Here - Halcyon London International School

Edition 9 (March 2014) -
It’s a truly global one!
Kindly note...
The opinions expressed in these pieces are those of Halcyon Students and are in no way a
reflection of the school’s stance on such issues. Additionally, all grammatical and
organisational errors are retained in the pieces for the purposes of authenticity.
Halcyon MYP Year 1 (Grade 6) and Year 2 (Grade 7)
Celebrates International Mother Tongue day
Prompt:
During the lesson, each student received a current events article in their Mother Tongue.
After reading and annotating the article, students with the same Mother Tongue language
grouped together to discuss their viewpoints and write a prompt in that language.
Swedish Prompt:
Är mobiltelefon spel dåliga för oss eller ens den dummaste
lära oss viktiga kunskaper?
Andrea Wiklund responds…
Många människor tycker att mobil telefon spel slösar viktig tid fast jag tycker att man kan
faktiskt lära sig någonting när man spelar såna här spel som kan vara bra för skolan och
utanför skolan. Tillexempel i angry birds så kan man lära sig att sikta och i spelet candy
Crush så kan man lära sig strategi, i det här spelet så kan man lära sig saker som man inte
lär sig så mycket i skolan. Jag tycker att spel kan vara dåliga för oss "game Candy Crush ,
fann att 32 % av dem ignorerade vänner eller familj att spela , 28 % spelat under arbete ,
10 % kom i gräl med betydande andra över hur länge de spelade , och 30 % sade de var "
beroende " . Jag tror att människor gör spel och Säter dom på app butiken för att dom
tjärnar så mycket pengar tillexempel mannen som gjorde Flappy fågel "Flappy Fågel , en
skapelse av en enda Vietnamesiskt människa , har laddats ner mer än 50 miljoner gånger
och tjänade dess skapare £ 30,000 per dag från reklam ."
Spel kan vara dåliga för oss men det är bara om Man är beroende av dom. Många
människor spelar dom här spelen non-stop det är jätte dåligt för dom för man blir mer
beroende det mer man spelar! Jag tycker att dem här spelen kan vara bra för en fast jag
tycker också att det är dåliga för oss.
Siri Cervin responds…
Många människor tycker att telefon spel slösar viktig tid fast jag tycker att du kan lära dig
viktiga saker, som i Candy cruch du kan lära dig viktiga saker som mönster och strategi
och det blir alltid svårare. Men andra spel kan lära dig språk, matte och andra ämnen.
Jag förstår inte varför alla seger att våran genorason är inte lika hälsosamma och friska
som deras eller lika smarta som dom men jag tycker att vi är lika hälsosamma och nästan
smartare och detta är pågrund av spel vi tänker på ett helat anat set en va dom gör. Men
spel kam också förstöra våra live miniskor som det stog i artikeln "En undersökning som
genomförts bland 1.000 spelare i en lika övertygande game Candy Crush , fann att 32 % av
dem ignorerade vänner eller familj att spela , 28 % spelat under arbete , 10 % kom i gräl
med betydande andra över hur länge de spelade , och 30 % sade de var " beroende”. Men
jag vet att det är lät att över spela, men jag vet i alla fall när jag ska sluta. Så för att
samman fatta allt små och dumma spel kan lära ås litet saker men jag tror inte flappy
fågel kan lära dig mycket.
Spanish Prompt:
¿Sabrán más los científicos sobre las emociones que los artistas,
escritores o cualquier otra persona?
Andres Sanchez-Ylla responds…
Las expresiones las usamos en la vida cotidiana para convivir con otra gente. En mi
opinión todas los ser humanos saben o reconocen las emociones casi igual de bien pero
depende también en cómo han sido educados. Los científicos pueden hacer experimentos
para reconocer las emociones de otra gente, en cambio los artistas y compositores no.
Pero los músicos y artistas expresan sus emociones y pinturas o canciones.
Why do ese haber facial expresiones?
Las expresiones faciales existen para ayudar a explicar como nos sentimos. Las
expresiones faciales nos ayudan para la interacción social en muchas cosas... una de ellas
que ami me parece que es muy importante es para ayudarnos a sentir como se sienten
otras personas. Si no tuviesemos expresiones faciales no nos enteraríamos de los
sentimientos de la gente solo al verla. Por ejemplo digamos que una persona entra a tu
cuarto triste (sin tener expresiones faciales), si no te das cuenta de que esta triste le vas a
tratar como sí no le pasa nada y la persona se puede enfadar.
