Chimacum's Science Blogs

How Humans are Affecting the Water Cycle -- 06-02-13

2013-06-02T18:36:28-05:00

Photosynthesis and Energy -- 05-27-13

2013-05-27T19:12:13-05:00

Skate for Change at Chimacum -- 05-02-13

2013-05-02T14:26:21-05:00

Mike Smith of Skate for Change came to Chimacum to talk to our students. He spoke to kids in grades 5 though 12 in two separate assemblies. Here's a recording of his talk at the high school assembly:

Atoms and Where Trees Come From -- 04-07-13

2013-04-07T22:46:57-05:00

Listen to Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winning physicist.

Water, Water -- 03-19-13

2013-03-19T23:58:04-05:00

Amount of Water Wasted at your home infographic by smithapat.

Batman or Ironman? -- 03-10-13

2013-03-10T22:53:57-05:00

Created by HomeownersInsurance.com

Why Daylight Savings Time? -- 03-10-13

2013-03-10T15:48:44-05:00

Watch this to find out:

by germanium. Learn about data visualization tools.

Here's what the creator of this graph wrote, "I tried to come up with the reason for the daylight saving time change by just looking at the data for sunset and sunrise times. The figure represents sunset and sunrise times thought the year. It shows that the daylight saving time change marked by the lines (DLS) is keeping the sunrise time pretty much constant throughout the whole year, while making the sunset time change a lot. The spread of sunrise times as measured by the standard deviation is 42 minutes, which means that the sunrise time changes within that range the whole year, while the standard deviation for the sunset times is 1:30 hours. Whatever the argument for doing this is, it's pretty clear that reason is to keep the sunrise time constant."

I got this here.

Climate Change Info -- 03-05-13

2013-03-05T17:06:44-05:00

Thanks to Allison for bringing this to my attention! :)

How Germs Spread -- 03-03-13

2013-03-03T21:55:05-05:00

How Do Germs Spread? infographic

Cool Space Stuff -- 02-10-13

2013-02-10T23:54:52-05:00

Solar System infographic by uaeinfographics.

And check this out:

Canceling Gravity! -- 01-31-13

2013-01-31T09:27:59-05:00

"The acoustic levitator uses two small speakers to generate sound waves at frequencies slightly above the audible range – roughly 22 kilohertz. When the top and bottom speakers are precisely aligned, they create two sets of sound waves that perfectly interfere with each other, setting up a phenomenon known as a standing wave.

At certain points along a standing wave, known as nodes, there is no net transfer of energy at all. Because the acoustic pressure from the sound waves is sufficient to cancel the effect of gravity, light objects are able to levitate when placed at the nodes."

Read more here.

Leaving Comments -- 01-26-13

2013-01-26T16:13:17-05:00

I've been helping my students leave quality comments. We follow these guidelines:

1. Quote something that stands out from the blog.

2. Say why this stands out or make a personal connection to the post from your own experience.

3. At the end write something complimentary.

I've also come across this great video from Ms. Yollis' class that gives great ideas for leaving great comments:

About the Cheetah -- 01-26-13

2013-01-26T15:59:33-05:00

Cheetah: Nature's Speed Machine

Did you know that cheetahs can accelerate from 0 to 60 MPH faster than a Ferarri? The amazing cheetah is the perfect example of natural specialization. They're made for speed. Such a beautiful animal deserves a closer look! Infographic designed by Jacob O'Neal

How We Measure... -- 01-26-13

2013-01-26T15:53:26-05:00

How We Measure

Visual notes from Cathy N Davidson's great book, _Now You See It_ chapter on Assessment: How We Measure. (There are more ways to measure learning than just grades! -Mr. G)

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by Giulia Forsythe, Photo license: Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike - Some rights reserved

The Power of Feedback -- 01-17-13

2013-01-17T13:34:04-05:00

This video explains perfectly why we need to get feedback from each other!

Critique and Feedback: The Story of Austin's Butterfly from Expeditionary Learning on Vimeo.

Building Excellence in Student Work Through Critique and Revision

This six-minute video has been transformational for teachers and students K-12 in giving a clear picture of how student work can improve through focused critique. It shows the evolution of a scientific illustration of a butterfly through multiple drafts toward a high-quality final product.

Info for Quadblog Pals -- 01-09-13

2013-01-09T16:23:04-05:00

Hello Arden, Luella, and Williston students!

We wanted to share a few pointers for commenting on our blogs for when it's our turn to get feeback comments on our posts. These are things you may or may not know!

Before we start please tell us which school you are from and leave us a link back to your blog so that we can comment back.

The posts in the middle of mrgonzalez.org are Mr. G's, the teacher, me, so no need to comment on them. :)

On the right hand side of this blog are all 134 students in Mr. G's, my, Science classes! The first three classes are 6th graders and the last two classes, when you scroll way down, are the two 8th grade classes. It would be really great if you could help us out by getting to as many of our students as you can when it's our turn to get feedback by scrolling down and choosing as many different kids as you can. If you only choose kids from the top then the classes are the bottom of this blog page will be left out!

You also might notice on the left hand side if you scroll down a bit you'll see a section called Student Entries. That section shows you the most recent blog posts. That way you can choose a post by title to make sure you're reading something you will find interesting. But please choose ALL at the bottom of the list to see many more, and varied, topics! Otherwise, only the most recent posters will get feedback.

Thank you for reading this and happy commenting!andnbsp;

We are going to be Quadblogging! -- 01-09-13

2013-01-09T09:32:50-05:00

Getting a global audience...

Our blog is going to be part of a Quadblogging experience! andnbsp;

Schools sign up to work in a team to look at each others blogs and add comments/feedback. We are participating in a quad with two schools in the US and one in the UK. Each week for January, February and March all students will look and feedback on the blog from the timetabled school. Here is the timetable and the UK school will be the first blog that the other three schools will look at.

Week beginning:

14/1/13 - Arden, UKandnbsp;(Solihull, West Midlands)

21/1/13 - Chimacum Middle School, USA

28/1/13 - Luella Middle School, USAandnbsp;(in Georgia)

4/2/13 - Williston Central School, USA andnbsp;7 and Williston Central School 8andnbsp;(in Vermont)

11/2/13 - Arden, UK

18/2/13 - Chimacum Middle School, USA

25/2/13 - Luella Middle School, USA

4/3/13 - Williston Central School, USA

11/3/13 - Arden, UK

18/3/13 - Chimacum Middle School, USA

25/3/13 - Luella Middle School, USA andamp; Williston Central School, USA

This is way cool! -- 12-30-12

2012-12-30T18:05:57-05:00

Watch what happens when you put Oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid, on a speaker and turn the speaker on:

Aren't They Cute? -- 12-23-12

2012-12-23T16:42:11-05:00

These are rotifers! They look like they're dancing! lol

I found this photo on this blog: Mr. Ralph Grimm

Two Great Science Videos -- 12-10-12

2012-12-10T17:50:56-05:00

I saw this video about How Science Works on Mr. Robbins's blog:

It shows how NON-linear Science really is!

This next one I saw on Ms. Maiers's blog:

In this video bits from different Science TED Talks got put together to make a music video to show how creativity has a role to play in Science!

I know, two way cool videos!

Amoeba! -- 11-28-12

2012-11-28T15:53:09-05:00

Here is a video that an 8th grader took of Amoeba that he found in a sample of water. These little critters are hard to find!

Here is that same video but sped up a bit so that you can actually see them moving:

So you want to be a programmer? -- 11-18-12

2012-11-18T15:34:27-05:00

During the Seattle Startup EDU Weekend I had the chance to work with two programmers. In high school I studied Basic, then in I tried a little Pascal. I liked programming but didn't major in it in school, following other interests instead. When I started teaching I learned html and tried to get back into programming. I tried to learn Perl and C and Java. What I found is that I didn't have the time to learn any of those so I gave it up.

I've always enjoyed computer and video games so there's a part of me that's interested in how a game gets developed and programmed. At the startup weekend I got a glimpse into that world and it was cool. For those who love gaming and have an interest in making games of their own I asked Vinay Ahuja and Pratyush Jalan some questions about what they do. Here are there responses:

1. When did you get started in programming? How did you get started?

Vinay: My first exposure to programming was in 7th grade on Basic in a summer vacation class. I didn't do any programming after that until I went to college -- first year.

Pratyush: I think it was during 8th grade. We were taught to program (draw simple figures) in BASIC.

2. How much education did it take to learn the programming languages you know (please tell which programming languages you know)? If you were self taught please explain how you did it.

Vinay: The first language takes more time than the subsequent ones because the programming constructs are similar in most languages. It depends on the type of language too - whether it is procedural, functional, object oriented etc. Once you have grasp of one of each kind it is just a matter of syntax afterwards.
I have programmed in C, C++, C#, Java, SQL, Visual Basic, COBOL over the last 18 years.
Now, I mostly use C#, SQL

Pratyush: I started learning core programming from 9th grade. We started programming in C++ and it continued up till end of high school. In College I elected for Computer Science as my major and I learned most of the programming languages through projects. In college, there weren't many courses which taught you specific programming languages. We picked them by doing class/course projects. In Computer Science, once you learn the fundamentals of programming then it is easier for you to learn multiple programming languages. I learnt C++, Java, Python, Ocaml and C#.

3. How long have you been programming?

Vinay: 18+ years

Pratyush: I have been programming for the past 10 years. Most actively after my Junior year in College.

4. Where do you work? What kinds of jobs are available with your skills?

Vinay: Microsoft, Jobs in Software Development, Architecture at multiple levels.

Pratyush: I work in Microsoft as a Software Developer Engineer. With computer science skills, you can go into wide foray of fields - Software Development, IT solutions, Network and Communications.

5. What things have you worked on?

Vinay: I have worked on B2B, B2C, Ecommerce, Online services, Systems software, Very Simple games, Machine Learning algorithms, Mobile Devices and so on.

Pratyush: While in College, I worked on multiple projects as part of my courses. Some of the interesting ones have been - enemy bot games, Facebook app and Amazon applications. While working in Microsoft, I have worked on Service, User-Interface applications and tools.

6. How hard is to develop games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft?

Vinay: It's hard for me to comment on this, as I have not played these games and not too much of a gamer now. It should be easily in 100s of man months though -- if you take into account all the effort for requirements, design, implementation, testing, marketing, strategy etc. Depends on levels and complexity of the game.

