Winner:

Water should not be wasted

We consider water as a gift of nature. In Sri Lanka we are fortunate enough to get fresh water from our natural resources. The water which flows down the mountains appease the thirst of both man and animal.

However, some people in the city waste a lot of water. People in the rural areas suffer due to shortage of water.

We know that water is very important to generate hydro-electric power. Therefore, we should not waste water.

E.A.K.Sithum Dhananjana Kesbewa,
Grade 9C,
Science College,
Mt. Lavinia.

Winner:

A trip to the airport

Our class teacher organised a trip to the airport. On the day of the trip children gathered at the school. There were two buses ready for our trip. We left school at 6 a.m. and we reached the airport around 9.30 a.m.

The airport manager welcomed us at the entrance. First he introduced the process of checking the passengers. Next we were taken to a place through a corridor. We were shown the pilot’s cabin. I was so excited because it was my first day inside a plane. I felt that I was going on a flight.

We had lunch in a restaurant. Next we went to see the shopping area. There were so many items such as chocolates, electrical goods and clothes.Finally we came back to school enjoying ourselves singing in the bus. We reached school at 5.00 p.m.

I will never forget this memorable trip to the airport.

W.A. Pasindu
Anjana Weerakkody,
Grade 4A,
Royal International School,
Kurunegala.

Winner:

Hummanaya

Hummanaya (Blow hole) is a well-known place. It is between Dikwella and Tangalle. We can go there on the way to Tissamaharama. It is about two kilometres from the main road.

But we cannot take our vehicles to Hummanaya. We have to walk on a narrow rugged footpath to see the Hummanaya. There is an opening at the top of the rock. The sea comes and touches the rock. The water gushes out from the rock making a big noise. It is an interesting place to visit. Hummanaya is nature’s gift.

Yashodha Ranasinghe,
Grade 6E,
Pushpadana Girls’ College, Kandy.

Winner:

The Pilot course I followed

It was August 18, 2013. I packed my clothes to go to Ratmalana with my grandfather to follow a Pilot course for three days. We stayed at my grandfather’s friend’s house close to Ratmalana.

The next day in the morning we went to the Ratmanala Museum where we were asked to come. First they registered us and gave us T-shirts, books, pens, pencils and files.On the first day they gave us an introduction about Aviation, Aerodynamics, Aircraft engines and showed us the parts of an aircraft. On the next day, they gave us a lecture about the flight controls, wingshapes and theory of helicopters.

Then there was a demonstration of aircraft instruments. After that we were taken to the engine stall. On the last day we learnt about navigation, communication, identification of the warning systems, propellers and visited the Ratmalana ATS tower, engine bay, propeller bay and frame bay at ASW and gave us an introduction about Air Reconnaissance and air refuelling. At the end of the course we got a certificate and an identity card and a photograph. We got an idea about aviation and on the next day we returned home.

It was a memorable holiday.

K.A.Usitha Kodithuwakku Arachchi,
Grade 8A2 (English medium),
Sri Chandanananda Buddhist College, Kandy.

Winner:

Search engines

The Internet is a source of knowledge. It is of very recent origin. However, the influence it has on society is immeasurable. The scope is very wide. It is known the world over. It is easily accessible to everyone. Knowledge has got a new dimension with the introduction of the Internet.

An Internet user has access to a lot of knowledge and information. For example, a book is read serially one sentence after the other. Words are written horizontally or vertically.If we want to read a book and listen to music at the same time, we have to use two separate sources for that. But the Internet has brought the two together for us. Now the people work at the computer while listening to music.

When producing a book, the weight and size play an important role. That is why dictionaries and encyclopaedias come in volumes. We will not be able to lift one if they are produced as a single work. The Internet has no ‘weight’ unlike a book which is heavy. And so with the network, there is no ‘bulk’.

We can get what we want at a ‘click.’The language that is most used on the Internet is English. The Internet was first started as a research project of the Department of Defence in the United States of America.The Internet provides an immense source of knowledge, through search sites such as Google, Wikipedia and Yahoo.

However, there are certain disadvantages in the Internet. No one is responsible for the information or its quality. There is no source for the information.

F. Aysha Rosheed,
Grade 10B,
Amana International School,
Kolonnawa.

Kandy perahera

The Kandy perahera is held in August every year. It is a religious festival. The procession is held for four days. Lots of people come to see the perahera. It is a very colourful pageant.

There are many elephants that parade in the perahera. The whip crackers announce the arrival of the perahera. They are followed by colourfully dressed dancers, drummers, tom-tom beaters and stilt walkers. The torch bearers illuminate the path of the procession. The Maligawa Tusker carries the Sacred Tooth Relic in a decorated casket in the procession.

Dinithi Lakshika Perera,
Grade 8C,
Sri Saralankara Maha Vidyalaya,
Welmilla.

Baker's falls

Baker's falls is one of the most eye-catching places for the people who visit Horton Plains. It is situated three kilometres away from the Far Inn Information Centre which is at the entrance to the National Park. The footpath to Baker's Falls lies through the misty, cold and grassy plains across the narrow brooks.

The barefoot walk gives a real delight when the feet touch the cold grass and water. The 20-metre wide waterfall plunges over a wide rock into a gorge of beautiful wild flowers. It is so spectacular that you do not feel like leaving the place. It was Sir Samuel Baker who discovered the waterfall. He was an avid hunter and an adventurous farmer who resided in the island from 1847 to 1855.

While exploring the hunting grounds he discovered the waterfalls and had stayed there ever after. It has been named Baker's Falls after his demise.

P.D.Chamath Dasunpriya,
Grade 9F,
Central College,
Piliyandala.

My favourite poet

My favourite poet is William Wordsworth. He was a nature poet.

Although there were 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 Cockermouth in Great Britain. He was the second son among five children whose parents were John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson. He was taught poetry by his father whenever he was free.

Later he became a world famous poet. He faced many challenges in his life such as when his mother, sister and his brother died. Since then he was fond of nature and he wrote many nature poems. Some of his world famous poems are, “We are seven,” “Lines written in early spring”, “Expostulation and reply”, “The Tables Turned”, “The thorn” and “Lucy” poems.

Due to his strange and different thinking he was classified under a special group of poets known as “Romantic poets”.

After the death of his mother, his father moved him to a better school in Penrith, which was a school for upper-class families.

Nevertheless, he spent most of his free time and holidays going on walking tours and visiting famous places for their beauty and landscape.

He said when man betrays man, man turns to nature and that nature nourishes man.

He also believed that nature heals hurt minds. He said a person who grows up with nature knows how to love but a man who grows up in the city will only know how to hate.

He believed that nature gives law and impulse to anyone who grows up with nature, and that the relationship between man and nature never comes to an end.

On April 23, 1815 William Wordsworth died.

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

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci was a great man who knew so much about the world around him. He was an artist, an astronomer, a botanist and an expert on anatomy of the human body. He was called Da Vinci, because he was born in the Italian town called Vinci in 1542. In his early years he worked in a studio of a well-known painter and when he was 20 years he himself was a well-known person.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a great inventor. He drew sketches of machines, long before they invented the Aeroplane.

During his time dissection of dead bodies were prohibited by law. But he did this because he wanted to know much about the structure of the human body. He made sketches of the bones, muscles and many internal organs. Leonardo Da Vinci was also a pioneer in Geology.

Some of Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings are among the world's greatest work of art. His famous two paintings are the Mona Lisa and Viring of the Rock.

Sithmini Maalagoda,
Grade 6G,
Musaeus College,
Colombo 7.