Da Nooz 167 years in counting… 6,498,000,000,000

Pieces Left By Alexandra Kaminski SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA- Imagine the

water filled with plastic bags and other

marine debris. Now think about all the trash

being picked up out of the water. Recently

at Hawkesbury River in Sydney, Australia

that is what happened. The effective job

was done by Graham Johnston and the

Macmaster’s Beach Surf Club. The group

was made of 8 14 year-olds and 3 adults.

They went out on the 4th of January 2013 to

Hawkesbury River to clean up. Their goal

was to try to remove small litter from the

River and to monitor how much marine

debris was in the waters.

-continued on pg. 3

Beach clean-up in Australia http://naturescopephotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/tangaroa1-cottesloe.jpg ----------------------------------------------------------------------

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Page 2: Save The Whales Page 3: Environment Page 4: Sports Page 5: Business & Technology Page 6-7: Movies and Events Page 8: Personal Stories

Contributors: Sally Ball, Jade Baratta, Diego Barron-Maya, Memphis Bernstein-Collins, Eden Bruening, Alexandra Kaminski, Nachman Kaul-Seidman, Shane Lawlor, Isabella Ramkissoon, Aydin Schwartz, Grant Soedler, Zoe Slifstein, Cole Turner

By Sally Ball

RHINEBECK, NY--

Most days’ kids wake

up in the morning and

think, “Uuuugh, I have

to go to school.” But on

certain days in August,

their thoughts are very

different. It’s the fair!!!!

Even though this heart-

warming event has been

held annually since

1846, people still

take their personal time

and effort to come all

the way to

Rhinebeck. This year

the days are

August 20-25.

Mary Louise Ball

says that the fair has

“something for every-

Food stalls at the Dutchess County Fair http://goo.gl/J9RGd

one. Horse show, crafts,

rides, food, animals,

antique machinery,

gardening

demonstrations. A

hundred events all

in one place.”

The animal shows are

one of their biggest

attractions. Shane

Lawler of Pleasant

Valley, NY, whose

family shows its cows at

the fair, says, “At the

end of the fair, they

have an auction selling

pigs and animals.” The

most popular animal

event is…

-continued on pg. 7

Lions

and

Tigers

and

Bears...

By Grant Soedler

last July. He went there

with his mom, Melissa

Billings, and dad, Rick

Soedler, his little brother

Neil Soedler and sister

Jade Soedler, and some

of his cousins. He saw

lots of animals including

a komodo dragon, an

Asian elephant, some

polar bears, kangaroos,

reindeer, a koala, two

bison, wolves, otters,

rhinos and manatees.

Soedler says, “My

favorite animals were

the manatees.” The first

place they went to was

North America where he

saw wolves, otters, and

reindeer among other animals.

They got pizza. Then

they went on…

-continued on pg.8

COLUMBUS, OHIO--

In Ohio, there’s a water

park combined with a

zoo that will take your

breath away. From the

parking lot you can see

the water park and the

giant slides.

Unfortunately, this

reporter was not able to

visit the water park,

only the zoo.

The Columbus zoo has

animals from most of

the continents including

Asia, Australia and its

islands, and

Africa. Grant Soedler

from Hopewell Jct.,

New York went there

by Dorothy’s 4-5 students of

Poughkeepsie Day School

Spring 2013

Polar bear, Columbus Zoo http://goo.gl/pHcnU

In Columbus!

Page 1

Save the Whales

Killer Whales Trapped in Ice Save Themselves

By Isabella Ramkissoon POUGHKEEPSIE NEY YORK--On Tuesday January 8th a Canadian villager took a video of 12 killer whales taking turns breathing out of a small hole in the ice the size of a pickup truck. The killer whales seemed to be trapped in the ice.

The people in the village were talking to the government about bringing in ice breakers to free the killer whales. The community was told that the icebreakers were 10 days away from where the whales were located. The people from the village were even talking about using chainsaws to break the ice. Scientist said that without help from the international community the family of killer whales could not survive.

On Thursday January 10th, by some miracle, the current in the water changed and the whales were able to swim out to sea where they were safe.

Stop the whales from dying!!!!!