Italian Prompt:
Beethoven, i Beatles, o Bieber – chi è il migliore? OR
È importante la musica?
Clarissa Haile-Selassi responds…
I Beatles perche sono un gruppo sono conosciuti meglio e penso che sono più interessanti . Hanno scritto
bellissime canzoni piene di emozioni e credo che certe volte sia molto importante per la tua cultura musicale
sentire musica che sia diversa da quella di ora per capire la musica che piace alla gente che sia moderna
anticha o pure di altre lingue e ovviamente avranno diverse culture:
"Già nel febbraio 1964, quando la band si esibì nella prima performance live televisiva negli Stati Uniti, attirò
il più grande pubblico televisivo americano mai visto : 73 milioni di telespettatori, circa il 43% della
popolazione americana. Perfino il tasso di criminalità calò negli USA durante quella esibizione."
Le parole Nelle Lori Canznie sono cosi belle perche era nuovo a quei tempi erano pop e corte così la gente se
le memorizzano più faccilmente ecco perché le persone se li mette una canzone dei Beatles saprano molto
abilmente cantarle .
Le loro canzoni sono quasi tutte di amore e credo che alla gente di quei tempi pensava che delle canzoni così
fossero bellissime quindi credo che loro abbian messo nelle loro canzoni passione amore divertimento e
altre emozine che alla tenue possono piacere molto facilmente .Creco che sei qualcuno ascolta le loro
canzoni capisca di più su di loro che di che cosa era capaci di fare intorno almondo :
"Ascoltare ‘Let it be’, ‘Yesterday’ o ‘Here Comes the Sun’ significa ascoltare la versione pura di quel pop
geniale che non tramonterà mai."
In conclusione io credo che a tutti li piacciano i Beatles e non verrano mai scordati dal corso della musica .
Andrea Costa responds…
Si, la musica è importante, perché un gruppo come i beatles ha completamente cambiato
la musica Americana.
"Già nel febbraio 1964, quando la band si esibì nella prima performance live televisiva negli
Stati Uniti, attirò il più grande pubblico televisivo Americano mai visto : 73 milioni di
telespettatori" e di sicuro è raro che delle persone possano rifare quello che hanno fatto
loro e più altro se lo possano riprodurre .
Counque la musica è molto importante perché non ti fa pensare ai tuoi problemi, ti fa
rillassare e a volte ti tira su il morale, serve a tenere le feste, serve per fare i massaggi
(musica rilassante )e spesso per esempio se stai pulendo o casa o camera tua o se stai
facendo qualcosa di noioso la musica può consolarti e ti può aiutare a fare il lavoror un po
più divertente quando ti lasci con una persona e se ti viene mancato qualcuno in famiglia
spessso sei molto triste e hai bisgno di sfogarti o di consolarti spesso un amico oppure
della musica.
Per me la musica di ora non é di sicuro come quella di prima e molte persone criticano
questo ma le tennager oovviamente adorano le canzoni di justin bieber o gli one direction
(io non sono tra queste) anche i tipi di ascoltarla sono diversi tipo per i beatles c'erano i
dischi di vinile e ora metti un cd piattto iiin macchina e lo ascolti senza problemi oppure
gli ipod inveece i beatles gli ascoltavi mettendo una cassetta in un disco enorme una
specie di cassetta enorme .
Io credo che se nel mondo non ci fosse lamusica la vita sarebbe più cupa e triste.
"Ascoltare ‘Let it be’, ‘Yesterday’ o ‘Here Comes the Sun’ significa ascoltare la versione pura
di quel pop geniale che non tramonterà mai. " Di sicuro questa è la musica degli anni 1960s
- 1980s. Migliore che ci sia e che rimarrá per sempre.
Eric Legler responds…
È forse tra le cose più importanti che uno vive, la musica fa più che intrattenerti, ti
insegna. Dietro la musica non ci sono solo strumenti, ma anche tutta la culture da
chiunque l'abbia scritta anche se è una rockstar, un pianista o un artista del pop.
