Chemical reactions (化学反应) make for some great experiments. You can make use of the CO₂ (carton dioxide) given off by a baking soda and lemon juice reaction to blow up your balloon!

What you’ll need:

★Balloon.

★About 40ml of water (a cup is about 250ml, so you don’t need much).

★Soft drink bottle.

★Juice from a lemon.

★1 teaspoon of baking soda.

Instructions:

★Before you begin, make sure that you pull the balloon long to make it as easy as possible to blow up.

★Put the 40 ml of water into the soft drink bottle.

★Add the baking soda and mix it with water.

★Put the lemon juice in and quickly put the balloon over the mouth of the bottle.

What’s happening?

If all goes well, then your balloon should inflate (使充气)! Adding the lemon juice to the baking soda creates a chemical reaction and produces CO₂. The gas rises up and escapes through the soft drink bottle. It doesn’t, however, escape the balloon, pushing it outwards and blowing it up.

Many people share their lives with animals. The animals are their pets (宠物) and also their beloved friends. Some even treat pets as their children. For most pet owners (主人), losing a pet is very much like losing a child, and that makes saying goodbye to the pet very difficult.

I work in an animal hospital and help people with their pets. I also have my experiences (经历) of losing pets—three of my cats died (死亡). So here I want to share with you some ways to deal with pets’ death. I hope the following tips will help you move on in some way.

●Let it out. Let yourself cry (哭) so that you can let out all your negative emotions (消极情绪).

●Talk about it. Spend some time with your family or friends and talk things out.

●Distract(转移) yourself from pain (痛苦). You can take a walk, listen to music, or read your favorite books. You can also just make yourself a good cup of tea.

In our solar system (太阳系), there is only one planet that is full of lives. It is our Mother Earth.

Just like mothers look after everything in homes, Mother Earth looks after everything around the world. Do you know when Mother Earth’s birthday is? It is April 22. People call the day the Earth Day. People around the world celebrate this day by making it very special for her. How do you think she will feel special? She will feel special if all of us love nature, keep it clean and use all of her seas, mountains and other natural resources (资源) in a right way.

Here are some other ways to keep her happy and healthy:

★Walk or ride a bike. Cars, trains and planes make Mother Earth sick (病的), because they make pollution.

★Don’t cut forests — animals’ home. Animals are children of Mother Earth like us.

★Plant trees. Trees help keep the air clean.