December 7, 2015 - South Meadow School

Puma Press
December 7th, 2015
South Meadow School
108 Hancock Road
Peterborough, NH
03458
GIRLS WHITE
BASKETBALL GAME
By: Meara McClusky
The girls’ white basketball team had their first game
on Wednesday against Milford. Everyone was really excited, even though we had never played a
basketball game as a team before. The coach, Mrs.
Norby, only had three days to prepare us for the
game. The team played well, considering this was
our first game. Although we did lose, everyone had
fun and worked really hard. All of the points were
scored by Kendall Larson, Katie Carey, Jade Tarango, and Cassie Ellis. Nice job guys!
What Are Stars?
By: Kylie Johnson
Flu Season
By:Ella McCullough
It’s starting to get cold out again, and that means
the flu is coming back around again. In a study it was
found that out of the top ten causes of death the flu was
number eight, which means this season take precautions
so you don’t get sick. The first and best thing you can
do to prevent yourself from getting the flu is to get a flu
shot or flumist. But even if you get a flu shot, you still
have a chance of getting the flu. There are still things
you can do to help prevent it. One of the main things
you can do to help stop it from spreading is to wash your
hands!!! Washing your hands can help you clean off all
unwanted bacteria and germs. Also if you have to sneeze
or cough, sneeze into a tissue or the inside of your elbow. Also, cover your mouth when you cough. That’s
just something you can do to help prevent germs getting
from you to other people. Please, if you blow your nose
into a tissue, don’t leave your tissue lying around. Please
just throw it away-nobody wants to have to throw away
a tissue you used. Whenever you go outside remember
to wear a jacket,hat,gloves, and even a scarf, if you need
it. Through this holiday season just remember to stay
warm, stay healthy, and stay safe!
Stars: we love to sit outside at night and
look at them. But it’s time you got to know the
facts. First off, the dictionary defines ‘star’ as ‘a fixed
luminous point in the night sky that is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun/celestial body,
heavenly body, sun/asteroid, planet, dwarf planet.’
No, a star is not just five triangles put together to
create the shape we used to draw in our space drawings as a kid, but something much more. A star is
basically an exploding ball of gas, mostly hydrogen
and helium. The star closest to us, the Sun, is so
hot that a massive amount of hydrogen is undergoing a ceaseless star-wide nuclear reaction, as it
would in a hydrogen bomb. But even though it is
constantly exploding in a nuclear reaction, the Sun
and many other stars are so large and have an enormous amount of matter in them that it takes billions of years for the explosions to use up all of the
“fuel” in the star. The huge reactions taking place
in the stars are perpetually releasing energy (specifically called electromagnetic radiation) into the
universe, which ends up with us having the ability
to see them and even find them on radio telescopes,
such as the ones in the Deep Space Network (DSN).
Also, stars, including the Sun, also send out a solar
wind and burst out occasional solar flares.
Puma PressDecember 7, 2015
Robotics Competition
By Bella Schwabe
On Saturday November 14 the South Meadow School robotics team traveled to Merrimack High School
to compete. The team was judged on four major parts, Robot Design, FLL Core Values, The Project and Challenge Board. We got to the school at about 8:00 and started to set up our robots and posters.
In the Project we had to identify a problem with the way we recycle and find an innovative solution to
the problem we identified. The problem we found was that too much electronic-waste was being thrown away
when it could be recycled. Our solution was to create kid friendly games that anyone can play. We had to present
our problem and solution to the judges in an engaging and imaginative way. We had only five minutes to present
and include all of the required parts.
Robot Design is another part of judging. Our team won first place in Robot Design for being the only
team to use three generations of robots and programming software. We used the EV3, the NXT and the RCX.
Most teams used the EV3 because it is the newest of the three. The robots had to be very durable and not break
easily. Every robot has been programmed to do certain tasks. The team was also judged on how well they cited
the programs on a google doc.
We were judged on Core Values by completing a team building activity and answering questions. We
were judged on how well we worked as a team and how well we cooperated. The team was asked many questions about the FLL Core Values and how we implemented in our daily life. We were asked what was our favorite and least favorite aspects of FLL and what our coach has taught us. They also asked us what was the most
important thing we have learned and how we liked being on robotics.
Lastly, The Challenge Board was a part of robot design. Every team had a chance to run their robot three
times. When you were up at the board you competed against another team. The teams with the most points are
higher up on the scoreboard. Our teams scores were 244, 221 and 221, we ended up being 5th place on the challenge board. It is good to be at the top of the scoreboard but it is not the only factor they consider when judging.
