Richard on … OUR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY

Hello, my name is Richard.  I have learned a lot of things about the environment by watching videos, reading books, and by asking my friends more things about the environment.

One of the things I did not like about what I learned by watching a video is that people sell endangered and rare animals in places called black markets. In the black markets, people sell animals from Madagascar, Africa, and North America. Some animals they sell are endangered, such as lemurs and tortoises from Madagascar.  I also saw that people from the black market hunt tigers to sell their fur or skin.  Animals from the black market are kept in cages and they often die because they get too hot.

I also learned that the ice in Greenland is melting and the polar bears are drowning.  Polar bears also eat each other because they do not have enough food.  By reading a book, I realized that animals are dying out because people burn and cut down their trees or homes and replace them with different types of vegetation. That is called DEFORESTATION.  For example, pandas feed on bamboo, but people cut them down to use it.  Now the pandas are endangered.

I also learned about air pollution.  Air pollution is also called dirty air.  Sometimes polluted air can be invisible and can burn your eyes, make your throat itch, and make it hard for you to breathe.  Pollution can trap different types of gases and make the temperature rise.  High temperatures can cause bigger storms, hotter summers, and rising water levels.  This can cause the beaches to be smaller and hurt animals and plants.

Electricity is also important. Electricity is made at power plants that burn fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas. When we waste too much electricity, we cause fossil fuels to get burned.  This also causes air pollution.

My class and I learned a lot of things about the environment and it was fun – especially watching videos because some of them had cartoons to help us understand.