Science Beliefs Quiz

Gentle Readers,

As many of you know, I have spent several years researching misconceptions in earth science. I one day hope to actually put this information into dissertation form, but I digress. The other day I was reading an article about the Science Beliefs Quiz available online. I had to check it out! The Science Beliefs Quiz is a 44 question, true-false quiz over a variety of science topics from biology to earth science. If you have about 45 minutes to spend I strongly suggest visiting the Science Beliefs Quiz. Use it to evaluate your understandings and beliefs about various topics. Use it to find areas you need to improve in. Use it to find areas that interest or excite you. But please don't use it to beat yourself up.

I'd love to hear how you do on the Science Beliefs Quiz. So drop me a line via the comments and share! Yes, you can remain anonymous!

Happy testing! And remember Science Rules!

Chutes & Ladders

Oh, what fun! I don’t recall having this game as a child, but I remember playing “Go to the Head of the Class” which was quite similar. Spin the spinner and move your little person from one to one hundred. If you land on a ladder, climb up! If you land on a chute, slide down!

Britain has Snakes and Ladders which is pretty much the same. Perhaps Americans thought the snakes were too scary! Ha! Check the BBC Schools website for a Shockwave version of this game. Orion and I have stopped using the spinner with this game. We use several of the modifications that I’ve mentioned under Sorry!

Candy Land

Oh! I remember when I got my first copy of Candy Land. How I loved playing the game! Gumdrop Pass and Rainbow Trail were coveted shortcuts. Watch out, nobody wants to get stuck in the Molasses Swamp! This game is a path game. Players move their “gingerbread” pieces through the path by matching the colors on the cards that they draw. Sadly enough, Orion’s pretty much outgrown this game, but I hold on to it because I LOVE IT SO MUCH…

Recess-o-Meter*

I had to share this idea before it left my mind. I was visiting a fourth grade classroom today (Mrs. Smith, no really, that's her name!) when I discovered one of my favorite toddler toys, the Fisher Price Rock-a-Stack, sitting at the front of the room. "What's up with this?" I inquired. "This is the Recess-o-Meter*," Mrs. Smith replied and sure enough, I noticed that she had printed "Recess-o-Meter" on the bottom of the Rock-a-Stack. She went on to explain that recess was 15 minutes long and there were five donut shaped rings; each ring represents three minutes of recess. The "Recess-o-Meter" served as a reminder of how much recess the students had lost or regained due to behavior in the classroom.

This approach is very similar to writing RECESS on the chalkboard, where each letter represents a portion of recess. I must say, I found it very creative and a bit amusing to reuse an old favorite in this way!

*Author's note: I have mixed feelings about taking away recess as a punishment. I have used this method myself a time or two in the past and if I was teaching elementary school again I might resort to using it again. When I attended elementary school, we had three 20 minute recesses a day. When I taught in St. Louis, my third graders had 15 minutes of recess a day.

Beth's Rock Collection

I want to take a minute of your time to share with you an AWESOME website by a local science teacher, Beth V. Her website, Beth's Rock Collection, is a great place to find lessons and activities for earth science. You can also listen to tracks from her two CDs (or order them to use in your own classroom!). Her website is definitely worth taking a few minutes to look at. If you weren't able to click on the links above, try typing http://www.bethsrockcollection.com/ into your browser.

Uno!

How long has this game been out? And do they even sell the original version any more? Now they have Shrek! 2 Uno cards, Sesame Street Uno cards, Care Bear Uno cards, Hello Kitty (my favorite!) Uno cards and many more! Regardless of which version you acquire, this version of “Crazy 8s” provides hours of fun. Not only will your child have to match color or number, but they will have to think strategically when considering using the Reverse, Skip, Draw 2, and Wild, and Wild-Draw 4 Cards. Don't have money for a new deck of Uno! cards? Use your standard poker deck and follow the rules for Crazy 8s.

