Student vs. Beast

Spanish Reflection First Semester

What were you asked to do exactly?

I was asked to make a video on my favorite athlete, but I don't have one, so instead I picked an accomplished figure skater; Michelle Kwan. I was asked to explain he story, and facts about her in Spanish.

Ultimately, what did your teacher want you to achieve? (Asking questions, using connectors, etc.)

She wanted us to achieve using connectors, and talking about sports and athletes to prepare for our summative test.

What was easy about the task, and what was challenging?

It was easy recording the video after making a script and reading off of it, but it was challenging finding information, pictures of her accomplishments, and making the script. It was easy for me to include connectors because I was reading off a script I made which included multiple connectors to add in. I found it challenging finding pictures online of her competitions so for many of the pictures I had to look up the whole competition on Youtube, then screen shot her.

What did you do well, and what things will you continue to work on?

I think I did well making my presentation and presenting it, and I will continue to work on the facts I include, the right way of saying things, and using more connectors.

Link to my video:

https://drive.google.com/a/sas.edu.sg/file/d/0Bx7R1amkev0kOVlLSXk3MlJWRWc/view?usp=sharing

Drama Assignment #2

7

TEN is a person who is dying to hit the stage on day one of drama and would willingly perform in front of all of 6th grade right NOW!  ONE is a person who would rather be ANYWHERE but the stage and would prefer to be wrapped up in a blanket back in their bed hugging their teddy bear. On this scale of one to ten, I would be a 7, because I have been playing the flute for three years, and I perform a lot. I am sort of confident being on stage due to the fact that I have been playing for so long, and my first concert was only about four months after I started playing the flute, and I continue to do concerts and competitions. I still get nervous when I have to perform in front of big audiences. I am hoping to get better stage presence, and learn to act and be more confident on stage. What I want Ms. Fulcher to know about me, is I am not that great at acting, but I find it really fun to do. 

Neutral Actors

Victorious

Observations on neutral characters:

1. You can't hear the neutral characters talking, but sometimes their mouths are moving as if they are.
2. The main characters are usually in the middle, and the neutral characters are in the background sometimes blurrier than the main characters.
3. The neutral characters tend to stay calm and they don't attract attention.
4. It's easier to focus on the neutral characters when the sound is off, because you can't hear them, and you automatically look at the main character because it seems as if they're talking.
5. The director focuses on the main character by putting the neutral characters in the background and having having them less interesting than the main characters, and also a bit blurry.
6. The director also focuses on the main characters by muting/quieting the neutral characters.
7. The neutral characters pretended to talk to friends and act like normal high school students.

The Lyre (Mesopotamia Contributions)

Here's a link of my website I made for Social Studies about the Lyres of Ur:
http://park35256.wix.com/the-lyre

Math Reflection, Fractions and Decimals

When is it more useful to use fraction or decimal notation?

You should fraction notation over decimal notation when the fraction notation is more convenient or when the decimal notation isn't easy to work with, or has many digits. For example, the 1/9 in decimal notation is 0.11111111111 which is much harder to work with, an 1/3 in 0.33333333333. You should use decimals when there are many digits, like .132435 instead of 132435/1000000.

When comparing two positive whole numbers with different numbers of digits, such as 115 and 37, the one with more digits is greater. Does this rule work for comparing decimals?

No, because 115 > 37, and .115 < .37

Submarine Model-building Reflection

Drawing of 'submarine' sinking

Describe any design ideas that you had which did not work as expected.

One of the designs we made had two bottles duct taped together. One of the bottles was filled with water and sealed with the cap and clay, and the other bottle had a balloon connected to a tube. The balloon was inside the bottle, and the tube was outside for blowing into. This design didn't work because there were no holes, and blowing into the tube didn't make the figure float as we wanted it to.

Describe any design ideas that you had which did work as expected. 

My successful bottle had clay at the outside bottom of it, and the clay and bottle was held together with rubber bands. There were holes on each side of the bottle to the right and left, and there was a balloon inside the bottle, and a tube attached to the balloon that was outside of the bottle for blowing into. This model was successful, because when you lay it on top of the water, water goes into the bottle through the holes making the 'submarine' heavier, and finally sinking. Then you blow into the balloon, water pushes out of the holes to make room for the expanding balloon. Finally, the figure becomes light enough to float again.

