School Day of Peace.

Next Monday we celebrate the School Day of Peace. I want to answer some questions about this day.

Why on January the 30th?

On this date we commemorate the anniversary of Gandhi's death.

Who was Gandhi?

Somebody who got a lot of things without violence, only with pacific actions. His main achievement was the "Indian Independence Act": the independence of India from the British Empire. Imagine how difficult is to do this without war, weapons, reprisals or bloodshed. Unbelievable, but true.

What kind of methods did he use?

His most powerful weapon was the hunger strike: it consists in to stop eating until you get your goal. Gandhi did many hunger strikes during his life. For this reason he was so thin!! But apart of this strategy, he was also very intelligent and creative. He was continuosly inventing pacific methods for achieving his goals.

Why did he die?

His enemies tried to kill him five times. And finally they got it. His murderer was a religious extremist who wasn't agree with him.

What can we learn about Gandhi?

Don't use the violence. When you hit, kick or punch to somebody, you are not a person, but a wild animal one step back. The best fighter achieves his goals speaking, convincing and thinking.

"Animals figth; persons speak"

Pikes, carps, catfish.

Today I want to tell you about three kind of fishes that we can find in our rivers and lakes.

Pike.

It is also called as "the river leopard". It is a predator which can weigh more than 30 kg. His body is long and silvered, like a torpedo. It is very fast and strong. It is carnivorous. It loves to eat crabs, small fishes, small birds...

Pikes have a big head with a big mouth full of sharp teeth (more than seven hundred) If one day you go to the river and you catch one, be careful when retiring the hook. Don't enter your fingers into the mouth... or you will suffer cuts and wounds by everywhere!!







Carp.

It is a peaceful and quiet fish, mainly herbivorous, although it also eats small insects and worms. It can weigh more than 25 kg. It is very strong. Fishermen love to catch carps, because they are great fighters. A carp can fight more than one hour before going out of the water!!



Catfish.

The biggest fish that we can find in our local waters. A catfish can weigh more than 100 kg. His skin is very smooth, without scales. His mouth is enormous, like a drainer. It eats up anything able to enter in his jaws: fish, birds, chicken, snakes ... Although they are not dangerous for humans, I wouldn't like to swim with them.

Fast animals.

We all probably know that the fastest animal on land is the cheetah. But there are other fast animals in the world. Here I want to tell you something about them, kingdom by kigndom:

Mammals: as you know, the fastest animal is the cheetah. It can reach 120 kilometres per hour. It lives in Africa. It hunts gazelles. It is orange and brown with many spots. It is possible to domesticate it, like a big cat.

Birds: peregrine falcon. It reaches over 320 km per hour (flying down on a prey) It is a very common animal. You can find them in natural areas; also in the cities. They make their nests on churches, towers, old buildings, cliffs, high rocks...

Reptiles: bearded dragon: 40 kilometres per hour. It lives in Australia, in the desert. It eats small insects and plants. It has got a lot of scales around its neck, like a "beard", for scaring predators.

Fish: black marlin. It reaches 129 kilometres per hour. It lives in tropical areas. It is a very big fish (it weighs 750 kg) Fishermen consider it as one of the most valuable captures they can get.

Invertebrates: the horsefly. It can fly very fast: 145 kilometres per hour. Its bite is very painful. They love to bite horses, cows, camels... and humans.



Teacher's story: when I was 17 years old a horsefly bit me on my leg. I was fishing, and I still remember my skin burning, and the big wheal which appeared on my calf. If you see one of these horseflies, scare away them... or run away.