Halloween is more Irish than St. Patrick's Day somehow. Halloween origins come from a Celtic festival for the dead called "Samhain." Celts believed the ghosts of the dead roamed Earth on this holiday, so people would dress in costumes and leave "treats" out on their front doors to appease the roaming spirits. Cats, bats and spiders are all symbols of Halloween because in the Middle Ages people thought witches would and use them to do their bidding.
What Are Dog Years? By Sarah Tate
When people ask, “ What are dog years?”, most people respond with, “Just multiply a dog’s age by seven.” However, that answer isn’t correct because the math isn’t that simple. The reason for the answer to that question is dogs mature faster than humans. For example a dog that is two years old can really be twenty one in dog years.
If we’ve been wrong about the math on dog years, how do we get it correct? Simple: subtract two from the dog’s age, multiply the subtracted age by four, and then add 21 to the multiplied age. But a dog’s aging can slow down.
For example, if a dog is two in human years and twenty one in dog years, by the time the dog is six in human years it could be only twenty three in dog years. Dogs who are under thirty pounds will be the ones to live the longest. They can live into their teen years.
If you don’t know the age to your dog there are simple solutions: 1) Ask a vet. 2) If all baby teeth are in, they are probably 8 weeks old. But if the teeth are white, clean, and no longer baby teeth, the dog may be around 7 months. By the time the dog is 3-5 human years, the teeth will be duller and the back ones could be turning yellow. If the dog’s teeth are wearing, then the dog is 5-10 in human years. If the teeth are really worn and the have some tartar build-up or if some teeth are missing, then the dog is probably 10-15 human years.
Works Cited
“Dog Years.” Cesar's Way, 19 Apr. 2017, www.cesarsway.com/dog-care/lifecycle/dog-years.
“How to Figure Out Your Dog's Age.” WebMD, WebMD, pets.webmd.com/dogs/how-to-calculate-your-dogs-age.
The Dunk Tank Extravaganza! by Sarah Crutchfield and Savannah Ring
On Friday, September 28, PFMS teachers and staff volunteered to go into a Dunk Tank. Mrs. Kellander, Mr. Walker, Mrs. Bates, Mr. Packer, and Mrs. McDonough were all kind enough to volunteer to be dunked and help the kids at PFMS have a fun day. Here’s are their thoughts about what it was like to “go under.”
Mrs. Kellander, 6th grade ELA and Social Studies teacher
Q: Were you scared?
A: “I was a little nervous but the water was very warm. It was better being in the
water than sitting on top. I was definitely not expecting Mr. Kellander to put me in
the water first.”
Q: How many times did you go in?
A: “I don’t know a lot, like 15 to 20.”
Q: Did you volunteer to do it or did you do it because no one else would?
“I actually wanted to, I volunteered.”
Mr. Walker, PFMS Assistant Principal
Q: Were you scared?
A: “I was apprehensive because I thought the water was cold.”
Q: How many times did you go in?
A: “About 170 times because I did it 2 times, in the morning and in the afternoon.”
Q: Did you volunteer to do it or did you do it because no one else would?
A: “I wanted to. I think it is fun and the kids should get to come out on a Friday, and
it was my idea.”
Mrs. Bates, PFMS Secretary
Q: Were you scared?
A: “ Yes very scared.”
Q: How many times did you go in?
A: “It had to have been 30 or 40 times.”
Q: Did you volunteer to do it or did you do it because no one else would?
A: “I volunteered because I wanted my kids to have a chance at dunking me.”
Mr. Packer, PFMS Technology Teacher
Q: Were you scared?
A: “No because I’ve done it before. I was a little bit apprehensive because I thought
it was cold.”
Q: How many times did you go in?
A: “Around 80.”
Q: Did you volunteer to do it or did you do it because no one else would?
A: “I wanted to. I think it is fun and the kids should get to come out on a Friday.”
Mrs. McDonough, PFMS 6th grade Math teacher
Q: Were you scared?
