7 Billion and Counting

This year in geography class we study the population of various countries and their use of resources. Wise people who study global population have estimated that sometime today the total world population will hit 7,000,000,000 and continue to climb. One of the questions we will discuss in class is how many people can comfortably live on our planet. I attended a fantastic keynote talk given by Sir Ken Robinson this morning at the AIMS conference and he talked about the use of resources by various countries. If everyone in the world used resources at the same rate as people in Rwanda the globe could support more than 8 billion people, but if everyone consumed resources at the rate of people in North America the world could only support a population of 1.2 billion. That is a very sobering statistic especially given the rising standard of living in so many developing countries. What is the solution? I'll let you know when we've come up with it in class.

Artwork on Display

One of the highlights of the AIMS conference is walking around and looking at the student artwork. The four pieces below were part of a wonderful selection of artwork that Calvert had on display. Three of the works were done by boys in 9-2, and one was done by one of the girls in my math class. Hundreds of teachers saw these beautiful works of art. Well done, students!!

A Speedy Halloween Party

Today was a great day!!! The boys had creative costumes, and we had a fun party. The party started with a mummy wrap activity. The students were in groups of three and took turns wrapping each other up. After a quick clean up, we took a break to enjoy the food and drinks the students brought in. Our final activity was a candy corn toss in which the boys had to try to toss candy corns into a pumpkin. It was a lot of fun!! Here is 53 minutes of video sped up 32 times. You can see our whole party in 99 seconds!

The Whole School Announcement

Each day a student got to make the announcement of how many pounds of fresh fruits and veggies were brought in, and a few days ago a boy from 9-2 was called on to make the big announcement. He did a great job which can be seen below.

Beach Creatures

Two Dutch inventors/artists have been in the news lately so I thought I would share what they are doing. The first of these gentlemen was brought to my attention by a member of 9-2. The inventor is named Theo Jansen and he has been making wind propelled beach creatures since 1990. One of his creatures may be seen below

The other inventor/artist is a man named Leon Keer, and he is the man behind the eight foot tall Lego Man that washed up on a beach in Florida a few days ago. He has made other Lego people before and apparently has launched this one to draw attention to an art festival that begins on November 1st. Imagine seeing this at the beach.

Multiplication Flashcards

In my math class today we started multiplication, and one of our goals is to get to know our facts better. This website is great because it allows the students to practice the facts one number at a time and then all together once they know them all. Tonight and over the weekend the students are supposed to work on the 2's and 3's. Next week we'll tackle 4's, 5's, 6's, and 7's. I have also encouraged the students to use flashcards that they make or buy at the store.

A Visit With Our Pilot Buddies

Yesterday the boys of 9-2 traveled down to Pilot Land to meet with our friends in Pilot 1. It was great to see the students reconnect and get to know each other better. Mrs. Mollett planned a great activity in which all of the students got to draw either what they are going to be for Halloween or what they want to be when they grow up. At the bottom of the sheet were some questions that the students could answer. The 9-2 boys helped the Pilot students with the writing part. It was very fun to watch. Here are some pictures from the event. I chose a song that has a potential costume idea in it.

An Amazing Cave

Recently one of the boys of 9-2 went to the crystal grottoes in Boonsboro, Md. He loved it! The cave dates back to 200 million years ago. Each stalagmite grows approximately 1 inch every 100 years. It is well worth the trip to Boonsboro to see such an amazing site. Here are two videos. The pictures are the same but I was struck by how different they seemed given the different music I chose.

 Here is the Kid mix  

Billy Hits the Road

Seed Planting

We spent time enjoying the beautiful weather outside yesterday, while helping our community by planting seeds for the Real Food Farm project. Enjoy the short video below of our efforts!

PAPYRUS!!!

The papyrus experiment has come and gone, and it was a huge success. The boys had a great time soaking, laying, and pressing the strips of papyrus. They all faithfully changed wet washcloths for dry ones twice a day for a week to achieve the results seen below. Well done, boys!!!

It's a Boy!!!

The newest addition to this 9-2 family is named Otis. This little bundle of joy is full of energy and loves to play. Although not yet sleeping through the night he looks to be mature beyond his weeks. Congratulations!!!!

