The purpose of this assignment is to develop your ability to read and write about science.
The assignment:
Each week you will find an science related article that is interesting to you. It can be about any topic, not just whatever we are studying in class. Then you will write a report which has these three parts:
1) Citation: Here you will put the name of the article, the author, and where you found it (for example, the New York Times or Science News for Kids).
2) A brief summary: Here you will summarize the article in one or two sentences. This is to give your readers (including me) a sense of what you have read.
3) Reflection: This is the biggest part of your report. I am interested in your response to the article. Please address the following questions in your reflection:
a) What did you think about the article? Did you like it or not? Why?
b) What interested you or surprised you about the article?
c) What questions do you have about what you read? What would you like to know more about what you’ve read?
Click here to find tons of science articles.
Your report is due Friday here on the blog.
The Orange Shagamuffins
15 years ago
Posts
64 comments:
The Face on Mars
The article is about how we often think of Mars as a place where aliens live because of the canals we found. The rumors about aliens started in 1976 when NASA took a photo of mars. When they zoomed in the picture they found temples, people started saying they could see shacks and forts where aliens lived.
I liked the article because it really gets me wondering that if there are pyramids there, there had to be life there at sometime.
http://www.physicspost.com/articles.php?articleId=42
written by Zach Clifton
For almost a century, scientists have used the fruit fly (scientifically known as Drosophila melanogaster) as a model organism for investigating various biological systems. Today it remains the most studied organism in biological research.
The fruit fly's robust genetic system makes it an invaluable tool for scientists studying inheritance. Drosophila is being used as a genetic model for several human diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. Researchers are also using the fly to study mechanisms underlying ageing, immunity, diabetes, and cancer.
Other scientists are using the fruit fly to test some basic ideas about how we - and other animals - see the world around us. Visual information is clearly important for many organisms. An animal's visual system is what allows it to see, by interpreting the information from light to build up a representation of the world surrounding its body.
Whilst researchers know the functional architecture of the brain and eye of the Drosophila in great detail, they don't know much about the route that the visual information takes, and how it's processed in the nervous system. By using electrophysiological and imaging experiments, scientists can learn a lot about how individual neurons - or groups of neurons - process visual signals. But it's only through experiments studying the behaviour of flies that hypotheses about visual processes can be proved or abandoned.
Why use Drosophila?
Drosophila (pictured) is a small fly about 3mm long that lives for only around two weeks. Researchers can speed up or slow down their life cycle, by varying the temperature they are kept in. Fruit flies are also cheap, and easy to keep in large numbers. They are easy to handle, are well-understood and their entire genome has recently been sequenced (completed in 2000).
Scientists can also study mutant flies, with defects in any of several thousand genes. A mutant fly is one that has a change in the sequence of the nucleotides in the DNA of a particular gene, which could mean that it can't produce a particular enzyme or protein properly. By using Drosophila mutants, scientists can look at the role of a specific part of a cascade or pathway in the fly.
Similarly, scientists can increase the number of enzymes or proteins in the fly to investigate its effect. They can compare a mutant fly with a missing enzyme to a normal fly, and thus shed light on the function of that missing enzyme.
The Drosophila has a big advantage over human genetic material, as it has only four pairs of chromosomes, compared to humans who have 23 pairs - so there is less genetic information for researchers to deal with. Scientists can effectively breed the flies to contain the genes or mutant genes they require, to study anything from very precise mechanisms to general behavioral responses.
The Drosophila genome shares many similarities to the human genome. Of 289 genes known to cause disease in humans - including cancer, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases - researchers discovered about 175 in Drosophila.
by marie mcColloch
http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles.html
I thought the article was interesting and i wonder how a little fly is so useful? I like that now i know that some flys are useful! The other good thing is that your able to keep them as pets and are easy to handle. The only bad thing is that they die so quick.:(
Bad Times Bad Health?
Bad Times and Unhealthy Habits:
Bad times like the great depression can add to your health and health habit issues. Value on time is so high which makes you tend to work more and care for your body less. healthy things like exercising and eating at home instead of fast food restaurants.
Weird Reactions:
America loves coffee, everyone knows that. But we don’t know is how controlling it can be. In depression like stages if coffee prices go up people are more obsessed with coffee than they are with their own kids. when the prices go down people aren’t so overtaken about and tend to their family and kids more.
