Soil unit magazine olivia n natalie jamie

Blue Skies Inc. May Issue 2014, Issue 5

Green Thumb Magazine Meet Our New Organism of the Year!

Inside this issue:

Publisher Note

2-5

Summer Trends

6

Quiz

7, 14

Organism of the year 8 Fan Art

9

Poems

10-12

Surveys

15

PRIZES!

16

Check Out the New Summer Trends

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2014, Issue 5

A Note From Your Publishers Dear Reader, If you are reading this I hope that you are interested in my adventure the past week. My colleagues, coworkers and I have been digging out the juiciest gossip and information just for you guys. If you have ever been to Arlington Gardens you will know what I am talking about.

On Monday we decided to visit the gardens so we could explore and learn outside. If you haven’t been there, you should because it is a beautiful area. One thing that really caught my eye was the labyrinth.

Did you know that the idea of the labyrinth was created 5,000 years ago? It’s amazing. The labyrinth there is so beautiful. On the second day of out adventure, we watched a documentary about what a victory garden is. This has encouraged me to help out with gardening in my community. You should too! It’s so much fun. Did you know that most of what you eat is corn? If you look in the ingredients of some packages in your house, I guarantee that something has high fructose corn syrup, corn oil, or something along those lines. In the middle of our wonderful adventure, we decided to go out and weed some mustard plant so we could make more room for the native plants. It was so fun. It didn’t even feel like working at that point! On the final day of our adventure we were mainly working on this issue for you guys so we unfortunately didn’t do anything incredibly exciting or new. I hope you enjoy this months issue because I am personally proud of it!

— Jamie When I set at the beginning of this, I was expecting something boring, with a lot of terms to learn. I was sadly mistaken. I have learned that teamwork is one of the most important things I learned. When I saw my group I was A bit worried because I wasn’t very close to either of my group mates and wasn’t sure if we were going to mesh well. As we dived in I found that It didn’t matter that we didn’t speak much or sit together at lunch. We all worked hard and were considerate of the others ideas, wants and needs. We slip up the jobs almost evenly and tried to create witty and interesting components to our magazine.

As a class we went on two off-campus adventures. When I saw that we were going to Arlington gardens, I wasn’t expecting much. I had been there many times and it was pretty but not that ex-

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citing. Again I had thought wrong. When I really got out there the activities we did were actually really engaging and grabbed my interest. The pre poem observing came first and it was great. I got to relax in nature and make notes of all the beautiful plants and animals surrounding me. The birds were chirping and I really like writing poems, so all in all that was a great kick-off to the day.

After that, I went to the labyrinth. My mom is a yogini and honestly, I had been to a zillion of them and was bored in previous times. This time was a little bit better. My classmates were a big distraction and it was hard to clear my thoughts, but afterwards I was refreshed and ready for the next station. This station was with my group, our first experience together. It was intimidating and a little bit awkward, but we found our way and bonded over our excitement to test our spit, our fingers and many other disgusting items.

For our second adventure, we went picking invasive plants that ceased the growth of the native plants. They were mustard plants that had these little hairs on the stem that when you touched them, it felt like rubbing your hand over a splintery log. I had brought gloves but being the good person that I am, I let my forgetful friend borrow one of my gloves because she didn’t remember her own. Aside from that, It was an enlightening experience. I bonded with one girl who I had been really good friends with, but over time we grew slightly apart. As a group we worked together to make a difference on the hillsides. We had a system; some people picked, some people bended and compressed the plants and the others bagged. At the end of the day me and a few others working together had cleared two large patches and part of a pathway. It was super satisfying and it was a big case of instant gratification.

Another highlight of the soil unit that was on campus was when the teachers told us to go outside and feel the soil without our shoes on. I know it sounds silly but that 20 minutes spent playing with my friends was a rare and precious time. Nowadays, everyone is so busy, finishing up homework, playing on their phones, and we don’t really go outside to play games and cartwheel like we used to.

This was the main inspiration for my “Barbaric Yawp” poem. As I said previously, I love poems and they are my favorite things to write, that is because I can be really creative with them and there are no concrete guidelines. When I heard about this poem though, I was confused.

When I listened to the soundtrack of the wolfs crying, it gave me better idea of what to do, but the real ideas came when I played with my friends.

Finally, there was Tuesday when some specialists came to talk with us and educate us. I learned about planting herbs in the right areas based on their need for sun, seed balls and how they work, and information on the trees on campus. It was super fun, crazy and mind blowing and a lot to take it, but it was really fun.

In total, this soil unit has made me think about everything I know. I thought that I knew a lot about nature and compost and all of that stuff, but now I have all of this new information. I had so many adventures and bonding experiences with my friends and teachers outside of the classroom setting. I was relaxed in nature and was able to take the time to really look, listen and smell it and enjoy it. I never think to just go outside and enjoy the outside world but now I am more

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A Note From Your Publishers motivated to do just that. I also think that I will pay attention to details more and really slow down and don’t be so reliant on internet. I have also learned to appreciate all of the little plants and bugs that live in the soil. Lastly, I think that now I can have a more positive mindset when getting paired with people I don’t know very well because now I know how to overcome that obstacle and break the ice. I hope that you like our magazine- we have worked really hard coming together with all of this information. Thanks!