A: “ I was not scared at all because I think things that like are SUPER fun!”
Q: How many times did you go in?
A: “I think I was dunked between 10 and 15 times.“
Q: Did you volunteer to do it or did you do it because no one else would?
A: “I totally wanted to do it and so did Mrs. Kellander so that is why we shared our time.”
Take Your Last Sips Out of Straws by Simone Plaisance and Brady Bucher
You know those things you use to stir your coffee everyday? Or when you sip on your lemonade at a diner? We often take these for granted and toss them in the garbage when we’re done with them. These things are plastic straws. But what harm can these little, inexpensive things do? Water pollution. Due to excessive plastic use, plastic straws end up in the ocean, where fish can get tangled or eat them and die. When fish die, their predators starve, and their predators starve, and the whole food chain is thrown off balance! But what will happen to these little plastic tubes? Slowly, they are disappearing. Enter the metal and paper straws.
You may think that paper straws might be fishy. Maybe you’re terribly attached to more solid substances- at least for your straws. In this case, the metal portable straw might be your thing. These long, sleek, metallic straws come with their own cleaning brush, and do a lot more than just look pretty. They will serve you well with whatever you want to drink! They don’t leave you with that metalic-y aftertaste. Since they are dishwasher-safe, you don’t have to waste time washing them. Maybe these will be more aesthetically-pleasing than plastic straws.
The UK is already taking action against these plastic enemies. After estimating that they are responsible for 8.5 billion of the straws that go in the ocean each year- which is enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall a thousand times over- they have started to ban plastic straws.
The US hasn’t been as quick to react. It is estimated that in the US alone, people throw away 500 million straws a day! Unlike the UK, places that have plastic straws sitting around are taking their time banning them. Places like Starbucks are planning to have them gone in their cafes by 2020.
Why Do We Hate Wasps? by Jerry Thoby
Have you ever wondered why people have painted bees on their walls, cute pictures of bees in notebooks, but have never even thought about getting close to a wasp? It is true that wasps sting, and they also build nests in the worst places possible and swarm us in outdoor parties. If all of your experiences with wasps have been bad, I can see how you might hate them. It is surprising how we dislike wasps but love bees even they basically both do the same job. Wasps might even do more of a job than bees.
Studies also show that there is not a lot of research put into studying wasps and good things that they do for the environment. Out of 908 papers in the 1980s, there were only 2.4% wasp articles compared to 97.6% (886 papers) bee papers. Wasps might look like they are after your picnic food, but they aren’t; they are really after insects to take back to their hive and feed their larvae. Wasps might not be so much of threat as they seem.
Bugcrowd Security by Marcus Henry
Maybe you’ve always wanted to hack a company. How many people can say they’ve gotten past Netflix’s security? Not many. Or maybe you know someone who needs a secure website because of private data. If either of those applies to you, check out Bugcrowd at https://www.bugcrowd.com/. Seriously. I can wait.
If the former applies to you, consider looking at the programs section of their webpage. You can sign in and actually join one of those projects. You shouldn’t start right off trying to hack into Netflix, Amazon, or another major company. But you can work your way up, and when you do, you can earn up to $15,000 for a major bug! Excited yet? If not, I’ll say it again. 15,000 DOLLARS! You also may be wondering, is this for real? You can actually hack websites and get paid for it? It’s true. Bugcrowd is a white-hat hacking program, sometimes called bug bounty hunting. Hackers hack into websites, then report what they did and how they got in to the company. The company then fixes the bug, and black-hat hackers get shut out. Then, the white-hat hacker gets paid.
Maybe the latter of what I said earlier applies to you. Starting a website for your business or know someone who is? Try Bugcrowd. I’m personally not sure how, but you should be able to get their help. Of course, they wouldn’t be cheap. So unless you really need them, I wouldn’t recommend it. But you should definitely look into it.
So, are you interested in making a decent amount of money? Do you have any background in hacking? (I honestly hope not) Then check out Bugcrowd.
