The Great Mixing Bowl - Z Daily Journal -- Day 2

     A thousand apologies for not posting, yesterday.  The second grandchild was born, yesterday, and grandpa had to go fuss over him.
     On Friday, my science classes finished researching background on the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, and learned that by viewing my daily journal they were able to answer several difficult questions in their packet.
     I pause to reflect on how several students became angry with me because I would not tell them the answers to their questions, but, rather advised them to use their laptop computers to query for an answer.
     Many groups completed the first packet, which I graded and returned to them.  Those grades are recorded in parent portal.
     The second packet involves using a drinking straw, clay, BB's, masking tape and scissors to construct a working hydrometer - a device that floats higher in the water, the denser the water, becomes.
     Students will make comparisons of typical ocean water versus freshwater and then, make brackish water - a combination of both salt and freshwater, to simulate bay conditions.
     This activity is rather fun and easy, but, lends itself to better understanding of the varying ecosystem that exists in the bay.

The Great Mixing Bowl - Z Daily Journal -- Day 1

     Today, was the official start of our Chesapeake Bay project.  I arranged students into groups of three or four students per group.  Each group received the first of three packets and each group "signed-out" a laptop computer. 
     The first activity, due Tuesday, April 17, pertains to a bit of background information about the bay and asks students define such words as; brackish, gamefish, spawn, and Shad.  Additionally, students were asked to record several things they already knew about the bay and then interview another group to see if they could add to the list of things, already known.
     Students used the computers to learn more about where the bay is located, a bit of trivia about the Susquehanna River, and research information about the American Shad, a native gamefish species that will be making a comeback when all the dams between Williamsport and the bay are equipped with fishladders to accommodate the Shad's annual spawing behavior - similar to salmon.

Playing with Paper Airplanes?

My goodness, what better way to learn about surface area and tension/friction.  How about understanding a balance between lift and gravity, or thrust and drag?

There be paper airplanes all over the school, but, the learning that took place is beyond expression.  Today, most of my kiddoes designed and launched airplanes from the gym balcony, with the emphasis,, on keeping the plane in the air for a minimum of five seconds,.

Monday we launch for distance. 

surface tension

water molecules maintain a magnetic link bond with one another. 

Okay, to shake his bond, we need to interrupt the electrical field that maintains that grip. 

what better way to show than with 10-mL of water in a petri dish and a small metal needle. 

Aside from a discussion on distribution of weight, students learned that using the tines of a fork will ensure a needle can be lowered slowely onto the water and it will float.

 the key, here, is that the molecular bond of the water is strong enough to suspend the needle at the top of the water.  so, by adding a drop of soap, we disrupt this cohesive electrical bond and the molecules separate enough to permit the needle to sink.

hmmm, is this why soap removes dirt and grime better than water, itself?

what if we replicated this experiment using ocean water?

Have a great weekend, folks.

The polarity of water

How can the jumbling of water molecules result in so many being tossed out of water and into the air?  Ya know, this is how water evaporates.

 But to consider that heating of the air and water by the sun causes the molecules to accelerate so violently as to cast so many into he air, is hard to comprehend.

With that philosophy, there would have to be an exhorbitant number of molecules cast out by violent shaking.  Kinda hard to accept that thought.  My students became aware there are other forces at work, here. 

Okay, here's where polarity steps in.  Each molecule possesses an electrical charge - sorta like a magnet.  When one molecule is bounced outta water, it clings on to another molecule that also gets bounced out.  A chain of molecules are pulled from the water to explain why during condensation molecules form clouds that weigh thousands of pounds.

To demonstrate, I had one class hold hands in a string, held together through this electrical bond.  I left the classroom holding the arm of one student, who held the hand of another with her other hand, and that chain continued until quite a few kids were led from the room before the chain broke.

Cool, eh?  My kids are ready for Joe Snedecker's wham cam.

Have a great night, folks.

Read Across Science

Pappa Z, today, read pages 93-99, to his classes.  It was all about freshwater beneath the surface of the Earth.  Studens kept their vocabulary sheets next to them as they followed along in their own texts. I stopped occasionally to reiterate context, otherwise, it was good old-fashioned teacher-initiated learning.

Have a great night, folks.

Well, well.

Sorry, feeble attempt at humor.  We started discussing freshwater beneath the surface of the Earth.  And, what kind of water do we find from underground?  WELLS! 

Have a great night, folks.

