No Meeting for February!

There will be no meeting on the 6th of February which is tomorrow because according to the takwim given on the beginning of the year, there will be only be meetings for permainan and unit beruniform on that date. So our next meeting is on the 6th of March, after Chinese new year ok? Do tell your Eco Rangers friends too ok.

Seco- No, Third Meeting of 2013.

Ayy. Time flies so fast, and we are already on our third meeting of the year :') Third meeting. Yes. Our first meeting was on the 9th of January and not last week. Oops, my bad.
Hmm. The number of members who brought all the materials are not satisfying. When the tiny amount  of people who brought everything raised their hands, you can clearly see the president, vice-president and Puan Ilyani's reaction.

Y U NO BRING?!?

Meanwhile, those who wanted to join the Eco Band were excused. Our form 5 senior from last year, Farah Dinah asked me to post this here. PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

Then Anati taught those who were there how to make bio-enzyme. If you are still unsure, you can check out here. Just to refresh your minds, what you need is a container where you put 1 part of fruit peel (preferably orange. Not the colour. The fruit.), three parts of sugar (brown sugar is the best) and 10 parts of water (rice water is the best!). 1:3:10 ; this is the ratio every Eco Rangers member will remember for the rest of your life.
So yeah make sure you CLOSE it and that's all! :) Now all you have to do is wait for a month if you're using rice water or 3 months if you're using plain water. Note:

1. Open the lid every day for 4-5 minutes to release the trapped carbon dioxide in the container. If you don't and decide to open it after a month, don't blame me when the container goes kaboom.
2. If there's maggots, go and add some more brown sugar. And just take a spoon/ladle/small container/plastic and throw the maggots away. 

Everyone. This is your Chinese New Year project okay? EVERY MEMBER, including those who did not come, did not bring their materials today, went for the Eco Band audition, MUST HAVE IT DONE. Bring the half-finished (since it wouldn't be a month yet) bio-enzyme of yours to school on the next meeting. You can just use the oranges you get during CNY.
Also.. try not to be too noisy during meetings please. Some of you were like old-time-friends-who-last-met-2910902930-years-ago.

For our next meeting on 6th of February, we're making.. the Eiffel Tower! the leaning tower of Pisa! candles! 

So..

• get your crayons. (this reminds me of a Korean song)
• put your used oil (from cooking, not the car or perfume) into a container/bottle
• grab some candle wicks
• have aluminium foil containers
• take your shiny scissors

and bring them! If you have any problems like not knowing how a candle wick looks like, you can try getting help from this best friend of mine. His name is Mister Google. Images.

Warning: Anati might randomly go into her surprise-I-expect-you-to-know-mode and pop out questions regarding our previous meetings to you.

Have a happy February.

P.S: There is a very high possibility of getting kicked out of Eco Rangers if you fail to bring what is asked to bring or fail to do what is asked to do. Just imagine. You have to struggle and find another club to join. And the teacher there with some of your friends will ask you why you're only joining at that time when it's already the second month. Would you be thick-skinned enough to say you were kicked out of Eco Rangers? You only have yourselves to blame if this happens. So. Do your best in Eco Rangers and do what you're supposed to do, okay? :D

First Meeting of 2013!

Assalamualaikum. Hello. Ni hao. Vannakam. Hola. And a very good day to the citizens of the world.
To those who just joined the Eco Rangers club of Sri Aman especially the form 1s, welcome and do make yourselves comfortable because you know, we don't want you to feel left out or intimidated :)
If you are visiting this blog right after you went home from school, here's a flower from me for being awesome.

Just kidding, that's not me. A member of Eco Rangers would never murder a happy living beautiful flower by cutting it just to give to someone. Here, have a cookie instead :)

Our first Eco Rangers meeting today was fabulous, with more than 90 fabulous girls coming (keep it up!). The beloved president Anati and vice-president Zulaikha asked for suggestions for the Eco Month and they did get some satisfying feedback. Do think about it too and suggest it to them during the next meeting, okay? We want something THE WHOLE SCHOOL can participate in, and it MUST be eco-related. 

