Author: Alexis Burcham

Hi there! My name is Alexis Burcham, and this is my blog, Afterthoughts. I first started this for a school project when I was in 5th grade, but my dad encouraged me to keep it up. I am enjoying writing my articles, and I can't wait to see what the next years entail! - Alexis Burcham, Author
Posted on

Frogs: Why We Need Them

Frogs? Yuck!

As little kids, you either loved picking up (and maybe even kissing) frogs, or you absolutely hated the “slimy, ugly, and fat creatures”. Now, you might feel different about frogs. I used to never want to touch a frog, so I never went near them. But after I started 5th grade, I started to learn more about frogs, toads, turtles, and lizards. I started to get more and more curious. And as I researched more about reptiles and amphibians, I started to feel sympathetic for them. The reason: We capture, kill, or eat frogs without a second thought. We also don’t know what they are seeing or feeling. In other words, we don’t understand them. They are used as pets, test subjects, toys for wild cats, you name it. Frogs are the guinea pigs in life.

but why should i care?

Now, you’re probably wondering “Why are they important?” or “How does that affect me?” Well, a frog’s diet affects you. Who hates bug infestations (or just in general)? I know I do! Frogs EAT bugs, so if frogs went extinct, a critical part of natural bug control would be gone. Then, people would depend on anti-pest chemicals or spiders ( I mean no offense to spider lovers, but they freak me out! ). So if your breakfast, lunch, and dinner is frog legs, watch out for cockroaches ( I’m serious.)! But even if you don’t eat frog legs, we as humans should try to save these species of frogs. Many are already extinct or endangered! I am not saying to catch a frog in hopes of raising it, but if you see a hurt frog, maybe try to help it (if you can see it, it’s camouflaged). Even if you only help one frog in your life, or donate to a species-saving company, you helped save a beautiful creature ( on the inside or the outside).

opinions

Now, I’m also not saying that you should devote your life to frogs or even say you like them when you really don’t, my point is that there is a little more to frogs than you might think. That they are a little important to our sanity about bugs and hygiene. I will be posting my blogs every Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and feel free to share the website link! 😀

Posted on

Constellation Station

Constellations, who needs ’em?

Do we really understand the importance of constellations? Because before maps and compasses and G.P.S., voyagers had to use constellations to navigate. Nowadays, we just think of them as pictures made with stars, and some people don’t even know what the word “constellation” means! Certain constellations appeared at certain times of the year, and at different angles of the night sky, That’s actually how people navigated. But what different constellations are there if people navigated by them?

how many constellations?

Now, based on the information you just got from the last paragraph, you know that constellations are stars that were used to navigate LONG AGO. So that begs the question: How many constellations are there, and what are their names? To answer those queries, there are 88 constellations, so we are not naming all of them in one paragraph ( that’s what Google is for). They are all over the world, but based on where you are at a certain time, constellations don’t stay the same ( because the Earth is rotating). So how did people know when certain constellations would appear?

How did they know?

So now, we know that people used clusters of stars ( constellations) to navigate before maps, compasses, and G.P.S. That brings the question of: “How did they know?” because Earth rotates, so you see different constellations every night. Well, their were experts and astronomers even in the early days of America. So when they saw different constellations every night, they made a chart so they could tell how to navigate based on the charts.

Constellation Conclusion

So, we now know that a constellation is a cluster of stars that was used to navigate in the early days of America ( to put it in a sentence). I hope you enjoyed this blog, and I can’t wait to show you the next. Bye!