PLN 15

Tonight I read an article from "The Denver Post" about the discovery of new fossils. The fossils were found in rocks that already existed in a museum. They were from Pennsylvania and showed full body imprints of three amphibious creatures. All three of them were very similar to salamanders. The rocks showed their whole bodies; head, feet, tail and all. The creatures were about a foot long. These fossils show things that you cannot tell from bones. Things like their skin texture and their webbed feet.

This article doesn't directly relate to me although I find it very interesting. I like to know about discoveries of new animals or fossils that show extinct animals. I think it is interesting that people can find fossils that are so old in ordinary places. It is cool that there were amphibians that were this big a long time ago. The article relates to the world because it is an advance in science. Any time something new is discovered, it helps scientists expand their knowledge. It also can help in schools to teach kids about ancient animals. I think if more articles like this one were written, more kids would be interested in science and the study of fossils and ancient creatures.

PLN 14

This morning I was reading yet another article from "The Denver Post" about Denver's problems with obesity. This article talked about how, a few years ago, Denver was ranked first in the nation for being healthy and fit. This year, “Men's Health Magazine” said that Denver and Aurora are eighth in the nation for most obese residents. Colorado springs was ranked sixth in the same study. Although these cities didn’t do too well in the rankings, Colorado is still the fittest overall state in America.

I think studies like this are important. It makes people look at their own life and think of how they want to physically look. Many people are obese just from eating too much at meals. If they really had the will power to cut down on meal portions, their weight would drop. This article relates to me because, as a citizen of Colorado, I think it is great that our state is the most fit in the nation. If we could get all of the other states to work on this problem, it would be great. That would probably increase the average lifespan of people in America as well. This article applies to the world because I think there are people who care about this worldwide problem and are doing things to try to stop it. If we cut down on obesity in the world, I truly believe it would be a better place.

PLN 13

Today I read another article from "The Rocky Mountain News" about Bronco's player, Brandon Marshall, being arrested for a DUI Sunday night. Marshall had been arrested once before for trying to prevent his girlfriend from leaving his house. He was released and no comments were made stating whether or not he was really intoxicated.

This article applies to me directly and to the world because Brandon Marshall is one of my favorite players on the Broncos. I think it is important that kids have role models that stay out of trouble. Too many people who are well known and looked up to get in trouble with the law. Celebrities and sports stars need to get in line.

PLN 12

For my 12th PLN, I decided to look for another article from “The Denver Post.” The article I read was about Colorado’s health as an overall state. Senior citizens scored better the children and infants in a recent survey for our state’s health. There were an estimated 120,000 kids under the age of 12 without healthcare insurance in the state. That is about 14 percent of the children that age. Infants and children got a C minus on the grading scale, teens got a B minus, adults got a B, and senior citizens received an A minus. Colorado received a B minus overall.
I think that this was a good article to write. It gets people to think more about their health and their children’s health. It is amazing to me that senior citizens scored the best on the report because you would think they would be the least healthy. I think that everybody needs to watch their health more. Too many people eat unhealthy and don’t exercise.
This article applies to me because I think I am a pretty healthy individual. It is sad to know that children in our state aren’t as healthy as they should be. I think there needs to be something done about that as soon as possible. There could be meetings held around the city to make people more aware of the situations. I think that would help a lot with the results of the next survey that is taken. This article applies to the world because it gets every state thinking about what they need to do better to keep their citizens healthy. I think this was a very good article to write.

PLN 11

For my eleventh PLN entry I read another article from "The Denver Post" about policemen in Denver talking to teenagers about wearing their seatbelts. I think this is a good thing because there are car crashes every day and I'm sure a lot of them involve teens.

In 2005, 71 teenagers died in car accidents, 50 of them were not wearing seatbelts. This shows how important it is to get teens to wear their seatbelts. There are 36 law enforcement agencies that are doing these meeting at high schools. These meetings will take place through May of 2008. They are going to high schools in the 11 most populated counties in Colorado. These include Arapahoe, Adams, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Mesa, Pueblo, and Weld.

This article applies to me because these policemen might come to my high school. I think that would be good because I really believe that we need to get kids to buckle up more often. I know I forget to wear my seatbelt a lot of the time I am in the car and I think if we had policemen talk to us about it, it would make a difference. That applies to the world because maybe other countries would start to have meetings at their schools if it worked out here. That would reduce the number of teenage deaths every year and that is a very good thing.