Describe at least two ways that your model works like a real submarine. Describe at least two ways your model works differently than a real submarine.

Similarities

1. They both can float and sink.
2. Both figures suck in and push out water to sink and float.

Differences

1. People in submarines don't blow into a tube to make the submarine float, because compressed air pushes water out of the submarine. We had to blow into our submarine models because we needed an easy way to push water out.
2. Real submarines don't need clay to make them heavier, because the submarine is heavy itself. 

Did you ever feel like you were not going to be able to successfully modify the plastic bottle to make it dive and float like a submarine? If you did not give up, what strategies helped you persevere and keep going? 

Yes I often felt like I wasn't going to succeed in the making the bottle float and dive, because when we first started our experiment, we didn't really use our past knowledge on sinking and floating, we didn't really know where to start, and we just did random things to our bottles. At first I highly doubted it was possible to make a bottle continuously sink and float without touching the bottle, but then a group of boys next to us succeeded which made me realize that it was possible, and that we could do it if we thought about what we were doing, and if we though scientifically.

If you worked with a partner, describe what contributions each of you made to the project.

Sia and I both made separate bottles, but we shared equipment and ideas. We worked separately because we each had different ideas that we thought would work, and each of us wanted to try both ideas.

Sportsmanship - on the sporting field and in everyday life

A description of what sportsmanship is and one example of how you have demonstrated sportsmanship this year.

Sportsmanship is about demonstrating fairness, respecting others, and being kind and compassionate to everyone. During sports, you can have good sportsmanship by playing by the rules, shaking hands after each game, respect and encourage others, etc. I demonstrated sportsmanship this year by shaking hands after each game, and congratulating or saying "Well done," or "Good game," to teammates and the opposing teams.

3 ways that you can demonstrate sportsmanship in PE or on the sporting field.

• You can abide the game rules throughout the whole game.

• You can shake hands and congratulate the opposing team at the end of the game.

• You can try to avoid arguments, and co-operate with your team.

2 ways that you can demonstrate sportsmanship in everyday life.

• Be polite, compassionate and modest.

• Don't gloat/boast/brag about your abilities.

1 new way that you can demonstrate sportsmanship.

I can acknowledge and compliment good players after/during a game.

Sportsmanship Poster

Fraction Comparison Reflection

You know how to compare fractions using cross products, LCD, and logical reasoning. When is it better to use one method over another?

You should use cross products when the fractions are small numbers and easy to work with:

You should use LCD (Least Common Denominator) when the denominators are different:

You should use logical reasoning when you can easily turn the fraction(s) into a benchmark fraction, or when you can see that one fraction is less than half, and the other is more than half, etc.

My Archaeology Google Site 2014

This is a link to my Archaelogy Google site that I made in Grade 6 Social Studies. I hope you learn something about the Terracotta Warriors!

Terracotta Warriors

Personal Narrative Reflection

I have grown as a writer by adding more internal thinking. My PN on Demand didn't have much inner thinking, whereas my personal narrative had a lot. I am more confident in applying more thinking into my narratives after having lessons about it, and after using it. My biggest challenge in writing personal narratives is getting writers block. I always get stuck during writing periods. I surprised myself by seeing how much I can improve in just a little more than a month! I received a lot of helpful feedback from my peers and teacher (Mrs. K) about how to improve my writing.

A Day to Remember: April 8, 2012

I peel off the plastic, and pull out the brand new pantyhose. I scrunch up the beige material, and struggle to fit my legs into it without slipping of the glossy, wooden floor. I gently tug the dress off of the hanger, and slowly change into the black dress. I smooth down the wrinkled ends. Careful Maddy, I remind myself for the hundredth time, don’t ruin your dress… No matter what. I picture myself back in the small store in Korea, taking measurements for the dress. My grandma had got it made just for my concerts.