Okay, You May Now Follow Directions

Introductory paragraph:

Do people use way more water than they need?
     Major F.R.E.D.- Conducting home water use evaluation
     Major F.R.E.D.- Background information
     Major F.R.E.D.- Analyzing collected data


Paragraph 2:
Major F.R.E.D.- Conducting home water use evaluation
     1.) Minor F.R.E.D.- home survey tally sheet
     2.) Minor F.R.E.D.- comparing each activity to total gallons used
     3.) Minor F.R.E.D.- percentage of water use


Paragraph 3:
Major F.R.E.D.- Background information
     1.) Minor F.R.E.D.- how third world countries get water
     2.) Minor F.R.E.D.- does weight of water determine water use?
     3.) Minor F.R.E.D.- how much does the average American use


Paragraph 4:
Major F.R.E.D.- Analyzing collected data
     1.) Minor F.R.E.D.- compare your data to average American
     2.) Minor F.R.E.D.- compare your data to third world countries
     3.) Minor F.R.E.D.- compare your data to one other student


Conclusion:
     Answer the prompt by summarizing paragraphs 2,3, and 4, then, explain if you need to conserve water, or, if you are doing a good job at conservation.

   Well, it loses something in translation, eh? C'mon, I handed this to every munchkin. All they had to do was follow the format.  Very, very few, did.  And, what really irks me is tha many students chose not to do the assignment.  They lose points for every day its late.

     Progress reports on Wednesday.

     Have a snow-free night, folks.

Writing a science report

okay, so, the shift button on my 'puter is stuck, as with the letter "t."  bear with me, obviously time to clean keyboard keys.

anyway, the cherubs are putting together a rough draft of their water conservation project.  i even gave them the four-square components and outlined the rough draft.  go to my website and look under taking account of water. http://www.ltsd.k12.pa.us/497970223125916/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=53536#

well, i am at school tomorrow - an in-service. 

have a great weekend, folks

Conserving Water Means Boring Math

Oh my goodness.  The cherubs discovered that trying to determine water conservation requires detailed data collection and transposing water useage into gallons used, converting that number into a decimal and ultimately a percentage.  To make matters worse, I had them take the data and convert it into a bar graph.

so, why the big deal about water conservation?  the story of Mono Lake, tomorrow, will show 'em.

Have a great night, folks.

Not Applicable

We "learn" them about math, just not how to use it.  Well, I am teaching them the practical side of mathematics, while teaching them about water conservation.

First, they did a two-day water usage survey with their family. Each time they brushed teeth, washed hands, flushed the toilet, took a 10-minute shower, laundry, etc., they recorded the event with a checkmark.  We then equated each event with average amount of water used; such as .25 gallons of water to wash hands, one gallon to brush teeth, five-gallons per toilet flush, 30-gallons per 10-minute shower.

Students added up all the water used for the survey and tallied the amounts to somewhere around 200-gallons per person for the weekend.

We then used that tally to breakdown the percentage of water used for each activity.

Today, homework was to take either percentages or gallons used to create a bar graph.

Needless to, a lotta kids came in during lunch or planning to visit after school, for help.

I will check my email, often, tonight.

Have a great night, folks.

Most Americans Use About 200-gallons-day Of Water.

Did your cherub?  Does your family?  That's what we calculated, today, as part of an ongoing project "Taking Account of Water."  I was punched as pleased to learn our Loyalsock family conserves water in our homes.  Tomorrow, we will take that data and turn it into a bar graph.

Got an afterschool meeting, today.

Have a great night, folks.

If I give an assignment, its only right I should expect it to be done

Rather uneventful day.  I asked two of my classes to distinguish between a valley glacier and a continental glacier as outlined in the the homework reading assignment from last night.  I had several teary-eyed munchkins asking for a retest, extra-credit, etc.  LOL! I did not grade that bellringer, but, it did serve as a fair warning that when I assign reading - it better be done.

I am so far behind in my teaching, this year.  I suppose because I had to cover things that should have been done at Schick.  Aw, its no big deal.  At least it gave me a chance to ensure they are learning this material.

Let's just say tomorrow we discuss frozen water and running and standing water.

Backpack Mail
My boss passed out backpack mail detailing a pilot after-school academic program.  I hope all parents take advantage of this program for their cherubs to strengthen math and reading skills.  You folks have a most excellent middle school.  We all bend over backwards to instill pride, skills, and diligence. 

Have a great night, folks.

Teaching two ways, becomes four-ways

Holy Cow!!!  First period went according to plan, but, we ended-up with a lockdown during second period that extended well into third period.  Improvisation was the key, as we took that extra time to delve deeper into our textbook readings and talk about the dangers of drinking water from those pipes that shoot out water near roadways.  Sure, they were once public oases that featured pure spring water, but now, PennDOT uses those areas to channel surface run-off.  Anyway, after lockdown, we a third period class that consisted of a dozen or so minutes.  Hardly time to teach.  Finally, fourth period features a different way to teach the material and was difficult because the cherubs were still in goofy-mode from the lockdown, although most of my kiddoes were back to normal halfway through class.

