Hello, and welcome to the Green Team Blog...

This blog will be updated regularly with recent Green Team events. For more information, check the previous posts which shows everything that the Green Team has done in the previous school year.

This year Milne Valley Middle School became a "Gold" green Eco School!!!!
-Ramith --- PS. I came back and is in Ms.Spiliopolis's (Pascalidis's) class

WHICH ANIMAL SHOULD WE ADOPT???

Hey! With our funds from the Green team sales we made enogh money to adopt an animal!
Now is your chance to vote for whom we should adopt.
The choices are:
Polar bear
Panda bear
Tiger

Please tell your vote to Miss Reinsalu by the end of the week of June 2-9
Thank You!

Help us save one of the many animals of the world!
:)

Short Announcement

I have changed the dimensions of the slide show so that it fits inside the "HTML/Javascript" widget frame. Thank you for your attention.

alert! Polar bears on U.S. threatened list

1. The Green team members from grade 7 and 8 led the way in creating a new garden at our school's entrance today.

All together there were 15 students, Ms. R and Ms. Bell helping to put everything together. Wasn't it strange that the school got a mysterious delivery of mulch on MONDAY?

2. The girls grade 7 bathroom is currently being painted. By the end of the year, the Green team will have left its legacy (and beautified the school at the same time).


3. Students of the Green team were discussing the possibility of supporting the polar bear with our fund raising money. For more information on sponsoring check out this link.
Here is today's (May 14th) World Wildlife Fund's notice:


BREAKING NEWS: POLAR BEARS GIVEN NEW PROTECTIONS

Dear V,

The U.S. Department of the Interior has listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, which gives the bear important new protections. More than 16,000 WWF supporters spoke out for this icon of the North during the public comment period on the proposed listing. Thank you!

WWF also thanks the 22,000 activists who opposed the sale of oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, within prime polar bear habitat. Unfortunately, despite an outpouring of public opposition, the Minerals Management Service recently opened nearly 30 million acres of the Chukchi Sea to oil and gas exploration. Because of the polar bear’s new threatened status, however, MMS will need to ensure that its actions do not jeopardize the polar bear’s continued existence.

The polar bear was listed due to the threat from climate change-induced loss of its sea ice habitat. Based on current ice models and projections for polar bear populations, experts believe that two-thirds of the world's polar bear population may be lost by 2050. While the Endangered Species Act listing is an important step forward, urgent additional action is needed by governments and societies to reduce our carbon footprint.

Please [ http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/R?i=aHPf9L93zx0KhFh4ubqqxg.. ]forward this update to your friends and family and urge them to get involved as WWF activists. We are counting on your continued support as a part of our team. Thank you again.

Sincerely,

Margaret Williams
Priority Leader,
Bering Sea and Kamchatka
World Wildlife Fund



P.S. Have you seen our polar bear TV spot featuring WWF supporter Sharon Lawrence? Watch it now and learn how you can get a FREE WWF T-shirt.

Green and gardening

Congratulations to the Green team!

After two fund raising lunches - be sweet to the Earth - the Green team has raised

$66.00 towards activities.

At a meeting on April 28, the majority of the Green Team thought it would be a great idea to sponsor an endangered and/or some form of wild life.

What will it be?
Bring your ideas to this Thursday (May 8th) meeting and/or next May 12th regularly scheduled meeting.


We decided to make a plan for the garden on Thursday.
Brainstorm ideas Monday, dig holes Wednesday at lunch and plant after school on Wednesday.
We also need to redesign the Green Team board.

Maybe green gardening tips?? Or perhaps also Native species of southern Ontario??
Your ideas are welcome!
See you there!!

Miss R :D

Updated Logo!!!

REMEMBER

GUYS REMEMBER MONDAY IS OUR LAST DAY TO RAISE MONEY SO SPREAD THE NEWS ABOUT IT(WE ARE SELLING TENNIS BALLS AND COOKIES...I THINK)

Gulu walk a success

We had a small group participating for Milne Valley's own Gulu Walk today at noon. This was a great start for our symbolic walk around our neighbourhood!

