One day Jim was unhappy. His mother was making cakes in the kitchen. She asked him if everything was OK. Jim said, "Nothing is OK, Mom. Today in our science lesson, Mrs. Green said that the whole world was getting dirtier and that many animals and plants were dying. She wants us to think of something we can do to help. I thought all the way home, but there is nothing I can do to make a difference."

"Let me tell you a story," the mother said. "One morning a man was walking down a beach, there he saw thousands of dying starfish on the beach, the waves (波浪) brought them there and it was too far for them to make their way back by themselves. The man felt very sorry for the starfish. He went on walking and was surprised to see a boy in front of him that was throwing the starfish back into the sea. 'How silly you are! My boy,' the man said, 'there are so many starfish, can you throw all of them back?' The boy didn't stop but kept throwing. 'Though I can't help them all, I can make a difference to this one, and this one, and this one,' said the boy."

"Thinking for a while, the man began to help return the starfish to their home. He smiled and said to himself, 'Sometimes a big lesson in our life comes from a small person.'"