The Dangers of Smoking

As our Grade 6 students think about and get ready for junior high school, some are developing a greater curiosity about what is "cool".    In our lessons this week, we discussed some of the myths, falsehoods and dangers about smoking.  Here are some the "True/False" quiz questions that our students contemplated.  (Answers are below each picture/graphic)

FALSE. Smoking causes premature aging and puts stress on your internal organs, including your heart and lungs.

FALSE. In younger people, 3 out of 4 deaths from heart disease are due to smoking.

 

FALSE. The effects of smoking contribute to heart attacks and stroke. It slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs amputated.

FALSE. Every year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from diseases caused by smoking.

FALSE. Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making your whole body and especially your heart work harder. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.  The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels.

FALSE. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, including the tongue; causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.

FALSE. Tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year.

FALSE. Smoking causes disease and is a slow way to die. The strain put on your body by smoking often causes years of suffering. Emphysema is an illness that slowly rots your lungs. People with emphysema often get bronchitis again and again, and suffer lung and heart failure.

FALSE. Changing to low-tar cigarettes does not help because smokers usually take deeper puffs and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into their lungs.

 

FALSE. Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke. Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers.  Tobacco smoke also contributes to a number of cancers eg. cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box), esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach, and causes acute myeloid leukemia.

FALSE. More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.

FALSE. 1 in 2 lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age.

For more information (available in English or Chinese, you can visit these websites:  Taiwan Smokers' Helpline or Quit and Win.

Grade 5 Class Singing Contest

Top of the World

During the months of April and May, our grade 5 students will learn and sing the song "Top of the World".  The song was written and first performed by Karen and Richard Carpenter in 1973. 

Top of the World

- by The Carpenters, 1973

Such a feeling's coming over me,
There is wonder in most everything I see,
Not a cloud in the sky,
Got the sun in my eyes,
And I won't be surprised if it's a dream,

Everything I want the world to be,
Is now coming true especially for me,
And the reason is clear,
It's because you are here,
You're the nearest thing to heaven
that I've seen,

I'm on the top of the world
looking down on creation,
And the only explanation I can find,
Is the love that I've found,
ever since you've been around,
Your love's put me at the top of the world,

Something in the wind
has learned my name,
And it's telling me
that things are not the same,
In the leaves on the trees
and the touch of the breeze,
There's a pleasing sense
of happiness for me,

There is only one wish on my mind,
When this day is through
I hope that I will find,
That tomorrow will be
just the same for you and me,
All I need will be mine if you are here,

I'm on the top of the world
looking down on creation,
And the only explanation I can find,
Is the love that I've found
ever since you've been around,
Your love's put me at the top of the world,

I'm on the top of the world
looking down on creation,
And the only explanation I can find,
Is the love that I've found
ever since you've been around,
Your love's put me at the top of the world.

Earth Day - April 22, 2010

This month our Grade 5 students learned about some of the many important issues facing our environment: air pollution, water conservation and global warming. We know that it is not easy for us to change our habits. But we do know that every small action counts.

Here are some of those actions and ideas that our students shared with each other:

Eric Feng (馮艾立) 501

Wendy Lin (林雯婕) 501

Amy Wu (吳采芬) 503

Billy Chou (周禹承) 503

Jimmy Yeo (游榮騏) 504

Vanessa Cheng (鄭筑勻) 504

Alice Chen (陳韻如) 505

Jacy 謝函潔 (505)

Angela Chen (陳秀容) 506

Charlie Hong (洪子勛) 506

Joseph Chou (周奕) 507

Ruby Lai (賴曉晴) 507

To learn more about what YOU can do for our environment, please visit Earth Day Taiwan.

The Sound of Music

This week, our Grade 4 students learned the words to "Do Re Mi" and enjoyed seeing Julie Andrew's performance in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music.

Doe, a deer, a female deer,
Ray, a drop of golden sun,
Me, a name I call myself,
Far, a long, long way to run,
Sew, a needle pulling thread,
La, a note to follow sew,
Tea, a drink with jam and bread,
That will bring us back to doe, ( x 3)

When you know the notes to sing,
You can sing most anything,

Doe, a deer, a female deer,
Ray, a drop of golden sun,
Me, a name I call myself,
Far, a long, long way to run,
Sew, a needle pulling thread,
La, a note to follow sew,
Tea, a drink with jam and bread,
That will bring us back to doe,

Do – re - mi - fa – so - la - ti - do… so do!

I'm a Nut!

Click here to listen to a MIDI file of this fun song that our Grade 4 students have learned.

Welcoming Spring

This year Easter Sunday falls on April 4th.   Children welcome spring with the fun and excitement of hunting for hidden Easter eggs.  In Canada, the United States and many other countries, Easter is an official statutory holiday -- no work and no school on Easter Monday.