Paper Clip Tap Dance

Science Enrichment Super Structures

2010-01-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

Erosion Box Lab--Creating a Stable Hillside

2010-01-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

This lab is always so fun. This year the goal was to work as a team to try to create a stable hillside. The kids did great work!

States of Matter

2009-12-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

Liquid or Solid?

The Babylonian Empire

2009-12-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

A presentation on Hammurabi's Code of Laws.

Islands of Trash

2009-11-09T21:41:00.001-08:00

This is pretty gross and disturbing. Can you imagine that we are willingly putting trash in our oceans?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?_r=1&hp

Super Structures

2009-09-15T17:38:00.001-07:00

The Egg Drop

2009-09-15T17:35:00.001-07:00

It survived!

Archaeology in Action

2009-09-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

Modeling an archaeological dig....

Building Bridges

2009-09-15T17:29:00.001-07:00

This is an activity we did to build cooperative skills. The kids had some newspaper and masking tape and had to work together to build a bridge that would hold a bag full of my materials.

Motivate...

2009-09-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

These are the motivation posters we made in class the first week of school. Pretty great.

Oldies but Goodies

2009-08-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

I found some old photos in my hard drive from my first year at CHIME. This was the 2005-2006 school year....and these particular photos were from a science experiment gone wrong. Lesson learned--always, and I mean ALWAYS try these things in advance before trying them in the classroom--even though I had seen this done, I had never tried it myself. Once it worked though, it was indeed an "oooo ahhhh" experiment.

This is called the great cornstarch explosion. Cornstarch, by nature, will not ignite (when it is laying in a big pile). But, when you disperse it into the air (like, say, through a big tube) while holding a propane torch, it makes a big fireball. This time around, however, I didn't realize just HOW hard it was to blow the cornstarch out of the tube. Instead, I sucked it IN (hence all the white mess everywhere). Well, I choked, and I don't mean a little bit. I mean a lot! And while the kids all thought it was pretty funny, my eyes were watering, and I sputtered for a few minutes while trying to catch my breath.

Perhaps my favorite part was watching Sam (my helper in the pics). Look at his little face. :)

SCORE!

2009-08-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Look what I got this morning at CVS pharmacy!!!!! These are so hard to come by and I love using them for experiments. Total SCORE!

Graduation 2009

2009-06-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Best of luck class of 2009! I will miss you all!

Pyroclastic Bombs

2009-06-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

Signing Yearbooks

2009-06-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

The 2008-2009 yearbooks are in...

6th Graders and Teachers Have Breakfast

2009-06-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

At the Spring Fling our school did "teacher auctions" for a fundraising effort at our school. We had breakfast with a select bunch of our 6th graders. It was a ton of fun!

Anyone Else Feel This Way?

2009-06-10T12:14:00.001-07:00

High Voltage: Second Gig

2009-06-05T19:33:00.001-07:00

Lava Races

2009-05-30T08:46:00.001-07:00

Teachers Hard at Work :)

2009-05-25T10:23:00.001-07:00

CHIME Middle School Spring Fling

2009-05-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun photos! Enjoy :) Congrats to High Voltage--they were AWESOME!

Sharing in some Friday Fun...

2009-05-02T13:54:00.001-07:00

Seismographs 2009

2009-05-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

The 6th graders this year did a fantastic job with this project. Totally innovative designs! Well done :)

Rafting Rules

2009-04-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

Solar Ovens

2009-04-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

We made solar ovens prior to Spring Break in which we baked some cookies. This was the first time we tried the solar ovens, so there are certainly improvements to be made in the future. All in all though, pretty fun lesson!

The 2009 Science Fair

2009-03-20T20:55:00.000-07:00

Who Polluted Santa Monica Bay?

2009-02-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

We did an activity to simulate the Santa Monica Bay and how pollutants have affected both the water and the animals that live in the water. Totally cool, but totally gross!

If you want to find more interesting resources, go here....

Ready for Launch

2009-02-12T14:08:00.001-08:00

Stream Table Sensations

2009-02-12T13:50:00.001-08:00

Keep on Rollin'

2009-02-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

Another amazing creation.

Glacial Fun

2009-01-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

In Science, we are discussing glaciers and the erosion that occurs by "glacial plucking". Ultimately, this is what happens when glaciers freeze around rocks, boulders, or other sediments as they slowly move along.

How do you represent this visually?

Ivory Soap=Glacier

Ivory Soap with Hot-Glued "Boulders"=Glacial Plucking

As the glacier "slides along the hillside" (down our playdough mountain), the boulders that have been frozen in leaves behind "scars" or "striations" in the rock (the playdough).

