Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Hurricane Katrina


A Friend of mine send in some Hurricane Katrina lessons: https://www.rms.com/Publications/KatrinaReport_LessonsandImplications.pdf http://www.teachervision.fen.com/hurricane/resource/34251.htmlhttp://www.newseum.org/

Features today's front pages of 46 newspapers from around the world, as well as archived pages from coverage of Katrina.-Watched the History channel on Hurricane Katrina - we learned about the history of New Orleans – we learned about Tropical Cyclones – we viewed the weather on the internet in different areas – how the government helps in times of crisis – the importance of levees – the impact of Hurricanes – why our gas prices went up – we became familiar with different types of natural disasters -

Hurricane History: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/hurricane/history/34252.html

The White House – Lessons Learned:http://www.whitehouse.gov/reports/katrina-lessons-learned/appendix-b.html

PBS Teacher’s Guide:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/storm/

We did the Gulf Coast Region Scavenger Hunt: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/socialstudies/katrina.html

Correlation to National Standardsß Geography -History -Language Arts -Reading -Listening and Speaking -Working with Othersß We did a lot with this website: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/socialstudies/katrina.html

We learned how the loss of New Orleans impacted the world in regards to what we receive from New Orleans; seafood, coffee, oil, Go here to learn of the different Hurricane skills:

Category 1–5
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=750&display_order=6&sub_display_order=4&mini_id=1401https://www.rms.com/Publications/KatrinaReport_LessonsandImplications.pdf

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/hurricane/resource/34251.htmlhttp://www.amlainfo.org/curriculumHurricanehttp://www.amlainfo.org/curriculumHurricane

Katrina: The Practice of Journalism http://www.amlainfo.org/curriculumhttp://www.newseum.org/

Features today's front pages of 46 newspapers from around the world, as well as archived pages from coverage of Katrina. http://www.urban.org/afterkatrina/http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/facts_new_orleans_louisiana.shtml

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Constellation, Stars and Plant Extension Ideas


Here are some shared Teacher ideas:

"Back when I was still teaching, I made some constellations cards for using on a Lite Brite. I drew the pictures of the various gods the constellations were named for in chalk on black paper and laminated them before punching small holes where the stars go. Then the child can put the clear pegs in the proper places, so it is a little more active than just looking at flash cards. Plus, they twinkle like the real thing ;^)" - Anne Marie
http://www.sfpg.com/animation/litebrite.html

"Here is a cute song..that goes to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle called Song for a New Age:
Burn so brightly gaseous Star
How I ponder what you are
Far beyond where planets lie
Gigantic in the darkened sky

Burn so brightly gaseous Star
How I ponder what you are.

Activity for Milky Way....
Glue and sprinkle white substance on black paper
-or-
white paint, white pencil, white chalk, spatter paint.

Stars....Make an Origami star, make stars out of clay, use the metal inset to make stars.

For math activities...you can replace the spindles in the spindle box with stars.
How about dot to dot constellatios?
What about star replicas used as sets, or odd/even or place on red and blue rods.

Make a sewing card by drawing the constellation on black paper with white pencil, mount on poster/tag board, laminate card, punch holes where the stars would be and add a shoe lace with a bead tied at the end.

Make 3 part cards of the constellations
Word build with movable alphabet
Storywriting
Geoboard stars or constellations
Using construction toys, like tinketoys, etc. build constellations

Make the Big Dipper or other constellations. Used stick on stars and draw lines to show the shape.
String Art Constellations...little nails in a board and use string or rubber bands to show the shape.

Make up a constellation game, by putting the constellations on cards and hand them out at circle/group time. Have the children pass them around while music is played. When the music stops as which child has ______________ (i.e. Big Dipper).

Read Ottie and the Star by Laura Jean Allen (Harper and Row 1979.

Have the children stand to make a constellation.

Make a constellation box. Take a large shoe box and cut a large rectangle out o one end of the box. Take black paper and cut into the rectangles a little larger than a hole in the end of box. Mark dots on paper in shape of the Big Dipper or other constellation. Punch out holes. Attach black paper over rectangular hole in box. Cut hole in other end of box just large enough for the head of a flashlight. Insert flashlight. darken room, turn on flashlight. See constellation.

Lay out constellation on fabric with cardboard of clay or cardboard stars. Use control card.

Make a rubbing using sandpaper circles or tacks in board and rub with crayon over paper.

Have child create own constellation by taking a felt mat and cut out stars.
Make toothpick constellations

Phases of the Moon..

I make a poster/tag board card out of black measuring 4" x 11. Using white address labels on the right hand side I put a row top to bottom of the 8 phases and write the phases in...on the left hand side next to the label I put one of those almost 1" white adhesive dots and use a black permanent marker to color in the moon dot for each of the phases. This is the control card. The child can make their own." " - Karen (a teacher who has just wonderful ideas!)

"you could take the star maps of your areas (seasonal) and label them for control, then make a set of pin maps of them for the student to do.

take this up a notch and use glow in the dark paint to make the stars glow, child could label them" - Angi

"For Planets we sang "Puff the Magic Dragon" with new words:
Mercry, venus, Earth, (Puff the magic dragon)
Mars, Jupiter (lived by the sea)
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (get the idea?)
and Pluto way out far!
These are all the planets,revolving around the sun,blah blah blah (sorry! Can't remember this line...make up your own?) and having so much fun!

National Air and Space Museum website. They have a song called "Family of the Sun", sung to the Farmer in the Dell http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/ceps/etp/ss/ss_fots.html

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Are plasmas found on earth?


Compliments of Chem4Kids:

Plasmas are a lot like gases, but the atoms are different because they are made up of free electrons and ions of the element. You don't find plasmas too often when you walk around. They aren't things that happen regularly on Earth. If you have ever heard of the Northern Lights or ball lightning, you might know that those are types of plasmas. It takes a very special environment to keep plasmas going. They are different and unique from the other states of matter.

You won't find plasmas just anywhere. However, there may be some in front of you. Think about a fluorescent light bulb. They are not like regular light bulbs. Inside the long tube is a gas. Electricity flows through the tube when the light is turned on. The electricity acts as that special energy and charges up the gas. This charging and exciting of the atoms creates glowing plasma inside the bulb.

Another example of plasma is a neon sign. Just like a fluorescent light, neon signs are glass tubes filled with gas. When the light is turned on, the electricity flows through the tube. The electricity charges the gas, possibly neon, and creates plasma inside of the tube. The plasma glows a special color depending on what kind of gas is inside.

You also see plasma when you look at stars. Stars are big balls of gases at really high temperatures. The high temperatures charge up the atoms and create plasma. Stars are another good example of how the temperature of plasmas can be very different. Fluorescent lights are cold compared to really hot stars. They are still both forms of plasma, even with different physical characteristics.

Montessori History Album?

I have been teetering back and fourth on an idea........

Please let me know if this is something that interests you......

I would create a yahoo group that would be for Educators only. You must enroll an it would be considered a Montessori class for the purpose of making our own albums including lesson plans, extensions, and all material. Weekly Participation would be mandatory. We would use a TOC such as this one: View Table of Contents. I am not sure if I have the time and commitment at the moment but.....let me know what you think.