Un esempio sono i Beatles, il loro nome viene da due parole che hanno messo insieme
"Beat Less" perché il batterista in ogni canzone era di un ritmo più basso degli alti. E poi
loro erano la prima rock pop band più grande ai tempi, erano la prima band inglese a
arrivare in America:
"50 anni dopo aver conquistato l’America, i due superstiti dei Beatles sono stati festeggiati
agli ‘Oscar’ della musica. Erano davvero la più grande band di tutti i tempi?"
La musica è cambiata tantissimo nel tempo, e sempre la musica ha insegnato alla gente
dei nuovi stili, passioni e cultura. Anche con la musica si può imparare altre cose come
danze diverse e movimenti che vengono quando l'ascolti.
I Beatles, per la loro era era la band con più fan al mondo: "Tra i molti cambiamenti
rivoluzionari scatenate dai Beatles, due esempi famosi sono stati l’invenzione del
merchandising (bambole, gomme da masticare, spille, portachiavi) e un allontanamento
radicale dalla tradizione prevalente di eseguire brani di altre persone. I Beatles scrivevano
tutte le loro canzoni."
La musica è uno strumento che ha inspirato tantissimo artisti, altri musicisti e altra gente
normale, però la musica ha anche un lato negativo, della gente delle volte diventa fanatica
di un certo tipo do musica in alcuni casi è il rock è quello può essere un abitudine sbagliata
e può rovinare certa gente.
Maria Berni responds…
Io credo che Beethoven sia migliore perché lui a scritto della musica che è anche molto
popolare oggi. E non credo che le canzoni di Justin Bieber saranno ricordata in cerca 30
anni. La musica di Beethoven ti può fa sentire felice, triste o anche apprensivo!
La musica di Beethoven ti fa sentire molti emozioni, perché usa le note alte a base al
stesso tempo. Che ti fa sentire molte cose a la stessa volta. Io mi sento eccitata perché
parti della opera sono veloci, e triste perché parti sono anche lente.
Ma il primi "pop leggende" sono stati i Beatles. Nell’inverno del 1964 quattro ragazzi di
Liverpool si sono sbarcati a New York, per essere il quattro ragazzi più famosi in quella era.
Non è che mi impazzisco, ma loro musica a un ritmo molto bello. Ti fa sentire felice, e loro
musica e anche molta romantica a piena di amore.
Dutch Prompt:
Zijn mobiele telefoon games slecht voor ons of zijn zelfs de
domste leren ons belangrijke vaardigheden?
Noah Melman responds…
Ik denk dat je heel wat dingen lear van spelletjes kan je leren bijvoorbeeld sommige
spellen die je dingen die je kunt gebruiken in het echte leven, zoals codering en wiskunde
kunnen leren. spellen kunnen ook leren je zelfbeheersing.
Video games hebben een kans om mensen rustiger maken, hun reactietijd verbeteren, het
verbeteren van hun vermogen om contrast te detecteren, motorische vaardigheden te
verbeteren, en soms zelfs helpen met de school kwesties. Niet te vergeten dat een paar
games stimuleren teamwork en het oplossen van puzzels vaardigheden te ontwikkelen.
Games zoals Tetris kan ook het verbeteren van degenen vermogen om te organiseren, en
anderen zoals Call of Duty kan resource management leren. Sommige scholen vandaag
overweegt de integratie van video games als een manier om te helpen leren studenten.
95% + van de kinderen deze dag videogames spelen, en een meerderheid van hen
spelletjes spelen meer dan huiswerk maken of zelfs het denken over school. Niet te
vergeten zijn ze waarschijnlijk meer te leren van deze spellen dan wij of ze beseffen.
Iemand moet gewoon uit te leggen dat strategievorming voor uren op de best mogelijke
aanval route, of hoe je een draak te doden met 50 van je vrienden heeft betrekking op de
echte wereld.Het beheren van een gilde toont leiderschap, het oplossen van conflicten,
teambuilding en meer.
Danish Prompt:
Er mobiltelefon spil dårlige for os eller ikke engang den
dummeste lærer os vigtige færdigheder?
Frida Rahbek responds…
Jeg tror spil som Candy Crush kan lærer os noget, fordi at du skal "matche" slik på linje og
danne mønstrer, så der lærer du jo matematik. Der er også nogle spil du ikke rigtigt lærer
noget ved. Som forexemple Flappy Bird som bare gælder om at at få en pixeleret fugl
mellem nogle rør. Jeg kan ikke se hvordan det lærer noget. Nogle mennesker kan blive så
afhængig af et spil, at de ignorer familie og venner omkring dem, andre gør helt amok.