Pratyush: Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are quiet difficult to built because they require high quality graphics rendering at a very high speed. These games have two core pieces, the UI and the game engine. The game engine requires knowledge of physics as well to develop.

7. Once you start working on a game like Call of Duty does that provide steady work for a programmer or do you constantly move from one project to another?

Vinay: In game development, there are multiple aspects and various skills -- User interface design, Level design, UI development, Backend (middle tier/repository) development, overall architecture, community web site, in game credit purchase integration etc, help/documentation
There are scalability and reliability aspects of the game, testing -- alpha/beta, user adoption etc.
there is physics engines being written, simulation software for games etc..
there are several game development books out there..

Pratyush: Generally these games take quiet sometime to build (probably 1-2 years). There are multiple teams working on each small piece of the game. Developers generally tend to stick till the end of the project and then you have the flexibility to move to a different team within the same project or you can change your field of work as well.

8. With regards to our Magical Petz game I hear you guys say that Pratyush worked on the UI and Vinay worked on the API. What does that mean?

Vinay: Pratyush -- designed the UI interface to layout the maze and any plumbing code to do integration with the backend API.
API -- stands for Application Programming Interface -- think of these as core libraries that form the backbone of the software -- which people don't see first hand but this does the foundational work. look at wikipedia for API.

Pratyush: Think about the Magical Petz game as two part. On the User Interface, I layed out the grid, the buttons and the other stuff (using different colors, size and etc) When someone clicks on these buttons, there is a signal sent to the backenend (game-engine) which drives what the next step would be. Similarly the lego-minestorm has some APIs - functions that signal the lego piece. So I build the game and Vinay wrote the APIs to move the lego-piece and we integrated both of these together.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. I would also be happy to come to you class to answer students question or give them a demo of a project.

Microorganisms -- 11-16-12

2012-11-16T17:51:11-05:00

Here are some of the microorganisms we found in 8th grade Science (the larger ones are paramecia):

Here's a video I found online of an amoeba eating two paramecia!!

Verizon Innovative App Challenge -- 11-13-12

2012-11-13T18:37:23-05:00

Many of you have shown interest in participating in this competition. I'm embedding a flyer here and the link to the website where you can have all your questions answered!

Go here to visit the challenge website.

Read this FAQ as it answers many of our questions.

Or click here to download the pdf if you can't see it above.

Brine Shrimp Evidence -- 11-13-12

2012-11-13T11:05:33-05:00

Here is some video and photo evidence that brine shrimp look living and move.

Here's a photo of a brine shrimp. It seems to have eyes!

Here's a movie showing that they move. Whether or not they are responding to stimuli is not apparent in this video.

Here's another video with inconclusive evidence. All it shows is an object moving. Can't say that it's living just because it moves.

Magnify the Universe -- 11-12-12

2012-11-12T13:51:08-05:00

Brine Shrimp Are Cool! -- 11-05-12

2012-11-05T16:10:07-05:00

This is the life cycle of the brine shrimp commonly known as sea monkey. Click on this link to see the life cycle as an interactive graphic where you can click on each stage of the life cycle and read what is happening there. There is also great info on this site as well.

Homeostasis -- 10-28-12

2012-10-28T22:54:11-05:00

This video explains something 8th graders should know about: homeostasis, something that all living things do.

We Are Back -- 10-01-12

2012-10-01T09:27:35-05:00

I, Mr. G, and the 6th graders are back! Time to settle in to the routine that will carry us along this great school year. I wrote about the Mt Saint Helens experience a bit on my teacher blog.

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Here are some pictures I took from the Johnston Ridge Observatory:

https://plus.google.com/photos/112965335069893623087/albums/5794141488999985265?authkey=CKPYmr7D5tDsdw

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Away to Camp! -- 09-23-12

2012-09-23T18:23:48-05:00

This week 6th graders are going to have a great time at Camp Cispus! Tuesday we will take the four hour bus ride to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest whereandnbsp;Camp Cispusandnbsp;resides. At Cispus 6th graders will go on hikes, visit a creek, learn about native plants, attempt a low ropes challenge course, and visit Mt Saint Helens! We'll be back Friday so our Week 3 blogging challenge posts might be late. We're also a bit behind on commenting but we'll try to catch up and read our student blogging challenge middle school friends' posts to leave comments. The good news that 8th graders are still here! So 8th graders, work on yourandnbsp;Week 3 blogging challengeandnbsp;when you get a chance this week and visit our blog pals and read their stuff to leave them great comments!

7 Random Facts About Mr. G -- 09-11-12

2012-09-11T15:55:31-05:00

My wife and two kids are awesome!

I wear glasses cause they're cool. Yeah, and also because I can't see a thing without them!

I love pork, yeah. Oh and chicken too. Steak's pretty good sometimes. Oh and salad, too.

Science rules.

Water, with ice, is my favorite drink.

Sometimes my head swells up for no reason (just kidding, I was referring to my avatar picture).

I don't know why 6th graders keep asking me if I'm an alien from outer space. Seriously?

Student Blogging Challenge -- 09-10-12

2012-09-10T18:17:13-05:00

Last year 6th graders participated in a Spring student blogging challenge. The student blogging challenge is back again for this Fall! I have signed us up so that we can participate. This will introduce us to students from different classes. I have put links on the left hand side of this blog, under Related Links, of class blogs that we have either connected with in the past or classes that are part of the Sept student blogging challenge. Let me know if you would like to sign your blog up to participate in the individual challenge as well. The first week challenge can be found here: Student Blogging Challenge Blog.

2012-13 -- 09-01-12

2012-09-01T21:20:13-05:00

Welcome to another wonderful school year of Science!

Students here in Chimacum should start blogging soon so stay tuned.andnbsp;

Mossman Found! -- 07-19-12

2012-07-19T00:48:05-05:00

We found the Mossman! He exists!! Background story: At the end of May, on our 8th grade week-long Odyssey field trip, we were taking our school bus to the Hoh Rain Forest. On the way there I saw what I could only describe as a Mossman. I told our bus driver and on the way back to the camp where we were all staying, Camp David Jr., we kept our eyes fixed on the side of the road where I first spotted the Mossman to no avail (well, those of us not driving did most of the looking). Then today driving to the Sol Duc Hot Springs with my family I see Mossman! I made my wife turn around and stop long enough to snap these shots of Mossman. Now here's the weird thing. The road to Sol Duc is not the same road we took to the Hoh so there are more than one Mossman in the Olympic National Parks!! There must be a whole tribe of Moss people!! At least now I know I wasn't crazy and I really did see Mossman.

Here's a closeup of Mossman's face:

8th grade Dissections -- 06-14-12

2012-06-14T11:20:30-05:00

Why do we dissect frogs? Their organs look a lot like ours. It's just too good to pass up.

We also had a squid. It was a great learning experience as we looked to see what structures they have to live in their environment.

But this was the most epic, we had rats that were purchased over 15 years ago.

Here's the rat's brain:

2011-12 Parent Survey -- 06-10-12

2012-06-10T16:58:24-05:00

I'm looking for some feedback from parents for this school year. What am I doing well? Where could I improve? I'd love to hear from my students' families. Click here to take the survey: http://goo.gl/WpJ1n

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Gone for a Week! -- 05-20-12

2012-05-20T23:47:24-05:00

This week, May 21 to 25, is our 8th grade week-long trip to Camp David, Jr on gorgeous Lake Crescent, Olympic Odyssey. So I'll be gone all week while my 6th graders learn about simple machines and Newton's Laws of Motion (cool stuff!). I'll also be without Wifi or 3G! That means that I won't be publishing any posts or comments.

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Hang in there and I'll work on publishing everything when I get back. If not Friday I'll work on it on Saturday. Have a great week and 6th graders be good, work hard, learn lots, and create some cool ways to sharing what you learned!andnbsp;andnbsp;

Magnify the Universe -- 05-12-12

2012-05-12T23:03:48-05:00

This is cool!

Copyright 2012. Magnifying the Universe by Number Sleuth.

What Part of School Would You Hack? -- 04-30-12

2012-04-30T17:47:43-05:00

Image from VisualWritingPrompts, John T. Spencer

Salmon Threats -- 04-21-12

2012-04-21T14:50:38-05:00

Lego Titanic Iceberg Collision! -- 04-16-12

2012-04-16T16:13:16-05:00

This movie brought to you by alexg:

6th Graders Finishing Water Quality -- 03-08-12

2012-03-08T17:05:08-05:00

Our amazing water quality project has come to an end. Students have been busy the last few weeks sharing presentations of their work with each other, writing final conclusion blogsandnbsp;(#comments4kids), and self-assessing their understandings of the Science standards that most closely fit our project.

Since we are beginning a completely different unit studying physical science students who are not done with any of the above can access any of it from home to finish. Their goal is to have all this work done by March 28 for student-led conferences! Parents don't forget that you can see what we're doing in Science by visiting my HW/Daily work site.

Here is a picture of the Pacific Northwest Peninsula. We find it on a map of WA state by looking for the peninsula that looks like a dragon. The dragon's head is where Port Townsend can be found while just south of there, where the heart of the dragon would be, we find Chimacum and Port Hadlock and Port Ludlow. On this image you can see the two forks of our creek. It's the west fork that passes through our campus so that is the one that we get all our data from.

This image is a zoomed in view of the first image. This one allows a slightly more detailed view of Chimacum Creek, including both the West and East Forks.

Awards as a Habit -- 02-16-12

2012-02-16T19:36:51-05:00

A little over a year ago I wrote about some issues with award ceremonies in schools. I shared some of the things I was learning about rewards, punishments, and competition in schools with the staff at my middle school. We discussed it and are looking at alternatives that work best for all kids. Teachers were wondering what students thought about all this. I had discussed these issues a few times with my advisory group and they were excited thinking of different ways to show appreciation and honor all students without leaving anyone out and without providing rewards to everyone. They actually are getting the idea that if you reward something then the reward becomes more important than the good things you were doing in the first place! But we wanted to see what other students thought so my advisory kids came up with some questions for everyone.

