Bye Key

We arrived at the State College airport about 4:45 a.m., today. The daughter's plane left at 6:15 for Detroit, then Houston, then a friend was to drive her back to Galveston. The stuffed cougar was a gift from her boyfriend when she arrived in Galveston, last August. His note with the toy, "Welcome to Texas." Krysia brought it home for Christmas to show us and to remind herself of Eric. She arrived back on campus about 2:30 p.m. and opted to crash for the next several hours. We have been up since 2:30 a.m. Krysia is driving home May 7 for the summer.

School Business

A few failures, but, overall, really good grades on the ocean floor quiz. They have a writing assignment for Monday. Write a description of 5 features of the ocean floor as part of a fantasy story.

Really tired. Have a great weekend.

Prepare for the Ocean Floor

Okay, looks like sections 62,63 and 64, are ready for tomorrow's ocean floor quiz. We reviewed, pointed to illustrations and redefined vocabulary. Students used highlighters to highlight important passages in the textbook. Good luck.

Silence
It was eerie, this morning. I meet and greet the kiddoes in the lobby, each morning. Usually, the noise is overwhelming, and then, when Mr. Fausnaught dismisses to the lockers, the resulting stampede causes even me to seek shelter along the wall. This morning, it was utter silence, particularly when they were dismissed to lockers. The procession was orderly and nearly silent. The locker scene was even more disturbing. Students were quietly chatting and quickly hanging up jackets and getting books for class. Brrrrrrr. Mrs. Nemeth then explained the students were told about our presenting tickets for random acts of kindness and behavior. Aha!!! Pavlov lives!!!!!!

My Baby is Packed
Krysia is nearly all packed. She is ready to go back to school. My heart aches something terrible as I realize it will be another four months until I see her. Thankfully, she is happy with her choice of school and friends. Although she is homesick, I can see she is nervous about leaving, this home. The dog has been sleeping with her every night. Last night, the dog realized something was awry and opted to sleep in the hallway, outside my daughter's room. Even the cats kept their distance. However, home alone, all day with the animals, she says they stayed close to her as she packed. They know.

I Saw a Scowl
I must really must be a meanie. Those tickets the kids are designing had one that showed illustrations of a smiling Mrs. Pulizzi, a smiling Mrs. Antonacci, a smiling Mrs. Nemeth, and a scowling Mr. Z. I will try to be nicer, but, I refuse to smile!

Have a great night.

I'm Back

Hi folks:
Took a holiday break of my own. I needed some down time to spend with the daughter. She goes back to Texas on Friday morning. She leaves from the State College airport.

Ocean Floor Quiz
Short quiz on the features of the ocean floor is slated for Friday, and then, a writing assignment for the weekend. Honestly, if the munchkins utilize classtime on Friday, they should complete the writing assignment before leaving the classroom.

Using Map Coordinates
I am wrapping-up the social studies marking period with lessons on how to use latitude and longitudinal measurements. Boy, did I have one frustrated boy, today, as he attempted to complete a 10-question test finding coordinates on a map grid. He left the test blank. He and I worked one-on-one, he took the test back to his seat and worked on it until afternoon announcements. He handed me the test, went to his locker, and left for the day. Guess what? He got a 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Archaeology BASE
As you know, I am a member of our local archaeology society. At our meeting Tuesday at the museum, members of the Muncy Historical Society joined us and invited us to the dig site on Pepper Street. It is the Pennsylvania Canal project. They invited me to bring the 6th graders to participate in the digs. Excitedly, I started teaching my BASE students about archaeology. I hope they take an interest and we can perhaps visit the dig site in late April or early May.

8th Grade Teachers Are Fun
You've got to checkout Mrs. Wright's blog http://mrs-wright.blogspot.com/. Really great things going on in 8th grade. This middle school is a great place. Well, I, too, am having fun. I really love our kids. From 6th grade through high school, they are a very polite and friendly group of children.

I Miss Mrs. Fry!
Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Nemeth is a treasure and we are lucky to have this talented woman in our school, but, gee, I miss Mrs. Fry. It's funny how close you get to the people you work with. (oops, ended with a prepositition) Anyway, parents and kids, fire off an email, letter, note, postcard, get well card, anything. Let her know she is missed and loved. I have been avoiding making contact with her, fearing my loud, overzealous demeanor may be too much for her, right now. I will call her, tomorrow, during my free period.

Have a great night, folks.

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.