Men selfølgelig er der mange andre spil der hjælper dig med at lærer eller bare lærer dig
uden du ved det. Spil bliver nød til at være sjove for at folk gider at spille det. Brætspil er en
god måde at lærer på fordi at du ikke bare kigger på en skærm og trykker med en finger.
Nogle brætspil lærer dig rigtig meget omkring strategi som får dig til at tænke dig om.
Men det kan du jo ikke have på dig hele tiden som du kan med en mobil eller en lille tablet.
German Prompt:
Wann dürfen Führungspersönlichkeiten weinen, wenn sie das
überhaupt dürfen?
Allegra Beck responds…
Ich denke das es stärke zeigt. Ich denke das weil, wenn du weinst, ist zeigt das du dich
kümmerst über die anderen Maschen. Einige Leute denken das wenn du in Public weinst,
das du schwach bist.
Manchmal, einige Dinge, die du sagst, Sind wirklich schwer zu sagen in eine Große Gruppe
von Menschen. Wie wenn Obama sagte „Nicht nur, dass ihr mich an mich selbst erinnert,
ihr seid sogar viel besser als ich es war.“ Wenn Obama das sagte, hat her es gesagte in
eine Zitterten stumme.
Est ist eine gute Sache zum weinen. Du weinst nicht nur viel du traurig bist, aber, auch viel
du stolz bist. Auch die Strengste Mensch werten mal weinen in seinen lieben. Noch was
das Obama gesagt hat ist „Ich bin wirklich stolz auf euch alle.“ wenn her das gesagt hat
hatte her Trinen in Sinne Augen. Das ist weil er Stolz war über seine Menschen.
Für Ende, ich denke das wenn du weinst das ist starke sickte. Ist sickte das du über
anderen Menschen kümmerst.
Die
Korean Prompt:
"우리는 중국과의 결함을 찾는 중지하고 대신에 믿을 수없는 업적을
찬양해야한다. '당신은 동의하십니까?
Hermione Sung responds…
중국 스모그 관련 문제는 한국에서도 많이 발생하는 편이다. 중국에서는 인구수도 많고 그 인구수가 일해야하는 장소나 공장의 수도 많아야해서 공장에서의 매연이나 스모그 등 여러가지 오염물질이 많이 나올것을 한국과학자들이나 중국시빈들도 얼추 알고있을듯하다. 중국 시민들이 매연을 방지하기위해 마스크나 가습기 등 을 많이 산다. 물론 그 주변에 많은 피해를 받는 나라에서도 마찬가지로 이것저것을 많이 사드린다. 그런데 중국시민들이 중국정부를 고소한이유는 매연이나 사람 몸에 해로운 물질들이 계속 나타나는것을 보면 이것은 모두 공장 때문이라고 생각했기 때문이다, 중국정부에서는 스모그 물질들이 어쩔 수 없이 생겨나는것이며 또한, 그 많은 사람들이 일을해야 하기 때문에 공장을 패쇠해버리면 공장에서 일하던 사람들의 불만이 더 커질것이라고 한다. 이 기사는 중국 스모그 관련문제에 대해서 이야기를 하는것같아 한국에서의 피해에대한 뉴스자료들을 모아보았다. " 갈수록 심각해지고 있는 스모그가 중국인들의 기대수명을 5.5년 단축시킬 것이라는 분석이 제기됐다."고 했고 이로서 한국에서나 그 주변나라에서도 피해가 만만치 않다고들 했다.
이 문제로 인해서 중국의 공사하던 현장이나 가정집에서도 마찬가지로 문제가 많이 발생한다고한다, 만약 이 문제로 인해 사람들의 분노가 계속 일어나면 중국정부도 어느 정도 처리를 해보려 노력할 것이고 더군다나 문제는 사람들의 건강상태가 많이 해로워지고 수명이 짧아질 것이며, 하늘에 뿌연 공기때문에 비가 오지 않거나, 햇빛이 들지 않아서 자연현상사태도 많이 일어날것이다.
Bibliography (출처): http://t.mt.co.kr/view.html?no=2014030717275321697
French Prompt:
L’Occident doit-il rester neutre face aux problèmes de l’Ukraine?