Why can’t I have longer arms? I think, as I stretch in an awkward position to button the back of my dress. I walk to the tall mirror, and try to tie the sash. Finishing with a sloppy bow, I untie it, and leave it hanging. I turn from the mirror, and grab the light brown feathered headband. Dragging my feet behind me, I feel the soft wood turn into a rough, tiled bathroom floor. I open the mirror cabinet and pull out a brush. It takes a while until the bristles flow through my hair like silk. I comb through one last time with my fingers, then lay the headband on my head. Seeing that my work is complete, I hop out of the bathroom, grab my black flute case, and hop down the carpeted stairs.

“I coming down!”

* * *

Only an hour has past. An hour since I was back in Connecticut, getting ready for the concert. Now I stand in the streets of New York City, by the back entrance to Carnegie Hall. Musicians surround me. I spot a young girl about seven years old. Thank goodness, I’m not the youngest. For some reason, I feel alone in a way… Out of place. As if Dad knows what I’m thinking, he squeezes my hand. Suddenly, the doors open.

I look out from the backstage door, and stare at the stage. How am I ever going to get on that thing? Finally realizing that I can’t stand there forever, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and take my first step onto the stage.

Shivering, my accompanist and I walk up to the middle of the platform. I stop at the center, and as he walks towards the grand piano, I look at the audience. Oh. My. Gosh. What happened to the usual, small, crowd? Why did so many people show up? I start to think about what Dad made me do yesterday. He had told me to move on if I make any mistakes, and to practice that, I purposely played my song with mistakes, so I know how to carry on. I first had found it amusing, playing the climax with a bunch of wrong flats and sharps… Now I’m just scared of errors.

My hands get moist… Really moist. As if my hands were a faucet, sweat pours out and makes my flute slippery. My legs shake as if they were to give out. Beautiful white walls and columns surround me. Long drapes fall like water, and tickle the floor. Suddenly, my flute feels like ice in my sweating hands. I gulp down, blank everything out, and focus. I try to push away the fact that a bunch of people are staring up at me. Instead, Dad’s words ring in the back of my mind, “No one will notice if you make a mistake.” Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…

I bring the metal cylinder towards my mouth, and suddenly, music fills the room.

When I look back to that 8th day April, the thing I remember best was standing up on the cream colored stage, grinning from ear to ear as I receive my plaque. That day I realized; that concert was only the start of my music career. And there’s always going to be more and more chances and events in the future... always.

AmericanProtégé

Presented to
Madeleine Park

Flute

Judges Distinction Award

of the
American Protégé International

Music Talent Competition

2012

Chairman of Competition

Dr. Mark Weinstein

Carnegie Hall, New York

April 8, 2012

My Favorite Number Project

For this assignment, I decided to make a blog.
Click here.

Block A Starting Position

Block A Swimming

Block A Tennis

Block A Track

Organizational Tools

The organizational tool I decided to use was "Stickies" on my dashboard because it is easy to access (fn + F12) and you don't need wifi to see them.

Gran, How Old Are You?

Using prime factorization helps answer the problem more efficiently because we know we need to find 5 numbers that multiplied together equals 111,111. So by finding the prime factorization, you can easily find the ages of Charlie, his siblings, and his mom. Also, when you find the prime factorization of 111,111 there are five numbers. One for each person. Using prime factorization also helps you know where to begin multiplying, and it helps you keep on track.

Investigation 2

How can you decide whether finding common multiples or common factors is helpful in solving a problem?

You can decide whether finding the common multiples or common factors by seeing if you have to multiply or find factor pairs. If your aim is to find bigger/greater numbers, than it's probably a common multiple problem. If you have to find a pair of smaller numbers, you probably have to find common factors.

http://www.ixl.com/math/grade-6/gcf-and-lcm-word-problems

For the question above, you have to find the LCM (Lowest Common Multiple) of 4 and 5.

For the 2nd question, you have to find the GCF (Greatest Common Factor) of 20 and 16.

Follow-Up Questions - Homemade Water Balance

What is the fundamental concept about the metric system that makes it possible to measure the mass of an unknown object with water?

