Check out my Slide Show!

It's My Birthday and I'll Smile if I want to.

Wow! I was overwhelmed with the greetings, today, by all the munchkins at the middle school. The sixth grade sang the birthday song to me, while 7th and 8th graders, throughout the day, wished me well. It was neat. Sixth and 7th graders even made me cards. I hung them up on my classroom door. Take a look at the picture of the cards.

CAPPA Looks Cool
I was really impressed with the video presentation made by Mr. Loni Gamble about CAPPA. Here are our sixth graders gathered in the auditorium for the presentation. Some boys chuckled and tried to be cool, others were fascinated, and oodles want to participate. They meet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. This Saturday is the last time until after the holidays. Ask your munchkin about the presentation.

Writing of Letters
Ouch! It appears the sixth grade, as a whole, needs more work in letter writing. It's going to be an ongoing struggle, but, I believe Mrs. Pulizzi, Mrs. Nemeth, and I, will get this skill down before the kiddoes get to 7th grade. My letter was one lesson of six on this project, so all those grades are averaged together as one project grade. If they scored well on Activities 1,2,3,4, and 5, a poor grade on Activity 6, will not affect their grade, to "awful" bad.

Awesome Hand Boiler
Lee Lee gave me a really neat hand boiler. A glass tube, with glass bulbs on either end. You hold one bulb in your hand and it shoots a green liquid up to the other bulb and water appears to be boiling. My daughter and I are now trying to figure out, how it works. It must have something to do with compression of the bulb and the ethel alcohol. Since I'm just an elementary school teacher, I'll have to pose this question to Mr. Conoway, our resident physical science expert. Thanks, Lee Lee, you've amused Krysia and myself.

Bowling Tomorrow
We go bowling, tomorrow -- return to school and eat lunch in our homerooms (some kiddoes have preordered lunch from the cafeteria, the others opted to bring a bagged lunch), then we are seeing a movie. Nice way to start off a holiday vacation. The kids are burned-out and ready for a break. I will try to get photos for tomorrow's blog.

Have a great night.

Changes

The sixth grade hallway is getting a new look -- school colors. Check out the new look versus the sterile "we just moved into this building" appearance. It's starting to feel like home.

Tonight's Concert

Don't miss the 6th grade concert, tonight. We were privvy to a dress rehearsal, during BASE. The kiddoes are awesome.

Dear Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad:
I would like to convince you to buy a water softener for our home. I have come to realize that the water we use is considered, hard water. I know this, because I have completed an experiment in which I tried to lather with hard and soft water. Soft water lathers easier and as you know, the more a soap suds,the greater the chance for the soap to lift and carry away dirt.
Through experimentation, I found that water comes in different degrees of hardness. Bottled water appears to have many minerals in it. The minerals are usually calcium and magnesium and are the reason soap does not work well in hard water. Besides bottled water, I tested tap water at school. That water has been softened through chemical action by the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority. I also tested salt (ocean) water and found it to be very soft, but only second to distilled water, which is simply water that was allowed to boil and steam. The steam was collected and condenses back into a liquid. Distilled water is the purest form of water available, and boy, is it soft. In comparing my results with other groups in my classroom, we concluded that distilled water was the softest, followed by salt (ocean) water.
I also tested the water at school and compared it to our water. Strange, I thought the water would be the same, but, apparently, our home uses unfiltered well water. Looking at a map of the United States, northcentral Pennsylvania, is hard water because of the various types of limestone and sandstone of our area. That explains why our water is hard. The school's water is relatively soft and that is because it is treated with different chemicals, primarily a sort of sodium (salt) solution.
A member of my group tested his/her water and found it to be as soft as the ocean water, I tested. A closer look revealed this student has a water softener in his/her home. The water softener works by introducing sodium (salt) into a tank and filling it with water. The ions in the salt work like a magnet attracting the calcium and magnesium in the hard water -- pulling the minerals right out of the water. The result is the water has been softened.
Although hard water is safe to drink, it is miserable for cleaning and the mineral deposits can collect inside the pipes of our dishwasher, clothes washer, water heater and even our furnace. Those same deposits shorten the life of those appliances and our clothes, which is simply adding more to the costs of running our household.

Your Loving Son, Henry

Writing A Letter and Saying Goodbye

Mrs. Antonacci's homeroom finished their holiday door featuring a snow-covered hill and multi-colored snowflakes. Joining in was Mrs. Phillip's learning support class. We certainly have a talented group of sixth graders.

Okay, Blog Title
Students worked on writing a persuasive letter to mom and dad to purchase a whole-house water softening unit, After studying hard and soft water; comparing distilled, tap, salt, and bottled water; reading about how water softeners work, and discussing experiment results, the munchkins approached the assignment by reviewing and jotting down notes, creating a 4-square graphic organizer and writing a rough draft. We will type these letters in the computer lab.

Map Reading
Social Studies begins a unit on map reading and finding locations. I call it, "Human Global Positioning System (HGPS).

Sad Ending
We go to the vet at 6:30 tonight, to decide if "Snowball (A.K.A. Kitty)," our 18-year-old short-haired domestic cat should be put down. The arthritis, loss of teeth, incontinence and senility prompted a family decision, last night. We'll see what the vet says. I will photograph him and post the picture, tonight. It's tough to say goodbye to an old friend. He had a great life -- one that would envy any feline.

"The King, Snowball" passed away peacefully at 6:50 p.m. He dined on warm milk, mashed beef and gravy, and lotsa love. Below, is Snowball's successor, Skunk. Skunk is our last male cat. His predecessor and next in line after Snowball, was Buttercup. "Cuppy" died on Jan. 18, 2007, after choking to death on a cat treat. We came home from the vet, Dr. Winton, to find Skunk in the place of honor at our house -- the couch. If you ever smelled the litter box after Skunk has been there, you would understand the name we gave him.

Sleep well, old friend.

It's 7:20 p.m. Sunday

The kids and I took a quick jaunt to South Williamsport and then to the Golden Strip. The roads are starting to freeze. Will there be a two-hour delay tomorrow? Whaddaya' think?

Let's Get Personal

Nothing About My Science Class
Well, I shoveled snow, this morning. I so wanted to zip to school to retrieve my digital camera. You would have loved seeing a photograph of my dog, Missy, a black chow/spaniel mix, covered in snow and romping around the yard, while I shoveled the driveway. Then, the neighbor's black Lab came over and the two pups kept running at me, sliding down the driveway and plowing into me to get me to play. Arrggghhhh. I hate snow.

Krysia's Journey Begins
My daughter is in Houston, today. Students at Texas A&M, Galveston, were required to vacate the campus by noon, today. Her roommate invited her to stay at her parents house in Houston, today, and they would take her to the airport, tomorrow morning. She leaves at 9 a.m. Central Time, and arrives in Philadelphia, before boarding a puddle-jumper for State College airport. She is due to arrive at 3:37 p.m.

Thanks Richard's Boss
My son, Richard, made arrangements with his boss --- thanks, boss -- to give Richard the day-off, tomorrow, so he can go with me to pickup Krysia. Wifey has to work, tomorrow, and she did not feel comfortable with me driving the State College, alone.

Wifey
Wifey is one of the salad bar ladies at the Lycoming College cafeteria. Every night, she talks about how polite the students are at that college. She is always amazed that children today know how to say, "Excuse, me" or "Thank you."

Cats Love This Weather
As I type this blog, one of my cats, the baby, Daisy, is curled-up inside a box by my feet. Tight fit, she has one paw hanging over the edge of the box. Another cat, Snowball, is sleeping on the stair landing, curled-up under the staircase window. A third cat, Wheezie, is sleeping on the radiator in the kitchen. The radiator is encased in a wooden frame with a glass-topped shelf on top. Fluffy and Skunk opted to come in and eat and then go back outside. Fluffy retreated to the garage, while Skunk is curled-up in a wicker basket we keep on the front porch.

At The Mall
Weather is too nasty to have school, today, Richard works at the mall and called, he said the place is inundated with school children. I'm glad Loyalsock opted to cancel school rather than chance having a kid get hurt going to or from school. If parents want to permit their kids to go to the mall, well, it's their conscience -- our's are free.

Pappa Z's Christmas Wishlist
A class III trailer hitch for my '99 GMC Jimmy 4dr/4wd. Installed with tongue, ball, and wiring, $260. I remember the last time I had a hitch put on one of my vehicles $79 total, and that was just 10 years ago.