Vietnam and Afghanistan: Wars of Attrition by Isaac Mikeasky
Money is power. You cannot have power without money. But what seems like infinite money is being poured into Afghanistan and what seemed like infinite money was being poured into Vietnam. People say that we can’t win the war and should just stop fighting these wars with “Unconquerable Lands” gaining trillions of dollars of debt or more specifically 2.4 trillion dollars of borrowed money (keep in mind this is estimated). But it’s not the land we are fighting on that’s the problem it’s attritional warfare, killing public support of the war, hiding then hitting, then hiding again specifically targeting near anyone with a camera. It is with these tactics that anybody can defeat anything.
The Tiger and the Elephant
“If the tiger were to pause, the elephant would impale him with his tusks. But the tiger will not pause, and the elephant will die from exhaustion and loss of blood.” - Ho Chi Minh ( former prime minister of Vietnam) The U.S.A and its entire alliance in this case are the elephant and North Vietnam was the tiger. The worst years of the Vietnam war and the turning point of it was the Tet Offensive when Vietnam launched tons of Viet-cong attacks on Americans or more specifically the Americans with the cameras affecting home base morale making US citizens concerned for the sake of their loved ones and putting more demand on someone who would end the war and pull the troops out of there as quickly as possible, and so the cuts started to really bleed and eventually the South Vietnamese were defeated along with the entire Anti- Communist alliance.
Guerilla Warfare in Afghanistan
It’s been nearly 17 years since the U.S first invaded Afghanistan and the Taliban are doing exactly what the North VIetnamese were doing, biding in caves hitting where it’s soft and running where it’s strong. Making sure they bomb areas as much as possible so mainstream media reports on it to the general public making them wanting to get their soldiers out of their not just for the sake of the Americans there, but for the sake of the Afghan citizens hoping the Taliban will stop.
The Almost Unconquerable Land
Not the Soviets, not the British, not Alexander (maybe), none of them could conquer Afghanistan completely. But I said almost unconquerable. Persia did,Timur, and Genghis did conquer them. The main reason we will lose this war is the public perception of it making a high demand for someone who will withdraw troops more and more until there are almost no troops in Afghanistan, they are playing mind games trying to get into our heads making us fear them or fear losing the ones we love, making this war so much more personal to us trying to get us to fold and quit. Whether we will win or not is still up for debate. But it is unmistakable that we will lose if we think we cannot win just because others couldn’t.
The Tiger and Elephant: http://indochine54.free.fr/vm/tiger.html
The Almost Unconquerable Land: https://www.britannica.com/place/Iran/The-Mongol-invasion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpT2xaIc90I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7c_DLMh3xM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSjy_x9d5TM
Ghosts Are Real...For Real by Marcus Henry
Ghosts are real! I’m serious. They really are! Well, on the subatomic level, anyway. It’s called a ghost particle, or a neutrino. They are so called because they have the ability to pass through objects. That’s right. They can pass through objects! Neutrinos are also very tiny, volatile, and they have almost no mass whatsoever.
But where did this incredible thing come from? Scientists and observatories all over the world have finally traced the particle to a very distant galaxy. At the heart of this galaxy is a black hole, one that spins very, very fast. This black hole is called a blazar. The blazar sent the neutrino hurtling toward Earth, and it went deep into Antarctic ice, where IceCube sensors picked it up. IceCube went online in Antarctica in the year 2011, and it was made specifically for detecting neutrinos. The neutrino has been named: IceCube-170922A.
So, what’s next? We know very little about neutrinos, and have much to learn. I assume neutrinos will continue to be studied. And now, we have an identified source of neutrinos, which will certainly help us to study them.
Works Cited
Strickland, Ashley. “'Ghost Particle' Found in Antarctica Provides Astronomy Breakthrough.” CNN, Cable News Network, 12 July 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/07/12/world/neutrino-blazar-cosmic-ray-discovery/index.html.