Mary Jane Auch

Last winter Orion brought home a book that his fourth grade teacher was reading aloud at school. It was called Journey to Nowhere. I don't usually get fired up about historical fiction, but the heroine of the story had a lot of pluck. She also had a cool name: Remembrance Nye, a.k.a. Mem. So Orion and I read it out loud at home too! We really enjoyed her adventures.

When Orion returned to school this fall he discovered from a classmate that there was another book in the series by Mary Jane Auch. This book was called Frozen Summer. We just knew we had to read it. He brought a copy home from the library and off we went. It was the summer of 1816 and winter held its grasp firmly on New England. M.J. Auch mentioned in her authors notes that this odd summer was caused by the eruption of the Tambora volcano during the previous year! It must have been a doozy! In Frozen Summer, Mem and her family struggle to survive as crop after crop freezes well into July! Orion liked this book so much he cried (and I'll leave it at that!).

We also discovered that there is a third book. We hope to find it soon and read it as well. The third book is called The Road to Home! I'll let you know when we read it and what we think! In the mean time check out Road to Nowhere and Fozen Summer.

Z for Zachariah

I just finished reading this book. I consumed it in a matter of hours over a period of a couple of days. It was every bit as good as my friend Chad said it would be. This is the journal of 15 year old Ann Burden, sole survivor in her valley after a war where nuclear bombs and nerve gases left nearly everything a wasteland. Z for Zachariah was written by Robert C. O'Brien. He also authored Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. This would be a great read aloud for 6th-8th graders. It's a real page-turner.

Farewell

Madeleine L'Engle died at 88 on Thursday. This fabulous author will be missed my many, most especially me. If you've not yet read any of L'Engle's works, please do so. She is well known for her Time Quartet which began with A Wrinkle in Time, published in 1962 (Yes, several years before I was born!). Visit her website to read about her life, her many many books, and much more. Farewell Madeleine, may your new journey be interesting!

Ice Cream Coup!

This has been a weekend for ice cream finds. Friday, I found the Ice Cream Ball on sale at Wal*Mart in the 'Burg. Saturday, I found the Donvier Ice Cream Maker at Bratten's Treasures south of the 'Burg on Highway 13! I spent $3.00. No kidding. This puppy retails for just over $50.00!

The wonderful thing about the Donvier Ice Cream Maker is that you can keep the insert in the freezer. When you want ice cream, just place the insert in the maker, mix up the ice cream, and stir occasionally! Yes, occasionally! A few of my students this past summer borrowed mine to make ice cream during summer school! Fun! I've had mine for over 15 years (!) and I snagged it from my mum-in-law! Now I have two! Wanna borrow one?

Have A Ball!

Remember making ice cream in the classroom with two coffee cans and lots of duct tape? Nowadays it is really hard to come by metal coffee cans! But no worries. Visit Ice Cream Revolution to see their "Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker!" it comes in two sizes, original and mega, pint and quart respectively. They usually retail from $29.00 - $44.00. Fill one side with ice and salt, the other holds the ice cream! Shake and roll and in about 30 minutes you have ice cream! Orion received one for Christmas. He loves it.

For those of you in the 'Burg, Wal*Mart has placed their ice cream balls on sale! As of Friday, August 31, they had four or five more left (In the sale tent!). They've been marked down to $15.00. If you can't find them there you can look at L.L. Bean or R.E.I. Good luck!

Lunar Eclipse Photo

The lunar eclipse on Tuesday, August 28 was impressive and well worth the sleepless night! Of nearly 50 pictures taken that evening, this one happened to turn out okay. You can see that the moon takes on a coppery glow during an eclipse. I cannot wait for the next lunar eclipse in February 2008. I hope the weather cooperates too! Until then would anybody like to join me in Antarctica for the September 11 Partial Solar Eclipse?