In conclusion, the entire team had a lot of fun competing and we are very excited to return to states.
Puma PressDecember 7, 2015
Seventh Grade Architecture Poem
Memory Garden And Fairy
House
By:Reagan Riffle
By: Gabby Oja
Seventh grade classes
Are brainstorming great masses
Mrs. Fox as their teacher
They’ll be learning some great features
In an art class so great
They’ll be dealing with weight
But not only that
Or buildings will go SPLAT
Architecture’s a study
Where your hands might get muddy
There’s a lot they can do
How about you?
After research and exploring
There will be knowledge they are storing
To make a cool poster
This project’s been a rollercoaster!
Finally they’re done
And their projects, outdone
After all this is over
Their knowledge will turnover
And every seventh grade student will think
“I’ll do this again without a blink!”
Ms. Wall’s class is working on a memory
butterfly garden for a teacher who passed away
last summer. The garden already had a granite
bench with Mrs. Bush’s name on it, but the garden near the bench was a mess. There were weeds
all over the ground, and none of the plants were
pruned. Mrs. Couture asked Ms. Wall’s class if
we would want to garden and the majority of the
class said yes. Ms. Wall’s class has been working with the garden every Wednesday advisory,
and it looks so good. They will be planting the
seeds in the garden next spring for new flowers
to grow. The reason it’s called a butterfly garden
is because there are milkweed plants all over the
garden. We hope that in the spring butterflies
will be everywhere.
Now we are taking a break from the garden for a while to make fairy houses. On November 18 the kids went outside into the woods
and found sticks, stones, leaves, bark and much
more for the fairy houses. Every Wednesday,
Ms. Wall’s class will now start working on the
fairy houses, and we will put them in the garden
and in the woods when spring time comes.
6th Grade Art Class
By Jack McLaughlin
This quarter, Ms.Russell has her first
art class with the 6th graders. The first project
we did was 3D robot drawings. Everyone did
well on that project, and there was a lot of creativity. Now Ms.Russell is having us do a new
project. We have to draw a sketch of the rain
forest. We have to add animals that live in the
rain forest, such as tigers, frogs, lizards, and gorillas. We also have to add flowers and animals:
she has us call them flora and fauna. Everyone
is doing really well, on their project. Ms.Russell is very proud of everybody’s projects.
Puma PressDecember 7, 2015
Puma Press Staff
Staff
missing
from photos are:
Quinn Wilson
Ella McCullough
Lorien Tyne
Bella Schwabe
Grace Christensen
Science in 8th Grade
In science the eighth graders have been learning about light, photosynthesis, and using microscopes. Mrs.Morash’s science classes dissected
lima beans that had been soaked in water for a few hours, so that the hard
shell of the beans could be easily removed. After peeling the bean open, the
students then found the bean’s embryo and looked at it under their microscopes. The science students then learned how a plant grows and what it
needs to accomplish photosynthesis. In order for
a plant to be able to make
its own food, it needs light
from the sun and water and
dissolved nutrients that are
soaked up by their roots.
The plant takes in carbon
dioxide and is able to produce and let out clean oxygen. Finally, the plant uses
the rest of the carbon dioxide and combines it with
chemical energy to produce
glucose (sugar). When
you eat a plant, you are
eating its stored glucose!
Earth’s Layers Project
By Sarah Knowles
The Earth has four layers. We
have been asked by head geologist, Mrs. Norby, to create a poster to explain what the layers are
made of and how thick each layer is, and more. We are making
examples of the layers on computers using Pages. We get to
make our project how we what
it, as long it has all the required
information. So far we are pretty
much enjoying this project. This
a fun and creative way to learn
about the Earth and the Earth’s
layers and the Earth itself.
Puma PressDecember 7, 2015
DRAMA UPDATE
7th Grade, Christmas
The school play auditions are over and that means that the
play is soon starting. Auditions were held after school on Monday November, 30th and Wednesday December, 2nd. The cast will be a size of
about 25 kids. The cast list is below. The play is based off of the children’s
book, James And The Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl. The play is about
a young boy who is forced to go live with his two evil aunts after his
mother and father got eaten by a rhinoceros. He soon meets a mysterious man who gives him special little bugs, which he drops onto a peach
tree. Soon the peach tree grows a super big peach which James crawls
inside of. Once he’s inside of the peach he meets several bugs which he
befriends. But you’ll have to come and see the play to know the rest!