Who are Common People: In Japan people who didn’t Strange fact health were mainly during the unemployed and their family. depression more
But the babies in those houses people died from
suffered the most because heart diseases than parents couldn’t afford in regular time. This health care and has never vaccinations. repeated.
Food Changes:
53% of consumers say that they find themselves making food from scratch instead of buy prepared food. Prepared food is more expensive than making food from scratch.
Health Plans:
All prices are going up in these times including health insurance. Average people are paying 2 times more money than they did 4 years ago. America has no real health plan. 46 million people lack in health insurance, and the 179 million that do would be broke in one real health crisis.
what do you think of bad times . . .
newyorktimes.com
Tara Parker-Pope
october 6 2008
Bad Times Bad Health?
Bad Times and Unhealthy Habits:
Bad times like the great depression can add to your health and health habit issues. Value on time is so high which makes you tend to work more and care for your body less. healthy things like exercising and eating at home instead of fast food restaurants.
Weird Reactions:
America loves coffee, everyone knows that. But we don’t know is how controlling it can be. In depression like stages if coffee prices go up people are more obsessed with coffee than they are with their own kids. when the prices go down people aren’t so overtaken about and tend to their family and kids more.
Who are Common People: In Japan people who didn’t Strange fact health were mainly during the unemployed and their family. depression more
But the babies in those houses people died from
suffered the most because heart diseases than parents couldn’t afford in regular time. This health care and has never vaccinations. repeated.
Food Changes:
53% of consumers say that they find themselves making food from scratch instead of buy prepared food. Prepared food is more expensive than making food from scratch.
Health Plans:
All prices are going up in these times including health insurance. Average people are paying 2 times more money than they did 4 years ago. America has no real health plan. 46 million people lack in health insurance, and the 179 million that do would be broke in one real health crisis.
what do you think of bad times . . .
newyorktimes.com
Tara parker-pope
October 6 2008
New Ant
A new weird ant found in the Amazon rain forest. The ant is blind and its mouth is like forceps. These new ants live under ground. The ant’s body is pale. Its mouth is no longer then its head. This ant is so bizarre that you might think is from a different planet. Its name does not help you at all (Martialis heureka). The new ant is making scientist rethink about what they know about the history about this ant. Christian Rabeling, from the University of Texas at Austin discovered this weird ant. He found the ants among the leaves of the rainforest ground. He also analyzed the DNA of the ant. Comparing the DNA to other ants helps scientists find more about its family tree. The Martialis heureka DNA shows that the species is only distantly related to other ant species. It is so distant that it is considered to be it’s on sub species. The last time scientists found a new subfamily of living ants was in 1923. The DNA analyst shows that it appeared to be the early list ant on this earth. The paleness and blindness are two major clues that the ant lives under ground. Some other oldest ants also live underground. Scientists are wondering if it evolved under ground or if they evolved above ground and then went under ground. Some of the other ants have some of the same characteristics but not all. This new species will help us find more about this ant.
by Verhaagh from sciencenewsforkids
The last two or three postings see to be copies of the articles themselves.
If there are any questions about what is expected, please review the instructions in my original post.
Title: Dog Toys From China-Why We Should Be Worried
Author: Clare Bristow
Where was it Found: http://www.dogtopics.com/133/dog-toys-from-china-why-we-should-be-worried/
A Brief Summary: This article is about why we should be worried about dog toys made from China. This topic is interesting to me because I just got a puppy and I’ve heard how different people think about the subject.
Reflection: I thought the article was written well. I liked how it conveyed the information. This topic was really interesting and I’m glad I choose it apposed to the other choices. Something that caught my eye was, doggie toys have green latex, lead, chromium, arsenic and mercury. To be honest I don’t know what a lot of those are but I know that their bad and should not be put in dogs mouths.
Something that I would like to further explore about the topic is, what’s the percentage of toys that are poisoned and should not be put in dog’s mouth v.s. the ones that are ok? Next time I go to buy dog toys I will make sure to check the bottom of the toy to make sure it doesn’t say “Made in China”
Rainforest declining
The article name was Rainforest facts. The article had no named author but the website was www.rain-tree.com. I found it on google but like I said the website was www.rain-tree.com.
This article was about the declining of the rainforest and what happens to the cut down rainforest.