Play Safe, My Charges
I want all my monkeys to remember safety while playing in the snow, today. I want you back, tomorrow, healthy and in one piece. Sorry, Cole, I'm too late for you. However, take care of that knee and it will heal quickly.

Uh, coffee maker beeped. Ah, another pot of coffee is ready for consumption. Have a great snow day.

Wow! Did I Trick My Munchkins

Okay, so the assignment was to bring in a sample of water from home. From what I could see, today, most everyone gets their water from the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority. What that means is, if we measure out 3-mL of water into a plastic test tube, add a drop of soap, and use a stopwatch to shake the test tube for 5-seconds, then, the height of the suds should be approximately, the same.
Guess what?
It wasn't. In fact, comparing the home water with water from my spigot at school, which, by the way, is also courtesy of the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority, most of my kiddoes recorded the water at school is being hard water, while their home water was soft. Hmmm, the same water, different results. Why?

4-Sight Testing
To accommodate the math and language arts teachers, giving this test, we had double-periods, today. That means, I met with Section 62 for two class periods and Section 63 for two class periods. Tomorrow, I get the other two sections.

Remember the Ions in Salt Water?
Children still did not understand why the sample of salt water was softer than distilled water. Even after reading the article on how a water softener works, and placing the order of events on softening water with salt, students still did not understand the relationship between the ionization in a water softener and the ionization of salt water in the classroom. I hope the light bulb comes on soon.

Joined the Archeology Society
With only five members in attendance, I joined the North-Central Chapter 8 of the Pennsylvania Archeology society, last night. This is the group that assisted with archeological digs at Canfield Island and at Muncy. We met at the Lycoming County Historical (Taber) Museum on West Fourth Street. Although unable to attend meetings, James Bressler, past president of the local society, was the topic of discussion as we were treated to a glimpse of paleo-indians exhibit. That's the first humans in our area over 10,000 years ago, when this valley was semi-tundra (without many trees and covered in permafrost). I was mesmerized as we talked about Bressler, who happens to be #2 in my hero worship, list -- preceded only by Benjamin Franklin. Take a look at the society website -- maintained by Robin Van Auken.

Will It Snow?
Arrrggghh, I hope not. It looks like we may be getting out early due to snow and sleet. Although I like the prospect of getting out early, I really need to get some old-fashioned teaching in. Worst, yet, I have to take off a half-day on Friday to drive to State College to pick up my daughter at the airport. YES!!! She is coming home for Christmas. I have not seen my baby daughter since the middle of August. Talk about separation anxiety -- daddy's got it.

Have a nice night and get your kids ready to shovel snow, tomorrow. I have the snow blower gassed-up and right next to the garage door.

Saltwater is the softest

Hey!?! Saltwater is the softest? You mean it outdoes distilled, bottled and tap water? But, it has so many minerals in it!?! Yep, you kids tested it and all seem to agree, saltwater provided the most suds in testing.

Is There A Secret?
Yup. The ions in salt actually attract minerals in water and sort of neutralizes the minerals, making the water soft. If you really wanna know. That water softener some of you have for your wells, uses rock salt to soften the water. When we get to Activity 5, you will learn all about it.

Don't Forget
Those of you working on your bar graph have to remember the "Y" axis has to be identified. You just can write 1mm, 2mm, 3mm. . . Those numbers have to be labeled as "Measured Height of Suds," or something like that. And the "X" axis is not just distilled water, tap water. . . These are water samples used.

Joining Tonight
I have been invited to join the Northcentral Chapter 8 of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology. They meet tonight at the Taber Museum on West Fourth Street. I am excited about this organization since I have a severe love of the history of our valley. I'll let you know, tomorrow, how the meeting went.

Have a great night.

Softest Water Means More Lather

Today, we compared distilled water, tap water, salt water and bottled water, to see which one offers up the most lather. My students were secretive about the results. Perhaps, fearing they did something wrong and are waiting for all the groups in their class to complete the experiment to see if everyone agrees. Hee hee.

Civil Rights
We are taking a look at civil rights in my social studies class. I gave the class several scenerios; one is an African-American person in the deep-South, another is a woman in 1900, a third is an American Indian trying to register to vote for a senator, and finally, an 18-year-old military draftee wanting the right to vote before being shipped off to fight in the Korean (War) Conflict. I gave them a set of questions to answer as they decide on whether to write a letter to loved ones, a diary, or a quiet protest with posted signs and banners. It will be interesting to see this lesson develop.

No Picture
Sorry gang, I eliminated the sixth grade team picture from our department home-page. The camera added 130-pounds to me, while the womenfolk look fabulous. Must be descrimination on the filmmaker's part.

Holiday Door Decorations
Have you decided on the best sixth grade door decoration? My homeroom even put up a "Pappa Z" stocking filled with miniature candy canes.

Have a great night.

Let's Explora the Door(as)

Thought I would show you our classroom doors. Our homeroom kiddoes spent a few afternoons planning and creating holiday decorations. It's not a contest, simply a feelin' for the season.

The green Loyalsock door is PappaZ's, Santa is on Mrs. Nemeth's door, while the Christmas tree focuses on Mrs. Pulizzi's door. Not yet completed is a snow-covered hill with blue sky adorning Mrs. Antonacci's door.

Hey, I took a picture of my critter's skull and photographed my version of a cleaned classroom.

Check out my Slide Show!

Way to go!!!! BRI!!!! I showed my first period class tomorrow's objectives and homework. I asked if anyone knew what was so historically significant about Dec. 7th. It took several class periods, but, Bri approached me in the hallway and told me it was the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, launching the United States into WWII.

Calcium Carbonate
And then, since we were using calcium carbonate to make hard water, in class, I asked if anyone knew what calcium carbonate is used for this time of year. The Czapper shot out with "ICE MELT!!"

Critter Skull on Display
AND, the animal skull on display in my classroom, courtesy of Mrs. Lesko, was identified as that of a red fox. Unfortunately, the student that answered that question saw the name I blackened out with a permanent marker. Mrs. Lesko found the skull in the woods near her house in the Pine Creek area. Oh yeah, Mrs. Lesko, I researched the skull on the internet. Gee, I love my 'puter.

Tired Teacher
Whew! Beaten down, today. Got in about 6:15 a.m. to set-up today's experiment. That meant, setting-up set-ups for six work stations. Pouring Borax (water softener), vinegar, water, calcium carbonate, sorting out 100-mL and 25-mL graduated cylinder, two bottles, a syringe, medicine dropper, funnel, plastic spoon, plastic cups, plastic test tube, and then checking each set-up 'twix classes to refill depleted set-ups. I donned a black apron, all day. Got lotsa comments, a couple of cat-calls from fellow teachers and one female staff member boosted my fragile male ego with a whistle and "hubba-hubba."

Thanks Mrs. Antonacci
Mrs. Antonacci volunteered to take my BASE students to the computer lab for some remedial math work, freeing me to do some much needed clean-up and rearranging of my classroom. When you teach backyard science, you tend to get overrun with "stuff." My new classroom is a third smaller than the one in the old middle school and I no longer have a back room for storage. By the end of BASE, I found I have a countertop between two sinks. Next, find my desk.
Have a warm night, folks.

First Word Uttered by Helen Keller? -- "Water"

That's right. Water was also the last words uttered by Ulysses S. Grant. The brain is 75% water. A desert rat and koala bear do not need to drink water -- they get it from their food. Each day the sun evaporates 1,000,000,000,000 tons of water and a person can live a month without food, but only about a week without water.

So, why the trivia?

We are starting a project called, "Testing the Waters." Tomorrow, we experiment with hard and soft water and each group will compare their results with theother groups in the classroom.

Kinda makes ya thirsty, eh? Well, it makes me thirsty. Gonna get a drink of water. Have a great night.

You must have a solvent to get to the solution

?
Kiddoes, today, learned that water is a universal solvent. Given enough time, it can dissolve just about anything. And, by dissolving another substance, allows water to mix with that substance or several substances to make an entirely new substance.
i.e.: Making chocolate milk -- dissolve the powder mix in milk, stir to combine the two substances and the solution is chocolate milk. I told my kiddoes, my chocolate milk involved filling the glass with powder and adding one or two teaspoons of milk. Yessir! My chocolate milk, you could eat with a fork.
I guess that is why I look like I do.
Have a great night.

The Polarity of a Water Molecule

Two or more atoms joined together in a magnetic bond make a molecule. Today, we discussed the magnetic forces that bond two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom to make water. We discussed the arrangment of the hydrogen on the oxygen and related the water molecule drawing as a person wearing floaties in the swimming pool.

