Our Music Video: Official Release

It is finally here...our music video to the song we have gotten stuck in your heads!  Enjoy our remix to Katy Perry's ROAR, and enjoy catching glimpses of the journey our project has taken over the past few months.  We are still waiting to hear an update on our conservation drone, but as soon as we hear something you will be the first to know :)  

Check out our video here:

Key School: ROAR Music Video

New Feature: Key Website

Not only were we featured on our district's website, we have been featured on our own school's website as well!  We may not have been posting as much lately while we have been working on editing our final video, but keep checking in--it will be posted by Friday!  We are still ON FIRE for saving our tigers!  In the meantime, look us up on our school page:

http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/k/key

Thanks :)

                                                           By Jeffrey


The mathematics team has been working on research and the calculations of many things like the money we made during our bake sale, which was amazing. Our team has made charts about many different kinds of information that would be useful to the other groups that are in this project. One of the charts we made had to do with the top countries of consumption for palm oil around the world. From the chart you can learn that the top country for consumption of palm oil is  Europe.
                       Check It out Below!!

We got the information for this graph on this website, www.simedarby.com 

We are featured!

Between Mock Testing and having internet issues in our classroom, the students haven't been able to update our blog this week.  I did want to let everyone know that we have been featured on the website of the company we donated towards, and you can check it out here: Conservation Drones FEATURE

You can also take a look on our school district website: Philasd.org and look under "Good News" to see us mentioned!

Tomorrow we will be all bundled up on our trip to the Philadelphia Zoo!  Lookout for pictures and a sneak peak of our music video coming soon :)

Ms. Cruz

Palm Pledges!

By: Molynia 

We went around to all of your classes to teach you about how palm oil is affecting the Sumatran Tigers. We thank all of the children who have signed it. There were two different pledges for you guys, but they all had the same meaning. The total of children and teachers who signed it  was 456! We're so proud of all of the people who signed it.

This is what the pledges were:

Grade:K-3  
I pledge that I will support companies that want to make Deforestation Free Oil. Deforestation free oil means there is no burning or cutting down our oxygen rich trees to make oil.  I pledge to tell my friends and family about Deforestation Free Oil.

Grade:4-6
I pledge to be aware of palm oil usage from this day on to save the Sumatran Tigers. I will stand up for companies  who want to use De-Forestation Free Oil. Which means there is no cutting or burning down our rich oxygen forest. I am a superhero, even without a cape or mask!


This is our logo and all of our pledges surrounding it, which is located in our I.M.C. by the computers!  Go and check it out!

Conservation Drone Fund COMPLETE!

  By: Angela

Thank you Key school for all your donations! Together, we raised $1,635.13!!! We are donating all of our funds to a conservation drone.    We are going to send a check to them today. We emailed conservationdrones.org and they said that they were very impressed with our work. They even want to post pictures of us working on our project on their website! We are very proud of Key school. There already is a team stationed in Sumatra focusing on Sumatran orangutans, but we also want them to collect data to watch the tiger's population and practices of companies threatening the Sumatran tigers habitats.  We have also asked if we could name our drone and get updates about when it is finished and is in action in Sumatra.  They are reaching out to the research team there to ask them those questions, but we wanted to ask, what do you think is a good name? Thank you for all your hard work to raise money for the Sumatran tigers! They really need your support.

Tiger Freedom Friday

By: Cristina 

On Friday Feb. 7th 2014, our school had a Tiger Freedom Friday dress down day, where all of the students that payed one dollar got to dress like tigers with orange and black clothes. We raised $145.50 altogether. Everyone had a blast and our gym teacher came to school dressed like a tiger with footie pajamas!  Other students painted their faces like tigers  and other people came with tiger ties. Our teacher came with a tiger patterned hat and a boa with orange and black clothes. We had a fantastic day on Friday!

Titan Tommy: Comic Book

Check our presentation in room 28 out!  Our Comic Book group included Diego, Nicholas, Alannah, Vith, Daylen and Molynia.

Post By: Diego Benitez

What inspired us to write this comic book was to save the tigers in Sumatra.  There are only about 400 tigers in Sumatra- that's less than the population of my own school! Now you all know what is killing them: palm oil farms! 

Now moving onto to the comic book. The comic is about Tommy the Tiger remembering his past, which is basically his mother and father dying in a fire  that the palm oil companies started in his forest. Next, he falls into toxic waste and develops powers and uses these powers to save the tigers. At the end you don't have to be a super hero to make a change- what I mean is you can do everyday things like write letters to companies.  Who we are targeting is Kellogg's cereal  because they use palm oil for their products, and it isn't deforestation free which means the Sumatran Tiger's homes are still being destroyed.

We are collecting letters by Friday, February 14th to send to Kelloggs, to let them know we care and want them to use deforestation free oil,so please bring all letters to room 33.