By Eden Bruening

POUGHKEEPSIE NEW YORK- Imagine no whales in the ocean; Now imagine there are whales in the ocean. Whales have many reasons that they are endangered. They are endangered because people hunt whales, and do many things to pollute the ocean. Doing these thing are making whales extinct. Whales are also important to scientists because they have learned so many things about them and they want to learn more. There are organizations that try to save the whales. Greenpeace is one of them. People hunt whales for food and for money. Commercial whaling is when people fish for whales for food and sometimes they take too many whales. That is what makes whales extinct because the fishermen can kill almost all of them and then the whales that are left can’t produce enough whales. There is an international ban on whaling with one exception; scientists can go whaling to research the whales. In Japan

they are saying that they are hunting whales to study them but they are actually using the whales for meat. Another reason theJapanese kill the whales is to get money by selling them. Another reason whales die every day is because people pollute the water. People can kill a whale just by throwing one piece of trash in the ocean because it can get caught in the whale's throat and that can make the whale so it can’t breathe and eat. People can also throw oil and chemicals in the water and it can kill whales. There is also a thing called noise pollution. In the navy they made this submarine that has really loud sonar that bounces of anything in front of them and it can hurt a whale’s ear. That causes the whale to think they are almost dead so they go die on the beach. There are organizations that try to save the whales. Some work really hard when it comes to whaling because they really care about whales, and they don’t want the whales to die.

Whale jumping out of ice to breathe http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0110/

Killer-whales-trapped-in-Canada-below-Hudson-Bay-ice-video

Whale swimming in the ocean

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w9ynrUajf_o/T7OFjT84YEI/AAAAAAAADy0/MROT-

LD5L_k/s1600/Humpback_Whale_underwater_shot.jpg

Page 2

Environment 6,498,000,000,000 Pieces Left

Continued from pg. 1

People like the Macmasters have to clean the oceans almost everyday. They have to do

that because of the amount of trash thrown into the oceans these days. Although boat

owners are the biggest ocean litters, sometimes other people can throw things into the

water while they are at the beach. Some people don’t even know that they are polluting

the ocean when they do it. Littering will really hurt the earth in the future. So if you live

in a place with a river near you or an ocean then your litter goes into the water. There is

a lot of marine debris to be picked up in the ocean. The problem is that Tangora Blue

and other organizations can not pick up 6,498,000,000,000 pieces of trash If you take it

upon yourself to stop littering and to make this earth a good place for your descendants.

Another thing about marine debris and pollution is that it affects animals a lot. When

animals see marine debris they think its a play toy and so they go to play with it.

Animals and marine debris is just like a puppy and its ball. The animals can’t tell that

the marine debris is going to hurt them. They just want to play with it and when they do

they get stuck, and if a human doesn’t come to help them or they don’t get out

themselves then they will die. This may seem sad to you, but it all leads back to us.

Every year 100,000 sea animals and about 1 million seabirds die from pollution.. That

means that about 273 sea animals get killed everyday and 2,739 seabirds get killed a

day.

“This is a very serious issue” Mia Vinogradov said and many people such as the

Macmasters and Tangora Blue agree with her, she also says, ”I think its very sad that all

those animals are dying and that some animals will go extinct before we even know

about them.” Thinking about that statement Mia Vinogradov and many others hope you

will try really hard to never litter and make the world have a good future.

The demand for elephant tusks is one of the reasons these animals are endangered. http://goo.gl/9s7v7

The Last One Could be Gone Within the Hour

By Memphis Bernstein Collins

Many people love animals but sadly a lot them are dying out. At this time the top ten endangered animals are: Ivory

Billed Woodpecker, Amur Leopard, Javan Rhinoceros, Northern Sportive Lemur, Northern Right Whale, Western Lowland

Gorilla, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Siberian (Amur) Tiger, Chinese Giant Salamander and the Little Dodo Bird (and not the

Dodo bird that became extinct hundreds of years ago).

Some animals are dwindling fast due to different causes. One cause is from people destroying animals’ habitats.

