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School & Career, Written By You

Do You Hate School Uniform? – Written By You

My name is Daisy, I’m eleven years old and although I am English, I have lived in Germany nearly all my life! I speak German and English and can read and write both too. I enjoy writing and listening to music and am the middle child of three. My mother is an author.

Does your school have a school uniform? Having to wear those scratchy skirts? Tight stockings? With our normal clothes, you can show what kind of person you are! You can send a message out to the world with how you dress, what makeup you were and how you have your hair done!

School uniforms are stopping all this. Not being allowed to choose what to wear seems so unfair! Wouldn’t it be fair if we could choose if we wanted uniforms or not? People are debating on school uniforms and deciding if they should stay!

Science, Nature and Tech

Winter Wonderings – Are Snowflakes Really All Different?

It’s a common belief that no two snowflakes are the same, and in a way this is true. No snowflake can ever be completely identical to another, because when you get down to the molecular level they will have slightly different kinds of water molecules, different electrons and different traces of other materials such as specks of dust.

However, if we’re talking only about the appearance and shape of a snowflake, then yes it is possible that some will have duplicates. Snow crystals can vary from fairly simple, hexagonal structures to the more complex and delicate shapes that we commonly think of as snowflakes.

The simple flakes have far fewer molecules than their larger cousins and so it’s entirely possible that you could find two that appeared identical when viewed through a microscope. The more complex structures, however, can have more than a hundred different features and each feature can form in a number of different ways. This makes it highly unlikely that you would ever find two large snowflakes that looked the same – but you could have fun trying!

For a more detailed explanation of the science behind the forming of snowflakes, check out this video

School & Career

Tips for Moving to a New School

Moving to a new school is always scary, whether you’re moving from primary school to high school or into a new school in a different area. What can you do to make it easier?

My kids are old hands at this because they’ve moved school so often, even going into schools in a new country where they haven’t known the language. We’ve lived in Germany, Switzerland and UK and they’ve been to local schools speaking German, French and English. It wasn’t ever easy but they’ve made great friends who they still keep in touch with now that they’ve moved on.

I asked them for their advice on moving to a new school.

Art & History

Great Women You Should Know: Joan Whittington

You might know about the very important work the Red Cross does all over the world to help people in a crisis. Wherever there is war or natural disaster, their familiar symbol can be seen on flags above makeshift hospitals and parcels of emergency food supplies.

You probably know less, though, about the brave and generous individuals who dedicate their lives to the Red Cross. These people work tirelessly to help those in need and seek no recognition for what they do, but recently we came across the story of a real-life heroine that more people need to know about.

Science, Nature and Tech

It’s genetic, isn’t it?

Genetics is the study of how genes are inherited in a population. A scientist interested in genetics is a geneticist. If something is genetic, that means it is passed to you by your Mum and Dad. You inherit genes from your parents.

Genes control most aspects of human life, from eye colour to how fast you can run. There are some fun ways to demonstrate genetics in your own family.

Take tongue rolling. The ability to roll your tongue is what we call a dominant trait. If you have the gene for tongue rolling you will be able to roll your tongue.