Environmental Mindfullness

In STEAM we have been learning about how humans can positively and negatively effect the environment through the choices they make. What is something you did recently that was MINDFUL of our precious planet? 

1. I filled up my own  reusable cup of water using the water fountain instead of buying bottled water.-K.M.
2. I brought in a "no waste" snack even thought it is not "No Waste Wednesday." -K.B. 
3.I flipped my dad's compost pile so that there was good soil for us to use to have our strawberries grow and for us to have food. -EF 
4. We rented solar panels to put across the roof of our house. -J.B.
5. I reused my Snapple jar after I rinsed it out and I picked 3 tulips from my garden and put them in that jar. -C.B.
6. I picked up some trash like plastic bags around my neighborhood. M.P.
7. My family rented solar panels so we can use less fossil fuels. S.L.
8.  I always reuse plastic bags so we can save fossil fuels from being used to make new bags. P.S.
9.I compost at home AND at school every time I eat fruit with peels, cores and rinds like watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, apples and bananas.C.O.R.
10. I like to use reusable water bottles instead of the non-reusable plastic bottles because they can only be used one time and start to break down if you reuse them. - S.S.S.
11. When I went on a walk this week I picked up the trash and plastic bags as I went by. - G.S.
12. I like to use reusable containers to snack instead of plastic bags so I can give the planet another opportunity to survive because when plastic bags are made, they use up fossil fuels. - M.E.C.A.
13.To help the environment I use reusable containers, baggies, and water bottles because I don't want to waste fossil fuels or add to the amount of trash that needs to be brought off Cape Cod to be burned. - A.L.  
14. Every time I bring in flowers to share, I reuse a one time plastic water bottle as a vase to help the environment instead of just throwing that water bottle away! - K.E.W
15. To help the environment I reuse the plastic baggie that I bring my snack in. Before I learned about fossil fuels being used to make plastic, I would throw the baggie away each time. -A.J
16. I started using containers instead of the one use bags that have to be thrown away.-G.C
17. I used a reusable water bottle while I played soccer. B.C.
18. I use a reusable water bottle almost everyday. M.V.
19.When I play baseball, I bring my reusable water bottle instead of a single use plastic water bottle. Doing this reduces the use of fossil fuels that are used to make plastic. H.D.
20. I stared a compost pile in my backyard yard to help reduce the amount of food waste that gets sent to the dump to be shipped off of Cape Cod and burned. -J.B.
21.  I used a  plastic water bottle for a vase instead of putting it straight into the recycling bin. This gives the plastic one more job and it saves having to buy a vase. K.L.
22.I walked to school today to reduce the pollution caused by cars. -R.R
23.I use reusable containers instead of one use baggies to reduce the amount of trash at the dump.- E.S
24.I went to the pond with my neighborhood.We picked up a bunch of trash and we filled 5 trash bags entirely!We are counting on you to save our planet before it's too late! Anna
25.I went to my auntie's work and we went outside with some other helpers. We went all around the building and we found a lot of trash, so we collected it and threw it away. Jeaden
26. My friend gave me a cup/container in one. It is called a "Snackeez" and it helps me bring in a compostable or no waste snack. Victoria Reynolds
27.I used my reusable  water container and snack container. I was at the beach and every time I saw someone go on a dune I kindly insisted they stay off dunes to be respectful to the environment. -CH
28. I saw my brother and he put his wrapper in the trash ,but it fell out and he didn't see, so I picked it up and thew it in the trash. -JP
29.  I went to the beach and I saw my friend there.  The beach was a mess, so I picked it up and filled 2 bags.    NICHOLAS HEMSWORTH!!
30. Recently I convinced my mom to try to start having a composting system,  and we will go to the Mashpee dump with some compost once a week.- S.B
31. When I go to the store I can put my groceries into reusable bags. -Collin Frost
32. When I have scraps of  fruit or vegetable  I can compost it in my new compost bin. R.S
33. I've been planning for a compost pile in my backyard because not only can I help the environment but I can also observe animals. - DF 
34. I have recently used a reusable container for my mango snack instead of bringing in a snack that comes wrapped in a non-reusable material that would have to go in the trash. -G.M
35. Over the week I put fruit scraps in my family's compost instead of putting in the trash. I am trying to cut down on how much trash I make because when I send trash to the dump, it never goes away. It gets taken off Cape Cod to be crushed and burned which adds to greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.  -A.C
36. I have asked my mom to give me a reusable container because it is good for the environment, so she has been giving me one and I have been using it to bring in my snack. I used to bring in plastic bags which I have learned are made from fossil fuels and are a non-renewable resource.    A.PETERS      

Artic Animals

                                                  Arctic Animals

Will ringed seals and polar bears go extinct? Ring seals are polar bear's main food source. Polar bears and ringed seals are becoming endangered because of climate change.

Climate change is caused by warmer temperatures in Earth's atmosphere. Parts of the Arctic are melting! Seals, polar bears, and many more Arctic animals need the ice to survive. The atmosphere is trapping heat which is called greenhouse gasses. People make these types of gases by burning fossil fuels which are coal, oil, and natural gas. Ice and snow are important to arctic animals in many ways. For example, "lairs" are an adaptation that ringed seals use to build a shelter for their pups. The ringed seals need at least eight inches of snow to build their lairs, but with the warming world they can't build their lairs. Ringed seals may need to travel farther north to snowier and colder areas to build their lairs. Ringed seals may have to learn how to raise and shelter their pups on land. Seals eat arctic cod and these types of fish are dying out because the ocean plants that cod feed on to survive are killed as the ice melts. 