According to Melissa Kaplan’s article, “How Humans Affect Animals,” “When humans destroy wild land to build homes,

factories, shopping malls, amusement parks, garbage dumps, even to build a visitor center, store and restaurant in a park, the

land is changed. The animals that once lived there, from the bugs that lived in the ground to the birds that ate them, all may

disappear. Some can move to new home areas, but there are already other animals living there. There is not enough food,

water or shelter for all of them. Many of the animals will die.”

Another reason animals become endangered is littering. When people are careless throwing out trash it can hurt wild

animals when they eat it because the trash can contain chemicals or poison. Animals can also swallow trash and choke to

death.

And still another is illegal hunting. The list is endless.

Poachers kill animals for aesthetic properties. Take elephants for example: poachers lay traps, bait them and wait until an

elephant comes to the trap, traps the elephant, and then, the poacher rips the elephants’ tusks out violently so the elephant

bleeds to death.

Page 3

Sports

NHL

Lockout

Is Over By Shane Lawlor

NEW YORK, NEW YORK--This year’s

NHL lockout went on for a long time--

about 119 days. The last lockout was in

2005. The Stanley cup was not handed out

that year. Also, it was the first time that a

whole season was wiped out.

If you are a hockey fan you were

probably bored. Sitting around, looking for

sports to watch that you don’t even like,

you’re thinking, “When is the lockout

goanna be over?” According to MSG

television announcers, the lockout is all

about money. The owner doesn't want to

pay more money to all the players.

On January 1, 2013, this year’s lockout

was over. At 1:00 am at NHL headquarters

in New York City, the players and the

owners came to an agreement. Shane Doan,

a well-known hockey player, helped stop the

lockout. The NHL lockout is finally over,

and the players can finally play again, and

the fans can watch their hockey.

This picture represents the NHL lockout.

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/ photos/002/597/281/ScreenShot2012-09-

16at12.28.27AM_crop_650x440.png?1347769796

Swisher putting on his new Indians jersey!!

http://media.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/photo/2013/01/12070104-large.jpg

Swisher Signed to Indians! By Diego Barron-Maya

NEW YORK, NEW YORK--And the papers are signed Nick Swisher is

going to the Indians. He leaves after hitting 105 home runs which put him

fourth behind Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, and Curtis Granderson.

Swisher also led the team in walks and was second in doubles during that

time.

Nick Swisher has played with the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago

White Sox. He was signed by the Yankees in 2009 for a one year deal in

which he played right field, batted 249. hit 29 home runs, had 82 RBI’s

and played 150 games.

The next year in 2010, Swisher signed another one two year contract

for 6,750,000$ with the Yankees. In 2011 he signed again with the

Yankees for 9,000,000$ in which he batted 267.. Then, in 2012, he signed

for one more year with the Yankees for the biggest salary yet 10,250,000$

it was to end in 2013.

At first Nick Swisher requested a deal with the Yankees but they

refused. The Yankees also didn't seem to have much interest in working

out a new deal with Swisher once he declined their qualifying offer.

Swisher was said to have a 52 million dollar offer on the table from

Cleveland, but he ultimately got a little more out of General Manager Chris

Antonetti. The switch-hitting outfielder reportedly preferred to play for the

Dodgers, Angels, or Yankees, but he wasn't a fit for any of those teams

given their outfield situations. The Yankees also didn't seem to have much

interest in working out a new deal with Swisher once he declined their

qualifying offer. Swisher ended up working out a 4 year 56 million dollar

deal with the Indians to play right field.

Rob Barron, who follows baseball, says, “I’m happy for Nick Swisher

because they're paying him a lot of money, but the Yankees are going to

miss his energy and also just how much he loves playing baseball”.

Page 4

Business and Technology Apple’s

Big Drop

By Aydin Schwarttz

NEW YORK, NY-- Apple inc. has

had a serious drop in the popularity

and stock prices because of one little

phone. They are not happy about it...

The new Iphone 5 has dropped both

Apple’s popularity and it’s stock

prices. According to 70%(estimate

from Mr. Aydin Schwartz) of the

people that have used the Iphone 5,

It is the worst Iphone yet.They also

the new Apple navigation

application on the new Iphone isn’t

very great as the Google Maps

application on the previous Iphones,

which was disappointing to most

Iphone. People also hate the new

Iphone 5 because it was too skinny

or too tall, which makes it very hard

to fit in smaller pockets. Apple fans

just think that the only difference

from the Iphone 4/4S and the Iphone

5 is just the new retina display on

the Iphone 5. There is a new chip in

the Iphone 5 though which makes it

much faster and easier to use in most

cases. But that’s just what Apple

says.

