Teen life in the 70s and 80s

The school year has started again and we’re back in Pikkola from pastures green. That also means we’re continuing with the blog with a new bunch of people.


Our first task was to interview mum or dad and ask them what it was like to be a teenager in the 70s or 80s. Our students came up with some really interesting stories!


Everybody has to look the same in 80s. Teenagers used Dallas or Micmac jeans or neon colour gollege shirt. You couldn’t wear hat in winter, even if there was -20 degrees. If you needed to call to your friend you needed to use a landline. If you wanted to listen music without vinyl, you needed to record from the radio to cassette. You wanted watch music videos you needed to go to music shop and watch there. But after the MTV came and there you could see videos more often. My mum used to listen Mötley Crue, Twisted Sisters, Eppu Normaali and Scorpions.
John Carrot




I interview my mom. So mom, what was your teenage like?

- My teenage and childhood was pretty free and safe, I travel on my own, and with my friends a lot.

Hazel Hills
 
I interviewed my father, what was like to be a teen in the 80s. He told me some things:
It was so easy find something to do. Sport hobbies was popular and everything was better than now. Everybody was listening radio more than now! Some bands and singers was really popular and if somebody of famous persons use T-shirt, you had to use T-shirt too if you didn´t want be different than other people. Moving from place to place was more limited. At the time wasn’t mobile phones but satellite phones was new thing.
Anthon Plant


Mum:” When I was teenager, we usually just took our bikes and went to ask our friends out.We were with our friends a lot, and had a good time. We went to the Disco. All of my friends lived in my neighborhood. I had a lot of friends. I lived in Länkipohja with my Dad and two little brothers. My grandmother lived next to our house.
I listened a lot of music, and I collected music cassettes. I liked AC/DC the most! It was a trend to dye hair two coloured with a permanent and use leggings with leopard spots. My favorite TV show was definitely Dallas. I always had to watch it!”
Ida Receipt




It was different to what we have today. Schools had groups for students, depending how good they are. There was no extra classes, so back then you couldn’t just choose what you want to study. People who went with motorcycles didn’t use helmets to protect themselves. Cigarettes were sold to 16 year olds. The clothes were a lot different to this day. Parents’ word meant a lot more than today. There was no mobile phones, only landline telephones in homes. No microwave or computers. There was a lot of summer jobs for everyone, when looking to today’s place there is almost no job.
Jesse Newhill




Dad: “I lived in Tampere and I studied there too. My hobby was ice-hockey. I and your mum travelled a lot both in Finland and all around Europe by motorcycle.
We teenagers went often to Discotheque in the evenings. Disco music was really hot!
There wasn´t mobile phones in 80´s. There was only few car phones.”

Mum: “I lived in Kangasala with my family but I studied in Tampere. I liked to made clothes. People wore neon colored clothes and shoulders of the jackets were heavily topped. Trousers were loose but trouser legs tight. Gym trousers were very popular. I spent lots of time with your dad. In summers I took bike and drove to the beach with my friends.”

Katy Strawberry




My mom´s teen years in 70´s. Mom told just about fashion and music…

Hai-boots, flared pants and polo shirt were things which were in everyone´s wardrobe. Everyone (in Finland) listened Finnish rock from their cassette players.
Summer

When my dad was teenager he play lots of ice hockey and they didn´t play computer games. In fashion was boots. When they want buy something they must to do lots of work. My dad worked in farm. He have four brother and they play games and go swim often. When they go swim they must go with bike. The nearest swim place was six km away. My father’s first moped was pappatunturi. When my mother was teenager she lived in farm. They had many animals for example bulls, cows, chickens and pigs. In fashion was jeans called Levis. School was almost same as today.
Edward Einstein




I interviewed my dad what was it like to be a teenager in the 80s and here are some of his thoughts about it.
First he told me about that there wasn´t any mobile phones or any personal phones. So if you wanted to meet a friend, and he lived close you probably walked to him asked him out. That meant more walking and other physical activity even without going to gym. You also met your friends face to face more often. In general children and teens were with their friends more and played yard games with neighbours.
TV and music players were not so advanced. First there were only three channels and they weren´t sending programs round-the-clock. Then came some American channels like MTV and TV, music and styles regenerated.

In the 80s there were seasonal general styles unlike nowadays when everybody chooses his own style. One of the most visible general styles was neon colours. Childhood lasted longer and children were not trying to look like adults.

