Nature and biodiversity : Bats

I am a grade 9 student at Eden College

I was telling her my story about how I rescued a Cape Serotinebat and how it was then released back into the wild.

About 4 weeks ago my parents and I went to our holiday house in Himeville and we found this tiny bat about 3 cms long which we initially thought was dead. My mum noticed that it had moved one of its wings and after a lot of negotiating on my part I got the okay to bring it back home to Durban.

Once home I looked up Bat Rescue organisations and I was so surprised to see that Kate Richardson of Bat Interest Group lives up the road from me. After contacting her she collected the small bat and identified at as a new born boy who was in need of hydration and rehabilitation.  Kate kept the bat until she felt it was time that it could be released back into the wild, however it had to released back where it had been found.

So off we went to Himeville with an echo locator which would allow us to hear the sound of the bats which we would otherwise not be able to hear.  We kept him covered in his basket until dusk, we then allowed him sometime to warm up and then we heard the clicking of the echo locator, we tucked him up in his blanket into the thatched roof, which was more or less where we found him except on the floor,  and left him for the night.

I was so anxious to get there first thing the next morning because I was worried that he hadn’t flown off and had fallen out of the blanket onto the ground – but our mission was a success! When we got there he was gone, whilst we didn’t have the pleasure of watching him fly off into the night with his family we had a good look around and can confidently say that he heard his family and was very pleased to be back home with them.

Anyway I hope you like my story.

From

Emily Garland

Resources : Library Display

Mrs Reguard has made a lovely display in the library . Please pop in and take a look and read all you can do to help recycle.

Resources : Grade 8 Water Investigation

The grade 8's have a water assignment to do. They have to collect data on how much water they use at home each day for a week or two by reading their water meter and then analyzing the data.

We look forward to seeing the results!

Karen Morrison

GRADE  8                                     MATHEMATICS

INVESTIGATION

WATER  USAGE  IN  THE  HOME

INSTRUCTIONS :

1.    You  need  to  use  the  water  account  that  your  parents  receive  each  month  to  answer 

       the  questions  provided.

2.    You  also  need  to  take  readings  from  the  water  meter  located  on  your  parent’s 

       property  to  complete  the  table  provided.

      

3.    Answer  the  questions  on  A4  paper  which  must  be  handed  in  with  your  table  and           

       graphs  in  a  flip-file  or  ring  file.

4.    You  may  type  your  answers  on  a  computer.

Marking  rubric :

Presentation   5  marks

Table             5  marks

Graph            5  marks                                  

Questions      30  marks     

Effort             5  marks

___________________

TOTAL           50 marks

SOME  INTERESTING  FACTS  ABOUT  ABOUT  WATER :

-         water  covers  75%  of  the  earth

-         about  65% of  your  body  consists  of  water

-         to  stay  healthy  you  should  drink  about  2  litres  of  water  daily

-         water  is  found  in 3  forms  :  liquid,  solid  &  gas

-         we  measure  water  in  milliliters,  litres  or  kilolitres

-         dirty  water  contains  bacteria  which  may  cause  cholera  or  diarrhea

-         water  makes  up  70%  of  an  elephant’s  body,  30%  of  bread  and  90%  of  tomaotes

PROVISION  and  USAGE  OF  HOUSEHOLD  WATER

1.    Write  a  paragraph  explaining  who  is  responsible  for  providing  water  to  your  home,

       where  does  it  come  from  and  how  is  it  supplied.  Investigate  whether  it  is  purified,

       and  where  and  how  is  this  done  and  why  is  purification  necessary. 

2.     How  is  the  water  used  in  your  home  monitored ?

3.     In  what  unit  is  water  usage  measured ?  ( look  at  monthly  water  account)

4.     Read  the  water  meter  at  the  same  time  each  day  for  1  week  and  complete  the 

        table  provided  on  a  daily  basis.

5.     Why  is  it  important  to  read  the  meter  at  the  same  time  each  day ?

6.     Calculate  the  quantity  of  water  used  each  day

7.     What  is  the  charge  per  kilolitre  of  water  used ?

8.     List  the  uses  of  water  in  the  home.

9.     Estimate  the  quantity  of  water  that  is  used  per  day  for  each  of  the  items  listed 

        above.