To help these animals you and your family can cut down on how much fossil fuels you use.You can help by using clean energy which is a way to have power without harming the environment. You can also use wind turbines to provide power. There can be a few problems with the wind turbines. The problems are that they are huge and take up a lot of land that means that they're forcing animals out of their habitats.Scientists have built wind turbines in oceans to avoid hurting the habitats of plants and animals on land.
      Another thing you can do to help  earths plants and animals,is solar panels on your house. The energy from the sun light will turn into electronic power which is clean energy.

 Resources used: "Science Spin: Life Without Ice?" December 2014

Written and typed by: Kasey Boettger and Charlotte Bohnenberger

Edited by: Emerson Fraser and Miss.Martin 

Amazing Animals!

   Horses
  Horses are mammals meaning they are warm blooded and give live birth. Horses travel in groups that are guarded by a stallion or a male horse. Wild horses flee or escape when predators  are near.

Dolphins
 Dolphins are marine mammals which means they spend their lives in the ocean BUT they still have to come up for air. They are special because they  give birth to live young tale first instead of head first.  They are warm blooded or endothermic. Dolphins travel hunt and play in a group called a pod. Dolphins hunt with an ability called echolocation or sonar. 

Parrots 
 Parrots are brightly colored birds that have sharp beaks to crack open nuts and clean their feet. They are also highly intelligent especially in captivity where you can train them to do many things. Right now many parrots have no homes because people keep  on putting them back into the shelters and sanctuary  because people don't have enough time to spend with their parrots. Parrots think of their owners as a mate. Parrots mate for life.      
 Polar Bears
 Polar bears are smart mammals that know how to swim, fish, and  hunt for food. All these actions  are natural instincts. These instincts help the polar bear survive the harsh winter of Antarctica.  Polar bears have long necks so they can snatch their prey. They also have thick white fur along with fat so they can stay warm.

Owls
 Owls can't turn their heads all the way around, but they can turn it a remarkable amount. Owls are birds of prey,or raptors with hooked beaks to eat their victims. Owls also have strong wings to swoop down and grab their prey. Lastly they have talons. If owls didn't have talons and just had normal bird like feet, they would starve to death.

Giraffes
   A giraffe's neck has thirteen vertebrates and is very long. Giraffes also have a long purple tongue so it wont get sun burned. The neck is for reaching leaves while the tongue is for avoiding the thorns at the top. They also have very long legs to also reach for the trees.
 


Dogs
  Dogs come in many different shapes colors and sizes. The Great Dane is the biggest breed of dog.Some dogs are called mutts which means there a cross breed. Some dogs a breed for a purpose for example blood hounds are good for tracking deer and other animals. Other dogs are bred for their looks.

Walruses 
 

   Walruses are marine mammals, meaning a female gives live birth. Walruses eat fish from the ocean. The male walruses have gigantic teeth for fighting while its mating season. 

Fish
   Fish are cold blooded animals that live in the ocean. Fish lay eggs instead of giving live birth. Fish come in many different shapes, colors and sizes. For example the whale shark is the biggest fish in the world and its average length is fifty feet. Don't worry though, the whale shark only feeds on plankton. Another example is the Bull Shark which is the most dangerous shark because it can go in both salt and fresh water like rivers. 

Hippos
   Hippos are not that cute little animal you thought they were. Hippos can bite a crocodile in two. Hippos are very protective of their young and they kill over 100 people a year. You might think hippos are very slow and fat, but they can run up to twenty miles per hour.

Blob Fish
  A blob fish is in fact a predator, but doesn't actually move. It just holds its mouth open and hopes for prey to wonder in and then snaps it mouth closed. The blob fish doesn't have bones, so that's why it's called the blob fish. The blob fish lives in deep sea, or the twilight zone. 

Insects
  Insects only have six legs and have an exoskeleton. Most insects die after laying eggs. Insects can also have more than two eyes. For example the scorpion has eight eyes. Insects have the widest variety of species in the world.

Spiders

 
   Spiders have eight legs and eight eyes which you might think is good for the spiders vision, but actually makes it harder for them to see. Some spiders are very poisonous and can kill a human while other spiders are harmless. Some species like the Huntsman Spider travel in unique ways including cartwheeling and what looks like a handspring!

By: Rachel and Grace
Edited by: Ms. Martin and Emerson 

 
               

Checking in...

                           “RADICAL REMINDERS”

Dear Families,                                                            5-5-15

     Tomorrow we are having “No Waste Wednesday” in the classroom. We have been learning about how we can help the environment, where our energy and materials come from, and where our trash goes when we are finished. We will try our best to bring in snacks that are in a reusable container or are able to be composted. Our goal is to have no waste at snack at the end of the year. We will hold “No Waste Wednesday” on Wednesdays, but we will try to have no waste everyday. Remember we can have sweet snacks that are pre-packaged like granola bars and “fruit snacks”, but whole fruit snacks like strawberries, apples, and bananas are better for the environment and for our bodies.

      Also, we would like to remind everyone that this Friday we will be having an important visitor so please dress professionally and respectfully( you could pack extra clothes for recess). Our important guest, Mrs. Marden will be telling the class about her job as a coastal geologist and how she is trying to prevent erosion, especially at the Popponesset Spit in Mashpee which has been hit hard during the winter blizzards. We will also be sharing our erosion projects with her!

     Love, Emerson and Sadie   Edited by: Ms. Martin’s homeroom