Kids Club News
April 2005
Don’t Forget Your
Sunscreen!
D
o the words, "Don't forget your
sunscreen," ring loud and clear when you
get ready to venture outdoors in the
summer? These days, that reminder is especially
important. You like to be outside in the summer
because it is warm and sunny, right? That warmth
is caused by energy that the sun transfers to the
earth, which is called radiant energy, or radiation.
While that radiation may feel good to you, there is
a form of radiation called ultraviolet (UV)
radiation that can be very harmful to your skin.
That is why sunscreen is so important—it protects
your skin from the UV radiation and allows you to
enjoy all the good radiation, or warmth, that the
sun offers without harm.
Did you know that humans are not the only ones
affected by the sun's harmful rays, but that plants,
animals, rivers, mountains and everything else on
earth is vulnerable to the damaging affects of UV
radiation? It's a good thing the earth has its very
own form of sun protection—the ozone layer!
The ozone layer is located in the second level of the
earth's atmosphere, which is known as the stratosphere. The ozone layer is essential to all life on
earth because it absorbs much of the harmful UV
radiation expelled from the sun and prevents it
from penetrating to the earth's surface. This is
important because UV radiation that makes its way
to the earth's surface can enter cells and destroy the
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of many life forms
on earth. The destruction of DNA can cause
serious problems such as skin cancer in humans.
Don't forget to reapply your sunscreen when you
finish swimming," may be another reminder you
hear throughout the summer. When sunscreen is
NL020405
exposed to water for long periods of time, it can be
washed off, or diluted, which means it loses its effectiveness against combatting harmful UV rays. The
ozone layer, or the earth's sunscreen, has a similar
problem. Over the years, the ozone layer, like your
sunscreen, has lost its effectiveness for combating the
sun's harmful UV rays. But instead of water, the
causes for the ozone layer's depletion, or weakening,
are volcanic eruptions and other natural sources and
human activity. Each of these instances cause
chemicals to be released into the stratosphere. Those
chemicals have the same affect on the ozone layer as
water has on your sunscreen—they "wash it away."
Just as your sunscreen is vital to keeping you and
your skin healthy, the ozone layer is an essential
factor in keeping the entire earth healthy. Also like
your sunscreen, the ozone layer can become
weakened and lose its effectiveness against UV
rays. Unlike your sunscreen, however, the ozone
layer cannot be reapplied to make it work better.
While we cannot prevent volcanic eruptions and
other natural chemicals from releasing, it is very
important that we do our part to keep the
environment healthy by reducing the amount of
chemicals we use and the pollution we cause. n
Eastern Savings Bank
Executive Plaza 2
11350 McCormick Road, Suite 200
Hunt Valley, Maryland 21031
The Tale Of Two Taxes: Income Tax and Sales Tax
Y
ou may have heard the word "tax"
before, but do you really know what
it means? A tax is money the
government collects from us when we
work, shop, own a house, get married,
and drive a car. Governments have
asked their citizens to pay taxes for
centuries, even during pre-monetary
times when goods and services, rather
than money, were exchanged for other
goods and services.
But why have governments been
collecting money in the form of taxes
from their public for so long? Well,
governments use the money they collect
from us to better our communities,
towns, and states. For instance, the
government builds roads, schools,
playgrounds, parks, and hospitals with
the money we pay through taxes. The
government also uses tax money to care
for the poor, to pay police officers and
fire fighters, and to supply our soldiers
with the tools they need to defend our
country. By collecting taxes, governments gather a little money from a lot of
people and are able to pay for all of the
things that are too expensive for one
person to pay.
Member FDIC
People are required to pay many types of
taxes for many different reasons. There
are retirement taxes, corporation taxes,
poll taxes, property taxes, and inheritance taxes just to name a few. The two
most common types of taxes that affect
almost everyone are income taxes and
sales taxes.
People with jobs pay a tax on the money
they earn, which is called an income
tax. Income taxes are deducted from
each person's paycheck by his or her
employer. Each year, every working
person must complete an income tax
form by April 15 to make sure they have
paid enough taxes throughout the year.
Sometimes a person's employer did not
deduct enough money for taxes from a
person's paycheck and that person will
owe the government more money.
Other times, a person's employer may
have deducted too much money from a
person's paycheck and that person will
receive a refund from the government!
Another common type of tax is called a
sales tax. A sales tax is money that you
pay on items you buy. It is calculated as
a certain percentage of your original
item. For instance, in Maryland we pay
The information contained in this newsletter is based on research from the following websites:
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxes,
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/air/ozonlayr.htm,
http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/kids/kids_ozone.html, and the book, The Money Book (Wyatt and Hinden).
© Eastern Savings Bank fsb, 2005. All rights reserved.
5% sales
tax. This
means if you
buy an item
that costs $20,
you will actually
pay $21. That extra
dollar is your tax. While the store where
you purchased your item will keep $20,
it will send the extra $1 to the
government to be used for a number of
public services. Sales taxes are added to
just about everything we buy including
clothes, gasoline, toys, games, and
movie tickets. So the next time you are
asked to pay an extra $1 when you buy
your favorite video game at the store,
you will know why. And remember, by
paying taxes you are sharing with your
government to help make your town
and community a better place! n
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www.easternsavingsbank.com