Imagine if you were stranded in the jungle and you found some berries that you’ve never seen before. you wouldn’t know if they were poisonous or not right? Here are some examples of plants and berries that you might know are poisonous, what part of the plants that are poisonous and the symptoms to let you know that you have been poisoned. First, there is a poinsettia the sap that come out of the leaves can cause skin and mouth irritation along with vomiting. (Levac, Susan) If a kid or pet eats any part of the plant wash their mouth out with soap. The berries on a mistletoe are also poisonous. It is highly recommended that before you put mistletoe up for display you take the berries off of the mistletoe because the berries can cause vomiting, excessive salivating, ETC.(Levac, Susan) Like the mistletoe the berries of a holly are also poisonous, just not as much. If you think someone has eaten one of these berries call your doctor as soon as possible. Some other plants to watch out for are: Poison oak, Poison ivy, Poison sumac, and Pokeweed berries. ("Summit Medical Group - Poison Ivy, Sumac, and Oak." And "Pokeweed Poisoning: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia“)
But what if you didn’t have a phone near by to call a doctor with? Well that same thing happened to Katniss and Peeta. When Katniss and Peeta went searching for food Peeta found some berries that he thought were safe enough to eat. Luckily Katniss remembered what Rue had told her about the nightlock berries and how poisonous they were. She also knew how poisonous they were when Foxface died right after she had consumed some along with cheese. Katniss’s father also taught Katniss about poisonous and non-poisonous berries when she was younger. With what Katniss had learned, Katniss saved Peeta’s life.
Nightlock berries are very poisonous, so poisonous that they can kill you just by putting them in your mouth. They grow on a pinkish vine and closely resemble blueberries, except that nightlock berries look a little more powdery than blueberries.("Nightlock Berries." ) After Katniss and Peeta were the final two left in the games they got an announcement that there could only be one winner again, but the problem was that neither of them wanted to kill each other. Katniss remembered that she hid a secret stash of nightlock berries in a pouch hanging from her belt. As she reached for the pouch, she looked at Peeta. Peeta knew instantly what Katniss was thinking, she gave half to Peeta and both of them put them in their mouth. As they did the announcer said that the games were over and both of them had won the games.
As you can see, poisonous berries were a key to both Katniss and Peeta winning the hunger games. If Katniss didn’t have the knowledge about poisonous berries, either her or Peeta would have died. If you are ever stranded in a jungle, hopefully this information will help you know which berries to pick.
Bibliography:
Levac, Susan. "Christmas Plants That Are Poisonous (toxic) to Pets and Small Children | ICC The Compliance Center Blog." ICC Compliance Center - Hazmat Regulations Specialists. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://www.thecompliancecenter.com/blog/2011/12/19/christmas-plants-that-are-poisonous-toxic-to-pets-and-small-children/.
"Nightlock Berries." The Hunger Games Wiki. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://thehungergames.wikia.com/wiki/Nightlock_berries.
"Poisonous Plants: Morning Glory (Ipomoea) Lupin, Aconite (Monks Hood or Wolfs Bane)." Squidoo : Welcome to Squidoo. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://www.squidoo.com/poisonous-plants-lupin-ipomoea-aconite-monks-hood.
"Pokeweed Poisoning: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. A.D.A.M. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002874.htm.
"Summit Medical Group - Poison Ivy, Sumac, and Oak." Summit Medical Group - New Jersey's Best Physicians and Medical Services. RelayHealth. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/adult_health/poison_ivy_oak_and_sumac/.
I really liked how you told the story of both the book an the poisonous berries. Good story Casey
ReplyDelete"If you are ever stranded in a jungle, hopefully this information will help you know which berries to pick" After reading this post, if I'm ever stranded in a jungle, I'm not touching any berries! I'll just stick with eating bugs!
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, Casey, you did a really nice job with this research project. You made some organization decisions with how your arranged your ideas that really worked for me. The first paragraph got me interested in your topic, then you made a really smooth transition to talking about the Hunger Games, and then you brought back in your research to take your connection to the novel even deeper. This clearly shows not only the time you spent researching, but also that you spent quite a bit of time on the writing part, too....something that's tough because research writing is somewhat of a new genre for you as a writer. Awesome work, man!