Article posted April 19, 2010 at 12:31 PM GMT-5 •
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7th grade science classes have been working with the Rye Recycling Committee. Susan Anderson and Deidre Smyrnos have created a 'film festival' for the students. After each film, we discuss the main points and how it may impact our world.
They also coordinated an after lunch event with 2 people from Zero Waste Now. We saved our cafeteria trash for 2 days which weighed 87 pounds. Students volunteered to go through the trash and separate it into compost, recyclables and landfill trash. We then reweighed the landfill trash. It weighed 27 pounds! A huge difference! We discovered we had about 9 pounds of recyclables and 50 pounds of compost. We will follow up in class by investigating disposable items and the culture behind it, fair trade, blogging about our experiences and creating content for our Earth Day webcast.
Article posted April 19, 2010 at 12:31 PM GMT-5 •
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Article posted March 17, 2010 at 02:55 PM GMT-5 •
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Term 3 is about to start here at RJH. The students have revisited their goals in science class for term 2 and revised them for the end of the year. As a visual reminder, they created spring flowers for each classroom. Parents, if you would like to discuss your child's goal(s), they are written in the March calendar section of the agenda.
Article posted March 17, 2010 at 02:55 PM GMT-5 •
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Article posted December 9, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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This year, 2009-2010, all of the students' work is located in one combined location, RYE 7th TEAM. This allows for the students' work to be contained in one place and the teachers share the account.
Article posted December 15, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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Earthcast Echo (environmental webcast) December 15, 2009
Today we spoke with Michael Harrison while he was attending the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Thank you, Mr. Harrison for giving us a first hand account of your visit to the conference. Learn why he was there and the purpose of the conference.
Earthcast Echoes are extensions to the 24-hour webcast (Earthcast) on Earth Day, April 22. You can learn more about the Echoes or Earthcast or our school's involvement at our school's webpage or http://Earthbridges.net. Schools are encouraged to produce content for an Earthcast Echo and have them webcast by a member of Earthbridges. Contact me for more information or leave a comment here.
Article posted December 15, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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Article posted December 10, 2009 at 04:27 PM GMT-5 •
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In 7th grade science, we are beginning to study air and the atmosphere. To engage the students, we are performing simple "tricks" and determining how and why they work. Examples include hitting a ruler protruding from under a flat newspaper, getting a card to hold water in an inverted jar, and blowing up a balloon inside a plastic bottle. These are all fun to try and it all starts to make sense as we learn more about the properties of air. For students who are traveling in an airplane during this unit, we have experiments for them to try and report back to the class.
Add your air 'tricks' in the comments section below. In the old days, my grandparents called these 'parlor games.'
Article posted December 10, 2009 at 04:27 PM GMT-5 •
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Article posted November 7, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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It’s not often a school can have the actual Moon rocks, so we thought we would share our experience with others who may be interested. On the last day that we had NASA’s Lunar Samples, we videoconferenced with students and teachers across several time zones. One class connected from right next door, as the crow flies. We talked with Mrs. Cole’s second grade class at RES. We showed them the samples and taught them some facts about the Moon. The 2nd graders were about to start their unit on the solar system. They asked us some great questions and already knew some information about the Moon.
The next class we ‘visited’ was located in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. You could tell these first graders had done videoconferencing before because they were seated quietly and had some questions prepared for us. We again explained what we had learned about the lunar samples and the Moon, but found it a bit challenging to make sure they knew what we were talking about. We found we needed to change our vocabulary a bit but we finally got into the swing of it and chatted about 20 minutes.
The third skype chat wasn’t with a class, but an educator from Quebec. We wanted to test our skills at speaking, teaching and using the equipment. Fortunately, she had a background in geology, so our conversation was very different from the younger students. In fact, she was able to share some of her photos of the Table Lands in Newfoundland. She explained the Table Lands is the only place in North America where the mantle of the Earth protrudes. Due to its chemical composition, nothing grows there.
Our last conversation of the day was the first for this class. They were located in Cupertino, California. This class consisted of 4th graders who were in a special school that held classes part of the day in Mandarian and part in English. Most students were from China. They shared some phrases with us!
Overall, it was a great learning experience to be able to share what we have learned about the lunar samples. Not only was this a good review exercise for my students, but we also got to practice our communication skills for various audiences. We also made a connection with other students that made the experience unique. Each requested we do more of this throughout the year.
