Saturday, July 31, 2010

Frogs (it isn't actually a compo)

Frogs

Frogs are amphibians (an animal that spend the first part of their lives in the water and the second part on land) with slender bodies, smooth skins, strong legs, lungs, webbed feet, and no tail. Frogs use lungs for their breathing. Breathing is very special for frogs as there are no chest and breathing muscles. So, they have to breath by swallowing. Their heart consists of two entrances and one ventricle. Deoxygenized blood from the body comes to the right vestibule and then flows into the ventricle. The oxygenized blood from lungs comes to the left vestibule and flows to the one ventricle as well. This means that there is oxygenized and deoxygenized blood in the ventricle. Some of this mixed blood comes to the lung for oxygenation and another amount flows into the body circulation.

Frogs lay eggs in water. Here, the eggs hatch into tadpoles and breath with gills. Later on, gills are replaced by lungs and its tail drops of. Small tadpoles feed on plankton and vegetables while frogs feed on insects.

Tree frogs

The size of a tree frog is about 1.5 cm to 10 cm. They have got a bright green coloration with white or yellow ventral stripes, which may vary.
Tree frogs have strong and long legs. This lets them climb and jump. They are able to cling and walk on narrow branches, as well as jump up to 40 times their own length.

They usually hunt for food during the night. Reproduction starts when the males start to croak and call in order to attract females. Then the female lays eggs and the male fertilizes. This happens from mid April till mid August.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

The Red-Eyed Tree Frog is a tree frog that sleeps during the day with their eyes closed and body markings covered. When they are disturbed, they flash their bulging red eyes and reveal their huge, webbed orange feet and bright blue-and-yellow flanks. This is called startle coloration. It might give a bird or snake a shock, offering a precious instant for the frog to spring to safety.

Almost shot

“Hey, look. That is a private property,” said John, “I wonder what is behind those strong, thick walls. Maybe there are interesting things going on in there.” “Why don't we have a peek?” suggested Jack, grinning cheekily. As John was very mischievous, he readily agreed to go despite the fact that he was in his bleach white uniform. However, no matter how hard they tried, neither of them could climb over the gigantic, smooth wall in their way. So, they proceeded to search the perimeter for a nice large crack in the wall.

At long last, they discovered an enormous crack in the rock hard brick wall. Jack went first. He tiptoed, grasped the top of the crack and hauled himself up. When he looked down on to the other side, all he saw was was a great expanse of green grass. Then, he looked up and saw an old gnarled rambutan fruit tree. He hollered down to John, saying that there was nothing peculiar on the other side and told him that he was going to pluck some fruits from the overhanging branches of the fruit tree. John thought that this was not a good idea as the fruits that he saw were sour, unripe and half-rotten. He voiced his thoughts. Jack replied that there might be sweeter, jucier and fresher ones higher up. True enough, there were blood-red, juicy, delicious rambutans higher up the tree.

Just as John reached for the first fruit, it exploded on to him covering him with slimy white rambutan flesh. They were being shot at! Soon, another bullet grazed the branch he was hanging onto. Within a split second, a third bullet whizzed past his head barely missing his forehead, and then it hit the branch hanging over his head. The branch fell down and hit John squarely on the head. He lost his hold on the branch and fell like a ton of bricks onto a pungent pile of poo.

He looked up to see the barrel of a gun staring down at him like two menacing eyes. The owner of the gun realised to his horror that these were children, not robbers. The owner of the gun turned out to be a certain Steven Spielberg, the famous director and producer of The Star Wars Trilogy. So, he welcomed them warmly. In fact, he sent them away with three bulging bags of rambutans each and an encouragement to come back. He even gave them a role in his next movie! Ever since then, they both came here everyday.

A Rainy Day

It was pouring rain. Flashes of lightning streaked across the dark, cloudy skies, illuminating the dull grey streets. The icy winds howled past Jane, chilling her to the bone. The road had become a rushing river, and the canal, a churning sea.

Jane sat on the ice cold metal seats, miserable and terrified by the roaring thunder that rang through the air every time a flash of lightning sliced through the clouds. She sat there like a forlorn little puppy, waiting for her grandmother to fetch her.

It was not long before an old, grey-haired woman carrying a multi-coloured umbrella, wearing a long sleeved shirt trotted into view. Jane was extremely happy. She rejoiced. Knowing that she would not have to weather the cold for a long time more, She beamed, smiling from ear to ear.

However, at the last moment, when grandma was only a stone's throw away, she slipped on the slippery floor, did a somersault and landed with a ear-splitting scream. Jane's heart skipped a beat. She rushed out into the heavy rain to help her beloved grandmother up, but when she reached her, she found that grandma could not even stand! Tears streamed down Jane's cheeks as she tried in vain to lug her obese grandmother home. She was about to give up when a marvellous yet simple idea struck her: run home for help.

Jane decided to fight off her fears of thunder and lightning, brave the rain and wind to get help. She dashed across the streets at the speed of light, racing down the roads as fast as a rocket, but when she finally reached home, there was no one there. So, Jane grabbed a low, flat, wooden, trolley and sped back to the bus stop.

She then rolled her grandma onto the trolley and carted her home. By the time they arrived at the house, Mother had already returned. When she heard everything, she praised Jane profusely as she drove grandma to the hospital where she recuperated. Ever since then, Jane never feared thunderstorms again.