When I first started doing my speech, I thought I might not get into the semi finals when I heard my friends speeches, but now I realize I am actually very good at it, and you will soon find out how I know this.
In week five, the class started presenting their speeches. Me and my friends chose to do it on the first day to get it over and done with. I was very scared, but when I started, all my nerves went away.
How the process works is like this:
We do it in front of our class, then our teacher picks 3/4 people of each year to go into the semi finals. From the semi finals the two teachers that are judging us pick 5/6 people to go through to the finals. Then from the finals they pick first, second, and third. First and second go through to rotary, which is a competition against other schools.
I know that I am good at speeches because I got into the semi finals. There were about nine or ten people in the semi finals. I am a year six and I presented to the year fives. Then the teachers judging us picked me and 5 others to go to the finals. The finals were held in the hall, so I had to talk very loud. I presented my speech in the finals to the year fives and sixes. Then the teachers picked out the first, second and third. I wasn’t third, or second, I WAS FIRST!!!!!!!!!!! That means that I am the best year six and doing speeches in the whole hub!!!!! Luckily, second was my friend, so I don’t have to go to rotary on my own.
The biggest challenge I faced while doing my speech was the nerves and deciding whether to have my cue cards with me or not. (In the end I kept my cue cards to be on the safe side.
My speech topic is why we should stop littering, here is my speech if you want to read it:
Did you know that over 171 trillion pieces of plastic live in the world’s oceans? And that’s just in the ocean. On land it is estimated that there are trillions more than this. Litter is becoming a very serious problem on earth and in our oceans. I am here today because I strongly believe that littering is wrong and I think that we need to change. I want to tell you how serious littering really is and what it is. I will prove to you the harm it does to the environment and animals, and how WE can help stop it.
You may sometimes wonder what counts as actual litter. Chip packets, food scraps, cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, all this, and much more all count as litter. Think about this question: have you ever gone one whole day without seeing at least ONE piece of litter? I know I haven’t, and I don’t think you have either. This is how serious littering has become. Did you know that in New Zealand, littering is actually ILLEGAL! That means that everybody who litters is breaking the law. There is even a fine for littering. In New Zealand, the fine for dropping small amounts of rubbish is $100 to $400 dollars. For dangerous types of litter, such as chemicals, toxic waste, or broken glass, the fine can go up to $7,500. And companies can be charged up to $20,000.
The effects of litter on the environment are absolutely horrible. David Attenborough once said “Every breath of air we take, every mouthful of food that we take, comes from the natural world. And if we damage the natural world, we damage ourselves.” Not just is littering polluting our oceans and beaches, but it is also harming the animals. Now, you probably think if I drop just ONE more piece of litter it’s not going to make a difference. Well, just imagine if everybody did that. And I know that sounds like something your Mum or Dad would say to get you to do something. But it is actually very true. You drop one piece of litter on the ground, and then, because of wind, rain, and rivers it gets washed away into the ocean. Then a sea creature eats that rubbish. It’s not the animals fault: to that animal, the litter looks, smells, and moves like real food. Don’t you think that you can just make a small effort to put your rubbish in the bin and save that animal’s life?
An even bigger problem with littering is microplastics. This is litter at the bottom of the ocean that has broken up into even smaller pieces of rubbish than it already is. We can’t see the microplastics – they’re so small that they can’t be seen with the human eye. The fish can’t see the microplastics either, so they eat the microplastics and we eat the fish…. Yes we have microplastics inside us right now!
Finally, I will tell you how we can stop littering. You might think that we are just kids and what difference can we REALLY make? I know it does sound a lot like that and actually it’s partly true – we can’t stop the world from littering. But since we can make even a small difference it’s important that we try to do that. We can help by doing very small things. For example, if you pick up one piece of rubbish a day – that’s 365 pieces of litter a year. If you pick up 2 pieces of litter a day – that’s 730 pieces a year. Such a small act can make such a big difference.
So, if there is one thing you take away from my speech today, please let it be this; when we damage the environment, we damage ourselves. So next time you see a piece of litter, what are you going to do? That’s right; pick it up. That’s one more step to saving our planet.
Drop a comment below!!!!