Below are seven of the eight questions (I'll share results from the 8th one below because the answers aren't graphable) and the results. About four advisories submitted their responses on paper and 26 students took the online survey. So these results are from 73 students out of about 250 in our middle school, so almost 30% of our students have responded. (You can click on the pie charts to see a slightly larger chart if you can't read the numbers.)

1. Do you feel rejected when you don't get an award? 28 responded yes, 44 responded no
2. Do you feel rejected when you don't get chosen for student of the month? 24 responded yes, 47 responded no
3. How do you feel when you get an award and your friends don't? 28 responded Good/Okay, 27 responded Bad
4. How do you feel when you get chosen for student of the month and your friends don't? 29 responded Good/Okay, 23 responded Bad
5. How would you feel if we stopped giving out monthly awards? 28 responded Good/Okay, 35 responded Bad
6. How would you feel if we stopped choosing students of the month? What if students who wanted to compete for student of the month, a mostly academic, good effort, good behavior award, could put their names in so that not everyone had to compete for this? 27 responded Good/Okay, 31 responded Bad
7. How do you feel about having every student's name be included in the lottery? That would mean no more lottery tickets being handed out in classes. 45 responded Good/Okay, 21 responded Bad

These results are very telling. What they tell me is that we've convinced so many kids that to be appreciated they need a certificate or award. That doesn't seem right. Years of getting awards, stickers, and other rewards for doing the right things have taught them that without those rewards we don't appreciate them. A teacher whose blog I read recently wrote some blog posts about these same issues. When I shared our results with her she wrote a post on motivation and achievement. Here are some quotes from those who want to keep awards in our assemblies:

"It [the award] might make them [kids who don't get awards] want to try harder." (Cause we know that works, right? No!)

"I feel accomplished." (So if you don't get a certificate you don't feel accomplished? What have we done?!)

"Not appreciated [if they don't get an award]" (So I've been asking, how can we show each other appreciation without calling some out for an award and leaving others behind?)

"I feel awkward," or "I feel embarrassed." (When called up for an award.)

"I wouldn't feel special." (That one hurts.)

One person even wrote that they believe that being called up and put, "in the spotlight," causes more bullying because kids in middle school can use anything against you.

These are just my opinions. What do you think? Have we damaged these kids or is this what we want of our children? I don't want my son or my daughter waiting for an award to feel accomplished or to feel special. And I'm saying spoil them so that when they get a job they feel bad because their boss doesn't give awards or doesn't praise them. (Read this about praise to get some ideas on how to do it better.)

The last question asked kids what they would like to see during our monthly assemblies. Here are some things they came up with:

interactive
plays
sharing
demonstrations
games
movies
slideshows
stuff about bullying
having assemblies on holidays and special days
talent shows on our themes
shout outs
dances
playing instruments
funny stuff
pranks
students choosing

Sounds good to me.

Monthly Assemblies at Chimacum -- 02-06-12

2012-02-06T13:35:51-05:00

Chimacum teachers and Mr. G's Eagle Time students, as well as some other Eagle Times, have been discussing ways to improve our monthly assemblies. One topic of discussion has been awards. We've been looking at what we want from the awards portion of our assemblies and if that part could be done better so that we don't single out students and make the rest feel left out. Think about these questions and please respond to them so that we can see what Chimacum students want for their monthly assemblies (it's completely anonymous).

Click here to take the survey online

Or here are the questions if you would rather respond to these questions by leaving a comment. We've also put a copy of this survey in all the teachers boxes if you need to take the survey using paper.

1. Do you feel rejected when you don't get an award?

2. Do you feel rejected when you don't get chosen for student of the month?

3. How do you feel when you get an award and your friends don't?

4. How do you feel when you get chosen for student of the month and your friends don't?

5. How would you feel if we stopped giving out monthly awards?

6. How would you feel if we stopped choosing students of the month? What if students who wanted to compete for student of the month, a mostly academic, good effort, good behavior award, could put their names in so that not everyone had to compete for this?

7. How do you feel about having every student's name be included in the lottery? That would mean no more lottery tickets being handed out in classes.

8. What would you like to see during assemblies instead of awards? (Like having students share or demonstrate things they are good at for assembly themes instead of getting a certificate and being called up.)

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If you or your parents are wondering why we are asking you all these questions here is a blog that Mr. G wrote sharing some reasons why we might want to change how we honor our students here at Chimacum. There are a lot of links and some videos so make sure you scroll all the way down to see the comments different educators wrote. And if you feel like sharing your ideas on this blog feel free to leave a comment on this blog or on Mr. G's blog so that all Chimacum students, teachers, and families can participate.andnbsp;This school belongs to all of us so share this blog so everyone can be heard.

I think the challenge we have before us is this: How do we show appreciation of our students here at Chimacum without making some people feel left out?

Digital Learning Day! -- 01-30-12

2012-01-30T23:13:20-05:00

Mr. G's Glog -- 01-01-12

2012-01-01T20:33:34-05:00

Microscopic Organisms -- 01-01-12

2012-01-01T17:46:00-05:00

Here's a sample of what 8th graders finished learning before winter break. We used compound microscopes and digital microscopes to discover whether all lving things are indeed made of cells. We tried to find evidence that the things we found were living things by seeing if they had all the characteristics of living things that we came up with together.

6th Grade Benthic Macro Work -- 11-03-11

2011-11-03T10:49:09-05:00

Sixth graders got to look for benthic macroinvertebrates (underwater bugs) in samples of Chimacum Creek water brought to us by the North Olympic Salmon Coalition. We used a macroinvertebrate water quality scoring system to figure out what the water quality of our creek is like and here's what we got:

Predator vs Prey! -- 10-23-11

2011-10-23T22:52:02-05:00

An epic battle for survival as an earwig tries to escape a spider's grasp!

So who won?

Here's what I found on the Monday after that epic battle:

Another Oil Spill?? -- 10-13-11

2011-10-13T11:12:56-05:00

Last year 8th graders researched the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill to learn how it was damaging the ecosystems in the gulf. We wondered if the world had learned its lesson after so many horrible oil spills and now we hear of another oil spill in the news!!

A cargo ship off the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand has spilled 350 tons of oil! As of today, Oct 13, it's still there leaking!! Read about it here.

Does anyone have any news about it? Any New Zealanders out there who can leave us a comment about this oil spill?

Science Open House -- 10-09-11

2011-10-09T14:44:34-05:00

If you have a child in any of Mr. Gonzalez's Science classes join us for a Science Open House!

6th grade, Wednesday, Oct 19, 6 to 7pm Room 604 (Click here to download the handout.)

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8th grade, Thursday, Oct 20, 6 to 7pm Room 604 (Click here to download the handout.)

A New School Year! -- 09-28-11

2011-09-28T12:20:26-05:00

Greetings Bloggers!

Chimacum Middle Schoolers from Room 604 are starting to blog again! I say again because my 8th graders got the blogs that they started when they were in 6th grade two years ago! Sixth graders are starting their blogs this year so they will start with the 7 Random Facts assignment to share something about themselves with the world.

We look forward to reading blogs and having people read our blogs and trading well thought out, detailed comments!

Mr. González

Student Project -- 05-06-11

2011-05-06T15:17:34-05:00

This blog post is written by guest blogger and 8th grader Alyssa W:

Space bag is a company. They sell bags that are very unique. They are meant for clothing, blankets, pillows and more. All you do is put your contents In the bag and suck out the air. By doing so it makes more space in your closet!that is why it is called a space bag. They were so kind to help us out with our experiment by donating 5 large bags and 5 med. and 2 small Bags.

Here is a copy of the email I sent to Space Bags :

Hi my name is Alyssa W,

You might remember me, I was the person that called and asked for a donation of a space bag. we are really grateful of your donation and thank you for that! we promised to write about how great the space bag is on our class blog and today i am doing that!! i would like to tell you how our experiment went. For our project we researched photosynthesis. we wanted to see how long an already grown plant (zinnia, it is a flower) would grow with no oxygen or carbon dioxide!! we thought that your product (space bag) would be the perfect thing to do our experiment in. we grew 6 zinnias by the window in our classroom (they did not get to much sun sense we live in Washington).

after about 2 weeks we put 3 plants in the space bag and kept 3 inside the cups. when we put the plants in the bag, they measured at 7cm, another 7.5, and the last one 8cm. After that i stayed in after school and went with my science teacher to another science teacher in the high school, he said that he had a vacuum cleaner and he would let us suck the air out of the bag, also he had some gas called Argon. Argon is suppose to eliminate oxygen and carbon dioxide left in the bag. we then pumped Argon in the bag until the bag was puffy. we did that and our results were fascinating. we thought that the plants would only last one week. but they actually lasted 2 weeks!!! they survived march 28th- April 8th.

And that is when things started to get weird. When we first placed the flowers in the space bag the flowers were falling down but were not dead. after a little while the plats went flat, then they started to disappear. when i opened the bag on Monday April 11th to see if they grew or not, i was dumbfounded, the plants had seemed to disappear! My teacher and i went through the bag carefully and nothing, we just came to conclusion that the plants had disintegrated into the soil. but as we were about to stop looking, we found a little shard of the plant. it was only 4cm though and we were amazed.

thank you so much for donation and your generosity. we thank you very much!!!

Thanks again Alyssa W

Diversity of Life -- 04-26-11

2011-04-26T18:04:43-05:00

Greetings again.andnbsp;

Now that you've seen one or both Diversity of Life movies, answer the following questions by leaving a comment on this blog. (Number your answers to make it easier for all of us to understand.)

What is diversity of life?

Why is diversity of life important?

How do we get diversity of life?

Race to Nowhere Comes to Chimacum! -- 04-21-11

2011-04-21T20:04:01-05:00

On Tuesday, May 10, from 6 to 8pm at the Chimacum Schools auditorium we will be having a screening of the movie Race to Nowhere (buy your tickets here: http://www.racetonowhere.com/epostcard/4935).

Tickets to the screening are being sold online for $10, plus a processing fee, per person and will be available at the door on the night of for $15 per person. If we sell over 100 tickets Chimacum Middle School will get part of the proceeds for our outdoor education programs!

Everyone is welcome and after the movie we will have a discussion to process what we saw.

If you are not familiar with Race to Nowhere this video is pretty good: Race to Nowhere.