We read in the book from page 100-102 and defined solvent, solution, hard water and soft water.

Kids, did you test your home water to see if it is hard? You know, wash your hands and observe the soap suds that result. Oh yeah, tell your parents how soap works.

Have a great night.

Spritz of a water bottle and squirts from a syringe

How to explain a well versus and artesian well. First, how does a well work? You need to drill a hole in the ground until you hit water, insert a tube and connect the tube to a pump to suck-up the water.

Sort of like a trigger pump water bottle -- Hee, hee -- I blasted the kids with the water from that bottle. For those munchkins that giggled and shouted, "You didn't get me wet!" A second and third blast from the bottle was enough to send water droplets onto just about every kid.

Then, using an inflated balloon to show how energy seeks the path of least resistance, I used a thumb tack to "pop" the balloon. The path was the hole in the balloon and the result was a sudden release of pressure as an escape route for the air was found.

Similarly, underground water, undergoing recharge from rain tends to create a similar pressure, except, instead of air, it is water. So, I filled-up a 25-mL syringe and by depressing the syringe released a stream of water that shot across the classroom. Again, the shouts and giggles goating me that I missed, resulted in several more squirts from the syringe.

As we discussed artesian wells (locally, springs), I talked about yesterday's blog in which I mentioned Loyalsock Creek's origin, and the birthplace of Rose Valley Lake, as well as , the story of Springside, a home on Fifth Avenue in Williamsport.

Although it was a Friday and the kiddoes are getting sick of learning about freshwater, there was a lot of learning going on, today, in the classroom. We talked about water tables, aquifers, and the zones of saturation and aeration. By the way, my kiddoes now know aeration means air and what we mean by using aerators in aquariums and why farmers plow their fields.

Ask your kiddo what it means when I say, "The deeper the well, the cleaner the water."

Have a great weekend, everyone. Kids!!!! We may have a chance to have a "firnball" fight this weekend!!!! Explain that one to your parents.

An Artesian Well is a Fancy Name for, Spring

Fancy, schmancy, the textbook discusses how an artesian well is a well that forces water to the surface by means of pressure. The illustration, in the book, goes so far as to show such a well spouting out onto the surface of the ground. In these here parts, we call that, a spring. Any places around here where you've seen a spring?
(Hint: Loyalsock Creek begins its life in Sullivan County as a series of springs. Rose Valley Lake, a man-made reservoir, arose from a spring that created Sugar Camp Run, which runs into Mill Creek, which empties into Loyalsock Creek. A log cabin, on 5th Avenue, between High Street and Louisa Street, is nicknamed, Springside. Why? The property is pock-marked with springs. )
Do you know of any other springs, around here? Write a comment, I would love to post all of the locations in the classroom.
One last question -- Why is well water cleaner and colder the deeper the well?
Have a great night, folks.

Did I Do Good?

Kids always ask that after they hand in a test. Well, how do you think, you did? If you feel you flubbed-up, you probably did. Ya know, if you are going to take a test and worry so much about the grade, then you should take the time to read the directions that go with that test. In big, bold, underlined words for the True-or-False questions, "If the answer is False, write the corect answer, or no credit will be given. Arrrrggghhh!!!!. At seven points, each, flubbing-up like that is ridiculous. All-in-all, the test was relatively easy and save for the small handful that refused to follow directions, the grades were really high. High? It must have been too easy. Z, you're losin' your touch. Or, Z, you are a wonderful teacher if these children can grasp the concept of fresh water the surface of the Earth.

No homework, tonight. I passed out the next vocabulary and informational packets on Fresh Water Beneath the Surface of the Earth -- ya know, wells, aquifers, springs, etc. We are working on that packet, together, in class. It's more fun, together.

Have a great night, folks. P.S.: Still waitin' for some venison.

Review for Test

Go to my webpage and look for the link -- Hydrology. Beneath that link is another link, entitled, "Test Review in Powerpoint." This powerpoint presentation is a great study guide for what you can expect to see on tomorrow's test. Now, go study.

Shopping Made Easy

Black Friday was not the adventure I thought it would be, today. Perhaps, I have grown immune to the rude, pushy, Christmas shoppers. Oh well, did not buy a thing, yet. Wifey and I are going out, again, later.

I was not in school on Wednesday, spent the entire morning at Geisinger Medical Center, getting a shot and surrendering blood. I am anxiously awaiting the results of the tests to ensure I am on the road to recovery and ensure I will be around for a few more years teaching students there are no black or white answers, that science dwells in the realm of grey.

The son is working, today, at Circuit City -- 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. He was so worried about Black Friday he did not sleep, last night. However, he seemed alert when he dashed out the door at 2:30 this morning.

The daughter is off to Mexico, today. She went with a friend to spend Thanksgiving with the friend's grandparents in Donna, Texas -- That thar is 10 miles from the Mexican border. You can still drive into Mexico without a passport, until January 2008.

We spent Thanksgiving with my father and sister, they are neighbors and live about a hour from here. My sister cooked up a wonderful feast -- however, I was limited to butternut squash and sweet potatoes. My son piled-up his plate, twice, so I know he enjoyed the food.

So, my dear students and their parents, how did you spend Thanksgiving? Did you do the Black Friday ritual? What are your plans for the rest of this vacation? Who's going huntin'?

How Do You Spell, TEST?

I'm not here, tomorrow. However, when you come back to school on Tuesday, Nov. 27, be certain to bring all the stuff from Section 3-1 in your science notebook. We will review the vocabulary paper, and the handouts "Fresh Water on the Surface of the Earth," and, "Frozen Water on the Surface of the Earth," and, "Running/Standing Water on the Surface of the Earth."
On Wednesday, you will be taking a test on all these packets. Forget about trying to memorize this stuff. We spent so much time with it all, that you should be able to write common-sense answers to all the questions.
Here's a hint to one question. I had to throw in at least one multiple-choice:
A huge mass of moving ice and snow, is a(n):
a. snowman b. Mr Z c. glacier d. iceberg.
No blog tomorrow. Have a great vacation and watch out for the Triptophan. Huh? Triptophan? What's that? It's the enzyme in turkey that makes you sleepy after eating your Thanksgiving Day meal. Just watch dad and gramps fall asleep in the living room, while the women folk clean-up after cooking all morning.

Please be safe, this weekend. See you all on Tuesday. P.S. -- I love venison.

Tennis Balls and Lakes

How could they not know about potential and kinetic energy? They were taught, I'm certain. Anyway, we used a tennis ball to explain energy transfer. We also discussed lakes, giardiasis and methane pollution. We will finish the packet, "Running Water/Standing Water on the Surface of the Earth," tomorrow.

Have a good evening.

Porosity Experiment

Today, the munchkins observed the porosity of sand, soil and gravel. Oh, so porosity is how quickly liquid flows through soil. But, I thought that was permeability? The experiment showed the permeability of the soil samples. What made them permeable was the size, number and frequency of the pore spaces.

The Factors That Determine Absorption of Surface Runoff

Today, we examined the factors that determine the amount of surface water runoff absorbed by the ground. The six factors are: Type of Soil, Condition of Soil, Porosity of Soil, Kinds of Vegetation, Amount of Vegetation, and, finally, the Season of the Year (rainy season or dry season).

Conferences
The afternoon went well. Parents are very concerned and interested in their childrens' school work. It was great to see the love and cooperation between child and parent and it was cute to see the nervousness of the children as parent and teacher met. C'mon, kids. I'm your biggest cheerleader.

Okay, So I have a couple of hours before my next set of student-led parent conferences. Gonna run home, in a few minutes, take the dog for a quick walk in the rain and grab some supper.

Have a great night.

Mr. Z wore a tie, today!?!

I even took a photograph. That's right, it has been about 8 years since I wore a necktie. I wore a Mickey Mouse tie, all day, even during parent conferences. Thursday is a powder-blue tie, chic'.

Speaking of Conferences
They were interesting. A couple of girls that hardly speak out in class, were superb in delivering their student-led conference. Then, there were the kids that did not surprise me and did a great job. I enjoyed listening to them discuss and show their parents about their life in school.

Another Blogger At 'Sock
Mrs. Wright, (http://mrs-wright.blogspot.com/), the 8th grade language arts teacher, has developed a fairly consistent blog. Mrs. Wright has become a technological guru the last few years. This year, the 8th graders put their student-led conference material on computers, designed them as powerpoints and are using them instead of our old-fashioned manila folder portfolios. Mrs. Wright gave the teachers a sneak peek the other week. Really neat idea. Pay a visit to Mrs. Wright's blog.