As an afterthought, we discussed if the Canadians can ever see the lunar samples on their own. NASA is a US government agency. Would the samples ever be released outside of the US? An interesting discussion followed about NASA and their policies and how often we think about things from the US point of view (US-centric). Our intent was to share, but with the Canadian school could they have interpreted it differently as if we were boasting? As we do more with other schools, the students will realize they will need to address how we can interact respectfully, as do many scientists in the real world.
Here is the conversation with the 1st graders in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
Article posted November 4, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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Any idea what the rocks from the Moon look like? There’s only been about 800 pounds of material that has been retrieved from the Moon during the Apollo missions (1969-1972). Most of it is still being used for research, but some of the samples are available for public viewing at museums. An even smaller amount is available for loan from NASA. In order to have the samples at our school, I had to attend a special training session to learn about the samples and ensure their safety. The lunar samples are considered national treasures and the rules are strict.
The lunar samples arrived in time for the Harvest Festival. We had them for just over a week. We were able to view them together as a class using a document camera connected to a projector. The students conducted more research on the samples and the Moon at various stations within the classroom. During the week, the samples were placed under a microscope for individual viewing.
Here are some photos of the sample disk.
Article posted November 1, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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Although the Harvest Fest did not coincide with the Harvest Moon, we decided to celebrate the event with the Moon and more. We started learning about astronomy in class. We welcomed a visit by Mr. John Gianforte, the Sky Guy (http://www.theskyguy.org/). He spoke with the 7th graders about the Phoenix Program on Mars, other space explorations and the solar system. The photos he shared were amazing! He also answered a lot of questions for the students. The time flew by and the discussion continued later in class. Mr. Gianforte also came back to the school the evening of the Harvest Fest with his telescopes. He was able to connect one of them with a tv enabling more viewers at one time. Mr. Ted Blank also volunteered his telescopes and expertise for the evening. One of the telescopes was a replica of a telescope Galileo used 400 years ago. With that telescope we could view Jupiter and two of its moons. When switching to the modern day telescope, we could view 4 of the moons. The highlights from most of the viewers were the Moon and Jupiter.
Thank you to Mr. Gianforte and Mr. Blank for their expertise and time. Also, we would like to thank Mr. Gardner, Ms. Ridolfi and others who made sure the children and equipment were intact that evening.
Article posted October 22, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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Some of the 7th grade team attended a workshop about 1:1 computing. 1:1 is the term used when each student has access to a computer. In our school, the 7th graders have access to netbooks in their classes. A netbook is a small laptop that has just the basic applications on it. It got its name as a netbook because it reaches its full potential by using tools on internet and a notebook computer.
The workshop allowed us to learn about new tools and network with other schools implementing a 1:1 program. I was able to present a session about blogging with students. I created a slideshare page with the information for others to reference later. It is located at: http://www.slideshare.net/sadamsrjh/reasons-for-blogging If you do use the slideshare, please leave a comment.
The 7th graders are fortunate this year to have a netbook available to them for all of their classes. There were several factors that enabled this program to take place. First and foremost was the support of the Rye Education Foundation for the funding. Also, this particular grade has an usual low number of students and the price of netbooks have become very reasonable.
Unlimited access to the technology has impacted the classroom. Students are able to access information in real-time, create work in a variety of new ways, share their work with a world-wide audience, think critically, communicate ideas, collaborate with others (not necessarily within our school) and observe and analyze more of the world. We are learning to do old things in new ways, and new things in new ways.
Here is a list standards for the Language Arts curriculum. Imagine how technology can support and enhance this curriculum area alone!
K-12 Broad Goals for English-Language Arts
• Students will read fluently with understanding and appreciation.
• Students will write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences.
• Students will speak purposefully and articulately.
• Students will listen and view attentively and critically.
• Students will understand, appreciate, interpret, and critically analyze classical and contemporary literature as well as works of nonfiction and informational texts.
• Students will use reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing to:
- gather and organize information;
- communicate effectively; and
- succeed in educational, occupational, civic, and social settings.
Please check back to this blog and the students' blogs to find more examples how technology is used in class.
Article posted October 22, 2009 at 01:00 AM GMT-5 •
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Anorthosite
Some of the 7th grade team attended a workshop about 1:1 computing. 1:1 is the term used when each student has access to a computer. In our school, the 7th graders have access to netbooks in their classes. A netbook is a small laptop that has just the basic applications on it. It got its name as a netbook because it reaches its full potential by using tools on internet and a notebook computer. 