Tanguy Guerlais responds…
Je pense que l'Europe devrait vraiment essayer d'aider l'Ukraine. Si l'Union Européenne
arrivait à faire entrer l'Ukraine, cela pourrait ouvrir beaucoup de voix commerciale aux pays
au bord de la Mer Noire, donc permetterai de gagner de l'argent.
Aussi pour la guerre, l'Ukraine, se trouve à un point stratégique c'est la premiere ligne de
defense si l'Union Soviétique attaque. Car l'URRS à de grand chance de attaquer l'Ukraine
pour avoir le pouvoir total sur elle. En organisant les jeux olympiques, la Russie, à charmé
l'Europe et l' Amerique. Mais comme de nombreux journeaux et journeaux télevisée le
disent la Russie est entrain de charmer l'Ukraine avec ls jeux olympiques mais la Russie
essaye de faire entrer l'Ukraine dans l'URRS. L'Ukraine a déja essayer de entrer dans l'URRS
mais cette déçision a provoqué de nombreuses guerre civile entre manifestant et polices.
De nombreux morts ont été declaré.
Cette position doit être très dur pour l'Ukraine de se trouver entre deux feux. L'Union
Européenne et l'Union Soviétique rajoute à chaque foit de nouveaux proposition à l'Ukraine
et elle mais beaucoup de temps à se decider. Se qui augmente une attaque de l'Union
Soviétique.
Donc l'Union Européenne devrait vraiment investir pour faire entrer l'Ukraine dans
l'Europe, il y a de nombreux avantages et sauverait l'Ukraine de la guerre.
English Prompt:
Are mobile phone games bad for us or do even the silliest
teach us important skills?
Cameron Morgan responds…
I think that Flappy Birds should not be put back onto the App Store. It has made peoples
lives worse. The creator quoted "it is ruining my normal life". Flappy Birds is not the first
game that has been downloaded over 50 million times and earned the creator 30,000£ or
more. The game Angry Birds was downloaded over 2 billion times in 2009. There was a
survey which polled 1,000 from a simalor game called, Candy Crush, to find that 32% play
the game and ignore family/friends, 10% play during work, 30% say they are addicted.
The reason Flappy Birds is good is because it can help the player keep calm while playing
these addicting games on their mobile devices. Take games like Zombie Life as an
example. Zombie life is a game that you need energy to play. Unless you are addicted to
the game and bought the energy the players would have about 15 minutes to play the
game again. The same thing with another game called Mafia Wars. You would have 100
energy and special jobs cost a certain amount of energy.
Kate Crannell responds…
Are these addicting games bad for us? Do they even teach us skills? I believe that these
games can be bad for us. They can distract us from learning and they can teach us some
skills, but are not boring. The game Flappy bird the newest addicting game has been
taking down from the App Store. I read a article about the guy who created it who wants
to return the game:
"...Dong Nguyen, decided to pull it from the App Store on Sunday evening, they
immediately took to Twitter in protest, adopting the hashtag #saveflappybird. Nguyen
blamed the game for ruining his ‘simple life’, writing on Twitter: ‘I cannot take this
anymore.’ But his fans are undeterred, and after a deluge of tweets, he is apparently
considering Flappy Bird’s return."
Flappy bird isn't the only game that has been addicting, another is Candy Crush. They have
taken a survey on Candy Crush that has been on how often you play the game, but where
you play it:
"A survey which polled 1,000 players of a similarly compelling game Candy Crush, found
that 32% of them ignored friends or family to play, 28% played during work, 10% got into
arguments with significant others over how long they played, and 30% said they were
‘addicted’."
Of course I play games, everybody does. I play Candy Crush, Dumb Ways to Die and more,
but I do not play them often. I do not find any of them addicting, and I play them like once
a week or even more than that. I also love to play educational games which are not
addicting but help you learn.
Do you think games teach you something? I kind of think they teach you something just
not something that important. The reason why I have that opinion is because I have not
even gamed that much in my early childhood, and that I have heard that games can be
very addicting.
I believe that the games can be bad for you because of it addicting features and that they
do not teach you that many skills that can be not that important of needing them.
Halcyon MYP Year 3 (Grade 8) Current Events
Prompt:
If Coca Cola were to make a similar advert in the U.K (something
like #ukisbeautiful), do you think it would prompt the same reaction
from its people? Explain.