The kids liked it. :) And I got to play with my favorite toy--the glue gun.

Origami Elephants

2009-01-29T13:05:00.001-08:00

Dragon Tails and Snails

2009-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

On Blueberry Hill

2009-01-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

We did an activity yesterday to show the relationship between landforms and topographic maps. Ultimately, the kids used a 3D model and then had to map it onto a 2D surface (transparency). The work with the exacto knife paid off! I named mine "Blueberry Hill". :)

Wind Power

2008-12-18T22:34:00.001-08:00

Rock Port Wind from Robbie Wilkins on Vimeo.

I love this project....

2008-12-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

Variations on a theme....

2008-12-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

--Sir Isaac Newton

Dancer in the Dark

2008-12-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

I am coming to realize that a good measure of how happy I am depends upon how frequently I close the blinds and dance around the house by myself.

"Only when I'm dancing can I feel this free. At night I lock the doors where no one else can see...."

Gone Marbles!

2008-12-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

Magnificent Marble Maze

2008-12-04T21:10:00.001-08:00

Supa Subs

2008-12-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

You know, like a supa star....

The Wind

2008-12-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

Ever have a week when you just need a song, something, to make you feel better? I have my iTunes on shuffle right now as I work (11 pm for the fourth night in a row), and The Wind by Cat Stevens just came on. I needed this.

MOOMBA

2008-11-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

MOOMBA stands for My Only Obstacle Must Be Attitude. We gave out our first bunch of MOOMBA awards today for the 2008-2009 school year. These little bits deserve a HUGE, huge round of applause. Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!

Vice Grip

2008-11-15T21:17:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when you put a quarter through the vice grip...

The Opet Festival

2008-11-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

Rocket Rally Fall 2008

2008-11-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Veteran's Day

2008-11-11T18:30:00.001-08:00

It was another beautiful Fall day out there, kiddies. I spent my afternoon riding around.

Crayon Lab Final Analysis

2008-11-11T17:56:00.000-08:00

Awesome. These kids rock.

The Rock Cycle Simulation: Crayon Lab Parts II and III

2008-11-05T12:29:00.000-08:00

Picture one shows a sample of what our "sedimentary" and "metamorphic" rocks look like.

Notice the sedimentary rocks, formed by W.E.D.C.C. (weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction, and cementation) have the following characteristics:

Thick Layers
Loosely Compacted
Distinct Particles
Dull Surface

Whereas the metamorphic rocks (formed by heat and pressure) have these characteristics:

Thin Layers
Tightly Compacted
Blurred Particles
Shiny Surface

Parts II and III of our rock cycle lab simulated the processes by which metamorphic and igneous rocks are formed.

The second picture here shows part II (the process by which metamorphic rocks are formed), during which we used our hot plate to subject our "rocks" to heat. We used a vice grip then to add pressure (simulating the process by which rocks undergo pressure inside Earth's surface).

Part III of our lab simulated the process by which igneous rocks are formed (melting and cooling).

First of all, we heated water to use as our "cooling" device.

We had four beakers, marked with the following tags:

Very quickly cooling=ice cubes
Quickly cooling=ice water
Slowly cooling=warm water
Very slowly cooling=hot water

Intrusive igneous rocks (formed deep within the surface of the Earth) were simulated by the "molten material" that was cooled over warm and hot water.
Extrusive igneous rocks (formed on or near Earth's surface) were simulated by the "molten material" that was cooled over ice water and ice cubes.

In which she dreams in fault lines....

2008-11-04T21:48:00.001-08:00

I had a dream the other night that referenced the Carizzo Plain. Really?

Today....

2008-11-04T21:11:00.000-08:00

Is a good day...Obama 2008

The Crayon Lab

2008-11-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

This is a great rock cycle simulation we do every year.

1. The first picture (the crayons with wrappers) represent a rock in nature.

2. The second picture represents the weathering process in nature (or, when rocks are broken down into small pieces).

3. The third picture represents the erosion and deposition process in nature (or when rock fragments are moved from one place to another and dropped in a new location).

4. The fourth picture represents the compaction and cementation process that rocks undergo as they become sedimentary rocks.

Parts 2 and 3 of this lab will take place on Wednesday, when we subject our sedimentary rocks to heat and pressure (metamorphic formation), and finally melt and cool our rocks (igneous formation). We will post further pics then!

Completed Project: Bridge Challenge Fall 2008

2008-10-30T14:13:00.001-07:00

A few sample pictures!