Since 1 mL of (pure) water is equal to one gram, you can easily measure the mass of an unknown object (with pure water) by knowing how much mL of water it equals to.

http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-Milliliters-(Ml)-to-Grams

Any balance or scale has a maximum amount of mass it can measure. What is the maximum mass that your homemade water balance can measure?  Explain.

The bottle was originally 1.5 litres, but the top was cut off, so the maximum mass the homemade water balance can measure is probably 1,200 grams to 1,300 grams.

http://doswaldsas.blogspot.sg/

Parent / Student Agreements

Why do you think you are responsible enough to take your laptop home and back to school each day?

I think that I am responsible enough because I take good care of my things, and I am a fairly organized person.

How will you make sure that your laptop is charged each night? Where will you charge it? When? Explain your routine?

I will make sure my laptop is charged each night by charging it near enough for me to see a red light showing that it's being charged. I will charge my laptop either next to my bed, or on my table when I'm going to bed.

Laptop Care Poster

Productivity and Organization

Think Before You Post... Leave A Good Digital Footprint

“A friend of mine was tagged in a picture drinking beer, it actually got her in trouble when she applied for a summer job,” states a person from the video, Facebook, YouTube, Texting: Rules of the Road for Kids. During the past laptop Bootcamp lessons, we have been learning about how you have to think before you post, because you may regret it later on. I learned that if you post the wrong things, it can harm you, and also the other people involved in the situation. To avoid any conflict, we were taught a couple of rules; protect your privacy, know that nothing is private online, assume everyone is watching, maintain a good reputation, treat others as you want to be treated, and follow the SAS Core Values.

Protecting your privacy is very important to know when you are on the internet, posting, and even in a chat room! It is unnecessary and unsafe to add personal information like your phone number, address, etc. This also applies to ‘know that nothing is private online’, because anyone can know and find out what you posted. “Anything you say or do, can be copied, pasted, and sent to gazillions of people, without your permission,” says a teenager from a Common Sense Media video. Even if the conversation or post is private it can still be forwarded and sent on to anybody when it’s online. Also, if you assume everyone is watching, there wouldn’t be situations where people have copied and pasted your work when you didn’t want to be public, because if you assume everyone is watching, you’d be more cautious of what you put online.

Maintaining a good reputation means people sees you as a good person and writer, and having a good reputation. Keeping a good reputation can also be the same as “treat other as you want to be treated” (or the Golden Rule), because everyone will see you as a good and appropriate person instead of a bad one. Following the Core Values is also important. If you follow the SAS Core Values; respect, responsibility, honesty, fairness, and compassion, you probably won’t have any online problems.

So next time you put something online, think about the positive digital footprint you should leave for the world to see.

Sources: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ransomtech/5633995909/

DCA Pledge

As a responsible Digital Citizen at SAS, I,  Maddy, promise to respect and protect myself, others, and intellectual property while learning, sharing, and collaborating online.

Using Your Laptop

The Julian Chapter / Wonder by R.J. Pacaliao- Mindmap

Create your own mind maps at MindMeister

Fantasy Reading Response - The Dreamwalker's Child

The Dreamwalker’s Child

In the book The Dreamwalker’s Child by Steve Voake, I think the themes of the story are; Love is always important, and you will always find it, and; Don’t always stay in your comfort zone. One of the things about love in the book, was Sam’s dad, Jack Palmer, grew up without love, but when he grew up he found love:

“Before he met Sally [Sam’s mom], Jack had never found it easy to say the things he felt. He had been brought up to believe that shows of affection were a sign of weakness… His mother and father had been big on teaching him the values of strength and independence, and they rarely cuddled him or held him close.”

I think that passage is important, because it shows that love can always be found. Another part of the book says that Odoursin used to be a good person, until his brother passed away. That shows how much Odoursin loved his brother. I also think that it was good that Sam went on his journey, and out of his comfort zone, because he had a great time with his new (and only) friend, Skipper, and he saved the world. In a passage of the book, Sam was complaining that he wanted to stay in the bug world, so I think that shows that he really had a great time.