Donation ROAR Call 2/10/14

Remember:  ALL students who donate $5.00 or more receive our signature sticker for being a BIG supporter!  Thanks again!

• By: Nicholas Popolo

For participating in our donation drive for the Sumatran tigers, we would like to thank you for your efforts! These are the top classrooms of grades K-6 that donated the most money for this week.

Grade K

Room 10: $19.23

Grade 1

Room 11: $27.00

Grade 2

Room 13: $44.50

Grade 3

Room 21: $23.95

Grade 4

Room 28: $54.50

Grade 5

Room 31: $50.00

Grade 6

Room 33: $197.80

Today's total amount of donations is $73.40.

These are our highest donating classrooms for 2/9/14:

1st : Room 33 Total:$197.81

2nd : Room 16 Total:$128.70

3rd : Room 12 Total:$111.08

Thank you all for donating to help us raise money for our drone.We all really appreciate your thoughtfulness.                    

Today's Intercom Announcement

By: Daylen and Vith

Welcome boys and girls to our fourth segment of Stop PALMing Around!

Thank you for everyone who participated in Tiger Freedom Friday,  our sponsored dress down day! 

Todays question is, "Why do companies keep cutting down more rain forests? Don't we have enough palm oil plantations already?

The way palm oil trees are planted altogether, they use up all the good nutrients and resources in the soil very fast. After a short while, palm oil trees and any other plants can no longer grow on this land. When this happens, the farmer will not make any more money so they have to move to a new part of the forest or revive the soil they are on.

Tomorrow we are telling you about a great option palm oil companies have which is to make free palm oil! For now lets move on to our ROAR Roll call! 

The top 3 classes on the leader board are:

Room 33: 175.81

Room 16: 130.70

Room 12: 109.78

Due to the weather, our bake sale has been extended until tomorrow and we will be taking donations until tomorrow. The winning class will be announced on Wednesday morning!

REMEMBER THIS IS SERIOUS SO STOP PALMING AROUND!!!

Our Goal: A Conservation Drone

By: Jeremy Ly

You may be wondering what we are using our donation money for... The answer is a conservation drone, a little airplane that takes pictures and records wildlife. They might not sound expensive but a drone can cost up $1500 to $2000. The reason for the high price? These aren't normal airplanes, they can fly for about 25 kilometers and record for 50 minutes. They are less expensive than a satellite image and are more efficient. They can be used to find out more about the Sumatran Tigers like their population, as well as able to find out more about how palm oil plantations are affecting the forest.  This helps us find better ways to help save our tigers!

As of Friday, our total raised was $1222.50, which means we don't have much more to go!  In our last two days our goal is to make $500 more.  We can do it!

Check out this website to see EXACTLY what all of our hard earned work is going towards: 

                   http://conservationdrones.org/mission/

Donation Leader Board and a Special Shout Out!

Today our total donations came to $107.05 with Room 16 contributing the most today with $32.25!  In our bake sale we raised $147.00.  Thanks to extra support from Jezalique and Ms. Jessika for contributing baked goods for our fundraiser :)

I also wanted to pay a special shout out to Melissa, a student in Ms. Olivera's 2nd grade classroom.  She has been creating beautiful drawings and selling them to teachers and other students for our project.  So far she has raised $10.00 from her drawings, and she has even motivated 3 other students in her class to work with her!  Look out for a special interview that will be posted to our blog very soon.  We thank students like Melissa because she is helping to spread the support to her peers and teachers!  Ten finger WOO to you!


ROAR Leader Board:

Room 33: 112.81
Room 16: 109.70
Room 12: 48.68

There is only a $3.11 separating the top two classes!  Let's see who battles it out for the edge tomorrow...


Ms. Cruz

Kellogg's Letters

Update: This is the booklet of letters we created with all of the letters sent in from Key students.  Our Frosted Flakes advertisement, created by Sabrina and Angela, is placed on the front to represent the message we want to send to Kellogg's.

This is one of the letters we wrote to Kellogg's to convince them to switch to deforestation free palm oil.  We would also like if you could write to Kellogg's to show that you support the Sumatran Tigers. You don't have to be famous to make a change.

Dear Kellogg’s,

Our names are Johnathan and Laura and we are 6^th grade students from Francis Scott Key School. Our class is doing a project for the Philadelphia Zoo on Sumatran tigers with the goal of raising awareness about the Sumatran Tigers because they are losing their home do to palm oil farming. We chose your company because we wanted a big company to set standards for deforestation free oil. We understand that you're using sustainable palm oil which is a great start, but it’s better to use deforestation free palm oil. Deforestation free palm oil doesn’t destroy primary and secondary rain forests, drain peat swamps, and clear forests that contain high concentrations of carbon. We wanted to know if you would make a timeline to see when you will change to deforestation free oil.  

