Florida's Environment

Good day Science English students! Welcome back to school after a nice winter vacation. I too am back in Japan from my trip to the US...the state of Florida to be exact. For those of you who don't know where Florida is...look at your map of the US. There it is! The bottom right state that looks like the handle of a frying pan, and hence, Florida has become known as the panhandle of Florida. It's a beautiful place, not as warm and humid as Kumamoto, and has no mosquitoes. That's right, and it's because Florida has two coasts - one on the Gulf of Mexico side and one on the Atlantic Ocean side. My mother lives on the Atlantic side, in a small town called Vero Beach, about an hour directly east of Orlando, the home of Disney World. The Atlantic is interesting because you won't find the ocean right on the coast. In fact, you'll have to go over the Intracoastal Waterway, and then to the Barrier Islands, which are a long, thin strip of islands next to the Florida coast. Finally, on the other side of the Barriers you will find the Atlantic Ocean!

The environment of Florida is particularly interesting. There you will find many exotic creatures from alligators to pelicans to herons, terns, turtles, and manatees. I have always enjoyed visiting the coast of Florida for these elements of wildlife. In fact, I have taken many airboat rides to spot alligators. This is an exciting experience, and for anyone who has not taken an airboat ride, I highly recommend it. I've also seen dolphins being trained at Marathon, southern Florida. You can also see giant sea turtles and, if you're lucky, you can see giant manatees, which look like a water elephant, and which are actually mammals.

The plant life is interesting too. You can find many orange groves there, and the oranges are big and not sweet. There are palm trees Spanish moss, and southern magnolia. In addition, Florida has the Everglades, a flat, swampy area which contains many kinds of plants and animals, such as bromeliads, cacti, lichens, algae, orchids, and many wildflowers.

This Friday is the first day back to class. In class we will read more about Agriculture, particularly the agriculture of Florida. For the next class we will most likely do homework that will lead us into the next topic in the book, Sustainability. Sustainability is another fascinating and important topic because without sustainability practices we won't be able to keep the earth safe and healthy. Let's learn to be aware of environmental sustainability today. In addition, let's learn to be environmentally aware when we travel and take part in ecotourism activities.

Thanks for reading everyone! See you in next class.