One setting in this book is in Vermia, in the marshlands. The land of Vermia is in the unnamed bug world, where Sam was transported to. In my mind, I imagine Vermia as a dark, scary, and dirty place. Here is text from the book where Sam lands in the bug world:

“He could see that he was surrounded by flat marshlands which stretched all the way to the horizon. Pools of leaden water lay in grey pockets and green vapours rose like ghosts from the damp bogs around, curling up to meet the yellowish mist that hung in the heavy clouds above giant reeds.”

I chose Vermia, because it has a very descriptive setting, and it really matches the people who live in it; Odoursin and his men.

In my story, an archetypal character is Sam. Sam is the protagonist, because he is the one who stops Odoursin from killing human kind, and he is the main character. [And main characters usually are the protagonists]. Sam is a special character because he is the dreamwalker’s child, yet he still acts normal and looks normal. I also think Sam is really great because he never believed he could stop Odoursin, but at the end, he ended up stopping Odoursin.

A symbol in this story is Odoursin’s red eyes. Odoursin’s eyes represent a evil, because red is an evil color. I think Steve Voake purposely made Odoursin have red eyes to show how abnormal and terrible Odoursin is. Though eyes aren’t really known for symbols, sometimes the eye colors in books show personality. For example, if an author describes someone with baby blue eyes, they’re not usually mean, bad person.

My main character, Sam, faced many internal and external conflicts in the story, examples of these were:

External	Internal
Sam gets captured in a jail cell in Vermia.	He was scared, confused, and stressed.
Sam meets Skipper! Skipper is a young, smart girl that loves to fly [wasps, mosquitoes, etc.]!	He feels relieved, happy, and thankful for hope of escaping.
Sam and Skipper escape from captivity in Vermia. Sam and Skipper escape by flying a wasp.	He feels jubilant!
Goes back into his normal, human body.	Happy about being back and okay, but sad about having to leave Vahlzi and Skipper.
Sam and Skipper stop the mosquitoes from killing all the humans on earth.	He is amazed, and happy.

I chose those events because they were one of the most important parts of the book. Those events also show how many great, amazing things Sam did.

One element of fantasy in my book was personification. The bugs were talking, and acting just like humans. Another fantasy element was small people. Skipper was smaller an ant, and Sam was shrinked to the same size as Skipper! The last fantasy element was that there was a bug world, and bugs could go to earth and back to the bug world by the holes in the bug world that go to the earth.

Connections I made with The Dreamwalker’s Child were that in the book The Hobbit. The main character in The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, and Sam both ended up going on a journey out of their comfort zone, and they both didn’t expect it… at all! This book had a similar theme to The Dreamwalker’s Child, because one of my themes were; Don’t always stay in your comfort zone. I think that this theme works for both books, because after Blibo’s and Sam’s adventures, they ended up looking back at their adventure as a great experience. I think that the difference between The Hobbit and The Dreamwalker’s Child, is that The Hobbit’s main theme was hope.

Historical Fiction Reading Response - A Diamond in the Desert

A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

We read the book A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice. The book was about how Tetsu, a 12 year old boy, and his family went to a Japanese internment camp in Gila River after Pearl Harbor was bombed. His family had to go the the internment camp because they are Japanese. The story shows what Tetsu went through, his everyday life, and what friends he made in the internment camp. Also, later on, the people in the internment camp made a baseball diamond (or baseball field), and it also shows Tetsu’s love for baseball.

I think the big ideas are hope and love. The theme for hope is: Never lose hope, because everyone still has a chance. I think this is the theme for hope, because Tetsu and the people in Gila River never lost hope for a better life, and at the end, Tetsu was freed with family. This is a passage where I think Tetsu and Kimi both had hope, “Please feed Lefty. From, Kimi.” I took it to the recreation barrack and asked around for an envelope.” I think this shows how Tetsu has hope that Mr. Bobkin, his neighbor, found his dog, Lefty, and it shows this because he asked everyone for an envelope. I think the theme for love is: You can take everything away from someone, but you can’t take away love. While moving to Gila River, Tetsu lost his home, his dog, his friends, and his belongings, but he didn’t lose his love. This is a part of the book where Kimi got hurt, and Tetsu was showing his love: “Mama and I sat across from each other for two days in the infirmary, waiting for Kimi to wake up.” This shows how he loved Kimi so much that he waited for her for a whole two days.

