Apparently there is a leak in this fish tank (which is in my storage room but looks out at the hallway). So when my students told me I should put fish in it, I put a knitted hermit crab in instead.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Random things from school
We made barometers in chemistry using instructions from Bill Nye (the Science Guy!)'s website. The girls have been checking to see if bad weather is coming (barometric pressure falling) so they can get a snow day.
Apparently there is a leak in this fish tank (which is in my storage room but looks out at the hallway). So when my students told me I should put fish in it, I put a knitted hermit crab in instead.
Apparently there is a leak in this fish tank (which is in my storage room but looks out at the hallway). So when my students told me I should put fish in it, I put a knitted hermit crab in instead.
Science Labs
In my Introductory Physical Science (IPS) class, we are currently studying energy. I hope that the students are gaining an understanding of where all of the items we use in our daily life come from and growing in love for God's amazing creation. To bring the act of mining for fossil fuels home, we did a fun lab in which we extracted "fossil fuels" from cookies using a toothpick. The raisins, nuts, and chocolate chips represented their respective fossil fuels and the students were to mine as much as they could while trying to minimally damage the "land".
Some were very careful to not damage the cookie (these are the ones I hope participate in mining fossil fuels in the future). Others were not quite so meticulous:
But everyone had fun and since we didn't do the experiment in the lab and I made them wash their hands beforehand, I let them eat the end result of their mining.
Two of my classes also had the exciting opportunity to take part in a traveling science lab. The Science Express is from Saint Cloud State University and is basically the back part of a semi filled with nice lab stations and equipment. They travel from school to school giving students opportunities to do labs they might not be able to do with their school's equipment. The different labs also help to make science fun :)
My IPS class got to investigate how thick their hair was by diffracting the light from lasers with a strand of their hair. They were intent on the experiment and no one shone their laser in their lab partner's eye. The biology class used an enzyme to break three kinds of milk down in order to discover which one had lactose in it. (They worked hard too!)
Some were very careful to not damage the cookie (these are the ones I hope participate in mining fossil fuels in the future). Others were not quite so meticulous:
But everyone had fun and since we didn't do the experiment in the lab and I made them wash their hands beforehand, I let them eat the end result of their mining.
Two of my classes also had the exciting opportunity to take part in a traveling science lab. The Science Express is from Saint Cloud State University and is basically the back part of a semi filled with nice lab stations and equipment. They travel from school to school giving students opportunities to do labs they might not be able to do with their school's equipment. The different labs also help to make science fun :)
My IPS class got to investigate how thick their hair was by diffracting the light from lasers with a strand of their hair. They were intent on the experiment and no one shone their laser in their lab partner's eye. The biology class used an enzyme to break three kinds of milk down in order to discover which one had lactose in it. (They worked hard too!)
"Winter" in Minnesota
It has been an unusually mild winter here in Minnesota, especially compared to the crazy amounts of snow that we had last year. Now, we are definitely not complaining, but my students are itching for a snow day right around now...
As you can see, there's almost no snow on the ground anymore, but there have been some days of fog and then beautiful frost all over everything.
As you can see, there's almost no snow on the ground anymore, but there have been some days of fog and then beautiful frost all over everything.
Human Planet Documentary Recommendation
Recently Sara and I watched the BBC series called "Human Planet." We've thoroughly enjoyed the BBC nature documentaries like "Life of Mammals" and "Planet Earth" among many others. So we thought we'd give this one a go. Instead of looking at animals, it looks at people around the world who live in very different ways than we do.
We were not disappointed. They show such interesting people all over the world in various climates traveling, hunting, fishing, building, and teaching their children amazing skills. They showed people building tree houses, women breastfeeding orphaned animals, fascinating tribal events, and in general the close connection to the natural world that many people have. And it was really funny at times.
One of the things that struck me was how many of the people lived so differently in such bizarre ways and yet they seemed to have the same family structures and same life worries. Instead of children wanting new Nintendo systems, they were asking their parents for fresh honey or bat meat. But like parents everywhere, their main concerns were teaching their children and providing for them.
In every episode I was struck by what an easy life I have, and how much I have to be thankful for. Instead of worrying about dying from hydrogen sulfide gas while mining sulfur from an active volcano, I worry about how good my sermon will be. Instead of digging food out of the landfill for my children to eat, I am constantly worried about eating too much and being unhealthy. Watching something like this once in a while is a good wake up call for our lives.
It was also a wake up call for the continued need for missionaries in many of these places. Many of the people were very isolated from the rest of the world and probably have never heard of Jesus. Watching them live and smile in the video makes them more real and draws us to want to share the love of Christ with them.
Watching this made both of us excited to live in another country again in the future. We both just seem to be drawn towards people of other cultures. We love being with them. So pray for us to have patience and to continue to enjoy our time here in the United States.
So overall, it was awesome, and you should definitely watch it. For those of you who have time in your churches, it could be interesting to watch in church or a small group setting. There could be discussion about materialism, gratitude, social justice, creation stewardship, sinful human nature, and evangelism.
You can watch the trailer for it here - Human Planet.
We were not disappointed. They show such interesting people all over the world in various climates traveling, hunting, fishing, building, and teaching their children amazing skills. They showed people building tree houses, women breastfeeding orphaned animals, fascinating tribal events, and in general the close connection to the natural world that many people have. And it was really funny at times.
One of the things that struck me was how many of the people lived so differently in such bizarre ways and yet they seemed to have the same family structures and same life worries. Instead of children wanting new Nintendo systems, they were asking their parents for fresh honey or bat meat. But like parents everywhere, their main concerns were teaching their children and providing for them.
In every episode I was struck by what an easy life I have, and how much I have to be thankful for. Instead of worrying about dying from hydrogen sulfide gas while mining sulfur from an active volcano, I worry about how good my sermon will be. Instead of digging food out of the landfill for my children to eat, I am constantly worried about eating too much and being unhealthy. Watching something like this once in a while is a good wake up call for our lives.
It was also a wake up call for the continued need for missionaries in many of these places. Many of the people were very isolated from the rest of the world and probably have never heard of Jesus. Watching them live and smile in the video makes them more real and draws us to want to share the love of Christ with them.
Watching this made both of us excited to live in another country again in the future. We both just seem to be drawn towards people of other cultures. We love being with them. So pray for us to have patience and to continue to enjoy our time here in the United States.
So overall, it was awesome, and you should definitely watch it. For those of you who have time in your churches, it could be interesting to watch in church or a small group setting. There could be discussion about materialism, gratitude, social justice, creation stewardship, sinful human nature, and evangelism.
You can watch the trailer for it here - Human Planet.
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