PSMS News
Holiday Cards for Our Troops
Just before Thanksgiving the seventh grade blue team at Plymouth South Middle School made over 200 handmade holiday cards to send to the troops in Afghanistan. Each student made two cards, one for a soldier and one for a marine. The cards were sent to an Army unit and a Marine Corps unit. The kids had a great time making these cards and wrote thoughtful messages of support and thanks to the brave men and women who are fighting for their country.
Celebration of Lights around the World
The Social Studies classes of Mrs. Goding and Mrs. Cardin did a Celebration of Lights project. Students had to research a Holiday of Light or a Christmas celebration from another country around the world. Students then had to write a paragraph about their holiday. The research was then used to create a power point slideshow. Finally, the students created pop-ups, decorated with colorful pictures showing how each of their individual holidays was celebrated. Some of the holidays that students researched were: Winter Solstice, Kwanza, Diwali, Three Kings Day, Hanukkah, Epiphany, Id-al-fitr, Boxing Day, and St. Lucia's Day.
Various Christmas celebrations were from Portugal, Argentina, Germany, Greece, Mexico and the Philippines. The students also learned about the Chinese New Year and the Vietnamese New Year called "Tet". It is amazing how different cultures celebrate "Light" this time of year....That is our "Celebration of Lights Around the World" project!
Written by: Bethany Carlin, Paige Cassidy, and Heather Oxsen
Homeroom 312
PSMS Students Take the Initiative to Raise Money for Hurricane Sandy Victims
Miranda Striar and Rose Manson believe in taking action. After seeing some of the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey on television, the two girls decided to make decorated paper wallets and sell them to their classmates to raise money for the victims of the storm.
"My Dad came up with it," sixth grader Miranda said, and I thought that was a good idea!" She started making the wallets, which she learned how to make online. During a sleep over with her neighbor, fifth grader Rose, the two of them got to work, making and decorating more than one hundred paper wallets.
The wallets were immediately popular with other middle school kids who wanted to do their part to support the effort. In fact, Miranda received a round of applause in the sixth grade lunch when she told her classmates what she wanted to do. Some students, including Lucien Quirk, bought more than one wallet and/or donated cash.
To date, the girls have raised more than $62.00, which will be donated to the Red Cross.
"We wanted to help out with people in other places, not just here, and we hope that we are encouraging other people, younger and older, to do the exact same thing," Miranda said.
Real vs. Fake Christmas Trees
The real versus artificial Christmas tree debate replays itself year after year. But the truth is, each option has its own place on the naughty-and-nice list.
Just a few short decades ago, displaying a Christmas tree in your living room really only yielded one option: a real pine or fir tree. That all changed when a U.S.-based toilet bowl brush manufacturer, the Addis Brush Company, created an artificial tree from brush bristles in the 1930s, acting as the prototype for modern artificial trees.
The Pros and Cons of Artificial Trees: The thought of cutting down a new tree each year can put a damper on the holidays for some. Also, cost, convenience and environmental impact are other reasons consumers opt for an artificial tree. Their convenience is also appealing to consumers as they don't need watering, don't leave pine needles all over the floor and transportation from tree farm to home isn't an issue.
But many experts believe artificial trees actually have a greater negative environmental impact when all aspects of their life cycle are considered. Today's artificial trees are typically manufactured with metal and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a non-biodegradable, petroleum-derived plastic. In addition, many older varieties may contain lead, used as a stabilizer in the manufacturing process.
Despite their PVC contents, artificial trees are non-recyclable and non-biodegradable, meaning they will sit in a landfill for centuries after disposal.
Furthermore, approximately 85 percent of artificial trees sold in the U.S. are imported from China, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), adding to their overall environmental footprint.
Approximately 33 million real Christmas trees are sold in North America each year, according to the U.S. EPA. Luckily, about 93 percent of those trees are recycled through more than 4,000 available recycling programs.
Also known as "treecycling," the act of recycling a Christmas tree is a leading reason many experts agree they are more environmentally friendly than their plastic counterparts.
