 |
| via
This is a photo of the ocean floor in the Caribbean, how gorgeous is that? The ocean floor is a place where many do not get the opportunity to go and I think it is such a great thing to teach about. Things are more beautiful than just the surface, and I think teaching children this early on is important.
There are several parts of the ocean floor that my group and I will be covering tomorrow with the class. While preparing for this lesson, I had to re familiarize myself with the parts ocean floor. I think that all of us at some point learned this material, but it is easily forgotten as time goes by. My goal for our presentation is to create memories of learning that you can implement into your future classroom.
If only we could take a field trip to the Caribbean for our presentation, then I think we would all remember the lesson!
|
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
The Ocean Floor
Science Detectives
When I was compiling my bibliography, I went to Barnes and Noble and stumbled upon this book.
I began flipping through the pages and knew I had to buy it for my future classroom. This book highlights many famous scientists and "uncovers the human story behind scientific discovery and finds out what motivated these scientists despite the enormous difficulties and prejudice they often faced." (Goldsmith, 2010)
This book is broken down into six different sections: the birth of science, the rise of science, the power of science, the triumph of science, revolutions in science, and a new world.
Each page is so beautifully illustrated and includes detailed explanations and facts. I think that this book is a good buy (at only $8 right now at Barnes & Noble) because it covers so many different "detectives" that it could be used for several different grade levels.
In the back of the book is a reference to more scientist, a gloassary, and an index. In my opinion, this would be a perfect reference book when students are to report on a scientist and find out all they can about that particular person.
If you are interested in this book, I would make a trip to the bookstore and pick up a copy. This book will definitely be used in my future classroom!
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Conjunctivitis
Conjunctivitis....the actual term instead of "pink eye". I figured since I got diagnosed with conjunctivitis, I might as well make the most of it and blog about it.
During this process, I have learned a lot about conjunctivitis. First, there are four main causes of conjunctivitis: viral, bacterial, irritants, and allergies.
As we all know, pink eye is very common. When we were discussing tonight, many members of the class have had pink eye. This is my first run in with pink eye and I must say, this has given me a lot of thought about my eyes. The nurse practitioner today talked about how sensitive yet resilient they are.
According to the CDC, viral conjunctivitis can be caused from a cold, sore throat, or respiratory infection. Bacterial conjunctivitis, just like the name says is caused from bacteria while allergy conjunctivitis is caused when pollen counts are high, and when asthma and hay fever are more prominent. The last type, irritants, are caused by cleaning supplies, or other chemicals that are in the air.
After reading these articles, it is really surprising people don't get conjunctivitis more often than they do. I hope that this will be my last bout with conjunctivitis, this has not been a fun way to start off summer!
For more information, visit these websites:
WebMD
All About Vision
During this process, I have learned a lot about conjunctivitis. First, there are four main causes of conjunctivitis: viral, bacterial, irritants, and allergies.
As we all know, pink eye is very common. When we were discussing tonight, many members of the class have had pink eye. This is my first run in with pink eye and I must say, this has given me a lot of thought about my eyes. The nurse practitioner today talked about how sensitive yet resilient they are.
According to the CDC, viral conjunctivitis can be caused from a cold, sore throat, or respiratory infection. Bacterial conjunctivitis, just like the name says is caused from bacteria while allergy conjunctivitis is caused when pollen counts are high, and when asthma and hay fever are more prominent. The last type, irritants, are caused by cleaning supplies, or other chemicals that are in the air.
After reading these articles, it is really surprising people don't get conjunctivitis more often than they do. I hope that this will be my last bout with conjunctivitis, this has not been a fun way to start off summer!
For more information, visit these websites:
WebMD
All About Vision
Blue Flame University
Tonight, we had a special guest, Cliff Swoape, from Middle Tennessee Natural Gas.
Mr. Swoape gave a presentation that he gives to 4th grade students about natural gas. It was really captivating and helped us all brush up on our gas skills.
Natural gas is one of the cleanest of all fossil fuels. There are pipelines all throughout America, some of the main areas are in Louisiana and Oklahoma. One way to show kids how long the pipeline is is to use straws and put them together from one end of the room to the next. What a great visual to show distance!
I found it interesting that fracturing causes less damage to the Earth than the traditional drilling that is done. With fracturing, only one hole is drilled rather than many holes in the same spot, and then many tiny holes are drilled in between the shale to get the natural gas.
One of the many neat visuals Mr. Swoape brought with him was the pipes that had been damaged due to construction type vehicles and even animals! A main point to remember from tonight's less is to leave the pipe and call 811. Being smart and safe around natural gas is the number one thing to keep in mind.