If you compare 80s to nowadays you will note that many things were harder. Today you can meet your friends and whole world trough internet and almost everyone has a chance to be global.
World has changed so much in 25 years.

John Bush




When my dad was teenager in 70s there weren´t any computer games and all guys did a lot of sports. They had very much hobbies too and they were usually with friends in outside. If they had to tell something to friend they used landline or they wrote a letter.
In summer my dad usually went to farm where his cousins lived. There were many things to do. When he went swimming with friends they rode with a bike to a lake.
When my mum was teenager their family had cows and chickens. They had a tractor called Ford super dexta.
Quarts clocks and boots were in fashion. President in our country was Urho Kekkonen. First pizzas came to Finland.
John Potato




I’ve asked from my mom what was like teenagers life in the 80s and this is what she told. Teen’s had no mobile phones. All families didn’t have computer. They listened music from radio or from c-cassette player. They recorded favorite artist’s songs to the cassettes from the radio or they bought the official cassette. Someone idealized about rock music someone about punk. Those who liked punk music had the Iroquois, safety pin piercings and there were chains hanging from their clothes. Color programmers became common on TV but there were only few channels to watch. School classes were big and there were over a thousand students in Pikkolan School. In school among other things there were as an elective subject’s households, crafts and wood and forestry. Girls had lot of crimped hair. Teen’s also tuned their mopeds and field cars and they drove them on the ice and fields. There were also many different Nintendo’s game consoles. Suosikki magazine appeared and there were lot of fan posters from different bands in it. Friends who lived further sent postcards.
Jim Smith




When my mother was a teenager, she used to listen a lot of music. Her favourite artists back those days were Teddy Boy and Dingo. She was also into sports. As hobbies, she had a lot of sports.
At the pastime, she was busy with her hobbies, and when she wasn’t, she used to hang out at Hämeenkatu with her friends and listened to music. back in the 70s/80s, teenagers were really into sports and music, that’s what my mother told me.
Nick Birch


I interviewed my mom. She told me something about things when she was teen at 70s/80s. She told me `It was boring time´. They doesn´t have any technical equipment and she doesn´t have very good relations with her family. Teens´ doesn´t talk straight to their parents and my mother wasn´t exception. But they were very kind and they respect very much teachers. But the end of 80s there was some technical things. When she and other teens were little bit older they interested about traveling but my mom can´t travel because her parents scare too much. My mom told me that the 80s style was very weird, they wear almost everything.                                                

Tom George

In the 80s popular tv programmes wore Dynasty and Night rider. Movies like Dirty Dancing and Back to the future were big hits.
Fashion of the 80s was colorful with neon colors and women wore huge shoulder pads. Popular brands to ware wore Kappa and Lacoste. If you had to wear glasses they would be huge! Hair style for the girls was perm with long back hear and boys had mulled hair.
Sony Walkman was a huge success it was a portable cassette player. Famous bands wore Franky goes to Hollywood, Depeche mode and Modern talking.

Tiffany Tree

WRITE a poem and WIN!

Now it's YOUR TURN!

Write your own poem about the environment. If you want, you can use the words given below.

 

For example:

”Are you a mellow fellow? / Do you live on Kilimanjaro? / Protect the earth and be alert / Don’t do any dirt… Yo!”

 

”Nature is mellow / There are bananas which are yellow.”

 

See! Easy, isn’t it?

 

Send the poem to Antti Korpinen via Wilma or email: bigcolafor21@gmail.com.

Contest ends on May 11th.

The best poem from each grade (7th, 8th, 9th) wins a prize!

 

earth             green            pollution        planet            environment tomorrow      greed

birth              bean              contribution  talent            firemen         borrow          bleed

worth            clean             evolution       granite          silent             sorrow           seed

mirth             mean             execution      planted          arrogant        bizarro          lead

dirt                seen              revolution     manic            important      Kilimanjaro   read

alert              queen            solution         panic             government  pharao          speed

dessert          teen               confusion      organic          violent           yellow           succeed

hurt               sunscreen      resolution      stranded        experiment   mellow          indeed

 

 

Earth Day

I don't know if you knew already, but on April 22nd is Earth's birthday... sort of.