Bridge Challenge Fall 2008: Works in Progress

2008-10-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Dave visited LA recently and came to my classroom one day. The kids were making bridges for the bridge challenge, and Dave helped me take some pics. They have turned out pretty well. We'll make sure to post the finished product when they are all done!

The 6A Zoom Machines Fall 2008: Finished Products

2008-10-17T10:18:00.001-07:00

Oh, it's magic!

2008-10-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

The "after"....

Magic Gardens

2008-10-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

This is totally funny....this is the "before". Will post the "after" tomorrow....

Zoom Machines

2008-10-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

"Create a zoom machine that will travel the longest distance in the shortest amount of time...."

Junk Box Materials:

CD's
Dowel rods
Straws
Plastic Bottles
Index Cards
Tape
Pipe Cleaners
Rubber Bands
Popscicle Sticks

My Lil' Pumpkin....

2008-10-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sam brought me a pumpkin, and we decorated it!

Density Demo: Coke VS. Diet Coke

2008-10-15T12:46:00.001-07:00

Our density demo today....we tested coke vs. diet coke (or regular vs. diet soda) and found that the regular sodas sank, whereas the diets all floated. When we measured out the amount of sugar in an average regular soda (anywhere from 39-55 grams of sugar) vs. the equivalency in non-calorie sweetener (we used Splenda) the kids were totally grossed out! Our conclusion was that the regular sodas were more dense (we talked about an elevator packed with 20 people, vs. an elevator which held only 2 people), therefore sank to the bottom. Pretty fun!

Mystery Canisters....

2008-10-14T21:32:00.001-07:00

Experiment testing density, volume, and mass....

Super Structures Groups Compete!

2008-10-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

Mystery Canisters and the Sunday Search

2008-10-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

Remember the days of 35 MM film? And those film canisters that the film came in?

Well, there are many fun labs that one can do with these canisters. (read: labs that could be done with other materials too, but the canisters are FREE, and teachers LOVE free)

Anyway, I am doing a mystery canisters lab soon with my 6th grade crew, during which they have to design canisters that will sink, float, and "suspend" in water. I need a total of 35 canisters. Yesterday, I must have gone to 6 different Targets, Walgreens, and CVS pharmacies. They were very nice about allowing me to dig through their recycling, but all I came up with so far were 20 canisters!

Luckily, I started early. In a plea to get some from parents, I posted it on my homework website. Who knew these would be so hard to come by. I guess it makes sense given that so many now shoot digital....

Oy!

More Fair

2008-10-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

They left me with your shadow,
saying things like, "Life is not fair..."
and I believed them for a long time....
But today, I remembered the sound of your laugh,
and the heat of your hand in mine

and I knew that life is more fair than we can ever imagine
if we are there to live it.

It has been nearly 22 years since she died, and I still have days when I yearn to talk to her. The memory is a phenomenally complex thing. One scent, or sound, or experience, can stimulate a number of things from one's past. Today it was smelling her perfume as I passed the perfume counter at Macy's. French with white floral undertones. After she died I used to go into her jewelry box to smell her jewelry. By the next year, her scent had faded, but never left my memory. I miss her.

Gummi Bear Lab Day 2

2008-10-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

Ewww! The kids noticed a huge increase in length, width, thickness, mass, and volume of their gummi bears. The one thing that decreased was the density of the bears. Discuss.

Gummi Bear Lab Day 1

2008-10-01T22:50:00.000-07:00

Gummi Bear Lab: Day 1

Today we measured our bear's length, width, thickness, mass, density, and volume. My favorite was the mass, because we got to use the old-school triple beam balances. Will return for an update once we view our results on Friday. Stay tuned...

Gummi Bear Lab and Gummi Bear Wiki

2008-09-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Gummi Bear lab is taking place tomorrow in 6th grade. We are studying measurement, so we will be measuring the length, width, mass, volume, etc, of a gummi bear, thereafter submerging it in water overnight. Now, you might not think that anything would change, but you are wrong! I tried it in advance (as all good scientists do) and was amazed at the results. Will def take pictures for you all to view.

We will use the following materials:

--Black Forest brand gummi bears (best results....shhhh)

--Haribo brand gummi bears

--Black Forest brand gummi worms (ewwww! these had CRAZY changes)

--Black Forest brand sour gummi worms (lack of results due to sugar coating)

One of the cool things about this lab is that there is an online wiki where we can submit our data. So the kids will get to compare to results from around the world!

Super Structures x Infinity

2008-09-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

Today we attempted yet another version of the "Super Structures". Each class that does this seems to get more and more innovative with it. Here is a photo of a particularly cute super structure, as well as the Italian superkid with his glue gun.