A) I thought it was a little sad. I thought the article was good but it was very sad. It was sad because 14% of the world used to covered with rainforest now there’s only 6% and it’s said that in less than 40 year’s all the rainforests will be gone.
B) What surprised me was that in less than 40 years all the rainforests will be gone and more than half of the rainforests are gone from the surface of the earth
C) I wonder if the rainforest population will go up in the next 20 years or keep going down.
Weekly Science Article Report 2
The article I read was called Verizon Officially Announces Touchscreen BlackBerry. I got the article from Beta News, and the article was written by Tim Conneally. The article was about how the Blackberry storm, the touchscreen BlackBerry, will be available in late Fall to us through Verizon, and also to Europe, India and Oceania through Vodafone. The article was also about some features on the BlackBerry. I thought that the article was pretty good. I thought that the article could have explained a little more about the phone itself. I didn’t like the article because there really wasn’t a lot to it. I have nothing against the product, Blackberry storm, but the article really wasn’t very interesting, because there isn’t really a lot to say about a phone being announced. Something that surprised me about the article is that the title is, Verizon Officially Announces Touchscreen BlackBerry, but then it talks about Vodafone having the same BlackBerry. Even though the article talks about the BlackBerry Storm, they are no longer talking about Verizon, and the title being what it is, I think the article should be about what the title says. I have one question about the article; why is the phone officially announced if it isn’t coming out until late fall? Something I would like know more about is the phone itself, even though I don’t think that particular information should be in this article, because of the title.
Farms sprout in Cities
By: (doesn’t say)
From: Science News for Kids
This article is about how scientists are finding out and researching ways for fruits and vegetables to be grown in cities; on skyscrapers! It also tells how it will be “green” using solar panels to create energy. Also, extra parts of food we don’t eat will be turned into compost to heat the building.
I really enjoyed reading this article because it was talking about being “green”. Plus, it talked about preventing insects, early morning frost and weather damage by stationing the fruits and vegetables inside. I was surprised when it said that scientists predict that by the year 2050 the world population will grow by another 3 billion!
After reading this article I would like to know more about how they are going to fund making these “indoor farms.”
-Magentarocks-
Right Whales
On the brink, on the rebound
By Douglas H. Chadwick
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/10/right-whales/chadwick-text/1
The Article I read was about the right whale and how it’s dying. It explains how that commercial whaling before 1935 almost killed the population. The population was down to 350-400 whales left in existence. The article has a story about one of the whales that was born in 1992 and its mom abandoned it. Later on it was trapped in fishing lines slowing it down. Three years later they found the whale free of the lines and she had her own calf. Later on it talks about the whales’ cousin the southern right whale which is doing somewhat better. The whale was named the right whale because whalers thought the whale was the “right” to whale.
A) I really enjoyed the article because this was an article I’ve wanted to read. Also I love whales and in third grade I wrote an essay about how these whales were dying and becoming extinct.
B) What surprised me in the article was that the populations of the whales were so low. I mean I knew they were low but not that low.
C) I would like to know more about the whale that they found. What happened to her during the three year period no one saw her?
Was she of out in the Atlantic some where?
Weekly article report
Name: Three Chemists Win Nobel Prize
Author: Kenneth Chang
Summary: This article is about one Japanese and two American scientists who win the noble prize. They won the prize for taking the glow of jellyfish and turning it into a tool of molecular biology.
Reflection: I did not like this article because it was not very interesting to me. What surprised me was that there was one Japanese and two American chemists that won. A question I have is how did they get the glow of the jelly fish?
madnerd44- i think you did a good job on putting how you wonder if there are pyramids on mars.
30 degre burnes= mcsquare- i like how you broke it up into a) b) and c).
Ryley Clyde- You broke up the article into summery, reflection, title, and author really good.
Plastic Munching Microbes
Not given
Scientists News for Kids
In this article it talks about how when we recycle plastic bottles they actually can’t be used for food or beverage. The article says that they found a microbe that can turn it back into reusable plastics.
I liked the article because it was about a topic that I could relate to and understand. It kind of surprised me and made me sad because I thought I was doing more when I recycled. I thought that it got turned back into I bottle like I hoped. What I would like to get more information on is how much more it would cost us to do this with our economy being as bad as it is now.