Thanks to all who participated!!

Here is part of the story from the TDSB web site.

"First TDSB-wide Student GuluWalk Set for April 30

This giant foot created by students at Annette Street PS has come to symbolize the struggles of the nightwalkers of Uganda.

On April 30, thousands of students in grades 6 to 12 participated in the first TDSB-wide Student GuluWalk. The event recognized and supported the struggle of students in Northern Uganda, many of whom have had to walk up to 10 km every day just to find a safe place to sleep.

The African children, some as young as five years old, had been travelling nightly from towns, villages and farms to urban centres such as Gulu, to avoid abduction into the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA has abducted thousands of children, often in the middle of the night, to be soldiers. Families have been torn apart by this situation. While there has been some improvement and a fragile cease-fire is in place, many orphaned Ugandans are left to try to rebuild their lives with few learning opportunities and even fewer resources that we in North America take for granted."

Fundraising sale 2 - Monday, May 5th during lunch.
Then we plant!!

Teh logo

Final version. Fixed EVERYTHING

Green team update April 28

Today's meeting we decided:

- to participate in a symbolic GuluWalk this Wednesday at noon
- to do a second fundraising sale next Monday, May 5
- to start working on the garden design etc. starting next week
- bathroom doors would be painted when paint comes in
- Valeed, Ryan and Steve would do the design for the boys bathroom
- Steve would give Miss R his logo design so that it could be the Green Team's official logo


That is all,

Cheers,
Miss R

New images for magnets.

I've made these...





I can print 9 of these on each sheet of paper.

-Steve

P.S. Kthxbye

Earth Day activities

Thanks to all who attended today's meeting.
The flyers were distributed period 6 and the school knows about next Tuesday's green team activities.

have you seen the Earth Week web site by the way?
(It's the Earth's diary each and every week.)

Based on today's meeting.

Valeed, Steve and Ryan will organize the noon clean-up.

Mahak - will sell bracelets. Saima and Caitlyn will make them.
Malika - selling food Tina - in charge of magnet (with designs from Steve)
Virangna - selling books, magazine etc.

Thanks again,
next meeting is Thursday

Have you hear of blackle?

Thank you Laura from 7G who shared a search engine site with the class today.

Ever hear of blackle? If not click the link http://www.blackle.com/

or you can just read more:

(Note: the following text is from the "About us" link on the blackle site.)

How is Blackle saving energy?
Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen." Roberson et al, 2002

In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.
We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.

How can you help?
We encourage you to set Blackle as your home page ( set ). This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. Remember every bit counts! You will also be reminded about the need to save energy each time you see the Blackle page load.
Help us spread the word about Blackle by telling your friends and family to set it as their home page. If you have a blog then give us a mention. Or put the following text in your email signature: "Blackle.com - Saving energy one search at a time".
Have a look at our energy saving tips page for ideas on steps you can take to save energy.

There are a lot of great web sites about saving energy and being more environmentally friendly. They are full of great tips covering the little things that we can all do to make a difference today. Try Blackling "energy saving tips" or visit treehugger.com a great blog dedicated to environmental awareness.

Green Team activities for Earth Day

Earth Day activities for the Green team:

Fundraising: "Be sweet to the Earth"
Green team selling treats to build a future fund for Green team activities.
Yummy cookies, fruity freeze drinks and more....

Green team clean-up
Help the school stay clean. Minimize your waste AND be part of the Earth Day (April 22) lunch-time clean-up.

Book sale:
Donated books for a loonie or a twoonie.

Bathroom contest deadline too!



Note: primary colours and mixing paint (the contest has been revised a bit).

M ilne Valley Middle School Green Team Contest

Hey, Milne Valley! Are you bored with our school washrooms? Do you want to beautify the environment? Then enter the Green Team Washroom Stall Challenge!

The Green Team is having a contest, where YOU get to paint a bathroom stall! There are going to be 4 winners:

1 grade 6 team

1 grade 7 team

1 grade 8 team

1 group of friends

The prize?????