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Ecological Footprint by Country -- 04-19-11

2011-04-19T09:31:08-05:00

Click on the image to play the animation. The countries will resize themselves and the larger ones are the ones with the largest ecological footprint. At this rate the Earth will not be able to sustain how much we are using.

Chimacum Creek Zoomed Out -- 03-28-11

2011-03-28T13:47:41-05:00

This image is a zoomed in view of the first image. This one allows a slightly more detailed view of Chimacum Creek, including both the West and East Forks.

Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Problem Explained (CNN) -- 03-16-11

2011-03-16T09:31:29-05:00

Radiation from Japan's Nuclear Power Plant

YOU are the Change! -- 03-13-11

2011-03-13T23:48:15-05:00

This is an awesome video about the future and about being the change you want to happen:

TEDxYouthday Theme Song from TEDxAmsterdam on Vimeo.

Chimacum Creek Winter 2011 Fish Counts -- 03-07-11

2011-03-07T11:27:36-05:00

Thisandnbsp; graph shows how many fish 8th graders caught during the Winter 2011 season at Chimacum Creek where it runs though our 3-12 campus. Click here to see how we trap fish at Chimacum Creek.

Here is a breakdown of the previous counts. For the time we caught and identified fish these are the different types we caught. You can see what fish we caught the most and the least.

Mini Plant Science Fair Ideas -- 03-02-11

2011-03-02T12:34:41-05:00

These are just a few more ideas for projects you can do for our

Mini Plant Science Fair

cropped with SnipSnip

Totally Gross Pacific Northwest Creature! -- 02-24-11

2011-02-24T17:46:52-05:00

A Unit on Plants -- 02-22-11

2011-02-22T18:37:14-05:00

Mini Science Fair - Plants on Prezi

Click here for the online planning form.

Science Talk -- 02-16-11

2011-02-16T22:55:28-05:00

GoAnimate4Schools.com: Science Class by Alfonso Gonzalez

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate4Schools. It's free and fun!

Find Your Watershed -- 02-09-11

2011-02-09T16:13:09-05:00

Find Your Watershedgreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

Giant Pacific Octopus! -- 02-03-11

2011-02-03T18:30:59-05:00

Photosynthesis Song -- 01-28-11

2011-01-28T17:23:52-05:00

My 8th graders are checking out photosynthesis as they try to figure out what trees, leaves and plants are made of (meaning what makes up most of a trees matter).

I did a demo recently that didn't work correctly but with the help of a digital scale I hope that students saw that air has mass. I had them look up what our air is made of and then we looked up the atomic weights of all the different gasses that make up our air. That hopefully is helping students answer the question about trees.

So I searched youtube and found this cool photosynthesis song:

I'm surprised no one thought to check out youtube to learn about photosynthesis. I must say there are a bunch of cool photosynthesis raps on youtube made by middle and high school kids.

Water Quality School Board Presentation -- 01-24-11

2011-01-24T00:02:56-05:00

This Wednesday, January 26, at 7pm in our school library our district's school board will hold its monthly meeting. We have been invited to present at this meeting to explain what we are doing in 6th grade Science. I will be there and am looking for a some 6th grade students to join me to tell our school board and our superintendent what we have been learning and what we are doing in 6th grade Science for our Water Quality Project.

If you are interested please ask your parents if they can bring you on Wednesday to the meeting. We will be first on the agenda and we can leave once our presentation is done. I am planning to share some of the video I took while we were down at the creek collecting data. Please leave me a comment on this post if your parents said yes and will bring you on Wednesday night.

Thank you.

Mr. Gonzandaacute;lez

Basic Elements of Living Things -- 01-06-11

2011-01-06T15:08:12-05:00

I found this website, The Elements of Life, and wanted to point out a cool part for my 8th grade Life Science students:

andquot;The most common elements in a cell are:

Hydrogen (H) 59%

Oxygen (O) 24%

Carbon (C) 11%

Nitrogen (N) 4%

Others such as phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) 2% combined

But these are not the only elements that have important roles for living things! Plants and animals need a variety of elements to survive and grow.

Some elements that are important for animals (including people) are calcium (Ca), for bones and muscles, chlorine (Cl) for digesting food, fluorine (F) for tooth enamel and iron (Fe) to help blood carry oxygen around the body.andquot;

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This is cool info!

Putting an Avatar on Your Blog -- 11-03-10

2010-11-03T17:59:43-05:00

Instructions for putting an image on your Blog's Control Panel:

First, you need to create an avatar (see my list of avatar websites) or take a picture of yourself or use a picture of yourself. (Only upload a photo of yourself if you have permission to publish your photos online. Ask you parents if you don't remember what they circled on your Informed Consent Agreement.)

Use PicGhostandnbsp;or Picnik to resize your image (thumbnail size might work but avatar size is the best).

Picnikandnbsp;might be easier thanandnbsp;PicGhostandnbsp;so try that one first. If you useandnbsp;PicGhostandnbsp;then go on the next step otherwise go to Step 10.

PicGhostandnbsp;andnbsp;requires that you have an account to download your resized image. If you can't do that, then keep going...

Take a screen shot of your image (Shift, Apple - or Command - 4). Your image will be a .png file on your desktop.

Use Online-Convert to turn your .png file into a .gif file that will work on your ClassBlogmeister blog.

From the Image Converter section choose Convert to GIF from the drop down menu.

Click on Browse to choose your image from the desktop (or where ever your file is - documents on PC's most likely).

Then click on the Convert File button to start the conversion.

Download the new file and upload that .gif file from the Control Panel of your blog!

6th Graders Blogging! -- 11-03-10

2010-11-03T17:59:23-05:00

Eighth graders are continuing to write blogs about what they are doing and learning in our Life Science classes. And now 6th graders have joined them! Sixth graders started by writing 7 random facts about themselves as their first blog assignment. Now they will be working on getting their water pollution brochures copied and pasted onto their blogs to share what they've learned! Please read and comment to give feedback to students by either choosing a title from the Student Entries on the left side of this blog site, or choose a name from a student on the right side of this blog site to read what that person has written. Mr. G

8th Graders Blogging! -- 10-18-10

2010-10-18T16:57:59-05:00

My two 8th grade Life Science classes have been busy blogging. They've written blog posts about the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and are now blogging about living things (what it means to be alive). Over on the left hand side of this blog, under Student Entries, you'll find many blog posts to read and leave comments! You can click on 50 or All to have more blogs to choose from. Or, if you prefer, click on a student's name on the right side of this blog to read their posts. Only 8th graders have been blogging so far so scroll down to the 8th grade class lists.

Happy reading and commenting! And please leave your link so we can read your blogs and leave you a comment!

Mr. G

Mt Saint Helens -- 09-21-10

2010-09-21T09:31:49-05:00

Sixth graders are back at school after a wonderful week at Camp Cispus! Each year one of the activities that 6th graders do at Camp Cispus is to visit Mt Saint Helens. We visit Meta Lake and the miner's car, we walk up the 437 steps of Windy Ridge, and we hike down to Spirit Lake. Since I've been taking pictures for years I put together a Mt Saint Helens digital story. Enjoy!

We Are Back! -- 09-06-10

2010-09-06T23:46:12-05:00

A new school year has begun for us! Welcome back 8th graders! And welcome 6th graders!

This year I have three 6th grade classes with 82 students and two 8th grade classes with 51 students. We have plenty of bloggers to go around.

Feel free to join us and comment on any blogs you read. I will be adding the 6th grade accounts soon. During the week of Sept 13 I will be going with the entire 6th grade class to Camp Cipus in Randle, WA for four days and three nights so I'll probably setup their accounts after that. Eighth graders will most likely have blogs ready for publishing when I return from Cispus. There is absolutely no cell reception and no wifi there so I won't be able to approve blogs. Sorry.

I'm looking forward to a great year of Science!

Mr. Gonzandaacute;lez

Volcano Student Projects! -- 05-02-10

2010-05-02T20:18:37-05:00

Student Projects (check out the Google Docs notes students took):

Per 2 G1 Poster

Per 2 G2 Poster

Per 2 G3 Volcano Prezi

Per 2 G4 Volcano Prezi

Per 2 G6 Poster 1 and Poster 2

Per 2 G7 Poster

Per 2 G9 Xtranormal Volcano Animated Movie

Per 2 G10 Volcano Flash Movie

Per2 G10 Volcano Model

Per2 G10 Volcano Prezi

Per 4 G1 Volcano Prezi

Per 4 G2 Xtranormal Volcano Animated Movie

Per 4 G3 Wet Poster, then 2nd Poster

Per 4 G5 Volcano Comic Life Comic Book

Per 4 G6 Volcano Comic Life Comic Book

Per 4 G8 Volcano Prezi

Per 4 G9 Volcano Prezi

Per 4 G10 Poster

Please leave comments giving feedback to the projects students created. Please leave your first name, a link back to your blog, and please write which period and which team's project you are writing about.

Thank you!

Mr. G

Volcanoes Shape Our Earth -- 04-29-10

2010-04-29T09:27:12-05:00

7th and 8th graders, earlier you answered the following questions:andnbsp; How are volcanoes formed? How do earthquakes and volcanoes shape the Earth? What else besides volcanoes and earthquakes helps shape our Earth? How?

Share some of your responses by leaving a comment to this blog. Remember to use your first name and last initial when leaving me (or anyone) a comment.

Mr. G

Energy Transfers and Transformations -- 04-22-10

2010-04-22T22:39:53-05:00

Sixth graders, now that you are done with lessons 2, 3, and 4 and reading about batteries answer the following question for your next blog:

How does energy change from one form to another? Give examples of charging a battery and using a battery.

Blabberized Volcano -- 04-11-10

2010-04-11T22:01:40-05:00

My sample Blabberize Volcano:

Volcano VoiceThread -- 04-11-10

2010-04-11T21:18:22-05:00

Here's a sample Volcano VoiceThread:

Volcano Prezi -- 04-11-10

2010-04-11T19:57:23-05:00

Here's a sample Volcano Prezi:

Volcanoes on Prezi

Volcano Intro -- 04-11-10

2010-04-11T19:29:40-05:00

Here is a sample Volcano Slideshow:

My New Glog -- 03-16-10

2010-03-16T20:21:27-05:00

Current Earthquakes -- 02-28-10

2010-02-28T18:43:08-05:00

Much is in the news lately about earthquakes because of current activity that has affected people so hard. The Haiti earthquake has brought the world together and now Chile has been devastated by an 8.8 Magnitude quake. The quake also sent a tsunami to Hawaii! Since we're learning about plate tectonics let's read what has happened in Haiti, Chile and Hawaii. Let's put together what we're learning with what is happening and write about it. Begin blogging and sharing some of the many resources out there.

