Home Learning - Naturalist Assignment

This is my home learning article on Lamb to the Slaughter .

Before you start breeding sheep , you must be able to provide food and shelter for them . Sheep need a cool , dry place , draft-free if possible , to live in .

Rearing a flock of sheep does not always mean you have to build a barn house for them . Simple ways of shelter may also work , such as fencing off a section of the farm to contain or separate the sheep . Fence panels can also help to keep wild predators away from them . Cover the area with a tarpaulin and they will have a dry , shady place to call home . But this only works in dry seasons . If the climate of that area is cold , it will take some form of enclosed shelter to prevent the sheep from freezing to death .

Sheep need different nutrition compared other livestock , but many people underestimate the quality of feed that they need . In fact , many people think that sheep and cattle can eat the same kinds of food . This is a wrong opinion , since sheep need far higher quality feed than cattle . While cows only need ordinary dried-grass hay , sheep should be given mixed hay . This is because mixed hay contains a higher nutrient level , which is more suitable for sheep .Using pasture is an important part of sheep raising . Using good quality pasture will be very helpful in maintaining the number of your sheep . Unfortunately , pasture alone may not provide enough nutrition , especially during the autumn season , when the quality of the field falls . If required , sheep should be given extra nutritional hay .


A leg of lamb is , as its namesake , a lamb's leg . Leg of lamb is quite tender although it is made up of different muscles . There are many shapes and sizes for a leg of lamb . A bone-in leg of lamb is the cheapest ; One containing the hipbone will be easiest to carve . A boneless leg of lamb can be stuffed or spread with paste , then rolled up or tied ; A boneless leg of lamb without the shank is most tender . A boned, rolled and tied or netted leg is very easy to roast .

A normal leg of lamb usually weighs about four pounds . A standard 3 ounce serving of lamb contains around 162 calories , 6.6 grams of fat , 2.4 grams of saturated fat , 76 milligrams of cholesterol and 224 grams of protein . Mary Maloney might have used the following recipe to cook the leg of lamb :


Roast Leg of Lamb

Ingredients :
3 tablespoons of coarse-grained mustard
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 to half a teaspoon of crushed , dried rosemary
Half a teaspoon of black pepper
1 leg of lamb , well-trimmed , boned , rolled and tied (about 4 pounds)

Preparation :
1. Combine mustard, garlic, rosemary and pepper . Rub the mustard mixture over the leg of lamb . Place the roast on a meat rack in a foil-lined shallow roasting pan . Preheat the oven to 400°F . Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F , then roast for about 20 minutes per pound for medium or until the internal temperature reaches 145°F when tested with meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast.

2. Transfer roast to cutting board , and cover with foil. Let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Internal temperature will continue to rise 5° to 10°F during stand time.

3.Cut strings from roast and discard . Carve into 20 slices. Serve .

This recipe contains :

121 mg of sodium
25 g of protein
Less than 1 g of fiber
1 g of carbohydrates
78 mg of cholesterol
2 g of saturated fat
7 g of total fat
37% of calories from fat
172 calories

Well , that's about it for my Naturalist assignment .

Sources :
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/farming/23056
http://www.chow.com/ingredients/212
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/roast-leg-of-lamb-a-recipe.htm

Studying The Stories of Sasquatch and Siblings

There are many unexplained mysteries in our world . Such mysteries include mythical beasts , lost treasures and places , hidden abilities of the mind , disappearances and many more . I have a collection of books that explain these mystries in greater detail , but I don't think that there a single compilation of all of them . (If you have ever heard of one , let me know . I will find the book and devour it.Arthur) My favourite topic among them all is the mythical beasts .

Mythical beasts are creatures which have not been proven to exist , but are so abundant in stories and legends that they cannot be dismissed entirely . The study of these beasts is known as cryptozoology , and the people who study them are cryptozoologists .

The root of the word is easily traced , as many other words are . Cryptozoology can be broken up into two parts - crypto and zoology . Crypto means hidden or secret . Zoology means the study of animals . Joined together , the word cryptozoology basically means "the study of hidden animals" .

Many examples of cryptozoology can be found on websites , in books or newspapers and even in the stories people tell . For the rest of this post , they will be called "cryptids" , a term used to refer to them used by cryptozoologists .

Sasquatch/Bigfoot

Loch Ness Monster Yeti

Jersey Devil MothmanKraken Chupacabra There is believed to be only one of the above cryptids , but there seem to be more than one of these.