On that day we'll celebrate Earth Day in order to make people more aware of the problems and challenges but also the opportunities Earth and everyone on it are currently facing. That includes us people but not exclusively. We're not alone living on this planet, you know.


The BigCola students were asked to share their thoughts on an environmental topic of their choice. Have you ever wondered why it's called nuclear power plant when plants normally look like this?
 

A letter to all people

Everybody just think how they use the envinronment. They can’t damage the nature. They can’t build buildings a middle of somewhere, just that because that’s funny a ruin nature. Think about the animals. They can’t survive without a nature. Nature is their place to live. There is food and protection. When we are going to walk in woods, there are fresh air. It’s good thing, so why we should ruin that? All of you are stupid if you destroy the environment. 

Marie Fields

 

Recycling

Everyone in this world should be recycling different things. You may ask why? There is lot of reasons to do that. If nobody wouldn`t recycle the world would get polluted in hours even in weeks! We couldn´t live anymore in this unique world. Animals would die and different plants and trees for gone forever. So you should now know more than you did two minutes ago. It´s for your own best to recycle and do your own part of saving the planet. Many people thanks you for helping the environment from pollution by your recycling and help.

Eric Beach

 

A cry for recycling

Recycling doesn’t harm anybody, but not doing so does. The environment is suffering from the human race’s greed which leads to more producing of useless things and more buying of that stuff. But buying is not the worst, but wasting the products you have bought is. Slowly but steadily the planet is covered under bigger waste mountains, and progressive wasting of the precious natural resources is tiring the environment out leading to vast deserting and extinction of many different species. The amount of clean environment and water is rapidly decreasing and the amount of people who suffer from hunger is likewise growing steadily. The terror of waste is enormous.

So please, don’t buy things if you know you’re gonna throw them away sometime soon anyway. Don’t buy with feeling but with need and reason. Aim to recycle all of your waste, at least as much as possible, even just a little is more than nothing. You can always try to reuse your stuff and clothes or take them to the flea market or give them in charity. Take food on your plate only the amount you can eat, not anymore. If you take only little at a time you can go and get some more if you’re still hungry after eating it.

Don’t waste. Recycle. It’s your responsibility for the nature and for the future.

Eve Baggins

 

What can I do to save energy?

People waste energy almost more than they produce. That is a thing to be considered when planning your own energy consumption. If people saved more energy there wouldn’t be so much nuclear waste and other harmful wastes such as carbon dioxide (CO₂). There are few ways to save electricity and reduce energy consumption.

1. Try not to use electricity so much. People need electricity to live and survive, but you can always save electricity simply just by turning off the lights and other electronic devices, like computers while not using and televisions when not watching.
2. Favor green energy. Like solar panels and wind power. They can sometimes be more expensive but they are totally worth it. Many power providers have different plans for people who want to use green energy. For example if you live in Finland there’s Fortum which has plans for that.
3. Sort your rubbish. That’s the simplest thing to do in this list and it really helps the energy consumption. The wastelands need power too to ignite and burn their rubbish and that’s lots of power needed to do that. So recycling and sorting your rubbish is easy to do.
4. Use mass transportation vehicles like busses and trains instead of your own car or taxi. They use more fuel which makes them to consume more energy per unit. If we all used mass transportation we could reduce some waste produced and we would have more energy to use with other devices.
5. Turn devices on low power consumption. That helps a lot for example if you watch a video on your computer, turn the power consumption down, because you don’t need the computer running at its full power while watching a video instead of working.
6. Prefer short shower turns instead of long ones. Other way to save electricity through saving water is to use showers and not things like Saunas and baths. You don’t have to stop using them but surely you can reduce the usage.

We can save energy together, not alone so next time you watch TV or take a baht, remember how you could help the world by just switching power off or taking a shower instead. There are lots of things you can try and I’ll guarantee there is a way every one can help. We need to do something to help our planet and that time is now or never!

Alan Richards

 

The Earth Has Had Just About Enough

Our Earth. Our actions. Our responsibility.

We can do a lot for our environment. Recycling and using less electricity will lead to good results. Do we really want to live on a planet full of trash? I dont think so. Its not too late yet, but it will be some day if we dont make a change now.

Julie Hale

Nature’s Beauty

Long trees, darks forests, long and cold winters and lots of snow. The weather is cold and snowing. Or it is windy and raining, or hot, but everything is green and fields are blooming. To us this sounds ordinary, but to someone who doesn’t live here this is beautiful and exotic.

