New Year Resolutions

It is that time of year! Time to say "Bye-bye" to 2014 and "Hello" to 2015. It is not just a time to celebrate, but also to renew and make fresh beginnings. People do many things to celebrate the coming of a New Year – an important one being New Year resolutions.

Did you know that 45% of Americans make resolutions? Wondering how many of them actually follow through with it by the end of the month? Actually, just a meager 8%!

Resolutions can be very hard to keep for many reasons. Some people find it hard to stay on track. Others make their goals too broad or challenging. Resolutions are meant to be small goals that will become habits over time that will help your life positively - not big life-changing plans.

Some of the common resolutions made include:

• Learn something new everyday
• Acquire a new skill
• Stop eating junk food
• Exercise more
• Adopt a green lifestyle
• Participate in community service activities
• Donate to charities
• Read more
• Finish homework on time
• Become more organized
• Manage time better

One of the top resolutions made each year by kids and adults alike is to eat healthy and exercise. Yet it is one of the hardest goals to keep. The human body craves for sweet foods and unhealthy or so-called “junk” foods. Resisting the temptation can be very hard even though we are aware that the foods are injurious to our body.

Here are some suggestions to make some of the healthy eating resolutions stick:

• Keep a notebook with a list of the unhealthy things you are eating
• Draw caution signs on the pantry door
• Write yourself reminders like “Don’t eat too much salt, sugar fat”, “Watch out! Highly caloric”, “Junk food” or “In moderation”
• Keep your goals realistic
• Reduce something instead of removing it
• Don’t skip a meal (Breakfast- smoothies/fruit, Lunch-Homemade sandwich with veggies or meat). You will snack on unhealthy foods less.
• Substitute some unhealthier foods with healthy foods (instead of Cheetos eat some real cheese or some fruit)
• Read food labels (they can help you stay on track)

Can you challenge yourself to be part of the 45% who make resolutions and grow the number of those who make it stick from 8%? Even if you are not the type who makes New Year resolutions, try to practice one healthy eating habit this year. You will be doing yourself a favor, for it is your body after all.

Happy New Year!

Code (Professional)

http://www.codecademy.com/

That URL up there, see it? It's the best website for coding HTML, in my opinion. It is an interactive site that allows you to create your own mini website through teaching you the basics of code. Some of the simple stuff it teaches you include: how to make lists, tables,charts, and changing the font of words. After mastering all forms of code used on the Web, you can experiment with it to create animations of your own name and by "building your own galaxy". I hope you guys check it out and like it too!

A Walk In The Woods...

In Environmental Club, On November 11, 2014...

We collected leaves and made a scrapbook of leaves.  I found a little silverbell leaf,also known as Halesia.  I learned about leaves, and their physical features!  Here is an awesome Slow Motion video of leaves, leaves, leaves!  Btw, Don't mind me jumping... Oops...  Oh, and also, Dr. MC is the voice that says "throw" in the beginning of the video... Lol... Nature!

Future Technology

In the future, technology will be even more advanced than it is now. Instead of chromebooks, there might be Google Glass dominating, and organic being replaced by GMO foods. There would be more cities with more advanced buildings, and possibilities for advancement are endless. But with new technology would come new problems. For example, the income gap could become wider, with the rich treating them to the new technology and the poor losing all the benefits of life as they could not buy tech. The world of the future is an uncertain one, and you can help. GMOs are the main problems we are debating about now, but we do not know what the future will bring. Maybe Apple Implant? Could it be Google-? Who knows? The possibilities are endless.

Upcycling...

Recycle and Upcycle. Two words that if put into action would tremendously reduce global warming and climate change.

Upcycling... Whatever that may be?

We hear of Recycling, all the time - "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".

Recycling involves turning waste or broken materials into a reusable product or to refurbish it. For example, when you put paper into the recycling bin (remember, its the recycling bin NOT THE TRASH CAN!), the people who collect the waste from the recycling bin take it to a recycling plant. There, your paper gets mashed up and converted into pulp. This pulp is then turned into new paper or made into other paper products like egg and milk cartons or newspapers.

So too with the glass and plastic bottles and soda cans you may discard.

An upcycled bowl made of magazines

Upcycling is less heard of. Now imagine you take waste materials or unwanted products and craft them into a useful or better one? For example, take magazine pages and turn it into a bowl or container, or taking a tissue box and convert it into a gift basket. Now you are upcycling! Usually, upcycling activities are creative. 

So if you want to put on your creative cap, below are links to websites that have great upcycling activities:

http://www.artefizio.org/italiano-articolo-e-books/provapost4
http://www.curbly.com/users/diy-maven/posts/7364-how-to-turn-a-magazine-into-a-gift-bow
http://www.curbly.com/users/diy-maven/posts/9976-5-rolled-magazine-diy-projects
http://savedbylovecreations.com/2011/09/coiled-magazine-page-round-coasters.html
http://savedbylovecreations.com/2011/09/coiled-magazine-page-dish-with-lid.html
http://savedbylovecreations.com/2012/06/60-projects-to-make-with-old-magazines.html

Try them out. Or if you have some of your own ideas, share them with us by commenting at the bottom of this post. Don't forget to include a picture!

The Future of Food - How will we feed the world?