Dear madnerd44 it is short and sweet. It made me think about aliens and if they really do exists but you could have added more information.
Dear chikachikaboomboom567 I liked your article it is very scientific and I liked how you added why use drosophila.
Dear skinless wonder your article is short sweet and to the point.
The name of the article that I read was called Plastic-Munching Microbes. I got this article off of Science News for Kids. There was no author named.
This article was about how scientists have found strains of bacteria which converts the plastic from soda and other drink bottles, called Polyethylene terephthalate or PET, into plastic called polyhydroxyalkanoate or PHA. This is important because when you recycle a plastic soda bottle it just gets recycled into some low-quality plastic that can’t be reused to package food or drinks. But PHA breaks down over time and is considered biodegradable so it can be used as some medical devices like stitches that dissolve inside the body.
I liked this article very much. I liked it because I am all about going green and making our environment better and that this is just the type of thing that will help. If we can find out ways to recycle more things and in better ways then we will not have to throw so much plastic out and other things. What surprised me was that plastic bottles did not get converted into other PET products but into a lower quality plastic. What also surprised me was that the discovery was in Ireland. I know it sounds kind of weird and it’s not a very good reason but nothing is ever discovered in Ireland. I’m Irish and I have nothing against Ireland but think of one thing, except this plastic-munching microbe that converts PET into PHA, which has been discovered in Ireland. I can’t think of anything, except maybe leprechauns. I would like to know more about the process in which the bacteria decomposes and recomposes the plastics. I also kind of wonder what the bacteria is called that does that stuff to the plastic.
Sleeping in Space
No author
http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/astronauts/living_sleeping.asp
I read an article about how astronauts sleep in space. They usually sleep in sleeping bags attached to the ceiling, floor, or side of the space shuttle, but sometimes they just like to curl up in the corner and sleep without anything to keep them in place.
I really liked that the article was very specific. For example: they sleep strapped up in sleeping bags as opposed to they sleep in sleeping bags. It was really helpful to me because it gave me enough information so that I didn’t have to dig deeper into other articles to see what they were really talking about. I also liked the information given; I found that everything was very interesting. The pictures showed exactly what the article was describing. I was surprised that some astronauts just like to do a free for all and curl up wherever they want to and sleep that way for the whole night. I would like to know how the astronauts get into their sleeping bags because I can’t picture what it would look like.
'Glowing' jellyfish grabs nobel
Jonathan Amos
BBC news website
This article was about using ultraviolet light to make jellyfish glow.
I didn't really like the article because it was boring. The use of the technique was pointless.
It did surprise me, though, I never thought you could make an animal glow. I don't really want to know more about this, it doesn't really have anymore to say anyway. My question is what purpose does making an animal glow serve?
“Is Anybody Out There?”
Author’s name not listed
Found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7660449.stm
Basically the main idea of the article is that 500 selected messages have been sent into space headed in the general direction of planet Gliese 581C. People in the Ukraine are hoping for a response in roughly 60 years.
I particularly LOVED this article because, even though some people fear extra-terrestrials, they fascinate me. Just the thought that there’s a message from earth out there in space makes my fingers tingle and my stomach do flips. The message reached the edge of our universe early the next morning after the launch. A favored line of mine in the article is actually a quote; “So if anybody’s out there and they find that signal, they at least know it that, in the direction of that star system over there, there must be some pretty clever things on it.” - Seth Shostak. He makes an excellent point, who really cares if they understand it or not? At least now they know that we exist, isn’t that really all that counts? I’ve always thought it was really cool, the thought that more things are possible than meets the eye; The thought that there were other creatures roving some other world in some far off solar system.
What REALLY surprised me about the article, is the amount of time it takes for a message to leave our universe (maybe not just ours J). It only took 1.7 seconds for the message to pass the moon and four minutes to pass Mars. It was really interesting the range of messages sent, they went from the environment, politics and world peace all the way to first kisses and how people get along with their families. Needless to say This was one of the most interesting articles I’ve ever read. I guess you could say, that if it was possible, and legal I would marry the article.
I’d really like to learn more about the possibility of other being in space. I would also like to hear if the messages were responded on when I’m 72, maybe we’ll know more by then. I do have one question, however, about the equipment used to send the message that could change our existence. I suppose I’ll always have the reminder of this article tucked behind something in my brain.