Check out these pictures of the destruction in Chile from the Boston Globe.

Chile quake Interactive (check it out)

New York Times article on Chile's earthquake.

Chile quake shortened our days??

Tsunami travel times graphic.

Mashable article on how to track tsunamis.

Here's a good NPR article on the Chile earthquake.

Here's a youtube video on the Chile earthquake.

Here's a video taken from the International Space Station (ISS) by Astronaut Soichi.

And here's a picture taken from the ISS by Astronaut Soichi.

USGS Current Worldwide Earthquakes website.

Check out this site that tracks current earthquakes, it's cooler than the USGS site!

Haiti's 7.0M quake wikipedia site.

Photographs of Haiti (You've got to see these!)

Haiti Map

Taiwan had a 6.4M earthquake!

And yet another earthquake makes the news, Turkey gets hit by a 5.9M quake.

Are all these earthquakes connected?

Haiti Earthquake	Chile Earthquake	Taiwan Earthquake	Turkey Earthquake
7.0M at 13Km depth on January 12, 2010	8.8M at 59.4Km depth on February 27, 2010	6.4M at 35Km depth on March 4, 2010	5.9 M at 10Km depth on March 8, 2010
Over 230,000 died.	Over 800 died.	11 injured, none dead.	At least 5 dead.
From a Transform Fault.	From a Subduction Zone.	In between a transform fault and a subduction zone!	Subduction Zone Earthquake

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think.

Mr. G

Cool Newspaper Article! -- 02-07-10

2010-02-07T01:01:52-05:00

Click here to make your own newspaper clipping!

Statistics! -- 02-07-10

2010-02-07T00:59:58-05:00

Source: Online Education

How to Blog using Blogmeister -- 01-31-10

2010-01-31T17:06:14-05:00

As more of you are starting to write your articles for your first blog, problems are beginning to happen. I'm going to put the How to Blog instructions here. If you still can't solve your problem, please come in at lunch and show me what is going wrong so that I can help.

Mr. Gonzalez

How to Blog -

Note: Make sure your article is spell checked and that there are no grammatical errors before you request publishing and save often before you request publishing.

1. Click on your name on the list on the right.

2. At the top of your browser is your URL or web address starting with http. Remember to copy it before you log in whenever you are ready to leave comments on other student's blogs.

3. Click on Login at the top left hand corner of your webpage and login right there using your name (remember that it's your first name and last initial (no spaces and no capitals) and the password you gave Mr. Gonzalez (don't share your password with anyone!).

4. If you get redirected to the class blogmeister page then you typed your password incorrectly. Try again or see me to verify that you have the correct password (an email or text message will work too). Click on Articles to write about one of the topics but make sure you read the question or prompt so that you know what your are supposed to be writing about. When your article is ready click on the button next to Request Publishing for Mr. Gonzalez to read and then click on Save.

5. If your article hasn't been published in a few days, log back in (steps 1 to 4 above) and click on the triangle next to your article's title. Read what Mr. Gonzalez wrote for you. Remember that you have to be in the text view, not graphical, to read Mr. Gonzalez's comments. If there are no comments just click on Request Publishing again and click Save again.

That's it!

How do I respond to someone else's blog?

1. Type mrgonzalez.org in your browser (like Firefox).

2. Click on someone's article on the left of the webpage and read it.

3. Click on Comment at the bottom of the person's blog article and fill in all the fields. Remember that email is NOT needed by your URL is NECESSARY. And no need for last names.

4. Follow the instructions before you click on the Submit button. If it says that it's sending to the teacher at the bottom of the webpage, then it's good to go! Otherwise you'll have to try again.

Blogging and the 21st Century -- 01-31-10

2010-01-31T15:02:22-05:00

Why do I assign homework by having students blog? And what in the world is a glog? If you've asked yourself these questions maybe this blog post will help. I remember just a few years ago how parents and teachers started to worry when our children were using MySpace to create a presence on the Internet. MySpace provided regular, non-techy, people a way to create a very stylized website where they could easily post pictures and keep friends and family updated with what they were up to. Parents and teachers had to monitor Internet use for our children and educate them because there were too many people posting inappropriate content to their MySpace. Since the point of creating a web presence with MySpace was to share it with the world it was very easy for our children to stumble upon this inappropriate material. Schools, driven by fear, tried sometimes successfully, sometimes not, to block MySpace. Parents did too. Things got better though because now students have Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and other safer ways to build their web presence, stay in touch with friends and family. Connecting with family and friends online is highly motivating to our students.

One thing we can see for sure is that social media is ubiquitous. Many people are staying connected through some online service, often through their smart phones, that businesses are making use of these new technologies. And it seems that those who are afraid of these changes are those who didn't grow up with them, those who are baby boomers, the digital dinosaurs; and even some of my generation, the generation X'ers who are digital immigrants. Our children, the net generation or millennials who are digital natives, don't fear it, quite the contrary they live it. Now I don't even begin to know how old a child should be when she or he gets the first cell phone, or the first online account but I do know that blocking access to those things isn't going to help them. My job as a teacher is to show my students appropriate ways to use the current technologies to learn, create and share. Darn, I'm showing them that what they use for recreation can also be used in school. Our job is to help children traverse their online experiences safely and using good common sense to protect themselves. That's what marks the 21st century.

The news media is radically changing as professional reporters aren't the only ones reporting news anymore. So many people are getting their news from other people who blog or tweet or post on Facebook before they tune in to the regular news. And they can do it anywhere! Television, radio and newspapers are no longer the only way for us to find out what is going on in the world. And where ever there is a cell phone, especially with a camera, news will spread even if those around would prefer to keep it secret or quiet. It's a new world.

That is why I hope that I am embracing this new world, this new way of learning, creating and sharing. Reading a newspaper, hearing a news radio show, or watching a TV news report used to be one way. You had to turn to your family, friends and coworkers to discuss what you were reading, listening to, or watching. Now people all over the world can share their thoughts and ideas with each other by leaving comments on blogs, retweeting on Twitter, or making comments on Facebook. I have been listening to what astronauts are doing daily on the International Space Station because I follow them on Twitter! I retweet what I find exciting with those who follow me so there are thousands of people on Earth who can keep track of what's happening up there daily and so easily! My students can do a Science lab, write about it on their blog, and get a comment from other students in New York, Canada or other parts of the world letting them know what they think about our lab!

I personally have learned so much from the incredible educators and administrators I follow on Twitter and gain so much from all the wonderful resources they share with me and all the other educators who are part of what we call our Professional Learning Network (PLN). Fancy phrase and acronym for groups of teachers all over the world sharing resources and ideas with each other. That's how I am learning and I know many of my students learn that way so I am making that part of my classroom routine.

So why blog about what you are learning in Science? Because if you write down on paper or in your notebook and turn in to me, the teacher, then I will read it and either grade it or give feedback or both. Me, just the teacher. If I have students read each other's work and evaluate each other's work then they get another's view and feedback. Nice. But if they blog what they are learning they can get each other's views and feedback, my views and feedback plus the possibility of views and feedback from students all over the world. It's not just about the final grade, it's about the learning.

Okay, you get it now, so what's a glog? Seeing as how so many of my students are visual learners and seeing as how so much of what people create now includes more right brain, artistic types of products I give my students the choice to just write their responses on paper, type it into their blog, or use glog to make a poster-like, media-rich post. Glogs give students the ability to answer my Science prompts and questions by creating an online poster full of pictures, songs, movies and text, which they can still post on their blogs! It's pretty awesome. Here's a response about density blog. Now here is another response to the density question but in glog form.

So in my Science classes students get assigned a few to several Science prompts or questions for homework each trimester to reflect on what they've learned in class, or share what they've learned in class. It allows me, and whoever else reads their work, to see if students are understanding the concepts we are studying in class. Students get the choice of how they want to submit their homework, I've told students they can even text me their responses if they wish! So encourage your children to do their Science homework and if they want, they can blog about anything else they want in between assignments. This is their century to shine so I want them to make their school blogs their own.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

Mr. Gonzandaacute;lez

Check my Homework Section to see what we are doing in Science and check my online progress reports to find out exactly what you are missing.

Here's a Wordle of this blog post:

Correct! -- 01-11-10

2010-01-11T14:43:44-05:00

Yes! That one is the denser of the two objects! How did you know? Leave a comment.

(This is an answer to the question on my glog.)

Not Quite Right -- 01-11-10

2010-01-11T14:42:31-05:00

Sorry, that one is not the one that has the greater density. Why do you think it's not this one?

andnbsp;

Density Glog -- 01-08-10

2010-01-08T14:19:57-05:00

Happy New Year! -- 01-03-10

2010-01-03T00:26:12-05:00

I had to write today because today is a palindrome! It's 01-02-2010 or 0102 2010! Cool, huh?andnbsp;

Monday school starts again for us after this wonderful 2-week long winter break. We didn't get any snow but did get quite a bit of rain here in WA state. I will be urging my 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to catch up with their blogging and commenting so we can all get back into the swing of things. I want to thank all of our blog pals who leave us great comments! Thank you!!

Mr. Gandnbsp;

andnbsp;

Deepest Undersea Volcano -- 12-18-09

2009-12-18T17:42:31-05:00

A robot filmed an erupting volcano 4,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean! That's the deepest erupting undersea volcano. Check it out here. We'll be back January 4th! Happy Holidays everyone!!

Let's see who blogs over Winter Breakandnbsp;

Mr. G

andnbsp;

Wordles Are Cool! -- 12-01-09

2009-12-01T22:59:49-05:00

I took two of my most recent blogs and turned them into this Wordle! These are cool! Paste anything you've written into the website and it creates a word cloud where the more frequent words in your writing become the most prominent words in the cloud! Click here to create your own.

