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.