Scott Warner responds…
The Super Bowl is not just about the game, it is also about the advertisements. As every 30
seconds cost around $4.9 million to air, the advertisements are very memorable.
Budweiser made an adorable advertisement featuring a Clydesdale horse and a puppy. Very
cute, very memorable. Coca Cola's advert was memorable, however, for a different reason.
They decided to have different cultures sing America the Beautiful, and run for coke bottle
tops at the end.
This advertisement was greeted with uproar. "The American conservative punditry threw a
spectacular tantrum." They were annoyed that America the Beautiful was sung in "...the
terrorist's language." This is not only blatantly racist, but extremely confusing, as the
people of America are a mix of races. America is a very culturally diverse country, and the
people from there come from all over the world. The British colonists, the American
Indians, the South Americans fleeing into America, the land of the free, New Orleans,
French people. America is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, bar
maybe Russia, which stretches across two very diverse continents and has many different
religions, languages and people.
It is a shame that people do not remember that America was built on the ideas on
freedom and suffered many wars for that freedom. However, some people take this too
far, and want to conserve a free America, free of any foreign influences. The America
"...they wish to preserve never existed..." They think that their song should only be sung in
their language, English. Note the name of the language: English. Not American, but
English, from England. The diversity of their country is staring them in the face yet they
still cannot embrace it.
If a British company, such as Aston Martin, or Lloyds were to create an advertisement that
showed Cars racing around Silverstone, or a racetrack in a foreign country, say the Dubai
Autodrome, and the sung Britannia Rules the Waves, or Land of Hope and Glory, or even
God Save the Queen in different languages, I think that nobody would mind that much. Of
course, there are always the racist pigs that think that any foreigner is an an enemy and
shouldn't be allowed into the country, but I do think that the majority of the people in the
UK would not mind. I think that the main reason for this is the complete opposite reason
than which would be expected. Britain is a country that has been conquered by people in
the past (thinking specifically of the Romans) and has attacked and conquered many
countries around the world. The British tended to play by the rules of "finders keepers",
and any territory they found, they kept. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, America India,
Ireland, and even most of Africa. I think that for this reason, because Britain never had to
fight for freedom, and it had in its control very diverse countries and accepted this, that
people would not care. I think that Britain was a dangerous country for a while, and did
take over much of the world, but then gave the separate countries their freedom. Britain
had always had all of these countries, so it did not need "freedom" from foreigners, and
since it always had "foreigners" in their territories, they got accustomed to living with
different people. I believe that it is for this reason that Britain would not find this
offensive.
I think it would be considered a thoughtful advert, an interesting advert, something for
conversation. But not something to take offence at. Not something to criticise, mainly
because of the fact that Britain has been living with people of different races and religions
for so long, that it has come to respect different human beings as what they are, because,
at the end of the day, we are all human beings. Just because some Afghans are members
of the Taliban does not mean that all Afghans are bad. Just because some North Koreans
are being aggressive and threatening countries with weapons does not mean that all
North Koreans are bad. Just because the British took over most of the world does not
mean that all Britons are bad. We are all human beings, we are all of the same race, we
should respect that, not fight against it.
Fra Levi responds…
Coca Cola has been criticized in the last few years because of bad things said about the
company. It is a multinational corporation that has been accused of human rights, labour
and environmental abuses on several continents. Americans think that Coca Cola is
outdoing itself. In most ways its commercial couldn't be less original, they say. Htey think
that singing "America the Beautiful" in other languages that are not english is a
disrespectful thing to do. In fact the song is sung in nine different languages: English,
Spanish, Tagalog, Mandarin, Hindi, Hebrew, Keres, French and Arabic.
Coca Cola was born in America. Here I've got a little piece of her history. Colonel John
Pemberton was wounded in the Civil War, became addicted to morphine, and began a
quest to find a substitute to the dangerous opiate. The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was
formulated at Pemberton's Eagle Drug and Chemical House, a drugstore in Columbus,
Georgia, originally as a coca wine.
Here I have got a paragraph from the Project Gallagher article. "If we cannot be proud
enough as a country to sing America the Beautiful in English," said former congressman
Allen West, "by a company as American as they come – doggone we are on the road to
perdition." Fox commentator Todd Starnes tweeted: "Coca-Cola is the official soft drink of
illegals crossing the border." Another angry viewer tweeted: "Nice to see that Coke likes to
sing an AMERICAN song in the terrorist's language." They complain about the language
used in the Coca Cola advertisement, and in England we speak English. So I don't think
that someone would complain about it.
