New words I learned

1. There are many different types of storms and they can be disastrous or beneficial to land. Also, photographing storms capture the beauty of nature. Storms interest me because I have always thought that they were exciting and intense. People risk their lives to chase storms and get a photo, usually in black and white, it is what they do for a living. It would be very exciting job.

2. Messages are safe with dabbing bacteria on paper with toothpicks. The bacteria lights up a certain color and colored pairs of dots are used for the alphabet and other symbols. The idea of a “new” secret code is really interesting and creative to me ; that is what made this article catch my eye. Secret messages are put on paper by applying colored (through chemical reactions) bacteria in dot pairs can be used in place of the alphabet.

3. Koalas are native to Australia because of all their eucalyptus trees. Koalas have become almost extinct, but there are volunteers and organizations that rescue and care for them. I chose this topic because it draws awareness to the fact that we are destroying the habitats of many animals and they are getting endangered because of our carelessness. Also, who doesn’t like Koalas. I learned how important it is to protect endangered species and find new ways to be more environmentally friendly.

4. Coconuts are very versatile and useful tropical fruits, which grow on palm-trees. They can used as postcards, health drink, shredded sweet, woven mats, and even biofuel. I have always liked and wanted to try coconuts, so I chose this article to learn more about them. I had no clue that they could be used for more than one thing, drinking. It is amazing how we have figured out more uses for things, not just coconuts.

5. New words I learned • Two joeys cling to each other at an animal hospital before being placed with human caregivers. A joey is any young animal especially a kangaroo or in this case a koala. (Rescuing Koalas) • Resembling a mushroom cloud, a monsoon thunderstorm drops a deluge on the desert. A deluge is anything that overwhelms like a flood. (Epic Storms) • This one crept over a farming community for more than an hour, bristling with electricity. To bristle means to be visibly roused or stirred. (Epic Storms) • Powered by a strong, rotating updraft, a supercell can steer itself away from the prevailing wind, devour or destroy other squalls in its path, and dodge its own storm-exstinguishing precipitation, staying alive for up to 12 hours. A squall is a sudden, violent gust of wind, often accompanied by rain, snow, or sleet. (Epic Storms) • For millions of years the tropical fruit has populated islands by floating from shore to shore in a buoyant husk. Buoyant means to tend to float in a fluid. (The Wondrous Coconut)

6. Bibliography Berlin, Jeremy. “Epic Storms.” National Geographic July 2012: 50-59. Jenkins, Mark. “Rescuing Koalas.” National Geographic May 2012: 126-143. Rizzo, Johnna. “Spies have a new tool for encoding secret texts: bacteria.” National Geographic March 2012: 32-33. Shyr, Luna. “The Wondrous Coconut.” National Geographic March 2012: 30.