The Continent Cartographers

In geography class we began a study of the continents today. I gave the boys this sheet and asked them if they knew what the shapes were. I intentionally gave it to them upside down to see if they could figure it out. The boys quickly realized that the shapes were familiar to them from their previous geography lessons. After we correctly identified the shapes I had the boys trace, label, and shade in each continent. The thing that I like about this sheet is that it shows the relative size of the continents. Most continent sheets make North America bigger than it is and Africa smaller than it is.We looked at this site as well which shows how the continents the best guess on how the continents have shifted over the course of the last 150 million years.  After that we looked at this fantastic website which has lots of great activities. We will use them same site throughout the year. I concluded by showing the boys this website which is a Simon type game, but the fact it uses the continents will help reinforce the skills taught in class today

Billy and His New Buddy

A Question That Had Our Heads Revolving

Last week, the boys and I had a great discussion about which way the earth revolves around the sun. I looked at a few answers online and like this one the best:

Question:

Which way does the Earth revolve around the Sun clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Answer:

  

The Earth revolves (orbits) counter-clockwise around the Sun as viewed from above the North Pole. The Earth rotates (spins) on its axis counter-clockwise as well. The Moon also revolves around the Earth counter-clockwise.

In general (there are a few exceptions) all the material that formed the Solar system revolved around the Sun in a counter-clockwise direction due to the conservation of angular momentum when the material contracted to form the planetary disk.

The few cases where this is not true--e.g. Venus rotates clockwise, are believed to be due to impacts.

By the way: Rotates means "spins on its axis". Revolves means "orbits around". But if you don't care about these tiny distinctions....I'm with you. Scientists really don't care about this distinction, which was created only to trip up students. .

This answer does not address the southern hemisphere question, which in brief asserts that for those living in the summer hemisphere the earth would revolve the opposite direction. We decided to act it out which can be seen in the picture below. Both the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere boys reported that the earth appeared to be moving in a counter-clockwise direction. I think we have finally resolved this issue. The earth revolves around the sun in a counter-clockwise direction.

Hopper Cricket Soccer Game

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's the Great Pyramid???

Today at school the entire Ninth Age gathered on the boys' field to see a visual representation of how tall the Great Pyramid is. Thirteen balloons were tied to the end of a 481 foot long string. As the balloons rose high in the sky there were many comments of disbelief about how amazing it is that the Egyptians could build a structure that tall. It turned out that other classes enjoyed our demonstration as well. The Seventh Age students saw the balloons from their classroom, and the Tenth Age students noticed them from the lunchroom.

I was able to retrieve the balloons and will use the string in creative ways to continue to show the students just how amazing the Egyptians were. Consider these astounding facts...The tallest building in the world right now is the Burj Khalifa, but even though it dwarfs its predecessor, it is estimated that it will hold the record for the tallest building for six years or less. The Great Pyramid was the tallest building ever built when it was constructed, and it held the record for the next 4,000 years!!! Click here to see an infographic about some tall buildings still in the works or recently completed

The Laying of the Papyrus

The Papyrus Project

Over 5,000 years ago, a wise Egyptian figured out that if he (or she) cut papyrus into thin strips, soaked them in water, laid them out on a rock to form a sheet, and pressed the papyrus with other flat stones until it dried, that it would form a durable, yet flexible surface which could be written on. We will be recreating this remarkable sequence of events (without the rocks) next week in class. We have started the process by soaking the papyrus strips which were sent to us from Egypt, after they had been cut down from the banks of the Nile River. Stay tuned for updates as we proceed next week.

The Four Seasons Explained

Today in geography class, we tackled the issue of why we have different seasons. I used a few animations I found on the internet to illustrate the concept that the tilt of the earth causes our seasons. An astute student noticed a problem when he compared this animation to this one. See if you can find it. The answer can be seen here. The boys also loved seeing the earth from high above. Bing has a great map application that can be seen here. You can even see the Great Pyramid. I wonder if any of the boys can find the closest swimming pool to the pyramid, that I swam in while on my trip.