Halcyon MYP Year 4 (Grade 9) Current Events
Prompt:
Do we still need zoos in our modern world?
Andrew Garcia responds…
Due to the recent events at the Copenhagen zoo, where a two year old giraffe was killed in
an attempt to stop inbreeding, a debate has risen over whether we really need zoos in the
modern age. In order to answer this question, we need to go back to what zoos were
initally for. Zoos have been around for as long as the 5th century, and although they have
been developed since then, they still have the same purpose today as they did 16 centuries
ago. Zoos are for humans to watch and enjoy. If zoos are just for fun, then there shouldn't
be an issue with the public saying that zoos are no longer needed. But, there is one
significant difference between zoos in the late 20th and 21st centuries than the rest that
make zoos extremely vital to keep the animal kingdom in tact.
With increases in human development, nature all around us has not been able to flourish,
instead it has diminished significantly in the past 70-80 years. Because of this, many
animal species of all kind have either gone extinct or are on the verge of becoming
extinct. Because of these events, zoos have adopted a new role in the human world as
places to keep animals that are on the path to extinction. And although some can argue
that zoos aren't really doing anything to prevent the extinction of these animals, but only
temporarily delaying the inevitable. I argue that although that is technically true, by
keeping these animals in a safe environment with no way of death from other animals,
which is the difference between zoos and the wild, we are allowing them to reproduce and
then continuously rebuild their population.
Not only are zoos keeping animals alive, but they are also allowing scientists and doctors
to study these animals to better understand them. If you've seen any movie about animals
taking over the world, then you would know that studying and understanding these
animals would probably be in our best interest. In all seriousness though, studying the
various animals that this world offers is very important for our own race's survival. We
need to learn the best way to co-exist with the rest of the animals that we live with. In
order to make this process work efficiently, we need to be able to have people in close
proximity to these animals. And what would be the easiest way to do that? Having them
within arms reach in a zoo.
In conclusion, I do believe that we still need zoos because now they are more than just
entertainment for humans. They have now become the main way that we interact with
animals and study them. Not only for our own purposes, but for the better good of the
animals well being. By having zoos, we are preventing animals from becoming extinct and
are protecting them. By having zoos, we are helping the world for the better.
Isla Mathieson responds…
Zoos have been open for years, for example London Zoo opened in 1828, and still is very
popular today. As a child, I was privileged to be able to go to the zoo, and also I have been
very well travelled, so I have been able to see them wild. When I was younger, I did not see
some of the harm animals had to go through, but since I have travelled I have seen how
some big animals really live in the wild, and then seeing them in a city zoo does hit some
nerves. There was recently an incident in Denmark where they shot an 18 month old
giraffe because he was and inbreed, and dissected it in front of an audience of all ages. This
made people question whether or not we need zoos in the upcoming future because what
they saw was so terrible.
Zoos are favoured by lots of people, they “have long been seen as places of calm and
tranquillity” (from The Day), but what can make people against them are because of the
small captive areas the animals are kept in. Seeing cheetahs kept in 5x8 metre spaces is
unfair, this is because cheetahs are known to run wild. Camels that are used to walking
miles without water are kept in a small field. This is not saying that all zoos are cruel and
have too little space, this is more focused on city zoos. There should be rules that there is
a minimum amount of space for one type of animal, and if they don't have it then they
can’t have the animals at the zoo. Having smaller animals is fine, because they don't need
as much exercise and space as, for example, an elephant.
Zoo should not fully be taken away but should have stricter policies. The zoo is not just for
pleasure but also for education. “…. [These] places [are] where we can better understand
and protect animals”, it says in The Day. In the future, I think zoos should stay, but they
have to have rules and things they need to have passed to stay open. There are people
that can’t afford to go to Africa to see lions in the wild, and they should get to experience
them. Instead of having city zoos with big animals, they should have smelled animals like,
reptiles, birds, koalas and more small mammals. This would make the zoo friendlier to
animals, if this city zoo does have the space that matches the rule then they can have
some of the animals. Also, we will have greater technology so maybe there could be big
Imax theatre where you could see Africa and all the animals in their natural habitat.

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