions of things rush through my head, I now truly realized what just occurred. Everything that just happened...actually just happened. 

At this point, I can’t tell fantasy from reality. I’m lost, with nowhere to go, no one to talk to, not one familiar thing in sight. I sit there wondering, “Where did everything go wrong?”. Sometimes, we have to go somewhere blindly, knowing nothing about it, and see what happens. The truth is, we all get lost but sometimes getting lost is how we find ourselves. Who knows, maybe this is a new start for me. I should look on the bright side of things! I snap back into reality as I notice there are people with some type of lab jackets and supplies with carts on it. Is this a hospital? Why would I be in a hospital? I look to my left to see a woman and a man now staring at me in...disbelief? “Who are you?” I ask, being frightened to see humans sitting beside me. 

“Oh honey, we are your parents. Do you not recognize us?” the woman questioned with tears now in her eyes. “Um, no I don’t. I don’t have parents. Sorry you have the wrong balloon.” the lady looked at me with shock written all over her face. “Balloon? Oh! My poor baby Sally! John I think she had another episode! Go get the doctor!” What? What do they mean go get the doctor and episode? And who’s Sally? My name is Sarah...right?...... As that same question remains in my mind, never getting its answer.

I wonder,  will they ever find this Sally girl?

Did you figure it out? Who is Sally? What is “Sarah’s” problem? I’ll leave that question for you to figure out on your own;)

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                    The Grey Doug 

                                                                              by Joseph P.

.

Hello, my name is Doug! Doug the bird. I always watch the people who take care of me. I think they do too much work. They shouldn’t be giving me all these brown pebbles that really taste good when I don’t get hungry as much as usual. So I just don’t eat until I’m hungry, which is every five hours. I hear them talking about how I don’t eat much. It makes me sad that they think that I don’t eat alot when I eat just enough food every day! But sometimes I try to tell them that I ate enough, but they don’t listen to me.

 You might be asking how I talked but it’s obvious that I am a parrot! A Grey African Parrot to be exact! I said, “I eat well, don’t overfeed me.” but they always reply, “ Did Doug just talk?” to my other parents. I always say this to both of them but they won’t listen to me! The small parents always know what I say so they tell the big parents but they won’t listen to them.

 They’d most likely say, “Oh, it might’ve just been a dream because birds can’t talk!” I always take offense to that because obviously birds can talk. I can talk, so others can too. I would be in better care in the small parents hands more than the big parents hands. Now to think of it, I think the small parents are children and the big parents are adults that are actually parents.

 When I found that out I ran away because it was confusing. They opened the door so I flew. Now I live on the blue, rusty rooftop with pigeons that are good friends and understand me for who I am! I miss them but I see them every day looking for me. I said bye to my new friends and flew back inside.

When they saw me, they were so relieved. They must’ve thought I died! Well, I am so happy I am reunited with them. When the children saw me they thought it wasn’t me at first. I talked to them and the parents finally heard me speak and the children of course did too! Yay! We are going to be a happy family!

I thought that until I saw another bird that was grey inside the room. That might be why they thought it wasn’t me at first. I had to fight this ripoff of me and I won. He ran away from me. I would have beat him up again. If another bird takes my property it would go right back out crying. 

I did this all for my family. It made the little kids respect me more. The big parents are kind of mad at me. They should’ve thought about putting another bird in the house. We can be a happy family without the cowardly parents.

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                 The Purple Howl    

                                                                     by Jaelynn T.

Once upon a time, I was a little wolf cub, named Luna, who was at the bottom of the pack. Always picked on and just overall scared. I wanted to overcome that fear, I dreamt of it every night. Thinking day and night about how to become powerful and not more fragile. 

My mother and father always told me to keep my head up and keep achieving small goals, to achieve my most essential goal. As the days and the horrible hours went by, I became stronger and stronger, to the point where I was almost at the top. But there was one small problem, Lobo, my older brother. He always had to be on top, he was the most powerful wolf because he had a very strong power. He had Pyrokinesis, which means he had the ability to control fire with his mind. He has protected our pack for centuries and has never been beaten. I was always brought down by Lobo, no matter what the situation was. 

Once Lobo said, “Luna, just give up. You will never achieve any big or small goals.” So, that’s why I have been trying to get to the top. Not just to be at the top to show people I am fearless, also to get revenge on my brother. 