10.    Is  there  any  wastage  of  water in  the  home ?  Give  details  of  such  wastage.

11.    Why  should  people  use  water  economically ?

12.    Explain  several  ways  you  could  go  about  saving  water  in  the  home.

13.    Determine  the  total  quantity  of  water  your  family  used  in  the  7  day  period

14.    What  is  the  average  daily  rate of  consumption  for  the  7  day  period ?

15.    What  is  the  range  in  consumption  over  the  7  days ?

16.    Draw  a  graph (line or bar graph) to  show  the  daily  usage  of  water  over  the  7  days.  

17.    On  which  day  did  you  use  the  least  amount  of  water ?  Give  possible  reasons

         for  this.

18.    On  which  day  did  you  use  the  most  amount  of  water ?  Give  possible  reasons

         for  this.

19.    What  is  your  water  bill  for  the  each  of  the  last  3  months ?

20.    Calculate  the  mean  amount  paid  over  these  3  months

TABLE TO SHOW WATER METER READINGS :

Days	Water meter reading at the end of each day
0 (reading on day before investigation begins)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

          GRAPH TO SHOW WATER USAGE PER DAY 

Community and Heritage : Food for the cleaners

Mrs McToal (our amazing Grade 1 teacher) organised a civvies day where the children had to bring tinned food for the cleaning staff. Every one contributed and by the end of the day Mrs McToal was happily organising food for distribution.

                                       

Global and Local Issues : Grade 5's Assembly on littering

The grade 5's treated us to a wonderful assembly today on littering. The 'costumes' that they wore were delightful and even Mrs Maree ( the art teacher) commented on the originality and style. Well done to Miss Sayman and her pupils.

Such creative outfits

LITTER

ALL          :       There’s litter all around us

There’s litter on the street.

GIRLS      :       There’s litter in the bushes

There’s litter at your feet.

MICHAEL :       Pick that litter up son

Take it over there!

AMIR       :       I know you didn’t drop it

SHIVAM   :       And I know that life’s not fair!

SIMARIN :       It’s always someone else’s fault

ALL          :       It’s never ever me

BOYS       :       Here today, gone tomorrow

GIRLS      :       Moved elsewhere for free.

LEAH       :       But someone has to clear it

AALIYAH :       That someone must be paid.

SHAE       :       That someone must be paid by you

SAPNA     :       As they clear up with their spade.

ALL          :       And what about the animals

Who try to reach inside?

CASSIDY  :       The going mouldy bag of chips

ALL          :       (Barbecue, deep fried)?

GIRLS      :       When you dropped the packet

And thought, oh what the heck,

BOYS       :       You could be trapping something

By the feet or claws or neck.

PHIWO    :       And doesn’t it look filthy

As it flutters in the wind?

ALL          :       The bag of chips and chocolate wrapper

You really should have binned.

MICHAEL :       None of us like litter

SHIVAM   :       Though we liked what came inside

OUNAISA        :       Perhaps it’s time we cleaned up our act,

ALL          :       Restored our sense of pride.

CASSIDY  :       There’s litter all around us

And it’s a filthy sin

ALL          :       When at your feet,

JODEIN   :       Just yards away

ALL          :       There lies an empty bin.

Global and Local Issues : Rhinos

Mrs van Elden received the funds  for her projects ' Acting for Rhinos"  raised from the Grade 4's cake sale ! Everyone wins Eden ! Well Done girls 

Global and Local Issues : Valentine's biscuit sale for rhinos

On Friday 14th some Grade 4 girls decided that they wanted to raise funds for Acting for Rhinos. This was all initiated   and organised by them A really wonderful effort which was well supported by the rest of the school.

This morning in assembly the girls read out this message ..

Good morning Mrs Peens, students and teachers. We are the Grade 4 girls.

We had a cake sale on the Red Square on Valentine's Day and it was a great success.

We raised R690 for the Rhino's and are very happy with what we did and thank you all for supporting us we really appreciate it.

All of us say thank you 

Global and Local Issues : Grade 6 Rhino assembly

The grade 6's gave a wonderful presentation all about RHINOS in our assembly. Well done to all involved.

When in the wild

My dearest child

You see a Rhinocer-oss

Are you at a loss?

Or do you have the knack

Of telling white from black?

The black rhino with pointed lips

Browses on green leafy tips

Of bushes and trees,

Then if you please

You will see as you pass

White rhinos mowing the grass

Did you know that 1004 rhinos were killed in South Africa last year? (1004? That’s awful!)

Did you know that 5 rhinos were killed in KZN 3 weeks ago? (Oh no! Not again!)

Why is this happening? Why are people killing rhinos?

For their horns. Many people believe that their horns contain powerful medicinal properties. This is not true. The horn is made of a similar substance to your fingernails. Do you think you nails have magical powers? Of course not.

What do we have to do

To allow animals to survive?