All-in-all, it woulda been a good day to have stayed at home.  Whew!!!  This is a terrific sixth grade, this year, so despite my panic-mode teaching, they fared pretty well.

No clue why we had a lockdown -  really don't care.

Have a great night, folks.

I Was-oh so-Clever; RRRRiiiigggghhhttt

Okay, so I took the textbook and I photo-copied chapter 3 for two of my classes - ya know, so they highlight key passages, color-in diagrams and illustrations, and, above all, add little notations.  Oh, yes, spent some time in the copy room to run-off 40+ copies.  Then, ran-off 100 copies of the vocabulary words from that chapter as additional reinforcement.  Gave the list and the packet to those two classes,  Yes, I, patted myself on the back for ingenuity.  RIGHT!  Learned later today, two pages in half the packets did not copy and were not in the packets.  The best laid plans, my friend, the best laid plans. . .

Have a great night, folks.

Working at a snail's pace

Each year, the water unit goes slower and slower.  This year it came to a standstill.  It will seem unfair to the kiddoes, but, I have to speed-up the pace and pray those kiddoes that get lost will come in for help before or after school, or during REACH.  It's not complicated, it's just I became an enabler and opted to go forward only as fast as the slowest student, permits.

Have a great night, folks.

You are now entering sixth grade - fasten your seatbelts, please

Today, we finished the Eureka video clips on molecules, heat and temperature, and expansion and contraction.  The videos are geared for a younger audience.  However, my cherubs prove to have very little, if any, exposure to molecular structure, necessary for my unit on water.

Still Using Bill Nye
I love using Bill Nye in my classroom as a teaching aid.  Previously, I used his show as a catalyst to teaching about rocks.  Now, I am using his show on water cycle in my REACH class as a catalyst to my sixth grade water unit.

Have a great night, folks.

Little Lumps

The munchkins, today, watched a series of mini-clips on molecules - little lumps, to get them prepared for sixth grade water unit.  for whatever reason, they were not exposed to molecular processes in baby school. These videos are kinda cool.  click on \the link http://www.ltsd.k12.pa.us/4979_3814173829/Blog/browse.asp?a=398&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=53109
 look for my Tuesday lesson.  and click on those links.  Totally, cool.

Taking Account
The weekend assignment requires the cherubs and their families to participate in a water survey.  Here is a link to that survey.  http://www.ltsd.k12.pa.us/497970223125916/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=53536

Have a great night, folks

Finished with Earth's Innerds

I completed the unit with a short video on the New Madrid earthquake of 1812, and a 20 minute overview video of volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate tectonics. The cherubs were able to answer every question from the video, that I asked. "Day done learned."

Dance of the water molecule
Oh yeah, on Tuesday, we start the water cycle. The boys will be air particles, the girls will be water molecules, and one particular boy will be dust particle. We will then act out the processes of evaporation and condensation. We also go back into the textbook, and the munchkins will be given reading assignments from the book. WHAT?!? Mr. Z expects them to read for themselves? I pray, they will be able to handle the three or four-page reading assignments.

No school, Monday
Teachers become students on this in-service day. Have yet to be given an agenda of what we can expect. Ho boy, I hate these days. I got into this gig to teach the best way I know how and with a method that will inspire children to learn. Often, those latest and greatest new methods are simply a rehash of methods that were tried and failed, in the past.

Have a great weekend, folks.

The Human Tragedy

It pains me to teach about the earthquake in Haiti, knowing I must limit my remarks to the scientific phenomena - the quake, and side-step the human drama. It "ain't" my job or place, however, it is in the news because we are studying earthquakes, right now, in science.

I hope parents sit and watch the unfolding events with their children and speak frankly about the quake. Your kiddoes do know how to equate this magnitude quake with the 1989 San Francisco tremblor, and we also mention other significant quakes to affect the United States.

Science Quiz Today
I am "sorta" impressed and "sorta" distressed that my munchkins either found today's quiz easy, while a handful found it difficult and did poorly. If your child is having a difficult time with these powerpoints - on my website - please, fire off an email to me. We can play internet tag and get the student up to speed.

Neglected
I was so excited yesterday, to be able to blog, again, that I neglected to thank all my students that thought of my during the holidays with the "Christmas" gifts they presented. I enjoyed the fudge, biscotti, coffee, gift certificates, and yes, my Christmas Yoda bobble-head.

Have a great night, folks.