Chapters:

Chapter 1: Autobiography.

Chapter 2: Biography.

Chapter 3: 3D Animal Habitat.

Chapter 1

My Autobiogrpahy

    I was born on a hot, humid day in the bustling city of Mumbai – 7^th May 2006, 11 am. My parents were overwhelmed with joy. Obviously, I don’t remember anything about my birth but my parents said: “It brought us immense joy.” They brought me to Lagos when I was 6 months old. My Mum said that my Dad was so tensed, he nearly fainted. My Dad still tries to deny it.

    My parents used to say I was an active, curious and communicative child. They said I continuously asked questions, without stopping to hear answers. 

    I started talking at 9 months and walking at 12 months. My Mum took me to Mother and Baby group twice a week from the age of 6 months to 2 years. I don’t recall much but I do remember there was a lady who always used to sing nursery rhymes on her guitar.

    Then, by the age of 2 my parents decided it would be time for me to go to a proper nursery. Their first choice was Footsteps. All I remember was me basically howling the whole time – must have been a painful experience for everyone. I wanted to be home with my parents, not way from them for 5 to 6 hours at a time. I was there at footsteps from 2 to 4 years. Around the age of three, I finally started to settle in and stopped howling all day long. One day I walked in and got three cheers from everyone. They said congratulations for not crying for a day! I slowly started to enjoy myself but I had no idea I would be moving to a new school again….

    Going to a new school is part of everyone’s life. We all go to about 3 to 4 different schools in our lifetime.  I don’t think I will ever forget my first day at my new school C.I.S. My Mum and Dad were taking me to school – although I was only 4 years old I clearly remember feeling very anxious. Few minutes later we drove up to the gates.  I was overwhelmed with nervousness and had butterflies in my stomach. I held onto my Mum as they took me to my class. In my imagination, school was like being locked up in prison. As the door opened, I saw a terrifying monster looming down towards me.

     My class teacher, Ms Henderson, knelt down to greet me but I started to howl.  She tried to coax me away from my parents but I refused to leave my Mum. I screamed and cried! Finally my Mum let go of my hand and my parents left. Ms Henderson was lovely but I paid no heed to anything she said. I felt a dull ache in my heart. The thought of spending the whole day away from my parents made me distraught.

    Ms Henderson tried every way to pacify me. She took me to the reading corner and helped me with some art and craft (I made a whole mess of everything and she had to clean it up). Eventually I calmed down.  I vividly remember one of my classmates I met that day – Michael S. He had a cheerful personality and we hit it off immediately. He made me laugh and I forgot about my parents for a few hours.  He became a close friend of mine until he left in year 1.

    My greatest achievements in C.I.S. would be the KS1 maths award in year 2, the highest achievement awards in year 3 and 5 and last but not least the KS2 maths award in year 4. The most important one of all would be becoming Head Boy of the junior school.

    This is my 7^th year in C.I.S. Looking back over the years, I can really see how much I have progressed. Luckily, I have come across great friends  and wonderful teachers who have also helped

strengthen my understanding of various topics.

    It’s hard to choose a best friend. My classmates have all been so nice to me – it really would be tricky. Ever since reception, my friends have all ways welcomed me, praised me and never said anything rude to hurt my feelings. However, there is one person, who has always, and I mean always, been there for me no matter what – Ali. He cheers me up when I am sad, helps me up when I am hurt and carefully explains how to solve a difficult sum when I am stuck.

     I really feel C.I.S. is a matchless school and I would be devastated to leave. The whole teaching staff has inspired me at C.I.S. I admire their passion for teaching and dedication in bringing out the best in each one of us.

    We all have events from our school days that are memorable. Some memories are pleasant; some

we might want to forget. However, I have many happy memories. This one is about the day I received  life changing news… 

    As I emerged out of class, I was handed a letter by Mrs. Dosunmu. I had no clue what it was all about. Was I in trouble (had I done anything wrong?). I couldn’t think straight! My mind was racing – my heart was beating as loud as a church bell. The room was spinning … I nearly fainted.

    Moments later, my senses rebooted. Hesitantly, I opened the large envelope. My eyes quickly scanned the contents. The nature of the letter was revealed. My heavy bag slipped off my shoulder and fell on the rock solid floor. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Woah! It said: “You have been selected as the 2016/2017 C.I.S Junior School Head Boy!” So, I wasn’t in trouble, in fact, it was quite the opposite. My Mum was next to me (carefully watching my expression) and she asked me: “Veer, is everything

all right, what’s wrong?”  She was totally puzzled till I handed her the letter. She had tears of joy and straight away called my Dad to give him the fantastic news.

