We Are the World
by Miss Baker
I just had to pass this on. Mrs. Delgais told me about a website called Free Rice. On the site you can practice your SAT vocabulary and for every correct vocabulary word you get, a donation of 20 grains of rice is made to help end world hunger! There are a few science terms in the list. I spent some time there and managed to donate over 5000 grains. How many will you donate?
In honor of this great website, I’ve posted the We Are the World music video on our video page. You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by this song. If the video looks familiar that’s because the PCR video was a spoof of this video! Ask your parents if they remember the original.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Wow! That was really moving. It was fun to see old singers in there. I asked my parents about the song and they said they remembered it! That is really cool. I tried the SAT vocabulary thing and I got up to 160 grains of rice! ( I hope that is good, as i need work on my vocab!) HAHA! Cool site!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I just went to the Free Rice website and donated 720 grains of rice, plus i was learning new words that i had never heard before. I spent like 5 minutes to get 720 but to get 5000 thats a lot of time and brains
That video was very nice to see that people can get together and sing.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
That is very cool! I will make sure that I will go on this website many of times. But even though I know I am suppose to answer my own questions but why in the world did they choose rice? but also as i was researching I learned many things about world hunger. For one I learned that the action needed comes in three forms;influencing public policy, contributing financially, and working directly with poor poeple.One of the countrys suffering from this is called Angolia. Angolia has just ended a 27 year old civil war and with war comes tragedy. In this case it is hunger and starvation. Not only that, but the doctors there are only quacks because technology is not up to par and they are lacking medical scholars. ANd due to less money Angolia’s rations were cut short to about450,00 people! So hopefully Free rice is helping ANgolia and many other countries around the world.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I was really impressed by the SAT words that were donated to rice. It’s a smart idea to do something like that, since it not only benefits individuals but the world in a much greater cause. I was wondering how they got the money to provide for all the rice that would be given, and it says that the advertisements at the bottom of the screen pay for the rice that is given away. It is also a non-profit organization.
“Add your name to the One Campaign, where several million people have already joined together “as One” to end hunger and extreme poverty. If enough people join, dreams for a better world can be made into reality very quickly. ”
It also listed a way for us to help become involved and stop world hunger. I went to the one campaign website to find out more about it and they had a quote that relates to a past blog post since it was quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. so I was ecspecially interested.
“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
My interpretation of this quote is that just because of the way our world is now doesn’t justify anything with the extreme situation we are dealing with against poverty. In fact, with the increase in technology and communication it should become a more vital priority.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Wow, that is a really cool website. I like that it really goes right to the people that need it so much. I’ve spent 5 minutes on it so far and have already donated 440 grains so if I keep going it could get pretty high. Hopefully, the people that look on our blog all over the world will see that and word will get out. Its easy and you can still make even a small difference with that.
I like the video, it is really touching. Also, it is sad but in a good way, if that is possible?
Thanks for posting this!
January 29th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I ended up giving 2000 pieces of rice. This is kind of cheating but it is saving lives, if you dont know the answer you could look up the word. Saving someones lives is as eask as vocab and possibly a little dictionary work. It is that easy so instead of sitting around and saying we cant do anything we can do something as simple as answer questions to give deprived people food. When i watched the video i recognized a few of the singers. My dad watched it too and he recognized them all and he knew the original song. I think it is great that those celebertines sang a song about the world and helping those in need. Seariously saving lives doesnt always mean putting up a fight, it can be extremely easy and stress free.
January 29th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I just went on the Free Rice website and donated 400 grains of rice! Some words were easier to define than others however. I looked around on the Free Rice website and found out that it automatically adjusts to a persons vocabulary. If you get a word right, you go to a harder level and are asked harder words. If you get a word wrong, you get an easier word and go to an easier level. There are 50 levels in all however, it is very difficult to make it all the way to even level 48. I’ve never heard of this website before until now and it’s truly amazing how by getting a vocabulary word correct, we are saving many lives of starving people around the world.
January 29th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Wow, this is really cool. I can build on my vocabulary and stop world hunger, whats not to love. I think this program really motivates people to study their vocabulary words.
I was wondering how this whole system could possibly work. So i did a little research and found out how the Free Rice program really works. The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of the vocabulary screen. This is regular advertising for these companies, but it is also something more. Through their advertising at FreeRice, these companies support both learning (free vocabulary for everyone) and reducing hunger (free rice for the hungry).
Free Rice runs the sight at no profit. The rice is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The World Food Program is the world’s largest food aid agency, working with over 1,000 other organizations in over 75 countries.
When you play the game, advertisements appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these advertisements is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.
This is a really cool game that is going to a great cause. Everyone should play!
January 29th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Free Rice has also received praise in the press.
“What if just knowing what a word meant could help feed hungry people around the world? Well, at FreeRice it does . . . the totals have grown exponentially.”
