Mountain Gorillas

Mountain gorillas are some of the most interesting animals in the world. Unfortunately, there are only 700 of them remaining on earth. It is amazing because more than half of them live in the forest of the Virunga mountains in Africa. Although this is illegal, hunters still continue to hunt and kill these amazing creatures. Gorillas are omnivores. Also, they have long fur and short arms. I want to learn more about this type of gorilla, do you?

Did you know there are roughly 700 mountain gorillas remaining on Earth, and nearly half live in the forests of the Virunga mountains in central Africa.Many conservation initiatives are meant to aid mountain gorillas, and it is believed that their numbers may be steady or slowly increasing. Still they continue to face major threats from habitat loss and poaching.Mountain gorillas have longer hair and shorter arms than their lowland cousins. They also tend to be a bit larger than other gorillas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg2hCuDy2wg

The Lion King

People in Kenya may not have a lot of money but they are still very smart. For example, there is a thirteen-year-old boy from Kenya who invented something that would keep peace between lions and humans.This boy's name is Richard Turere and he lives in the Maasai community. His father owns cattle and Richard helps with them. One day he got out of bed and went to go check on the cattle. When he got there he saw that their only bull had been ripped to shreds. He tried to prevent this from happening again by first using fire but that didn't help. Then he tried to use a scarecrow which kept the lions away for one night but the next night they found out it wasn't real. The next night he was walking around with a torch to check on the cattle and that night the lions stayed away. Richard found out that lions are afraid of moving light. He invented a machine that would flash lights around that would make it look like Richard was walking around when he was really just in his bed. Due to his brilliant invention, he got himself a scholarship to one of the best schools in Kenya. So what cool things have you learned about that are in Africa?

Observing the Mountain Gorilla

                                                             

Gather gather let me tell you what I think about the short story, The Mountain Gorilla. In my opinion, the short story is very fascinating and funny at times. The story is about Mountain Gorillas that appear to be very territorial over their land, while also being protective of their families.The Mountain Gorillas are willing to lose their lives to protect their young and their behavior is human like. They shows signs of competing with each other like teenage boys which is funny, while the mother Gorillas display love towards their babies, which is fascinating. The video that you will be viewing is about how scientist are able to observe and record the Mountain Gorillas interaction with each other. This information is being gathered by the scientist because there are only 350 Mountain Gorillas left in the world and unless humans intervene they will continue to be killed and someday become extinct. 

My question to you is, why do you think the Mountain Gorilla is worth saving?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODyB9i6bGwQ

Blog Episode V: A New Hope

So it's time now to jog on over to Africa. From the Middle East it will be pretty simple; just zip on through the Gaza Strip and we will arrive in Egypt in time to watch the sun set over the non-existent nose of the Sphinx. Before going though, it is always nice to know a little about where you are headed. I will say that I try to pay attention to the news as much as I can, but I am especially interested in stories that concern the region we are or will soon be studying. That is why this story about the Rhino hunt grabbed my attention. I do understand that the auction raised a ton of money that is slated to be used for protection and conservation of the remaining rhinos, but c'mon, really? There are so few of these magnificent beasts alive today. To me, shooting even one is a serious crime upon our collective conscience. But that's just my opinion. And it only covers one particular story. The great continent of Africa is home to so many of the world's amazing creatures, people and stories. Like the Mountain Gorilla (Just how freaked would you be between the seven and eight minute mark??). It will be terrible when none remain. Or the recent passing of Nelson Mandela. What a great man! Heck, even a 13 year old from Kenya can make world headlines and earn himself a college scholarship. Help us all to peak our interests in this next adventure.

Your task? Simple. Learn more about any of these stories I have shared with you and give us your take. OR BETTER YET, search the web for a different story from Africa that is interesting to you, and share it with all of us here in a clever way.

Grading rules are as follows:

Titled, Spelling-Error-Free POSTS must show that you have researched and found something interesting about Africa (5 points) and of course...must contain 75+ words and a hyperlink and/or video (2 points) and end with a question (1 point). But wait...THAT ONLY ADDS UP TO 8 POINTS!!! What else do you need to do to get that elusive 10/10? Transition! See the Transition Sheet in the Handouts Folder. Insert a minimum of TWO TRANSITIONS to make your writing more, shall we say...enjoyable to read? 

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Spelling-Error-Free COMMENTS must be the first or second comment made to a post and 50+ words of course (5 points), and once again should clearly show that you have looked up information from the post and added it as part of your response (5 points).

DEAD SEA

There are many interesting things to talk about in the Middle East, but I’m here today to talk about one thing and that’s the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is also known as The  Salt Sea because it is a salt lake that borders Jordan, Palestine and Israel Seas. Did you know that the Dead Seas surface is 427 metres (1,401ft) below sea level? That’s the worlds lowest elevation on land! Did you also know that The Dead Sea is 306m (1,004ft) deep and also the worlds saltiest body of water in the world? I also heard that it’s so salty that when you get into the water it can literally burn or boil your skin.

The Best Place To Live In Dubai

The World's Biggest Place To Live

Dubai is the best place to live. I am saying that because Dubai has smart technology and not stupid technology. One reason about me said smart because they made a big city on top of a desert. Also Dubai has the world’s longest skyscraper called Burj Khalifa. The Burj Khalifa uses a lot of gallon per day. Before there was Dubai it was all a desert which you might think there is no water, but you are wrong. It always used to rain in the desert that’s why if you go to a desert close to Dubai you will see there is moister. If you went to Dubai what would you do in Dubai?