Outstanding Geography Lesson! Ship Travels 3000 miles!

What a wonderful geography project that really engaged students!

Sixth grade students at the Morristown-Beard School,Morristown, in New Jersey, launched a  5 ft. long model boat into the Atlantic Ocean.  On board the craft was a GPS tracking device.The students also placed their names on the bottom of the boat and a photograph as well as a message in several languages.  Part of a geography project, the students watched the location of their boat,called the Crimson Tide, as it made its way into the Gulf Stream. Fourteen months later, the ship has gone nearly 3000 miles and arrived at the English Channel island of Guernsey! It was here that it was found by a fisherman. Covered in barnacles, the boat had lost its mast and a waterproof capsule. The container with items including a school tee-shirt, thumb drive with messages and more photographs, and even some money, were lost during the Crimson Tide's voyage. It is hoped that with a new sail and battery for the GPS, the ship can be relaunched with it maybe, returning back to this side of the Atlantic!

 Photograph from BBC.co.uk

Extension Activities:
* After reading this news short, pretend you are the Crimson Tide. Tell about a day during your travels. What did you see? Hear? Feel? as you bobbed in the Atlantic Ocean?


*Read about the island of Guernsey. http://www.visitguernsey.com/about-guernsey  Draw a travel poster for the island including 5 facts learned about Guernsey.

* Learn about the English Channel: http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/englishchannel.htm Use the map and do some measurements learning about distances between  several cities.

* Draw a picture of a boat. What would be 7 items you'd place in a boat that might go across the ocean to a distance shore? What would you want the person who found the boat to learn about you and your culture?

Presidents' Day

Check out this free web quest on Presidential trivia-lots of interesting facts! http://gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?presidentcyberhunt.html

*Illustration from publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com

There have been many polls taken on the topic of our greatest presidents. The results of a poll taken in 2000 by ABC News asking people who they felt was the greatest American president: 

1. Abraham Lincoln 
2. John F. Kennedy 
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Another poll taken in 2007,listed the following presidents as our top three:

      1. George Washington

      2. Abraham Lincoln

      3. Thomas Jefferson

Still another poll taken in 2011, listed the following as our greatest presidents:

      1. Ronald Reagan

      2. Abraham Lincoln

      3. Bill Clinton

Who would be your top three greatest Presidents? For what reason would you rank your top three?

Which president in history, do you think is mentioned the most?

What would be 3 issues that would be important to you if you were president of the United States?

What are three character traits you think a president should have and why?

Show Kids That Even Candy has a History!

I love history....always have, especially world history. Unfortunately, kids don't always see the excitement in history.  Maybe, showing that history is all around them, even in CANDY, might be a way to spark an interest in the subject.

Marshmallows date back to 2000 BC in ancient Egypt and King Tut's Tomb contained licorice! Did you know that the earliest "lollypop" was probably eaten by prehistoric people that placed honey from a bee hive onto a stick?  Did you know that candy canes were originally just WHITE in color and originated in the country of Germany?

Try this fun/informative webquest on the history of Candy: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/History-of-Candy-Webquest-516787


Gail

Sensory Fiction Books....Would this be a good thing?

Engineers at MIT are developing new technology that will enable readers to actually feel what is happening in the story,and not just through your imagination. The books come with wearable gear for what is being called "sensory Fiction". Specially adapted books come with special sensors that will signal to the device when you reach a scary part. The result might be a vibration or a tightening of your chest. Other sensory responses might be to give you a chill down your spine or increase skin temps to make you turn red for an embarrassing moment in the book. Other sensors in the book will cause the words to brighten or dim depending on the mood or setting. The book used for the experimental technology of sensory fiction was The Girl who was Plugged In by James Tiptree. The technology for sensory fiction books for consumers are still a few years away. 

What do you think? Would you wish to read such a book or would you prefer using your own imagination as you read?

Photograph from NPR.org

MEGAFACE...Would You Want Your Face on the Side of a Building?