Of course, be sure to visit Mr. Fausnaught's (http://mrfausnaught.blogspot.com/daily) blog. He loves using pictures, slide shows and video clips in his blog -- very entertaining.

Have a great night.

A comment to this blog asks if there will be a test tomorrow or Friday and what the test will be on -- easy answer - "If there is a test tomorrow or Friday, most likely, it will be on -- paper.

Frozen Water on the Surface of the Earth

Repeat after me, "A glacier is a huge mass of moving ice and snow."
Good.
Now, "A continental glacier is a huge mass of moving ice and snow located in the polar regions."
Great!
Finally, "All other glaciers, called, valley glaciers, are found flowing downhill in all other parts of the world."
That was today's lesson. Other than, snow is described as frozen water.
Have a great night.

Dance of the Water Molecule

We acted out the water cycle. I had several boys play the part of air molecules that expand and separate when heated by sunlight. Water molecules (girls) move in to fill the void left by the air. Together, they rise into the sky until the air temperature is too cold and the air molecules contract, squeezing out the water molecules. Along comes a dust particle and they cling onto it. All the girls in the class play the water molecules and cling onto the lone dust particle. When the molecules reach 1,000,000, a droplet forms. This is where water goes from a gas back to a liquid. It was all quite exciting, especially, since the students better understand the hydrologic cycle.

Conferences Wednesday and Thursday
My social studies class assembled their conference folders today and we practiced what would be said in the conference during a 13-minute time period.

Relative Humidity
We used a sling psychrometer in BASE, today, to measure the humidity of the cafeteria (91%), the gym and lobby (both at 58%) and the sixth grade hallway (35%). A healthy environment is between 40 and 80%.

Veteran's Day

"While we were all sitting around on our fat butts, guys like that, tough guys, guys with guts, were out there defending our way of life." Lt. Greenawalt (Jose Feerar) in the 1954 movie, The Caine Mutiny.

This scene occurred as the officers of the DMS Caine, a warship in WWII, celebrated the exoneration of Lt. Maryk in proving Lt. Commander Queeg, the ship's captain, lost control of his mental faculties during a typhoon in July, 1944, forcing Maryk to seize control of the ship. Although Lt. Greenawalt was the defense attorney that got Lt. Maryk freed from the mutiny charges, the attorney also realized the man he discredited honorably served his nation for over a dozen years.

Thanks to all the brave men and women that serve and have served in our country's armed forces, defending the freedoms we so carelessly enjoy.

Thanks, Allie

I am so embarrassed. I forgot to mention Allie, yesterday. Allie is one of my sixth grade cherubs. Knowing I am diabetic, this sweet monkey brought in a package of Quaker Instant Oatmeal Weight Control Cinnamon-flavored. That was just so sweet. She wrote on the packet, "Mr. Zdun, Hope you enjoy this!!! My mom got this for us at Giant if you would like to get it. From, Allie." She added, "If you need to know many calories are in this there are 160." Well, I tried it and it is great. I thought I would have a reaction to the high-fiber cereal, but I did okay. Thanks, Allie. It is so nice to have my kids worry so, about me. They are well aware I worry so, about them.

Science
It all made sense to some kids. Ocean water has 35,000 parts-per-million of salt, while humans can only tolerate 500 ppm. Hmmm, is that why drinking ocean water can dehydrate you? Yep, the salt pulls the moisture right out of your body. The more saltwater you drink the higher the chance of dying from thirst. Wow!! And, Mr. Z, do you mean to tell us that of all the water on Earth, only 1%, is available for life on Earth, to use? Yep, the same water you drink today, could have been ingested by a dinosaur a 100 million years ago.

Social Studies
What's Right With America. This fictional video is about a family that lived in Africa for several years, but, returned to the United States, only to find the Constitution has been repealed and the Bill of Rights are non-existant. Brrrrrrr. Kinda makes you think how good we have it.

Maroon BASE
We started Star Wars Episode 1, today. Students learned the genre has shifted to a new hero, (Obi Wan Kenobe), new mentor, new nemesis and new problem. They connected that today's hero Obi Wan, became the future mentor to Luke Skywalker's hero persona. Unchanged are the comic relief antics and narrators of the story, C3PO and R2D2. In future years, these kiddoes will make the connections with Beowulf and Illiad.

Have a great weekend. Grab a drink of water and read a good book.

Did You Read Pages 80-91, In The Textbook?

"Ketch-up" work in science, today. Most kids finished the vocabulary words and read the assigned pages in the textbook.

Social Studies
We organized the student-led parent conference folders and talked about why we have these conferences. I told the munchkins not to be nervous. No nasty things will be said and that I will be there for support, encouragement and approval.

BASE
Today, we started a study of weather. I used a nifty video from United Videostreaming. It entailed discussion and demonstration of clouds and moisture. My BASE thought they knew it all, until I asked them why we needed smoke in a sealed chamber to make a cloud. Duh. Okay, I let them in on the secret about water molecules clinging onto the dust particles present in the smoke. Kind of a need introduction into our water unit in science. Tomorrow, in science, they will learn that it takes about a million water molecules, clinging to one dust particle, to make water visible. This process is what forms a cloud -- it is simply water as a gas turning into water as a liquid.

Have a good night.

The Water Cycle

The cherubs watched a really neat 17-minute video on the water cycle. Although it was geared for third through fifth grade, it had the neatest animation and graphics to explain how water molecules react in each of its phases of evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
We are also working in the textbook, pages 80-91, Fresh Water on the Surface of the Earth. Today, they looked at and define the vocabulary in this part of the text. Tomorrow, they will read the material and on Friday, hopefully, they will be able to discuss the material. Next week, we work on this, together.

Student-led Conferences
Next Wednesday and Thursday. My social studies class is meeting with me. Today, we went over the steps of introduction, what to discuss and what work samples will be shown, and all this must be done in a 15-minute time period. This is not a time for parents and teachers to discuss grades or behavior, but, to focus on what good the child does in school.

The Daughter Called
Here I am writing this blog and the cell rings. It's the daughter, Krysia. She just got back from a field trip. Remember, she is at Texas A&M's marine science campus in Galveston. Anyway, they took an afternoon boat trip around the bay collecting specimens of stingrays, jelly fish and squid. She is a first-year college student. I guess she did pick the right school to go to. It sounds like she is having a blast. I remember all my first years of college -- I gotta bunch 'o' college degrees. We never had fun that first year, it was all basic book learnin'.

Are you having fun your first year of middle school?

Sum It All -Up

Okay, the cherubs did a weekend water usage survey, at home. They came in and we converted that survey into gallons -- refer to earlier blog on how we did that. Then, we converted gallons into decimal and then into percentage of water used. Today, students used a graphic organizer of their own choosing and created a water conservation plan to be used at home. Then, they drew an illustration that can be used to remind middle school students to conserve water, here, in the building.

Kidspeak - ain't it great?
Yesterday, my social studies class converted the Bill of Rights into Kidspeak. Today, I threw several scenarios at them highlighting a certain violation to a certain Amendment. They were to determine which Amendment was violated. As a reward, each kid in the groups with the right answer got a "Dum Dum" lollipop. Needless, to say, only one scenario stumped them. I gave away so many lollipops -- some kids bragged about receiving five and even six lollipops. I am so proud of them -- here, on election day, my munchkins have shown they will be responsible and educated citizens of this great country.

Speaking of election day -- gotta run, I have to drive down the road a couple of miles to get to my polling place. Good luck to all the candidates vying for political office -- only in America.

Did you vote, today? Exercise your right.

The Canals of Bolivia -- an ancient farming practice

Students, today, read an article about how two archeologists rediscovered the ancient Mayan secrets to farming in high country, easily susceptible to killing frost. The scientists discovered a long, abandoned series of canals were once filled with water and knowing that water retains heat longer than air and soil, together, the Indians managed to secure their crops from falling victim to the frost. The method has been resurrected and now, farmers of the area are growing and securing their crops to feed their villages.
My students used Mrs. Fry's "Read Naturally" process, to find the main idea and supporting facts to this story. They underlined the passages that contained the main idea and those supporting facts. Then, using Mrs. Pulizzi's 4-square graphic organizer, assembled that information into a coherent summary.
A few students grumbled and griped and did not want to use a graphic organizer until I told them that as a professional writer, I still use graphic organizers.
I can't wait to see the summaries.

