Friday, April 11, 2008

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.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

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.






Welcome to the home of a silver certified ECO school (May, 2008) Think globally, act locally!
Green Team of MV activities April and May 2008