By Hobbes
To madnerd44
From Hobbes
I really liked the way you gave lots of important things in your response, like the year when rumors started about Mars. Your article sounds cool, probably because you did a good job describing it. One thing you might want to improve on is making your response a bit longer. It was a little short, but great things come in small packages.
(I’d just like to point out that the random J in my response was supposed to be a smiley face.)
The iPhone Haters
Newsweek Science and Technologies
The article was mostly about the new iPhone 3G and the people that hate it. It said the people who hate it are the people who "Start Facebook groups in search of kindred spirits." The article reporters interviewed a guy who said he "Didn't like it because it just made all the other cell phone companies look bad., and because there isn't anything that new about it except for the smaller memory.
This article is irrelevent because no matter what a thing is, there are some people who don't like it. It is like someone writing an article about people who don't like bananas. of course there are people who don't like it, but no one really cares about people who don't like bananas or iPhones for that matter.
Dear “The Skinless Wonder,”
I really liked the topic you picked. It was very interesting to me because I studied recycling last year. Something that surprised me was that there was a negative to recycling. Also, I agree with being upset when you thought you were doing a good deed. Your reflection is written well and definitely gets the point through clearly. One thing you can do to improve your reflection would be to use more powerful words but other than that there was really nothing wrong.
Dear “Headchief,”
I thought the article you choose was interesting. I agree with how making an animal glow doesn’t really serve a point. A few things you did well were that you answered the questions directly. A few things you could do better next time would be to add a little more thought and go deeper into your answers. Also, if the article seemed boring maybe you should have choose something different that caught your eye before you started your reflection.
Our Plastic World
By Emily Sohn
Science News for Kids
Plastic is a part of our daily lives. You use it practically every day. Plastic is everywhere, on telephones, food wrappers, baby bottles, bike helmets and seat covers used on buses. You would think plastic is too good to be true, but it is not. Some scientists say it is bad for you. Scientists think that some plastics give off toxins that can get into our body and cause cancer, birth defects and ADHD.
I enjoyed this article. I thought it was very well written. It kind of scared me a bit though. I liked how the author made it very kid friendly.
I found it very surprising that something so important in our every day lives could affect our health.
I am wondering if there is a way to make plastics so they don't give off toxins. I am also wondering if we could find a new material instead of plastic that is cheap, strong and eco friendly.
Dear “ajax555,”
Your article was really cool. It was very simple and got to the point right away. It’s so interesting how the astronauts have to be strapped into their sleeping bags. I agree with how you explained how the author conveyed the information deeply and with detail. Your reflection was written really well, one of the best ones I’ve seen yet. It got to the point and wasn’t boring at all. Something you could do better next time would be to add some more facts about the article, I think it would help the reader know what your talking about. Other than that, great job!
THE PLAN TO REVIVE HUBBLE
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/09/1523343.aspx
Author: Not specified
Short Summary: Scientists from NASA are thinking about trying to reactivate the space telescope. It may not work if it does the telescope could be running in a few business days. If it does not work the telescope may be worse than before. Hubble has been out of service since September 27th. They are using the Atlantis to service Hubble. The launch won’t happen until next year so the crew can have more training.
Reflection: I think it is great we are going to reuse the Hubble. It is also good we are not going to build a new space telescope in the place of the Hubble because NASA would lose a lot of money because of the economy and the price of materials. It would also cost a lot of money to send it into orbit because of the price of gasoline. I think reusing Hubble is also smart because it will change multiple systems to the their side B backup systems. Hubble has not used side B since 1990 when it was launched.
Dear prettypinkprince i was really suprised about this right whale crisis. I love animals and i have barely heard of this whale, thats probably because there are so little of them left. I think you could have spent more time on the article and less on what you thought about it.
Dear madner44
Your article was a little short you could have elaborated on it more. I like how you kept your article reflection was short and sweet. It wasn’t so long that people got board reading.
TITLE OF ARTICLE: Supreme Court takes on whales, navy sonar
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/08/MNLI13DOHT.DTL
Summary- Supreme court takes on whales; navy sonar is basically about how the navy's sonar equipment is killing many mammals because of the sounds that bounce off of the water makes the mammals have to go deeper into the ocean which causes decompression sickness.
