2nd meeting

Our today's book - "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss

We started out this morning with a conversation about Karachi industrial area - that part of Karachi, where many factories are located. Out of all of us, only Uzair and Hafsa had been to this area and seen the factories there. As we discussed, what is being made in factories, we discovered that nearly all the things we eat (candies, ice-creams, biscuits, bread, etc.) and wear (shoes, shirts, pants, etc.) come from such factories. Vajih mentioned that eggs also come from factories, to what Uzair replied that it's not true, because eggs come from bakeries. :):):) We had some good laughs, as we realized that eggs and meat come from farms, not factories.

Uzair and Hafsa said that in the industrial area of Karachi, they saw lots of tall chimneys, which threw in the air black smoke. We talked how this smoke and chemicals used in factories pollute the environment. Then, Umm Uzair read to us the book, which Isa, Muadh and Hiba had brought along with them from their home - it was Dr. Seuss "The Lorax". In this book, Lorax was trying to protect the beautiful environment he and other creatures lived in from the greedy Once-ler, who built a huge factory, because of which nature got destroyed.

Once-ler in this book was telling his story through a Whisper-ma-Phone, which you can see in this picture. Umm Uzair offered to us to make our very own Whisper-ma-Phones! We needed for this project the following things: paper cups, string and some toothpicks. If you want to make your own Whisper-ma-Phone, visit the following webpage for directions: http://education.usace.army.mil/clubhouse/science/experiment.cfm?Topic=&Id=139 When your phone is ready, you have to remember keep the thread between the two cups streched, as you talk - otherwise the phone won't work properly and you won't be able to hear the other person.

When we completed our Whisper-ma-Phones, we whispered to each other through these phones, which part of the book we liked the best. Isa liked the best the part, in which Lorax lifted himself by his pants and flew away into the sky through a small opening in the dirty smog. Uzair liked the best the part, when Lorax came out of the tree stump. Hiba and Muadh agreed that they liked the best the Truffula trees with their colourful and soft tuft. But Hafsa said that she enjoyed the most the part about the Barbaloots, who didn't have any fruits of Truffula trees to eat, because so many trees were cut down. They had empty stomacks full of gas only.

Just like after our first meeting, this time we also had some light snacks and went outside for stretching our legs and playing some running games.