Spring is Sprung

Hi All,

We've made it through the long hard winter and spring is here. In the few days I've noticed that attention spans have shrunken as the days have lengthened, mine included. I'm working hard to make sure science stays as engaging as possible for the boys and girls.
In that vein, we have a tree planting coming up for students who didn't plant trees in the fall. The science piece of a multi-discipline project based on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is on its way as well. 4th quarter means that we will be studying geology. We'll learn about tectonic plate theory, earthquakes, volcanoes, and a bunch of other things that shake and explode. Near the end of the term we'll dissect sharks, and learn what makes them some of the most efficient predators ever. It's shaping up to be an exciting quarter.

A little more snow-work

On right is a graphic taken from the NY Times comparing snow totals for Mid-Atlantic cities from last year and this year against the average. It's amazing how a 2-3 degree shift in the temperature can turn an inch of rain into 15-20 inches of snow, and a normal workweek into a second winter break.

I now have 37/46 responses to the review assignment I posted on Tuesday. I'm impressed. I've thought of using this format for homework in the past, but for some reason I thought it might be too difficult to manage for students. Now I see that even under the most trying of circumstances you all responded well. So that little experiment pays off and I can put it in my back pocket for another day.

Since school will be closed until Tuesday, I'm going to post one more assignment on the homework page to make sure we all stay in the swing of things. It's an outline assignment for Chapter 2. You can use your textbook, notes, the newest podcast, and/or the internet to complete this assignment. It would be great if everyone were done with this one in time for class on Tuesday, but I understand there are extenuating circumstances.

There are a few students who are waiting to retake our most recent test. That retake will happen on Wednesday during study hall. I can take questions regarding that retest between now and then, via email or in school on Tuesday (assuming yet another record-defying blizzard does not develop and bury all of Baltimore in the ultimate "snow-pocalypse").

snOMG

Hi all,

Hope everyone is toasty and warm in their homes, or out on a ski hill somewhere. Quite the weather we're having. Considering that we're missing several days in a row of school, Ms Herrity encouraged teachers to assign some work to keep students mentally agile. 6th graders are currently studying space exploration, so I took the liberty of putting together a review assignment. Just click on the following link to see a homework form that can be done online - no paper needed.

http://tinyurl.com/yzv7uuk

The link is also posted on the homework page. Please use the electronic textbook on MyCalvert to complete the assignment if the paper text isn't available. Some of the questions are straight from the book, and others require some internet research.

Good luck,

MrE