The only thing that I liked about this article was how it was saying what we should do to help the whales (mammals). What I really didn't like about the article was how it said that the whales are dyeing and getting sick.
THIS ARTICLE MADE ME STOP AND WONDER!!!!
Dear 30 degre burnes=mcsquare the issue that you addressed is obviously very important and needs to be talked about. However I feel like I have heard it all before and you could have made it better by explaining more about the article.
Dear magentarocks,
I like the whole idea of going green. I was wondering if next time you could give some ways they grow the fruits and vegetables on the skyscrapers.
Dear dadrumma3 I just read a similar article and posted about it in the first report. So it was interesting to see your prospective on the whole problem that plastic could cause cancer. It was also extremely scary too me, it seemed there really is no solution to the whole problem.
Dear rudycocoa3,
I don’t think that you elaborated enough on the topic. You might want to separate your story with spaces between your article. I could barley tell where each part of the article began and ended in your reflection.
To: abc123def456
I really liked your blog response because I could tell that you had a very good reason not to like this article. I really liked your reasoning and I bet now if I read that article I would say: ‘hey, abc123def456 is right, this is so irrelevant so why am I reading this?’ The only thing I would suggest is that I had some trouble understanding why people didn’t like the iPhone so you might have wanted to be a little more specific.
To: hobbes
I thought your blog response was amazing!!! Just like you, when I think of aliens or extra-terrestrials I am very interested. People say ‘what if they’re dangerous’, or ‘they could hurt us.’ But I think other wise. If they are at about the same sophistication as us they will probably as interested in another planet as we are. But if you think about it, there are probably more sophisticated civilizations and they could teach us so much! But anyway, I really liked how you used a quote and how I could really see what you felt about the issue at hand. The only thing that I would suggest is that some of your punctuation was wrong. But other than that, I loved your response.
To: ryley clyde
I liked your response a lot. I have a dog too and it made me wonder if any of my dog’s toys are bad for her. I liked how you got me hooked by saying you were worried because you just got a dog. I think it is a good thing to relate to your personal life so people can understand your response more. At the beginning of the response there was a website and I found it very unclear why it was there. Maybe you should make that clearer.
Virginia Shark's Pup a 'Virgin Birth'
By STEVE SZKOTAK
From http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=5999698
This article was about a second case of a virgin shark’s birth. When they studied the female shark no male genetic material in he system. A shark scientist named Demian Chapman said that "It is quite possible that this is something female sharks of many species can do on occasion." I thought the article was very interesting to read. I did like it but not a lot. I thought it was interesting but it could have been a little bit better. I did not know that sharks could have babies with out males. So that surprised me and drew me to the article. I would like to know what happened when it had the shark what they can predict made the shark have the baby.
Comment 1: killerinchworm22
I like how you chose an article that had a topic that you liked and how you put in abbreviations for the words that were ling like that. I think there was nothing really to improve on in your response.
Comment 2: ajax555
I like your article because it sounds good. You may want to improve on explaining it more you could maybe say more in one sentence or just do more that one sentence.
Comment 3: pretty pink prince
I liked how you explained how the whale got tangled and you explained how they set it free. You could improve by not saying later in the article because that makes it seem like you skipped a lot of the article instead of reading the whole thing.
Dear madnerd44, I really liked how you kept your post short engough so people didn't get board, but long enough to give people alot of information.
Dear bandcamp, I liked how you really gave your opinion about the article. I think next time you should split things up so it is not just one huge paragraph.
Dear magentarocks, I really enjoyed reading your post. I too, am very interested on the environment and being “green” so I could relate to your post very easily.
Article: The Lunch Crunch
From Time for kids
Article:
Say goodbye to star fruits and kiwis. In school cafeterias across the country, cheaper basics like apples and oranges have replaced fancy fruits on the menu. Food prices are rising at the same time that schools are making nutrition a top priority. School districts are watching every penny, reviewing menus and raising prices. "Providing healthful meals on a tightening budget is a big challenge," says Katie Wilson, president of the School Nutrition Association (SNA).
The cost of nutritious lunchroom staplesosuch as milk (see "The High Price of Milk") and whole-grain breadsohas jumped 17% in the last year, according to an SNA survey. That means schools are paying an extra 17 cents for every dollar spent. The cost of fruits and vegetables has risen by 4%. Schools are struggling to keep nutrition on the table.