Vodcasts and Informational Blogs -- 11-02-09

2009-11-02T17:56:20-05:00

Hello everyone out there. Just wanted to let you know what my students are working on currently. My 6th graders are finishing some informational, brochure-like blogs on freshwater pollution to show what they learned from this webquest. My 7th and 8th graders are uploading video podcasts on different biomes they studied in class.

Now if you see the same freshwater info or the same biome movie on more than one student's blog that is because they worked in teams of two and three (and on two occassions even four!) so each member of the team got to copy and paste their shared work. So don't give up if the same one shows up two or three times.

Thank you.

Mr. G

Beat Cancer -- 10-17-09

2009-10-17T17:00:05-05:00

I'm helping to raise funds to
#beatcancer, by blogging, tweeting
and posting Facebook status
updates.

Click here to join me!

Topics We're Blogging About -- 10-01-09

2009-10-01T18:19:05-05:00

Welcome students and teachers from other schools. This year the classes blogging here consist of 6th, 7th and 8th graders. Sixth graders study Environmental Science while 7th and 8th graders study Earth Science. As you read my student's blogs you might be curious to know what some of our topics are this year. Sixth graders are writing about a camping trip they took in September to a camp called Cispus. Click on Cispus to learn more. Seventh and eighth graders are writing about one of two articles they read in preparation to learn about Biomes. If you're interested see what Earth Science topics we'll be studying this year. We are from Washington State in a small, rural town called Chimacum. We look forward to commenting and getting comments from people all over the world so don't hesitate to leave comments on anyone's blog!

Start Blogging! -- 09-28-09

2009-09-28T00:26:19-05:00

Time to start blogging. I'm working on updating your accounts with your chosen passwords so you need to try and login to see if it works. If it doesn't see me to fix your password. On the left side of my class blog you will find your assignments. The first assignment for all my Science students is the 7 Random Facts! Click on it to read what that's all about. After that 6th graders do all assignments that start with 6th and 7th and 8th graders do all the assignments that start with 7-8.

2009-10! -- 08-25-09

2009-08-25T21:42:05-05:00

School is almost starting again! So I'm already getting ready so I made last year's classes inactive and typed in the names of my new students. Those of you who were in my class last year and the year before that I still have your old blogs but don't quite know how to move them to your new classes. I'm working on that but worse come to worse, you'll be starting fresh this year.

This year I'm also trying something new. If you're running late and want to get your blogging homework done for those few points check out this webpage with information on how to text me your assignment. You'll get the same credit. All I ask of the texting is the same I ask of the blogging, that you use regular English, good spelling, and full and complete sentences. I'm looking forward to another great year of Science! See you all at the MS Orientation Thursday, Sept 3, at 6:30pm and then I'll see you all on Tuesday, Sept 8!

Mr. G

Stay in Touch! -- 06-11-09

2009-06-11T00:00:00-05:00

Hey CMS and all our blog pals, as our school year comes to an end feel free to stay in touch. If you don't want to log in and submit your own blog then just leave a comment to this blog over the summer so whoever checks it out can read what you have to say! I'll still leave all current blog accounts open all summer if you're interested in adding a new blog or reading old comments. But come September if you're not enrolled in any of my classes I will cancel your account. I know, it's so sad, especially for those of you who have had your account for three years! I'll miss reading your blogs!!

Mr. G

End of Year Blogging -- 05-31-09

2009-05-31T19:39:53-05:00

Chimacum 6th and 8th graders will finish up their blogging assignments for the year. June 16 is our last day but I will keep all my current student accounts open all summer for those of you who can blog over the summer. Don't know how many, if any, will visit their blogs over the summer but I'll keep them open just in case.

Mr. G

8th Graders go to Camp! -- 05-16-09

2009-05-16T00:03:24-05:00

The week of May 18 I will be joining my 8th grade Science students on an Olympic Odyssey field trip to Camp David, Jr. on beautiful Lake Crescent. We will be going on some amazing hikes as we enjoy the lake and nearby mountains and beaches for five days and four nights. What an awesome experience! Our school honors outdoor education and each grade level has a unique outdoor education experience from the 6th grade Camp Cispus week to the 7th grade long boat experience to 8th grade Odyssey.

Featured Blogger -- 05-05-09

2009-05-05T09:24:09-05:00

Check out our featured blogger, Olivia. Her blog has the most pictures to help her explain what she's been learning in Science. Her blogs are complete, excellent and beautiful. Way to go, Olivia!

Water Quality Movie -- 04-24-09

2009-04-24T19:45:13-05:00

Check out this year's water quality movie! The water quality websites can be found here.

Density vs Buoyancy -- 02-11-09

2009-02-11T09:13:57-05:00

In order for a buoyant force to be great enough to make an object float, does the object need to be less dense than water? If you think that yes, an object does have to be less dense than water to float, then how does a metal ship float? Explain that. How does a concrete boat float (remember the video we saw.) Please explain your answer by leaving me a comment.

(For those of you not from Chimacum who wish to add an answer or challenge something you read here are some of the resources we used: Density and Buoyancy Links.)

Updates! -- 01-26-09

2009-01-26T13:14:43-05:00

I never mentioned that on Dec 23, 2008 they took my cast off! After three long months I was finally free! The wrist bone is totally fused so I was able to begin using my wrist and thumb again. I have full motion of my thumb back and am still working the wrist to get its full motion back.

And on a totally separate and unrelated note, 8th graders, check the assignments cause I've been adding assignments and few are getting them done :o) And don't forget to check in with our blog pals every now and then to let them know we're still here.

It's new blog assignment time! -- 12-03-08

2008-12-03T18:40:10-05:00

Check out the Teacher Assignments section cause it's time for a new blog assignment. Of course it's going to be about weathering and erosion.

It's Healing! -- 11-05-08

2008-11-05T14:00:09-05:00

So my wrist is healing, the bones look fused but it's not totally healed yet so I got another cast. After six weeks I gotta wait another four weeks. Ugh.

Sample Biome Movie -- 10-24-08

2008-10-24T18:49:04-05:00

One team had me upload their biome commerical movie and they wanted it featured here so that all our blog pals can see it. So check this out

7 Random Facts -- 09-26-08

2008-09-26T17:18:58-05:00

1. I love food (Cuban and Korean are my favorite).

2. I love big cats (black panthers are the coolest).

3. I love playing games (playing World of Warcraft at present).

4 . I've been married for over 13 years.

5. I've been to a few Star Trek conventions (yeah, I'm a geek).

6. I graduated college from UCLA (I also have a Masters and my National Board certification).

7. I think fish make boring pets.

Cispus Break -- 09-21-08

2008-09-21T22:25:05-05:00

Okay, so it's true. I fell on the ponds hike at Camp Cispus. Turns out I broke a little bone in my wrist. I thought I got away with just a few scrapes. Go figure!

Vinegar and Baking Soda Reaction -- 09-12-08

2008-09-12T12:25:21-05:00

Here is what we talked about in class (in case it helps you write your first blog about the lab we did).

We're Baaaaaaaaack -- 08-27-08

2008-08-27T18:21:12-05:00

Okay, maybe not quite yet but on Sept 2 we will all be back for another wonderful school year! I'll be changing my 7th graders to 8th graders and adding a bunch more students to that list. I'll also have a new group of 6th graders but they may not be ready to start blogging for a while. I'll keep you updated.

Mr. Gonzandaacute;lez

Another Year Has Ended :o( -- 06-12-08

2008-06-12T18:41:23-05:00

Friday, June 13, is our last day of school for the 07-08 school year. I will keep my students accounts open all summer but I don't know who will keep up with their blogs. I will still check as often as I can and approve comments but don't feel bad if you don't get a response until September. I want to thank all the classrooms and all the wonderful students who have left comments on our blogs. You have all been just wonderful. And thanks for Mrs. Markwart's class for working with us. It was great! I will have this year's 7th graders in 8th grade Science next year so their accounts will be open all year next year. Come see us again in September!

Mr. Gonzalez

Mystery Larvae Identified! -- 05-24-08

2008-05-24T21:29:28-05:00

I posted the larvae picts on Ask Me Help Desk, under Entomology, and I got an answer! An agricultural biologist by the screen name gnahcd posted the following answer:

"This is probably a rat tailed maggot or the larva of a syrphid fly. The adults are known as drone flies or also bee flies. A Google image search matches very well. They are mostly harmless. Although accidental myiasis is possible - rat-tailed maggot wiki.

Below is an excerpt from the U of Minnesota Extension.

Mystery Insect Rat-tailed maggot.
Jeffrey Hahn, Assist. Extension Entomologist

People may sometimes encounter this unusual-looking insect larva. It's legless, has a cylindrical body and lacks any obvious head. It is about 1/2 - 3/4 inch long and possesses a very conspicuous, characteristic ‘tail'. Because of this long tail, this odd looking insect is known as a rat-tailed maggot.

This insect larva belongs to a group of flies known as syrphid flies. Syrphids are also known as flower flies or hover flies. They mimic bees or wasps and are very common on flowers and plant foliage. Despite their threatening appearance, all syrphid flies are harmless to people and are actually beneficial because they help pollinate plants. A rat-tailed maggot adult, sometimes referred to as a drone fly, resembles a honey bee.

Rat-tailed maggots are found in stagnant water that is high in organic matter. They are typically found in manure pits, polluted drainage ditches and water tanks, pools of runoff around manure mounds, and similar sites. They are particularly common around farms and fertilizer plants. Also look for them occasionally in urban areas where they can be associated with septic tank runoff or similar pools of stagnant, polluted water. There is also a reference of rat-tailed maggots associated with very wet, decaying plant matter.

The long ‘tail' on a rat-tailed maggot is actually a breathing tube that allows the insect to stay submerged in the water. This tube is normally about 3/4 inches long, but the insect can telescope it out to several times the length of its body. Rat-tailed maggots apparently feed on organic particles that are floating in the water. Although they live in aquatic environments as larvae, they crawl out of water and seek dry sites to pupate. Sometimes they crawl to dry land by the 100's. This mass movement can be a nuisance to people, especially when they travel into adjacent buildings, but they are otherwise harmless."

Good job! :o) Here's another website with good info on the rat-tailed maggot.

