SLEUTh Academy

Images from solar eclipse – Photo Gallery – KansasCity.com.

Solar eclipse viewed in Asia yesterday.  Cool photos of the moon passing between the Earth and the sun.  Have a look!

Blue moon to shine on New Year’s Eve – CNN.com.

Green Heron, Identification, All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Had a visit this morning from this cool, smaller water bird in our front yard.

A gigantic THANK YOU to Bette and Sandy Baldwin for arranging an amazing donation from Rolf Kleinwort of a humongous seashell collection.  These shells (and the fantastic custom cabinets that house them) will be used at Eagle Point for years to come to learn to sort, classify, identify the organisms that used these “homes” and to think about how to protect our oceans.  Lessons in all grades are forthcoming — any ideas are welcome (please click on comments below!).

All those selected for Sci-Tech club look at the Science Club page to see more information.  First meeting is TOMORROW, THURSDAY, OCT. 1 at 2:05-3:00 in the Science Lab.  See you there!

Sci-Tech Club applications are available here if you did not get one from your teacher. They are due tomorrow (Sept. 21).  After you complete your application, Ms. Taggart, Dr. Weimann and I will meet to select club members and send you home with a permission slip.  First club meeting is after school (2:05-3:00) on Thursday, Oct. 1.  Good Luck — be detailed with your invention diagrams! sci club app09

We’re powered up and ready to get connected!

All 4th and 5th graders — did you do a summer challenge experiment?  Bring your notebook to the Science Lab for a cool prize!

Get connected with our 8 science teams named for scientists that embrace connections with technology (in no particular order):

Nikola Tesla (1846-1943)

Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Mae Jemison (b. 1956)

Grace Hopper (1906-1992)

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates (b. 1955)

Larry Page and Sergey Brin (b. 1973)

Les Paul (1915-2009)

I challenge all students in K-4 to do at least one experiment/investigation over the summer.

It can be

• a simple experiment (like one from the Celebrating Chemistry newspaper you brought home)
• a long term investigation (like a seed-plant growth chart),
• an observation of nature (sort and classify found items like sea shells),
• a bird watching journal,
• a new invention that you diagram, label, build and test out.

What ever you do – be sure to write about it and draw it (or photograph it) and bring it to me in August for a cool science surprise prize.  You can even email me or comment through this site if you want advice while you are experimenting!  This is a great way for 3rd and 4th graders to use all those blank pages in those Science Journals they are bringing home this week.

Have fun exploring and stay safe!

Tune in here later in the summer for hints about Science Lab in 2009-2010 . . .

It was wonderful to see Papa John’s at school today supporting our Learning Garden by sponsoring the Pizza Garden section.  This part of the garden also includes a banana patch — a small edible garden conveniently located near the cafeteria.  Additional vegetables have been growing wonderfully over near the West Wing – peas, tomatoes, cabbages, zucchini (prized for their delicious flowers), okra, cucumber, and salad greens.  Come visit our garden – The Learning Garden 2009!

Please go to http://www.nbcgreenerfuturecontest.com/ and vote for the Sci-Tech club’s recycle bin – it is the one with my name that looks like a “inspector” with an Earth head.  One vote per email/per day for the week (now through April 20)….so please VOTE OFTEN!!!!