-Olivia

Dear Reader(s) , The soil unit has been an amazing experience for me, and I hope that I can share a fraction of that with you.

Throughout the soil unit, I've really connected with nature and have deepened my awareness to what I'm eating. Did you know that in 2050 there will be 9 Billion people on Earth? If we don't change our ways of farming, our whole ecosystem could get a lot worse.

One of the main problems in the US is mono crops. Mono crops is when you plant the same variety of plant over and over again in the same area. That's what caused the Dustbowl. Mono crops also take all of the nutrients out of the soil and leave us relying on harmful chemicals to grow food. Throughout this unit, we've also learned about all the toxins, chemicals, and hormones that we put into our bodies when we eat processed food. We also learned a healthy and earth sustaining alternative to processed food, organic farming. We learned about compost, growing your own food, and being mindful about what we're putting

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in our bodies. An organic garden gives you the chance to eat, something that you know will be healthy.

During the semester of the Soil Unit, we learned about finding inner peace throughout nature. Even though ‘inner peace’ sounds like something that came from a Kung Fu Panda movie, it’s really quite nice. On our first day of the soil unit we went to Arlington Garden. One of the activities we did was walking through a labyrinth. This particular labyrinth’s design is 5,000 years old and has six figures. When walking through the labyrinth, you find yourself at utmost peace.

The calming crunch of the trail with the beautiful scent of the flowers, indulges you in a rare delight, nature.

So many people are obese in America, and if even some of us started planting gardens rather than only relying on the processed junk food we so commonly eat the US could be a better place (where people live longer, too). This whole unit actually inspired me to grow my own garden. Hopefully, you can find peace in nature as well. I hope that nature can inspire you too.

-Natalie

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Cute summer style alert! These cute accessories imitating pinecones, robin eggs and other natural items are currently the hottest things in Hollywood! They are made by Beatrice Bee who has a team of spider crafters sewing the materials and a team of highly intelligent ants coming up with new styles! The picture shows celeb Soi$ha wearing the newest pinecone clip. If you want to win one of these pinecones and be just like Soi$ha, go to the Green Thumb website- www.greenthumbmag.com to find out how. If you would like to purchase one of Beatrice’s leaf accessories, please contact her at beebeecutie@tree.com or buy it off their website- www.naturepretty.com . Please send us pictures of you wearing these cute accessories and we might just send you something!

Kisses!

Style Scout– Olivia

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By Olivia

that

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Sir Bacteria Congratulations to our new organism of the year, Sir Jerry Bacteria. He grew up in Los Nematodees in southern Dirtornia. He was only 0.0001 mm when he was a wee baby, but he has grown to be 0.004 mm! He attended college at Soilford University with a major in morphology, the study of shape shifting, and a minor in Decomposing and Nutrients. That was 10 years ago. Today, he works at a bacteria company. One of the largest and most praised factories accord-

ing to the president of the USA, Amy Ameober . Jerry is now of 33 years and supporting his wife and 3 kids. Lady Gaga made a speech about a month ago about Mr. Bacteria himself.

“Soil produces plants which produce oxygen and without it you would die. You don’t want that now do you comrades? Sir Jerry Bacteria regenerates the old and turns their nutrients into nutrients. Soil makes us live,

and Jerry is helping us with the kindness of heart allowing us to live. Surely, comrades you can see the we owe our utmost debt to him. It is him that we can thank for letting us live our lives and getting a great education.”

-- Lady Gaga Sir Bacteria is currently in the process of being promoted according to close sources of Mr.

“We love his dedication and hard work at the factory and he deserves this. He is our fastest divider- he divides nearly every 20 minutes.” -Walter Worm Walter Worm.

“We love his dedication and hard work at the factory and he deserves this,” says Walter, “He is our fastest divider- he divides nearly every 20 minutes.”

Instead of doing the dirty decomposing work currently he is being promoted to vice president of the slime production area, where they

currently make layers of slime every hour to help the other bacteria stick to the soil so they can help to decompose things, and afterwards the other bacteria always join him at the Chemical Pollution Grill for a hearty meal. Since there about 500 million to 1 billion of his bacteria friends in a gram of soil they can eat

a lot of chemical pollution! As a side job he also helps to replace the nitrogen in soil so that plants can flourish.

Every now and then, Mr. Bacteria visits his microbial cousin Ms. Archaea and the rest of the Prokaryote family.

Mr. Bacteria is very proud of

You will die but the carbon will not; its career does not end with you. It will return to the soil, and there a plant may take it up again in time, sending it once more on a cycle of plant and animal life.

-Jacob Bronowski his history, the oldest fossils known (nearly 3.5 billion years old) are the fossils of bacteria-like organisms. Which means that the earliest form of life was bacteria.