Social Studies
I teach a 9-week curriculum on the Bill of Rights. Today, the munchkins worked together to make those Amendments more kid friendly. We will use the kid-friendly versions to play a game, tomorrow, if they finish. I set-up five scenarios. The teams that figure out the amendments that are violated with these scenarios win lollipops. -- I know, but, its the last class of the day and by the time they get home, the sugar rush should have subsided. Either that, or parents can see what we get at school when their kiddoes come to school with candy.

Have a great night.

How Many Pounds Does A Gallon of Water Weigh?

A review of what we learned about water, so far, basically deals with the weight of water. We played catch-up, today. A single class period lesson expanded to three class periods. Ho boy.

Did Ya See the Newspaper, Today?

MRSA on the rise in Lycoming County. Gee, my sixth graders learned about MRSA, this week. They know how the media can "sensationalize" everything -- even a staph infection that plagued mankind for the last two million years. My kids studied and experimented with "superbug," and they know that good hygiene, not panic, is the best prevention.

Finding the Percentages
We went back to the basics of mathematics, today. Reviewed and revamped our findings on the percentage of water our families used, last weekend, in our water use survey.

Welcome Mrs. Nemeth
Nice lady. Mrs. Nemeth joined us today as our new, temporary, sixth grade reading teacher. I showed her how to use the computer in her classroom, the audio amplifier and the multimedia projector. She will be online, soon, with the grade program and homework blog. One step at a time, if you please. Many of the cherubs recognized her as their CCD teacher -- that's Catholic Sunday School.

I Got Candy
Thanks Allie and Jolene. These girls, each, gave me a baggie of candy from Halloween -- I told you I have nice kids, this year. I bet my family and friends are reading this right now and exclaiming, with hands on either side of face, "BUT, HE'S DIABETIC AND SHOULD NOT EAT SWEETS." Don't worry, even one morsel of candy sends me scrambling to the potty. I will donate the candy to some worthy munchkins -- maybe, Mrs. Antonacci's kids -- they are just as sweet as the candy.

Have a great night!

Halloween Is Not A Holiday

I gave homework. Sure, I know, my students are too old to trick-or-treat, anyway. Today, students took their home water usage survey charts and converted the survey into gallons used. We used a formula of a quart for washing hands, one gallon for brushing teeth, 30 gallons per clothes washer load, etc. . . In the end, everyone used hundreds of gallons of water over the weekend. At 8 pounds a gallon, that's a lot of weight. Anyway, after that, they converted the usage to percentage and finally, made a bar graph of the whole kit-and-kaboodle. Yes, I let them use calculators.

Goodbye, Miss Springman
In a surprise move by the district, today was Miss Springman's last day. This neophyte teacher did a great job while she was with us. Miss Springman was a temporary sub, who, just happened to stay for several weeks. I have to say, for someone basically straight out of college, she did a fantastic job for us. I hope some big shot in some district reads my blog and calls her in for an interview. You will be delighted with her. This girl was asked to interview several times, which means they were very interested in her abilities. We knew about this, yesterday, but we all kept quiet. Trish held her head high and proud as she left the building, this afternoon. I wish her only the best of luck, but, she is talented and I bet she'll land a permanent teaching position by next fall.

Yoda Becomes Darth Vader Becomes Mr. Fausnaught
Mr. F. started the day as Yoda, from Star Wars. By the time he stopped into our grade-level meeting, he donned a Darth Vader mask. By lunch, it was good old Tim. What a card. We are so lucky to have him as our principal -- never a dull moment.
You should have seen the 7th grade team. The teachers dressed in costume and pranced around the lobby as students entered the building, this morning. Me, in black pants, shoes and shirt -- well, I was dressed as a frustrated parent.

Marking Period Ended, Today
I wonder how much candy I will get from students wanting a better science grade.

Have a good night, everyone.

My Mnemonic Works

I used a mnemonic -- A, Z, P, S, to help students solve the source of the superbug virus. Those letters stand for Antonacci, Zdun, Pulizzi, and Springman. Get it? The four 6th grade teachers. So, once the kids exhausted all hypotheses using available information, they had to rely on good ole hypothesis to make an educated guess. I gave them the clue -- first period, the source cup was A, for second period, the source cup was Z. Then, my third science class had P and finally, the last class got to guess -- S, for Springman.

Cough, cough -- sniffle, sniffle

I may have infected your kid with the dreaded "Paraskevidekatriaphobia (pronounced: Pair-uh-skee-vee-dek-uh-tree-uh-foh-bee-uh) Virus. That's Greek for Fear of Friday the 13th. Sorry about infecting them. We conducted an experiment as to how bacteria travel from one person to the next. The virus is on my website. Today, I used "superbug," since that is the catch phrase for MRSA -- an antibiotic resistant staph infection. If anything, they learned the importance of washing hands and not trading flip flops.
Hee hee. I used hydrogen peroxide as my virus cup and then used plain ole bleach as the activator. It made the peroxide fizz and "showed" students how virus can spread throughout a population.
Tomorrow, we find out who had the initial infected cup. Funny, all the kids wanted to be infected and be the source of the infection. I showed them my swollen leg, the result of a MRSA attack several years ago. That did not sway them.

Social Studies
My social studies class gave their presentations, yesterday, on one of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. They had all marking period to work on this project. Four entire class periods and time that equates to four more complete class periods to assembly a five minute skit. The group that did the first amendment was "awesome." Thanks Shelby, Andru, Shannon, Dajah and Robbie -- I was impressed. Two other groups became flustered and "messed-up" their skits. Too bad. The premise of the seventh and nineth amendments were clever, despite the poor delivery. Hey! Not everyone is cut out to be a Shakesperean actor. One group was so upset, they wanted a "do-over," tomorrow. Sorry, girls, what can you accomplish in 24 hours that you could not do in eight weeks. Still, I enjoyed all three skits. A fourth group wanted to do a powerpoint presentation, but to burn the powerpoint onto a flashcard did not work and they will fix and present tomorrow. I have no clue what the fifth group will do, we ran out of time.

Marking Period Over
Wednesday is the end of the marking period. My social studies class moves on to another teacher -- I get a fresh crop. OOOOOhhhhhhhh.

Time to tally, not dilly-dally

The munchkins are performing a home water usage survey, this weekend. Parents, please participate.

Meet Miss Springman
Miss Springman has been filling-in for Mrs. Fry for the last few weeks. I thought it was time for you to meet her.

No School Tomorrow
Teachers are being trained in emergency response. Oh boy, old and crippled-up, I may as well practice being left-behind.

The Tire Just Blew!!

Okay, you're riding down the highway, when all of a sudden one of your car's tires, blows! You pull over and change the tire, right? Well, my geology unit has done the same thing. I am spending more time reviewing work done, than teaching. I've become a bookkeeper. Time to change the tire. I am putting the geology unit on the shelf for a couple of months, or until I can regroup. Today, I started my tried-and-true freshwater unit with a little project called, "Taking Account of Water." (click on the title to view the project.) This is a water conservation awareness project and the kids will recruit family members, this weekend, to participate in a home water useage survey. It'll be fun. The rest of the project pushes data tables, bar graphs, finding percentages, etc. You know, real old-fashioned learning.

New Sun-Gazette online
The Sun-Gazette, this morning, launched their new version of the online newspaper. It's great!! I am so glad the local newspaper has entered the 21st Century. I, in particular, like the blogs. So many new faces in the news room. It's been a long time since I was a reporter, there.

Early Morning Blog
Some of you may have noticed the time I posted this blog. I was sick, last night, and went to bed early, only to toss and turn, all night. It was about 2:30 a.m. I decided to shelf the geology unit and got on my 'puter to see if my freshwater unit needed updating. Well, it did, and I did, and am ready to fly off to school to print off copies for all the students. Therefore, my homework page is being changed.

You Are In Control -- Does That Irritate You?

Wow. Kiddoes, today, did not want to write a precise, detailed, step-by-step direction on their sand comparison lesson. In fact, they were so hasty to complete that writing, that they became irritated when I read the directions and failed to understand what they wanted to do. Some got the idea that if you want to learn how to follow directions, you must learn how to give directions. For some kids, this worked. For others -- panic. Okay, I can relate. I took the opportunity, during lunch, to rewrite that part of the lesson and gave it out as an attachment. It gives more teacher input and requires less student decision-making -- it's safer to take orders than to take them. We've gotta work on this a bit more. Surprisingly, this group has used the FOSS modules at the baby school and seemed quite confused when given the middle school version of the inquiry-based lessons. I will roll with the punches and rewrite, rewrite and rewrite those pesky lessons and ease my students into higher order thinking, slowly.
Have great night.

