Killer Ash Straits Times Tuesday April 20 (Pg A6) P5 Joy

Since last week, Eyjafijallakull Volcano in Iceland has been spewing ash into the atmosphere. As the ash particles dispersed, it has formed an ash cloud over an extensive area in Europe. This has resulted in aeroplanes being grounded due to the ash in the atmosphere.
Besides causing chaos in the aviation industry, how will the ash cloud affect the environment?

The Big Bird Airlift (P6 Peace)

We enjoyed reading the article on how the penguins were affected by the oil spill. After we read the article, many of us responded that we wanted to be the volunteers who tirelessly clean the feathers of the penguins. We admire the volunteers who had spent so much time cleaning the oil off the their feathers by hand, using toothbrushes and detergent. Each of these volunteers worked 16 hours a day! They certainly love and care for these little creatures! So do WE!

Oil Spills

LRD 13/4/2010 P13



On July 6 2000, there was an oil spill off South Africa's coast. A ship carrying 14,000 tonnes of oil sank and that resulted in conservationists having to airlift 18,000 penguins out of the 55,000 African penguins living on Dassen Island off Cape Town.

Oil spills are dangerous for penguins and other marine life. If you read the news recently, there was an oil spill on 3 April 2010 near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The picture below contains some information about this spill.



conservationists are people who try to protect animals.
To airlift something is to transport people, animals or supplies by aeroplane, especially in an emergency.

Especially for the P5 girls doing e-learning:

Do you know what effects oil spills have on marine life?

Find out on the Internet and post your answer!

How Do Diseases Spread? (6Hope)

A disease is an illness or sickness - something that happens when the body is not working properly.

How do we get diseases?
Some diseases develop on their own inside a person’s body and some diseases can be spread from one person to another. Those that spread are called infectious diseases.
Infectious diseases are caused by germs such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. These get into our bodies and then multiply.

How do these germs get enter the body?
There are two main ways: direct contact and indirect contact.

How can we fight the germs?
Have a balanced diet
Get enough sleep
Exercise

What do YOU do to keep yourself healthy?

Vocabulary
Outbreak - a disease that affects more people than usual, e.g. the common flu
Pandemic - a disease that spreads from one country to another, e.g. Influenza A (HINI) flu

Can you think of other outbreaks and pandemics?

Making sense of Ads

Making Sense of Ads – 30 March 2010 by 6 Faith

We are bombarded by advertisements everywhere we go. We see advertisements in magazines, in newspapers, at the bus-stops and even flyers sent right to our doorsteps. In this issue of LRD, there is an exercise (on Page 16) that teaches us how to read advertisements and how to identify the intended audience and what the intended message in the advertisement is. After we have done this exercise as a class, we came to the realization that advertisements are there to create a sense of lack in us. If we think that they are there just to provide information and choices for us then we are really hoodwinked by them. As we discussed, we came to the conclusion that advertisers can never and will never say anything bad or negative about their products. Thus, as consumers, we have to be alert and take advertisements with a pinch of salt.

hoodwinked: to be tricked by someone or something into doing something to the person’s advantage in a clever way
to take something with a pinch of salt: not to believe everything that is said or mentioned.

Chewing Gum Ban - Lift it? (30 March)

The chewing gum ban in Singapore was enacted in 1992. In 2004, the ban was reviewed and only chewing gum of therapeutic value is allowed into Singapore. It was unfortunate that the government has banned the chewing of gums in Singapore due to the inconsiderate behaviour of many Singaporeans.

What did they do? Chewed gum was stuck onto anything - seats on the bus, lift buttons, etc. The list was endless for these vandals. But when chewed gum was found on the doors of the MRT trains which have caused some disruptions and a lot of inconvenience, the ban was put in place.

However, there are instances where Singaporeans have smuggled packets of chewing gums for their personal consumption. This is a misconception. Bringing in gum into Singapore, even small quantities for whatever purpose, is technically prohibited.

What do you think will cause for the complete lift of the ban?