A Brief History of Strong Female Characters in Children’s Literature By Stella Gregor
In this modern age, there are many books, for children and adults alike, with strong female characters in them. Not as many as there should be, perhaps, but it is certainly a start for gender equality in the literary world. This trend began long before recent collections of stories like Goodnight Stories For Rebel Girls and Girls Who Rocked The World. In the mid 1900s, stories with capable female heroines such as Mary (from The Secret Garden), Madeline (from the book of the same name) and Pippi Longstocking (from the series of the same name) taught children that female protagonists could be just as beloved as their male counterparts.
In 1911, the book The Secret Garden was first published. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson-Burnett, is about a girl named Mary Lennox who is orphaned and sent to live with her uncle at his estate. She is ill tempered, spoiled and generally unpleasant at first but as the book goes on, the reader sees Mary develop into a more thoughtful, kind person. She makes friends, tries to bring happiness to the household and discovers an old garden that she attempts to revive. Mary not only impresses the reader with her ability to adapt to new circumstances, she also inspires the reader to find and cultivate beauty in everyday life. The book sold well at first and then faded from the public eye for a few decades, however it is now considered a classic.
In 1939, the book Madeline was first published. In this children’s book, by Ludwig Bemelman, a free spirited little girl named Madeline goes through daily life in a boarding school with attitude and individuality. She isn’t afraid of anything and is brave and feisty even through an Appendicitis induced hospital trip. Madeline shows readers (particularly young ones) that girls can be curious, courageous and clever. The book won the Caldecott Honor and continues to be a beloved and endearing read to this day.
In 1945, Pippi Longstocking was first published. In Astrid Lindgren’s hilarious book, a girl named Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking moves into a villa with her horse, monkey and chest of gold pieces. Independent, uncaring about social conventions and strong enough to lift her horse, burglars and pretty much anything else, Pippi Longstocking horrifies and amazes all of her neighbors. She runs around doing whatever she pleases and saving the community several times while she is at it. Obviously, Pippi Longstocking is not your average kid and she shows readers that girls can be wild, heroic and fun loving as well as strong, self sufficient and able to enjoy themselves without worrying about what others think of them. The book became a worldwide success and is still incredibly popular with all audiences.
As of current, there is a definite gender imbalance regarding the central characters in children’s books. A study by Janice McCabe showed that only 31% of the main characters in recently published children’s books were female. Only 17.5% of the titles referred to a female character. Furthermore, only 7.5% of animals in children’s books are identified as female, all of the others are either identified as or assumed to be male. Still, books with strong female characters are certainly out there, whether old or newer examples of the slow reversal of gender stereotypes and bias.
PFMS Gun Violence Meeting By: Delaney Dixon
We all know that there has been a very sensitive topic going around: gun violence
2018 has started off very sad; CNN reports that there has been an average of one school shooting per week since the beginning of 2018. A lot of people want to take a stand for this, they want to take a stand against gun violence. Our school has decided to come together and discuss what they think on the topic. On May 22, Mrs. Fulmer hosted a “town hall” discussion in the Park Forest Middle School library.
First, what is gun violence? A lot of people are taking a stand up to it but what is it? Since people have noticed that so many schools and children are getting shot and or injured with a gun, people want to stop giving certain people certain guns.
To start of the discussion, our high school Diversity club came to speak to some kids who want to know more about the topic, at first they spoke about what gun violence is and why it’s such a big deal and why we need to stop it. Then they split everyone up into groups of four so that the kids would have a better chance to speak their thoughts on the topic, then asked the kids questions:
What events have happened including gun violence?
Did anything happen in the last few weeks?
What does gun control mean?
How has your opinion changed over the course of these events?
Of course everyone had their own opinions on the topic, but to summarize what everyone said is that people who have commited a crime should not be allowed to get a gun. Some people said that citizens should only be allowed to have small guns and no heavy duty ones. Some students asked, “ We are citizens; why would we need such big military weapons?”
It is important that kids know what’s going on in the world, and it’s sad that some kids didn’t even know what gun violence was until recently. What’s your opinion on the topic? And do you think that’s important for kids to know more about this?