Over the past three weeks we have been working with visitors from the Tobacco Education department at West Lothian Council. We have learned lots of information to help us make informed decisions about smoking. Here’s what we’ve learned:

Chloe: “You can go deaf and blind if you smoke because of the chemicals in the tobacco.”

Kai: “Your tongue can go yellow and so can your hair because of tar in the tobacco.”

Jay: “Your veins can also turn black because of the tar working its way through your body.”

Lauren U: “There are over 4,800 different chemicals in one cigarette!”

Paul: “If you smoke it can take ten years off your life!”

Jack: “The bit at the end of the cigarette is called the butt. The proper name for it is the filter and it is supposed to clean the tobacco before it goes into your mouth. Our experiment proved it doesn’t though!”

Nathan: “The nicotine is the part of the cigarette which makes it addictive.”

Finlay: “Out of the 4,800 chemicals, there are 69 main ones which can kill you.”

Harry: “The tar in a cigarette is exactly the same type of tar as the tar on the road. Your body is moist and warm so the tar is runny while the tar on the road is hard because it is exposed to the air.”

Flyn: “I learned that smoking can give you all different types of cancers such as lung cancer, brain cancer and breast cancer.”

Emily: “One of the chemicals in a cigarette is carbon monoxide which is different from carbon dioxide.”

Ellie: “Second hand smoke can also affect the animals and pets who live in your house.”

Olivia: “Smoking can make you unfit and unhealthy because it is harder for the blood to move around your body and your lungs don’t work as well as they should.”

Antonia: “If you smoke while you are pregnant it can cause deformations for the baby. Also, the addiction to nicotine can pass to the baby.”

Taylor: “If you smoke it can affect your teeth by making them orange. It also makes them rot and fall out.”

Lauren K: “There are trace amounts of the same chemicals which are in bleach and nail polish remover. If you smoke then these are going into your body.”

Lauren C: “People who smoke 20 cigarettes a day spend around £2500 a year on it!”

Callum: “It can destroy the cilia which is the small hairs in your throat, nose and ears.”

William: “The smell from cigarettes can go everywhere and make your clothing, car and house stink.”

Isla: “When you smoke in the car with the window open, this doesn’t mean the smoke is leaving the car, most of it stays in.”

Kendal: “If you smoke a cigarette and it looks like the smoke has disappeared…it is actually still there, you just can’t see it anymore.”

Who has impressed?

Jay: “I was impressed with everyone in the Potted Sports team. We won for only the second time in 30 years!”

Lauren U: “Kendal has impressed me by winning the JRSO poem competition.”

Lauren C: “The netball team impressed me by getting second in three tournaments.”

Paul: “Harry has impressed me because in P.E. he scored the most goals.”

Antonia: “I’m proud of Taylor because she has picked up percentages really quickly and gave 100% effort!”

Mr Berginis: “I was really impressed with the standard of writing the class did in their profiles this week and I also thought they were great at helping their p1 buddies with their mini beast projects.”