Painting by Hannah and Alec

Killington Elementary School The Cultures of China Projects

Grades Five and Six January-February 2012

Chinese Giant Panda By Bridgit & Adare

January 30, 2012

There are many animals in China. One of their favorite animals is the Giant Panda. Giant Pandas are an endangered species. To protect the pandas, 240 pandas were captured from the wild and put in Shanghai Zoological Park to protect them and make sure they didn’t die. About 100 Giant Pandas survived in 2008 in natural breeding centers. Shanghai Zoological Park began to raise Giant Pandas in 1957. From 1957 until 1994, 15 Giant Pandas babies were born, but no babies survived. The mother Giant Pandas didn’t have enough milk in her for two babies so if she had two babies, she would leave one of the babies to starve and die and the other to care and love for. The Giant Panda eats bamboo; it’s the Giant Pandas favorite snack. A Giant Panda’s daily menu consists almost entirely of the leaves, stems, and shoots of various species. The Giant Panda is getting extinct because the women Giant Panda can’t find male pandas to mate with and the Giant Panda can’t find food because their habitat is being destroyed by earthquakes, killing all of their food and them.

China’sPlants

ByAngelina1/20/12

Chinahasamazingplants.Theirgardensarebuiltbydifferentpeople.Forexamplethevastgardenswerebuiltbyemporors,whilethesmallgardenswerebuiltbyscholars,poetsandformergovernmentofficals.Chinahas7,000speciesofwoodyplantsand2,800areoddtreespecies.ThesmallesttreespeciesinChinaisthebonsai.Thebonsaitreetakeslotsofworktotakecareof.Onethingisthatyouneedtodolotsofleaftrimming.Butunliketheirbonsaitree,America’streesgrowtallandneedtotobeinsoiloutside.Anotherfamousfloweristhelotusapinkbeautifulflower.SomelotusgrowinGreenLakePark,China.Thirdly,thereisbamboo.Bambooishollowandisthefavoritefoodofthepanda.Finally,therearepeachtreesthatgrowinChina.PeacheswerefirstgrowninChina.ThepeachtreesaregrownbyChinesefarmers.PeachtreesaregrowninUSA,buttheywerefirstgrowninChina.ThoseareafewofChina’sfamousplants.

ChineseSilkDharma

1/20/12

TheChinesemostlywearsilk.Thisishowsilkismade:ittakesaboutsevensteps.Step1:Youneedtofeedthesilkworms.Thesilkwormsonlyeatmulberryleaves.Step2:Youletthesilkwormsspincocoons.Step3:Youdipthecocoonsinhotwatertodissolvethestickystuff.Step4:Youtakethecocoonsoutofthewaterandunwindthesilkfibers.Step5:Youtakethesilkfibersandspinthefibersintothickerthreads.Step6:Youdyethreadswiththecolorofyourchoice.Step7:Youweavethethreadintosilkclothing.

AlotoftheclothesChineseweararesilkbecausetheymakesilkinChina.MostofChinesetraditionalclothingissilk.

China’sLanguageByKatelynn

Chineseisoneoftheoldestplaces

andhasoneoftheoldestlanguages.

Insteadofmemorizing26lettersinthealphabettheymemorize50,000charactersthateachrepresentwordsand/orsentences.Thereareabout6differenttypesofchineselanguageslikemanderinandcantonese.LanguageinChinacanhavedifferentmeaningsthanotherlanguages.Chineselanguagesareoneoftheoldestlanguagesintheentireworld!China,BejingandShanghaiallspeakallchinese.BorrowinginChinesecanmeanonewordorrepresentacharacterthathasasimilarpronunciation.

ChinesesymbolsJosh

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. Thisiswhatchinaisknownfor.TheGreatWallofChina,4,isthebiggeststructureintheworldthesizeofitis5500mileslong.Tiananmensquare,5,nearBeijingincludestheformeremperor’spalacebutnowit’samuseum.MountTaiisconsideredasymbolofheavenbecauseofitstemples,ruins,andtablets.#1istheirlanguage.#3istheirflag.

Chinese Money By Tim

1/24/12

CurrencyiscalledrenminbiinChina.Renminbimeanspeople’smoney.Theirmoneycomesin1fen2fen5fen1jiao2jiao5jiao1yuan(whichyoucanseeonpageone).

TheU.Shasdollars.1dollaristhesameas6.59yuan.OneYuanistenjiao.Onejiaoistenfen.Beijingisknownforitslowprices.TheearliestChinesemoneywas500BC.Chinawasthefirsttousepapermoney.Theymadetheirmoneyintoamoneyswordandputitoverasickperson’sbedtowardoffevilspirits.