Trouble

Trouble is very similar to Sorry! and Parcheesi. Save for the fabulous invention of the “Pop-o-matic” die bubble. Give this plastic bubble a pop and watch the die hop. I like that the die is numbered instead of dotted. We play “Double Trouble” (double the amount of the die) often. Trouble is plastic and the markers fit snugly in little tubes. The game travels pretty well and we’ve played outdoors many times.

Lunar Eclipse

August 28th promises an astronomical event you won't forget! Tuesday morning, very early, the moon will be eclipsed by the Earth's shadow. Just about 3:00 in the morning (Yes, when "normal" people are sleeping!) the moon will begin entering the penumbra, also known as the faint, outer part of the Earth's shadow. Nearly 50 minutes later, the moon will then begin entering the umbra, or darkest part of the Earth's shadow. The moon will be totally eclipsed around 5:00 that morning and totality will last for about 90 minutes. The sun will begin rising just before 6:00. With this in mind, we will not be able to view the moon as it exits umbra and penumbra.

This event needs no special instructions or equipment for viewing. Just take a walk outside and look up! If you plan to spend some time watching the changes, bring a lawn chair, a beverage, and some insect repellent. Have fun! Let me know what you see!

Parcheesi

Hey, this is the royal game of India. Tree, that’s my sister, and I had a very old copy of this game. We didn’t have the instructions or all of the pieces. This didn’t stop us from enjoying the game. Parcheesi is very much like Sorry! in that you have to move several pawns around the board from start to home. Orion just recently acquired the version pictured above. He loves it because the markers are animals (The elephants are his favorite!). Try the modifications mentioned for Sorry! to alter Parcheesi.

Ludo is a simplified version of this game and is available at the Dollar Tree! Yes, that’s right, for a dollar!

It's Alive!

The Galactic Apple started as a class assignment some years ago. It later turned into a place to host a few materials from some of my workshops and presentations (e.g. PowerPoint slides). Over the past year, it fell into disuse and eventually succumbed to "web rot." Well, after a little bit of work-cleaning and rearranging, finding a new home, and adding a great deal of content, the Galactic Apple is ALIVE!

Click on the Galactic Apple graphic to your right to go directly to the website! There you will find math games, literacy activities, and more! Check it out! I'll see you there!

Sorry!

This has got to be one of my all time favorite games. I remember spending hours (I mean hours!) on snow days playing this game with my sister. Now I have the pleasure of sharing this game with my son, Orion. We’ve been playing this game since Orion was about four or five years old. Of course we’ve had to modify it for MY short attention span, not his.

As you may recall, a player must draw a 1 or a 2 Sorry! card in order to start a pawn around the board. This can take an eternity. These are some of the modifications that Orion and I have made over the past several years. We still love Sorry! and we have a great time playing.

1. Use only two pawns instead of four. Yes, another ploy to shorten the game!

2. Use dice instead of cards. Allow a player to move on any roll of the dice. Start with one die.

3. When your child has the hang of one to one correspondence and an understanding of the numbers one through six, try “Double Sorry!” Double the number on the die! Watch the game go by quickly!

4. Use several dice. Use the sum of the dice to indicate the number of spaces the player may move.

5. “Product Sorry!” Dare we try this? Use the product of two (or three) dice to indicate the number of spaces the player may move. We’ve not yet made it this far, but I bet the game zooms!

Board Game Savers

Okay, I love plastic. Especially in the classroom. It's durable, recyclable, and best of all washable (Warm soapy water with a dash of bleach will save us all from certain, viral death!). I also love board games!

With that said, how many times have I found myself taping together game boxes that have given up the fight? As a child I remember spiriting away coveted (but useless in this case) Scotch tape to try and fix the boxes of games like Payday, Battleship, and Life. Now I tape the boxes (focusing on corners!) with shipping tape as soon as we get them! Well, I was reading in my Real Simple magazine about these awesome game containers and I had to check them out for myself!

These game containers can be found at The Container Store (Were they thinking of me when they created this store?). Search for "game saver" to view the specs on these nifty, plastic boxes. They run between $13 and $15! Expensive, to be sure! But priceless if they're protecting your favorite and most treasured board game!