Anati also briefed about the Eco Band auditions which might be held next week, or next-next week so if you're interested, get ready with your parody song(s) and recyclable items you're gonna use! Here's a video of our Eco Band performing two years ago. All of them finished their form 5s last year though :'(

Here's one of our songs which is a parody of One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful:

We need to light up the earth like nobody else

The way that we save the earth makes you overwhelmed 

But when you litter around makes us wanna yell

You don't know oh-oh

You don't know you're hurting the earth

No taking these lyrics okay. Let your creative juices flow and think of your own lyrics.
Now, for the next meeting, we're going to learn how to make Bio Enzyme! Make sure you bring these materials:

• Plastic container. CONTAINER. Not the ones you use for the food at the canteen okay.
• Fruit peels. Orange fruit peels if you can. No banana peels okay. I will also knock the heads of those who bring durian fruit peels. 
• Sugar. Brown sugar if you can. MAKE SURE YOU DON'T BRING DISSOLVED SUGAR.
• Water. Rice water if you can. 

Do remind your friends who were absent on this day. I will personally catch and interrogate anyone who do not bring these materials.
By the way do add Sri Aman Planeteers on Facebook as a friend. You can also add our president (Anati Alyaa Azhar) and vice president (Alya Zulaikha) so that you can ask them anything you're not sure of on Facebook. Don't be scared to ask them anything related to the club too when you pass them in school :)

That's all for now. Looking forward to meeting you people on the next meeting. Do write something on the chat box on the left side of this blog too. Ignore the spams. Thank you for reading.
Homework for Form 1s: Find out who I am. Hint: giraffe. Just kidding, you don't have to do this.

Recap: 9th April 2012 Meeting

Now let's get straight to the point.
As the fourth month arrived, so did the fourth meeting. Around three of our planned meetings were cancelled before that because of the BODs were tied up with SAEYLS. There was a workshop on recycling paper for group 1 in the Biology Lab from 2:30 pm to 4 pm, while group 2 learned how to make candles out of used oil in the Physics Lab also from 2:30 pm to 4 pm.
Hmm. This short post is not making me satisfied.
Fact: The last seen Great Auk (a flightless bird that looked like a penguin) was killed because people thought it was a witch! 

Recap: 27th February 2012 Meeting

How's it going, lovelies?
Note to self: Quit the cheesy introductions. /clears throat/ So.. our meeting on the February 27th recap.  To be summarized quickly, we had an epic treasure hunt. What's more epic is that there were still more than a hundred members who came even at the end of the second month. Wow.
Our new vice president, the cute Anati and our secretary, the bubbly Alya Zulaikha handled all of them quite well. Let's give them a silent moment of appreciation now, can't we?
Groups formed, clues received, every thing ran smoothly. Except... some of the last groups found out that there weren't enough clues. As quoted from original report of the meeting, either the holders ate the clues or the clues disappeared magically. Err, I as one of the clue holders strongly deny against this accusation.
Syafiqah gave an announcement. There would be eco books supplied to each member. Those would be used to accumulate eco points which can earn your more koko marks; and even a position in the board in future.
Fact: The word 'eco' is actually an Internet slang.

Recap: 6th February 2012 Meeting

Elephants can't jump. But buffaloes can roll.
Sorry, that was just my lame attempt to catch your attention. I succeeded right? Those are true by the way. Today's recap will be about our meeting on the 6th of February, or February 6th, yeah it's the same.
The Custodes Terra members were put into groups to weed the Herbs Garden, clear up the shelves at the back of Block E, clearing up the Eco Corner and so on.
Oh, there was an audition to join the Custodes Musicus (our eco band) in the school gallery. Farhanah also called out a few names she wanted to meet outside the lab immediately. Turns out she was announcing the names of the new B.O.D (Board Of Directors). 
The only horrifying thing that happened was when a potted plant got knocked over and cracked into three pieces. Rest in peace, dear pot. There wasn't an official meeting on the 13th of February, but there were Custodes Musics auditions. 
Whether you accept it or not, the first two sentences in this post are FUN FACTS. No, I won't be posting some more here. 

