Wow! I can’t believe another fabulous school year has passed so quickly! Throughout the year I’ve had great moments at school with my friends, not so pretty events, and even unexpected times.
One of the most wonderful and exciting events was going to Science Camp for the 6th grade field trip. For the first two days, our group visited many different ecosystems, where we collected scat to study and graph, and made tests of the wind speed, soil temperature, temperature, and many other things. The best part of the first two days was studying the riparian ecosystem. We got to catch water insects, and our group caught dozens of water striders, a water millipede, a diving beetle, and even a giant toe biter. The free time there was also very fun, with Gugu ball (a safe version of dodgeball), basketball, volleyball, and tetherball. The last day was the best. We were really close to Dana Point Harbor, so we spent it at the oceanside. Our group studied tidepools first, and we found many creatures like sea anemones, crabs, clams, starfish, mussel, and so many more I can’t not name. By the harbor, there was also an aquarium. When the animals in the aquarium get sick, they have to be moved to the “sick bay” tank. So we tested the water’s quality to see if it was fit to move the animals. In the afternoon of the last day at camp, I got an unexpected but great surprise. We were going on a boat trip to examine the ocean ecosystem! I really don’t know why this popped up, but I got excited like the rest of my friends. But this turned out to be a great surprise. We saw many creatures that were described when we studied the ocean ecosystem at school.
Probably my worst moment was when I failed my Romantic Festival piano competition. In the morning, I woke up really late, and when I was downstairs practicing my piece, I was still a bit groggy from my sleep. My mom was whistling happily and started to water her garden cheerfully. Then she came in and put on makeup. At the performance, I was put last, which I didn’t like. I couldn’t remember my piece well when I was sitting at my chair, and I was already kind of nervous. The first notes I played made my hands shake, and soon, I messed up my whole second line. I recovered, but by then, my hands were shaking insanely and I messed up a few more times. I felt my face burning, and when I finished the last note too harshly, I hoped my face did not remind the audience of an overripe tomato. I timidly sat down, and tried to hide my face behind the certificate they handed to each of us.
Science Camp was not only the best moment of my sixth grade year, but also contained my unexpected detour. That unexpected event was the boat trip out to sea to examine the Pelagic, or ocean, ecosystem. When our group instructor, Amanda, was telling us the schedule, I must not have been listening, because I couldn’t recall hearing anything about a boat trip. But the thought was really exciting, and finally, when I was on the verge of exploding with impatience, the cruiser boat docked and we boarded the roomy deck. After we left the calm harbor behind the breakwater teeming with pelicans, the first of the choppy sea caught us by surprise. A few people screamed, and the motion made my heart skip a beat. After everyone got over the shock of the large waves, we started to enjoy the sensation. As Darren and I enjoyed the slightly salty spray on our faces from the waves, someone shouted out that they saw a dolphin. We immediately looked around the sea. Not just a dolphin, but dolphins. More than a dozen of them, circling us and dodging back and forth with their extreme agility. More moved in to “play” with us, while some swam away. The different schools of dolphins stayed with us for almost 15 minutes. Sadly, we didn’t see any whales. On the way back to the harbor, we passed a green buoy with a fat family of seals. The fattest one, probably the dad, raised a wet flipper and seemed to salute us lazily.
In all, my 6th grade school year has been a great time, even with the low points!
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