Egg Drop Interviews

2008-09-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

Archaeological Dig

2008-09-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Which one tastes the best?

2008-09-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Excavating Cookies

2008-09-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

A little Friday lab for you to view. Super cute video!

High Five!!!!

2008-09-04T16:01:00.001-07:00

Raft Rally

2008-09-04T15:55:00.001-07:00

Today we created raft designs. Here are a couple fun pics from the lesson. I'm loving this new bunch!

First Day of School

2008-09-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome to 6th Grade! The teachers took a couple of photos this morning.

Classroom is ready!

2008-09-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

School starts tomorrow, and I have that anxious anticipation of any teacher just before the first day of school. I promised to post some photos of my room this year. The bulletin boards are empty for student work. Wish me luck!

Environmentalism, NPR, and Hedgehogs

2008-08-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago I heard this story on NPR one morning. I recall thinking it was amusing (namely because I envisioned a poor little hedgehog with it's snorgle lodged in a Mc Flurry container), and later shared the story with my students.

Today I was trolling around for lesson ideas, and got distracted by some hedgehog images. Seems that hedgehogs have somewhat of a thing for lodging their little snorgles in tubes of any sort.

I can't help myself, really...

2008-08-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

I read this today and found it so heartwarming. I hope you enjoy it also!

Four wheels....

2008-08-13T13:39:00.001-07:00

But now I like two...

Love love love...

2008-08-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

One of these was assembled at the shop today. I love it and the simple style. Super cool bike.

Pools of Light

2008-07-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of day is just at dark, when all thoughts of what must get done stop. Thereafter, small pools of light come alive on tired faces everywhere. This makes me smile.

Water Works

2008-06-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is 8th grade graduation. This is a particularly sentimental one because this will be the first group I watch graduate that I taught in their first year of middle school. They have grown and matured into such respectful, polite young ladies and gents. I have a very special spot for this one in particular, and I will miss her unconditional love and hugs. So this is a shout out for my gurl, Kat. I love this one. Go get 'em, girl!

Gurrrrl, I made you something. Shoot!

2008-06-18T09:13:00.001-07:00

End of the year. Grades are locked in. 75 kids. What are you gonna do? Make stuff! For those of you who can't tell, this is a volcano--compliments of Kelcey. Thanks Kelce!

Paco the Taco World

2008-06-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

One of the science gameboards is called "Paco the Taco World". It looks like this! Ha!

Sign my yearbook!

2008-06-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

The kids got their yearbooks this week, and everyone wants the teachers to sign. I must have signed about 50 yearbooks today! Gurrrrrl, nuu-uuuhhhh!

Science Gameboards

2008-06-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

I went to a yard sale recently where there were lots of old boardgames with missing pieces. I purchased all of them for $5, knowing we could make some cool boardgames out of them.

Here is what the kids have come up with thus far!

Mentos + Diet Coke

2008-06-12T20:30:00.001-07:00

Holla! I love this experiment. And this group had a lot of fun with it. I love this class. I will miss these little kittens.

Here's how it all went down:

Hah!

2008-06-09T21:39:00.001-07:00

Folks, even if you say you're not a cat person, this one is pretty lovable. I mean, really.

Kitteh puddle...

2008-04-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

A good old-fashioned calico kitteh puddle. Awwwww. I might be a doggy girl, but, I mean, really. Really.

Cagematch/Carrizo Plain

2008-04-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

Another one of the cool things about the Carrizo Plain is that you can see the San Andreas Fault there. Visible! Where two continental plates collide and fight it out!

If I understood this picture right, the San Andreas Fault runs vertically down the middle. The plate on the right is moving downward; the plate on the left is moving up.

This is Wallace Creek, and they say that bend isn't a meander. It is a thirty foot displacement in what used to be a straight creekbed. Top of the creek moving away, bottom of the creek moving toward us. Cool.

They shook the town...then painted it red.

2008-04-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

My students created seismographs this week. The objective was that they had to use items they found around the house to create a machine that would record seismic motion (or just motion in general, given that we don't always have seismic motion we feel).

**This one measured motion in a little different way. The marbles on the top would fall into the water when seismic activity occurred.
**This one was made from wood, and had a pendulum that swung due to seismic activity, recording on the paper below.
**This one was made from a cereal box and yogurt cup. It was "painted chrome" as described by the inventor. Paper moved through the slot at the bottom, recording motion from the swinging pendulum.
**This one was built at a slant, and held marbles inside. When seismic activity occurred, the marbles would fall out. In the event of a minor earthquake, only one or two would come out. A larger earthquake would cause more marbles to fall out.