PLN 10

For my tenth PLN, I decided to read another article from the "Rocky Mountain News." This article talked about what motivates people the most to save water. I believe that is a good subject to discuss because it can really help in a dry climate like Colorado. In the article they said that the price of water is the biggest factor when it comes to convincing people to use less.
When the price of something goes up, you generally want to avoid it. The tiered system is when use of water rises, the price rises. A survey in Aurora, one of Colorado's most water short communities, showed that this system was the best way to get people to save water.
This is significant to me because we are asked to save water when there is a drought and if they find a better way to get people to go through with it, maybe it will work better and help out our state. This applies to the world because there are other places that have droughts. If we find one way to get people to conserve water everywhere, it would make it a lot easier when one place is short on water.

PLN 9

I read an article from "The Rocky Mountain News" about a man who shot a mountain lion that was attacking his puppy. I agree completely with what the man did and I think we need to change laws regarding wild animal attacks if he gets in trouble for it.
Jeremy Kocar and his wife woke up in the middle of the night due to noises outside their trailer. They went outside and found a 140 pound mountain lion with their puppy, Duke, in its mouth. Kocar quickly went inside to get his rifle. He shot the mountain lion and then crept up to the animal to see if his puppy had survived. The lion had been whipping Duke around trying to get him off of his chain, so Kocar thought he was dead. When he lifted the mountain lions paw off of Duke he seemed to be ok. They took him to the vet and he had to get 50 stitches but other than that he was ok. Kocar might be charged with killing a protected animal because it was attacking his dog, not a human or livestock. Many neighbors have had pets killed or attacked and they think it may have been from the same lion. Most people are grateful about the incident and I think what he did was right. If an animal like that attacked a puppy it would probably go after a child as well. The Kocars have two young children so I'm sure this was running through his mind when he killed the creature.
This article relates to me because, although I live near the city, something like this could happen to me. This reminds me that there are wild animals out there that could hurt me or my dog and I need to be more aware of it. I probably shouldn't let my dog out at night anymore.
This article also relates to the world because I think laws need to be changed. Family pets are more valuable to the people who own them than you could ever imagine. If a mountain lion had my dog I would shoot it in an instant. I don't think Kocar should get punished for this act and if he does, like I said, laws need to be changed. If an animal attacks a helpless dog on a chain, it would attack a human child, or maybe even an adult.

PLN 8

For my eighth PLN entry I read an article from "The Denver Post" about the Race for the Cure in downtown Denver this weekend. Last year they had a turn out of almost 66,000 people participate in the race to raise a total of about $3 million. This morning there were 61,591 men, women, and children out in the 40 degree weather for this event. Everyone wore pink as it is the color associated with breast cancer awareness.
This article applies directly to me because, just a few days ago, we found a bag on our front porch. In it was a pink flag and directions of what it was for. There is a lady in our neighborhood who was treated for breast cancer a while ago but, after only a year in remission, it has come back. These flags were given to everyone in our neighborhood to put in our front yards so that when she drives by everyday, she is reminded that there are people who care about her and who will fight with her against this terrible disease.
The Race for the Cure relates to the world because I believe if more people participate in events such as this, we can come up with enough money to actually find a cure. That is the whole idea of the race but I think we should find ways to get people more involved other than that. It is good to see people coming together to fight for a common goal in our community and I hope the race helped out a lot with cancer research.

PLN 7

Recently I read an article from "The Denver Post" about a football player from Memphis University who was fatally shot on Sunday. This article also included information about a freshman football player at the University of Massachusetts-Armhest who was stabbed and sent to the hospital on Sunday.

I think that we have to pay close attention to events like this because it leads to the death or injury of many young people. There is too much violence on College campuses and it needs to somehow be stopped. We need to figure out ways to keep violent students in line and to regulate what goes on around the campuses.

This article relates to me because I'll be in college soon and I don’t want to feel unsafe. I think we need to improve security at schools everywhere. When I get into college I don’t want to feel like I need to look out for people who might want to shoot me.

This situation relates to the world because it isn't just in the U.S. that there is violence, it is everywhere. There will always be people who want to hurt other people; we just need to find better ways to stop them before they actually do it.