School Lunch Squeeze
More than 30 million kids buy school lunch each day. This year, three-quarters of the nation's largest districts raised lunch prices to combat rising costs. Students now pay an average price of $2 per meal. That's up 27 cents from a year ago. But they still get a good deal. The average cost for schools to produce one meal has gone up 30 cents, and is now $3.
So, how do schools break even? To start, the government pays for a small part of the difference. Schools have to make up the rest. Peggy Eller is a director of school nutrition services in Hudson, Wisconsin. She told TFK Kid Reporter Eleanor Korum that her district is cutting costs by using fewer paper products and serving smaller portions. Well, portion control is one key to healthful eating!
Trimming the Menu
The push for more healthful school lunch options has grown in recent years with concerns over children's health. Nearly one in five kids ages 6 to 19 is overweight. Kids who are seriously overweight are classified as obese. They are at risk for heart disease and other illnesses. Childhood obesity has prompted many states to pass wellness laws requiring schools to serve well-balanced lunches.
Since 2004, more than 90% of all U.S. schools have trimmed the fat from lunches. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar have been replaced by low-fat milk, fresh fruits and vegetables. Kids have noticed. Do they like it? Sami Bailey, 12, of St. John, Washington, told TFK Kid Reporter Emily Jones that the best thing about eating healthier meals is that it "keeps me going through the day."
New items on lunch menus have also encouraged kids to shake up their eating habits. "It makes it easier to try new things (at home)," Florida fifth-grader Savanna Mackey told TFK Kid Reporter Morgan Mullings.
Positive feedback like that is what makes school lunch directors more determined than ever to provide nutritious meals. And they can't let skyrocketing food prices get in the way. "A well-nourished child is a better-educated child," says Janey Thornton, who heads the Child Nutrition Programs in Hardin County, Kentucky. "We'll just have to work a little bit harder and be smarter in how we do things."
WHAT! 17 more cents for milk? That's crazy. But food prices are rising all over the place. I liked the article because it was telling me what was happening with all the food prices.
dear riley clyde:
i can really relate to your article because i myself have a dog and i care about her health.great job.
from,
magentarocks
dear bandcamp,
I thought that you reflected on your article really well and really put your opinion in your post. I really like cell phones so i think that this phone will be awsome!Great job!
from,
magentarocks
To madnerd44
I liked the article you chose. I also would like to know if there are pyramids on Mars but since I don’t have a spaceship I will just have to listen to NASA. Your response was a little short but I could get a sense that you like the ideas of life of mars.
To Ryley Clyde
I liked the article you picked because I also got a puppy on a few months ago and I was surprised to find that some dog toys from china are poisonous. Your reflection was a great summary of the article and you were very descriptive. I will remember to make sure my dog’s toys say made in anywhere but china.
To Hobbes
I like how you picked an article about space. I want to know if there is life on other planets. I also am interested in space and extra terrestrials. You must have loved this article because you wrote a lot and wrote descriptively.
Gansta Joe,
I think it's cool that people have found a new species of ants in the amazon rainforest. it's nice to hear that global warming is not only killing animals (well that's not good), but letting people find new animals.
It was a little long, and i started to lose focus because it was like one big paragraph.
madner44,
I think it's cool that people THINK there are aliens on mars, but it might change my view on that topic if you added a little more info. Nice job, though.
Hobbes,
I think it's interesting that people are sending messages into space. But, who do they think will answer?
I agree with you that if anyone ever finds it, they will probably not understand it.
Madnerd: I like how you chose a topic that most people know something about. I wish that you gave a little more reflection in it. It seemed like you only wrote what the article made you wonder.
Ryley Cycle: I like your topic because it interested me because I’m thinking about getting a dog soon. I just wished you included an example or two about what other people thought.
30 degree burns=mcsquare: I like your topic and that also surprises me to that over half the rain forests are all ready cut down. I just wished that you gave a little bit more reflection.
to the madnerd44
Your article is very short compared to other people's but yours is very good you said everything you needed to and made me think if there is life on mars.
to the rudycocoa3
ur article is very short but I like that it gets to the point and also that you said why you didn't like it.
to the abc123def456
i like your article it is very short and to the point
Madnerd44- I really like how what you would wonder about at the end of your response is something that many people could wonder about and possibly discuss. I really think that you could have put more about how you felt about the article and if there was anything that you didn’t like. Next time maybe you could put a little less about the article itself and more about how the article affected you.