In the News: 
Bell Ringer Activity:

The Winter Games are about to begin. There is a building,called the MegaFace, at the Olympic Village where people will get to see their faces(giant versions) on the side of the MegaFon Pavilion. It's kind of like a huge Mt. Rushmore for "regular" people.  The side of the building has a screen with 10,000 pins that can extend to the shape of a person's face.Those who wish to see their face on the side of the Pavilion first need to go to a 3D booth to get photographs scanned. It is estimated that about 170,000 people will participate in the Megaface project. The face photographs will be sent to a computer program where the face will get a few seconds of fame, in color, thanks to lights on the end of each 6 ft. long pin on the side of the pavilion.


Extension Activities:
1. Write a paragraph pretending to be your face on the MegaFon Pavilion. What do you see, hear,smell as you look out on the crowds walking around the village during the Winter Games?
2. Draw a picture of your face on the side of the MegaFon Pavilion. Write 3 things you'd like people to know about you.

Photograph from: http://www.geekosystem.com/olympic-kryptonian-face-projector/



Gail Hennessey
http://www.gailhennessey.com

Women to Make History at 2014 Winter Games!

Since 1924, ski jumping has been one of the exciting sports at the Winter Games.  However, until 2014, only men were able to compete in the sport. This year, history will be made when women will be allowed to participate in ski jumping for the very first time!  It took female athletes, including American Lindsey Van and Jessica Jerome(and other women athletes from around the world), to sue the International Olympic Committee for gender discrimination to get the organization to change their ruling on the issue. Now, world female ski jumpers such as Sara Takanashi(Japan), Jessica Jerome(USA), Atsuko Tanaka(Canada),Carina Vogt(Germany), Irina Avvakumova(Russia), Sarah Hendrickson(USA and 2013 World Cup Champ) and Lindsey Van(USA), will be athletes to watch beginning on February 11th,when many of these women and more will be competing in ski jumping at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia!

Extension Activities:

A. Think of three descriptive adverbs to describe your feelings as you ski down a 10 story ramp going about 60 mph just before taking flight into the air.

B. Write a paragraph describing your first ski jump at the winter games.

C. The sport of ski jumping began in the country of Norway. What do you know about Norway? Write a fact about the country(note:not that they started the sport of ski jumping).  Look up Norway at this link: http://www.timeforkids.com/destination/norway Write a travel postcard pretending to visit Norway and write 3 specific things learned about Norway in your postcard.

D. Women athletes worked to get the IOC to change their ruling on the ban of women competing in ski jumping at the olympic games. Is there an issue that you feel strongly about? What is it? Why do you think this needs to be changed in some way?

Photograph of Atsuko Tanaka of Canada from: http://www.thestar.com/sports/sochi2014/2014/01/11/sochi_2014_canadas_atsuko_tanaka_ready_for_takeoff_as_womens_ski_jumping_debuts.html

If you are planning to discuss the historic games,which began in Greece,with your students, you may find my web quest of value to use in your classroom. The web quest uses informational text for each of the 10 web questions. Lots of fun facts are also included as well as extension activities. Click here to learn more:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Winter-Games-2014-are-coming-A-WebquestExtension-Activities-1021833

Additionally, the 2014 Winter Games would be a great opportunity to introduce your students to the country of Russia. I have developed a resource which contains 11 web questions, fun facts, lots of extension activities and a map activity which you may find of value, too!  Click here to learn more: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Russia-Country-in-FocusWebquestExtension-Activities-914233

Learn about the country of Greece, home to where the games originated:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ancient-Greeks-Lets-Explore-the-GreeksUnit-358283

Using the News in Your Classroom

In the News:At an auction in Texas, someone spent $350,000 to hunt and kill a black rhino in the African country of Namibia.Black rhino are very endangered. It is estimated that less than 5000 are left in the wild. The money raised at the auction will be used to help the endangered black rhino but some people think killing a rhino, an old male, is just not the way to go about trying to "save" the creatures. Those who approve of the idea say that the selected rhino for the hunt isn't breeding any longer and that elderly males can sometimes be a threat to younger male rhinos.   What do you think?  

Check out my web quest on the rhino:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhinosaurus-Rotund-Rhinos-A-Webquest-698938