ChineseTechnology

ByKyleandDanny

TheChinesearewellknownfortheHSR(highspeedrail)inChina.Thesetrainsgo124mphatanaveragebutcanreachspeedsofupto186mph.Therailsystemhas2,184milesoftrackspanningacrossthecountry.Chinahasmorehighspeedrailwaytracksthattherestoftheworldcombined.Chinaalsoisverywellknownforitsmassproductionofsteel.ThemainreasonthatChinaisabletosellthesteelsocheapisbecausetheworkersarebarelygettingpaid,ifany.

TheInterestingLandsofChinaandtheU.S.A.ByWill1/20/12

China

U.S.A.

China’slandareais9,596,961sqkm.USA’slandareais9,826,675sqkm.USAhasabitmorelandthanChina.China’spopulationis1,338,299,500people.USA’spopulationis312,882,925people.ChinahasabillionmorepeoplethantheUSA.Thereareoverabillionpeoplelivingonnotalargeamountofland.ThatmeansChinahasalotoffamiliesthatdon’thavehomesanddon’thavefood.USAhasalotofspaceandplacestolivebecausetherearenotasmanypeopleasChinaandUSAhasalotofspacesofamiliescanliveandbehappy.China’swaterareatotalis27,060sqkminwater.Youneedalotofwatertoliveandtogrowcrops.USAhas664,709sqkmtotalwaterarea.Thatisalotmorethen

China.FormorethanabillionChinesepeople,itwouldnotbeeasytosharethatamountofwater.USAisthe3rdbiggestcountryintheworldandChinaisthe4thbiggestcountryintheworld.USAandChinaareactuallybig

countries.

ChineseSportsVS.USA SportsBY TOBY 1/20/12

Chinesesportsonly• DragonBoatRacing

AmericanandChinesesports• Football• Baseball• Basketball打篮球” (play basketball) • Hockey• Skiing• Swim• Tennis• Wrestling

Americansportsonly• Soccer

InoticedthattherearemoresportsthatbothChineseandAmericansplay.

TheChineseFestivals

ByQuinn

January30,2012

InAmericawecelebrateholidayslikeChristmas,Chanukah,Easter,ThanksgivingandSaintPatrick’sDay,buttheChinesecelebrateotherholidays.Oneoftheirholidaysisthelanternfestival.

Onthe15thdayoftheirfirstChinesemonthoftheyear,peoplehaveaLanternparadeandliondancecelebratingthefirstfullmoon.Eatingtangyuanorballsofriceflour,thepeopledotheirfinaldayofcelebratingtheNewYearandenjoythemself.ThemostfamousholidayistheChineseNewYear.ItstartsonthelunarNewYear’sEve.Familiescleananddecoratetosweeptheoldyearaway.Whentherelativesarrivetheyaregenerallywearingredtobringgoodluck.Thenthefamilieseatabigmealconsistingofduck,crabandporkusingchopsticks.AfterthatthewholeFamilygoesoutsidetowatchfireworks.

ChineseEducationByKiara

InChinaeducationisrequiredandfree.Thereis only a small fee paid for books and uniforms.Each class averages35 students.Kids start goingtoschoolatage6or7andmostkidsstopgoingtoschool at age15.Thereareagrowingnumberofprivate schools for the wealthy Chinese. In highschool, Chinese students start preparing for theNationalUniversityEntranceExaminationswhichis like a Chinese version of the SAT’s. They takethe test in the summer and it determines whatuniversity they will go to. Students in all gradesattend school 5‐6 days aweek. Chinese studentsstudy Chinese, English, science, math, history,literature, music, art and physical education.Sports and music are common after schoolactivities.

TheBeautifulChineseArtworkByAlec&Hannah1‐20‐2012

Chinese art is the oldest style of art in the world.Sometimes Chinese artwork is religious like Buddhistart. Chinese artwork includes making sculptures,paintings,jadeandusedivoryandglass.Theyalsousedmany different types of tools to make differentmasterpieces. When it came to paintings, they oftenused water colors. Chinese art is often paintings oflandscapes.Chineseartisveryinteresting.

InEarlyChinesearttheymadepottery,bonetools,andjadeorivorycarvings.Butritualbronzewasprobablythebestofallthosethings.RitualbronzeiswhentheChineseartistswouldcastandmoldbronzeintouniquepots.Theyarefoundgreentodaybecauselikecopper,bronzeturnsgreenifnotpolishedandcleanedoften.

There is also one more thing in Chinese art thatinterests us, the Caves of a Thousand Buddha’s. TheCaves of a Thousand Buddha’s are caves throughoutChina that have sculptures,wall paintings, and scrolls.Buddhistartistsmadethemforreligiousreasons.ThesearesomereasonswhyChineseartisamazing.

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AlecandHannah

The End

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