Rudycocoa3- I really like how you got right to the point in every sentence, I took a good amount of information with me. Next time, I think that maybe you could add a couple of more details but not too many so you can still get right to the point.
The Skinless Wonder- I liked how your article was short but it still told me everything that I wanted to know. I also liked how you related it to life today (our economy). Next time, make the whole article sort of connect ( make the sentences flow into eachother).
Why Primates Can’t Be Kept As Pets
In this article, it is explained how monkeys are abused when they are kept as pets. People want to stop letting people have primates as pets. The UK has the most domestic primates. The reason why organizations want to stop people from having primates as pets is because if they are not taken care of correctly, they can be seriously injured or die. These organizations are telling the UK to outlaw domestication of primates.
I liked the article because it explained the whole scenario and why domesticated primates are being outlawed. This article made me understand why these organizations are so serious about this. The thing that interested me in this article is how delicate primates can be. It surprised me that monkeys can get diseases from lack of sun light. I would like to find out how many monkeys in the UK are being harmed and how many monkeys are being sold illegally to people without licenses.
If the organizations stop the domestication of primates, the population of monkeys will go up. Monkeys will also be healthier.
Dear Chikachikaboomboom 567
I liked your article but I thought your article could explain more about the article. How were the flies useful and what was their life span?
Dear Madnerd 44
I liked your article because it had details on the planets. I would have liked it if you added on how the rumors started about aliens.
Dear Magentarocks:
I was surprised to hear about how they are going to grow plants on buildings. I was curious about how this would help our society and effect us.
Plastic munching microbes
Name un-given
Scientist news for kids
This article was about how recycling works, it shows how what we recycle can and can’t be used for because of a microbe found in the plastic which makes us unable to turn it back into bottles and cans. It tought me how recycling really works and how the recycling company was just making us think things that weren’t even true. I always thought that when we recycle we can reuse everything possible and use it for everything. I thought we were trying to the world better as best as e can. Now I know that things aren’t what I thought and it changes the whole way I think about recycling.
Drosophila
Marie McColloch
This next article is about how scientist test fruit flies (drosophila) to test all their ideas like cancer and diabetes and how we and animals see the world. The flies are easy to get and to keep in large numbers, although their life is short the scientists are able to speed up and shorten their life with habitat temperatures. I never really thought about us people being compared to flies and I’m still a little confused about how exactly these things are being tested. But I’m not blaming the writer for these un-completed answers but the article could be better if these things were better explained.
Dear ryde clyde your article was descriptive and short. Maybe you could make it longer.
Dear madnerd44
I liked how it say’s there could be alien’s on mars.
One thing you could work on is maybe you could add more description on why you like it
Dear Ryley Clyde
I think the article was good because now I wonder what’s wrong with dog toy’s from china
One thing you could work on is telling us what’s so bad about them
Dear magentarocks
I think the article was good because it’s cool that there going to do that with fruit.
One thing you could work on is putting in more in the artical
Dear madnerd44
I liked how it say’s there could be alien’s on mars.
One thing you could work on is maybe you could add more description on why you like it
Dear Ryley Clyde
I think the article was good because now I wonder what’s wrong with dog toy’s from china
One thing you could work on is telling us what’s so bad about them
Dear magentarocks
I think the article was good because it’s cool that there going to do that with fruit.
One thing you could work on is putting in more in the artical
Dear madnerd44
I liked how it say’s there could be alien’s on mars.
One thing you could work on is maybe you could add more description on why you like it
Dear Ryley Clyde
I think the article was good because now I wonder what’s wrong with dog toy’s from china
One thing you could work on is telling us what’s so bad about them
Dear magentarocks
I think the article was good because it’s cool that there going to do that with fruit.
One thing you could work on is putting in more in the artical
Magentarocks,
I thought it was cool how they are going to have farms on top of skyscrapers. I think next time you could expand a little bit in your summary to tell us more about how they’re doing what they’re doing.
Ajax,
I thought the way you described everything in depth was really good. Next time I think you could expand on what you liked.
Headcheif,
I agree with you in you question of why does a jellyfish, or any other animal need to glow. Maybe next time you should read an article that interests you more.
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