Monthly Archives: October 2020

Communications, Middle School Musings, Posts With Personality

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Hey everyone! Ready to learn about my avatar?

An avatar is an icon or figure that represents you in multiple ways and should look similar to you. It is almost always used on the internet and could represent other people as well. In my case, I created my avatar on an app called Bitmoji. This is an app where you have to download it on your phone and sadly is not a link that you can access from here.

In my opinion, my avatar looks somewhat like me but, anyways, let me tell you why this avatar represents me. When I started creating my avatar, the first thing I decided to do was my hair. In person, my hair is a lot longer than it is on the avatar but this was my only option for curly and long. My hair is a lighter brownish or even blondish. If I had to choose one word to describe my hair, it would be beachy. The next thing that I chose to add to my avatar were my eyes. For the longest time, I had no idea what color my eyes were. So my eye doctor recently confirmed that my eyes are grey, which is really rare. The reason I couldn’t tell what colors my eyes were is because they change with my surroundings or what I’m wearing. For example, if I wear blue then my eyes are blue that day, same with most colors including black, brown, green and shades of purple. It does this because there are actually no color pigments in the iris so they just take on the color of what’s around them. I actually really like my eyes.

Other than the physical part of my avatar, the pictures that I used show my personality too. I chose a picture of my avatar holding books because I love school and reading. I chose the outfit because that is kind of how I dress in real life and my overall style. In the end, I think my avatar represents me pretty well. You can go HERE to take a look at a different type of avatar. Leave a comment saying what would make your avatar unique and leave a link to your blog so I can stop by.  -Bella

Environment, Posts With Personality

Coral Reefs

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Hey everyone! Ready to learn about Coral Reefs? They are actually a lot cooler than you think. 

Although coral reefs don’t even take up 1% of the ocean they are considered to be “Biological Hotspots” of the ocean. They are also very diverse considering that they are the homes to ¼ of all marine life. Coral reefs are by far one of the most valuable ecosystems on earth and are key indicators to the ocean’s health. Coral reefs are considered animals and are very similar to jellyfish. 

Did you know that on top of the ¼ of animals living in coral reefs over 4,000 different species of fish depend on coral reefs as their home at some point in their lives?

Now that you know a little bit about coral reefs let’s talk about the sad part and how we can save them.

In the past 30 years we have lost an estimated 50% of coral reefs. This is projected to reach up to a 90% loss by 2050. Over half a billion people depend on coral reefs whether they know it or not for food, income and protection. Coral reefs attract around $36 billion every year. They also help the shoreline to stop eroding and as you already know they are a home for a lot of animals. Even with how important coral reefs are they continue to die from human interactions, overfishing and even global warming. A way that global warming is killing coral reefs is bleaching. Bleaching is when the ocean waters get to hot and the coral releases all of its algae, this causes the coral to turn completely white. When coral bleaches it is not dead, if the temperature stays warm it then causes the coral to not let the algae back in and it dies. Around 30% of coral reefs died in the Great Barrier Reef during the huge amounts of bleaching in 2016. Another thing that hurts coral reefs a lot is sunscreen. Believe it or not 6,000 – 14,000 tons of sunscreen falls off of humans and into the ocean per year. Chemicals that are in the sunscreen are killing coral reefs. 

If you are still not feeling strongly about saving coral reefs then read this. Coral reefs provide sources for medicines that are being developed to treat things like cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and so many more viruses and diseases. Coral reefs are possibly the gateway to finding the cures that once felt impossible. 

Here are some ways you can help protect coral reefs:

  • Buy reef safe sunscreen.
  • Try volunteering at a local beach cleanup if possible.
  • Try to conserve water 
  • Use energy efficient light bulbs- to help the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere and help climate change.
  • Try using environmentally friendly things. For example, use a reusable water bottle or when you are at a store you can look for the environmentally sustainable products (most stores have them)

Lastly, keep informed and spread the word. Below I have attached a video with some more information about coral reefs and make sure you tell your peers about this problem and direct them to my blog or show them some videos.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you now know a little more about coral reefs. We are officially one step closer to saving the world. Please leave a comment saying one reason you plan to help protect coral reefs and share the link to your blog so I can stop by and look around.

All About Me, Communications, Posts With Personality

All About Bella

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Hi! My name is Bella and welcome to my blog. This is a blog where you can find posts about the environment including things like the ocean or air pollution. You can also find ways that you can help save the world (environmentally) one step at a time. Here are some interesting facts about me.

 

  • I play travel softball. I have been playing softball for as long as I can remember and started playing travel softball 5 years ago. I am a pitcher and first baseman. My number is 99 because of Aaron Judge because my families favorite team is the Yankees.  I love playing softball because I get to release my energy and it brings back all of the fun memories of my parents coaching me when I was younger.
  • I love the beach. I have always loved the beach and never thought about surfing until a year ago. I also love the ocean and all of the things in the ocean like coral reefs and all of the animals. I feel like surfing is so different from other things that you do at the beach. It feels like that because surfing is a way to see the ocean from a different perspective. There are also so many things that you can do at the beach. Most people think that there are a bunch of scary things in the ocean, not just sharks but all of the unknown things, when you are deep in the ocean you are one with the ocean and looking at the beautiful things not thinking about all the bad and scary stuff.
  • I love to read. Whether it is a fiction novel or a non-fiction book filled with information. Reading is relaxing and it almost takes you into a different world while your reading. I also love reading books that have a lot of information on different animals or the environment.  Did you know that the ocean is on its way to being 100% fishless by 2048 and Animal Agriculture uses trillions of (clean) water annually that could be going to people who don’t have access to it. 
  • I like to sing. I just like to sing, with my brother or in the car on a road trip. I have always loved to sing even when I was little I would sing for hours on end during a family road trip (probably a little annoying for everyone else). It is just something where you can let go and have fun. I feel like it is a way you can express yourself to the world and other people.
  • I am a dancer/figure skater. For most of my life I competitively figure skated on a national team. We were a theatre on ice team and were nationally ranked four different times. I also completed individually with many different solos. Dancing has really always been a part of me, whether I was ice skating or even on the softball field I would dance (whether it was good or not). 
  • I love to act. I am the type of person who makes a lot of lists and feel like I need to have a schedule or know exactly what will happen next and when. When I am acting, or am playing a character I know what’s going to happen next and I think it is just a feeling of safety. I have wanted to act my whole life and now I am which is crazy if you think about it. 
  • I love all animals. I absolutely love all animals. I think that every single one of thems lives matter just as much as ours do. They all deserved to be loved whether they are a big scary dinosaur or a cute little bunny. All animals have unique qualities and most likely are misunderstood. For example, some people are scared of sharks but there is nothing to be scared about, they are just misunderstood creatures and deserve to be loved, cared for and protected just as much as any other animal.
  • I love to learn cool new facts. Sometimes when I am bored I will go to (reliable) websites and learn new things. I love to share these with my family and I am always open to people sharing them with me. Whether it’s learning that a butterfly doesn’t have a mouth or that penguins mate for life I love to hear it. I try my best to learn something new everyday and share them with my peers.
  • I love the environment. I do everything that I can to help make the world a better place. I read stuff about cleaning the ocean,  cleaning the air, helping endangered animals and helping put a stop to climate change. I use this information to try an do my part and spreading the word so people can do their part as well. A good quote that shows this is “Do more than just exist” I try my hardest to help the world to the best of my ability everyday of my life. 

Thanks for coming by and reading my blog and a little more about me. Please leave a comment and a link to your blog so I can stop by. Make sure to come again!