Cast List Below
By Adam Brace
By:Ella McCullough
Savannah Affeldt
Lily Larouche
Rylie Marshall
Nicky Dinino
Will Thompson
Leah Krason
Aiden White
Malcolm Graham
Anna Chisholm
G
I
R
L
S’
W
H
I
T
E
Reagan Riffle
Ayla Laro
Anna Taylor
Greta Topping
Ella McCullough
Jarrett Wohle
Quinn Wilson
Grace Christensen
Florence Colantino
Carol (field trip)
Inaya Vaidya
Raven Fleck
Tate Doherty
Arwyn Kelley
Avery Pope
Elli Ward
Caden Cilley
Alex Heck
Emily Clark
Seventh graders are getting
excited about their trip to Manchester
to see, The Christmas Carol. The cost
of this field trip is $10 and we will be
going on Monday, December 21, 2015.
The snow date is Tuesday December
22, 2015. The forms are due on the
11th so I hope all the seventh graders
have gotten them in. Everyone will
need to bring an lunch and we will
be eating on the bus since the theatre
doesn’t allow food. The 7th grade will
leave SMS at 9:00. If for some reason you lost your form you can get
one from your advisor.
A classmate named Tony
loves plays because the special effects are so cool, Tony also said that
the flashing lights makes him happy.
(he has no ideas why.) “The seats
are comfortable to sit in” Tony says.
He hasn’t been to a bad play yet!
B
A
S
K
E
T
B
A
L
L
Puma PressDecember 7, 2015
SMS Basketball Tryouts
By Kendall Larson
On the second week of November, basketball try-outs for the 2015-2016 Winter season were held. On Monday, boys
tryouts started right after school and ended at 4:00. Girls try-outs started at 4:00 and ended at 5:30, and vise versa
on Tuesday. Mrs. Norby, the sixth grade science teacher, will be coaching the girls “A” team. Mr. Simpson, also the
girls Volleyball coach, will be coaching the girls “B” team. Coach Ellingwood will be coaching the boys “A” team.
Mr. Thompson will be coaching the boys “B” team. However, this sport is only available to students in grades 6-8.
Girls “A”
Basketball Team
Boys White
Basketball Roster
Girls “B”
Basketball Team
Boys Blue
Basketball Roster
Shannon Allen
Mairin Burgess
Katherine Carey
Lexi Curtin
Cassandra Ellis
Kendall Larson
Jacqueline Madeja
Meara McClusky
Ella Phillips
Jade Tarango
Delaney Thompson
Greta Topping
Jaydon Belliveau-Ryan
Taylor Burgess
Mather Kipka
Connor Buffum
Joe Hall
Del Bonsu-Anane
Connor Close
Colby Knight
Zach Kriebel
August Marshall
Wyatt Davis
Isaiah Michaels
Matt Aho
Erick Clark
Owen Collins
Will Theiriault
Austin Davis
Isaiah Rood
Sean Grady
Dillion Phipher
Tyler Finley
Matt Belliveau-Ryan
Austin Knight
Max Scheinblum
Managers
Nikki Bell
Lena LeFleur
Kylie Johnson
Zoey Werth
Manager
Spencer Fromm
Skye Carpenter
Gabriella Cote
Lillian Devoid
Jessica Dick
Kayla Groom
Hannah LeComte
Bailey Levesque
Maeve McInnis
Breanna Hutchinson
Cheyenne Reynolds
Marguerite Tremblay
Molly Tyle
Emeline Tyler- Wall
Managers
Lilly Schwabe
Family and Consumer Science Monsters
By Bella Schwabe
In seventh grade Family and Consumer Science, we made hand-sewed
monsters. We started by picking out what monster we wanted to make and finding
the pattern. We then picked out our felt color and started to cut out our monsters.
Next, we cut out the monsters features like the eyes and mouth. We then sewed on
the mouth and eyes and any other accessories we wanted to add. Next we sewed
and stuffed our monsters. To summarize, every monster was very unique and everyone had a lot of fun making them. Sewing is fun. Hats are coming soon.
Puma PressDecember 7, 2015
Holiday Raffle
By Maddy Cilley
Half of the proceeds go to the food bank.
December 7th-16th
Bring in 25 cents for one ticket, or a food item for two tickets.
One dollar will get you five tickets.
Tickets will be sold in front of the cafeteria before school, and during lunch and recess.
This raffle will help both the peer mentors, and the SMS food pantry.
Puma Pride Winners for November
Straight
Outta’ Snow
By Nicky Dinino