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Student Blog:
In English class the other day we were taking a quiz and the windows were wide open. Since my classroom is on the first floor we are the near the back field. We could hear a lawn mower and some birds chirping. I thought hearing the birds was nice. The lawn mower, not so much. My teacher seemed to disagree with me, however. She said "Is that a bird outside? How annoying." I thought that was odd. Are people so used to the "normal" sounds of nature, like lawn mowers, that birds have become an annoyance? The fact that my teacher seemed to feel that way really bothered me. If people find wildlife an annoyance, then how are we going to get motivated to save it? People also complain about deer in their yards. Well, the deer were here first; we built in their habit and split it up, which caused them to come onto "our" land. I wonder if people are even noticing or caring about the disappearance of wildlife worldwide and if they realize what a big problem it is? We rely on wildlife and ecosystems for resources and if these ecosystems are being ruined or fragmented that means trouble for us. For example, tropical rain forest plants have a high medical potential. Only about one tenth of these plants have been studied for anticancer properties. At the rate rainforests are being destroyed we could be killing our only hope for curing cancer without even realizing it. People need to do all that they can to help save forests and plants and our fragile planet that we live on.
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