Treecycling is an easy way to return a renewable and natural source back to the environment instead of disposing it in a landfill, where decomposition rates are slowed due to lack of oxygen.
Christmas trees are recycled into mulch and used in landscaping and gardening or chipped and used for playground material, hiking trails, paths and walkways. They can be used for beachfront erosion prevention, lake and river shoreline stabilization and fish and wildlife habitat.
A single farmed tree absorbs more than 1 ton of CO2 throughout its lifetime. With more than 350 million real Christmas tress growing in U.S. tree farms alone, you can imagine the yearly amount of carbon sequestering associated with the trees. Additionally, each acre of trees produces enough oxygen for the daily needs of 18 people.
In order to ensure a healthy supply of Christmas trees each year, growers must use sustainable farming techniques. For each tree harvested, one to three seedlings are planted the following spring, ensuring a healthy supply of trees.
According to the NCTA, the Christmas tree industry employs more than 100,000 Americans, an important economic consideration in the real versus artificial debate.
Besides the aforementioned cons associated with real Christmas trees, they are farmed as agricultural products, meaning repeated applications of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers may be used throughout their lifetime. The ideal tree would be raised organically, using integrated pest management techniques rather than chemicals.
Another con associated with real Christmas trees may depend on where you live. For climates where coniferous trees don't grow, that tree in your living room may have had to travel hundreds of miles to reach the lot, significantly impacting the environmental impact associated with travel. However, a tree trucked from a couple states away is still traveling thousands of miles less than one from overseas.
The Verdict?
So, what's the final word? Drumroll please... Real trees top our charts for holiday adornment. Even though they might shed needles on your floor, the investment in a U.S.-based product, the carbon-neutral nature of their production and their ease of recycling make them a clear winner.
For this and more "Green Holiday" ideas check out http://earth911.com
PSMS Paw Prints Club.....Students for 'greener' living.
GENEROSITY CONTINUES AT PSMS
Students on the first floor at PSMS know how to be generous. In November, they donated much of their Halloween candy to soldiers overseas. They also contributed clothing and household goods to the Hurricane Sandy relief effort. But in December, the first floor sixth graders held an auction that raised over $1,000 for families in need right here in Plymouth. At the beginning of this month, sixth graders on the first floor donated new or nearly new items from home that they no longer needed. The assembled items were auctioned off and over $1,000 were collected. The students recycled unwanted items, got their holiday shopping completed, and had that "feel good" feeling from helping out at this time of year. Congratulations, sixth graders!
5th Grade Circuit Projects
As part of the science unit on electricity, students in Mrs. Balzarini's and Mrs. Enos' 5th grade classes built series and parallel circuits. They applied the skills they learned to create a gingerbread style house or winter scene that would light up using these types of circuits. The projects were on display in the classrooms for students and parents to view.
ALO FALL SESSION A SUCCESS
The PSMS ALO Program concluded its fall session this past Monday, December 17th, which featured a Parent Showcase. Over 100 students participated in the program and proudly demonstrated their skills and knowledge acquired during the previous nine weeks.
Students enrolled in the "Illustration of Fairy Tales" class displayed their pen and ink drawings, which will be featured in an upcoming book from a publishing company in England. Students in the "Cooking" class served delicious appetizers and snacks, such as chicken chimmy chungas, Mongolian Chicken, Mexican dip with tortilla chips, spaghetti sauce with meatballs served over squash and chicken-vegetable soup. Students in the "Robotics" program designed and constructed robots made of Legos. The robots were then programmed to perform various challenges. Students in the "Mathletes" program and their parents viewed a state wide Mathlete competition, which the team has been preparing for. Students in the "Science & Math of Sewing" class displayed several of their projects including matching hats & mittens, pajama pants, backpacks and purses with zippers. In addition, parents were invited to try their hand with the sewing machines and create a small item with their child. Students in the "JAG TV" program showed their first newscast of the year and demonstrated their video editing skills.
Overall, the fall program was a great success with positive feedback from the students. We look forward the Winter ALO Program, which begins on January 7th.
