Eating sweets is not so sweet

Winner:

Food is one of the basic needs of human beings. We eat different types of food. Most of us like to eat sweet foods. They are generally mouth watering and irresistible, especially chocolates, ice cream, toffees or even cotton candy. Sweets are so really delicious and one can’t stop eating them once you start.

However, like it is said “Too much of anything is good for nothing.” So, too much of sweets are bad for our health. They cause many health problems such as obesity, diabetes and even dental decay and related problems. Cavities too are formed due to excess sweets which is bad for the health.

Many teenagers around the world consume a lot of sweets and as a result they run the risk of becoming diabetics and obese people. They also run the risk of getting heart attacks at a young age.

By consuming excess sweets one can gain weight and this could lead to many fatal diseases. Though sweets do taste good, the harm they cause is unimaginable.

Prevention is the best way to avoid all these complications. As “Prevention is better than cure,” let’s all reduce the intake of sweets for a healthy lifestyle.

Shahani Razzak,
Grade 9L,
Ilma International Girls’ School.

Make good use of leisure

Winner:

‘Three things in life once gone never come back.’

They are time, opportunity and words.

As the above statement claims, everyone can understand the value of these three things.

Everyone can make use of time without any expense or hard work. Therefore, no one understands the value of it. Time is precious and should not be wasted. We should use even our leisure in a profitable way. There are many leisure activities such as gardening, collecting stamps and photography.

My leisure activities are reading books and watching television. There are many advantages in reading new books.

We can improve our reading skills, learn many new things about the world and also other people’s ideas about different things. Reading story books is a great form of entertainment.

My other leisure activity is watching television. It also gives me a lot of benefits and enjoyment. By watching television, we can get to know about the amazing world around us, the different people and also countries. Television is a good source of enhancing our knowledge. However, we must be selective of the programmes.

As most leisure activities have a number of advantages, every human in the world should try their best to engage in some such activity and get the maximum benefit from it. It will be a good way to use time profitably without wasting even the free time we have.

M. Z. F. Rozmin,
Grade 7C,
R/Jeilani National College,
Balangoda.

Waste not, want not

Winner:

World Water Day is on March 22. Water is a very valuable source. It is a gift from Mother Nature. Today many poor countries are facing severe droughts. This is mainly because many people waste and pollute water. We should be careful not to do so.

Every month, an officer comes to our house and checks the water metre. Then he gives us a bill. Why do we have to pay for the water we use? It is because the Water Board cleans and purifies all the water we get. The Water Board also has to pump this water to houses and it is costly.

Many rural areas in our country do not have tap water. So, they depend on other ways to get water; from lakes, wells or tube wells. About 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, but there is only a small percentage of fresh water.

This was the main reason for the kings of ancient Sri Lanka to build so many tanks and reservoirs. They used this stored water in the dry season for the irrigation of land under cultivation.

There is a very limited amount of fresh water on the Earth, but a process called “the water cycle” keeps the water going round and round. It is a combination of evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection. When the Sun heats up water, it turns into vapour or steam.This water vapour leaves the ground and rises into the air.

This also includes transpiration where water absorbed by plants from the soil moves from the roots through the stems to the leaves, and then evaporates from the leaves.T

he next step is condensation, where water vapour in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. When a glass contains cold water, some water collects around the glass. The water didn’t leak from the glass but actually came from the air. Water vapour in the warm air, turns back into liquid when it touches the cold glass.

Water vapour in the air gets condensed in clouds. When a large amount of water has condensed and the air cannot hold it anymore, the clouds become heavy and water falls back to the earth in the form of rain or snow.

This is called precipitation. Then this water can get collected in water sources, where it can evaporate again. So, let ‘s make a promise to try our best to stop wasting precious water which is needed to sustain life on Earth!

J. Randhula Gajadheera,
Willesden College
International, Battaramulla.

I've spun and spun like a ballerina

Winner:

I am a compass. Many children take me to school. I am helpful to solve numerous mathematical problems. Each day during maths the children rotate me on their exercise books to draw circles, semi circles or circular patterns.

I feel bored when I am spun round and round but if I do not do my work properly the children will think I am useless and throw me into the dustbin. I spend the day with my friends who are kind to me. However, the eraser and the ruler are unkind . They always tease me because I am being spun all the time. The pencil and the pen do not talk to me very much because they are very busy.

The children love them a lot because they are very useful to them .I wish to be a pencil or a pen at times but then if I was a pencil I would become short very quickly. If I was a pen, my ink would run out and I would not be of any use. The children can use me more than my other friends.

In the morning children pack my friends and me into their pencil cases and take us to school. On the way if my owner sees a friend she runs to meet up with her and all of us shake and rattle until she stops running. Even when she stops we feel dizzy.

And that is why I don't like to go in her bag. She uses me at school and even after she comes home she uses me to do her homework.

At night I am on my own most of the time and I wonder what tomorrow will bring.However, even though it seems as if being a compass is bad I love being a compass.

Amanda Wanasinghe
Grade 6 Sirimavo Bandaranaike B.V.,
Dehiwala

Japanese art of self-defence

Winner:

Karate is a martial art developed in the Islands of Japan. It was developed partially from indigenous fighting methods called te and from Chinese kenpo. Karate can be defined as a Japanese art of self-defence in which sharp blows and kicks are administered to pressure - sensitive points on the body of an opponent. Grappling locks, restraints, throws and vital point strikes are taught in some styles.

A karate practitioner is called a karateka. Karate was started in the Ryukyu Kingdom prior to its 19th century annexation by Japan.

It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th Century during a time of cultural exchange between the Japanese and the Ryukyuans.Early styles of karate are often generalised as Shuri-te, Naha-te and Tomari-te; named after the three cities from which they emerged. Each area and its teachers had particular kata, techniques and principles that distinguished their local version of te, from the others.

Karikaran Dilakshan,
Grade 10A,
Tk/Sri Ramakrishna College (National School),
Akkaraipattu.

The Buddha

The greatest Buddha is not a god
He is a miraculous human being
Gauthama Budhha has taught us
How to be perfect completly
Before attaining Buddhahood
He is called a Bodhisattva
He has to dedicate billions of lives
For the betterment of all living beings
The Budhha knows the birth, existence
And the end of life and the universe
We follow the teachings of the Buddha
Thousands of great scientists
Have been studying Buddhism
You are not late to follow the Buddha
 And carry out his teachings honestly
The whole world will be lit by Buddhism
And the followers by 2050!

G.W Sahan Chamathkara
Grade 4 A, Success English College,
Piliyandala.

My friend

My friend Ravisha is nine years old. She lives in Negombo. She has a sister.

Ravisha studies at Ave Maria Convent.Her favourite subject is English. She likes to play badminton and eat apples.

She is a good girl. I love my friend a lot.

Maheshika Sewwandi Fernando
Grade 5, Ave Maria Convent,
Negombo.

Myself

My name is Emashi Kashmi. I am a seven-year-old girl. I live in Matara. I study at Brilliant Stars International College. I like to eat apples and drink Milo.

S.H. Emashi Kashmi,
Brilliant Stars International College,
Nupe, Matara.