Recap: 30th January Meeting

Ayo whaddup?
To the beloved students out there, above there is a slang you should not use in your English essay. But hey, it's fun to use it with your friends and some might recognize where it's from /cough /cough.
Today's post will be a recap of our second meeting on the 30th January, around 9 months ago? Wow, time flies so fast. The meeting was held at the same place as the first one - Physics Lab. We got a visit from two men of YAWA (Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam); Mr. Fikri and Mr. Faiz. Our club members learned how to make bio-enzyme the correct way on that day and fortunately, nothing disastrous happened.
Meanwhile, some of the form 2s , 3s and 4s members were waiting patiently to be interviewed by Atikah, Farhana and Siti Sarah. These interviews arere the ones that will determine which member gets which position for the 2012/2013 Custodes Terra Board of Directors.
Fact: The human population on earth has grown more in the last 50 years than it did in the previous 4 million years. Hmm, I wonder how it will be in 2020? The thought frightens me somehow. 

Recap: 26th January 2012 Meeting

Greetings.
Some of you might be puzzled about the existence of this post. So, we have decided to do a 're-cap' about each of our meetings starting from the first one, you know, just to refresh your mind? Besides, this blog will be dead if nothing is posted here. OK, maybe more to hibernating then dead. Enough with the blabberings.
So on our very first meeting on the 26th of January in the Physics Lab, how surprised we were (in a good way) when we saw the number of students who signed up to become a Custodes Terra - formerly known as Eco Rangers - member!
Our beloved president Farhanah introduced about the club and there was a cool presentation for all of us. The awesome eco band also performed and after they did, almost everyone wanted to join the band.
We had a tour around the school and after we returned to the lab, Farhanah told us to bring the ingredients for our next meeting because we would be making - BIO ENZYME!
Basically, that was what happened. Fact: Using one cotton bag a year versus using and throwing away plastic bags reduces 25kg of carbon dioxide per year.

Last Meeting of 2012

Yes, it was the Eco Rangers last meeting for 2012 on the 16th of July.
But not to worry my friends, there will still be more activities for you to participate in!

That, my fellow friends, is a fictional character in a TV series called Futurama. This creature is called Dr. Zoidberg. OK, so back to the original topic. During the meeting unfortunately, some of our fellow members especially prefects were not present because they were having their installation rehearsal. 

Anyway, everyone was separated into three groups where you guys need to present a short drama that will help convey an environmental message. You guys deserve credit for doing a fantastic job :D

Before ending this post, you guys have been really wonderful members of the club and each and everyone of you are appreciated. Thank you for coming to the meetings and being cooperative. Thank you for being committed to this club. And mostly, thank you for caring for Mother Earth.

Until next time.

16/7/2012

MEETING IS ON TOMORROW AT THE BIO LAB

9/7/2012 Meeting Is On

Okay, members, there will be a meeting this Monday (9/7/2012). Bring old vegetables, fruits, weeds, anything organic and newspapers. We're going to make compost.

2nd June 2012 Meeting Is On and Ideas

Hey, people, thanks for reading this.
This Monday, on the 2nd of July 2012, there will be a meeting at the Biology Lab in Block D. Wear your PJ clothes - unless you don't mind getting dirty.
Okay, so last week, we made Shrinky Dinks; which are shrunken and hardened plastic accessories. It was kind of cool, I guess. Anyway, six of our Eco members went on an Eco trip to Sarawak to represent the club. See? If you're committed enough, teacher will pick you out for cool stuff like this. But if you don't come and you're absent often, you're probably not going to be listed.
Anyway, last week, a lot of the members were excited in making Shrinky Dinks. It was obvius by the looks on your faces. Usually, you folks look like this;

Yeah, a dead zombie. But last week, most of you were like this;

Which, to put mildly, is a good improvement. If you guys want to keep looking like the cute sponge instead of a half-resurrected human, just post in your ideas on what the club can do during meetings. Honestly, everyone's different - and I might think that cleaning and weeding out the Herbs Garden is the world's best job. But on the other hand, you might not.
So don't hesitate to give in your ideas, people. Until next time, then. ~

25th June 2012 Meeting On

Hey, people, there's going to be a meeting this Monday, on the 25th of June 2012.
We're going to make Shrinky Dinks; hardened and shrunk plastic accessories. Everyone needs to bring the following items :-

a) Plastic container with the number '6' recycling symbol.