To us small roads and old buildings. Historical cities and rainforests and huge mountains are beautiful and amazing. We are never happy about where we live. There is always more place more beautiful. You should just step back and think about things that are typical to you but something amazing and magical to someone else.

You are never happy with what you have. There is always some place more beautiful and somewhere you want to go. Usually we take what we have for granted until we don’t have it anymore. So I think we should protect and take care of what we have because it disappear before we notice.

You can help by doing little things, like sorting your rubbish, switching the lights off or you can pick up a random garbage from the ground and put it in a garbage can.

By doing those little things you really can make a difference, even if it doesn’t feel like it at first.

Alice River

 

Endangered Creatures

There is many endangered animals and insects on Earth. Some of them live in jungles and mountains and some live in oceans and skies. There are some federations and companies who are really trying to save these animals. WWF is an international federation which is constantly working on spreading the word of endangered animals and environment and trying to fix the problems humans have with nature. Many people don’t understand how serious problem extinction is. When an animal is extinct it will not come back. Animals like Amur Leopard, Black Rhino and Cross River Gorilla are critically endangered. I think more people should focus more on saving the animals that are about to disappear. Animals is legacy of the Earth and we should take care of them.

Calvin W. Hill

 

Recycling

Recycling is easy way help our environment. You just must put your trash to right basket. You can recycle for example your bike. You can sell that bike or if you can´t sell it you must go in trash station.
But remember if you start recycling you must remember put trash right place.

Michael Hill

Our Earth

Look around you. What do you see? Have you ever been hiking in the wiId? I have. It’s so beautiful, pure and relaxing. You can feel the wind on your face and smell the fresh air. It makes you feel calm and gives you strength. We have to think how we live to give others these kind of experiences and to enjoy them ourselves in the future, too.

Think how extraordinary our nature is. It is so unique and wonderful. Our earth is created for us and we have to take care of every part of it including its animals, plants and nature. We can’t think just ourselves, business and money.

Sometimes it’s difficult to make choices because ecological and national products are much more expensive. And I’m really not perfect ether. If I had more money I’d buy finish food and products. But even I’m just sixteen I can effect a bit. Of course there is much more important things in the world, family for example. I think we don’t have to panic or stop using airplanes or something more radically but we can do something, we can recycle. And I think it’s worth it.
Charlotta Snowhill

A letter to all people

Why shouldn’t the Earth be taken care of?
When you put it that way, I bet you find no logical reason. And still, out there, there’s rubbish everywhere, because people are too lazy to pick up their own trash and take it to the recycle bin. They can’t look far enough to see the consequences of the small things they do.
Which takes less effort: taking your own rubbish to the bin than, in a few years, having to try and save the environment that people have already destroyed with their selfish actions? I think we all know the answer.

Marie Cain

 

A Letter to All People!!

So, when did you last time had a good glance around you? The environment is dying, have you noticed that? And that’s just not enough!! I’d always loved nature and nature all around my home. But two years ago, right there where I live, the machines came and destroyed all the beauty. The beauty of the trees and grass and all the flowers!! They destroyed it just to make A STUPID PARKING LOT BIGGER!! God, it made me angry. So as you now see, just harming the environment with carbon dioxide gasses, nuclear wastes and rubbish isn’t enough for you, you have to DESTROY IT!!?? WHY!!?? Okay, maybe the trees went to paper factory and I use paper when I draw and I draw A LOT but still. Why do you destroy the nature just to make some more fun and space for yourself? It annoys me.

I like the idea that people would use electric-cars but that won’t help either. It will just produce more rubbish everywhere. As we use electricity, we need it more and more and that’s when nuclear power comes alive. It produces so much power and makes so much electricity that people are happy to use more and more electricity at home. Tv, computers, laptops, freezers, fridges, electric saunas, chargers, more lamps, all kind of machines. I’ll tell you that I’m guilty too, I use a charger to charge my smartphone, I use laptop and because I’m scared to be home alone I switch on all the lights and Tv and my stereos. I use pretty much electricity too, don’t I?