Cough, Cough -- Rock Dust -- We Made SAND!!

Each group filled a plastic jar with a collection of granite, limestone and sandstone/shale. Then, they shook the jar for 10-minutes. My computer and overhead has a countdown timer. Whew, the noise, the dust, the sweaty kids -- but, it was worth it in the end. We got a nifty array of very fine, fine, course, very course sand. We applied a sample of that sand to our Sand Comparison Lab Notebook. We are in the computer lab tomorrow and Wednesday.
Have a great night.

Online Stream Table

Students went online to watch a stream table simulate the Colorado River surging through the Grand Canyon. One student had a hard time with defining Delta. He knew the definition was a fan-shaped deposit of sediments at the mouth of a river. He just did not know what a mouth of a river, is.
Your kiddo can go online at home and show you what we did.
Have a good night.

Landform Vocabulary

Yesterday, I had the cherubs use their textbooks to locate and define words pertaining to landforms of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. This is part of our rock and sediment study unit. Anyway, they got finished far too early yesterday. Despite the fact that the directions in yesterday's lesson threatened a test will be given. Well, today, I gave that test. However, I let them use their notes from yesterday. Believe it or not, not everyone got a 100%. Oh well.

6a.m. Rolls Around Mighty Early
For about the last month or so, I have been getting to school around 6 a.m. I am using FOSS modules for the first time and find although it is geared for 6 through 8th grades, it is written more for 8th graders. Therefore, I have been spending a lot of time rewriting the Earth History unit to accommodate my munchkins. Unfortunately, I have to come in the morning to grade papers, write plans and set-up the room for experiments and investigations. Today, I did not get here until 6:50 a.m. and I feel guilty.

Coloring Contest
Mrs. Rogers, our 7th grade life science teacher, is sponsoring a coloring contest as a fundraiser. Each entry fee is $0.50. Great idea Kristina. I'm jealous the sixth grade team did not come up with that idea first. Parents; have your kiddoes enter the contest. We sent home flyers on the contest yesterday and today.

Have a great night.

Learnin' Landform Vocabulary

Students, today, started their Stream Table Lab Notebook. They did pages 2 and 3, which contains a landform map and asks for students to use page 36 in their textbook to find the location of the vocabulary words and write brief definitions of each word. Kids got done in no time, flat. Despite the threat that I planned on giving them a surprise test on the vocabulary. It could be tomorrow, it could be Friday, it could be next week. They did not care. Since I now know Leah and Nick read my blog, I will give you the heads-up -- it's tomorrow. You will have to match definition to vocab word and then mark the location of that vocab word on a blank map.

Mr. Fausnaught Can Shoot Hoops
The boss was outside my room, this afternoon, as classes were passing. He waited for a clear moment in the hallway and banked a plastic soda bottle off the wall and into the trash can. Nice shot! Now you know why I wrestled in high school and not played b-ball.

Gave Back Tests, today.
That short five-question multiple-choice test was returned to students, today, as was the graded "Rocks and Minerals Lab Notebook." Parents, take a look at 'em. Your kiddoes are starting to shut-down for Christmas and its not even Halloween, yet.

I Hate Giving Tests

As the title implies, I hate it. Should I go multiple-choice, essay, fill-in the blank, matching, etc. They are all kinda dumb. We all suffer from test-anxiety and usually do poorly. Is that a measure of what we learned? Naw. However, I assess my students many ways; including projects, homework, observations, group discussions, lectures, classroom performance and participation, etc. Giving a paper and pencil test is an archaic method, but, it does aid in assessing a student's memory retention. Because I suffered that feared test-anxiety, I make my tests fast and simple. Still, we panic. Just like death and taxes, it is a necessary evil of our lives.

Weathering/Erosion Video
I liked the video I presented, today, on weathering and erosion. The 13-questions that went with the video were thought-provoking. The kids worked in their groups to answer those questions and the ones not done in class? HOMEWORK!!!

It Was A Nice Day
Leah surprised me, today, she found today's science test on my website, printed it off and shared it with Anisha. She left the test in my room during BASE. I'll bet she thought I was furious, but, hey, the kid takes responsibility and peruses my website. What she finds posted there is fair game. I am very proud of her for taking the initiative to cruise my website. Ya never know what you can learn. Learning comes in many forms, gathering and utilizing information is the best form of learning. By the way, Leah and Anisha got 100% on today's test. Imagine that.

Miss Ya, Mrs. Fry
I miss you terribly, Nettie. I hope you are feeling better and on your way to recovery. The more I talk with your sub, Trish, the more impressed I am with this young lady. You would be proud of her, she is doing a bang-up job in your 'stead. I hope my bosses take notice of her and offer her a full-time position when one opens -- but, not mine. Parents, you've gotta meet this girl. For someone so young and inexperienced at teaching, she has taken well to teaching reading -- but, not sixth grade science.

Are You Reading My Blogs?
Is anyone reading my blogs? I would love to hear from you. Suggestions, ideas, criticisms - (ah, no), etc. Seems the only one that responds to my blog with any frequency is Mr. Fausnaught -- he's a good man, friend, co-worker, principal, idea man, and overall spiritual leader. Hey, Tim, do I get the $20 you promised me for saying this stuff?

Have a great night, everyone.

Mystery Solved!

The mystery sand was mountain sand!

Test Tomorrow
Five-question multiple choice test on rocks and minerals lab notebook, tomorrow. Relax, it' easy.

Bad 'Puters
I have one bad computer in my classroom - I was told it "ain't gonna get fixed." There are no spares. Now, two other computers keep "freezing-up". Arrrgghhh. I can only get into a few FOSS files, therefore, the computers I have in my room specifically for FOSS cannot be used. Trying to get computer lab time is like having teeth pulled, with pliers, and no painkillers. We learn, evolve and keep on running. Thank goodness for Mrs. Davis. She schedules computer lab time and helped me find open days where I can get all my classes in there to do FOSS research.

Weathering/Erosion
New lab notebook, tomorrow. Weathering and Erosion. It is basically a 20-minute video but with poignant questions to go with the video.

Still Love It
I hope I did not leave a sour taste in your mouth. I love this place; the people, the kids and Dr. Mextorf, Mrs. Griggs and Mr. Fausnaught have been fantastic and supportive as I switch from teaching ecology to Earth and Space Science. A few technical problems with equipment is simply enough to make me vent, but not condemn.

Students!!!! Ecology -- the study of the environment; Geology - the study of the Earth. Get it? "logy" - the study of.

Have a great night, everyone.

Sandy

Hi Parents:
Ask your sixth grader to see the rocks and minerals lab notebook. In it, on page 9, are three sand samples they glued into place. By having those samples, students were able study and analyze each sample in-depth and determine which sample was sand dune sand, mountain stream sand, or beach sand. It was a kinda cool experience. They actually seemed to enjoy this activity and when I asked to clean-up and washdown the desks, they were more than accommodating.

Dance Tonight
I wonder if they will play a Polka, for me. Oh well, my dancing days are long gone, but, I'm certain the kids won't mind.

'Puters are Fired-Up
On Monday, students will be using the computers in my room to watch a stream table simulation. They will be able to control the water flow, rate of speed, slope, duration and two kinds of rocky sand materials. Much better than setting-up a table in the classroom and all that down time adjusting the classroom model. Ain't technology, wonderful?

Have a great weekend. See you at the dance. Are you going to the dance? Send me a comment.

Let Me Summarize, This

Pretty neat, class. They used Mrs. Pulizzi's 4-square method to compose a summary of their rock study. After doing 4-square, many students commented that writing the summary was much simpler. Who says public education "don't push readin', ritin', 'rithmetic."

Progress Reports
I gave the kiddoes their science progress reports, today. Look for 'em.

Goodbye Alisha
Today was Alisha's last day, here, at Loyalsock. She is moving to Indiana. I bet she will do just fine in the midwest. Later, today, I will insert a slideshow of students from her science class. Something for her to remember us by. By the way, look for your's truly in that slideshow.

Sand Tomorrow
Tomorrow we play with sand. They will be presented with three sand sample, which, they will glue onto the lab notebook and from there do a series of examinations to determine the composition of those sand samples. Beware, I got one mystery sand sample coming up.

More Comfortable
Looks like most of my students have grown accustomed to this rock project. As I stated, yesterday, about 20 stayed after school, yesterday, to work on the project and get caught-up. Today, they approached the summary with much more confidence.