Centaur MermaidGriffin DragonUnicornSatyrMinotaur
Chimera Phoenix
Many of these are simply legends , but some believe that they did exist at one time , that they simply became extinct . Since we have no proof of their existence , yet cannot prove their non-existence , whether or not they are real creatures is up to ourselves to decide.

I could have listed any number of cryptids here . But this post could be too long . Before this post ends , I tell you that I firmly believe in the existence of these creatures , only not in our time period , maybe even several worlds back . In the end , this is the only thing I ask you : Are they real ?

Poll Comments go HERE!

If there are any comments on the polls , or you have any queries about the monsters featured , please post them here !

Holidays , Doctors and Diseases

Well , the Chinese New Year is already over . Have you all had a good time during the holidays ? It was a great time for me as I managed to go back to Malaysia to visit my family . I had not seen them for a long time , so I was overjoyed to be able to meet them again .

This year , the Chinese New Year was different from others that I had experienced , as it fell on a weekend and on the same day as Valentine's Day . It was also my first Chinese New Year in Singapore . But it was also different for another reason : I was sick .

When I got back to Malaysia , my throat felt slightly ticklish and I felt a bit hot . But when I reached home again , I was so tired that I fell asleep almost immediately , and did not worry about it .

The next morning , I woke up and felt hot and itchy all over . I tried to resist the itch but it got worse and worse . So I told my mother and she brought me to see a doctor . The doctor said that I had a fever , an inflamed throat and heat rash . He gave me some pills and a few tubs of cream for the rash . After that , my mother brought me home .

I was lucky that the viruses that had infected me were only mild diseases , and therefore did not cause much harm . The human body is extremely adaptable , so after a specific type of germ has been defeated , the immune system is easily able to fight it if it comes again . This is called being immune to a disease .

Whenever we get a vaccination , we will develop a mild disease , but we either get better or we catch the full illness and might die of it . This is because a vaccine is actually a mild dose of the virus which is weakened , and is not as harmful to us as the actual virus . The immune system learns to fight the disease , so that if the virus attacks again , we will not catch the sickness .

But if the virus is a new species , we will not have a vaccine for it . This means that only a small percentage of the people who catch the disease will live to tell the tale . If the disease is extremely contagious , it can easily be spread to other parts of the globe , and many people will catch it and die .

This is called an epidemic . For example , the A(H1N1) pandemic (which is an epidemic that has spread very far) last year killed over 10,000 people worldwide . If a new species of virus managed to infect a large number of people , and the human immune system was unable to fight the disease , millions could die of it .

The disease smallpox no longer troubles us , as humans have prevented the spread of it naturally and only keep a few laboratory samples . But if the samples got loose one day , the disease which has killed millions could kill more , perhaps even every last human on Earth.

Viruses are another possible theory of the end of humanity which is not to be taken lightly , as the ever present factor of evolution could mean that a virus mutates every year into a more deadly version of itself . Is it possible for viruses to wipe out the human race ? I don't know about you , but I sure think so!

Ghosts , Gore and More

I got another load of books from the library today , each with the same theme . The common theme of the four books I borrowed today is - horror . Yep , they are all ghost stories !

I love horror stories , the kind which , if made into films , would be rated "18" , meaning that they are considered too gory for under-eighteens . But the great thing is that I can imagine the scenes of the story in my head , just by analysing the descriptions . This gives me a clear enough image of what is happening in the story , which is how I read books fast .

Besides horror stories , I also love reading about the unsolved mysteries of the world . Even with our understanding of science , and our mastery of technology , why are there still so many things which we humans do not understand ?

For example , the existence of ghosts . People say that ghosts do exist , and there are enough sightings from around the world to prove that it is not a hoaxed phenomenon . But sceptics claim that there is no proof of their existence , and these claims are therefore untrue .

Humans are like that , aren't they ? Unless they see it with their own eyes , they will distrust all that others say . We should be more open-minded , and be willing to accept the unproven as true . If aliens were invading the Earth , would you still say that aliens do not exist , that they are hoaxes ? If we continue this kind of mistrusting behaviour , we might be causing our own collapse .

Today was a horrible day for me . Remember what I said in my last post ? Well , it actually came true !

In case you don't know , I borrowed some books from the library on Friday . I said that I should be finishing them by Tuesday , which I honestly did not believe . But it still happened ! This was what shocked me .

