January 29

Should We Use Wrapping Paper?

What’s your favorite holiday? Most people say Christmas. What do you use to wrap presents? Wrapping paper of course. But what if I tell you that wrapping paper is bad for the environment? Did you know that 2 million tons of wrapping paper are used each year? That must waste a lot of trees. Guess what, there are also cheaper, and also other    ways that do not waste trees.  People should not use wrapping paper to wrap presents for Christmas.

 

My first reason to not use wrapping paper is that wrapping paper is NOT recyclable. Wrapping paper is laminated which means it is covered in plastic. Plastic takes about 450 years to decompose in a landfill.

Another reason is that wrapping paper wastes trees. Wrapping paper wastes more than 3,000,000 trees each year! If we keep using wrapping paper there might not be enough trees left to take in the carbon dioxide.  As the biggest plant on earth, trees give us oxygen and  store carbon dioxide.

Lastly, is that there are MUCH cheaper ways that don’t waste resources. Here are 15 alternate for Wrapping Paper; baskets; wallpaper; newspaper; tissue paper; tins; cans; or jars; paper grocery bags; reusable fabric bags; fabric scraps; plain brown paper (butcher paper, freezer paper); reusable bags; pillowcases; maps; towels; blankets; or, scarves; feed sacks; and old calendar pages. That’s not all, there are probably hundreds of more ways to not use wrapping paper.

Other people may think differently about this topic. Some people enjoy the tradition of wrapping paper. Wrapping presents goes back to a really long time ago where ancient traditions celebrated holidays that involved giving gifts, so it kind of a tradition. People also like the designs on the paper for holidays like Christmas or birthdays. It does go with the season or celebration, but really, is it worth it?

In conclusion, wrapping paper is bad for the environment and also uses resources we can’t get back. Even though we use wrapping paper to feel festive on the holidays, it is still bad for the environment. There are hundreds of more ways we can substitute wrapping paper that are not only cheap, but also non tree wasting. Nobody should use wrapping paper.

Sources

http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-we-wrap-presents

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/holiday-waste-6-million-tons-of-trash-to-landfills.html

http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/12/15-ideas-for-wrapping-paper-alternatives.html

http://greenblizzard.com/2010/12/17/conserve-your-use-of-holiday-wrappings/               

 

Category: Environment, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 29

Is Football Safe for Kids?

Image result for youth tackle football

Is the football field a safe place? Should kids in grades lower than grade 5 play tackle football? The following information about tackle football vs. flag football just might change your mind about your opinion about tackle football. I believe that kids should be allowed to play tackle football at all ages.

For example, to be safer on the football field, youth leagues like Pop Warner are banning kickoffs to prevent future injuries. The reason why there are more severe injuries during kickoffs is because people come head-on to the team that is catching the football. This ban will help prevent injuries for all youth tackle football players.

The youth league coaches are teaching their players how to tackle properly, so less injuries will happen. Also, kids are not allowed to swipe people out from the legs. Now it will be a lot safer when you get tackled during football.

Also, kids are now getting the proper protective gear to play tackle football so the hits   don’t cause as many serious injuries. The helmet worn provides head protection so you won’t get a concussion if you get injured. The chest plate prevents you from breaking your rib cage or collar bone. The back plate prevents you from breaking your spine, a.k.a. your backbone.

Youth of all ages should be able to play tackle football. You may think that younger children shouldn’t play tackle football, but they are learning many new ways to be safer out on the football field. Instead of not allowing younger kids to play tackle football, coaches should make sure that kids are not allowed to do kickoffs, they should teach kids how to properly tackle, and they should enforce that kids use proper protective gear. Therefore, if all of these rules about playing tackle football are followed, kids of all ages should be allowed to play tackle football because they will be a lot safer out on the football field.

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January 29

Should There Be An Extra Tax On Sodas?

Mountain Dew Mango Heat Game FuelHow many Americans drink soda each year? 48% and that’s almost half of  the people in the United States but some laws might take soda away from some people. I’m here to make sure this doesn’t happen.  You’re probably thinking why I said that the  law might take soda away from certain people. This is because  the state thinks that soda is bad for you in some ways and are putting extra tax on it. Some people might just say “ Well, I don’t want to spend extra money on a puny can of soda.” But I think this is wrong. Soda can keep you away from falling asleep from late nights driving. If you have an addiction to alcohol, you can drink soda instead. It’s a healthier choice. This helps with almost any addiction. If you’re bored you can get soda and collect the bottle caps. These are just some of the reasons I think soda shouldn’t be banned. Soda helps us in many ways, so go out there and drink some!

Brent Moore via Compfight

Category: Current Events & News, Health, Student Posts | 1 Comment on Should There Be An Extra Tax On Sodas?
January 29

Should We Use Wrapping Paper?

Every holiday season wrapping paper Is one of the first items off the shelf, but is this cheerful wrapping really worth it? I say no!  Lots of people use this paper but there are better ways to keep our presents a surprise.There are recyclable, non-tree wasting, cheaper alternatives that don’t use 2 million tons of paper each holiday! There are a lot of reasons not to use wrapping paper!