Help Identify -- 05-22-08

2008-05-22T18:50:06-05:00

A 7th graders found a whole bunch of these in her horse's water bucket. We have no idea what they are or even where to begin to look. We cut one open and there was a thick, white, pasty substance that didn't look like guts. Funny thing is that after a while the white stuff all turned black! Yes! All black!

So does anybody out there recognize this:

7th grade Longboat Maritime Experience -- 05-22-08

2008-05-22T17:49:08-05:00

Thanks to the Wooden Boat Foundation and 7th grade teachers 7th grade students at Chimacum Middle School (and Blue Heron, too) get to learn all about boats and charting and knot-making and shantey singing. The awesome part though is that each team also gets to go out on the water three times and row the same type of boats that Vancouver used to explore this region! I know, it's so cool!

Here is a longboat with CMS 7th graders rowing:

Here are some 7th graders rowing up close:

And check out this video of the 7th graders in action (double click on the movie after you click on the following link to play it):

The Killdeer Eggs? -- 05-20-08

2008-05-20T18:36:28-05:00

Well, after some investigation by teacher and students we have come up with ideas and hearsay. No one saw anyone or animal take the eggs but there are people who say they saw students throwing the eggs over the fence into the neighboring cow farm. Many students are thinking the eggs were destroyed and one even said that she saw the egg shells.

So we really don't know anything for sure except that the eggs are gone before they hatched. So for now that's the end of our story even though it's not the end of our mystery.

Mystery! -- 05-07-08

2008-05-07T12:21:31-05:00

We have a mystery here at Chimacum Middle School. After weeks of protecting the killdeer eggs they have vanished! Yes, completely disappeared! There is no trace of the eggs. No shells. No dead embryos. No mommy or daddy killdeer. Nothing. We are asking around to see if someone relocated them or something.

CMS Protects Nature -- 04-29-08

2008-04-29T12:31:12-05:00

Chimacum Middle School students have been working hard to protect a killdeer nest. The birds laid their eggs in the middle of our field so students put a barrier around them so no one would accidentally destroy the eggs.

Here is the mother killdeer.

Great Earth Day Car Pool -- 04-22-08

2008-04-22T20:13:46-05:00

We participated in a project started by Luna Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. Seventeen schools across the nation got together to count the average number of cars in their parking lots, asked teachers to car pool on Earth Day and then counted again to see how many fewer cars were driven that day. We had an average of 170 cars in our parking but on Earth Day there were only 138! Thanks to those who car pooled!

Here is all the data that was collected for all the participating schools:

Here is a short 2 min video and slide show of 7th grade Science students counting cars on Earth Day (we apologize for the camera man if you get dizzy - a lot of footage was cut so that people wouldn't get sick).

Butterflies are Coming Forth! -- 04-21-08

2008-04-21T20:23:20-05:00

We setup this habitat:

Two came out like this one:

And here is a butterfly in its habitat:

Nine Chrysalises -- 04-14-08

2008-04-14T19:59:30-05:00

So on Day 21 I put all our newly formed chrysalises together and we have nine of them. We started with about 40 to 60 eggs, then about 16 large, green larvae, and now nine chrysalises. Let's see how many butterflies emerge. They should emerge as early as this weekend or as late as next week.

Chrysalis Forms! -- 04-10-08

2008-04-10T13:27:30-05:00

After 18 days we have our first chrysalis!

6th and 7th 3-2-1 -- 04-10-08

2008-04-10T12:17:29-05:00

We are going to introduce ourselves to Mrs. Markwart's class in Regina. Your first collaboration assignment is a 3-2-1. Please tell them a little bit about yourself. Tell them 3 interesting facts about yourself, 2 facts about your school or community and end off with one question. Post this assignment on your blog for Mrs. Markwart's class to view. Please remember to not use last names on your blog to ensure that we are keeping our personal identity safe. To answer their 3-2-1 questions visit their blogs and leave them comments. Include your URL so they can find you easily. Happy blogging!

7th gr Hydroponics Basics -- 04-05-08

2008-04-05T20:12:01-05:00

Please write about the section you read and shared with the class about hydroponics. This will be a good start to all we will share about what we learn about hydroponics.

6th grade Lesson 5 Conclusions -- 04-05-08

2008-04-05T20:11:27-05:00

Share your conclusion for lesson 5 by writing what you learned about the relationship between Mass and Weight. Don't forget to use your data as evidence to support your conclusions.

Larvae are Growing Fast! -- 04-05-08

2008-04-05T19:51:52-05:00

After almost two-weeks check out our Brassica larvae now!

Here is one container with a bunch of larvae!

Here are a couple of close-ups of some of our new friends.

The Eggs Have Hatched! -- 03-23-08

2008-03-23T19:16:43-05:00

Saturday night or Sunday morning the butterfly eggs started to hatch. The larvae are now busy eating brussel sprouts!

Here are the containers with the brussel sprouts and the larvae.

Here is a close-up of one of the larva!

6th grade EMM Lesson 4 -- 03-15-08

2008-03-15T15:18:45-05:00

Share your mini-conclusion (reflections p. 29 part F). Remember to use your data as your evidence to support your hypothesis.

7th grade Viruses -- 03-15-08

2008-03-15T15:17:55-05:00

After learning about HIV and reading about viruses share some of what you learned as your next blog assignment (the 1st blog assignment of the 3rd Tri!).

6th Grade Blog Assignment #3 -- 03-07-08

2008-03-07T18:01:56-05:00

Write an explanation of how energy flows and transforms through a battery. You can explain what happens when a battery is connected to a light bulb or a motor, or you can explain what happens when a battery is charged, or you can write about all of the above! This is what we talked about when we went over the lesson 3 reflections questions, specifically question D.

7th Grade Longboats! -- 03-06-08

2008-03-06T09:42:16-05:00

Here are a few pictures of the 7th grade teachers out on the water getting trained for the upcoming 7th grade Longboat outdoor education experience. This will all start on May 20!

Here's Mr. Meacham with the Captain Nancy next to him and Captain Robin in the back steering. Hm, I wonder what Mr. Meacham is doing?

Here's Ms. Berg with a nice young fellow who's been rowing and sailing longboats for four years now. He sang sea shantis for us.

There's Mr. DiPrete checking his oar (or getting his lunch).

And here's a shot reflecting off of Ms. Berg's glasses. That guy on the right taking the pict is me, Mr. G! :o)

6th Grade Link Your Water Quality Site -- 02-28-08

2008-02-28T11:44:46-05:00

This is what you have to type into your blog to make a link to your water quality website (it's called a link tag):

andlt;a href="http://eagle.csd49.org/and_the_rest_of_it.html"andgt; Name of your Websiteandlt;/aandgt;

6th Grade Battery Reflections -- 02-28-08

2008-02-28T09:37:46-05:00

For your first official blog assignment I would like you all to write about what you learned from our Building a Battery Lesson. Share some our conclusions from the reflections and make sure to respond to each other by leaving comments!

Extra Credit for 6th and 7th! -- 02-26-08

2008-02-26T19:36:46-05:00

Hi everyone,

I read this article just now and thought I'd share it with you to see what you think. It's about businesses making a switch from websites where you just read information to websites that use technologies like this blog! It's called Web 2.0 and includes wikis, myspace type websites, blogs, photo sharing sites, and many other things.

Here it is: Preparing Students for a Web 2.0 World.

For extra credit read the article and then post a comment to this blog telling us all what you think. The more you write or the more thoughtful and insightful your comment is the more points you get! Even if you only get one point it can't hurt. :o)

Hello From Bremerton -- 02-21-08

2008-02-21T13:27:48-05:00

Hi everyone,

Here I am with the 6th grade Science teacher from Blue Heron, Mr. Mills. We're busy at work with our Energy, Machines, and Motion kit to be able to train teachers on how to use it. Lot of fun! :o)

See you all Friday! Be good.

Assignment #8 -- 02-18-08

2008-02-18T20:12:47-05:00

Meiosis reflections!

We haven't finished studying meiosis, but so far tell me what you think about meiosis compared to mitosis. Share what you've learned about meiosis too.

Blog Assignment #7 -- 02-12-08

2008-02-12T13:08:29-05:00

Based on our shared class reflections (the lines of learning) why is mitosis so important to life on this planet?

Assignment #6 -- 01-15-08

2008-01-15T09:18:24-05:00

We got some great data on our osmosis experiments. Share what you got and what you learned from this experiment for this next assignment.

Happy blogging!

Another Bug Movie -- 01-01-08

2008-01-01T19:11:09-05:00

Here's another bug movie. In this movie you'll see a couple of scuds, a couple of planaria and a caddis fly larva. Pretty cool.

Assignment #5 -- 12-14-07

2007-12-14T18:45:31-05:00

For your next assignment please share the living things you found using our digital microscopes. Take snapshots of the things you find and figure out a way to share those via your blog. Consider places like bubbleshare.

Assignment #4 -- 12-06-07

2007-12-06T12:02:24-05:00

Let's suppose the Andromedans decided to take one of you along to their planet in the Andromeda galaxy just in case they couldn't grow their plants just right. They have the plant brochures you made but it is even more helpful to have one of your teams along to help them.

While exploring their planet you come across some objects unlike anything we have here on Earth. How would you know if those objects are living or non-living? What does something need before you will consider it a living thing?

Feel free to share what you learned from our class discussions and our study of living things.

Linking From Your Blog -- 11-29-07

2007-11-29T13:49:26-05:00

Here is the link tag:

andlt;a href="http://eagle.csd49.org/and_the_rest_of_it.html"andgt;Name of your Websiteandlt;/aandgt;

That's it!

G-man

Avatars -- 11-04-07

2007-11-04T15:24:42-05:00

To add an avatar to your blog try out the following websites: Portrait Illustrator or DoppelMe.

Assignments! -- 11-01-07

2007-11-01T11:52:05-05:00

You have three assignments to complete for your blogging experience in Science so far! When you login to your account and click on Articles make sure you choose the assignment you are working on from the drop down menu.

The assignments are as follows:

1. Introductions - Introduce yourself! This is your first blog assignment and will launch your Class Blogmeister blog. Make sure you make your blog look the way you want.

2. Showcase Your Plant ID Website - Your next assignment is to write a blog article to showcase your Plant ID Field Guide website. We want people to visit your websites and give you feedback.