YOU will be remembered at this school for your artistic talents, and your creative ideas forever (plus you get a prize pack).


The Rules (design brief)


Groups of 4 –to-6 students can enter.

Submit your design drawn on graph paper to Miss Reinsalu (309), with your name(s) and home rooms.

Slogans allowed but please limit your word use.

The design should fit the bathroom stall properly.

Indicate which contest you’re going for (e.g. gr.6 can only enter for grade six team or group of friends)

Deadline: Designs must be submitted by Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 3:09 pm.

How do you win??

Green Team members will choose the winning design.

You get to choose whether you will paint the door or the green team. If green team will paint you must include colour coding for your design (e.g. for a sun-the exact shade of yellow)

We are trying to not waste resources so we are mixing acrylic paints from primary colours.

Be creative! Have fun!

Painting will start in May.
The Green team have all ready started on a door of their own in the Grade 7 girls bathroom.

Beautifying our School

Milne Valley Middle School Green Team Contest

Hey, Milne Valley! Are you bored with our school washrooms? Do you want to beautify the environment? Then enter the Green Team Washroom Stall Challenge!
The Green Team is having a contest, where YOU get to paint a bathroom stall! There are going to be 4 winners:
- 1 grade 6 team
- 1 grade 7 team
- 1 grade 8 team
- 1 group of friends
The prize?????
YOU will be remembered at this school for your artistic talents, and your creative ideas forever (plus you get a prize pack).

The Rules (design brief)

1. Groups of 4 –to-6 students can enter.
2. Submit your design drawn on graph paper to Miss Reinsalu (309), with your name(s) and home rooms.
3. Slogans allowed but please limit your word use.
4. The design should fit the bathroom stall properly.
5. Indicate which contest you’re going for (e.g. gr.6 can only enter for grade six team or group of friends)
6. Deadline: Designs must be submitted by Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at 3:09 pm.


How do you win??
Green Team members will choose the winning design.
You get to choose whether you will paint the door or the green team. If green team will paint you must include colour coding for your design (e.g. for a sun-the exact shade of yellow)

Painting will start in May. Please see the Green Team’s bathroom door on the grade 7 floor for an example.

For ideas see our Green Team blog at http://greenteamofmv.blogspot.com.

Earth Hour and TDSB - Milne Valley info too

Milne Valley is registered for Earth hour - it's official!!


In response to a flurry of excited interest among both elementary and secondary students, the Toronto District School Board is happy to support the global Earth Hour campaign to raise environmental awareness. Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on climate change.

Why does it matter? Why participate? A TDSB Earth Hour awareness campaign is a simple and powerful way for students to take part, and perhaps even become environmental ambassadors in their communities. The Earth Hour campaign creates hope by giving everyone a glimpse of what can be accomplished if we work together!
PART 1: Friday, March 28, 2008 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. “Preparation for Earth Hour” Toronto District School Board – all schools and offices Since the official Earth Hour occurs outside of school hours (Saturday, March 29 between 8 and 9 p.m.), the TDSB will observe its own Earth Hour in a “warm up” or (“cool down!”) in preparation for Earth Hour. Every school or office will decide on its own plan – for one hour can your school or office manage without lights? ...photocopy machines? ...coffee makers?... computers?...? ...?


PART 2: For Earth Hour itself, March 29, 8:00-9:00 p.m. Friday night of the Earth Hour weekend, caretakers will be asked to shut off all interior lights except for emergency lighting, and turn off exterior lighting starting 8 p.m.(as long as there is consensus at the local level that it would be safe to do so and the caretakers are able to adjust the timers). In addition, computer monitors will automatically be put to sleep and fan use will be minimized.

ECO friendly Easter

Here are some ways to colour eggs using natural substances that you may already have around your home!


For pink and red colored eggs use cranberry juice, beets, or raspberries.

For yellow eggs use saffron or tumeric

For purple eggs use red wine.

For blue eggs use red cabbage leaves or blueberries.

