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IN THE NEWS TODAY:6/19/2018:

There could be a sixth branch of the U.S. Military. President Trump wants to add a Space Force. There are currently five branches of the armed forces(Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard). The last branch added was the Air Force, back in 1947. At this time, issues about space are under the U.S. Air Force. A Space Force would have to be approved by Congress,where there currently isn't overwhelming support for a Space Force.What do you think?

President Donald Trump held an historic meeting on June 12th. It is the first time an American President has met with a leader of North Korea, known as the Hermit Kingdom. North Korea's current leader is Kim Jong Un. Previous U.S. presidents have never agreed to such a meeting with North Korea's past dictators, father and grandfather,of Kim Jong Un.The meeting took place in the country of Singapore. Discussion focused on settling the tensions between the countries. Do you think it is a good idea to sit down with people with whom you disagree?

We are using TOO much plastic each and every day. Scientists say plastic takes about 450 years to decompose, if it actually does. Much of our plastic waste ends up in our oceans. Marine life is threatened by plastic floating in the waters. Many sea creatures think the plastic is food as it looks like floating jellyfish. Sadly, there was a story this week that shows the effects of plastic. In Thailand,a pilot whale beached itself and died. A veterinary team tried to determine what had caused the death of the whale. Inside its body, the cause was plain to see. The whale had 80 plastic bags inside its stomach or 18 pounds of plastic. With all that plastic in the whale's stomach, it was very difficult for the whale to eat REAL food and get needed nutrition. Recently a sperm whale was found on a beach in Spain. It,too, had died form eating 64 pounds of plastic! Make a list for just a day for all the plastic you touch. We all need to make a conscious effort to lessen our plastic use!

Photograph from pixabay

During Hurricane Sandy, back in 2012, a For Sale sign went missing from a home near the New Jersey shore. This week, the sign has been found on a beach in Bordeaux, France. The battered sign had traveled 3595 miles! It is estimated the For Sale sign, measuring18 by 24 inches and one inch thick, actually may have traveled across the Atlantic Ocean more than once. It is believed the sign bobbed along the ocean at about seven miles per day.

Summer time and ice cream go together. Unfortunately, warm days means ice cream melts.Scientist in Bolivia think they may have found a way to slow down the melting process of ice cream. It involved bananas! Cellulose fiber from the waste of the banana plant, specifically the stalk which bunches of bananas grow, when added to ice cream, seems to slow down the melting of ice cream. Researchers say the fibers are odorless and tasteless so it will not effect your yummy ice cream. Hurray!

You are sitting in a restaurant and a server brings over a glass of water and drops a plastic straw next to the glass. Any idea how many plastic straws are thrown away in the USA every day? It is estimated the number is 500 million(yes, a day). Think 125 school buses filled with straws! Many of these straws find there way into our oceans. In 2015, a video showed a sea turtle with a plastic straw lodged into its nostril! Different groups are saying something should be done about these narrow pieces of plastic. Straws are one of the most common pieces of plastic found along our beaches.Think enough plastic straws to wrap around the Earth 2 1/2 times.That's how many straws are used just in the USA every year. McDonalds Corp, this month has changed to paper straws and only are given out if a customer asks for a straw. Alternatives to paper include switching to bamboo straws. Miami, Seattle, Davis, San Louis Obispo, and Malibu are cities moving away from plastic straws being used in their cities. Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom has banned straws as has Smithsonian Institution museums. Some national parks including the Grand Canyon have switched back to paper straws in dispensers. This week,Vancouver became the first major Canadian city to impose a plastic straw ban in restaurants starting next fall. Next year, Scotland plans to be rid of plastic straws. Taiwan is working on a ban, too. Some people are concerned about banning plastic straws. Hot liquids can't be used with a paper straw. Some people with disabilities need the help that a straw provides. What do you think?

PAST NEWS STORIES

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"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to compromise."FDR "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."(Ben Franklin) "You must be the change you want to see in the world."(Mahatma Gandhi) "School is a building that has four walls-with tomorrow inside."(Lon Watters) "We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make."(Senator Ted Kennedy) "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." (Robert Byrne) "The purpose of life is to amount to something and have it make some difference that you lived at all."(Dear Abby)
Special thanks to EducationWorld for letting me use this image of my "alter ego" as Mrs. "Waffenschmidt!

About Gail:

I have retired from teaching after 33 1/2 years in the classroom. Of that time, I taught Grade 6 Social Studies teacher for 31 1/2 years.I earned my BA in early secondary education with a concentration in social studies from SUNY Oneonta, New York, and my MST in social studies education from Binghamton University in New York. In 1988, I was awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from the New York State Council for the Social Studies. Additionally, in 1988, I was also awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award by the National Council for the Social Studies.

My work has appeared in most children's publications including:
Appleseeds,Scholastic's Super Science,Scholastic's Science World, Highlights for Children, National Geographic World, Ranger Rick, Cobblestone, Faces, Muse Magazine,Contact Kids, US Kids,Action Magazine(Scholastic),Girls' Life,Boys' Life,American Girl, Instructor,Creative Classroom,Middle Years,Time for Kids,Scholastic News,Scholastic News Zone, Time for Kids , Ask Magazine, Dig, Calliope, Cobblestone, FACES, Studies Weekly, Glo Adventurer, and more.

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