Help me pls! If you need the story here:
1. Our teacher, Mr. Singh, has a class project that requires us to become involved in something to help our community, so he assigned us to small groups to talk about our ideas. Mr. Singh told us that each group would need to come up with an idea for a project to present to the class. After all of the ideas are presented, then the whole class will vote to choose one project we want to complete together.
2 I took one look at my group and felt a black cloud of doom start to gather. First in the group was Max. Actually, Max is my friend, but he is completely obsessed with science, which is not really my thing. One of his birthday presents was a microscope, and he thinks it is the most fascinating object in the universe. He can sit at the microscope for hours watching tiny creatures squirm around in a drop of water.
3 The next member of the group was Iman. All she ever thinks about is animals. She even has a lot of pets at home, which would not be a good thing for me. I usually avoid animals because it seems as though I am allergic to every imaginable kind of animal.
4 Finally, there was Cally. She is constantly drawing and sketching, and she doesn’t talk much. She can usually be found sitting somewhere drawing and doodling, which can become annoying if you are hoping to find someone to talk with or do something with after school.
5 As for me, just get me outdoors! That’s all I ask. Whether I am simply bicycling with my friends, walking around town, or playing ball in the park, I am just happy to be outside.
6 When we sat down to talk about project ideas, Iman started the discussion about what we could do.
7 “I think our project should be to volunteer at the animal shelter,”
she said. “It’s a great way to contribute to the community, and it will be fun. Of course, that’s just one suggestion. I’m going to write down everybody’s ideas. But, Theo,” she added, staring straight at me, “I really don’t think the town needs a new baseball diamond.”
8 Amazing! How did she know what I was going to suggest?
9 Then Max spoke up. “What about helping wild animals?” he said. Cally started sketching a tiger on her notepad. “I just learned that there is a zoologist at the nature center who we could help. She has been working to save animals on the road by Warner’s Woods, because the traffic on that road is causing big problems for the wildlife.” He glanced at Cally’s notepad.
10 “Sorry, Cally,” he said. “I’m talking about helping amphibians and reptiles. Not that I wouldn’t help tigers if I could!”
11 “So, what is your suggestion? What are you proposing?” asked Iman.
12 “Cars and trucks are killing a lot of animals. Spotted salamanders and Blanding’s turtles are especially vulnerable because they need to cross the road to get to their nesting grounds. Maybe we could help protect these critters from harm,” Max finished.
13 “We could start a campaign to inform more people about the problem. We could also put signs along the road that would tell people to watch out for turtles and salamanders,” suggested Cally.
14 “Sure,” Max agreed. “The zoologist said the spotted salamanders cross the road in huge numbers on the first rainy night in early March. Every year, people from the nature center go out with flashlights and buckets to help them cross safely.”
15 “Maybe some of us could help with that, too,” I suggested.
16 This idea was beginning to sound interesting. We did some research and found pictures of spotted salamanders and Blanding’s turtles. Iman immediately fell in love with them, and Cally started designing a “Critter Crossing” sign.
17 “What would really help the animals is to have a tunnel under the road just for them,” said Max excitedly. “Maybe we could get the town to build one. That would be the best way for the turtles and salamanders to cross safely.”
18 Our group of four agreed that Max’s “Critter Crossing” project was a great idea that could be a big help for our community. Now we would just have to convince the rest of our class that our project was the best!