And the rubbish, god, please. Why can’t people carry their rubbish to those stupid trashcans!? Why do you have to throw your paper rubbish, gums etc. to the trees? Think about this. If you someday buy a pet, a puppy and you have to take it out for a walk and then it eats someone’s gum and papers and then chokes and dies? How would you feel? These problems are everyday thing to the wild animals.

And all the waste you throw to the lakes and to the waters will pollute the water. And maybe someday you’ll have to drink that water. Even when the waters are cleaned, it doesn’t mean that the water is 100% clean and healthy. Just think about it.

I don’t mean that everybody behaves like this. There are many cities and countries that behave and look after nature. I’m happy about that. I just want to tell you that if you keep harming the nature you’ll someday harm yourself. That’s the point. If there’s no trees, grass, animals or enough oxygen in the air, we’ll disappear, you know. I hope people could understand that we need nature to live our happy lives.

Roxie Bluerose

 

The earth is doing just fine!

See, there is not nothing to worry. Really? I do not think so. If you just think that the earth is doing fine, you are totally wrong. The earth is not doing just fine! Not at all! And it is because us, human. We are the reason to everything what is happened the earth. We harm vegetation, we cut rainforest, we bur flue, we rubbish and most of all we do not protect the nature well at all! And now we think, why wilds animals are extinct, all in the world talk about climate change and how bad thinks are in the world just right now. So, what have we do about it? Almost nothing! Okay, some people are smart and star recycling thinks and sort they waste to protect the nature, but most of us do not nothing to protect nature. It is sad but true. We know about climate chance and we know that it is important to protect nature, but we do not really do nothing for it. Is it so hard to recycle thinks or sort rubbish? No, it is not so hard. It maybe take some time and patience but it word do it. Start it now! Better later or never! And you can feel proud of yourself! Then you know that you are not a one of those ass holes who do not take care about the nature! You are a superhero, because you care about the nature, the earth and the future! You make the earth to better place to live!

Emily Pommes

Welcome to the BigCola blog! Tervetuloa BigCola blogiin!

Welcome to the BigCola blog! Tervetuloa BigCola blogiin!

This blog is updated regularly by students of the 8th and 9th grade students of Pikkola school who have chosen the optional course English in-depth.

Tätä blogia ylläpitävät säännöllisesti Pikkolan 8. ja 9. luokan oppilaat, jotka ovat englannin syventävällä valinnaiskurssilla.

On this course, we focus on all aspects of the English language. So if you want to learn a lot of new English words, to speak English more fluently, to write your own texts in English and, in general, to challenge yourself in the English, this course might be for YOU. Feel free to browse through this blog and see some examples of the things we've done on this course. The course is recommended to students who have a grade of 8, 9 or 10 in English. Hope to see many of you on this course!

Tällä kurssilla keskitytään englannin kielen kaikkiin osa-alueisiin. Jos haluat oppia paljon uusia englanninkielisiä sanoja, puhumaan englantia sujuvammin, kirjoittamaan omia englanninkielisiä tekstejä ja ylipäätään haastaa itsesi englannin saralla, tämä kurssi on tarkoitettu SINULLE. Selaile tätä blogia nähdäksesi esimerkkejä tehtävistä, joita olemme kurssilla tehneet. Kurssia suositellaan oppilaille, joiden englannin arvosana on 8, 9 tai 10. Toivottavasti näemme monet teistä englannin syventävällä kurssilla!

Twitter exercise

Mieti alleviivatuille sanoille suomennokset tai selitykset.

Twitter is an online social networking service. It’s also called a microblog.

A Twitter message is called ‘a tweet’. The length of one tweet is 140 characters.

The word ‘twitterature’ comes from two words: Twitter and literature.

Here are three examples of twitterature or twitter poetry (= a poem with 140 characters or less). Think Finnish translations for the underlined words.

“He played his music / I wrote the songs / in love / we were invincible” (64 characters)

“Love the sea / fear the tide / footprints and words / till none of me remains” (71 characters)

“I love thee / But I fear the sea / No longer will I fight / ‘Cos I can’t find the light” (80 characters)

Now, write your own “Twaiku” (= Twitter poem) or piece of Twitterature about friendship or love in your notebook. If you want, you can use the words given below.

                      love               sea                fight              girl                nice               close

above            me                 right              curl                advice           nose

dove              tree               night              pearl             price              rose

glove             tea                 kite                swirl              ice                 knows

shove             a.s.a.p.          light               hurl               guys               toes