Don't forget, call before you dig! 811
Mr. Swoape gave a presentation that he gives to 4th grade students about natural gas. It was really captivating and helped us all brush up on our gas skills.
Natural gas is one of the cleanest of all fossil fuels. There are pipelines all throughout America, some of the main areas are in Louisiana and Oklahoma. One way to show kids how long the pipeline is is to use straws and put them together from one end of the room to the next. What a great visual to show distance!
I found it interesting that fracturing causes less damage to the Earth than the traditional drilling that is done. With fracturing, only one hole is drilled rather than many holes in the same spot, and then many tiny holes are drilled in between the shale to get the natural gas.
I also thought it was neat that by using natural gas in cars, that they would average less than $2 a gallon. How wonderful would that be? Where could I get a car like that?
One of the many neat visuals Mr. Swoape brought with him was the pipes that had been damaged due to construction type vehicles and even animals! A main point to remember from tonight's less is to leave the pipe and call 811. Being smart and safe around natural gas is the number one thing to keep in mind.
Don't forget, call before you dig! 811
Moss
From the misconceptions quiz we took last week, we began questioning if moss was a plant.
According to encyclopediabritannica.com, there are actually 12,000 species of moss plants. Many mosses that include the name aren't actually moss at all, they are lichens. Mosses release nutrients that help nourish more complex plants.
Mosses do not have a vascular system, that explains why the plant can't grow very large. Moss only needs droplets of water to survive, unlike other plants that require more water. Moss is referred to as one plant while they are actually many tiny plants.
I found this information really interesting. I found this website to be the mo
According to encyclopediabritannica.com, there are actually 12,000 species of moss plants. Many mosses that include the name aren't actually moss at all, they are lichens. Mosses release nutrients that help nourish more complex plants.
Mosses do not have a vascular system, that explains why the plant can't grow very large. Moss only needs droplets of water to survive, unlike other plants that require more water. Moss is referred to as one plant while they are actually many tiny plants.
I found this information really interesting. I found this website to be the mo
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Liquid Oxygen
The boiling point of oxygen. It is something I never really gave much thought, I never thought of oxygen even reaching a boiling point.
According to How Stuff Works, The boiling points of liquids vary widely. At normal atmospheric pressure, for example, liquid oxygen boils at -297.4 F. (-183 C.), ether at 94.1 F. (34.5 C.), water at 212 F. (100 C.), and mercury at 674.4 F. (356.9 C.). Because of this variation in boiling points, two or more liquids can often be separated by a process called fractional distillation.
When Dr. Kat mentioned the boiling point would have to be pretty low since we breathe it in, then it began to make sense. I think this is one of those things we were never taught in the classroom, but when you sit down and actually think it through, you realize oxygen in fact, does boil.
According to How Stuff Works, The boiling points of liquids vary widely. At normal atmospheric pressure, for example, liquid oxygen boils at -297.4 F. (-183 C.), ether at 94.1 F. (34.5 C.), water at 212 F. (100 C.), and mercury at 674.4 F. (356.9 C.). Because of this variation in boiling points, two or more liquids can often be separated by a process called fractional distillation.
Pressure affects boiling points. An increase of pressure retards the formation of vapor so that greater heating of the liquid becomes necessary to bring about boiling. A decrease of pressure, such as that which accompanies an increase in altitude, lowers the boiling point. For example, the boiling point of water drops about 1.8 F. with each increase of 1,000 feet (about 1 C. per 300 m) in altitude.
Here is a video for those who were wondering what this looked like:
The Mother Kangaroo Is One Cool Momma!
Since my blog is focusing on life cycles, I thought I would look into Australia's Kangaroo. When I lived in Australia, I had the opportunity to visit a wildlife park where I actually got to feed kanagroos and wallabies. I hope you enjoy the information I found as well as the pictures I took when I was there.
I found all of this information on this amazing website http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/kanga.htm
When kangaroos also known as joeys are born, they weigh less than 2 grams. The mother licks her fur so the joey knows where to go in order to get in her pouch where he/she stays for about nine months.
After nine months, the joey will leave his mother's pouch, but then return for milk until it no longer requires milk for survival.
Something that I found interesting from this website was that the female kangaroo generally has another baby in the womb in "suspense". This means that the baby has developed some and then stops and waits. After the first joey leaves his mom's pouch, the other baby finishes developing and then few weeks later, joey number two is born. The youngest joey will be living in her pouch drinking milk while the oldest comes back for his milk as well. Each joey has a different kind of milk they need for nourishment from their mom.
If the conditions in the wild aren't favorable due to drought, then the mother kangaroo will wait to develop the youngest joey so that she will have enough food for both of her babies.
I found this information so neat, how cool is mother nature to where the mom can actually suspend development in the womb and it not have negative effects?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)