Flying
Bricks Science Newsletter
September 5, 2006
Greetings!
Welcome
to the first science newsletter for the Flying Brick Team.
I hope you and
your family had an enjoyable summer and are looking forward to an
excellent school year. I call this "cranial crank-up time" as
all
of us get used to waking up at a very early hour and begin to remove
the cob webs that accumulated during the summer break.
We've
begun by identifying the independent and dependent variables
in an
experiment, a concept that we will revisit throughout the year.
Another theme I will continue to stress this year is
the need to be observant and look for details. Ask your
child(ren) about the "invisible" jello.
Beginning
this year, the team's science classes will be supported by my new web
site www.mrsthall.com. This will be used to provide 24/7
access
to class information. Among the items to be found there are
homework assignments, syllabus, policies, this letter with links to
relevant pages, contact information, science activities, web science
resources, test date reminders, project descriptions, science news, and
other items as I am able to post them. Obviously, this is an
evolving enterprise. I'm sure we will be constantly finding
new
and useful items to post, so check the site often.
Suggestions
are always welcome. In fact, there is a link for that, as
well--
suggestions@mrsthall.com .
Looking ahead to the next
few
weeks, the children will continue honing observation skills through one
or two additional investigations. We
will then integrate our curriculum work with Mr. Anthony's,
looking
at the ecosystems of Antarctica as he begins his study of the
continent. We will start our study of weather and climate and
the
transfer of heat energy as the hurricane season peaks. While
studying the transfer of heat energy students will have their first
project, to build a device that keeps an ice cube frozen for
as long as possible. More later.
From time to time I
will use
this space to inform you of interesting science activities
outside the classroom. One such
opportunity is brought to us by NASA. Their "Star Count" is designed
for middle school students. The purpose of Star Count is for students
to investigate whether people in different parts of the world see the
same number of stars. The students will share their data with other
students from all over the world to find out why differences might
occur. As we spend some time studying astronomy this year, I
thought this would be a valuable project. I will be speaking
of
this in class, but since it involves viewing a darkened sky from
outside, students
interested in taking part will need your assistance. For
further informatiion please visit the following site:
Let
me know if your family will be participating.
Please
save any small appliances and other interesting devices you plan to
discard. We may be able to use them Take Apart Day.
More on this activity later.
I truly enjoy
teaching
science to middle schoolers and am very excited about our plans for the
coming year. Helping children understand how their world
works is
most rewarding. We know there are great science mysteries yet
to
solve and all children like to solve mysteries. I hope that
by
year's end your children will not only have mastered the state
standards, but, perhaps more importantly, have reinforced their
curiousity about the natural world around them.
I
look forward
to working with you this year and meeting you at Open House later this
month. Until then, should you have questions, concerns or
comments, please feel free to contact me at any time, jthall@franklin.k12.ma.us
.
June Thall