We are Off to a Great Start

Our first week has been busy and full of getting to know one another, getting settled in, and learning a lot of different things.

One project in science class has had students observing very carefully; focusing all their attention on some very "familiar" objects. What great questions they have asked and what wonderful details they have noticed as they have used all of their senses to explore the intricacies of ... oranges!

We also got both homerooms together after lunch this afternoon and took a picture of the whole group of sixth grade students so that we could have a picture to send to our pen pals at Long Cheng Middle School in China. So here we are... the 2007-2008 sixth grade class. What a great looking group -- don't you think?

Our Classroom is Ready

I took a few pictures in the classroom as I worked to get it ready for class on the 28th... Just in case any of you are interested in how things are looking...

As you can see, the desks are all set and the science, math, social studies, and health books are all out -- ready to go. Those bins in the middle of the tables have the "things" that we will use in class on a regular basis; like atlases, and rulers, and scissors, and dice, etc.



I seem to always BLUR at least one picture in a set, so I apologize for this one, but you can sort of see the shelf we'll use for the plants I hope we'll gather to study in science during the first unit, and later on, for some of the animals that we bring in to study together.
Basically, that big shelving unit will hopefully be the place where we keep the things we are working on in science class. The silly looking, green frog is the container for all of our playground equipment.

This shelf has all the games that are available for times when we have "indoor" recess, or other non-academic time periods. If you and your classmates need something quiet and fun to do here in the classroom, this shelf is where those kind of activities are kept. There are a variety of different things here, and if we all work together to keep them in good shape and tidy, they'll be available for the whole class whenever we need them. If there is something at your house that your family maybe doesn't use anymore that you would like to bring to the classroom, it could be added to our shelf.

We'll be studying lots of different things this year -- data and probability will be our starting topics in math class, and plants will be where we begin our science studies. This is just one of the bulletin boards in the classroom. Probably, when we finish with plants and move on to animals, we'll keep this basic board up and just add some "critters" to the scene. Do you have any good ideas for that?

Speaking of critters, this is our indoor classroom "pond." It has it's own "fountain," some water plants, like elodea and water hyacinth, and even about a dozen friendly gold fish. I have even seen a snail crawling around in the pond. Right now, everybody that is living in the pond seems to be doing quite well. I've never tried to set up a pond in the classroom before, so this will be an interesting experience for us all.

Finally, these are student "mail boxes." This is where I put things that are for you -- like handouts from school, and returned and graded work. Sometimes, we also use the mailboxes to store "work in progress (projects that we are working on but not quite finished with)." Everyone has a mailbox whether they are in my homeroom or Mrs. Elfer's room.

There are all sorts of things that are hidden away in drawers and closets, of course, and lots to learn and know about the PEOPLE that will work together in this room. That will be what we begin to find out about tomorrow morning. I cannot wait to meet all of you!

Fires in Greece

"We have no water, we are at God's mercy. Please tell someone we are putting out the fire with our own hands, we have no help. The village will disappear from the map." -- Resident of a village near the fires --

Raging fires on the southern Peloponnese peninsula and across other areas of Greece are taking lives and threatening ancient historic sites. More than 175 fires have been burning around the country since Friday. Authorities are reporting that they believe at least some of these fires may have been deliberately set.

What an enormous tragedy! I've been around forest fires. They are terribly frightening. Huge, roaring, dark monsters that fill the skies with smoke and ash. They tear across the landscape, consuming everything in their path, and those who battle them can seem so tiny as they face off against the heat and destruction and sheer fury.

These fires have claimed many lives already. They've destroyed homes and businesses. And, these fires threaten the sites of ancient Greece that have great historical significance for all of western culture and society.

I watch from the safety of my home -- fascinated, shocked, saddened, and aware how very much alike we all are no matter where we live or what language we speak.

A Multiplication Trick

This is a very NEAT way to do multiplication. Watch carefully and see if you can figure out how it is done --

Hurricane Dean

The 2007 hurricane season officially began on June 1. Now, we have Hurricane Dean, the first really big storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season.

I've never lived near the ocean, and I can't imagine the power of these giant storms. I watch them on my television screen and I am just fascinated, even as I am horrified at the damage that they do and the devastation that they cause for the people who live in their paths.

This one is one of the really big ones -- the kind of storm that is classified as "category 5." Already, Dean has torn through Jamaica and the Cayman Islands leaving terrible damage in its wake, and killing at least twelve people at last report. This morning it has hit full-force in the Yucatan Penninsula, and I imagine we will soon begin to hear the reports on the damage and loss of life from there as well. We cannot know for sure where Hurricane Dean will track after it crosses the Yucatan.