Rainy Day
What a pain -- my arthritis and bursitus, that is. The cold, raw rain made the joints ache and forced me to wear a sweater in class. Gee, I am getting old. Next thing you know, I will be jingling the change in my pocket.

Chunky Sandy Hates Scales

Students, today, placed their granite pieces in plastic jar with their sandstone pieces. They put the lid on the jar and shook the jar anywhere from one to four minutes. The result? Lotsa sand and chunky stone pieces. They took inventory of the different sizes of rocks and sand and compared them to a piece of granite that was not in the shaking mixture. They also made comparisons of grain shapes and size. Whew! Imagine six jars a'boppin' at once. HEADACHE!!!

Frustrated By It All?
I just found out one of my cherubs has becomes so frustrated with this rock project that she literally cries going to school and coming home, for fear she is doing the work incorrectly. In fact, she keeps wanting to ask me questions, although I decline to answer them and refer her back to her group. I did remind her, after I found out about her fear of me, that the new word we learned was "consensus". The project entails the groups to discuss and realize a suitable answer for the questions in the lab notebook. Once I explained there are no real right or wrong answers to this packet, just logical conclusions, she felt a bit more relieved. "Goodness," I told her. "I don't expect you to be an expert in geology from a simple 8 week lesson. That's for you to become when you take Earth Science, again, in 9th grade. I certainly hope I eased her troubled mind.
The packets tell you, at certain parts, to come to me to review your answer to ensure you are working in the right direction. Do you really think I would set you adrift in the ocean in a boat with no engine or oars? Gee, without sharks, that would not be any fun.
Are you getting that frustrated because I won't tell you if your consensus is right or wrong? Write me a comment, or send me an email, or just stop by and talk to me face-to-face. I don't bite. . . Okay, but I will swallow you whole.

Impressive Turnout
About 20 kids stayed after school, today, to play catch-up with this project. Once they got a second chance to work on the project, they got so much completed. I want to thank those children for taking responsibility in their schoolwork and the mature attitude to focus on their commitments.

Shake It Up!

Today, students rubbed a piece of granite and a piece of sandstone, together, to make sand. However, I challenged them to use those stones and a plastic jar with a lid to make sand. They are not permitted to use water or any other material. They can, however, handle the jar. Funny, they insisted on using water to simulate a river or stream wearing down rocks. Ha ha ha, ever hear of landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wind?

lab notebook begins

All that rock identification work may have paid-off. Students were given the first page of a science lab notebook that is to stay in notebooks until we do all 13 pages.

Nifty New Science Books

The kids got their nifty, new science books, today. FOSS Earth History resource book.

Objectives
Those weekly science objectives will be stored in the science notebook. Starting today, students received a title page with all the weeks they should be collecting and putting in their notebooks.

Using the Dichotomous Key

Part II of the rock identification assignment. Students today used the rock dichotomous key to identify their rock. Wow!!! Most of them were wrong. C'mon, it takes practice to use a dichotomous key! They are not done, yet. On Thursday, they will compare their rock to an actual rock collection sample and then work to identify that rock. It'll be fun.

4sight
4sight testing continues, tomorrow. That means I will only meet with Section 63 and 61. Today, I met with Section 62 and 64, so tomorrow will be a repeat of today. There will be no need for a blog, tomorrow, unless something unusual happens.

Rockin' in Science Class

Students today brought in new rocks and measured, weighed, found their volumes and then started using a dichotomous key to determine the rocks' identity.
Here is a slideshow of today's class.

Special Sunday Blog

Congratulations to our high school football team. It was a mighty good thrashing you gave Montoursville.

Thanks, Eric
I just found out a comment sent to me on an earlier blog was posted by Eric. He is a student at the University of Houston, in, guess where? Right, Houston, Texas. No, my blogs are not that far reaching. Eric is a friend of my daughter, Krysia. I met Eric in the summer of 2006 when we were checking out Texas A&M. Krysia and Eric have been friends for a couple of years, mainly an internet. It's true what they say about Texans. Eric escorted us about Houston on our visit there. We went bowling and he and Krysia went ice skating, to the movies, dinner, etc. Really nice kid. I met his younger brother and his mother and father. Super people. Thanks, Eric, for commenting on my blog. Eric and Krysia are friends and they get together about once a week, now that Krysia is in Texas. It's good to have a good friend when you are far from home.

Reading Naturally

Borrowing from read naturally, students, today, listened to me read, aloud, a segment on the rock cycle and the hows, whys and wherefores about rock types. Afterwards, they were asked to "sub-vocalize" and use a yellow highlighter to reread the material. The kids were great about the in-class assignment. Now, I hope they bring in a good rock for class on Monday.

Okay, so I cried

Mama Fry, I will miss you
The day was emotional, to say the least. One of the finest people I have ever known called it quits, today. Tears flowed freely, all day, but the one image that will stay with me forever was at the end of the day, hordes of 6th, 7th, 8th graders and even a couple of high school students descended on Mrs. Fry's classroom to give her a goodbye hug. I had a camera in my classroom but was far to overcome to think about getting it and sharing a picture of the scene with you. sorry.
The goodbye scenerio was preceded by a short video by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Johnson, featuring 7th graders saying goodbye on our closed-circuit television system. The entire school tuned-in. That was a fantastic gesture, you guys.
In the end, Nettie and I, embraced for such a long time, and I soon joined in on the crying. I simply adore this woman, as I adore Wanita and Cheryl -- we are indeed a family.
When I finally end my teaching career, students will stand in the hallway and say, "who?"

Rewind and Replay
We redid our rock volume experiment to verify our data. It was okay, but I still did not get overly excited about the necessary lesson. Some lesson simply floor me, others? Eh.

How do you collect rocks and identify them?
Students will learn, tomorrow.

Water on the Rocks

Students found the volume of their rock by conducting an experiment using displacement of water caused by the insertion of their rock into a cup of water. It was kind of a neat little experiment, hardly one worth mentioning in a blog.

Mrs. Fry is Leaving
It is with a heavy heart I will say goodbye to Mrs. Fry, tomorrow. Health problems have escalated to the point she feels she can no longer perform her duties in the classroom. Few people have touched my life in such a positive way, as Nettie. Her love of teaching, students and reading has even motivated me to read more and utilize her "Read Naturally" program in my science classroom. I wish her a speedy recovery and look forward to the day when she can return to the classroom and continue to inspire our youth. Only my own family and my school family will understand this part, but Nettie, I will pray for you.

More Dichotomous Keys?
Starting tomorrow, the students will begin the process of identifying their rock. We are now into our geology unit.

Putting Together A Leaf Collection

Shake Your Head and A Rock May Fall Out

Today, students were to bring in thumb-sized rocks to start our geology unit. Several forgot, but several also brought in boulders that took five men to carry, while others brought in grains of sand that required a high-powered microscope to see (kinda like my wife's engagement ring). Oh well, the thought was there and the lesson entailed measuring the rock's diameter, length and weight. Also, students were to describe the rocks texture (feel) and any blotches or other imperfections in the stone.
It's amazing what you can do with a simple stone -- perhaps, even, make it a pet? Hmmm, that's been done. Oh well, so much for my inventive genius.
Tomorrow, we assemble our leaf collection into a booklet.
Have a great night, everyone. For my daughter, going to school in Galveston, Texas, the weather is perfect, today. No bird-sized mosquitoes in these here parts, just a beautiful blue-skied day with warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine. Missy and I are going for a walk.

Creating a Bar Graph and Finding a Rock

Today, students took their completed common trees data table and created a colorful bar graph that shows maples are most common in our area.

KIDDOES!!! Find a rock in your backyard, about the size of your thumb. Bring it in on Monday. We start our geology unit by finding the volume of that rock, through water displacement.

Bring in your leaves, leaf press and completed leaf labels, on Tuesday. We are going to mount those leaves into a leaf collection that you can take home.

Have a great weekend, y'all.

The Survey Says. . .

So, what are the top five most common trees in Loyalsock Twp.? Today, my students completed the search for their leaf identification and used the genus of each tree to determine if the maple, oak, elm, sycamore, pine or fir is the most common tree. I placed a student roster on the whiteboard and titled each column after one of the aforementioned trees. Students simply placed a checkmark in each column for which they had a leaf. Tomorrow, they will tally the checkmarks to determine the most common tree in our area. Are you anxious to learn the most common tree? The tally will take the shape of a data table, complete with title and subtitles. The handout I gave the students for the data table reveals the most common tree in Loyalsock Twp. How does the 6th grade science elf know? Heh, heh -- I'll never tell.

