Go To: Home : Participating Schools : China Middle School

Imaginative Water Molecule by Natalie A boy named Austin III was sitting at his desk while reading a book called the “Ecology of Scientific Water Molecules” when he had a strange idea. Although he was a very bright child he had a feeling of foolishness that day. He closed his eyes and imagined he was a tiny speck. Austin III looked down at himself and realized he was a water molecule. He looked around him. “Uh oh…," he said, his voice shaking. Austin III was on top of a mountain. Luckily no one was around to step on him. Suddenly he started soaking into the ground. Frantically Austin III tried to stop himself. It was no use. He got squeezed in between the dirt particles. Right out loud he hollered, “I found some friends!” Austin III saw some water below him. He hit the groundwater with a “kerplunk”, started flowing down an underground stream, and seeped into an aquifer. Austin III saw a speck of light and screamed joyfully. “Oh yes, finally. I was starting to wish this dream was over.” But, it turned out that he was staying with his “friends." Austin III sighed as he tasted the salty bitterness of the ocean. He got to the ocean by seeping out of the aquifer and by seeping through the dirt until he got to the ocean. He felt the stringy tickle of the kelp plants beneath him. Suddenly his eyes widened. He remembered what happens to water when there are kelp plants, or any other kind of plant around. Just like a vacuum, the kelp plant sucked him up. Austin III was bored to death as he went through the life cycle of the kelp plant. After a while his eyes started hurting from seeing bright green. He finally got transpired. He felt like a bubble as he got squeezed out of the leaves of the kelp plant. Austin III thought, and was, in the ocean for only a second. He screamed in horror, “Oh no…oh no, I know what’s happening and it’s not good. I’m afraid of heights!!” That was all he could say. Austin III felt as though he was separating as he became vapor. He floated up, up, up, and up until he struck the cushy underside of a cloud. It was so comfortable that Austin III sprawled out and fell fast asleep. After several days, Austin III woke up to a pop. The cloud had opened up and Austin III started falling. He shivered so badly that he could barely breath. He looked around himself and realized that he was falling as snow. He blew out a sigh of relief. Austin III carelessly kept falling. He hit the ocean and floated down, down, and down some more until he hit the bottom. Austin III plopped down on his behind, looked around, and fell back asleep because he was exhausted. After about 127 years of bouncing around the ocean, he was sucked up by a kelp plant again. Since Austin III was used to it, it wasn’t so scary this time. Once again he was also transpired. After being transpired he was once again evaporated. This now was fun to him. Austin III fell as a huge droplet of rain onto a parking lot. “Ow…That hurt…” he wined. From there he gathered with many other molecules and rolled down a very steep hill into a stream. Like all streams and rivers, he was carried back into the ocean. For the next 853 years he slept and played in the ocean. “Oh my goodness, this dream is very boring.,” he said his voice low. Finally he rose to the surface and evaporated into the clouds. On his way up his real body woke up. “Wow that dream was wonderful, but I am still very tired. I’ll get back to my book later”. We’ll never know what happened next…

Poem Loons don’t like to be too close to people Only have two chicks a year On China Lake loons are counted each year Nests are built close to the water’s edge Stay away from loon nests. Help preserve nature’s way!

The China Lake Monster by Jason Some people believe there is a China Lake monster; others believe that is a legend or a myth. It is told the monster comes out at night when it is dark so no one can see the lake monster. They say it eats visitors that stay after dark. Some people say the monster is slimy, green, big, and has sharp fangs and claws. Others say it is greenish blue, has slippery, slimy, impenetrable scales, and has 10 heads. Rumor has it the monster has eaten 999 people, 888 dogs, 777 cats, and, 42,152 anchovy and jalapeno pizzas. Today I am going to visit people that say they witnessed the China Lake monster. First, I will visit Professor Fred and Dr. George from the Alabama Institute for Monsters. “Is it true you saw the lake monster?” Professor Fred responded, “Yes, in fact, we did see the lake monster.” Dr. George added, “ We saw it at 9:00 p.m. and it was eating our best friend, The Honorable Geofed, a rather plumb fellow who smelled like rotten fish.” “It was about 15 yards from The Landing” Fred commented, “It was greenish blue, and it had 2 mouths, 4 noses, and 8 eyes. “It appeared to have impenetrable scales, huge, sharp teeth, claws, horns, and spikes.” Fred commented. I then thanked them for the information and felt confident I had the knowledge needed to capture the lake monster. After I had the talk with them, I went and got some equipment to capture the monster. I got a net, cage, and a tranquilizer gun. I then waited until shortly before 9:00 pm and went to the beach, set up my equipment, and set a dozen pizzas on shore as bait. I didn’t have to wait long. At 9:10 pm the monster emerged from the lake. The monster was everything that Dr. George and Professor Fred said it was, and it had breath that smelled like rotten eggs. I quickly shot it in nose with my tranquilizer gun. I gave the monster to the zoo and went home to have a late supper and go to bed.