There are predictions, of course. The National Hurricane Service tracks these big storms, using sophisticated equipment and computer modeling software. They can then predict the path and intensity of the storm for the next five days. Here is the graphic that shows the projected path of Hurricane Dean:

They can also supply the probable wind speeds for the hurricane in the form of a table:

These graphics show probabilities of sustained (1-minute average) surface wind speeds equal to or exceeding 64 kt...74 mph (hurricane force). These wind speed probability graphics are based on the official National Hurricane Center (NHC) track, intensity, and wind radii forecasts, and on NHC forecast error statistics for those forecast variables during recent years. Each graphic provides cumulative probabilities that wind speeds of at least 74 mph will occur during cumulative time periods at each specific point on the map. The cumulative periods begin at the start of the forecast period and extend through the entire 5-day forecast period at cumulative 12-hour intervals (i.e., 0-12 h, 0-24 h, 0-36 h, ... , 0-120 h). An individual graphic is produced for each cumulative interval, and the capability to zoom and animate through the periods is provided. To assess the overall risk of experiencing winds of at least 74 mph at any location, the 120-h graphics are recommended.


If you are interested in being able to get up to date hurricane information, the National Huricane Center Website is a great place to go to get accurate forecasts.

Analemma

I was talking with a friend a few days ago, and he asked me about this "infinity" or "figure-eight" symbol that is found on globes. "What does it mean?" he asked me. I honestly didn't know, and hadn't really ever paid any attention to this particular symbol on globes, but since he asked the question, I began to notice these things, and started to wonder what the answer was to his question. So, I did some research, and this is what I found:

This figure-eight on a globe is called an analemma. It is simply this: if you could record the position of the sun in the sky at the same time every day, let’s say sometime around noon and subtracting one hour if you are observing daylight saving time, you would notice that the sun takes a rather strange path. You might notice that at certain times throughout the year the sun's position not only varies higher and lower (North and South) as you would expect with the change of the seasons, but also slightly east and west. On some days you might notice that the sun is not in the sky where, according to the time on your watch, you would expect it to be.The difference in time between what your watch reads and the position of the sun (clock time vs. sun time) is called the Equation-of-Time. If you are in the northern hemisphere and the sun’s position is to the east of where your watch indicates it would be, the Equation-of-Time is negative. If the sun is to the west, the Equation-of-Time is positive.

There is an easier way to see this effect. Find a place where the sun shines on the ground at noon all year long - winter, spring, summer, and fall. Place a rod about 3 feet tall into the ground, being very careful not to bump the end of it during the year. If you were constructing a sundial, this rod would be called a gnomon.



On the first day of each month, at the same time every day, (subtracting one hour if you are observing daylight saving time) place a mark with another shorter rod (you will need 12 of these) where the sun makes a shadow with the tip of the longer original rod. At the end of 12 months, you will see that the short rods make a figure-8 pattern on the ground.


Why does the sun take this strange path? There are two reasons and they are completely independent from each other.


1. The Earth is tilted on its axis 23.5° in relation to the plane of its orbit around the sun.


2. The Earth does not orbit the sun in a circle, but in an ellipse.


It is simply the sum of these two effects that causes the analemma.

Kindness From Students

Last winter a friend of mine died early on a school day. His name was Leon, and I had known him almost as long as I'd lived here in Cincinnati. He was 66 years old.

I met Leon when I first moved here from Colorado because some friends of mine asked me if I would join a group of people who were forming what they called a "Covenant of Support" for him. Leon was 62 years old at that time. He had severe intellectual and developmental disabilities, and he'd lived almost all of his life in state institutions and nursing homes. I was told that he was "non-verbal." A Covenant of Support was, simply, a group of people who gathered together to act as friends for someone like Leon. It didn't seem like something difficult to do, so I agreed to give it a try.

Over the years, I came to value the friendship that Leon and I shared. He loved to laugh and he loved music and he loved having his back rubbed. He also loved people and he really liked to get out and have fun.

On the morning that he died, I felt very sad. He'd been ill for months, and his death was not unexpected, but I knew I was going to miss his presence in my life. As the morning went on, I decided to ask my students if they would like to hear the story of my friend, and they said, "yes." So, I told them the story of Leon, and how he had been sent away to a state institution at the age of 12. I told them how we had met and the things that he and I had shared as friends. I shared with them the story of a Friday afternoon in October, just after I met Leon, when I knew I was going to visit him the next day. I had finished my lesson plans with my 6th grade class that day with about 25 minutes left at the end of the afternoon. So, I told my students a little bit about Leon and I asked them if they would like to make some pictures and cards that I could take to him the next day. They got out markers and construction paper and went to work. Some of them asked if they could make paper airplanes, and I told them that would be great.

I took those pictures and those paper airplanes to Leon the next day, and I decorated his room at the nursing home with all those goodies from my students. I took some photos and I shared them with my students. They became so intrigued by him that they began a campaign to get to meet him, and that finally happened at Valentine's Day when we brought Leon to school for a class party -- the first time in his entire life that he had ever been to school. He and the kids fell in love that day, and formed a friendship that lasted until they all graduated in the 8th grade. They even went that spring to the State Legislature to testify about cuts to the state budget in funding for people with developmental disabilities, and Leon went with us.