    On one hand, I was calm, but there were so many questions. Who would be my co-head? Also, what were my duties and when would I be receiving my badge? I couldn’t wait to go back to school the next day to find out everything.

    This is undoubtedly my most unforgettable moment –one that is etched in my mind forever. It has humbled me and made me realise my responsibilities. My gut tells me year 6 is going to be one of my best years. Being Head Boy involves a lot of commitment to responsibilities given, dedication to learning, having a positive attitude and of course good behaviour.

    My favourite subjects are; Numeracy, Literacy, Science, Art and swimming. Out of all these I have

to say Numeracy is my favourite subject. I dream of numbers even as I fall asleep!

    Honestly, I have a huge obsession with minecraft on the PC. I sleep , daydream and constantly talk to my parents about minecraft  (which annoys the life out of my mum). I cant seem to get enough of it. I love building and creating magnificent castles. It gets my adrenalin going!

    In year 6 I would really like to be at the top of the class in all subjects (not just Numeracy). In addition, I also hope to be one of the best Head Boys C.I.S has ever had. As for the future, I really don’t know what my parents have planned in terms of secondary school. I just really want to enjoy every day in C.I.S and make the most of it.

Here is a short diary entry of my day:

Monday 24 Oct. 16.

Chapter 2

King John

Birth and Early Childhood

    John grew up in a feuding family. He was born in Oxford, on Christmas Eve 1166 as the youngest son of Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. His brothers were constantly fighting with their father and since John was too small to take part he became the apple of his father’s eye. Being the baby of the family, he was horribly spoilt. It’s not surprising that he grew up to be a cruel, greedy monarchy who thought Kings should be able to do whatever they want.

Accession to the Throne

    Like his father, John developed a reputation of violent rages which lead to him foaming at the mouth. Henry left no land to John when he died and so John was given the nick name John Lackland. In 1189, all of Henry’s territory went to his oldest son, Richard I, (also known as Richard the Lionheart).

In 1191, Richard left England to embark on the Third Crusade. He left John in charge of the country. John’s reputation as a leader was severely dented since 1185 when Henry II sent him to Ireland to rule. John was a disaster and in 6 months was sent home.

In 1192, Richard was imprisoned by Duke Leopold of Austria when he was returning from the Crusades. John unsuccessfully tried to seize the crown from his brother and in 1194, when Richard finally returned to England; John was luckily forgiven by his brother. In 1199, Richard was sadly killed in France and John became the new king of England.

Johns Reign

John loved jewels, fine clothes, rich food and getting his own way. He starved his best friend’s family to death just because they annoyed him, and upset everyone by having his young nephew Arthur murdered in case he challenged him for the throne. John won a few battles and sorted out some tricky things like the best way to collect taxes, but he wasn’t really a very good King. During his reign England lost nearly all its land in France.    His reign started in an unlucky way. In 1202, John’s nephew, Arthur of Brittany, was murdered. Many suspiciously believed that John was responsible for his murder and so they rebelled against him. In 1204, when John’s army was defeated, he had no choice but to retreat. His military fell and he was given a new nickname – John Soft sword.

The Magna Carta

    John was constantly demanding money from his barons to fight the French. They got so fed up with this that they formed an army and marched on his palace. Finally, at Runnymede a meadow by the River Thames, the barons forced him to sign an important paper called, Magna Carta on June 15^th 1215. This said that from now on, the King had to ask his barons how the country should be run and he couldn’t do just as he liked any more. This was good for the country, but it didn’t bring back to life any of the people John had killed. The King’s final disaster occurred when he tried to cross an estuary on the way from Norfolk to Lincolnshire. He was so impatient, he didn’t wait for the tide to go back and some of his jewels, baggage and even members of his household sank in quicksand. When he died a few days later of dysentery, and his nine year old son Henry became King, no one was really sorry.                

 How Was John Perceived

    John collected taxes, modernised the government and exerted his power over the Church, Scotland and Ireland. This made him unpopular with the barons. In 1201-2, helped by King Philip of France, the lords of Lusignan, a powerful alliance of French nobles, rebelled against John. John mounted a huge campaign to re-conquer Normandy, but was badly defeated at the Battle of Bovines (1214). John was forced to pay the huge sum of 20,000 marks and concede some lands in France in order for King Philip to recognise him as the heir to Richard I. John was exposed as diplomatically weak.