My first reason is that most holiday wrapping paper is laminated, so you cannot recycle it! That means when you use wrapping paper, you are using resources we cannot get back. According to Ask Pablo, Treehugger, “In the U.S. an additional 5 million tons of waste is generated during the holidays. Four million tons of this is wrapping paper and shopping bags.”

Almost all wrapping paper ends up in the trash

Image result for trash   Also, 2 million of those tons is wrapping paper! Consequently 30 Million trees are cut down just to wrap our gifts each holiday season! Also, since you can’t recycle this wrapping paper, most of those 30 Million trees end up in the trash!

Additionally, People have found better and less expensive alternative ways to wrap our gifts that don’t end up in the trash! You can use bags, magazines, sweaters, and much more! Using these things you can make cheaper, recyclable,less tree using, and reusable wrapping paper!

Some people might argue that wrapping paper is a holiday tradition, but I still don’t think it is worth using up so much resources for something non-renewable.Wrapping paper wastes trees, is non-recyclable, and there are other better options. With so many other choices, why use something that is so environmentally unfriendly? To help save trees, stop using wrapping paper!

Source: Ask Pablo, Treehugger

http://www.treehugger.com/culture/ask-pablo-holiday-wrapping-paper.html

Category: Environment, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 29

Top 10 Star Wars SpaceShips

The best, a T-70 X-Wing Fighter.

Star Wars is super iconic, and some of the most iconic things it brings is the things are the things flying high in the sky, they are spaceships. Today we are bringing you are top 10 favorite Star Wars Spaceships! I have experienced watching all of those amazing Star Wars movies all those war scenes. But our favorite parts were always the Spaceships clashing to win the war that might not ever end.   

#10 The Y-wing starfighter may be slow, but it looks very cool and can drop Bombs. That is why it has Earned #10 spot on this list.

#9 One of the sleekest ships in Star Wars, is the Slave 1 is a sight to behold. Belonging to the bounty hunter Boba Fett it is very impressive.

 #8 The ARC 1-70 Starfighter has powerful laser cannons and serves the republic.

#7  The TIE Striker is a ship that battled on Scariff over the death star plans.

#6 The Millennium Falcon is an Awesome ship, but is very bulky.           

#5 Darth Vader’s tie advanced is an awesome addition to the tie family. It is cool and would have blown up Luke’s X-wing if not for Han Solo.

#4 The first order troop transport has advanced shields and can carry 20 troops.

#3 The jedi interceptor is sleek and can fly very fast.

#2 The  T-65 X-wing fighter blew up two Death Stars and is very cool.

#1 The T-70 X-wing fighter is the best spaceship of all it is very sleek and fast it has very high-powered ion and proton torpedoes. Can have a wider variety of droids as co-pilots than the T-65 and has a cool laser turret that pops up from the bottom.

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January 29

NASA Makes Pumpkins

Photo Credit: NASA/JPL (via Flickr)

I read a great article on Dogo News about how NASA scientists carved pumpkins. That was the challenge posed to the excellent scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA in 2010 during Halloween. This interesting competition has turned into an annual tradition with partners trying to outdo each other with sky-high hi-tech carvings.

Photo Credit: NASA JPL (via Flickr)

This year’s entries included a Pac-Man pumpkin, a replica of Darth Vader’s meditation chamber, a carousel, a Ninja Starshade, and even a sink hole pumpkin. While the creations are certainly quite strange, what is even more so, is that the engineers-turned-artists had just an hour to complete their masterpieces!

And now, watch this epic video. Continue reading

Category: Art, Games, Science & Tech | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 29

Do Elephants have Emotions?

 

Elephant and a Saddle Billed StorkHave you ever seen elephants  holding trunks or putting them in each others mouths? This is one of a couple of reasons I think elephants have emotions. Elephants care for each other and they comfort one another.

First, elephants comfort each other when they are sad. They calm each other by locking trunks or putting their trunks in the other elephant’s mouths.

Another reason is elephants have one of the greatest memories and care deeply for each other. After 20 years of not seeing each other elephants will still remember each other. This happened to two elephants named Shirley and Jenny. They bent metal bar that were separating them to get closer together.

Elephants care for each other. Shirley and Jenny were the closest thing to family they ever had. They give each other baths. They snuggled with each other. They also comfort one another.

Finally, I think elephants have emotions.  Just like humans. Elephants comfort each other. They also have great memories so they always remember  each other and how they feel about one another. They help each other when they sad. Do you think elephants have emotions? If you don’t think about Shirey and Jenny? How they played with each other and loved each other. I think elephants have emotions. How about you?                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Creative Commons LicenseBrian Lauer via Compfight                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Category: Animals, Student Posts | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 19

Vote For Tackle Football!