The non-fiction resources I used were Youtube, books, and Google. For Youtube, we found videos about the Japanese Internment camps. We used the book I Am an American by Jerry Stanley. This book put small stories about some things people went through, and it also helped us understand the situation. Google helped by giving a lot of facts about Japanese internment camps.

From the book I Am an American, I learned why the Japanese were treated really bad. I found out that they were sent to internment camps because Japanese warplanes bombed a US Navy Base in Pearl Harbor, and I didn’t know that before. Videos on Youtube helped me understand what people went through during the Japanese Internment. Sites on Google showed me timelines of the Jaanese Internment, and showed me what parts of the book were true. In the book A Diamond in the Desert it mentioned that Eleanor Roosevelt visited Gila River, but I was unsure, so I searched it up on Google, and found out that Eleanor Roosevelt really DID visit Gila River.

In the story A Diamond in the Desert, I think Tetsu had the power because he was the one who told the story, and also he got us to care about him and his story. Tetsu was also the only one who shared inner his thoughts: “I could not think about the little girl named Akiko anymore, and how she fell into the water.” I think this is a bit special because Tetsu didn’t say this to anyone, and only the reader knew what he was thinking. Overall, I think the Americans and soldiers had the power because they could control the Japanese, and make them do what they wanted the Japanese to do. The Americans made the Japanese go to internment camps after Pearl Harbor was bombed, and they also emotionally made Japanese feel like outcasts, “- even Marty Burns, the shortstop on my team that I’d known since first grade-their faces said: I can see you’re Japanese. And those pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor, maybe one of them is your brother or your uncle-how are we supposed to be sure? You’ve got no choice but to leave, because we’re not buying your papa’s crops or letting him head up our community. We’re not letting you play first anymore.” This is what Tetsu said how Americans acted.

Another person that had the power was Kimi. She had the power of love throughout the whole book. She cared for everyone. This is a passage of the story where Kimi got angry because Tetsu brought home a rattle from a rattlesnake, “When Kimi saw the rattle that evening, she sat up from her cot where she’d been resting with her cardboard box of lizards next to her. ‘Where’d you get this?’ she asked. ‘We had to kill it. I would’ve bit me.’

Tears came to her eyes.” This shows that Kimi care for everyone. Even rattlesnakes.

The only voice and opinion we heard was Tetsu’s side of the story. The story was written in Tetsu’s point of view, so the reader knew Tetsu’s thoughts, and what he was going through. The voices we didn’t hear were the Americans, the soldiers, and the other people in Gila River Internment camp. I think they should have put more point of views, so we know thoughts of different people.

A character relationship that changed were between Tetsu and George. At first when George first met Tetsu, George wasn’t very nice to him. They met at block 67, and George didn’t make a good first impression, “‘Where are you going?’ the oldest one [George] asked me. He smirked and showed me a broken front tooth. He looked like the fighting type. ‘Nowhere,’ I said. He squinted at me, spit in the dirt by my shoes, and the dust swirled up behind him like it was getting out of his way. ‘You’re coming with us to the canal,’ he said.” This is the part where George and Tetsu first met, and George was bossing Tetsu around. Later on in the story, George and Tetsu became really close friends. George was probably Tetsu’s closest friend. They did many things together, like how they both were looking for Horse together, “After dinner, George and I headed to block 67, but found nothing.” I also think that they have a similarity, they both care for their friends… In this case, they cared for Horse. Another time, Kimi’s fish died, so George and Horse showed their respect, “Horse came with George and me to the pet cemetery.” I think this shows how close Horse, George, and Tetsu are.