Perseid Meteor Shower

This is one of my favorite meteor pictures, available at the NASA website. I believe it was taken during the Perseid Meteor Shower of 1999 by Wally Pacholka.

It's not to late to view the Perseid Meteor Shower! While the peak (50 -60 an hour) was Sunday Evening/Monday Morning (August 12/13) we will be able to see meteors for the next several days, although the frequency will diminish as the week progresses. The moon sets early, leaving us with dark skies. Despite the darkness, I was disappointed on Sunday/Monday as it was very hazy over the 'Burg. Now if the temperatures and haze would just cooperate, we might be able to catch a few before next year! Good luck viewing. Let me know what you see! The Orionids will be coming up in October!

The Ultimate Book on Math Games

If you want to play games you have to have this book.

I first "discovered" Constance Kamii when I was taking a class on Jean Piaget and Constructivism.

Kamii, a student of Piaget, had written several articles on teaching mathematics to young children. These articles led me to her books. My child, a kindergartener at the time, was struggling with subtraction (!) worksheets in the classroom. My university class was a perfect time for me to learn more about how children gain an understanding of numbers.

This book has not only changed the way I teach, it has changed the way I parent.

The first few chapters of Kamii's Young Children Reinvent Arithmetic describe the constructivist approach to education (with an emphasis on mathematics) and the importance of a child's autonomy. The last few chapters give very practical ways to implement a constructivist friendly approach to teaching math- including two chapters on math games and another on managing a classroom during game time!

While this book describes the games played by a classroom of first graders, the approach is ageless and the games can be used for levels spanning kindergarten through third grades.

Treasury of Family Games

I had to take a minute or two to tell you about a wonderful book I found while visiting the Angus Glen Library in Markham, Ontario. I adore games: board games, card games, dice games, you name it! I especially love games that can be played in the classroom.

This book has it all! Forgot how to play Monopoly? Wish you could remember how to play Slap Jack? Are you arguing over the rules for Hearts with your best friend? This book has over 250 pages of games, games, and more games! I was excited to discover directions for old favorites: Gin Rummy, Checkers, and Concentration. I was intrigued to find new games that would be great additions to any math classroom: Go, Hex, and Alquerque.

Check out the Reader's Digest Treasury of Family Games by Jim Glenn and Carey Denton (ISBN 0-7621-0431-7) at your local library and see what games you can add to your classroom repertoire.

Children's Book Sale

For those of you in the U.C.M. area, whether you live in town or commute, the Corner Bookstore (Holden and North Streets) is having a children's book sale. Picture books, chapter books, and young adult novels are buy two, get two free.

Even better, if you bring in books to trade (cook books, romance, mystery, fantasy, etc.), you then have the option of paying $3.00 for the first book and a percentage of the remaining books is deducted from your balance. I have walked out of there with ten hardback books for $3.23

They are overflowing with Children's Books, there are even more in the back hallway, just ask to see them! I saw great copies of Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle In Time series as well as books by Betsy Byars, Suzy Kline, Jerry Spinelli, and many more.

So check out one of my favorite spots in town, the Corner Bookstore! They are open from 10 am till 5:30 pm Monday through Friday and from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm on Saturdays. With all the construction on Holden these days it is best to enter the parking lot from North Street. This sale will be going on till the end of July. It will continue into August if they still need to move more books!

Welcome

Welcome to the Galactic Apple Blog. This will be a sister site to the Galactic Apple that will eventually be hosted by the University of Central Missouri. This blog will help me to keep in touch with both pre-service and in-service teachers. I will use this blog in many ways: to announce new games, teacher tools, and other goodies as they are posted to the Galactic Apple, to rant, as I see fit, on the state of education today, and to post items of note (e.g. sales at Hobby Lobby!).

Enjoy! I hope you find this blog useful, helpful, informative, and fun!