Well... my class listened very sweetly to all of that, and were kind and sympathetic about my sense of loss. We went on with our morning, and the time came around for recess and lunch. It was a cold and snowy January day -- much too nasty for outside recess, so I got out the games; made sure that everything was calm; and headed off to eat my lunch. When I returned, a half hour or so later, I was greeted by a delegation of 6th graders (Lindsay, Maria, Judy, Alexis, Laura, Morgan) with arms full of paper airplanes! They had spent their recess time making paper airplanes for Leon (or for me -- I'm not sure which). They had written lovely messages on them like, "Leon changed our lives," and "Sorry for your loss," and "SS Leon." I couldn't do anything but hug the whole bunch of them. What a lovely, kind, perfect tribute to my friend!

I told my students that I would get helium balloons and launch their airplanes at the cemetery for Leon. Unfortunately, on the day of Leon's funeral, the temperature was well below freezing, and I was almost certain that helium balloons would simply not fly. So, I kept those wonderful paper airplanes.

Last Friday, August 3, some friends gathered with Leon's brother, Marvin, to unveil the engraving of Leon's name on the family headstone. It was, in contrast to the day of Leon's funeral, not the coldest day of the year, but perhaps one of the hottest. But, it was a perfect day for a balloon launch. So, on a lovely, bright, sunny summer day, another set of paper airplanes (yet another gift from some kind and delightful 6th graders) found their way to my friend Leon.

Earth Vision

I really like this poster...

2008 Olympics

I've been following the increasing flow of news as the preparations continue for the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Partly, that is because I am a great lover of The Olympics, in general. I've always been thrilled by these periodic world competitions -- ever since I was very young, and this one is no different. I am simply looking forward to those days when the talented athletes of the world will gather, and the boundaries that we draw seem to mean so much less as people gather together to compete at things like swimming, rowing, horseback riding, and gymnastics. This year, though, there is an even greater appeal to these games because they are being held in China, and our school will be "connected" in a way that will make that seem even more unique and personal. That makes it feel exciting and interesting at a whole different level.

If, like me, you are keeping track of the developments as the people of China prepare, then here is the link to the official Web Page. If you visit, you will be able to find all kinds of information and photos there about the city, the sports venues, the preparations and plans, the ways that you could buy tickets, make hotel reservations, etc. Here's a great photo I found of the Beijing National Stadium, the one that many people are calling "The Bird's Nest," taken on July 22. If all of the sports facilities are as lovely as this one, the Olympic games should certainly be beautiful in terms of the locations where the events are held.

I am looking forward to watching the developments.

Divisibility by Seven

By: Su, Francis E., et al. "Divisibility by Seven." Mudd Math Fun Facts Knowing divisibility rules is an important bit of mathematical / numerical knowledge. In grade school, everyone learns some simple tests for divisibility by small numbers such as 2, 3, 5, and 9. But far less well-known are some simple divisibility tests for the number 7. Here are a couple: Test #1. Take the digits of the number in reverse order, from right to left, multiplying them successively by the digits 1, 3, 2, 6, 4, 5, repeating with this sequence of multipliers as long as necessary. Add the products. This sum has the same remainder mod 7 as the original number! Example: Is 1603 divisible by seven? Well, 3(1)+0(3)+6(2)+1(6)=21 is divisible by 7, so 1603 is. Test #2. Remove the last digit, double it, subtract it from the truncated original number and continue doing this until only one digit remains. If this is 0 or 7, then the original number is divisible by 7. Example: 1603 -> 160-2(3)=154 -> 15-2(4)=7, so 1603 is divisible by 7.

Powerful 7.3 earthquake rattles Vanuatu

This was the news report from Reuters:

Thu Aug 2, 2007 5:37AM IST
CANBERRA (Reuters) - A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake rattled the Pacific nation of Vanuatu on Thursday, cracking roads and disrupting power supplies, but did not cause major damage, local authorities said.
The quake occurred at 0409 locally on Thursday about 45 km southeast of
the central island of Santo at a depth of around 150 km below the Pacific Ocean
surface.
"It's a pretty good size, but it's deep and there is no tsunami threat. It's aways out to sea," Geophysicist Robert Cessaro at the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center told Reuters.
Jesse Benjamin, a spokesman for the Vanuatu government meteorological office, said the quake was felt strongly on Santo.
"There are cracks in the roads, cracks in the offices, the power went down and computers, but we do not expect major damage," he said from the capital Port Vila.

What I heard, over and over, from news reporters on the radio and television, was that they weren't even sure where Vanuatu was. Just one of those instances, that come up as I listen to news reports from around the world, where it becomes clear how really valuable and useful it is to do all that studying that our students do to learn where places are in our world.