This essay from the collection seemed like a good one to start with. I think it’s great that a sixth grader begins his essay with “Ever since I was little …”.

I’m A Kid Who Loves Science

Ever since I was little, I’ve enjoyed researching questions, loved to read “Science Illustrated for Kids”, and loved to do some small experiments even more.

I remember one Saturday. I was at home reading the newspaper when a story grabbed my attention: “A foreign child was locked in a freezer while trying to get ice cream. She was discovered after several days and taken to the emergency room. The doctors thawed her out and then warmed her up. In the end, the girl miraculously woke up.” At this point, my curiosity was piqued. I thought: “If a frozen person can be revived, then what about animals? If they can be revived, then won’t it be much easier to transport animals such as tigers, elephants, bears, and snakes?” So I decided to do a little experiment.

I found several live ants, put them in a matchbox, and put it in the freezer compartment of my refrigerator. After a couple days, when I opened the freezer, the matchbox was already covered in a thin sheet of ice. I forced open the matchbox, took out the frozen ants, put them under a strong sun, and hoped to witness a miracle. But after waiting a long time, the ants didn’t move at all. I got a magnifying glass and focused it on the ants, hoping it would increase the heat on them and help them wake up sooner. In no time, the ants started to smoke and a burnt smell rushed into my nose. The ants were burned, and I was very disappointed and went to find out why. Dad told me, “That little girl was frozen in an air-tight room, and when they revived her they had monitoring equipment and had to use electric shocks.

Ah, such advanced science! I must constantly study and build experience! Even though this experiment failed, it ignited my interest in science. The endless scientific secrets are pulling me like a magnet.

I think if I love science, study science, and am willing to research questions when I’m young, I will certainly be able to become a standout scientist when I grow up, and contribute to the motherland’s “Four Modernizations”. I eagerly await that day.

Wow! Just wow! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read this. I’m just surprised the kid didn’t try to shock the ants with a live wire after what his dad told him. At the same time, it’s kind of cute to see that childhood innocence and naivete expressed in thoughts such as the idea that it would be easier to cryogenically freeze animals than transporting them by normal means, or the child’s unabashed profession of his love for science. You probably won’t see that from a whole lot of American sixth graders. Lesson drawn from this essay: In America, kids set ants on fire for fun; in China, they do it in the name of science. Oh, and the ice cream aisle in foreign grocery stores are death traps but can serve as makeshift cryogenic pods in a pinch.