- The Washington Post
“Freerice.com is an international, viral sensation. Folks from Thailand to Germany and India are just as enthusiastic . . . improving thousands of lives, all with a simple, collective, click of a mouse.”
- CBS Evening News
January 29th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
thats a really cool website! I have never seen a website like that before. How can you be sure that they really do donate the rice though? I found a cool website where you can make card to support the troops. www.letssaythanks.com
I also found this site http://www.dailyvisits.com/daily.html which is supposed to help various causes.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Miss. Baker I thought the “Free Rice” website was a verry cool way to help people I am delited that you put it on the blog. When I went on I was able to rack up about 1320 grains of rice. I cant believe that you got 5000!! Thats impressive! the only thing I am wondering is if they really donate them, I hope they do. Anyways I watched the PCR video and I am still not sure what it is, can you tell me Miss. Baker? However the PCR video was not as “moving” as We Are The World.
January 31st, 2008 at 12:27 am
Thats so cool because I have been doing Free Rice for building my vocabulary for tests. I do not know why it had not occured to me that I should put it on the blog because it is a great topic. It is truly a great site because the ads on the website pay for the rice that is donated and all the while you are learning vocabulary! It can not get any better than that. I try to donate atleast 10,000 a week. Those vocabs are hard though because tour level rises for every couple of vocab word you get. So at level 40 your vocab will be extremely hard. It also give you a great feeling because your not just studying long boring vocab words but helping end world hunger! I mean that really motivates me to stay on learn more and give more. I strongly encourage everyone to do it even adults!! Because all it takes is a few minutes of the time while YOU learn vocabulary and GIVE rice to help end world hunger. YOU can make a difference in the world and help someone get their food for the day, something most of us in the United States do not question.
Freerice, each word counts for a happy tummy =)
January 31st, 2008 at 11:01 am
This is a really creative way you can raise money for people without having to leave your own house AND you can improve your vocabulary knowledge at the same time. I donated 200 grains of rice while i was playing. If everyone used this website everyday we could help the starving people to recover in a matter of months!
January 31st, 2008 at 8:22 pm
World hunger is a very big issue in our society today. I think it is great that people are thinking of fun and creative ways to end world hunger. I myself donated over 200 grains of rice! I shocked myself at how much vocabulary I knew. This shows that you do not have to have money to make a difference but just your mind. People say that they cannot help because they do not have enough money, but that is not the only thing you can give, I belive your time and dedication to something is more valuable than money.We need to continue to come up with knew ways to end world hunger. What are creative ways you can think of to help people in need that does not require donating of money? How can we teenagers make a difference in the world today?
January 31st, 2008 at 9:00 pm
That website is so cool! I donated 1,180 grains of rice! It’s really good that they came up with this to help end world hunger. It seems as if we can’t do anything about it, but this website is a good way to do something without really doing anything. It kind of reminds me of an email one of my friends sent me that had pictures of different familys around the world and in that picture is the family and how much food they eat in a week. Above the picture is how much money they make each week and where they are from. The American and European families had about the same amount of food and weekly income. However, when it got to the African family I was amazed. They live off of two dollars a week and the amount of food they eat a week was a tiny compared to the American family’s. This email really made me think about how lucky we are to have so much!
January 31st, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I really loved going on to the Free Rice website. It is a great way to help starving people of this world, and I barely did anything. It was also nice brushing up on that SAT vocabulary. I think we should tell more high schoolers about this so that they will go on and donate a ton of rice while studying for their SATs. In various trips to the website, I was able to donate over 6000 grains of rice, and it felt so good to do that for someone so that they wouldn’t go hungry that night. I think it was really cool of Jennifer P to donate 10,000 a week!!I think the people who run this sight are truly giving people to run it as nonprofit. I hope to one day do something great like that (maybe with more biology terms
) I also really liked thatquote that Ali provided by MLK jr. I interpreted it as poverty is just as barbaric and uncivilized as cannbalism. The only way to become truly civilized is to end poverty completely. I hope that Free Rice is helping the country Angolia as well, it sounds like they really have it bad. I also really loved that We are the World music video. My parents even remembered it! The message of the song was so true and pure. We really are our own future, so let’s start giving to it. I hope this and Free Rice influences people to do something to help! Thank you so much for posting this; it was so amazing.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I was on this website for a very short time a donated over 500 grains of rice. Its just so great that people would think about all of these starving people and just by knowing some vocabulary words you can heop people eat. This is a great way to study and to help those in need. I want to tell so many people about this website now. Thank you so much for sharing this website with all of us and i will continue to go on and tell others about this site.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I love that website! I think it’s a really creative way to help word hunger and help us with our vocab! I learned a lot of words and also reconized some. I remebered equilibrium and learning about that earlier this year. I think that it is also addicting! I donated 1040 grains of rice
. It is a really easy way to help the less fortunate. I was also looking around the site and they have donated a ton of rice! This website has been a huge success. It has donated hundreds of thousands of rice and even millions on some days. We should really spread the word about this website because this is an easy way to really help the starving people!