**This one was built from wood scraps and hardware from the garage. It held a drum of paper on a roller, which moved and recorded seismic activity.
And this one....this is unbelievable!! This kid went all out. It was totally functional! Not to mention sooooo cool. As you can see, when he turned the paper roll, the machine moved and recorded all motion on the paper.

I was proud of these little bits today. They rocked!

Slightly delayed, but essentially on track...

2008-04-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

This morning while driving to work, I was dismayed, but not surprised, to learn that three lanes of the 118 West were closed due to an earlier accident. (Do I drive a car this cool? No. But it would be funny if I did.) Luckily I leave my house excessively early, so I just sat back and listened to my NPR while sipping coffee. Slightly delayed, according to my monitor, but essentially on track. Ahem.

It was during this drive that I thought more about my recent internal conflict. I also reminded myself of my favorite Ziggy comic, because sometimes I need to slow down and not worry so much about tomorrow, or next week, or next month, rather, just enjoy today. Hope you're enjoying yours.

During which she saw the cupcake for exactly what it was: a mere sabotage to the brand new booty plan...

2008-04-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

It hasn't been the best couple of weeks. Taxes, amongst other things, have me feeling a bit blue. Wish I had one of these:
Alas, the only thing I can come up with is that there is a silver lining in everything, even if I can't yet see what that is. And this cupcake? Probably not gonna help.

Drop Zone Challenge

2008-04-01T21:13:00.001-07:00

Today in my science enrichment class I gave my students some tape, saran wrap, string, and a paper clip, and told them they had 30 min to make a parachute. Everyone was successful, and we even had one with a hangtime of 9 seconds. Pretty good considering what they were workin' with. Nice job guys!!!

This just in...

2008-03-27T00:13:00.000-07:00

Area girl spots cutest puppeh EVER....leeetle guy.

Sands/Hourglass

2008-03-17T10:40:00.001-07:00

I bought three bunches of daffodils yesterday from Trader Joe's, and they've already opened into terrific yellow blooms in vases around my house. Daffodils always make me smile on account of this memory: In Oregon, there was always a festival each Spring, at which they would sell bunches of five flowers for $1. For that price, it seemed like the entire town became transformed into a brightly-hued kinetic sculpture, with blooms peeking from bobbing backpacks, tucked behind ears on happy heads, and sitting in sills all up and down the little neighborhood streets. For a limited time, the sunny accessory seemed to transcend genres; everyone seemed to want one. Such a fond springtime memory from an era during which a handful of life's greatest gifts converged: youth, optimism, curiosity, hope, friendship, and learning. Le sigh.

During which they had a mad fine time...

2008-03-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day before Spring Break. We had a party with donuts and juice boxes. We had a great time. I'm excited to have 2 weeks off, but will miss my little bits. Ready to have some fun? Gurrrrrl...

Pyroclastic Bombs

2008-03-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

One of the most fascinating units I teach is volcanoes. Today we made "pyroclastic bombs" in my classroom. These are the volcanic rocks, full of air, that are ejected from very explosive volcanoes.

Here is our experiment!

Mentos and Diet Coke Geyser

2008-03-11T16:52:00.001-07:00

Did you know that when you combine mentos and diet coke it makes a geyser? (Make sure to check out the link to the video--totally sweet!) Today in my Science enrichment class we tried it.

Snack Tectonics

2008-03-08T11:04:00.001-08:00

This week in my classroom we studied plate tectonics. My theory about science is that "talking" about concepts is usually about as exciting as watching paint peel, so I generally try to find something a little more engaging that the kids will have some fun with. It generally makes it harder for them to forget the concept.

Anyway, we did "snack tectonics", a model that simulated the way that plates interact at their boundaries.

The materials we used were:

1) Chocolate frosting=asthenosphere (mantle): the viscous layer on which the plates ride.

2) Graham cracker=continental crust (thin, brittle lithospheric layer).

3) Fruit roll-up=oceanic crust (thin, dense (stretchy) lithospheric layer).

4) Wax paper (to contain the mess).

We simulated the following plate boundary interactions:

*Divergent Boundary (plates moving away from one another--the boundary at which rift valleys are formed). The mid-atlantic ridge and the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa are two examples of divergent boundaries.

*Convergent Boundary (plates moving toward one another). This is the boundary at which mountain ranges and volcanoes can form.
*Transform (Sliding) Boundary (plates sliding past one another). The San Andreas Fault is an example of this type of boundary. Earthquakes tend to occur along transform boundaries.

When we finished the simulations, everyone got to eat their "snack". We had fun :)