Wants vs. Needs

As part of our character education, the boys and I had a great discussion the other day about the difference between the things we want and the things that we need. I framed the conversation in terms of my trip this past summer to Liberia. I told the boys that Liberia does not have electricity and has not had it since 1989. I asked them what they would miss if they didn’t have electricity. High on the list were all manner of electronic gizmos and gadgets. Moving past that long list, I was impressed by how many things the boys could name that used electricity that they would miss. The list included toasters, microwaves, refrigerators, stoves, lights, air conditioners, heaters, and a host of other items. I asked the boys to imagine life without any of them. They said that it would be difficult and that they would miss many things. I asked them if they could be happy in a world without electricity. They debated it, and decided that they would miss many things but there were activities like sports, visiting friends, enjoying nature that could bring joy. I showed them the two pictures below of children I met this summer in Liberia, and the boys could see how happy they were. We talked about what they could have to be happy about. Here again I was very impressed with the list they came up with. They mentioned playing games outside, coloring, doing puzzles, friendship, and some other activities they saw the children doing in other pictures I showed them. The most insightful comment of the day came from the boy who mentioned that they could be happy because they would not ever have to be sad when one of their electronic toys broke. That brought forth a few other comments of commiseration about broken toys and how the simple life could be better.To wrap things up, I brought the conversation back around to wants versus needs. We decided that three things we really need are food, clothing, and shelter. We want many other things, and while it is not bad to want things, it is good to keep things in perspective and be aware of the difference between what we want and what we need. It is good to try to find joy in whatever situation we find ourselves in. We all have something to be thankful for. 

Who Knew Twitter Was So Useful?

One of the first real ways my educational world is being changed in a big way through the PLP year-long professional development experience I am going through is the use of Twitter. Following the right people or groups exposes me to articles and information that I probably would never see. The latest example is a tweet from Miss Gentry that just came into my Tweet list. The article deals with cave people and their use and production of paint. I will be sharing the highlights of this fascinating article with the boys tomorrow, but will share the article with you here if you are interested.

Making History Come Alive

Our discussions in history class are always one of the highlights of my day. The boys ask such wonderful questions, and the material we study lends itself so well to educational and enjoyable projects. We are currently studying the Egyptians, and in composition class we are writing about the Great Pyramid. I was fortunate to travel to Egypt in 2004 as part of Calvert's Garrett Grant summer study program. While in Egypt, I visited Abu Simbel, and the temples at Philae, Dendara, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Luxor, and Karnak. I also visited a number of pyramids (little known fact...there are more than 135 pyramids is Egypt, but many are very small) and went inside a few including the Great Pyramid. I had the idea to bring home some sand from the base of the Great Pyramid, but was astounded that I was allowed to collect small pieces of the pyramid that had chipped off. Today I gave each boy a piece of the pyramid, and the class was very excited to be the owner of a piece of one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. Below are three pictures which we talked about in class. The first is the empty sarcophagus that is the only thing that is left in the king's burial chamber. It was too big to fit out the door so the pyramid robbers left it behind. The second is a picture of the only statue that can be said with complete certainty is a likeness of Khufu. The irony is that the pharaoh with the largest pyramid has one of the smallest statues ever found. The statue is only about three inches high. The last picture is a piece of the Great Pyramid similar to the one I gave the boys.

The Great Pyramid in Progress

In composition class, I am focusing as much if not more on the process as the final product. While I certainly want the final result to be strong, how we get from the planner to the final draft is vitally important. To that end, there are a number of activities that take place during composition class that are designed to help the students become better writers. On a routine basis we will be engaging in peer editing in which students exchange compositions before they are turned in to read and critique. Another thing that I do is ask for volunteers to read their partially completed composition to the class. This activity has many benefits. It is a model for student who may be struggling with what the composition is supposed to look like. It also gives the boy who is reading, some instant feedback about his composition. I start off the discussion after a boy has read by asking what was liked about the composition. After a few comments I ask for any suggestions to make the writing stronger. I then summarize the comments and affirm the work of the boy who read his work. The other benefit, which I witnessed a few times today, was the reader catching his own errors while he is up front reading. Here are four boys who read today. My goal is that eventually everyone will get a chance to read their composition. These four did a great job and I am proud of each one of them.

Billy's Latest Outing

Partnering With Pilot 1

Today the boys of 9-2 traveled down to Pilot 1 to meet with Mrs. Mollett and the boys and girls we will be partnering with this year. We started by pairing up the students, who immediately began chatting and getting to know each other. The activity we planned for today was to share facts about ourselves but without using words. The boys and girls got to act out their fact and their partner got the chance to guess it. Then they changed roles. Everyone had a lot of fun, and we look forward to our next visit two weeks from now.