Another thing that really hit

apple was there HUGE stock price

drop in September and October of

2012. It went from $765, to $514.75

in the past couple of months. And in

just two months, it went down

almost 100 dollars in stock prices.

This is amazingly still happening as

of January 2013 this unusual stock

price drop is probably caused by the

Iphone 5 releasing although, many

people were excited for it.

When the Iphone 5 was

announced at the Apple conference

for the Iphone 5 on September 12,

2012 it seemed so amazing to

everyone in the audience that pretty

much all of them wanted to get it.

But when it was released in

September, it wasn’t liked all that

much by apple fans. Like said

before, the Iphone 5 was too skinny

and too tall for some pockets, which

basically just means it’s not as

portable as the previous Iphones,

and Iphone fans really don’t like

that.

According to MSNBC, “since

people have heard all of these bad

things about the Iphone 5, they have

just kept their Iphone 4 or Iphone 4S

and have not bothered to look into

buying the Iphone 5. Apple is upset

about this, since they worked so

hard on this new phone, and

dedicated a lot of time for it.

Another thing that apple hasn’t

been selling much of is the new

macbook pro with retina display.

People do not like this because it

doesn’t have a disk drive, or a little

battery indicator like the original.

The huge disappointment for this

new mac is that there are no

replaceable parts, so you basically

just get what you get for. It also has

no macbook pro logo on it, a new

magsafe port which is rare, and

nobody really has to share with you if

you work with your computer in

school. Which in Anastasia

Schwartz’s (reporter’s sister’s)

opinion, “It’s just stupid.”

Why would something be better

just because it’s newer? “Unless it’s

faster or something like that, if it’s

new or old though, it’s no reason to

say it’s better.” So basically all I’m

trying to say is that apple failed with

the iphone 5. Not many apple fans or

people that just like Iphones like the

Iphone 5, which wasn’t apples

intention for the iphone 5.

Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia Stove Reborn: More Efficient Than Ever By Nachman S. Kaul-Seidman

POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK- Fire has been humanity’s tool for a long

time, as a shield from the bitter cold or

as heat that allows for the preparation of meals. Before we could heat our

homes with gas, fire was vital to

survive the winter. But it has always greatly polluted our air. Until the

1980’s. Now we have ultra efficient

and green wood burning stoves, to sustain us without polluting our air to

the same degree.

In 1742, Benjamin Franklin invented the wood burning stove.

Wood, unlike fossil fuels such as oil,

coal and gas, is a renewable source of energy. But the smoke produced from

the wood stoves contains almost 100

different harmful chemical compounds, including fine particulates, nitrogen

oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon

monoxide, volatile organic compounds, dioxins, and furans.

Breathing air polluted by smoke can

cause health problems. Infants, children, pregnant women, and those

suffering from allergies or diseases

such as asthma are especially vulnerable. Fine particulate matter

(miniscule particles that make up

smoke and soot) may be the most dangerous component of wood smoke

pollution. The most harmful particles are ten microns or less (one seventh of

a human hair in diameter.)

These particles can easily be inhaled deep into the lungs, collecting

in the tiny air sacs (called veoli) where

oxygen enters the blood, causing

breathing difficulties and sometimes permanent lung damage. Additionally,

wood burning stoves, unlike oil

heating, require a lot of manual labor. It also requires storage space, so is not

ideal for urban apartments. Also, wood

is not readily available in many locations and needs to be transported,

which involves the use of oil.

In the eighteenth and nineteen centuries, homes were heated with

wood and coal. Then in the 1920’s the

oil burner was invented “and was welcomed with open and (shovel-less)

arms.” Oil, as a source of heat, has

many advantages. It is cheaper than coal and takes up less space than both

coal and wood. It generates more heat

and has fewer drafts. Heating with oil also poses fewer health problems than

both wood and coal. Additionally, oil

is much more convenient because it’s cleaner and one can control the

temperature with the flick of a switch.