January 31st, 2008 at 10:35 pm
This is a really great website. It makes donating food easy and productive. I ended up donating like around 700 or something like that and it only took a few minutes of my time to do so. This website would be even more productive if it was advertised more. Even now thousands upon thousands of grains of rice are being donated but imagine if it were advertised more the donation totals would exponentially increase because it is such an easy thing to do. Thanks for telling us about this website it feels really good to know that i can help someone that easily!
February 1st, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Wow I just went on that website and donated 300 grains of rice in under one minute. Imagine if you spent just 15 minutes a day on that website, think of all the people you could feed. I think we should get everyone in the grade or even the school to just get on that website daily, we could feed so many people! Im glad it’s that easy to feed someone and brush up on your vocabulary in just minutes!
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I also went on to the free rice site and donated 3,000 grains of rice. I didnt know that my studies could help other people around the world. I was reading more about the site and i learned that houndreds and thousands of ordinary people work each day to help those who are in great poverty. In doing this not only are they providing the millions of impoverished people with food to eat, but they also learn skills and find hope for the future. Some other ways to learn about world poverty and help people is to go to http://www.poverty.com/. One this site it is said that about 25,000 people die each day due to hunger or hunger related issues.( accoriding to the united nations)
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Free Rice is a great way to raise awareness and help with the world food crisis, and at the same time increase people’s vocabulary. When I was on Free Rice, the word homologous came up and I knew it meant “same” from biology class. To answer Morgan’s question, they use rice to feed the hungry because it is relatively cheap and fills you up fast. The food that is delivered to hungry places in the world is normally grain or rice. Meat is almost never available to these people because it is so expensive. We don’t realize how much of a luxury meat really is. And that is the reason why so many people are malnourished, because they are not getting a balanced diet.
Here is the webiste for the World Food Programme:
http://www.wfp.org/english/
It tells about what is being done to help world hunger. The Free Rice website is mentioned on the home page too!
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Cool! I just donated about 400 grains of rice in very little time!! This is a great way to donate rice. I can learn new words while giving away rice. This is very easy to do and also fun. This is definitely my new favorite game and it is also very addicting.
another way that we can easily help the starving people is by spreading the word about this website to all our friends, just like how Mrs. Baker has done, posting it on the blog. We can simply use e-mail or just telling our friends about this cool new way to donate rice. Great blog!
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Here is a section of the site I just gave a link to.
http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=681
Here it tells where the rice raised by Free Rice is actually going, and shows the progress the program has made.
It said in the video that so far, enough rice has been raised to feed 700 thousand people!
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Oh, thank you for telling me good site. I also went on to the free rice site and donated 500 grains for few minute. Also i heard this song long time ago in the korea. Now a day, Korean help many invisible children. But some korean didnt care the other people story. So i am sad look at that people. Anyway, we have to help more invisible children or humger people.
That bolg remained our responsibility. Thanks miss Backer!.
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am
That is really cool that just by answering vocab questions you can help stop world hunger! I think that is a great idea but not enough people, especially high-schoolers studying for the SAT, know about the website. Personally, i donated 400 grains of rice.
The We Are the World video was cool because it had a lot of famous people that only sung a few lines each about how we need to help fight hunger in Africa. The PCR video was funny because it basically mimicked the other video, but it was about how scientists are in love with PCR. It says that since Free Rice started, they have raised 17,078,325,370 pieces of rice. Just imagine how many people that has fed in just 4 months!
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Mark, earlier this year we watched the invisible children video, it was pretty disturbing. I think it is great that many Koreans are helping them. Miss. Baker, after the presentation on friday I finally understood what a PCR machine is, thanks. Anyways I am giong to try to get on the free rice website at least a few times a week and I will also tell my friends to go on it and donate rice also. If I knew how to, I would make a group on Facebook, however, sadly, I do not. Thanks again for this Link Miss. Baker!
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Wow now I actually know what a PCR machine is and then I asked my parents about that commercial and they remembered it! That link to the website was great because I went on there and donated 2,040 grains of rice to the organization! Not only is it helping the organization to feed the people, but it is also helping us with our vocabulary! So you are basically knocking out two non-endangered species birds with one stone! I think it is really cool how you can save lives just by practicing your vocab!
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
That is a neat website, especially knowing that we are learning and feeding people at the same time. I donated 1020 grains of rice! I asked my mom if she remembered the video and she did. It was kind of all of those famous singers to take the time to do something like that.
I found a website where we can donate our money to feed hungry children. I know we donate at school, but if you want to do more check out this website and help out. A little money goes a long way. These children are living on less then a dollar a day, we can change that.
http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/comms2.nsf/stable/child_sponsorship_faith?Open&campaign=1193519&cmp=KNC-1193519