【推荐1】Dessi Sieburth's love of birds started about six years ago. Now, he has his own group called Protecting Our Birds.Recently,Dessi,14 years old, chatted with TFK about his work and goals for the future.

TFK:

What is Protecting Our Birds?

DESSI：

Birds are citizens of the world, so they need protection. I basically try to do conservation work to help birds get protected throughout the world. I recently wrote an article about a bird called the bartailed godwit(斑尾）.I interviewed a biologist named Nils Warnock, who had studied the bartailed godwit. He expressed the concern about the threat that the bartailed godwit is facing. I wrote an article about his answers to the questions, which is published on the American Birding Association Website.

TFK:

What impelled you to start this project?

DESSI:

When I was eight years old, our class had to do a woodworking project, so I chose a bird feeder(喂食盒). I didn't like birds at the time. I made the feeder, filled it up with seed, put it in my backyard and then the birds started coming. I got really interested in birds as more came. I later got involved in my local Audubon Society, which is devoted to conserving and restoring natural ecosystems. It really got me into birds and I realized bird populations were declining, and many are becoming endangered quite rapidly. I wanted to help them, so I started the project.

TFK:

What are some future projects you plan to work on?

DESSI：

I live in L.A., where there are a lot of parrots. Most of the parrots' native range is in Mexico, but they’re really declining there because of habitat loss. I want to study the parrots and help them in their native range in Mexico, so they can start increasing again.

TFK:

How can people learn more about Protecting Our Birds and the work you're doing?

DESSI：

I have a website. It's my free website about protecting our birds. There people can learn about what I do and how to help birds.

【推荐2】Would you like to do something to help make our city a better place to live in? Why not take part in “Clean & Green weekend”? Join us, and you can make new friends and help protect the environment at the same time.

Park Life

Do you like playing and relaxing in the park with your friends? If so, why not take the chance to come with us and tidy up the park when you go? To add some fun, there is a gift for the person who collects the most rubbish! Meet us at the south entrance to Taohe Park at 9 a. m. next Saturday if you want to join in.

The Air You Breathe

A great way to make the air we breathe cleaner is by planting lots of trees! It is a fact that trees slowly filter (过滤) a lot of pollutants (污染物) from the air. So come and help us plant some new ones in Fenhe Park at 2 p. m. next Sunday.

War on Graffiti (涂鸦)

Some people think graffiti is cool. Well, it is not! The best way to stop buildings from becoming totally covered in ugly graffiti is to fix it as soon as possible. And that is exactly what we are going to do. We are repainting the school walls from 1 p. m. on Saturday. You don’t have to bring any tools, just remember to wear some old clothes!

【推荐3】Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your choice of sport might have great influence on the environment.

Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses(高尔夫球场) in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortages in some local areas.

In fact, there are many environment friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don't need any special equipment except a pair of good shoes; and you don't have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk can regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and control your weight better.

Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be "green gyms". They are better replacements(代替物) for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it's free.

【推荐1】Most of us want to get in shape and be healthy. For many of us nutrition (营养) and watching what we eat is an important way to stay healthy. But when it comes to food, what is calorie counting, and what are the positives and negatives of it?

A law in the UK came into force in April 2022 that requires restaurants, takeaways, and cafes to display the calorie information of non-pre-packed food and soft drinks on their menus. It’s a strategy aimed to deal with obesity and give people a more informed choice of what goes down into their stomachs. Being able to count calories and know how much we can eat is a great way to try and stay on track with our diet.

However, there are some disbelievers when it comes to calorie counting 200 calories of fresh fruit and 200 calories of junk food, for example cookies, have the same caloric value. However, there is a question of the health benefits of what you’re eating, regardless of calories. While fresh fruit like apples contains things like vitamin C, junk food could contain an unhealthy level of sugar and fats. Likewise (同样地), fruit may fill you up and leave you not wanting more food for longer than a biscuit with equal calories —meaning, overall, you eat less.

Simply counting calories, while useful for weight loss, doesn’t take into account your intake of good fats, carbohydrates, and proteins—things that your body needs. So, if you’re trying to stick to a low-carbon diet, just looking at numbers of calories on a menu won’t be that useful. So, always be mindful that what you’re eating is part of a healthy balanced diet.

【推荐3】Take a look inside a high school classroom. You will most likely find a teacher at the front of the class and students sitting at their desks. Yet, look closer, and you might notice a familiar scene: many of these students are not paying attention. Instead, they are dozing off (打盹) or even completely asleep.

Today, the majority of high school students are not getting enough sleep. This is a serious problem, especially as students are doing more than ever with their time. They come to school early, spend hours listening to teachers and taking tests, then run off to practices and meetings, and come home to be faced with even more work. And the homework load these days is not light; teachers give hours’ worth of homework each night.

Most kids need at least nine hours of sleep per night in order to function properly. Yet the period of this nine hours shifts as a child gets older. After puberty (青春期), the body’s internal clock changes so that it is difficult for teens to fall asleep before 11 p.m. So even if a student falls asleep at eleven, they would need to sleep until at least 8 am, to get a full night’s sleep. Considering the time at which most high schools in this country begin, those nine hours are clearly being shortened. Few high schools start after 8 a.m.

However, there are schools that have paid attention to this research and pushed backward the start of their school day. In schools where the start time is after 8:30 in the morning, the teachers believe that there has been a real change in their students. They note that the students miss class less, pay more attention in class, perform better in class, and report lower levels of depression. The researchers of these studies say that the results are quite important and that more schools should consider pushing backward their start time of their school day.