Unsurprisingly, for the next fifty years heating with oil steadily grew in

popularity.

Then in the 1970s the oil crisis occurred and oil prices sky-rocketed.

The U.S.A. was too dependent on

foreign oil and could not make affordable, economical oil available.

This caused the interest in wood stoves to grow because wood, unlike oil, was

fairly economical and was available

locally. However, there had not been little

innovation in the technology of the

Philadelphia stove (although there

were changes in the form), so the wood stoves being used in the 1970’s were

inefficient. To compensate, the EPA

raised fireplace efficiency standards, and many companies such as Avalon

and Pacific modified the wood burning

stove to be more efficient. The modern wood burning stove is

mainly composed of metal and brick. It

has an air intake called a flu, which channels the air to the manifold. The

manifold channels air to the fire and

several other secondary tubes. These secondary tubes distribute air above

the fire, so that extra gasses will burn

(this is called the secondary burn). Bricks lining the inside of the stove

also contribute to the secondary burn.

These bricks absorb and radiate the heat back, making the stove warmer,

which helps the gasses burn. Finally,

some inserts are topped off by a blower, which as its name suggests,

blows warm air into the room. The old

wood burning stove was simply a structure that a fire could be sustained

in, connected to a chimney. The

modern stove is mostly better for the environment because of the secondary

burn. The gasses burned in the

secondary burn would normally pollute the air, but in the modified wood

burning stove, they themselves burn. The modified stove can also burn to

higher temperatures due to the air

distribution and the brick lining that absorbs heat and radiates it back.

A fifth grader from Poughkeepsie

Day School, Diego Barron-Maya, who

has had a wood stove for four years, states, “I think wood burning stoves

are much more efficient and better than

a regular fireplace because from my experience wood burning stoves give

off much more heat. Also I personally

think they are safer to use because the have a door that can open and close.”

PDS fifth grader Cole Turner also

sounds like he likes wood stoves. He says, “I have a wood stove in my home

and it burns entirely effectively. Its

heat fills the entire house and it is less money then heaters/heating.”

Since the number of households in

the US using heating with wood has gone up by 34% since 2000, the EPA

has established mandatory emission

limits for most wood-burning appliances, starting in 2013. Although

more economical and environmentally

friendly, this new efficient stove still requires considerable effort to operate:

wood has to be purchased, stored,

transported, and finally a fire has to be built and continually stoked. All of this

requires manual labor and time. Right

now, the US is trying to reduce its dependency on foreign oil. If, and

when this happens, oil will regain its

previous popularity and will pose a serious threat on the market to wood

stoves. So, while the beauty, warmth and the homeliness of the stove are

said to be worth the time, and wood is

an abundant, but endangered natural resource, it remains to be seen whether

it will replace oil as a source of heat.

Page 5

Movies & Events The Band Is Now In Motion Pictures

By Jade Baratta

Members of the hit band One Direction pose for a publicity shot http://media1.santabanta.com/full1/Music%20Bands/One%20Direction/one-direction-1a.jpg

brought back into the competition and they went to Simon Cowell’s house. In the X-Factor competition they came in 3rd place. A year or two later One Direction signed Simon’s record label. Their first song What Makes You Beautiful was a big hit. They sold about 131,000 copies in the first week! One Direction did go ended up going in one direction from the start, they were going in the direction of victory!

The Hobbit movie was

released on Dec.14, 2012 http://goo.gl/fV5yo

Troubles with

The Hobbit By Cole Turner

NEW ZEALAND-- In the creation of the movie The Hobbit the entire cast had to endure some troubles and delays. Guillermo Del Toro, who also directed Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy and Mimic, was originally supposed to direct The Hobbit along with Peter Jackson but ongoing delays made him decide to leave the set. He and Peter Jackson were working together on the movie but when Guillermo left, Peter…

-Continued on pg.7

CULVER CITY, CA-- It was a sunny day on the set for the one direction film at TriStar Pictures. They were getting ready to shoot their first scene. The director, Morgan Spurlock, who also directed Super Size Me told One Direction that tjhey had to be on set in 5 minutes. Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson were working with their stylists getting ready to go on set. Their stylists said they could go to the set so they adjusted their collars to what they felt comfortable

