Porosity Experiment Begins

Sorry, I had no time to take photographs of my munchkins measuring sand, silt and gravel to determine the porosity of each material. Mr. Fausnaught, however, was in and took several snapshots. I think they are on his blog, today. http://mrfausnaught.blogspot.com/

The cherubs did choose their clubs, today, during BASE. Current plans are to implement clubtime on Fridays. It should be fun.

Sixth grade parents: Did y'all get my practice email? I made a mass-mailing account that only shows the students' names, but, not their email addresses. Send me an email, even if it is just to say, hello.

Have a great weekend, folks.

New BASE schedule

Poor Mrs. Beard had 36 kids in her pre-BASE SSR class. I opted to switch to the first lunch and take half her kids. To do that, I had to move 4 or 5 kids from my SSR to Mrs. Pulizzi's room. That way, I had lunch from 11:10 to 11:40, while the other sixth grade teachers continue with second lunch, from 11:25 to 11:55. So, I get half of Mrs. Beard's kids from 11:40 to 11:55 and then switch some kids around for my regular BASE class from 11:55 to 12:25.
If you think that is confusing, you should see our class rosters for BASE!

Change in plans
For several weeks I have been trying to find a way to cut-out both ends of tin cans for an experiment. Today's cans have a curved bottom that does not allow can openers to work. Must be a safety thing. Well, I give up. Despite buying hammers and 2x4s, I have to shelf this project. Instead, I am moving to the next lesson - porosity. It is Geology Lab Notebook 2 on my website.

Have a great night, folks.

Mining For Chips

Digging into the ground and environmental consequences makes for a tasty experiment as my sixth graders "mined" for chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie. After the experiment, they ate the left-over cookie. Can you believe what stores charge for 105 chocolate chip cookies? So much for my gasoline allowance for the week.

Have a good night, folks.

Naw, They Aren't Pooped

Hee hee, nasty Pappa Z. The cherubs spent science examining a sample of soil. After touching and sniffing it, I explained how cow manure changes to soil after the manure has dried and the odor-causing bacteria are killed off. So, I 'posed, "Did I give you soil or manure?"

It was a great lesson on how to conduct a viable science experiment.

By the way, only one kid asked to wash his hands after the experiment. Looks like we'll have to do the super virus experiment, next week.

Have a great night, folks.

Why I Removed My Sea Aggie Bumper Sticker

Okay, in the wake of Hurricane Gustav, I advised the daughter to leave TAMUG for Houston. She left at 11 p.m. yesterday. Stayed with a friend. Today, TAMUG, informed students, via website, tomorrow is a normal school day. Needless to say, she had to return, tonight. Her roommate lives in Dallas - a six hour drive. The roommate swung by Houston and picked up my daughter. What kind of ridiculous college, located 15-feet above sea level, would hold classes when a Category 4 storm is expected to hit nearby New Orleans by mid-Monday morning? Typical storm surges are 15 to 20-feet! Thank goodness she is on the second floor of her dorm. Her marine biology class, tomorrow, may really be a marine biology class with fishes and other sea critters swimming around her first-floor classroom.

I hope the daughter tires of this silliness and opts to return to the east coast to complete her Marine Biology degree.

Have a nice holiday, folks. I am still on worried daddy watch.