Cotton is a soft fibre that grows from the seeds of the cotton plant. The fibre is long and thin, like hair. After the cotton fibre is gathered from the plant, it can be made into thread. The cotton thread can then be made into cloth. The cloth can be used to make clothes for people and many other things. Cotton clothing is very nice to wear, especially in hot weather, and is easy to move around in.
There are different types of cotton plants. Some cotton plants grow wild in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. This is how cotton was discovered many years ago. Most of the cotton gathered to make cloth comes from crops grown on cotton farms. Cotton farms can be found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas. All parts of cotton plants are useful.

Cotton is a natural fibre harvested from the cotton plant. Cotton is one of the oldest fibres with traces of cotton over 7,000 years old recovered from archaeological sites. Cotton is also one of the most used natural fibres in existence today, with people everywhere wearing and using cotton for various purposes. Millions of acres globally are used to produce cotton, whether it be new world cotton, with longer, smoother fibres, or the shorter and coarser old world varieties.

In our second Planet Money T-shirt podcast we hear the interesting story of a Brazilian cotton farmer called Pedro.

In March, 2013 we visited Paris and Strasbourg in France.  This video is over an hour long and divided as follows:

0-7.10: Eiffel Tower

7.10-10.30: Open top bus tour

10.30-23:10: Champs Élysées; Arc de Triomphe; Louvre; Irish Embassy

23.10-28:40: Versailles

28:40-45:15: Ecole Elémentaire Bouchesèche HOENHEIM, Strasbourg; Maginot Line

45:15-64:40: European Parliament; European Court of Human Rights

64:40-68:10: Strolling the streets of Strasbourg; GAA football match;

68:10-71:40: Our final day and journey home.

Link

We were all excited when Pádraig Fitzsimons came from the Primary Planet magazine to present our award for winning their TPP video advert competition.  The Primary Planet is Ireland’s first magazine for children and we get it at school. We won 3 laptops and a camcorder for our school. GreenIT were the sponsors of the competition and our teacher won a weekend away. In second place came Windgap N.S from Kilkenny followed by Scoil Chóca Naofa, Kilcock, Co. Kildare.

Then we had a raffle for a laptop for one of the pupils. Everyone in the Senior room who helped make the video had their name in a hat. I couldn’t believe it when Pádraig Fitzsimons pulled my name out!!

I was very happy. Then Rebecca’s name was pulled out for a TPP hoodie. A photographer took photos and everyone had a great day. 🙂 View our winning video advert here. By Amy, 6th class.

As we look back on the past week we remember what a great adventure we had. We travelled by car, plane, bus, metro, RER train, TGV, coach, tram, boat and taxi. And, of course, we walked a lot!

We had a brilliant week in Paris and Strasbourg. My favourite trip was to the Eiffel Tower. 🙂 Justin.

We had a really good week in France.  It was nice to meet all the French pupils and visit their school. 🙂  Rebecca.

We had such a fun week in France. We saw so much, and we all got to do some shopping in Gap :-p Amy.

I really enjoyed France this week. We saw lots of different things and they all were really good! There were lots of great opportunities. Really enjoyed visiting the school in Strasbourg. Thanks Mr. Ó Beirn!  Rachel 🙂

It was great to visit France!! It was such a good opportunity to visit all the wonderful things. We saw things from markets to the Eiffel Tower. Marie 😀

It was great fun. Ice-cream in France is great. We were really lucky and got to see famous buildings such as the Palace of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower. All in all a great trip.  ENDA 😛

Had a wonderful time in France. Have great memories to cherish. You’re a fantastic group to be with. Thanks for bringing me. Sandie 🙂

We’ve arrived safely in Manchester. Our flight for Knock leaves at 10.35. It is due to leave on schedule and we hope to see everyone again at 12 noon. In the meantime it’s off to check out the duty free. 🙂