My big takeaway is all the history I learned from reading and researching this book. I learned about the Japanese Internment camps, the Pearl Harbor bombing, and how the Americans treated the Japanese. This book helped me realize and understand how the Japanese felt while they were in the internment camps. I think the themes my group and I learned were things that could apply in my life today. Hope and love are important. Also, like Kimi did, we should learn to love EVERYTHING.

Research Based Argument Essay

SLURP! I swallow the creamy, yummy liquid, knowing that the nine essential nutrients in the drink will soon enter my body. Chocolate milk is definitely one of my absolute favorite drinks. I not only love it because of the taste, but also because there isn’t a lot of sugar in it, and there are nine essential nutrients in chocolate milk. Another thing about chocolate milk is kids love it! Why would you take away chocolate milk if it’s good in so many ways?

My first point that chocolate milk should be sold in the cafeteria is there isn’t a lot of sugar in chocolate milk. A fact the National Dairy Council stated was, “Flavored milk contributes only 3% of added sugars in the diets of children 2-18 years.” This is necessary to know, because it shows that chocolate milk is not very sugary compared to many favored foods and drinks kids like. The SAS Food Services and Nutrition said one of their main goals were, "To ensure every student has access to safe, nutritious and tasty food". Chocolate milk is nutritious and tasty, so I don’t see why we should take chocolate out of our cafeteria. Studies show that only about 3 teaspoons of sugar is added in your average chocolate milk carton. In other words, chocolate milk isn’t as unhealthy as people say it is. If we wanted to take chocolate milk out of the cafeteria because of the added sugars it contains, churros and donuts should be taken out from the cafeteria!

Kids love chocolate milk. Research has shown that most kids drink more milk when it’s flavored, and most kids choose chocolate milk over white milk: “We serve six or seven cartons of chocolate [milk] for each one of white milk at lunch,” stated Mrs. Rally, a server in an elementary school. I think that chocolate milk is truly delicious. Mannie Tarenworth, the author who wrote “Nutrition in Disguise”, agrees with me. Mannie said, “You’ll have to admit that the creamy, smooth, chocolaty taste is truly delicious.” In my opinion, chocolate milk is one of my favorite drinks. Recently, I’ve started to love it more after finding out how healthy and good it is for the human body. A title of an essay in the Los Angeles Times was: "Removing chocolate milk from schools caused plain milk to be wasted"... And it’s true! In the essay ‘Got (Chocolate) Milk?’, Caron Gremont stated a similar fact: "-when you ban chocolate milk in school cafeterias, overall milk consumption falls and there is an increase in waste."

A reason some people are against chocolate milk is because it has more sugar than some sodas, but do sodas have nine essential nutrients? Studies have shown that in most chocolate milks, the essential nutrients in chocolate milk are; calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, vitamins D, vitamins B12, riboflavin, and niacin. Also, chocolate milk is good for you because there is no added fat or calories. Research shows that people who drink chocolate milk do not consume more fat, sugar, and calories, and are not heavier than non milk drinkers. In other words, you will not gain more weight, and you will NOT eat more sugar than people who DON’T drink milk at all. Melissa Dobbins, a nutritionist said; “The fact is, that chocolate and other flavored milks have the same nine essential nutrients as white milk, and a small amount of added sugar compared to other beverages. Best of all, because they love the taste, some kids drink more milk when it’s flavored.” This shows how healthy and good chocolate milk is, and it shows that kids drink more milk when it is flavored. Like me. I never drink white milk unless I have Oreos with it. In the other hand, I have chocolate milk almost everyday! Think about it. All parents would be really happy to know that their children are drinking more milk, and the great thing is, the chocolate flavoring in the chocolate milk doesn’t make the drink unhealthy!

For the reasons stated, I believe schools should keep chocolate milk. Chocolate milk is healthy, loved by children, and does not contain large quantities of added sugars. We love chocolate milk… Do you?

Bibliography

Adding Chocolate to Milk Doesn’t Take Away Its Nine Essential Nutrients - National Dairy Council

Works Cited

"Food Services and Nutrition." Singapore American School:. Web. 02 May 2014. <http://www.sas.edu.sg/page.cfm?p=388>.

Nutrition in Disguise - Mannie Tarenworth