“King John was not a good man – He had his little ways. And sometimes no one spoke to him for days and days and days.” AA Milne’s nursery rhyme summarizes the image of King John as a friendless tyrant whose reputation grew steadily worse after he died of dysentery in 1216.

Stephen Church (professor of medieval history) writes: “We regularly find cases brought to a standstill in the Curia Regis with the simple phrase ‘because the king wills it’.” What John willed most dangerously from his English subjects were significant sums of money to conduct his military operations abroad – in order to repossess territories in Normandy, Anjou and Poitou, seized from him in the course of his calamitous 17-year rule. Caught between two kingdoms, John ended up effectively losing both according to Church.

To summarize, most historians and the public think of John as a bad king. “A lecherous traitor, a depraved tyrant and a hopeless leader in war, most evil monarch in Britain’s history” are some of the phrases used to describe King John. What is now celebrated is the famous sentiment in the middle of the charter, which declares that a free man shall not be imprisoned, exiled, deprived of his property or otherwise destroyed simply because it is the king’s will. King John had indulged in precisely that sort of unjust behaviour, and his subjects had called him to account for it. This is how the “bad king” ended up leaving something so good – the Magna Carta.

Chapter 3

Toucan

The Toucan is widely recognized by its enormous, colourful bill that can grow up to 7.5-inches long—growing anywhere from a third to almost half of its length, its bill is actually best used for feeding, rather than as a weapon, as the bone contains mostly air in its honeycomb structure. In addition to fruit, Toucans eat insects, eggs, young birds, tree frogs and lizards. The colour of the bill may be black, blue, brown, green, red, white, yellow or a combination of colors. The bright colours on his bill help to attract a mate. Toucans also have a narrow, feather-like tongue. They can be noisy birds with their calls sounding harsh and raspy.  A toucan’s bill is sharp and has saw-like edges.. Also included in their diet are small birds and lizards. Toucans make their homes

in holes in trees. They usually live in pairs or small flocks. Toucans are found in South and Central America in the canopy layer of the rainforest. When they sleep, they turn their heads around and tuck their bills under their wings and tail. The toucan is very important to the rainforest because they help to disperse seeds from the fruits and berries they eat.

Blue Morpho Butterfly

    One the largest butterflies in the world, the Blue Morpho Butterfly lives in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. Their wings span anywhere from five to eight inches, and are a bright, iridescent blue due to microscopic scales that reflect light. The underside of their wings, however, is dull brown with many eyespots, providing camouflage against predators when they are closed. When the Blue Morpho is seen flying, the contrasting bright blue and dull brown colors flash, creating a beautiful effect that looks as if it’s appearing

and disappearing. Blue Morpho caterpillar chews leaves, but as an adult, it can only use its long proboscis to suck the juice from rotten fruits, and drink tree sap, fungi and mud. They live in lower shrubs and trees, but when on the hunt for a suitable mate, will travel through all layers of the forest. an extremely wide angle, to maximize its visibility in the rainforest. The eyes of Morpho butterflies are thought to be highly sensitive to UV light and therefore the males are able to see each other from great distances.

Orchid

    Orchids are extremely adaptable, and grow in almost all climates except for frigid and arid extremes.. Most orchid species grow in tropical forests, but others can be found in semi-desert regions, near the seashore and in the tundra. The majority of neotropical orchid species can be found in southern Central America, northwest South America, and countries that lie along the Andes Mountains. Because most orchids depend on a single

species of bird, bee or other insect for pollination, if that species is eliminated, the particular orchid that depends on that species becomes threatened by extinction. Thus, habitat fragmentation and rainforest destruction may eventually prove devastating to the great number of orchid species in existence today.

Lianas

    Lianas are woody wines that wrap themselves around a trunk of the tree and grow upward toward the sunlight to the high canopy. Once they reach the canopy, they loop themselves from tree to tree among the branches. Monkeys and other creatures that live in the canopy use the liana to get from tree to tree.

My 3D Rainforest Habitat

Rainforests are a kind of forest habitat. They are found in warm places, and are full of many tall trees and leafy plants. It’s called ‘rainforest’ because it also gets a lot of rain every year, helping all the plants grow.

    Since rainforests are warm, wet and dense, they are full of life – millions of different kinds of plants and animals live there, some haven’t even been discovered yet! It’s important to protect rainforest habitats for all the creatures who live there, and for humans too – rainforests produce 20% of the oxygen that all of us in the world need to breathe.