It happened during Study Time , when we should have been doing our homework or revising . But there wasn't much which I could do , and I never revise unless I feel that it is needed . So I brought two of the books down to read , just to relieve myself of boredom .

But what I did not expect what that the second book , The Night The Heads Came , would be so easy to read . As it was , I finished it in probably 45 minutes (it could have been more). The first book was The War Of The Worlds , which I put off for a while even though I had already read it halfway through . It was very descriptive , which I find difficulty in comprehending . So I skipped it for a while .

In the end , I finished The Night The Heads Came . So I continued to read The War Of The Worlds , and shockingly , I finished it too ! And just in time for the end of Study Time .

Now that I've finished them , I'll have to get more books from the library to sate my thirst for (fictional) reading material . Which means another chance to lose myself in the vast expanse of knowledge that is the library (probably for an hour at least) .

The lesson I learned from this is that I should not read too fast , nor pull on to today what I could do much later . Perhaps doing too much can be wrong ......

Today , I finally went for the Library Club Trials . The seniors who were on duty today taught us a few basics about being a librarian , and promised to show us more if we joined the Library Club .

I learned that being a member of the Library Club is not what it seems . The Library Club members are not simply librarians . The Library Club actually organizes all the events held in Hwa Chong , but many people do not know this as they do not belong in the Library Club .

Unfortunately , I may not be able to get into the Library Club , as they are only willing to accept no more than 6 - 7 members out of the entire Secondary One cohort .So my chances of getting into the club are not as high as I expected .

After the trials , I checked out a few books to read over the weekend . The first is The Time Traveller , by H. G. Wells . The title tells you all about the story doesn't it? Still , as a science fiction fan , I feel it is only right to read a classic sci-fi tale . The second is The War of The Worlds , also by H. G. Wells . Another science fiction classic , which became famous after it was broadcasted over the radio and sent people into a state of panic .

The third is Abduction , by Rodman Philbrick and Lynn Harnet . It is about aliens which take over people's minds to control them . The fourth and final one is The Night The Heads Came , written by William Sleator . I haaven't read any of this book yet , but as it was in the science fiction section as well , and it looked rather interesting , I decided to borrow it .

I've nearly finished Abduction , and I'm starting The Time Traveller already . At this rate , I'll probably finish them by Tuesday . Then I can borrow more books ! Yay!~

Puzzles , Patties and People

Today , we had a very interesting lesson in our English Special Programme , which is a compulsory programme to join for scholars like us . What was this interesting lesson ? Puzzle arranging !

I have always loved puzzles , ever since I was a kid . This was because they let me exercise my brain , as piecing together hundreds of pieces requires us to use logic and think , "Where will this connect , and how ?"

In this lesson , we had a very interesting puzzle . Each piece was not simply part of a picture , but an individual image which had to be put in the right position to make a story . I teamed up with Ray Wen to complete the puzzle . After we completed our part of the puzzle , we had to wait for the other teams to complete theirs , before putting it together into a story about how our fast food is made .

Our part of the story was about beef patties . I can tell why we never did this in primary school , as there was a lot of blood ! I think that humans are too inconsiderate when they eat . They simply eat delicious food without even a second thought as to where it came from . Meat is especially bad . When you eat a burger or some chicken or fish , do you ever think about what has sacrificed to give you a single meal ? Then we complain that it is boring , that we want tastier meat .

Perhaps this is part of human nature . We don't think about all the lives that are lost for a single person in one lifetime , and how many people are there ? BILLIONS ! Billions of us to feed off the limited amount of animals , as we never manage to fully replenish the supply . But still , we are never satisfied , wanting more when we are already being given all that there is left .

If humans continue to deplete resources without replenishing them , soon , we will run out . When we deplete , we take two steps back , but when we replenish , we only move one step forward . This will soon cause us to fall into zero , then even further .

Perhaps we should reflect on our actions . We should stop such intolerable behaviour , derived from our own human greed , before it becomes the cause of our downfall .

Well , yesterday , I got my new laptop . From tomorrow , I should be making posts more often . For the time being , here's a question to get your brain juices flowing . There are two sentences , written by my friend . This is what they say :

Sentence A : I am a boy . Sentence B is false .
Sentence B : I am a girl . Sentence A is true .

So , is my friend a boy or a girl ?