"Middle School Research Writing: Challenging the Status Quo" by MiddleSchool_W

Some scientists, such as John Michell and Pierre Laplace, believed in the existence of “invisible stars” in the 1790s. Michell and Laplace calculated how big something had to be in order to have an escape velocity faster then the speed of light. In 1967, John Wheeler used the words black hole for that invisible star. Do you believe these invisible stars can suck up planets or everything that crosses its way? If you can believe the power of the creation, how much bigger must the power of the creator be? Not even the power of the black hole can overcome God’s power.
-excerpt from “The Biggest Force in the Whole Universe”
Isaias Noda, 5th grade

Nostradamus told to world that the world will end in 1994, 1998, and 2012. But in 1994 and 1998 did not end, so it will not end in 2012. Plus in the Bible it doesn’t say in 2012 will end, so I believe God has a plan for the end of the world. So people do not need to worry because God has always had a plan. I think God has a plan because He knows what happened, what is happening, and what will happen, so people do not need to worry because God has always had a plan.
-excerpt from “People Do Not Need to Worry”
Ah Hye Cho, 5th grade

I have a question. Why doesn’t God make us to believe in him? Maybe some Christians did think about this. And I really wanted to know. So I asked many people. They said, “because of free will.” First time I was thinking, “What? What is free will?” But I figured it out. Free will was the choice that we have to choose right or wrong…God didn’t want man to be like robot, because the robots will not have relationship, and they have no feelings but just actions. God loves us, and gave us free will to love him with all our hearts. He cares about us and he wants us to make the right choices on our own. He is always with us and guides everywhere we go.
-excerpt from “Why Doesn’t God Make Us to Believe in Him?”
Si Yeon Cha, 5th Grade

God said we should not judge others in any way because it is wrong. But the question still remains—why do we? When Adam and Eve ate from the tree that they were not supposed to, that is when we fell into sin and that’s when we started judging people. It is our sin nature to judge others. The fall of man made us start to judge immediately in that same second. The serpent told them that if they ate from the tree they would be like God, so that made Eve eat from it and she made Adam too. They thought they could be on the same level as God. Here they were being prideful and our pride makes us want to be better than anybody else.
-excerpt from “Why Do We Judge When It Only Brings Wars?”
Rebecca Abrego, 6th grade

Even though Al Capone is the most famous gangster in the United States, he is also the greatest symbol of disobedience and rebellion against the law…Capone was a murderer; he didn’t have mercy over anybody. Now that Capone died, he has left Chicago’s reputation as the lawless city in the US. On January 25th, 1947, Capone died from cardiac problems. Capone needed to pay $7,692.29 to repair all the wrong he did. For me this is very little comparing to what Capone really did, but each person has to make his own decisions and pay the consequences for them. Capone surely reaped what he had sowed.
-excerpt from “Al Capone”
Esteban Cuba, 6th grade

Many animals suffer, such as polar bears, because we contaminate the world…Polar bears are not only drowning, but are dying of hunger because we contaminate the world. Polar bears hunt seals out of breathing holes when the seals jump out of them. If there is not ice, there are not breathing holes, if there are no breathing holes there is no food, if there is no food there are no polar bears, and is all our fault. In Hudson Bay, Canada, people are complaining about polar bears coming to the city looking for food, but they had caused the “damage” and they need to resolve it. And all of us too. An expert ecologist said the polar bears could be extinct within 100 years. “It could be that a polar bear could adapt to a new habitat and adopt habits like the brown bear in Alaska,” said Dr. Peter Wadham. I totally disagree with him. I think he is giving an excuse to contaminate the world more than a solution.
-excerpt from “Polar Bears”
Ana Paula Sisa, 6th grade

Even though much of the world thinks abortion is okay, I think it is wrong because it is taking a life. Some of the reasons abortion is wrong are because it is taking a life, you can die, and it is illegal. So what are you going to do? Are you going to let abortion be legal?
-excerpt from “Why Abortion is Wrong”
Isabella Quiroga, 6th grade

In the past there was pollution, but it didn’t affect us that much. Now our world is full of pollution that’s really affecting everything. It doesn’t just affect us, but also animals and plants (nature). Pollution is a very bad thing, it doesn’t only damage the world, but also ourselves. By contaminating the world, we destroy the gift God has given us to be stewards of. Like in Genesis 2:15 it says that, “The Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” I think that it practically says that God put man in Earth to cultivate it and care for it and if you notice it doesn’t say destroy it. I think that we should do what it says, not just because we have to obey, but because we have to protect and care for our huge home.
-excerpt from “Why is Contamination Bad? How Can We Prevent It?”
Maria Renee Antezana, 7th grade

Most of you probably think that dragons are only mythical creatures, found in stories but never on earth, but I think that they did once exist. We’ve just got to search harder to find them…In the book of Job, it talks of two great creatures. One of these creatures is highly related to dragons…In Job chapter 41 verse 21 it says, “Its breath would kindle coals, for flames shoot out of his mouth.” Right there, I think you have proof that there were dragons, because it is talking about flames shooting out of its mouth! Why would God point out something to Job that wasn’t there? Also, some versions of the Bible actually use the word “dragon” for these passages. In a report on these verses it says, “the KJV was published in the year AD 1611; that is to say, less than four centuries ago, the translators of the Bible were happy to use the term of ‘dragon,’ confident that its use would be meaningful and not mythical for readers.” If some Bibles use the word “dragon,” this can’t all be a lie.
-excerpt from “Essay on Dragons”
Jeremy Vargas and Joaquin Gavilano, 7th grade

God has made everyone different, but made in the image of Him. Although sometimes we don’t see it, everyone has a purpose in life. It is amazing how God planned out how a baby is supposed to grow! God is intelligent and has a purposeful design in how He knits babies together in the womb…I think that God had a purpose for everyone. Like you see every little step is important. In Psalms 139:13 it says, “For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together to my mother’s womb.” I think that God created everyone and our moms had us, in a way, but God created us for a reason. In another verse, in Jeremiah 1:5 it says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
-excerpt from “Babies in the Womb”
Ma Fer Liendo, 7th grade