Poachers are killing everything

The law can’t keep alive

Rhinos are facing extinction

They cannot roam free

Countries are still using ivory

Why can’t they let them be?

It’s illegal to use ivory these days

But for some this isn’t the case

Ornaments and other valuables

The rich always chase.

Authorities cannot secure the

land where rhinos roam

not enough manpower to watch out

at their native home.

Rhinos are taken from zoos

To return to their home land

To try and let them breed

Enclosed by man’s hand

We need to get a grip

Bombard governments with our concern

Or nothing will be left

And we will never learn.

Rhinos are an umbrella species which means they protect and support many smaller creatures.

Horns are sold for huge amounts of money on the black market.

In KZN we can visit rhinos in game reserves such as Hluhluwe, Umfolozi and Mkuze.

No more extinction. We have already wiped out thousands of species like the dodo and the quagga.

Oldest living mammal. Rhinos have been on Earth for 50 million years.

Stop the killing of rhinos. We want our kids to see these wonderful creatures.

What can we do? At Eden, we are starting an organization called ACTING FOR RHINOS. We are going to use the money to help authorities stop rhino poaching. We might be kids but we can make a difference.

Community : Bread clips

Shivek Iyer is one of our pupils who regularly contributes towards this 'recycling' programme. He and his family - particularly his grandparents - save the clips that tie plastic packets that bread and fruit come in and then delivers it to Mrs Reguard in the library. These clips go towards buying wheelchairs for need people.

INTERNATIONAL Flag STATUS

We were very very proud at the WESSA awards ceremony this afternoon when we recieved our International Flag as a Green School for the second year in a row! Well done Edenites ...... now lets work towards that Platinum award

Community and Heritage: Donating MILES to charity

Having swum the Midmar Mile , Mrs Gaylard encourage each swimmer to donate their 'MILE' to charity. This drive is run by an organisation called  Extra Mile which raises awareness for disabled people. 

Having done this Mrs Gaylard went a step further and is challenging all swimmers to continue swimming and join the DOLPHIN MILE swimmers. Details are given below:

Hello Brigitta

Thanks so much for your email and interest in the Dolphin Mile.

To answer your questions:

Min age 10.

Cost R80 entry fee and R50 for compulsory cap (which can be used every swim).

Pse join our fb page and can get info on our website www.dolphinmile.co.za

Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Heather Campbell

email: heandian@telkomsa.net

website: www.dolphinmile.co.za

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The Dolphin Mile Surf Swim Series

mobile: +27 82 3207083

fax: +27 806 605 5747

This also will support the Extra Mile Charity

Healthy Lifestyles: Midmar swimmers

On Saturday 8 February we were very proud of our Midmar swimmers. We entered 5 teams and it was fabulous to see parents swimming with their children. Well done to all the swimmers especially those who achieved this distance for the first time.

Before the start...

At the end!! Yippee.....

Global and Local Issues : Acting for Rhino

Eden College has a very exciting new project that they are going to launch in 2014.The pupils and staff are concerned about the plight of the Rhinos so brainstormed to find a solution to fundraising much needed funds for Project Rhino KZN. A new organization is being formed "Acting for Rhinos" which is affiliated with Project Rhino KZN. A Logo has been designed.Eden Cultural Departments are going to raise all ticket prices for all stage productions by R1,00 and donate to Project Rhino KZN. They will then use the Acting for Rhino Logo on programs,promotional material etc. Eden is then going to challenge Educational Institutions,Schools and Theatre Companies to do the same.The possibilities are limitless as local,national and international contacts will be challenged.

Jean van Elden

Resources : Weekly recycling

Recycling happens at Eden on a Tues and Thurs morning. Please separate your waste at home into : 

Glass      Paper      Cans    Cartridges   Batteries  Plastic

and bring to school.

Mrs van Elden hard at work!

Recycling is a family affair

Helpful eco monitors

Work never ends .... thank you Mrs Mazzoni , Mrs van Elden and Mrs McToal

Community and Heritage : Stationery and can clip initiative

Care Com have initiated a project to help our disadvantaged community. In each classroom boxes have been placed to collect used stationary and can clips. Please support this initiative.

Resources : Milk bottle recycling

We are really excited at how well our project is going with milk bottle recycling. 

The bins are overflowing so the Eco monitors spent their break 'squashing and washing' them and placing them in a big storage bag until we can deliver them to Envirotimbers. Thank you monitors.

Please continue 'washing and squashing' these bottles and bring them to school. We're desperate for Eco friendly benches around our school!