For brown eggs use grape juice, rosehip tea, or coffee.

For orange eggs use yellow onion skins.

More go to the nature mom blog http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2008/03/06/eco-friendly-easter/

For baskets go to: http://www.creativekidsathome.com/activities/activity_15.html

Rocks and mineral identification

The Green team has been meeting to identify some rock and mineral samples for the Science dept.

FUN!

Here are some links to help us:

Identifying common rocks...
indentify rocks
Rock hounds
Rock hounds
Identifying rocks (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary)
about rocks
Igneous rocks
Volcano rocks

All about rock identification




Rocks for kids

MINERALS

A mineral is the same all the way through. That is one reason we speak of
a sample or a specimen rather than a rock.
There are about 3000 known minerals on earth.
All rocks are made up of 2 or more of these minerals.

Mineral town


from the earth...these rocks and minerals are pretty cool!

Green Team don't forget we have a meeting every Monday. Exept beacause of Family Day Ms.R
is trying to get a meeting on Tuesday.

March Contest

In March we will be having a new contest.

The green team will be painting a door to the washroom, to give classes an idea of how it could look. Each class will make a sketch of how they think a door should look. Then the green team will vote on the best idea. What ever class wins will get to paint a bathroom door!

L

Meeting update

Congratulations Green team! Your message is being heard.

This afternoon some grade 8 students (non-Green team members) from 8C came around my class and asked to take our recycling down.

They first checked to make sure no non-recyclables were in the blue bin.

Also 7G students made some posters for the Valentine's Day dance with motto's such as: Happy Valentine's day ! Remember the 3 Rs.....or Sweet for the Earth..that kind of thing.

During our meeting on Monday we agreed for five announcement students to rotate:

Monday - Amanda
Tuesday - Ramith
Wednesday - Mustafa
Thursday - Andrei
Friday - Virangna

Please see Mrs. Baxter or myself if you'd like us to vet (radio word for edit) your on-air announcement BEFORE your turn.


We've decided to choose the monthly Energy awards and bi-weekly Waste awards as a group.

- for February we decided to advertise that each class should brainstorm some energy conservation ideas. So far, I only have a (LONG) list from 8A.

Remember for the individual waste award write down the person's name, grade and what you caught them doing to help reduce waste so the winner can be announced.

- for February we also agreed to ask each class to nominate a student for the waste reduction award

I have exciting news for our March contest!!

Bye for now,
Miss R


A final note as part of the PEMBINA INSTITUTE's Green Learning
In December, grade 6 and 7 students participated in the GreenLearning climate change survey which coincided with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. As the school with the most student responses, Crofton House School in Vancouver was awarded an Earthball (a one-metre ball of the Earth) for their efforts.

The students surveyed displayed an impressive knowledge of climate change and a willingness to take action. When asked to rank their concerns about the effects of climate change, they noted species extinction (81%), extreme weather (57%), loss of forests (57%), rise in sea level (27%) and loss of food crops (16%).

When asked how strongly they feel about climate change and Canada's support of greenhouse gas reductions, they indicated


 very strongly - 30%

 a lot - 35%

 a fair bit - 27%

 a little bit - 8%

 not at all - 0%


There are a number of actions that students said they would be willing to take now:


 Walk and bike more, drive less - 87%

 Turn off appliances etc. when not in use - 81%

 Avoid extra packaging - 57%

 Use the cold-water setting on clothes washer - 35%

 Eat vegetarian meals three or more times per week - 22%

 Use an automatic thermostat - 16%


Why not try to Trace your Carbon Footprint?

Green team updates

Congratulations to all Green Team workshop presenters.

As of today - Jan. 24 - half of our school has been educated by YOU the Green Team members about:

- environmental awareness
- waste reduction
- energy conservation

What a way to start off the third phase of Milne Valley becoming an EcoSchool!!

You have shared information with
6-a-d
7a-d
8a-d

next week it's time for the second half of the school.

We have to choose our class Energy award winners (individual waste winner) starting next month.

Bye for now,
Miss R