Out of This World Website

Check out this Youtube link. We will study the space shuttle later this year, but I don't know how long this site will be up. Put your address in the box to see what the space shuttle would look like if it took off from your house or any other address you put in.

It looks like the launch part of the site only works with the Google Chrome browser.

Great Grammar Website and Video

In grammar class today we were talking about various parts of speech. We had already talked about nouns and verbs, and today we talked about adjectives. After grammar class I showed the boys this website and told them to start on beginner but also to give the advanced a try. In the course of our conversation we also talked about pronouns, and one boy made a very insightful comment. He said that a pronoun is like a substitute teacher since it takes the place of something. I love when the boys can make connections from our lessons to the world around them.


Here is a video I watched when I was young:

A Titanic Mistake

What is wrong with this picture? The error was brought to my attention by one of the students in my reading class. If you want a hint, look at the pictures of the Titanic in the journals the students created, and study the pictures carefully. None of the students made the mistake that is made in the picture above. The answer is posted in the comments section below.

It's Fun to Look at, but is it a Black Widow?

I have posted a few pictures of the spider in the second and third photos below at a great looking website called "What's That Bug?" to see if the creature I encountered is a black widow. I found the spider in an unusual way. I had passed a young deer about twenty feet from the road close to my driveway. After parking my car, I was walking back to see if I could get a better picture than the one I took as I was driving by, but the deer (seen below) ran off. On my way back, I picked up a trash can lid and was carrying it back to my house. I looked inside the lid, and what I saw made my heart beat faster. There was a black spider crawling around the edge. When I shook the lid a bit, the spider went into a ball which allowed me to get a good close-up photo. There is definitely white on the spider which may rule out the possibility of it being a black widow. I was able to capture it in a small glass Pyrex bowl (to the chagrin of my wife) so that I can study it further.

 

A Black Widow Spider!!!

Mrs. Draper, who is the substitute for Senora Duncan this week, brought in a black widow spider that she found at her house. While some black widows have an hourglass shape on their back, the shape can be a red dot like the one Mrs. Draper brought in. I had a close encounter with a black widow at my house a few years ago. I took some pictures, and if I can find them I will post them another time. The picture below is a picture of the one Mrs. Draper caught. Click on the picture to make it larger

Billy's Latest Adventures

Science Test Flashcards

Miss Gentry was kind enough to make up a set of flashcards for the science test next Tuesday. The cards may be seen here.

Ever Wonder What Happens in Composition Class?

The following video is thirty six minutes of my composition class (which the boys did not know I was taping) from earlier today. I strongly advise you not to watch the whole thing unless you are suffering from insomnia and are looking for a cheap but highly effective sleep aid. My thought was that by watching a few minutes of it, be it the beginning, middle, or end you will be able to get a sense of what happens in composition class. Today was "day one" in which we fill out the planner, so this is the day when most of the interaction takes place. Tomorrow and Thursday the boys will write their compositions. I have watched the first few minutes and am already getting ideas about things I can do differently to teach this lesson more effectively.

Composition Class from Skip Howe on Vimeo.

Why is it Called a Recorder?

Lately I have been teasing Mrs. Elliott about how well the boys have been doing with their flute playing. The instrument they play in class is actually called a recorder, which she reminds me of every time I call it a flute. I point out that if it is called a recorder it should be able to record something but she disagrees. I was wondering how it got its name, so I did a little research. It turns out that it has been called a recorder since the early part of the 1300's meaning it has had the name for about 700 years. One interesting fact that I discovered is that in Italy a recorder was called a flute up until the 1700's meaning I am only 300 years late. The word recorder comes from the Old French "re"+ "cor" which meant "to get by heart" or practice again and again. Since the recorder takes a lot of practice to do well, this answer makes a lot of sense. Maybe I will start calling it a recorder....nah.

A Skilled Rider

Here is one of the fellows who has been riding for about three years. How impressive!!

Our First "Real" Homeroom Teacher Directed Technology Class

In technology class today the boys will navigate to the class blog and then try a fun activity where they can play the role of cave boys and discover what can be made out of the four basic elements.