See that picture up there? That's called a 'recycling symbol'. Recycling symbols have numbers inside the recycling arrows; which shows the identity of the plastic molecules and what type of plastic it is made out of. These containers can be found for bread, sushi, etc. Make sure it's number six if you don't want to lose a limb or something. Just kidding. Probably.

b) Coloured pens and markers

We're going to use these coloured pens and markers to decorate the plastic. If you don't want coloured, than it's okay. But remember, whatever you draw/write will shrink when the plastic shrinks.

c) Thread, string and puncher
If you punch a hole into the plastic, you can thread a piece of string through it to make it into a keychain... or something.

Okay, that's it. For people who missed the last meet, we did flower perfumes. It had an awesome smell - that sort of attracted a bee. But the bee stayed outside. Thank God. Okay, until next time, then.

18/6/2012 Meeting is On and Flower Perfumes

Yo, members, there’s going to be a meeting tomorrow, which is on the 18th of June 2012.Okay, so everyone, group 1 AND group 2, gather in the Biology Lab in Block D at2:30 pm sharp. We’re going to do something new to the club tomorrow.
Yeah, we’re going to make environmental-friendly flowerperfumes.
To make an ENVIRONMENTAL-FLOWER PERFUME, you have to bring these materials:
-        Distilled water in a container, NOT plasticbottle. We’re eco-friendly, remember?
-        Any type of flower that you want to smell like

And that’s about it. Easy things to bring, huh? We’re going to simmer the flowers in distilled water by using the beakers and Bunsen burners in the Biology Lab. The tripod stands will help, too. So, everyone, bring these materials tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll have some fun. But keep in mind that this is a new thing to the club; and we’re going to try our hands at in together.
So success is not guaranteed.
But hey, at least we tried. If anyone has any brilliant ideas they’ve come across that can help save the environment, don’t hesitate to inform us about it. So see all of you tomorrow. Until next time.

Reusing Oil : Oil Candles

REUSING OIL : OIL CANDLES

Materials :

-          Used oil/ Leftover oil

-          Hardening agent

-          Aromatic oils

-          Aluminium paper/ aluminium tins

-          Candle wicks

-          Crayons

-          Beaker

-          Bunsen burner

-          Tripod stand

Procedure:

1.       Heat up the oil in a beaker on a tripod stand using a Bunsen burner. Once there are bubbles formed in the oil, remove the tripod stand with the beaker on it; and switch off the Bunsen burner. Make sure the flame of the Bunsen burner is blue in colour.

2.       Then, put in some hardening agent and mix it well while it is still hot, to make sure the hardening agent dissolves in the oil properly.

3.       Put in the aromatic oil.

4.       Cut/shave the crayons, before putting the shavings and cuttings into the oil.

5.       Once the beaker with the oil is cooled, put it into an aluminium tin and mix it again. You will see that the crayon’s colour is added to the mixture. Once it is semi-hardened, pop in a wick.

6.       Put the aluminium tin filled with the coloured oil into a refrigerator so that it will harden faster.

SHRINKY DINKS : REUSING PLASTIC

SHRINKY DINKS : A WAY TO REUSE PLASTIC

Materials:

-         Coloured pens/permanent markers

-         Sandpaper

-         Scissors

-         Puncher

-         String

-         Oven

-         Petri dish

-         Oven

-         Oven gloves/ oven mitts ( to protect your hands when using the oven)

-         Clear plastic container

Procedure:

1.     Cut the clear plastic containers into the shapes desired. Then, sand one side of it lightly with sand paper. A bigger piece of plastic will shrink into a bigger piece when heated in an oven. When a piece of plastic is too small, it might sometimes shrink to such a small size that it will not produce the wanted effect.

