st09swas23

== Life is a present. You never know what will be inside. But when you do open it, there will either be a great gift or a horrible one. But since life is like a present, always say thank-you.==

==Holiday break is a roller-coaster ride. You'll have your ups, your downs, and you may have the greatest time of your life. Some people have a horrible time. But in the end, you'll feel as if holiday break went by as fast as that roller-coaster ride.==

Hey! It's me, number 23! Here is my "I Am" poem. ~Click here for Things to wonder about
I am a smart girl who loves animals. I wonder what I will be like when I get older. I her leaves rustle in the night. I see spirits floating about. I want to travel the world. I am a smart girl who loves animals. I pretend I am a famous actress. I feel the heat of the sun on my fingertips. I touch the sky when I stretch. I worry about the world around me. I cry at the sight of hungry, homeless children. I am a smart girl who loves animals. I understand the world doesn't revolve around me. I say everyone should be treated as an equal. I dream of helping stray animals. I try to help others. I hope global warming will stop. I am a smart girl who loves animals.

"Mummies" extended response:
==First, the dead person's abdomen would be cut open and the lungs, the liver, the stomach and the intestines would be pulled out and put into jars. Then the parts were put into separate jars they would be soaked in wine. The jars had a god statue on top of the lid to protect the part inside. Next, they would tie a long wire to a little spoon and then they stuck the contraption up the person's nose. Scoop by scoop they would pull out the brain. The Egyptians didn't think that the brain was an important organ, so the mummy makers would feed the scooped out brain to the stray animals wandering around. There was only 1 organ left in the body. However, the mummy makers left this organ in. The reason they left the heart in the body was because the Egyptians believed that when the soul(body, as they believed) reached the afterworld their heart would be weighed. If the person had a light heart it meant that they were free of guilt. The Egyptians believed if you passed this test, your soul was on to eternity of fun and games. The third step took 70 days to complete! The mummy makers would wrap you up with a substance called natron. Natron is a salt that when sprinkled on the body it would absorb all off the water. It also had a mild antiseptic in it, which killed all of the bacteria lurking on the corpse. After that process was complete the mummy makers let the corpse sit for almost 2 1/2 months! After sitting for 2 1/2 months, the corpse was painted with varnish-like substance. The substance came from trees and plants and was called resin. Then a mixture of oil, wax and more natron was rubbed into the skin. The mummy makers filled the inside of the body with sand, pieces of cloth and sawdust, then the fluffed it up to look like a living person's body. Then into a coffin, after a coffin, after a coffin, etc.. Most regular people had one inner and one outer coffin. But all royalty received several inner coffins, which were studded with with silver and gold. Those several inner coffins would be placed in 1(or 2) painted wooden outer coffin. Finally the whole kit-and-kaboodle would be placed in a stone outer coffin called a sarcophagus. To sum it up, mummy makers had a very tough job!==

__Democracy extended response__
=="Democracy is an act. it is an act that requires participation, organization and dedication.". the quote you just read is from U.S. Representative John Lewis stating what he thinks democracy is. what do you think it is? I agree with John Lewis. I think democracy is an act. Here's why...== ==The first reason I think democracy is an act is because of voting. First of all, voting involves thinking and participation, which are both acts. Second of all, voting gives us the freedom to chose who we elect. That means no dictators, which is why voting is a very important act.== ==Another reason I think democracy is an act is because, as Abraham Lincoln stated, "Democracy is of the people, for the people and by the people.". Which pretty much means, the people make the decisions, the people can think for themselves and that the people make the actions.==

So, as you can see, I agree with John Lewis. I think democracy is an act.
=23's poems=