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Laura and Johnathon

                                                                             

DONATION TOTALS!

Great job, Key School!

Today in our bake sale we raised $105.28!  In donations today we received $124.89!  Thank you all for your generosity.

Here is our donation roll call for each leader in each grade:

1st Grade:
Room 10: $8.75

2nd Grade:
Room 21: $14.25

3rd Grade:
Room 18: $4.35

4th Grade:
Room 28: $14.00

5th Grade:
Room 31: $22.00

6th Grade:
Room 33: $97.76

TOP 3 CLASSES:
Room 33: $97.76
Room 16: $77.45
Room 12: $25.98

This is only our 2nd day of the fundraiser because of yesterday's snow day, so you still have a chance to get your class to the top!  Spread the word to family and close friends.  Educate them to motivate them to help support!  Enjoy your day off tomorrow :)

Ms. Cruz

“Roar” : Our Theme Song

(Warning: This video is for audio purposes only.  You may get dizzy if you actually watch this :)

By: Alannah Atkins and Daylen Tep

The reason we picked the song,“Roar", was because it was a song that was about tigers, so it related to our project that we are working on which is based on Sumatran Tigers. Another reason we picked it is because it is well known. We did this song because we are trying to show concern for our tigers and get Kellogg's attention to do more by using deforestation- free oil. We rewrote the chorus part of the song with the information based on our project. 

The lyrics are:

                      

                      We’ve got to save the tigers,

                      400 Sumatran Survivors,

                      Kellogg’s make change happen,

                      So we can hear them roar!

                      Without forests they are dying

                      Kellogg’s make change happen,                                         
                      So we can hear them roar.

                      Use deforestation-free-oil     

                      Deforestation-free-oil

                      Deforestation-free-oil
                      We need to do much more!

If you get the chance, sing along using our new lyrics whenever you hear this song on the radio!

                     

Our Logo and Slogan Creators Speak Out!

By: Laura Sary

Our team consists of Laura, Jezalique, Dreyanna, and Sabrina. In all of our crazy sketches  we first drew a baby tiger with an adult tiger. Next, we drew a parody of Frosted Flakes with a knock off Tony the Tiger but we named him Tommy.  We decided to make drawings on our own and so  I drew a paw with a palm oil bottle behind it. We thought it was a bit plain so Sabrina drew a baby tiger shivering, trees being burned, and trees falling to the ground in the palm oil bottle  to show what's going on in Sumatra. 

We all thought of different slogans to go with our logo and we all decided on "Stop Palming Around," because it was a good, simple, and a short idea. The slogan meant to be a play on words to, "Stop Playing Around." At first the original idea was supposed to be, "Stop Palming Around, This is Serious" but we noticed it was too long. We cut it short to the new logo so it would be catchy and easier to remember.  I really hope that you enjoy our logo and slogan- it fits!

Our Children's Book: Tiny Tommy Learns About Palm Oil!

By: Gianna Downes

Watch us read our book below!

 We made a children's book for K through 3rd graders. To come up with the title of, "Tiny Tommy Learns About Palm Oil!" it took work. First we were confused on what name to pick for the book because we wanted a name that would be good for little kids and a little bit of older kids. We kept thinking and we thought well, since Tommy learns all about palm oil and what it does to their habitats,  "Tiny Tommy Learns About Palm Oil" was a pretty good title. 

The whole children's book is mainly about Tommy the Tiny Tiger waking up, but not finding his parents. He asked his grandmom where they were and she told him they went to find them a new home before tree cutters cut theirs down. Tommy asked why they needed their trees,  and she explained that the tree cutters make palm oil from  palm trees they grow in place of their forest trees. Palm oil is in lots of things like, ice cream, cereal, cookies, and many other things. Humans can help by trying to use deforeststation-free oil.   The message behind the story is that without our help, the tigers will go completely extinct!

Introduction: Who We Are!

    We are 6th grade students from Francis Scott Key school in Philadelphia, PA and we are participating in a project for the Philadelphia Zoo called the Unless Project. Sumatran Tigers are from Malaysia and there are only 400 remaining because  palm oil farming is taking away the forests they live in!  Palm oil is in lots of things like ice cream, soaps, cookies, and cereals.  The main company we are targeting is Kellogg's because they are already taking steps to use RSPO palm oil that doesn't destroy as much of the forests-it just is NOT enough!  There are lots of names for palm oil-in fact over 170 different names can be found on the ingredients of our favorite products! For example, palmitate, stearic, palm kernel and many more.  We are students who are going to take a stand.  We are students who are going to make a difference.  We are our future, so somebody has to start caring more about our environment! We are NOT PALMING around!