The next couple of days, I was hiking by myself in the muddy and wet rainforest, right below my mountain. While hiking I had stumbled upon a bush of berries. I was starving and I needed something to eat. They looked strange because they were purple and blue, and they were glowing. But I didn’t hesitate to eat them, my stomach had been rumbling and making strange noises for the entire trip. So, when I ate them I went back up to the mountain to take a quick nap. Several hours later, I woke up, walking to the restroom to go wash my furry face off. As soon as I saw myself in the mirror, I gasped and passed out. Minutes later I was still on the floor. I got up and looked again, I said, “Oh my... Why am I PURPLE AND BLUE, and why am I glowing..” “The berries!” I said. Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten those berries. When I went out of the door I was trying to walk out, but my humongous wings were blocking the doorway. I didn’t realize it until I turned around once again and saw my giant wings. I had a surprised face but just let it be. 

As the days went on I discovered new powers, which were FFlight, gGrowth in size, and shrinking in size. After that, she wanted to battle her brother, and she did. After the long training, she finally built up enough strength and courage to fight her brother and become the leader. You might think being the leader, is just about strength but it’s not. It’s about your problem-solving skills, and if you will make sacrifices for your pack. So, when I challenged my brother the fight was hard, but I was wise enough to beat him. 

When I was on top, I felt free. I felt like nothing could get in my way. When I went to my cave I saw my mother sleeping, and I walked over to her. My mother started rolling and FELL OFF THE EDGE OF THE MOUNTAIN! I panicked but I managed to spread my wings and dash down to save her. When I came back up I saw my father and brother standing there in shock. As I placed my mother down, she woke up being clueless and had no idea what happened. So, my mother asked, “Hm? What happened?” I said, “Nothing mother everything will be alright.”  From that point on I used her problem-solving skills to help my pack, but not just my pack, my family.

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                          Black Cat

Hello can you see me no you can’t….. SURPRISE it's me Knight. I will tell you how I cause noise in the night. The night starts me waking up in the night (cats are nocturnal) as I am waking my other siblings to keep begging to sleep with our owner. Meanwhile I was walking and running around the house, although I was having fun I was feeling like making a mess. When I got to the kitchen I started messing around with the pots and dropping them on the floor. No one could see me because my fur is black and dark like the night. Although I look like the night, they can still trick me with my favorite food like tuna. When my owners finally got me out of the kitchen they put me back on the bed so I can sleep. After they left I got back up and started to run around for an hour until I got bored. Since I got bored so fast, I wanted to cause more trouble. I decided to scratch the furniture. I had to be quick because my owners have cameras everywhere, so I have to be sneaky. While I was sneaking around the cameras, I noticed that one of my sibling’s kittens escaped. I started to panic, so I tried to look for her, but i couldn’t find her. After an hour of looking I finally found her. She looked calm and I saw the kitten that escaped. It looked like she got it first. After that I noticed that the sun was about to come up, and I was sleepy so I went to sleep to enjoy the sleeping. Now you know the story about me being a cat in the night. I told how cats are loud and ruin furniture. Also how cats can be really mean. Lastly they can really be cute and innocent, but they can cause a ruckus.

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                                             The Funny Bearded Dragon

                                  by Mukayla A.

                                

Hello! No don't be scared, I know I might look scary but I’m not, I’m actually really friendly! In that case I'll tell you a little about myself.

I'm a bearded dragon of course. My owner named me Mushu! If you think you heard that name before you probably did. I'm named after the dragon from Mulan. I also like to be funny. So here is a story about how I found my owner.

One day in a dried out place was an unnamed juvenile bearded dragon, she had no family after her mother got taken away for a pet shop. She wanted to make a name after herself before going to the pet shop as well.

She went up to a bearded dragon named skull and tried to show it a magic trick, but skull said that he didn't like it. So Mushu just moved along. Then he came across another bearded dragon named Trix. She was Mushu’s friend.

She tried to show Trix her singing skills, but Trix said “Mushu… I don't think singing is your thing.” Mushu sighed and walked away. She went under her rock. She always sleeps there.

But in the morning she didn't wake up there. She was in a big glass tank with one other bearded dragon. She went over to ask where she was “Hey you, Where am I?” And the other bearded dragon said, “You're at the pet shop!” Mushu was shocked her mom said the juvenile beardies can't be at the shop.

A few days passed until a woman and two girls came into the shop. They walked over to Mushu’s tank. She couldn't understand human language so she didn't know what the family and the shop worker was talking about. But she was excited because she felt like the family was going to take her

But a couple of minutes later and they left with nothing but dog treats. That's when Mushu lost hope. But then the same family came the next day and went back to Mushu. The youngest daughter was talking to Mushu. And then that's when Mushu felt a hand picking her up. 

She was getting adopted! She was so happy. When they arrived at her new home it took a while for the family to set up her tank, But when it was done Mushu liked it.

Mushu finally had a goal, And it was to make her owner laugh. The owner was the youngest daughter. One day they were watching Teen Titans Go and any time a raven part would come up, Mushu would run around in circles. And that made the girl laugh.