(the opposite of what their designer did) and they walked down the hall to the set. They had to finish the movie before August 30, 2013. This movie is going to be about One Direction's life and music and what they do in their down time. Every girl dreams of meeting them, but really Harry, Zayn, Liam, Niall, and Louis are like normal teenagers. They like to play with Nerf Guns and play video games. The One Direction boys are big on funny jokes. Once in a burger shop, Niall was getting ready to order his

burger and Louis pulled down his trousers. One Direction got famous quickly. They first auditioned as solo artists at the UK X-Factor in 2010. None of them were thinking they wanted to be in a boy band, but look at what happened! They were eliminated the week before they were going to go to Simon Cowell's house who is a judge on the X-Factor. They were walking to their cars in the parking lot and a stage manager called them back. They went back on stage and the judges didn't want them to be eliminated, so they got

Page 6

Jackson was left to do it himself. While Peter Jackson was directing the movie, lots of abuse happened to animals. 27 animals died due to poor living conditions. Some of the ways they died were that sheeps fell into sinkholes and chickens were mauled by unsupervised dogs. They got into more trouble yet. People were upset because they thought Peter Jackson was a CGI master so he didn’t have to use real animals. Peter Jackson decided to film his movie with 48 FPS instead of 24. This causes the movie to look

Troubles with The Hobbit Continued from pg 6

more fluid, smooth and clear, but people complained that the people looked like plastic and they felt nausea, dizziness and headaches. Also, some people complained that the movie had too much to absorb. This did not affect sales in the end but it was talked about for about 50 days and some people were affected by it. Lots of regular viewers enjoyed the movie immensely but the critics that watched the movie actually did not enjoy it. Why? They were

comparing it to the previous Lord of the Rings movies. These movies were legendary and on the critics’ opinions it did not successfully reach the tall order it had to be entirely unbelievable. A quote of one of the critics was, “It frequently seems as though Jackson was less interested in making The Hobbit than in remaking his own fabulously successful Lord of the Rings series,” according to “Unleash the Fanboy.” Casting Martin Freeman

to play the lead character turned out to be a big trouble. Peter Jackson had trouble casting Freeman because Freeman was currently on the set of BBC’s show Sherlock. “I was really panicking," Jackson said according to the Mary Sue. Jackson also felt that nobody matched up to Martin Freeman in playing Bilbo. He could play Bilbo perfectly with his good humorous acting. The compromise they created was that in a 2 month span Freeman could film episodes of Sherlock.

167 Years and Counting Continued from pg 1

the horse show. Maybe that’s because many people love horses, or maybe it’s just the connection and companionship that the horses have with their riders. Whatever it is, people just keep coming back to see it. Right next to the horse show is the pulling competition which is done by large draft horses. They pull very large and heavy cement blocks. Zoe Slifstein, horse lover and fair goer, says, “I think it’s really fun to see all the horses and rides.”

Down to business. Rides. They’re popular enough that kids will wait hours twiddling their thumbs and pulling on their parents sleeves just for one single ride. Nine-year-old PDS student Jane Canfield has experienced this sort of stuff. She says, “It’s fun and exciting! It’s crowded, that’s for sure. There’s tons of rides to ride on.” The variety includes: a Ferris wheel, the zipper, wave swinger, swings, caterpillar roller coaster and many many more. Ten-year-old Gus Ball loves the fair, but still has one request: “They should have a roller coaster.” Once you have had fun on an extreme vomit-comet, this reporter suggests you go sit down and have a nice lime fizz. Or maybe a lemonade. And perhaps some pizza to go with it. You will find the food part of the festivities in the food court where there is Italian, BBQ, hot dogs, crab, lobster, cajun, Chinese, Japanese, chocolate, Greek,

A roller coaster at the Dutchess County Fair http://activerain.com/blogsview/1176582/dutchess-county-fair-in-rhinebeck-only-25-days-away-

and lots and lots of candy. After the rides come the games, which attract as many visitors as the rides do. From squirt games to darts to shootin’ hoops, every year they’re all there, just the way we love them. Win a fish, dunk a clown, test your manly strength, take home stuffed animals, and play for prizes,

prizes, prizes!! When asked what her favorite part of the fair is, Bella Ramkissoon quick response was, “I like playing darts and winning stuffies at the fair.” Dutchess County Fair #167 was a huge success and preparations have already started to make #168 even better!