“You will die but the carbon will not; its career does not end with you. It will return to the soil, and there a plant may take it up again in time, sending it once more on a cycle of plant and animal life.” ~Jacob Bronowski

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A Note From The Artist: To this day, I honestly have no idea what type of tree this is. I have dedicated some of my time to research and I have come to no conclusion. This tree was fun to draw with the different branches and the millions of leaves. One thing that I remember distinctively, was the weather when I drew it. You know how you have those days when it’s just so beautiful out that you just want to draw something, or read outside? Well, that what I felt when I drew this tree. It was sunny and windy but it wasn’t too hot. It was refreshing and I just felt at peace and at a whole with the outdoors.

-Jamie

Wild Roots go outside they said take off your shoes we did as normal 7th graders do and started to

Peace?

A fairy arch

cartwheel and imagine we were

the leaves are green, the petals are fire

in a grass filled circus ring

circling in a blur of red

the soil spinning beneath

a fairytale, seems like it

our feet classmates’ barbaric yawps

but in the distance there is a car alarm crying

sounding

Little golden wild flowers

yelling and screaming and laughing

leading me --the way--

as we had always

soft to the touch like silken hair

done

up above the sky’s clouds make patterns before my eyes

-Olivia

wait, those are telephone wires, buzzing Pine needles the smell of them is everywhere, but no pine trees in sight brings me back to summer camp memories and tragedies -Olivia

from The Internet Where I felt safest Was not in a house, in a home, or even in an airtight security system But out in the familiar forest “One Wild And Precious Life” Above me, lies a stretched tarp tied to machine carved wood The trees, Are forever going green, Blocking my view of school girls I hear the friction of Crickets’ wings The earth like the essence of bacteria decomposing; The redolence Of my first home And my last.

The familiar texture of used, evened sand paper, Envelopes the fingerprint sized rock Snakes slithering throughout the red ceramic Spewing out water with command Flat, crayon green worms blown out on the trunks extension And the cracked bark that is life’s twin.

-Jamie

Where I felt safest is where toxicodendron radicans tickle my ankles Where the scent of decomposition is heavenly Where mistakes were praised Where injuries were shared I refuse to go out now Not without my phone Not without a laptop Not without a charger I haven’t seen a day without Tumblr A day without Facebook A day without internet Not in years I wish we would talk Walk in the park Play in the mud like stupid 5 year olds Without the need to post it on Instagram Will you do me the favor?

The favor of leaving your phone at home Shutting down your computer for a few hours And enjoying the sunlight.

-Jamie

Life Goes On I think about myself a little sapling in the forest of life.

The weather gets warmer and you will see me come alive.

I will grow larger.

I will be stronger.

I will be something.

As a little sapling I can only imagine life as a tree.

I will come alive.

Apples will grow from my branches.

Near and far people will come to bask in my shade.

They think of their human things, never really noticing that I listen.

-Natalie

The Great Outdoors Above me I see a plane trails in the sky reminding me that our path is never forgotten. The white puffy clouds float consciously around it. On the ground I hear the crunch of gravel, the uncertain shuffle of feet, yet to figure out what their path is.

The shadows of the stringy, bold, and tall plants hangs directly below them, reminding me that we never leave our past. The vibrant plant colors, purple, green, pink, red, orange, and yellow come at me like a fairytale coming alive. They remind me of how we must enjoy the little time we have. I stare at a large purple tree gently moving in the breeze, one called a Jacaranda, and I realize something. Our lives are counted by years, but I want my life to be counted by memories. On cue, I leave to smell some rosemary as I have yet to forge my own path.

-Natalie

Nature Drip, Drip, Drip, Splash.

The water hits me in the head. I brush my head off before looking at the tree that poured the water on me. It’s a Sequoyah tree, with a trunk that is largest I’ve ever seen, probably twenty times the size of myself. This brings a flashback of a group hug around a Sequoyah tree quite like this one. It also brings back the feeling of a community in nature, and the feeling of peace. Of slowing the mind as it desperately tries to climb on, annoying me about one thing or the next. Why can’t life be a simple splash on the head? A simple reawaking into a better life? I realize that I just answered my own question, nature is our reawaking. It’s the solid rock in the flowing river of our lives. In nature, we are free. In nature, we remember who we really are.

-Natalie

By Olivia

According to the poll you guys took on www.greenthumb mag.com you guys are into squirrels!

They’re so cute and fuzzy. Go online to take more polls and your opinion might end up in next months issue!

According to the poll you guys took on www.greenthumbmag.co m you guys aren’t that into grassy lawns. Go online to take more polls and your opinion might end up in next months issue!

Win our designer pinecone that Soi$ha has signed herself! Just send us your email or get a better chance by going on our websitewww.greenthumbmag.com or subscribe to Green Thumb

Win an earthy exfoliating scrub from www.mothernatures scrubs.com! They have the best product from lip gloss to conditioners just for you! To win email us a gif of you doing a cartwheel!

QUYEN! Who wouldn’t want one? She comes with a free Audrey! If you want one, all you have Win a gift card to Fallen Leaves to do is send us a picture of a mouse at Yoga Studio and get a private class by www.greenthumbmag.com Nusha Nematode the instructor.

Just send us a letter saying your favorite yoga pose and you are in!