Winner:

Life in the future

Life in the future will be extremely different from that at present. The way I see it, we will have robots for household work. Hopefully, everything will be eco-efficient. Old buildings will be brought down and plants and trees will be grown instead. Roads won’t exist, because there will be flying cars!

There will be trips to the planets, moon and the other galaxies daily! People will travel from one end of the earth to the other in a millisecond, thanks to the light speed craft!.

Security will also be advanced. People will have security robots in front of their doorstep. There will be armoured vehicles, from the giant Hetro gunships to tiny Bug-fighter scout craft. Levitational battle tanks will be stationed at every air-intersection.

Medical science will improve vastly. Nanobots can be injected to heal or cure any type of wound or disease.Food will be fat-free. All food items will be scanned especially for harmful microbes.

Unfortunately, today none of this is possible because people neglect the environment. If we hope for a marvellous future we have to act now!

Minal Dharmasena,
Grade 7,
S. Thomas’ College,
Mt. Lavinia.

Winner:

Newspapers - an important source of information

Newspapers are an important source of information. They are published daily and weekly. There are many things to read such as news, advertisement, employment, sports, politics, features, foreign news, cartoons and obituary notices.

It gives us current news in the country and the world. Newspapers keep us abreast of the world. The editorial of a newspaper is an important contribution and is always written by its Editor.

It gives us information about new inventions and discoveries in the world. This information arouses our consciousness on important matters.

Newspapers are helpful because we get wide knowledge about the world. Almost everybody can buy a newspaper of their preference at a reasonable price.

D. H. Madushika Mallikarachchi,
Grade 10D,
MT/St. Mary’s College, Matugama.

Winner:

Trees

Trees give us shade and are vital for everybody. We get vegetables and fruits from trees. Without trees we will not have rain. The biggest rainforest in Sri Lanka is the Sinharaja forest. It is a world heritage. There are many rare plants and trees in the Sinharaja forest.

Oxygen which is produced by trees is essential for humans and animals to breathe. Trees prevent soil erosion. People cut trees and destroy forests for development but if we cut one tree we should plant at least ten trees for the single tree that has been cut.

The valuable gift of medicines is from trees. We get timber from trees to make furniture. Books are made out of the leaves of trees.

We should protect trees for our future generation. Let us plant more trees and be nature lovers as the saying goes ‘A tree is a fan to a tired man.’

W.M.S.Dewhara,
Grade 8H,
WP/JY/Kottawa Dharmapala Maha Vidyalaya,
Pannipitiya.

Winner:

Respecting elders

At the beginning of the 1900’s, respect was given to those who deserved it. In the late 1900s children were taught about respect at homes and in school. Respecting elders was a basic requirement at that time. There was no question of talking back to elders or arguing with them. It was listening to elders, doing what they said and treating them with respect. However, this behaviour has eroded to a great extent.

Here are some ways that you can respect other:

. Treating others the way you wish to be treated.
. Showing kindness and consideration.
. Showing respect to every student and adult.
. Taking care of the school, your belongings and other's belongings.
. Settling differences in a peaceful manner.

You can value yourself for your skills, talent, ability and style, similarly others too must be respected for their talent and abilities.

Here are some good quotes:

“The respect you give others reflects the respect you give yourself.”

“Like money, respect has to be earned. But unlike money you can’t acquire it by being dishonest.”

“Respect means valuing others.|”

Vidumini Narayanage,
Grade 6,
‘Brilliant Stars’ International College,
Matara.

My favourite sport

My favourite sport is cricket. It is famous. I like to play cricket. We play cricket in an open space. Sports is good for our health. Exercise is important for our health and we get it while playing cricket.

We have a cricket team at school. John is the captain of our team. He is a good player. I want to practise hard and play well for our school team. Cricket is a team game. It teaches us moral values, such as to accept both defeat and victory alike.

Raashidh Hussain,
Grade 4D,
Negombo South International School.

Winner:

My home garden

There are plenty of colourful flowers in my home garden. Many butterflies and birds fly into my garden. I water the plants daily and fertilize the plants once a week.

There are flowers that bloom at night in my garden. There are flowers such as roses, jasmines, orchids, anthuriums, temple flowers, cannas and zinnias.

There is a small pond and a tortoise in my garden. I have planted a lotus flower in the pond and there are beautiful fish in it.

Parrots, pigeons, hummingbirds and sparrows also fly into my garden. Squirrels eat the guavas. There is also a woodapple tree.

I clean my garden during the week-ends and keep it spic and span. I love my garden very much.

Thashmila Randili,
Grade 3EA,
Sujatha Vidyalaya.

The caterpillar

The caterpillar is like a worm. It has many legs too and lives on trees and plants. Caterpillars are green in colour. They are long and their faces are small.

Our skin starts to scratch if we touch the caterpillar. After some time caterpillars develop into butterflies.

Thusvi Liyanage,
Grade 3B,
Royal Institute International School,
Nugegoda.

Birds

There are many kinds of birds in the world - owls, parrots, mynah and the kingfisher.

All birds can fly but the ostrich cannot. The ostrich is the largest bird in the world.

I love birds.

S.M. Savini Kumsaru,
Grade 3,
MR/ Kamburupitiya Maha Vidyalaya.

The cap seller

My favourite story is the one about the cap seller and the monkey. It is a famous story. It says that

one day a cap seller was sleeping under a tree. He had a cap on his head. A box of caps were lying beside him and there were monkeys on the tree. They saw the cap seller and the caps. They climbed down the trees and took the caps. They wore it on their heads.

When the cap seller awoke, he found the caps missing. “Whoop, whoop'’ called the monkeys. When he looked up, he saw the monkeys with the caps on their heads. The cap seller knew that the monkeys imitated what others did. He took off his cap and threw it and then the monkeys too did likewise. He collected all his caps and went away.

Kashmi Dhananji,
Grade 7C,
MR/Narandeniya M.M.V.