3. Website Impressions - For this assignment I want you to write about your team's Plant ID Field Guide website. What is your impression of your team's work? What do you think about your website? Do you think it's going to be useful?

See our Life Science Portal

Blog Pals! -- 11-01-07

2007-11-01T09:28:20-05:00

Here are some bloggers that are out there for you to check out and comment on their work.

4th/5th Communication and Technology Blog

Neptune, New Jersey: Room 110 Blog

Mr. Schneider's 9-12 grade Web Design class!

High School English Poetry: Click here to see their class blog.

Social Studies to Year 9 and 10s, that is 13-15 year olds, also have year 11 and 12 geography students doing this too. Our page is http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=76595

7th grade Study Skills class

Music Technology/Multimedia Arts

Here's a Science Class from Korea.

Here's a 4th grade class from Long Island, New York.

Here's a fifth grade class from Beirut, Lebanon. They would love some comments.

Here's a 6th grade Language Arts class near Atlanta, Georgia.

Here's a grades 4-7 Tech class from British Columbia, Canada.

Latin Movies!!! -- 06-12-07

2007-06-12T19:16:43-05:00

Here's a movie on the Speculatorum (the postal workers of Ancient Rome who served as spies!).

Here's a movie on Romulus and Remus!

Here's a movie on servants having to steal bread!

Enjoy them all :o)

Sun vs Repetition -- 05-25-07

2007-05-25T18:38:43-05:00

Here is our first Latin vodcast!

Jocosus (Hilarious)! -- 05-03-07

2007-05-03T15:01:56-05:00

Check out this YouTube movie on Roman History!

Rome Crash Course 101!

Latin Derivatives -- 05-03-07

2007-05-03T14:59:43-05:00

Here's a cool, short (1m 17s) YouTube video on Latin Derivatives:

Latin Derivatives

Why Latino, why Hispanic? -- 05-03-07

2007-05-03T14:56:40-05:00

Here is a great place to find out why people of Spanish origin are referred to as Latino or Hispanic.

Hispanic vs. Latin

Commenting with URL -- 05-02-07

2007-05-02T15:07:40-05:00

Here's a vodcast on how to comment and leave your URL.

Mr. G

Blog Pals! -- 04-26-07

2007-04-26T00:00:00-05:00

Snow Lake, Manitoba, Canada: Excellence and Imagination Blog Site

Neptune, New Jersey: Room 110 Blog

New Zealand: Strolling in the Orchard

Mr. Schneider's 9-12 grade Web Design class!

High School English Poetry: Click here to see their class blog.

Social Studies to Year 9 and 10s, that is 13-15 year olds, also have year 11 and 12 geography students doing this too. Our page is http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=76595

And here is a cool 5th grade class blog if you're interested in commenting on their work: Mr. Brune's class

7th grade Study Skills class

Music Technology/Multimedia Arts

8th grade Science Class

DOPA Still Alive? -- 02-15-07

2007-02-15T15:27:28-05:00

After the House of Representatives passed the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 or DOPA for short, people were afraid it might become law. If this act would have become a law it would have required schools and libraries that receive federal aid to block any website where children can be harmed by online predators. Here's a quote from an online discussion, "The law is so broadly defined that it would limit access to any commercial site that allows users to create a profile and communicate with strangers. This legislation is targeting MySpace, but it would also block numerous other sites, including blogging tools, mailing lists, video and podcast sites, photo sharing sites, and educational sites like NeoPets." Discussion: MySpace and DOPA

The good news is that the DOPA 2006 didn't pass through the Senate! It's gone!! Or is it? The latest news is that people are trying to re-write the act to get it passed into law again. They just won't quit, and people are calling this new act DOPA Jr. Read about it here.

In this class we are using Class Blogmeister. I moderate it and wouldn't allow strangers to post on our blog, yet it would have to be blocked under the DOPA 2006 or the new DOPA Jr. if they don't fix that part. We wouldn't be able to add our knowledge to wiki's from a school or library because other people could read it. What are your thoughts on this?

What's the deal? -- 12-07-06

2006-12-07T15:20:25-05:00

For your first assignment let's start a conversation about MySpace.com. Why do you think parents and teachers are afraid of having kids surf through MySpace and why are they afraid for kids to have their own webspace on MySpace?

Survey Results -- 10-09-06

2006-10-09T20:18:33-05:00

Here are the results of our class Internet Safety Survey:

Blog Pals! -- 10-04-06

2006-10-04T15:25:10-05:00

I've been seeking fellow bloggers out there and Mr. Fisher's class from Snow Lake, a town in Manitoba, Canada, have agreed to read and comment to our blogs and we can read and comment their blogs!

Here's is their blog site: Excellence and Imagination Blog Site

I also just heard from Mr. McLaughlin's class from Neptune, New Jersey and they have also agreed to read and comment to our blogs as we read and comment to theirs!

Here's their blog: Room 110 Blog

One more! I just heard from Mr. Sheehan and his class is willing to join our blog sharing! They are 10 and 11 year olds from New Zealand!

Here's their blog: Strolling in the Orchard

Here's another class who needs blog pals, Mr. Schneider's 9-12 grade Web Design class! . Perfect since we do web design too :o)

Happy blogging!

DOPA 2006? -- 09-29-06

2006-09-29T09:14:54-05:00

Recently the House of Representatives passed the Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006 or DOPA for short. Once this act becomes a law it would require schools and libraries that receive federal aid to block any website where children can be harmed by online predators. Here's a quote from an online discussion, andquot;The law is so broadly defined that it would limit access to any commercial site that allows users to create a profile and communicate with strangers. This legislation is targeting MySpace, but it would also block numerous other sites, including blogging tools, mailing lists, video and podcast sites, photo sharing sites, and educational sites like NeoPets.andquot; Discussion: MySpace and DOPA

In this class we are using Class Blogmeister. I moderate it and wouldn't allow strangers to post on our blog, yet it would have to be blocked under the new DOPA 2006 law. We wouldn't be able to add our knowledge to wiki's even because other people could read it. What are your thoughts on this?

A Change -- 07-25-06

2006-07-25T18:52:23-05:00

For the 2006-07 school year this blog is no longer the 6th grade Science and Social Studies blog. This used to be the blog description:
>>
In Science this year we will study three major units. We will learn about Earth Science by studying volcanoes and plate tectonics since we start off the year by visitng Mt. Saint Helens when we spend a week at Camp Cispus in Randle, WA. Then we learn Physical Science through an STC/MS Energy, Machines, and Motion Kit. Finally, we end the year by learnning about Life Science and the Environment through our Water Quality Project.

In Social Studies this year we are concentrating our study to the Western Hemisphere by learning about Latin America and Canada. We started the year by reviewing mapping skills and we even used GPS's to learn about latitude and longitude. Then we worked on a Aztec, Maya, and Inca Webquest. We learned about dias de los muertos. After that we focused on a Latin America Project that culminated in our Market Day celebration. We also learn about the Panama Canal as we visit the Ballard Locks to see an actual locks system in action. Finally, we will do our Canadian Vacation project, which culminates in our Victoria field trip. Lots of fun!
<<
Now I'm going to try something new and have my 8th grade classes blog.

What's the deal? -- 07-12-06

2006-07-12T00:00:00-05:00

2005-06 Year in Picts -- 05-04-06

2006-05-04T18:40:26-05:00

I've been collecting pictures of students doing all the wonderful things we did this year and I used iWeb to put it all together into a neat little website. Using iWeb saved me a lot of time because I was able to place tons of pictures into the webpage all at once instead of one at a time (I pcked the top 230+ pictures out of the almost 1700 I took this year with the help of our film crews!!!).

Here's a sample but if you would like to see them all, visit our 2005-06 Picts Site at http://educatoral.com/05-06_picts/Photos.html (click to go there)!

Rocket launching demo on our high school's baseball field.

Tree planting in an effort to restore our neighborhood creek.

Water Quality testing along the Hood Canal!

If you're having problems... -- 03-01-06

2006-03-01T11:49:53-05:00

As more of you are starting to write your articles for your first blog, problems are beginning to happen. I'm going to put the How to Blog instructions here. If you still can't solve your problem, please come in at lunch and show me what is going wrong so that I can help.

Mr. Gonzalez

How to Blog -

Note: Before you blog, please have your article typed and saved on Word, or Wordpad, or Notepad, or Textedit, or any word processor you have. That way you can work on it as long as you want and come back to it whenever you can to finish. Make sure your article is spell checked and that there are no grammatical errors.

1. Click on your name on the list on the right.

2. In the next screen type in the classroom password (don�t tell anyone what it is or we�ll have to change it).

3. In the screen after that, click on Login at the top left hand corner of your webpage and login right there using your name (remember that it�s your first name and last initial � no spaces and no capitals) and the password you gave Mr. Gonz�lez (don�t share your password with anyone!).

4. Click on Articles to write about one of the topics. Highlight the entire article you wrote in your word processor and go to edit, copy. Then go back to the blog window to paste your article (go to edit, paste). Please write in the title of your article. When your article is ready click on the button next to Request Publishing for Mr. Gonz�lez to read and then click on Save.

5. If your article hasn�t been published in a few days, log back in (steps 1 to 4 above) and click on the triangle next to your article�s title. Read what Mr. Gonz�lez wrote for you.

How do I respond to someone else�s blog?

1. Type mrgonzalez.org in your browser (like Internet Explorer).

2. Click on someone�s article on the left of the webpage and read it.

3. Type up a response in Word or just go ahead and click on Comment at the bottom of the person�s blog article.

4. When the Comment page comes up scroll down to either copy and paste your response from Word or type right into the boxes on the webpage. Please use your initials for your name or your first name and last initial.

5. Follow the instructions before you click on the Submit button.

7 Random Facts -- 09-28-04

2004-09-28T00:00:00-05:00

My wife and two kids are awesome!

I wear glasses cause they're cool. Yeah, and also because I can't see a thing without them!

I love pork, yeah. Oh and chicken too. Steak's pretty good sometimes. Oh and salad, too.

Science rules.

Water, with ice, is my favorite drink.

Sometimes my head swells up for no reason (just kidding, I was referring to my avatar picture).

I don't know why 6th graders keep asking me if I'm an alien from outer space. Seriously?