2.     Punch a hole in the piece of plastic that is cut out. Remember; leave some space for pictures and words you might want to draw or write on it. This hole will also shrink to a small size when the plastic is heated.

3.     Draw on the piece of plastic that is cut out of the container with coloured pens or permanent markers. Leave the plastic for a few minutes to make sure the ink on it is dry. You can draw a picture, or even write words. But keep in mind when the plastic is heated; the picture and words will shrink along to a smaller size.

4.     Next, put the piece of plastic onto a petri dish and pop it into the oven to be heated for up to 3 minutes; give or take a little. Don’t get distracted; it takes a couple of minutes, but when the plastic shrinks; it happens quickly. If it is left for too long, the plastic will melt instead, so be careful. The new hardened and shrunken accessory-like product is called the ‘shrinky dink’.

5.     Take out the petri dish containing the shrink dink, and leave it outside to cool down. Once it has cooled down, you can pop a piece of string if you want to.

Why do plastic shrink?

Plastis are made of long chain-like molecules called polymers. Polymer chains are very long, so they can be manipulated to create a wide-range of properties, in this case for #6 plastic, polystyrene. Polystyrene is a thermosplastic, meaning the long polymer chains are heated and stretched, then cooled to form the plastic sheet when sanded using the sandpaper. The polystyrene remains in this stretched out state, unless something causes it to change. The cool thing about thermoplastics is that upon reheating plastic, it reverts to its original state. In other words; it shrinks. This is the same process used to ‘shrink wrap’ items like food containers or other products that have protective plastic wraps.

               Examples of shrinky dinks; but on opaque pieces of plastic.

Yo, people, as you know; meeting is cancelled tomorrow (11/6/2012).
The meetings has been cancelled a lot lately, but don't worry; we'll get back on track soon. Honestly, I didn't think anyone would read this; just blogwalkers who pass by... and other creatures. But someone posted in that chatbox thing as >_< , that they wanted eco fcts and stuff to lighten things up.
So here I go. These are animal facts because they're sort of cool, i guess.

 - Snails can sleep up to 3 years.
 - Cats have 32 muscles in each ear.
 - Elephants are animals with the longest period of pregnancy at a whopping 22 months.
 - Snakes excrete in the form of red powder.
 - When an octopus bites its prey, it will secrete a poison that will paralyze said prey. But the poison is not strong enough to hurt a human, so you probably don't have to worry.
 - A Piraiba Catfish can growl as angry as a rabid dog when caught.
 - The Candiru Catfish in the Amazon River is small enough to enter your urethra and stay there.
 - The Cookie Cutter Shark is named that way because of the way it eats - It will latch on to its target with sharp teeth; twist its body around and get a chunk off.
 - Cheese is not good for mice, as it disturbs their digestive system. A smart mouse might not fall for the cheese in the moustrap trick.

That's all I know, thanks to Animal Planet and Discover Channel. Here are some links about saving the planet. It's seriously cool, so you should seriously take a look at it. Real sweet.

The Animals Save the Planet - Supermarket Bags 
tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBZdUA8zxJ0

I don't know if the link worked or not, but check it out. It's a bunch of shows under 'The Animals Save the Planet'. If animals can do it, we can do it too. Okay, gotta rush - Later.

Meeting cancelled 11/6/2012

Members, there won't be a meeting tomorrow, which is the 11th of June 2012, since nearly everyone will be busy and tied up with their sports house practice. All the best for Sports Day.

Meeting cancelled (14/5/2012)

There will be no meeting on the 14th of May 2012. Which is tomorrow. Uh, on Monday. Tomorrow Monday. No meeting. Sorry for the late post.

No Meeting on the 7/5/2012

Exams are coming, so we decided to give you girls time to study!
So there is no meeting on the date above.
Good luck for your exam! :D