Filling In Labels

Now that you identified your tree, use your data table to fill-in the labels we will use when mounting the leaves on Sept. 25. Go to my homework page to view dates to remember this and next week.

Using The Data Table

Still in the computer lab, today. Students were asked to use their leaf collection data table to identify their leaves.

Short blog, today. I am ill and need to sleep.

What's A Dichotomous Key?

Have you ever played "20-questions?" Well, a dichotomous key is just like that. You are given two questions. Answer yes and the next question is completely different than if you answered no.

In the computer lab, today, to introduce different dichotomous key sites for tree identification. My favorite is a site maintained by Virginia Tech University. Go to my webpage. On the left side of the screen, in the gray column, are numerous links. It is in alphabetical order, so scroll down to "Leaf Identification Key." Go for it.

Testing 1, 2, 3 . . .

Metric length test, today, 10-multiple choice questions. Only 4-100s. Hmmmm. I guess its too early in the year to take a test.

I dood it!
I done it!!! My boss, Mr. Fausnaught, gave me an ipod and said, "how can we use this in the classroom?" "I dunno, I know nothing about Apple," I responded. He told me to play and let him know. Well, here it is, Friday night. My wife is at work. I'm bored. Playing with the ipod, I recorded an audio on how to make a leaf press. I then downloaded it to itunes and from there, downloaded it onto my webpage. Yep, go to my webpage and click on the podcast link. It will take you to a page the asks you to download -- go ahead. It will take a minute to download, but then, you will be treated to nearly three minutes of my voice.

Catch y'all, Monday.

Boy, Am I Perplexed

Today, my kiddoes were to assemble a leaf press in preparation for gathering leaves for a leaf collection. The press simply squeezes the leaves into a nice, flat object and absorbs enough moisture to halt the decaying process.

Anyway, I stopped by the local newspaper plant and collected a couple of stacks of old newspapers. The newspapers are used in layers for the press to not only cushion and press the leaves, but to absorb the excess moisture from the leaves.

Earlier, I sent email to all the parents participating in my email express and forewarned them a cereal box would be needed for this activity. Only a handful of children came to class with the cereal box. Oh well, that part of the activity will have to be done, at home.

I gathered more than enough newspapers to satisfy the requirements for at least 150 kids. Today, I only had about 80 students do this activity. Lo and behold, by the time my last group came into the room, I barely had enough newsprint for those munchkins to assemble only half the press. Sorry, guys, you will have to complete this work at home and collect your own newspapers.

The youngsters were given the assignment, yesterday, to gather the leaves and place them in a leaf press by Monday. Hope they comply.

Normally, this activity is a homework assignment, but to gather that much newspaper often is a struggle for families. Therefore, this year, I collected the newsprint.

Collecting Leaves

Have you said, "I want to spend more time with my child before he/she grows-up anymore, and no longer wants to spend time with me." Well, you're in luck. Here is a bonding project you and your kiddo can do.

Today, I passed out Part 3 of the Leaf Collection packet. This part is due on Monday, Sept. 17. Here is how it works. Students are to find one leaf from five different species of trees. Leaves cannot be torn or crumbled. The student will use the packet to record observations of the tree from which the leaf was collected. The observations include twigs, type of leaf, leaf arrangment on the stem, whether the tree is coniferous or deciduous, kind of bark, fruit and shape of tree. You can find a copy of the project on my website.

I would prompt you to go to Brandon Park, there are 40 types of trees in that park. They were planted in the early 1940s, after a vicious windstorm destroyed many, many of the trees in the park. A group of concerned citizens raised funding for new trees and planted them at various points in the park. Parents: if you wanna cheat, the gazebo in the park has a map of each tree in the park and each tree is identified. Let me know how you are making out.

Weight a Minute

Yep, we metrically weighed rice, beans, popcorn and raindrops. Tomorrow, I introduce the leaf collection project. You can find it on my website in the gray column, on the left side of the page. Tomorrow, we introduce why we learn about plants. This lesson incorporates Mrs. Fry Read Naturally program, in which students read the introduction and then find the main idea and supporting facts. Then, the munchkins write a summary of the article.

Big 10 question multiple-choice test on metric length on Friday, Sept. 14. A review is on my website.

Measuring Height in centimeters

Yeah, yeah, the kiddoes were measuring each other's height in inches, meters, dekameters, etc. Everything, except centimeters. Okay, I revamped today's lesson and sent them out into the hallways to measure in centimeters. Then, find the average height, in cm, of the group. Also, they grabbed a trundle wheel and measured in meters, then, converted meters to millimeters, centimeters, decimeters, dekameters, hectometers and kilometers.
Test on Friday, Sept. 14.

Metric Length Review

My website has a powerpoint review on what we learned about metric length. Metric Unit test is Friday, Sept. 14, 2007.

Did you check your rubrics?

Wow! we were quick to create data tables, but few students read the directions to include titles for those tables. Crooked grins and bewildered looks met my question to students, "Did you check the rubrics for what is expected of you for each data table?"
Why in the world do you think I gave out the rubrics?
Measure twice, cut once.

Chart Your Height

The cherubs worked in groups to establish a heighth chart, hang it in the hallway, and then measure each other's height in centimeters and millimeters. Then, most of them got to the point where they stand flat-footed on the ground, but stretch their arms as high as possible and chart the difference in height.

The Boss Visits
Thanks for stopping by, today, Mr. Fausnaught. Mr. F. took some pictures of my cherubs performing this activity in the hallway. He even posted one on his blog. Click the link to see Mr. Fausnaught's blog. I love reading it, everyday. http://mrfausnaught.blogspot.com/

Greetings from the daughter
If you look at yesterday's blog, my baby girl, Krysia, sent me a comment. She's in Galveston, Texas, studying at Texas A&M's marine campus. She wants to be a scientist. I wonder where she gets this love of science from?

Life Comes At Ya Hard, Are You Ready?
Two high school girls stopped me this a.m. They told me how hard my 6th grade science class was for them. Other than Mr. Conoway's class, mine was the hardest class they have taken in school. My response? Why do you think the other classes seem so easy for you? I'm getting you ready to meet life, head-on.

Palms Down

Wow!! we drew an outline of our hand and measured the width of knuckles, joints, finger nails and palms using metric rulers. Then, using two meter sticks, groups measured the metric height of the classroom and traded in their meter sticks for trundle wheels and measured the length of the hallway from my room to the lobby. Most recorded the meter distance, but I wanted them to convert to hectometers for the credit. Hope they followed directions.
Thanks to all the parents that sent in their e-mail addresses. I have a few cherubs that did not turn in their assignment on the in-class scavenger hunt. I will be sending e-mails tonight to the parents of those children that did not turn in the work.
Have a great night.

Good Eats

I suppose I should be the Loyalsock Alton Brown. Intermixed in my science curriculum are tidbits of how our bodies use the foods we put into them. This year, I am a role-model in healthy eating. You know, four-ounces of protein, then veggies, then starch. It was nice to see the Williamsport Sun-Gazette do an article about Lancer Court. Ms. Hufnagle has made strides in converting our once slushy, cupcake, high-fat and starch, deep-fried cafeteria into a bright and cozy haven of healthy eating. Included in that article was a photograph of one of my new sixth-graders helping herself to a serving of "broccoli" -- gasp!!!

Click here to view the article.

Scavenger Hunt

See my homework blog for information about today's class.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.

Metric prefixes

Students today learned about the six metric prefixes used to change meter. Students learned that a millimeter is the width of a dime, centimeter is the width of a pencil eraser, decimeter is the size of a highlighter. Students also learned 10 mm=1 cm, 10 cm = 1 dm, and 10 dm = 1 meter. Therefore, there are 1,000 mm in a meter, 100 cm in a meter, and 10 decimeters in a meter. Also, deka, hecto and kilo are prefixes that show numbers larger than one meter. Kinda cool, eh?

Metric Unit

Students were exposed to the origin of the standardized method of measurement, using inches, feet and miles. An article written in 1974 supplied the information. Today, students compared counting, using the traditional base 12 to the metric, base 10. It appeared that all classes felt the metric method of counting was far easier. Students also compared metrics with the two-liter soda bottle, the 100-meter dash and a paper clip weighs one-gram. A five-question survey was given for homework. In that survey, students were asked to used multiple-choice to find the article's main idea and supporting ideas and then explain, in detail, why they felt base 10 method was easier than counting by twelves.