Food vendors at the fair http://0.tqn.com/d/honeymoons/1/0/F/s/1/11dutchess-county-fair.jpg

Page 7

Personal News & Games

Lions and Tigers and Bears… In Columbus!

Continued from page 1

The Slifstein

Family

Christmas By: Zoe Slifstein

HYDE PARK, NY-- This year

the children of the Slifstein

family were more anxious to

open presents then ever.

“When can we open our

presents” asks the middle child

Zoe Slifstein.

“Soon, just let me get my

coffee” says her mother Kristin

Slifstein.

While the family goes into the

living room to open presents the

oldest sister Hayley Slifstein

gasps when she finds out that she

got pants from her favorite

British store Jack Wills. Zoe

starts to laugh and then cry with

joy because she found out that

she got an ipod 5 and a stereo so

she can play her music loud.

Phoebe Slifstein, the youngest of

the Slifstein family was very

happy to have received new

shoes that are pink cheetah print.

All the sisters are happy, but

now it’s time for the adults to see

what they got. First their mom

opens her present and she is

surprised to see an ipad. The

father, Keith Slifstein didn't get

anything because he didn’t want

anything. He just wanted to be

home with his family.

Everyone is busy playing with

their new presents while their

mother prepares a Christmas

feast. She is making fillet

mignon, mashed potatoes, green

beans, and apple cider.

After the Slifstein family ate

their Christmas feast, they had

chocolate cake. After they ate,

the girls went crazy from all the

sugar they had, while their

parents sat to talk. As Keith

Slifstein said, “It was a

wonderful Christmas!”

Last of all Zoe Slifstein says,

“Keep the Christmas spirit alive.

And ho, ho, ho Merry

Christmas!”

then went on a train ride. The

train ride went around the

North America section. Before

they went into a tunnel, they

saw a hawk-like bird. There

was also a place in that section

called Polar Frontier. They

saw polar bears, arctic foxes,

and brown bears there.

Then they went to Asia

Quest. There they saw tigers,

Asian elephants, red pandas

and sun bears. During that he

got a squashed penny with a

flying fox on it. (There are

machines that squash animal

shapes onto pennies.) Soedler

collects squashed pennies. He

also got a bunch of them from

the Bronx Zoo. Soedler says,

“I think it’s weird that the zoo

had lions in Asia Quest when

they live in Africa.”

There are also flying foxes

(bats) that nudge each other

while they hang from the

ceiling. There are some adults

and a couple babies. Soedler

thought the babies were cute.

There was a flying fox that

was on his squashed penny.

The flying foxes have a little

garden to fly around in. Also in

Asia Quest are the red pandas.

They do not look like regular

pandas and they look more like

foxes. Their babies look a lot

like moles and do not have red

fur. “Their habitat had a dark

house that all the red pandas

were in so my mom could not

get a good picture.”

After that they went to

Voyage to Australia and the

Islands where they saw the

komodo dragon, kangaroos,

koalas and lorikeets. They got

to feed the lorikeets sugar

water in little plastic cups. One

time, a lorikeet went on his

arm. Then they went to the

shore area and saw flamingos,

penguins, alligators and

manatees. His favorite animal

from that section was the

manatee. Soedler says, “I think

it’s really cool that you got to

see the manatees underneath

the water and there were other

animals in the tank besides the

manatees.”

Amazingly when they saw

the koala, it was awake! Since

it usually sleeps 23 hours a

day, that was a surprise! There

was only one koala.. It was

about two feet tall and grey.

The habitat had a button that

when you pushed it made the

call of a male koala. Soedler

says, “It sounded sort of like a

pig.

The trip was a success.

Now Soedler can’t wait to go

there again.

Manatees at the Columbus Zoo http://goo.gl/i2TPk

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