            In the food market of 2045, the food sources that will dominate the market are foods that are easy to grow, like plants in the Brassica family, which release chemicals to ward off weeds and fungi.  Another highly probable food source that will dominate the food market of 2045 are GMO's, or Genetically Modified Organisms. These modifies organisms, or in the case, plants, to have more desirable traits, some of which are resistance to pests, the ability to withstand droughts and harsh conditions, and to be more nutritious. More information can be found in this short Powerpoint: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1E0zIsCa4e4QP9tuWWwYFqaJPaRPKzeH4QODB8DcskOc/edit?usp=sharing

This may sound scary and inhumane to some people, but it will definitely be necessary in 2045. I believe a certain level of processing should be allowed in order to make them cheaper and easier to produce, but not so that they aren't even real food anymore. I mean, who wants faux-meat that's actually peas for dinner? Analogue meats, or meats made from things like vegetables, are created when the protein molecules are realigned into longer strands. The result is something that looks, tastes, feels, and smells exactly like meat-but it isn't meat. GMO's do have their positive side too, since by making plants more able to withstand harsh conditions, the crops would be easier to produce, and cheaper to buy. Many people are still worried about processed food though, because when a person eats a bio-engineered food, there may be health defects that haven't yet been discovered, but could be dangerous to someone's health. I believe GMO's are okay, as long as they don't harm anybody's health. Processed foods could solve the problem of expensive food in 2045, but it could still cause problems that are yet to be seen.

Mini Maker Fridays

Mini Maker Fridays are AWESOME!

From Candy Corn flying across the room to glowing creepy cords, mini maker fridays are awesome! I went there just today, and had the best thirty minutes of my life! We made circuits, shot candy corn onto the board, and had a great time!

When I came up to the PRISM room, it was covered with tape that said Enter at your own Risk. I had to accept the risks, but it was worth it! We were building random electrical circuits, awesome dark action, and more! Some students wore GoPro cameras as well, but the footage is still being uploaded...
#MiniMakerFridays

Halloween - A Candy Fest!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween began as a festival to ward off the spirits of the dead several centuries today. We have come to know it today as a festival of costumes, pumpkins and candy.

Did you know that Halloween is the day when the largest amount of candy is consumed in the United States? This year candy sales is expected to $2.23 billion during Halloween.On an average, kids consume about 3 cups of sugar (3500 - 7000 calories) worth of candies just in that one night. That is as much as 144 teaspoons of sugar! Compare this against a recommended daily sugar quota of 9 teaspoons! If you think it is not too much, think of it this way -  a 100-pound child who eats 7,000 calories worth of candy would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours to burn all that sugar! If you don’t burn that off, it will accumulate as fat in your body. Don’t forget those dental cavities either!

That doesn't mean one shouldn't trick-or-treat. It is a great way to hang out with friends for sure... Some of that walking on Halloween will actually even do us a lot of good! But we can always choose to pass up on candy and just enjoy the decorations... However, if that need for sugar is too much, the key is to be responsible and become aware of how much candy is being eaten and moderate it. It is our body after all!

Enjoy Halloween Responsibly!

Here is a link to an info-graphic that illustrates the amount of sugar consumed on Halloween. Don't forget to check it out!

Attention FPS Participants!

Attention FPS Participants!

     Just a reminder that your first practice problems are due on Halloween! I'm sure you all did a great job!*   

P.S. # HappyHalloween!

P.P.S. #GMOPumkinsDon'tTasteThatBad

*Assuming your team actually worked on the problem....

Food Day Article from Princeton Packet

PLAINSBORO: Community Middle School student organizes Food Day

By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer Published on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 12:33 PM EDT  PLAINSBORO — Candy isn’t the only thing that’s sweet this time of year. During Food Day at Community Middle School, students learned about the sweet winter squash pumpkin, which can be used in pies, muffins and bread. Lori Appelgat of Appelgat Farm in West Windsor demonstrated how to remove pumpkin flesh while her assistant, Virginia Perry-Unger of Lambertville, gave kids bags of pumpkin seeds roasted in honey, nutmeg, clove, salt and cinnamon. All of this happened while Tilly, one of the farm’s chickens, looked on. "Basically Food Day started off as an idea stemming from one of our Gifted and Talented students — Akila Saravanan, an eighth-grader who started this idea last year in April 2013. She participated in the 2014 National History Day project on food and food lab and wanted to continue the topic and make a difference in the school. She also applied for a West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Foundation grant and was awarded grant money, which she used to have posters made," Principal Shauna Carter said. Thirteen-year-old Akila started the project under the direction of Prism Gifted and Talented teacher Karen Rosnick, who has since retired, and continued it with the help of new Prism Gifted and Talented teacher Rebecca McLelland-Crawley. She also engaged Life Skills teacher Alicia Buck in the project. "The adults helped Akila make connections with local farmers," Principal Carter said. "She also worked with our cafeteria manager so like most other days students have healthy choices. Today we have more healthy choices."Akila’s project also consists of a website for teachers to use as a resource for finding ways to incorporate "eating fresh foods and making healthy choices" into their classroom curriculums. In the Gifted and Talented classroom that day, Ms. McLelland-Crawley taught a lesson on scenario writing, picking "processed foods" as the essay topic to go along with the theme of Food Day. She presented her students with an apple from this year’s harvest and a 2034 apple, which was gigantic and had cracked skin. "We’re writing a creative 1,500 word short stories on the future of our food," she said. After looking in on the various Food Day activities going on in the school, Akila spoke about what inspired her to organize Food Day.  "I learned a lot about healthy eating and the secrets behind the junk food that we eat and it completely changed my eating habits," she said. "It’s important to me that if I learn something the people around me know it to."

Exploring the Outdoor Classroom

We explored the Outdoor Classroom yesterday afternoon with the Environmental Club. We went on a scavenger hunt and were able to experience nature right outside of our building. Some of the students also wore the GoPro cameras and took footage of their explorations!

See it from their perspective.

Scenario Writers Only

So...  What topics are all scenario writers doing?  I'm not trying to steal your idea, I already came up with mine.  Anyway, if you want to post your topic and plot-ish thing here.

PS.  Mine is on the impact of social media.  Not saying anything else :)

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog, where we plan to share with you the unique investigations and research conducted by the gifted middle school students of PRISM.