Winner:

Rambuttans are sweet

Rambuttan is famous in Malwana. The rambuttan season is a busy time for the people in Malwana.

They break rest, light fires and make loud noises to drive away birds and bats that come to eat the fruit.

People from other places come to Malwana in search of rambuttan. The entire rambuttan tree is rented out. Then the fruit is picked in bunches and arranged with fresh coconut branches. These are brought by lorries and trucks to leading towns and sold at Rs. five to seven each.

There are many varieties of rambuttan in Sri Lanka. Rambuttan trees are not very tall. Rambuttans are very sweet and everyone likes to eat them.

Yasir Salman, Grade 3, Amal International School, Malwana.
 

Winner:

An autobiography of a pen

I was born in China. A number of workers made me. There were thousands of friends with me. My brand is “Parker”.

Then I was brought to a harbour in my country. After one month I was shipped to Colombo. I was packed into a container. It was pitch dark inside the container. After two or three days I felt I was travelling somewhere. Some workers opened the door of the container.

A businessman took me to a shop. Finally, I was packed in a glass box. When I saw myself I was so proud. I had been priced at Rs. 15,000. A rich man came and bought me.

He took me home and kept me safely in his bedroom. Everyday he took me to his office. He always put me in his pocket when he is not using me. I think I was very helpful to him.

One day, I went to office with my owner, suddenly I stopped working. My owner tried hard to write. But I did not work. Finally, he threw me into the dustbin. I was so sad, the next day, I was taken away by Municipal workers. I was crushed into pieces and that was the end of my life.

Pamith Ranatunga, Grade 8 – B, D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo 8.

Winner:

Night and morning

The sun goes down,
Then the silvery moon appears
The shining stars appear,
with flickering light
The sky is dark,
And owls are hooting
Vampires are screeching,
Looking for their food
Then it is time for bed,
People sleep soundly
The day has ended,
And now it is dawn
Dawn turns to morning,
The sun rises
The sky is blue,
And everyone is awake
Birds chirp,
Sparrows sing,
Butterflies fly,
Owls and bats sleep
And it is the start,
of another lovely day

Timnah Sachinthi Vithanage, Grade 6 – B, Gateway College, Rajagiriya.

Amazing gift:

There is an amazing gift
For everyone
That cannot compare
It may be from nature
Or from heart
Oh! Yes it is from heart
It's love

Julia Nonis, Grade 6 – A, Jennings International College, Nainamadama.

Winner:

A world heritage site in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's history spans more than 2,600 years. It also has numerous historical places. Some of them are the Sigiriya, ruins in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya and Yapahuwa. Sigiriya is a world heritage site.

King Kashyapa built his palace on top of the massive rock. We can see the ruins of his palace today. There are many ponds situated around the Sigiriya frescoes and graffiti are world famous. Lots of foreign and local visitors go to view them.

Rochelle Dedunu Fernando, Grade 8 – C, English Literary Association, St. Lawrence’s Convent, Colombo 6.

Winner:

The Hubble Space Telescope

The world’s most advanced telescope was launched on April 15, 1990. It is called the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) named after the well-known astronomer Edwin P. Hubble. It enables distant faint objects in outer space to be seen fifty times clearer than ordinary telescopes.

The HST was launched into the skies of Florida, the United States on board the Space Shuttle ‘Discovery’.

At present the telescope is in orbit 613 kilometres above the earth. It can be controlled and pointed accurately in any direction towards the far reaches of outer space by a team of about 300 workers at the Goddard Space Flight Centre. The HST is about 4.3 m wide and 13 m long and is powered by two solar cells that supply electric power. The telescope cost a lot of money and time to build and launch it.

Scientists are able to study outer space in greater detail using this remarkable telescope.

Shania Ayuthmi de Saram, Grade 8 – D, Bishop’s College, Colombo 3.

Sri Lanka is famous for tea

Sri Lanka is famous for its tea. Tea grows well in the Hill Country. Tea needs a cold climate. A very large green blanket of tea estates cover the Central Hills. It is a beautiful sight.

Men and women pluck the tender green leaves. They take the leaves to the tea factories.They dry and grind the tea leaves. Then it is ready for use. Hot tea with milk is a favourite drink. It is a tasty drink. People drink tea in the morning and evening. It makes you lively and active.

Babu Pavithra, Grade 6 – T, St. Anthony's Girls’ College, Kandy.

My garden

My garden is full of
Fruit trees and flower plants
They are full of fruits
And flowers of various colours
I see butterflies and birds every morning
The butterflies and birds of various
hues are sucking nectar
Birds eat mellow fruits
They sing, chirp and twitter
Squirrels jump from branch
To branch on fruit trees
Looking for mellow fruits
I try to catch butterflies
And enjoy every morning
But they fly away
When I reach them

H. Apsara Sandeepani, Grade 8 – F, K/Maliyadeva BV, Kurunegala.

William Wordsworth, a nature poet

William Wordsworth was one of the greatest poets in the world. He was a nature poet.

Although there are many poets in the world, William Wordsworth occupied a very special place among them.

He was born on April 7, 1770 in the Wordsworth House in Cockermath in Great Britain. He was the second son of five children whose parents were John Wordsworth and Ane Cootson. He was taught poetry by his father whenever he was free.

Later he became well-known to the world as a famous poet. He faced many challenges when his mother, sister and brother died.

Since then he grew up closer to nature. He wrote many poems on nature. Some of them are “We are seven”, lines written in early spring, “Expostulation and reply”, “The tables turned”, “The Thorn and the Lucy poems”.

Due to his strange and different thinking he comes under a special group of poets known as ‘Romantic poets'.

After his mother's death his father moved him to a school in Penrith which was a school for upper class families. Nevertheless, he spent most of his free time or holidays on walking tours and visiting famous places for their beauty and landscape.

The death of his mother and siblings caused him great sadness which made him turn towards nature.

He expressed some of his sadness and ideas through his nature poems. He said when people die they only change their forms and become one with nature. This shows his ideas about the death of his parents and siblings.

He also said, nature heals hurt minds and that man's relationship with nature will never come to an end. And like all living beings, on April 23, 1815 William Wordsworth died. But he has become one with nature and his poems on nature remain very popular.

H.A. Kavindu Dulanjana Perera, Grade 10, Sailan International School, Seeduwa.