Kids-56952 1280.jpgHow many kids in the USA play tackle football? 1,088,158 and that’s a lot, but now people are going to take that away. Do you think tackle football for youths should be banned? A lot of people think this but I wrote this essay to convince people that tackle football is safe to play.

Imagine it, the fourth quarter, you’re down by seven and there’s five seconds left. You’re the wide receiver for your team and the ball goes to you! The opposing team comes to tackle you and you’re scared out of your mind! You’re running like crazy and then you hear the crowd chanting touchdown! Touchdown! It’s the greatest moment of your life! Youth football haters, do you want to take this moment away from kids? If you’re still not convinced here are some reasons that tackle football is safe.

Just to be safe, youth leagues like Pop Warner are taking it to the next level. My first reason is Pop warner will ban kickoffs because prevent major injuries. This will satisfy a lot of youth tackle football haters. The youth league coaches are teaching their players how to tackle properly so it makes less injuries. Now tackles will be a lot safer.“Youth football is safer now than it’s ever been” says Jon Butler, the head coach of Pop Warner.  

Also,kids are getting the proper gear to play tackle football so the hits don’t hurt as much. In order to play,They are required to wear the following: Helmet, chest plate,and backplate. The helmet provides head protection so you won’t get a concussion or brain injury if you get injured. The chest plate prevents you from breaking your ribs or collar bone. The back plate prevents you from breaking your spine a.k.a backbone.

The opposing side does not favor tackle football. They want to take those awesome fumbles and tackles away. Worst of all, they want to replace this sport with the dreaded flag football. I think that flag football is basically a spin off of the sport Rugby and that spin offs aren’t very good. This is why I chose tackle over flag.

I think tackle football for youths should be allowed and I think you should to. If you follow these rules about tackle football, next time you play I assure you that you will be a whole lot safer.

https://pixabay.com/en/users/Greyerbaby-2323/ – https://pixabay.com/en/kids-football-games-tackle-sports-56952/, CC0, Link

Category: Games, Health, Sports | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 13

Top 5 Rarest Pokemon On Pokemon Go

Today on this blog post, Dolan and I will be writing about the top 5 rarest Pokemon in Pokemon Go!

Number 5

The fifth rarest pokemon is Porygon. Porygon is in the  Virtual category. Type: normal. Porygons weakness is fighting. Porygon can evolve to Porygon2.

Number 4

Alakazam’s ability is Inner Focus and Synchronize.  The weaknesses are Dark, Bug, and  Ghost. It Evolves from Kadabra. It’s Ability (hidden) Magic Guard.  

Number 3

The Dragonite is the 3rd rarest Pokemon in the game it is one of the most powerful pokemon in the game. It is a flying type. It’s weakness is ice,dragon,fairy and rock. It evolves from dragonir

Number 2

The 2nd rarest is chansey. It is very hard to get. It’s Category is an Egg. It’s type is normal. It’s ability is  Serene Grace and Natural Cure. It’s weakness is fighting. It evolves from  Happiny. It evolves to  Blissey.

Number 1

Gyarados is the rarest pokemon in pokemon go= (see picture below). Its weakness is rock and electric. It’s ability is water,and flying. It evolves from a magikarp.

Category: Games | 4 Comments on Top 5 Rarest Pokemon On Pokemon Go
January 8

Compassion It! The power to change our world

compassion itBy Maya

Compassion it is a very important social movement. Compassion is a organization where they want everyone to be compassionate to one another. Compassionate is now a verb. So what that means is that now compassioning it is one of our actions.

Recently Sara Schairer came to Curie Elementary and talked to two our 4th grade classes. One of them was mine. We learned what being compassionate is, when and how it all started, where did this all happened, who started it and finally why it started.

When did this all start? This started in 2008. Sara Schairer  made a thought and wanted it to happen right away. The business has now been successful for 8 whole years. Close to a decade.

How it all got started? Well, in 2008 Sara’s perfect life went all upside down. It was pretty hard to take care of an 18 month yr old being a single mom. She divorced but the husband divorced her so she needed a new point in life. A new path. She was watching TV and found the Ellen show. (Yes. The Ellen  show technically gave her the idea.) She was watching and saw Wayne dyer was on the show. He was talking about how teaching your kids compassion is way more important than anything. Sure math  and ELA is important too but being compassionate is way more important. Sara kept constantly thinking about and turned compassionate to compassion it. They sound the same but now compassion it was a verb, well known as an action. By help of her best friends compassion it became a social movement.

Now where is this movement happening? All over the world. Sara has been to Africa and one video from the United Kingdom made a ton of new people on with it. “Compassion it” is with 6 different continents. Antarctica has not been with compassion it. Penguins just aren’t with the program these days.

Who started this? Of course  it’s the one and only Sara Schairer. Sara is a very bright girl that started a huge social movement. Sara even sells buy able products. 

How have you been compassionate? Have been commissioning it? Please comment below.

Paul L via Compfight

Category: Health, Special Events, Student Posts | 1 Comment on Compassion It! The power to change our world